Most Popular Books by Ian MacDonald

As a young man in Glasgow’s underworld, Ian ‘Blink’ MacDonald fought, robbed and slashed his way to the top, developing a taste for the high life along the way. His notoriety earned him an offer of work from Scotland’s most feared gangster, Arthur Thompson, but MacDonald had other plans: to finance a new life in Spain with the multimillion-pound proceeds of a high-risk armed bank robbery. But the job went badly wrong, and MacDonald was jailed for 16 years. In prison, he met scores of high-profile inmates, including torture-gang boss Eddie Richardson, high-society serial killer Archie Hall, notorious lifer Charles Bronson and Ronnie O’Sullivan senior, father of the snooker star. On his release, MacDonald became a magnet for trouble, enjoying a hedonistic, drug-fuelled lifestyle and finding himself drawn into conflict with police, gangsters and businessmen. Rearrested several times, he was the target of more than one terrifying murder attempt. In Blink, MacDonald provides an eye-opening account of his highly eventful journey through life in Glasgow’s brutal gangland.

In 1953, Forests Minister Robert E. Sommers was one of the most powerful men in BC, able to influence the province''s major industry, forestry, with a stroke of his pen. Five years later he plummeted from the heights when he was sent to jail for conspiracy and accepting bribes. The Sommers scandal was the first and biggest stain on the record of Premier W.A.C. Bennett''s Socreds. Betty O''Keefe and Ian Macdonald have recreated those stormy days of the mid-1950s, when Sommers, Bennett, Attorney General Robert Sommers, Phil Gaglardi and Gordon Gibson rocked the rafters of the Legislature with bellowed accusations and denials. Weaving interviews with major players and the media reports of the day, they show the relentless process by which Sommers was finally brought to trial, and reveal the confusing array of verdicts for Sommers and his co-accused. The Sommers story is also the story of BC''s forest industry. The forest-management system was under attack and investigation as the Sommers scandal unfolded, and the decisions made in the 1950s set the course for the death of logging towns, the corporate concentration and the crisis of overcutting some 30 years later.

Is this the right book for me? With over 24,000 translations, including everyday idioms and expressions, Essential Gaelic Dictionary is the perfect tool to support your Gaelic learning. This new edition is fully updated to reflect the recently published spelling conventions, and includes a guide to usage and insights from the author to help you learn and remember new words and phrases. Learn effortlessly with a new easy-to-read page design and interactive features: Not got much time? One, five and ten-minute introductions to key principles to get you started. Author insights Lots of instant help with common problems and quick tips for success, based on the author''s many years of experience. Test yourself Tests online to keep track of your progress. Extend your knowledge Extra online articles to give you a richer understanding of the culture and history of speakers of Gaelic.

Josh and Safi dream of winning the scarecrow competition, but dreams turn to nightmares when the scarecrows go missing. Have they been stolen ... or did they walk? Graphic novels serve a number of needs. They encourage reluctant readers because of the high ratio of pictures to text and because they are viewed as a leisure activity rather than school work. In spite of this perception, pupils can learn a lot from them, such as the use of direct speech, the logical order in which to read text boxes and, of course, narrative forms. This brilliantly illustrated series of six books will excite and engage readers of about 11-13 who have a very low reading age of 6-7.

The ideas in Robin Dunbar''s previous book, Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language, have since become scientific orthodoxy, and this looks set to make an even bigger splash Incredibly influential and popular; all of Dunbar''s events for the hardback were sell-outs, and there''s much more publicity to come Attractive new cover treatment to appeal to the broad popular science/psychology readership of Robert Winston and Desmond Morris

Contains excerpts from the Klondike nugget.

An up-close look at primates takes readers into the world of humankind''s closest living relatives, offering insight into their behavior, sociable nature, and mentality.

It is easy to underestimate the impact that school organisation has on the behaviour, effectiveness, engagement and creativity of the teachers, staff and students who work within it. It also has a marked effect on the well-being of staff members, and how families and the community relate to the school. Attempts to improve school organisation are often short term "initiatives" that only cover only one or two aspects of what it takes to organise a school effectively. Improving Schools Using Systems Leadership, in contrast, provides those involved in the design and delivery of educational services with a coherent and easy-to-follow framework to help run an effective organisation. Based on theory, real data on education improvements at school and regional level, and case studies, this book demonstrates how Systems Leadership can be used to improve school organisation. It integrates models of leadership, teamwork, capability, structure and systems to help make them more effective in improving the learning outcomes of students and also sustain this improvement over time. This book explains how Systems Leadership can and has been applied in schools to bring clarity to the purpose, structure and systems within a school and have a major impact on its success. As such, it is an essential text for school leaders and managers looking for practical tools to help improve the working lives of the people within their organisation, and hence their effectiveness.

This lively biography of Bishop Edward Cridge and his wife Mary paints a vivid picture of early Victoria as it developed from an isolated Hudson''s Bay Company post into the bustling capital of British Columbia. Recruited from England by Governor James Douglas in 1854 to be the Church of England chaplain of Fort Victoria, Edward Cridge became an important figure in the spiritual life of the city as the rector of Christ Church.The Cridges also became two of Victoria''s foremost social reformers, leaving an indelible mark on British Columbia''s social institutions. Living through the terrible smallpox and black measles epidemics, the latter taking four of their own children, the inseparable pair worked to create the first hospital, beginning with a few beds in a rented cottage and living to see it transformed into the Royal Jubilee. As the first superintendent of education, Cridge played an essential role in B.C.''s early school system. When abandoned children were left at the parsonage door, Mary created Victoria''s first orphanage.The biography also tells of Cridge''s very public argument with Bishop Hills, a dispute that caused him to break with the Church of England to found and build the Church of Our Lord, a Reformed Episcopal church, which is today an historic Victoria landmark. Included also are cameos by many of the notable people of the day, such as Emily Carr, who as a young girl lived opposite the Cridge family.

A companion guide to Fruit and Vegetables, this book deals with crops which are grown on a large scale. The recommendations given are designed to be applicable throughout the tropics. Notes on the control of pests in included.

A practical manual to rear cattle, donkeys, goats, pigs, poultry, ducks, rabbits, sheep, and waterbuffaloes in the tropics

This text offers for comprehension the kind of authentic French found in everyday life on menus, in advertisements and newspapers, on trains and buses and at stations. The extracts are progressive in length and difficulty but all questions are to be answered in English.

Gems is a series of books written specifically for struggling girl readers. Something suspicious is happening in the seaside town of Rockpool and it''s turning the residents pretty sour. Three children band together to discover the mystery behind burglaries and disappearing sweets and get a lot more than they bargained for! As the trail unravels, Millie, Jade and Sami discover the culprits and find the chief perpetrator was a lot closer to home than they realised. Will Rockpool get is rock back? Or will the Tower chase be the end of the three young detectives?

In the turbulent period from 2018 to 2021, Canada saw a majority government reduced to minority standing, a political dynasty tainted by scandal, a neighbouring nation’s struggle to transfer power, and a paradigm-changing pandemic. Political insider L. Ian MacDonald, recognized for his clear-minded commentary on national and world political issues salient to all Canadians, guided his readers through it all. In this third collection of columns and articles from Policy magazine, the Montreal Gazette, and iPolitics, MacDonald focuses on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s uneven leadership at home, the Canada-US relationship with Donald Trump in the White House, and Ottawa’s management of health and economic policy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapters on prime ministers past and present, hot-button issues such as pipeline protests and the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement, and analysis of major elections show these standalone pieces as components of a cohesive body of political commentary. In these last four years, everything happened at high speed. Politics & Players ably navigates the terrain.

A gripping account of Western Canada''s worst aviation disaster.

The making of the Prime Minister.

If journalism is the first draft of history, it’s equally important to see how the work stands the test of time. If the writing isn’t prescient and perspicacious, it doesn’t meet that test. This collection of columns and articles by L. Ian MacDonald – a sequel to Politics, People & Potpourri – meets that test. Much has happened in the politics of Canada and Quebec, as well as to the leaders who have defined and shaped the first two decades of the twenty-first century, since the first collection was published in 2009. The successful election campaigns of Harper and Trudeau form the political bookends of the present decade in Canada and the opening chapters of the book. Between these governments, there are the events, personalities, and issues that have shaped the political narrative and policy debate, from fiscal frameworks to clean energy and pipelines, from the Senate expense scandal and democratic reform to national security at home and the mission against ISIS abroad. In his columns, and longer pieces from Policy Options and Policy magazines, MacDonald provides clear-minded commentary on political issues salient to all Canadians – including the election of Donald Trump in the United States. He also profiles a diverse group of political figures, and writes moving tributes to departed, nationally respected figures such as Jean Béliveau, Jim Flaherty, Jack Layton, and Tom Van Dusen. This intelligent and entertaining collection presents MacDonald at his best, and offers a captivating view of Canadian politics and life.

This supplement to Macdonalds''s Immigration Law & Practice contains all the recent legislation and commentary since publication of the mainwork, ensuring the work is kept fully up-to-date.