Books with author Ian Roberts

Originally published in 1827, Roberts’ Guide for Butlers and Other Household Staff was a handbook for servants to perform their duties more efficiently and thoughtfully. Roberts gives a plethora of information about household duties of a butler like:• How to dress suitably for work• Regulations for the dinner table• Directions for cleaning tea trays• Giving Britannia metal a brilliant polish• Preserving fruits for the year• Addressing and behaving properly around your employer• And many more insightsRoberts provides information on how to make the best-tasting lemonade; preserving good wine for years; not passing judgments on the other servants; never letting your master ring the bell for you twice; cleaning dirty tables with a mix of milk, turpentine, and sweet oil; rubbing off rust with salad oil and lime; and other useful tidbits for the curious butler. This is a fascinating look behind the scenes of household help and will delight any nineteenth century enthusiast.

Sometime you have to find out you're average...Before you can be exceptional.Riding his bike home from the library, Sean Sharpe finds out that the world isn't quite as average as he'd originally thought. After narrowly surviving an attack by a mysterious assailant, he is approached by another stranger--one who claims to be a Hunter. He tells Sean that his attacker was one of the Nephilim; half human spawn of fallen angels who have taken the form of creatures of the night.Even worse, the Hunters believe that the Nephilim will want revenge for killing one of their own.Sean is faced with a bitter reality; the world may not be average, but he is. There is nothing special about him. If he is going to survive, he will have to learn to be more than average.But will it be enough?

After Colin Gordon evicts Hangelore’s Pirates and saves the lamsons from slavery, the Peschal Alliance are desperate for new resources. Pirates raid the Federation’s fringes and explore further afield as Hazilsor searches for his new fiefdom. Word reaches Sankarah of the raids, and Admiral Dalkasan orders Cambridge to send help. Henry Fraser sends Colin with Cambridge’s latest ship and support to help the devastated victims.A Pirate scouting party finds Earth, a world ripe for the picking. Suhmarlin Hazilsor sets out to gain the new world. Hazilsor plans to use Earth to replace his lost base in Hangelore.Meanwhile, the Federation sends Colin on an aggressive search and destroy mission to end the Pirate threat. When he visits Hangelore, it shocks Colin to discover the lamsons erected statues of him in their parks and gardens. Colin makes new friends and solves a long-standing problem for his adopted home. Can he save Earth from Hazilsor?

Colin Gordon is a man on a mission. When Colin is on his way to fulfill a promise to join the Federation Navy his party is attacked by Mercenaries intent on killing him. After loyal troops rescue Colin, the Navy ships him off to Cambridge, the human colony world. He must work undercover to foil a plot to undermine the Federation Navy and then he’s given command of a small but powerful Cobra Class Patrol Boat. While on a patrol with another Cobra, Colin captures and convinces his first Pirate to join the Federation cause. At the same time Colin rescues slaves and stops multiple attacks on a Star System, further cementing his reputation within the Federation. Colin must battle impossible odds against Pirates who are intent on capturing Cambridge and ultimately, he must save the Federation itself.

Originally published in 1827, Roberts’ Guide for Butlers and Other Household Staff was a handbook for servants to perform their duties more efficiently and thoughtfully. Roberts gives a plethora of information about household duties of a butler like:• How to dress suitably for work• Regulations for the dinner table• Directions for cleaning tea trays• Giving Britannia metal a brilliant polish• Preserving fruits for the year• Addressing and behaving properly around your employer• And many more insightsRoberts provides information on how to make the best-tasting lemonade; preserving good wine for years; not passing judgments on the other servants; never letting your master ring the bell for you twice; cleaning dirty tables with a mix of milk, turpentine, and sweet oil; rubbing off rust with salad oil and lime; and other useful tidbits for the curious butler. This is a fascinating look behind the scenes of household help and will delight any nineteenth century enthusiast.

Re-edited: The adventure continues after Colin’s leadership proves pivotal during the defense of Cambridge. The Federation rewards Colin with a promotion and decides it’s time for him to take a break from combat roles. He gathers a team together to help design a new class of warship. Cambridge builds and launches the new vessel, and Colin commands a flotilla during a cruise to Sankarah. During war games, the new ship’s capabilities astound the Navy’s senior leadership. Meanwhile, the Peschal Alliance captures a Federation Admiral. The Navy gives Colin command of a task-force and sends him to rescue her.

'Splendidly readable, fair-minded . . . a story told with pace and drama, the author synthesizes, simplifies and debunks to great effect.' The Observer Cecil Rhodes 'lived only for his schemes and enjoyed life only as a cannon ball enjoys space, travelling to its aim blindly and spreading ruin on its way. He was a great man, no doubt — a man who rendered immense service to his country, but humanity is not much indebted to him.'The time is ripe for a new biography of Cecil Rhodes: the hero of imperialism needs to be seen with the perspective to examine the tremendous changes which have taken place since the British Empire was at its height.This major re-assessment deals with the man, rather than the politics — and shows Rhodes to be ruthless, energetic, idealistic, and very much a product of his time.We see him first as a far from amiable child, the son of a country vicar. As a youth he went to South Africa, where he made a fortune diamond mining. This fortune provided the means to pursue his political ambitions - a crazy dream to put as much red on the map as possible. In fact he only achieved what was to become Northern and Southern Rhodesia. His brutality to the native peoples of Africa, his financial chicanery, his involvement in the farcical Jameson Raid, his suppressed homosexuality, his ideas about racial superiority, and his exaggerated respect for an Oxford education which led to his most lasting memorial — the Rhodes Scholarships — are all covered in this frank biography.About the AuthorBrian Roberts, a distinguished historian and biographer, is an acknowledged expert on African history. His previous books include The Zulu Kings, The Diamond Magnates, Churchills in Africa, and Cecil Rhodes and the Princess.

'Splendidly readable, fair-minded . . . a story told with pace and drama, the author synthesizes, simplifies and debunks to great effect.' The Observer Cecil Rhodes 'lived only for his schemes and enjoyed life only as a cannon ball enjoys space, travelling to its aim blindly and spreading ruin on its way. He was a great man, no doubt — a man who rendered immense service to his country, but humanity is not much indebted to him.' The time is ripe for a new biography of Cecil Rhodes: the hero of imperialism needs to be seen with the perspective to examine the tremendous changes which have taken place since the British Empire was at its height. This major re-assessment deals with the man, rather than the politics — and shows Rhodes to be ruthless, energetic, idealistic, and very much a product of his time. We see him first as a far from amiable child, the son of a country vicar. As a youth he went to South Africa, where he made a fortune diamond mining. This fortune provided the means to pursue his political ambitions - a crazy dream to put as much red on the map as possible. In fact he only achieved what was to become Northern and Southern Rhodesia. His brutality to the native peoples of Africa, his financial chicanery, his involvement in the farcical Jameson Raid, his suppressed homosexuality, his ideas about racial superiority, and his exaggerated respect for an Oxford education which led to his most lasting memorial — the Rhodes Scholarships — are all covered in this frank biography.