Martin Sixsmith

On December 7th 2006, in a Highgate Cemetery drenched with London rain, a Russian was buried within a stones throw of the grave of Karl Marx. He was Alexander Litvinenko, Sasha to his friends, a boy from the deep Russian provinces who rose through the ranks of the worlds most feared security service. Litvinenko was the man who denounced murder and corruption in the Russian government, fled from the wrath of the Kremlin, came to London and took the shilling of Moscows avowed enemy Now he was a martyr, condemned by foes unknown to an agonised death in a hospital bed thousands of miles from home. Martin Sixsmith draws on his long experience as the BBCs Moscow correspondent, and contact with the key London-based Russians, to dissect Alexander Litvinenkos murder. Myriad theories have been put forward since he died, but the story goes back to 2000 when hostilities were declared between the Kremlin and its political opponents. This is a war that has blown hot and cold for over six years; a war that has pitted some of Russias strongest, richest men against the most powerful president Russia has had since Josef Stalin. The Litvinenko File is a gripping, powerful inside account of a shocking act of murder, when Russias war with itself spilled over onto the streets of London and made the world take notice.

Philomena Lee ist selbst noch fast ein Kind, als sie hochschwanger im Kloster Zuflucht sucht. Doch statt Barmherzigkeit erwartet sie dort ein unerbittliches System: Im Irland der 50er-Jahre verkaufen die Nonnen jedes uneheliche Kind, das in ihrem Konvent geboren wird, mit neuer Identitat in die USA. Wie viele andere Mutter verliert auch Philomena ihren Sohn, aus Anthony Lee wird mit drei Jahren Michael Hess. Mutter und Sohn konnen einander nicht vergessen, doch erst 50 Jahre spater erfahrt Philomena, was aus ihrem Sohn geworden ist.

Una historia impactante llena de secretos familiares, amor y pérdida Cuando la adolescente irlandesa Philomena Lee se queda embarazada en 1952, la envían al convento de Roscrea, en el condado de Tipperary, para que se hagan cargo de ella al considerarla mujer de mala vida. Alli cuida de su bebe durante tres años, hasta que la Iglesia se lo arrebata y lo vende, como a muchos otros, para entregarlo en adopcion en Estados Unidos. Aunque la obligan a firmar un documento en el que promete no intentar volver a ver a su hijo nunca mas, pasa los siguientes cincuenta años de su vida buscandolo en secreto, sin saber que el tambien la esta buscando desde el otro lado del Atlantico. El hijo de Philomena, rebautizado con el nombre de Michael Hess, se hace mayor y se convierte en un reputado abogado de Washington y en un importante funcionario republicano durante los Gobiernos de Reagan y Bush. Pero es un hombre gay en un partido homofobo, lo que lo obliga a ocultar no solo su orientacion sexual, sino tambien el hecho de que ha contraido el sida. Consciente de que le queda poco tiempo de vida, regresa a Irlanda y al convento donde nacio. Su busqueda desesperada para encontrar a su madre antes de morir tiene consecuencias inesperadas para todas las partes involucradas. Con la misma fuerza narrativa que novelas de la talla de Las cenizas de Angela o Las hermanas de la Magdalena, Philomena relata la historia real de una madre y un hijo cuyas vidas estuvieron marcadas por las fuerzas de la hipocresia a ambos lados del Atlantico y de los secretos que fueron obligados a guardar. Esta conmovedora historia de Martin Sixsmith, en la que se basa la pelicula homonima, es una impactante narracion llena de amor y perdida, desgarradora pero a la vez claramente redentora. www.sumadeletras.com

During the darkest days of WW2 in her home country of Holland Anna Maria van der Vaart sheltered Allied pilots gave refuge to persecuted Jews and stood up to the Nazis by participating in audacious acts of resistance This is Anna Maria s remarkable story alongside those who risked their lives to save others

It's the year 2011. The Party in power, the New Project Party is on a moral revival campaign and Selwyn Knox, the recently appointed minister for the Department for Society, is at its helm. Sonya Mair, his political adviser, is helping him call the shots - as well as helping him with some more personal matters ...Together they've selected the team - very carefully. In fact, they've got dossiers on every last member ...Sir Robert Nottridge, Permanent Secretary: Eton, Cambridge, married, no children - or so his wife thinks; Christopher Brody, director of policy: a helpless gambler with debts up to his eyeballs and two mortgages; Nigel Tonbridge, director of strategy and communications: ex-journo and keeper of some dark family secrets - as well as some disturbing political ones that might just taint Saint Selwyn...But for now, the team better do as they're told, and get down to administering morality. Meanwhile, back at Downing Street, PM Andy Sheen is suffering a few smears of his own, and his right hand man, Charlie McDonald, must quickly dispatch an official to Cambridge to "rescue data" and hunt down the man behind the allegations...

An original history of Russia s thousand year past tracing the forces and the myths that have shaped Putin s politics and rekindled the Cold War Vladimir Putin s invasion of Ukraine has reshaped history In the decades after the collapse of Soviet communism the West convinced itself that liberal democracy would henceforth be the dominant ultimately unique system of governance a hubris that shaped how the West would treat Russia for the next two decades But history wasn t over Putin is a paradox In the early years of his presidency he appeared to commit himself to friendship with the West suggesting that Russia could join the European Union or even NATO He said he supported free market democracy and civil rights But the Putin of those years is unrecognisable today The Putin of the 2020s is an autocratic nationalist dedicated to repression at home and anti Western militarism abroad So what happened Was he lying when he proclaimed his support for freedom democracy and friendship with the West Or was he sincere Did he change his views at some stage between then and now And if that is the case what happened to change him Putin and the Return of History examines these questions in the context of Russia s thousand year past tracing the forces and

New York Times BestsellerNow a major motion picture starring Judi Dench and Steve Coogan and nominated for four Academy Awards: the heartbreaking true story of an Irishwoman and the secret she kept for 50 years.When she became pregnant as a teenager in Ireland in 1952, Philomena Lee was sent to a convent to be looked after as a fallen woman. Then the nuns took her baby from her and sold him, like thousands of others, to America for adoption. Fifty years later, Philomena decided to find him.Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, Philomenas son was trying to find her. Renamed Michael Hess, he had become a leading lawyer in the first Bush administration, and he struggled to hide secrets that would jeopardize his career in the Republican Party and endanger his quest to find his mother.

During the darkest days of WW2 in her home country of Holland Anna Maria van der Vaart sheltered Allied pilots gave refuge to persecuted Jews and stood up to the Nazis by participating in audacious acts of resistance This is Anna Maria s remarkable story alongside those who risked their lives to save others

Russia is a country of contradictions: a nation of cultural refinement and artistic originality and yet also a country that rules by 'the iron fist', with an ingrained eagerness to sacrifice the individual for the collectivist cause. In this riveting history, Martin Sixsmith shows how Russia's complex identity has been formed over a thousand years, and how it can help us understand its often baffling behaviour at home and abroad. Combining in-depth research with his personal experiences as BBC Moscow correspondent for many years, Sixsmith tells Russia's full and fascinating story, from its foundation in the last years of the tenth century to the first years of the twenty-first, skilfully tracing the conundrums of modern Russia to their roots in its troubled past. Covering politics, music, literature and art, he explores the myths Russians have created from their history, and explains the nation's seemingly split personality as the result of influences that have divided it for centuries. Accompanying a landmark BBC Radio 4 series, and marking the 20th anniversary of the dissolution of the USSR, Russia is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the complex political landscape of Russia, and its unique place in the modern world.