Non Fiction Books

Book SynopsisChart your way across continents and oceans built from the stuff of myths and legends and you will pass the winged Pegasus of Ancient Greece, come face to face with Anansi the Spider in West Africa and fly over the powerful Thunderbird of North America. Combining mythology and folklore from all across the globe, this 1000-piece jigsaw enables you to experience the fabled creatures in their places of creation, all from the comfort of your living room.• 1000-PIECE PUZZLE: The 1000-piece fantastical jigsaw puzzle features the world as you''ve never seen it before: a magical place full of mythical creatures!• FUN, COLORFUL ILLUSTRATIONS: Feast your eyes on a the variety of colorful artwork across the mythical world map. Combining mythology and folklore from all across the globe.• POSTER INCLUDED: Includes a keepsake fold out poster with a guide to the illustration.• EASY HANDLING: The 1000 puzzle pieces are thick and sturd

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Book SynopsisChoo-choo! All aboard the Christmas Train Shaped Floor Puzzle from Petit Collage!Your animal friends are headed home for the holidays and having a holly-jolly journey! The lion is making music, the tiger is sharing candy canes, and the cats are finishing up their letters to Santa. But what else can you spot in these merry scenes? How many cups of cocoa can you see? Can you count the decorations on the tree? Connect 30 chunky pieces to complete this lively locomotive and search, find, and count the festive treats in each carriage! The finished floor puzzle measures 6 ft / 1.8 m long and looks spectacular laid out in front of your Christmas tree. Created for ages 3+, piecing together this puzzle develops hand-eye coordination, improves problem-solving skills, and encourages cognitive development. Plus, the extra activities in this jigsaw improve color and shape recognition, numeracy, and counting skills. This shaped floor puzzle is a great way to keep kids entertained throughout the holidays and the perfect Christmas Eve activity to share as a family every year. Made using 75% recycled materials and FSC paper printed with vegetable inks.GIANT PUZZLE FOR KIDS – Choo-choo! All aboard the Christmas Train Shaped Floor Puzzle from Petit Collage! Made for ages 3+, connect 30 chunky pieces to complete this oversized festive floor puzzle, which measures 6 ft / 1.8 m long when finished. MORE THAN A PUZZLE – Search, find, and count the festive treats in each of the ten carriages! Can you spot the socks? And add up the gifts? Keep kids entertained throughout the holidays, and make it your family tradition to complete the puzzle every year. PLAY & DEVELOPMENT – Designed to promote learning through play, piecing together this puzzle furthers hand-eye coordination, problem-solving skills, and cognitive development. The extra activities improve color and shape recognition and counting skills. THOUGHTFULLY DESIGNED – Made using 75% recycled materials and FSC paper printed with vegetable inks. Packaged in a sturdy storage box, it’s easy to play with and then pack away every year. It’s also ready to gift to friends and family this festive season! PETIT COLLAGE – Combining great design with environmentally conscious manufacturing to create toys, puzzles, and games that encourage learning through play. From on-the-go fun to nursery show pieces, our products are playful, creative, and educational.

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Book SynopsisWritten by Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (1201 - 1274), 'The Sultan's Sex Potions is part of a relatively small group of works devoted to aphrodisiacs, as well as sexual stimulants, sexual practices and positions. Written at the request of the ruler the work was intended to be used as a manual.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe 2008 financial crisis was among the worst in history, yet nevertheless offers invaluable lessons. Recorded as the third largest bankruptcy in history, it caused Iceland to experience an instant collapse. Iceland defied the rules of finance; no bailout was attempted, capital movements were restricted, bankers jailed, and creditors fought. Amazingly, although Iceland was hit hardest, it recovered fastest. In The Combat Zone of Finance is an insider’s account told through anecdotes, dialogues and personal stories. The author, Svein Harald Øygard, was offered the job of Central Bank Governor of Iceland just as the crisis struck. He saw how institutions and leaders behaved from inside the system in its deepest crisis. Some made billions; others got burned. Their behaviour, strengths and weaknesses were revealed as in no other country. Øygard analyses these events in the context of financial risks facing the world in 2020; knowledge of which is becoming increasingly relevant.

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Book SynopsisThe LGBT+ community has experienced a stunning development in a short period of time: yesterday marginalized, stigmatized, and criminalized, now champions of creativity, diversity and innovation in a highly competitive world. In addition, corporate social responsibility and ethical demands for inclusivity have become economic directives that every organization would like to attain. The struggle of recognition is not over yet, but in workplaces and markets, gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer individuals have become symbols of diversity and economic power – true GaYme Changers developing the global economy faster and for the better. Illustrated by fascinating stories around individuals, companies, nonprofits and a fast-growing cohort of organizations, Jens Schadendorf has traced the LGBT+ community and an increasing number of their allies from across the globe to discover the start of a revolution. Supported by up-to-date research, he shows that investment in LGBT+ inclusion delivers a powerful return. Always – even in times of hostility, resistance and crisis – it is economically and ethically beneficial for companies and societies and every human being, to let LGBT+ members develop into dynamic forces, rooted in new forms of cooperation and learning for ga(y)me changing results.

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Book SynopsisTravel the globe with one of golf's all-time greats in GaryPlayer's Top Golf Courses of the World. In this guide, nine-time majorchampion and renowned course designer Gary Player shares his personal selectionof 55 unforgettable courses, from the links of Scotland and Ireland to classicAmerican parkland layouts and exotic destinations in Asia, Australia, andAfrica. Organized by course typelinks, parkland, and other unique terrainsincluding ocean, mountain, desert, and bushveldeach one features inspiringphotography, an illustrated course layout, and Player's insightful commentaryhighlighting its special attributes.Whether chosen for heritage and tradition, architecturalbrilliance, or sheer natural beauty, these courses showcase the work oflegendary designers such as Donald Ross, Alister Mackenzie, A.W. Tillinghast,Robert Trent Jones, Jack Nicklaus, and Player himself. With a blend of history,design appreciation, and first-hand experience, Gary Player's Top GolfCourses of the World offers readers a rare insider's look at the challengesand pleasures of playing the world's greatest courses. A must-read for golferswho relish testing their skills against the elements, terrain, and masterfulcourse design.

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Book Synopsis(Edition updated in 2019) MICHELIN zoom map Valencia is the ideal travel companion to fully explore the Spanish city and its surrounding areas thanks to its easy-to-use format and its scale of 1/150,000. The Zoom collection are characterized by the high precision of their detailed scale, specially adapted for very touristy areas or with a high density road network, including new developments and industrial areas. In addition to clarity, reliability and up-to-date information, all Michelin cartography features include a wealth of practical information: places and monuments of tourist interest, picturesque tours, areas for sports and leisure activities ... Useful plans of cities and a practical index of localities. Also the maps contain places of interest and signposting of tracks for bicycles and green-ways. MICHELIN ZOOM MAPS are perfect to discover major tourist areas, with a high level of details in an easy to use format. They nicely complement our Michelin Guides and include: * Various leisure activities, such as water parks, tourist trains, horse racing, etc * Scenic routes and tourist sights crossed referenced with the famous Michelin's Green Guides * Camping sites information from Michelin's Camping Guides * Hotel information from the world famous MICHELIN Guides

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Book Synopsis''This is probably the best book ever written on the Habsburgs in any language, certainly the best I have ever read ... Students, scholars and the general reader will never find a better guide to Habsburg history'' Alan Sked, Times Literary SupplementIn The Habsburgs, Martyn Rady tells the epic story of a dynasty and the world it built - and then lost - over nearly a millennium.From modest origins, the Habsburgs grew in power to gain control of the Holy Roman Empire in the fifteenth century. Then, in just a few decades, their possessions rapidly expanded to take in a large part of Europe stretching from Hungary to Spain, and from the Far East to the New World. The family continued to dominate Central Europe until the catastrophe of the First World War.With its seemingly disorganized mass of large and small territories, its tangle of laws and privileges and its medley of languages, the Habsburg Empire has always appeared haphazard and incomplete. But here Martyn Rady shows the reasons for the family''s incredible endurance, driven by the belief that they were destined to rule the world as defenders of the Roman Catholic Church, guarantors of peace and patrons of learning. The Habsburg emperors were themselves absurdly varied in their characters - from warlords to contemplatives, from clever to stupid, from idle to frenzied - but all driven by the same sense of family mission. Scattered around the world, countless buildings, institutions and works of art continue to bear witness to their overwhelming impact.The Habsburgs is the definitive history of a remarkable dynasty that, for better or worse, shaped Europe and the world.Trade ReviewThis is probably the best book ever written on the Habsburgs in any language, certainly the best I have ever read ... a brilliant achievement. Students, scholars and the general reader will never find a better guide to Habsburg history. No one will ever again know as much about the subject as Rady. -- Alan Sked * Times Literary Supplement *Riveting ... It is impossible to imagine a more erudite and incisive history of this fascinating, flawed and ultimately tragic dynasty. -- Paul Lay * The Times *In The Habsburgs, Martyn Rady has produced a Rolls-Royce of a narrative that motors through ten centuries of history with an effortlessness that belies the intellectual horsepower beneath the bonnet ... The vast cast of characters is depicted with a mix of insight, sympathy and astringent Gibbonian wit that makes them instantly memorable ... [Rady's] book sheds light on the present almost as brightly as it illuminates the past. -- John Adamson * Literary Review *Magnificent ... Rady maintains unerring poise as he steers through the depths and complexities of his material. His erudition seems effortless, he never gets bogged down in detail, his prose is pellucid, and he spices the narrative with delightfully dry asides and telling anecdotes. -- Rupert Christiansen * Daily Telegraph *Rady restores the Habsburgs to the heart of European history ... An enjoyable, clever and colourful introduction to the subject, with plenty of memorable details. -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *The Habsburgs are a writer's gift, offering a regal cast of mad, colourful and deeply flawed characters ... Rady's sparkling study is certainly a good place to start. -- Mark Mazower * Financial Times *This volume takes it all in. That Mr. Rady can, in under 350 pages, cover everything from the division of the family's lands in the Swiss Argau in 990 to the surrender of power in 1918 by Charles, the last Habsburg monarch, without sacrificing essential details or losing the reader's attention, is a feat of both scholarship and storytelling. -- A. Wess Mitchell * Wall Street Journal *An ambitious, wide-ranging, briskly written narrative that crams a vast amount of often surprising information into twenty-nine dense but very readable chapters. -- Ritchie Robertson * Times Literary Supplement *Lucid and entertaining ... Rady is as good on the Habsburgs' artistic and cultural legacy as he is on the politics. -- David Crane * The Spectator *This panoramic account manages to make more sense of the European dynasty than its rulers often did. -- John Gallagher * The Guardian *The Habsburgs is gripping, colorful, and dramatic but also concise, scholarly, and magisterial ... Revealing a key player in world history for almost a thousand years, The Habsburgs is a chronicle of high politics and family intimacy involving religion, murder, incest, madness, suicide, assassination. History on an epic scale! -- Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of THE ROMANOVS and JERUSALEM: THE BIOGRAPHYIt's staggering how much of the continent we recognise today is the result of the machinations of one family, much of it inbred and with really weird chins, and Rady manages to condense the story into one pacy and highly readable account of generations of chancers, liars, political masterminds, battlefield heroes and ruthless schemers who shaped Europe for centuries. -- Charlie Connelly * New European *The Habsburgs were once Europe's foremost royal family. Rady tells their story with verve and authority, casting a curious eye over their eccentricities and peccadilloes while all the time revealing their extraordinary influence and global vision. A fascinating read! -- Alexander Watson, author of THE FORTRESS and RING OF STEELA tour de force. Thorough, accessible, and resolutely erudite, this is the volume that this vitally important subject so desperately needed. Martyn Rady should be congratulated. -- Roger Moorhouse, author of POLAND 1939: THE OUTBREAK OF WORLD WAR IIMartyn Rady has written a splendid account of the grandest old dynasty of Europe: the Habsburgs. With wit and firm opinion, he takes the reader on something akin to a tour of the Wunderkammer of the dynasty's many-centuries-long career. Including vampires, an empress's waist size, and cocaine-laced health drinks, Rady's narrative glitters with apt quotes and telling, often ironic details. -- Steven Beller, author of THE HABSBURG MONARCHY 1815-1918This profile of the Habsburgs is concerned as much with the personal as it is the political. It is a tale of survival, from modest origins to control of an empire and, finally, twentieth-century catastrophe. * History Revealed *This is a first global history of Europe's most famous and durable dynasty, chronicling its exploits with great panache over nearly a millennium of rule across wide swathes of the continent and beyond. His text is accessible and entertaining, his ready wit providing a delectable counterpoint to the notorious humourlessness of so many of the dynasts he examines. -- Robert Evans, Regius Professor of History Emeritus at the University of OxfordAn engaging combination of fast-flowing narrative and insightful analysis. -- Tony Barber * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisWhether you’re learning alone or attending classes, you’ll find this complete Russian language course for beginners both accessible and indispensable. Designed to provide the student with an excellent command of basic Russian (the equivalent of A’ level standard) the book features thirty lessons punctuated by revision exercises to ensure you have fully understood what you have learned. The emphasis is on acquiring vocabulary, experiencing conversational language and learning useful grammar. The book also includes a vocabulary of 1,500 words and a glossary of grammatical terms.Table of ContentsThe New Penguin Russian CourseIntroductionAcknowledgments1. Learning to Read RussianAlphabet and Pronunciation; Transliteration; Street Signs2. Russian Handwriting; More on Pronunciation 3. Everyday Phrases; Basic GrammarNaming Things; Basic Grammar; Gender; Map of Russia4. Doing Things - Verbs; Personal Pronouns Present Tense; Conjugations; Word Stress; Nouns and Cases; Conversation in the Metro5. Asking Questions; The Prepositional Case Indeclinable Nouns; Dialogues6. Possession; Going Places; The Accusative Case Russian Personal Names; Dialogues7. Describing Things: Adjectives Masculine, Feminine and Neuter Adjectives; "What kind of...?"; "This" and "That"; Prepositional and Accusative Cases of Adjectives; Adverbs; Moscow Street Map8. Plurals; Spelling Rules; Buying Things Spelling Rule 1; "Is There...?"; Spelling Rule 2; Map of Europe9. Numbers; The Genitive Case 1-5,000; Genitive Singular and Plural; Quantities; Roubles and Dollars; Buying Things; Street Market10. "To Have"; More on the Genitive Genitive Pronouns; "There Isn't"; Prepositions Taking the Genitive; Genitive of Adjectives; "Whether"; Dialogues11. The Past; Reflexive Verbs The Founding of St. Petersburg12. The Future; Aspect; The Dative Case Imperfective and Perfective; "To Want"; Dative; "To Give"; "To Please"; Spelling Rules 3 and 4; Prepositional Plural; In the Restaurant; Visiting Friends13. Aspect in the Past; Use of Tenses Aspect of the Infinitive; Reported Speech; More about "Whether"; Dialogue14. Aspect in the Future; Impersonal Constructions Dialogue15. Requests and the Imperative Summary of Aspect Use; Two Lost Tourists; Phoning a Bureaucrat16. The Instrumental Case TOT and TÓT; Declension of Surnames; A Family at Home; Volodia and the KGB17. Time, Date, Age; Ordinal Numbers Months; Years; The Daily Life of Chaikovskii (Tchaikovsky)18. The Comparative; Superlatives; Relative Clauses with ("Who," "Which"); Victor Wants to Meet Mary; Siberian Superlatives; Map of Siberia19. The Conditional; Obligation; Prefixes Mary Seeks an Absent-Minded Professor20. Verbs of Motion: Going, Running, Bringing Travelling Around; Tania in Motion21. Possession; Purpose Mr. Thornwaite Doesn't Like His Hotel; Was Turgenev a Revolutionary?22. Fun with Numbers Declension of Numbers; "Both"; Collective Numerals; Fractions; Soviet Divorce Statistics23. Time Expressions "When?"; "How Long?"; Vadim and Eva; Mr. Kuznetsov and Mr. Pope24. Negation; Place of He Nothing, Nobody, Never; A Pineapple, but No Bananas25. Diminutives; Proper Names; Politeness "The Fox and the Rolling-Pin"26. Indefinite Pronouns; Word Order; Writing Letters A Letter to Mrs. Pope27. Participles: Types and Stress A Classic Film28. Verbal Adverbs Peter the Great; A Recipe for Mushroom Solianka29. "Bookish" Style; Active Participles; Punctuation; Short-Form Adjectives Vladivostok; The Winter Palace30. Abbreviations; Names of Russian Letters; Particles A Complete Chekhov Story; Fat and ThinGrammatical TablesThe Four Spelling RulesRussian-English VocabularyEnglish-Russian VocabularyKey to Exercises and Translation of TextsGlossary of Grammatical TermsIndex

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Book SynopsisThere are many stories we can tell about the past, and we are not, perhaps, as free as we might imagine in our choice of which stories to tell, or where those stories end. John Arnold''s Very Short Introduction is a stimulating essay about how we study and understand history. The book begins by inviting us to think about various questions provoked by our investigation of history, and explores the ways these questions have been answered in the past. Concepts such as causation, interpretation, and periodization, are introduced by means of concrete examples of how historians work, giving the reader a sense of the excitement of discovering not only the past, but also ourselves.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Table of Contents1. QUESTIONS ABOUT MURDER AND HISTORY; 2. THE HISTORY OF HISTORY; 3. WHAT REALLY HAPPENED: TRUTH, ARCHIVES, AND THE LOVE OF OLD THINGS; 4. ESCAPES FROM THE TOWER; 5. CAUSATION AND INTERPRETATIONS; 6. TELLING STORIES, TELLING TALES; 7. PERIODIZATION AND TIME; 8. OBJECTIVITY, TRUTH, AND JUDGEMENT; 9. THE ROLE OF THE PAST IN THE PRESENT; FURTHER READING; INDEX

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Book SynopsisAn elegant reference guide to the meaning of plants in art and life. From early Egyptian reverence for the acacia and the lotus, to the Victorian language of flowers and the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe, we have long sought meaning in nature. Significance has often been ascribed to particular plants, referencing their uses as food or medicine, their associations with saints and heroes, or more abstract or aesthetic qualities like fortitude, beauty and strength. Weaving together botany, mythology, folklore, religious texts, and centuries of art and literature, this richly illustrated, elegant reference guide engages the cultural significance and underlying meanings of over fifty plants. Each entry is accompanied by a work of art or botanical illustration, bringing together the world of art and plants in an elegant and seamless fashion and deepening our understanding of how plants have been used by artists in the past and what they mean to us today. This is the ideal reference volume for the artistically inspired botanist as well as a pleasure to read and leaf through.

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Book Synopsis'YUNG PUEBLO IS THE REAL DEAL - A MODERN SAGE AND GUIDING LIGHT' - VEX KINGThe #1 New York Times bestselling author of Lighter offers a blueprint for deepening your compassion, kindness and gratitude so you can truly grow in harmony with another person and build stronger connections in all your relationships. 'Personal transformation that is grounded in self-love and has greater inner peace as the goal will naturally teach you how to love better. Seeing yourself clearly opens the door to compassion for yourself and for other people.'Love enters our lives in many forms: friends, family, intimate partners. But all of these relationships are deeply influenced by the love we have for ourselves. If we see our relationships as opportunities to be fully present in our healing and learn to love one another better, then, Yung Pueblo assures us, we can transform and meet one another with compassion instead of judgment. In How to Love Better, Yung Pueblo examines all aspects of relationships, from the rose-coloured early days when you may be hesitant to show your full self, to the challenges that can arise without clear communication, to dealing with heartbreak and healing as you close a chapter of your life. The power of looking inward remains at the core of Yung Pueblo's teachings. Ego and attachment can become barriers in a relationship, so the more self-aware you become, the more you can support both your partner and yourself. Yung Pueblo's insights on embracing change, building a foundation of honesty, and learning to listen selflessly will resonate regardless of where you are in your healing journey. And his unique combination of poetry, personal experience and thoughtful advice will help you grow and strengthen all of your relationships.

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Book SynopsisFiona Watt is an Editorial Director and writer at Usborne Publishing. She graduated from Exeter University with a Bachelor of Education in Art and Design. She taught for three years at a primary school in Kent, before spending two years at a British school in The Netherlands. She started working at Usborne in 1989 and has written and edited hundreds of books including baby and novelty, sticker, art and craft, cookery, science and activity books. She has written all the titles in the award-winning THAT'S NOT MY series and many in the highly successful Sticker Dolly Dressing series. She is the sixth biggest-selling UK children's author, with over 10 million of her books sold in the UK since records began.

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Book SynopsisTHE WORLD'S BESTSELLING MBS SERIESThe Crystal Bible has become the world's favourite crystal reference guide, having sold over a million copies. The directory format enables you to find a known crystal instantly or to identify an unknown crystal. It covers the practical and esoteric properties of each stone, including spiritual, mental, psychological, emotional and physical effects, plus its use in crystal healing. Encompassing traditional and contemporary crystal lore, this book draws on Judy Hall's 35 years of experience in this field. It is an indispensable reference for crystal lovers everywhere.Table of ContentsCrystal Reference Crystal Delights Crystal Background Crystal Formation Crystal Decoration Crystal Healing Crystal Selection Crystal Care Crystal Meditation Crystal Directory Crystal Shapes Quick Reference

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Book Synopsis'Wonderfully readable... Emphasises their sheer extraordinariness and celebrates them' MAIL ON SUNDAY. The eldest was a razor-sharp novelist of upper-class manners; the second was loved by John Betjeman; the third was a fascist who married Oswald Mosley; the fourth idolized Hitler and shot herself in the head when Britain declared war on Germany; the fifth was a member of the American Communist Party; the sixth became Duchess of Devonshire. They were the Mitford sisters: Nancy, Pamela, Diana, Unity, Jessica and Deborah. Born into country-house privilege, they became prominent as 'bright young things' in the high society of interwar London. Then, as the shadows crept over 1930s Europe, the stark – and very public – differences in their outlooks came to symbolise the political polarities of a dangerous decade. The intertwined stories of their lives – recounted in masterly fashion by Laura Thompson – hold up a revelatory mirror to upper-class English life before and after World War II.Trade ReviewI was enthralled and charmed by this group biography of all six Mitford sisters, which tells the intertwined stories of their stylish scandalous lives in a fresh and admirably concise way – and with a striking contemporary sensibility too * Bookseller, Editors Choice *Engaging... Thompson's is an astute, highly readable and well assembled book, and she writes with particular intelligence about the sisters' self-mythologising and their ongoing hold on the public imagination' * The Observer *Thompson is marvellous at mapping and explicating the webs or skeins of sibling rivalry [in this] gripping and appalling family saga * The Times *The first book to consider "the whole six-pack" in the post-Mitford age. And what a remarkable story it is... Thompson retells the story with great style and illuminating detail' * The Independent *Thompson has written this book with generosity and delicacy. It is amusing, poignant and perceptive as a portrait of the sisters' long lives and changing times, and of their own apparent inability to change with them * Book Oxygen *A breezy vigorous argument for the sisters' powerful, unrepeatable significance... Thompson combines a subtle understanding of history with enjoyably crisp, tart insights: this is an excellent place either to begin with the Mitfords or proceed with them' * Mail on Sunday *I was captivated by this group biography, which tells the story of the Mitfords' sensational lives in a fresh and concise way * Sunday Express *A wonderful telling of an extraordinary family living in extraordinary times * Yorkshire Gazette & Herald *This is a careful, realistic assessment of their virtues, follies and charm * Daily Mail. *Not the first-ever book about the Mitford sisters - but it might well be the best of the lot' * Reader's Digest. *Thompson's wonderfully readable biography emphasises their sheer extraordinariness and celebrates them * The Mail on Sunday *This book builds rich individual portraits, especially of the unfathomable Diana * TLS *Gives a great insight into the relationship between the sisters as their lives unfold * Irish Independent *It's brilliant on the most fascinating and least explored sister, Diana... A wonderful book' * Mail on Sunday *

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Book Synopsis''One of history''s most impressive field studies; an instant animal classic'' TIMEJane Goodall''s classic account of primate research provides an impressively detailed and absorbing account of the early years of her field study of, and adventures with, chimpanzees in Tanzania, Africa. It is a landmark for everyone to enjoy.

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Book SynopsisHundreds of oversized images of the world''s most spectacular destinations are featured along with service information on the best and most authentic ways to experience them. A candy box full of visual delights, this book will inspire tangible ideas for everyone''s next great trip. National Geographic takes you on a photographic tour of our world in this spellbinding new coffee table travel gift book. Hundreds of Earth''s most breathtaking locales are illustrated with vivid, oversized full-color images taken by Nat Geo''s world-class photographers. These images, coupled with evocative text, feature a plethora of visual wonders: ancient monoliths, scenic islands, stunning artwork, electric cityscapes, white-sand seashores, rain forests, ancient cobbled streets, and both classic and innovative architecture. Loaded with hard service information for each location, Destinations of a Lifetime has it all: when to go, where to eat, where to stay, and what to do to ensure the most enriching andTrade Review“Get ready to add to your bucket list every time you turn the page of this aspirational travel book. Because it’s from National Geographic, you know the photos are breathtaking. The cover alone, with its awe-inspiring image of a historic guesthouse built on a cliff in the Swiss Alps, will have you packing your bag. This is the perfect book to leave on your table as a conversation piece and a place to turn whenever you need a little something to look forward to when we can travel again. Price: $40” –Forbes.com"This breathtaking, 320-page volume, published by National Geographic, contains 250 exquisite color photographs that will either inspire you to see the world or at least give you the opportunity to become the quintessential armchair traveler. It features hundreds of locales around the world, both natural and man-made, including ancient monoliths, scenic islands, white-sand seashores and rain forests. Images taken by some of the world’s premier photographers are accompanied by practical travel information for visitors to each place, including dining and lodging options."—The Wall Street Journal"The world's most desirable holiday destinations—in pictures."—Theguardian.com

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Book SynopsisGenerations of Scots have grown up on recipes using oatmeal, curly kail (cabbage), haddock, potatoes, offal, and soups made with a good ham hough. This book combines traditional, classic recipes with Scottish family favourites - complete with tips - handed down within families to produce a tried and tested working cookbook of 86 recipes. All the recipes are simple and easy-to-follow, and each has an introduction that gives a short history or helpful explanation of origins, or tips on how to make each classic well. Recipes include soups and starters, game, meat, and vegetables, fish, and shellfish, bread, baking, and desserts and puddings, using dairy, cereal and soft fruit produce. Elderberry wine, rhubarb and ginger jam, roast leg of Scotch lamb with fresh rosemary and floury potatoes. Other staples include lentil soup, Scotch broth, steak pie, stovies, haggis, pan-cooked pheasant, steamed pudding with Drambuie syrup, pancakes, fruit loaf, potato scones, shortbread, macaroon bars, tablet, marmalade, Clyde valley chutney and Gaelic coffee.

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Book Synopsis"A fascinating cultural history" (People) of how Japan adopted and ultimately revived traditional American fashion A strange thing has happened over the last two decades: the world has come to believe that the most "authentic" American garments are those made in Japan. From high-end denim to oxford button-downs, Japanese brands such as UNIQLO, Kamakura Shirts, Beams, and Kapital have built their global businesses by creating the highest-quality versions of classic American casual garments-a style known in Japan as ametora, or "American traditional."In Ametora, cultural historian W. David Marx traces the Japanese assimilation of American fashion over the past 150 years. Now updated with a new afterword covering the last decade, Ametora shows how Japanese trendsetters and entrepreneurs mimicked, adapted, imported, and ultimately perfected American style, dramatically reshaping not only Japan's culture but also our own.

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Book SynopsisCook and eat the Italian way, with 100 fresh, wholesome and delicious vegetarian recipes. World-renowned chef Theo Randall shares his 10 favourite vegetables and reveals the best ways to cook with them through 100 fabulous recipes covering Aubergines, Zucchini, Asparagus, Artichokes, Mushrooms, Broccoli, Tomatoes, Beans, Squash and Potatoes. From simple pasta dishes to more extravagant dinners for when you have people over, you’ll delight in Theo’s take on the very best of Italian home cooking. Packed with flavour and stunning photography, this is an essential cookbook and a modern take on the best of Italian ingredients and vegetarian home cooking.

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Book SynopsisLearn Italian in no time with Paul Noble''s tried-and-tested method.Ever tried to learn Italian and found it too hard? Bestselling language coach Paul Noble has a quick and easy way to get you back on track with his unique tried-and-tested method. Keeps things simple with three basic rules; don't skip anything, don't try to memorise anything and cover up to test yourself. A fun, jargon-free way to learn Easy-to-understand Italian pronunciation PROVEN to work; Paul can teach anyone a language, even people who think they're incapablePaul's course teaches you how to speak Italian more effectively, giving you the building blocks to form a huge range of conversations. This is a practical way to learn the aspects of language that you'll actually need and use; from booking a hotel room to navigating a menu, Paul will effortlessly build your confidence and give you the tools to handle any holiday situation. You will unlock a range of vocabulary you already know.There is nothing so complicated in foreign languages that it cannot be made simple. Paul NobleA quick, easy and fun way to unlock your basic language skills. Perfect for beginners, this book will give you all the information you need to build basic conversations and get by on your travels.Trade Review“More than I ever managed in five years of French at school.” Tom Meltzer, The Guardian

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Book SynopsisThe Desert Fathers were the first Christian monks, living in solitude in the deserts of Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. In contrast to the formalised and official theology of the founding fathers of the church, the Desert Fathers were ordinary Christians who chose to renounce the world and live lives of celibacy, fasting, vigil, prayer and poverty in direct and simple response to the gospel. Their sayings were first recorded in the 4th century and consist of spiritual advice, anecdotes and parables. The Desert Fathers'' teachings and lives have inspired poetry, opera and art, as well as providing spiritual nourishment and a template for monastic life.Table of ContentsThe Desert FathersIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on the Text1. Progress in Perfection2. Quiet3. Compunction4. Self-Control5. Lust6. Possessing Nothing7. Fortitude8. Nothing Done for Show9. Non-Judgement10. Discretion11. Sober Living12. Unceasing Prayer13. Hospitality14. Obedience15. Humility16. Patience17. Charity18. VisionsSome Names from the Text

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Book SynopsisJoyful, life-affirming, greedy. I loved it' DIANA HENRYWhether you are an avid cyclist, a Francophile, a greedy gut, or simply an appreciator of impeccable writing this book will get you hooked' YOTAM OTTOLENGHIThe nation's taster in chief' cycles 2,300 km across France in search of the definitive versions of classic French dishes.Agreen bike drunkenly weaves its way up a cratered hill inthe late-morning sun, the gears grinding painfully, like apepper mill running on empty. The rider crouched on top in arictus of pain has slowed to a gravity-defying crawl when, fromsomewhere nearby, the whine of a nasal engine breaks through her ragged breathing.A battered van appears behind her, the customary cigarettedangling from its driver's-side window as he passes, she casually reaches down for some water,smiling broadly in the manner of someone having almost toomuch fun. No sweat,' she says jauntily to his retreating exhaustpipe. Pas de problème, monsieur.'A land of glorious landscapes, and eTrade Review‘Whether you are an avid cyclist, a Francophile, a greedy gut, or simply an appreciator of impeccable writing – this book will get you hooked. Felicity Cloake’s Tour de France is a triumph. It is full of greed and wit, jam-packed with priceless practical information, peppered with a sense of adventure and wonder. I love it.’ Yotam Ottolenghi ‘Such a brilliant book, funny, captivating and wonderfully written. I feel like I was packed up in Felicity's pannier for the ride.’ Anna Jones ‘An evocative, infectious, and at times utterly hilarious adventure that will make every food lover, and even the most lapsed of cyclists, want to jump on their bike, and on a ferry to France, immediately.’ Rosie Birkett ‘Cloake imbues [One More Croissant] with such personality and wit that it makes you wonder if the rest of us have forgotten that writing about food should be fun.’ FT Weekend ‘Her bluffer’s guide to French bread told me more on one page than I’ve learnt frequenting boulangeries in the six years I’ve lived [in France].’ Country Life ‘Funny, entertaining and informative, this is a book that makes you hungry, both for a good meal and for a visit across the Channel.’ Delicious Magazine ‘A gastronomic grand tour’ Red Magazine ‘Pure delight from first page to last, as if Elizabeth David was whispering one ear and MFK Fisher in the other. Felicity Cloake is the perfect travelling companion – curious, funny, philosophical, and, best of all, imperishably greedy. She writes with self-deprecating humour and evocative grace. This is the best kind of travel and food book – It makes you dream of doing the same.’ Matthew Fort 'A highly entertaining, tough-minded and enchanting book where the spirit of freewheeling travel writing is grounded perfectly with Felicity's sure-fire recipes. I had great trouble putting it down.’ Caroline Eden

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Book SynopsisA passionate advocate of craftsmanship over mass-production, William Morris (1834 1896) designed a huge variety of objects, but it is his highly original carpet, fabric and wallpaper patterns that have continued to capture the imagination and exert their influence on the decorative arts. Around 600 such designs are attributed to Morris, of which the vast majority are based on natural forms, including trees, plants and flowers. This beautifully designed, accessibly priced gift book offers a wealth of designs by Morris in which flowers are the principal motif, bringing together not only completed patterns but also working drawings in pen and watercolour, and examples of his pearwood, floral-pattern printing blocks. It also explores examples of the sources that inspired Morris's flower-based designs: his own gardens at the Red House in Kent, Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire and elsewhere; 16th- and 17th-century herbals; illuminated medieval manuscripts; late medieval and Renaissance tapestries; and a range of decorated objects, particularly from the Islamic world, that Morris studied at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A). Authored by Rowan Bain, curator at the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, north London, and lavishly illustrated with almost 100 colour illustrations, this exquisite book will both inform and delightTrade Review'Lavishly illustrated' - Leisure Painter'A key inspiration for contemporary designers, the patterns of William Morris are timeless' - Homes & Antiques'Truly magnificent' - Elle

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Book SynopsisGet It Right: Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar provides an accessible introduction to the basics of spelling, punctuation and grammar for 11-14 year old students. This series offers a comprehensive package of teaching and practice in one and focuses on what students need to know to write fluently and accurately, as well as helping to prepare students for the demands of further English study. Each workbook also has a clear focus on grammar in context; the contextualised activities encourage students to apply grammar knowledge to their analysis of a range of carefully-selected, engaging source texts.Get It Right: Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar Workbook 2 builds on Workbook 1 and is the ideal resource for students'' taking their next steps in understanding spelling, punctuation and grammar.

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 PEN ACKERLEY PRIZE'An intense, succulent read that's intermittently dazzling' THE TIMES'Chilling, exquisitely moving' DAILY TELEGRAPH'A superb memoir - and one of the best books on addiction I have ever read' EVENING STANDARDA. A. Gill's memoir begins in the dark of a dormitory with six strangers. He is an alcoholic, dying in the last-chance saloon. He tells the truth - as far as he can remember it - about drinking and about what it is like to be drunk. He recalls the lost days, lost friends, failed marriages ... But there was also an 'optimum inebriation, a time when it was all golden'.Sobriety regained, there are painterly descriptions of people and places, unforgettable musings about childhood and family, art and religion; and most movingly, the connections between his cooking, dyslexia and his missing brother. Full of raw and unvarnished truths, exquisitely written throughout, POUR ME is about lost time and self-discovery. Lacerating, unflinching, uplifting, it is a classic about drunken abandon.Trade Review'His mind, officially measured as off the Mensa scale, is an object of wonder. But it swivels everywhere like a dropped high-pressure hosepipe . . . Gill is explosive. God knows what a frightening thing he must have been in drink. He is bad enough as a dry drunk, the kind of sober person who gets thrown out of restaurants (in his case, Gordon Ramsay's). But the end of the book dwells on a recently evolved philanthropic side to Gill's character. He has become very anxious about the world. He travels to awful places, eloquently and genuinely compassionate with the suffering he witnesses there ... One deduces that he has transcended his suffering but he now has a hypersensitive sympathy with the suffering of others. A A Gill is 61, 30 years sober and surviving. Those who admire him (and I am one) will not merely read him over the years to come but follow him wherever he is now going. It will, one guesses, be an interesting journey' -- John Sutherland * NEW STATESMAN *'A.A. Gill, the man who makes a living getting beneath the skin of things, whether it's television, restaurants or places round the world - has skinned himself ... The funny, curious, sad and often sodden stories are told using combinations of words and ideas that shouldn't be friends, but hold hands at the behest of Gill, like a circus master with a comma for a whip. This is a book full of darkness, laughs and dark laughs. Personal truths by a man whose love of language is ultimately the protagonist' * VANITY FAIR *'[Gill] writes passionately and movingly about his struggle with dyslexia; disarmingly and defensively about his lifelong feelings of intellectual insecurity; evocatively about his relationships with his parents and the disappearance of his brother . . . stirringly about his love of journalism . . . It might not all be beautiful; it might not all be true. But that does little to diminish the pleasure to be found in its story' -- Matthew Adams * INDEPENDENT *'Fluent, cocky and dense with gags . . . he is a brilliant raconteur, and a gifted satirist of place and person. He is also, perhaps through a history of AA meetings (those initials are well chosen), unafraid to take risks of self-exposure. The baroque debauchery of his drinking days gives way to frank and often moving examinations of his growing up . . . his loves and lusts and marriages, and his own efforts at fatherhood: the role that has done most to keep him sober' -- Tim Adams * OBSERVER *'As readers of Gill's journalism will expect, Pour Me is alert, emphatic, mordant, unforgiving. It is often moving, but never tries to be likeable. Honesty about alcoholism is not its chief attraction. It is a full-blooded retrospective by a man aged 61, who has travelled in remote and dangerous places, and has considered most human possibilities. He apologises for his book being insufficiently amusing ("it's about me, and I'm not really funny"), but his gallows comedy gives a hefty kick, many sections are beautifully droll, and some scenes are hilarious' -- Richard Davenport-Hines * SUNDAY TIMES *'In this chilling, exquisitely moving book, Gill defines the seductive, addictive and destructive power of drink . . . Gill's trademark is slamming the truth down hard on the page. It is his honesty that accounts for the intensity of this haunting memoir . . . and although he says this is not a funny book, it is . . . there are meditative passages of beauty here . . . A book that began by discussing lost time becomes one of recovered time, of a new way of life that is worth not only living but also celebrating' -- Juliet Nicolson * DAILY TELEGRAPH *'It's an intense, succulent read that's intermittently dazzling - 250 pages about a young life nullified by anxiety and addiction and not one cliche, each sentence earning its keep. Gill's regular readers might expect that but his willingness to expose his deepest insecurities, his apparent belief that, even now, he's an imposter, method-acting being normal, makes him newly vulnerable . . . There's no triumphant, teary-eyed conclusion: Gill says he's still no clearer on whether he drank because he was anxious and depressed or that he was anxious and depressed because he drank. As he says, it probably doesn't matter. What he knows is that for all his success now, he will always mourn the blackout of those years, the prime decade of his life just a cigar box of dog-eared postcards and incoherent memories. The saddest thing of all, it turns out, is absence' -- Carol Midgley * THE TIMES *'Pour Me, Gill's sweet-sour memoir of his drinking days and subsequent reform . . . is a delight. In pages of well-turned anecdote, Gill chronicles a rackety life made good. The book is nicely designed, moreover, and I liked the discussions of, among other things, the difficulties of parenting and marriage in late middle age' -- Ian Thomson * SPECTATOR *'This tonic memoir is the absolute works . . . As an autobiographer, A.A. Gill is unhampered by introspection. He observes his former self from without, dispassionately, unsparingly, as if grimacing at some squalid exhibit in memory's museum, an exhibit from a different age that has little to do with the successful, prolific sexagenarian journalist and random stirrer. Indeed he's promiscuously interested in just about everything save himself. The scope of his knowledge is phenomenal . . . His descriptive prose is polychromatic and specific. He is impatient with 'impressionistic' approximations . . . He judges neither himself nor others . . . The aberrant behaviour, the bodily dysfunctions, the wondering how you ended up here, with these people you have never seen before - all this is recalled with impeccably grim comic timing' -- Jonathan Meades * COUNTRY LIFE *'A superb memoir - and one of the best books on addiction I have ever read . . . beautifully written. Gill describes many things - people, works of art, parts of London - wonderfully well. He says he wanted to be an artist. He is - with words' -- William Leith * EVENING STANDARD *'Pour Me by the jounalist A.A. Gill is a sour-sweet memoir of his alcoholism and its attendant woes. Gill's early years of drinking brought only a squalid self-denial and low self-esteem; liquor had got him well and truly licked. Often funny, the book is dedicated to the "friends of Bill", after the Bill Wilson who, in 1935, co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous' * THE TABLET *'Funny, infuriating and moving' * CATHOLIC HERALD *'The restaurant and television critic defines the seductive power of drink in this amusing, exquisitely moving memoir about alcoholism, full of riffs and detours, from Gill's parents' affairs while he was a child to his own first shaky detox days. His verbal dexterity is all the more remarkable for his dyslexia, the "wordcurdling" from which he has suffered since he was a schoolboy' * DAILY TELEGRAPH *'A.A. Gill's new memoir Pour Me is a prodigiously well-penned tale of addiction, misery, shame and rehabilitation - sometimes pompous, sometimes self-lacerating, but always unflinching and gripping' * MR HYDE *'A.A. Gill hangs his ferociously entertaining autobiography on his youthful spell as an alcoholic . . . with grimly comic scenes from bars and clubs, and confused fragments in between blackouts, garishly lit by guilt and shame . . . But Pour Me is more than an extended act of "sharing" at an AA meeting . . . He also writes about many aspects of his life that are much more interesting than his drinking, such as his family . . . He writes brilliantly about art - in a superb account of Gericault's 'Raft of the Medusa', for example - as he does about anything he turns his hand to, most surprisingly the plight of refugees. He has a terrific relish for simile . . . His favourite is "like a slap", which is what his writing is like; that or an electric shock: in any case, always stimulating' -- Lewis Jones * THE OLDIE *'Gill's memoir, Pour Me, focuses on his alcoholism and recovery from an earlier exclusive view of his own mortality. Like all his writings it combines a willingness to say the unsayable, and an intention to say it colourfully . . . it evokes a character of fearless intelligence, determined to find out everything for himself, and happy to tweak sensibilities along the way' -- David Horspool * TLS *

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Book Synopsis'[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion.' – Kwasi Kwarteng, Sunday TimesIn this vital re-examination of a shared history, historian and broadcaster David Olusoga tells the rich and revealing story of the long relationship between the British Isles and the people of Africa and the Caribbean. This edition, fully revised and updated, features a new chapter encompassing the Windrush scandal and the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, events which put black British history at the centre of urgent national debate. Black and British is vivid confirmation that black history can no longer be kept separate and marginalised. It is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation and it belongs to us all.Drawing on new genealogical research, original records, and expert testimony, Black and British reaches back to Roman Britain, the medieval imagination, Elizabethan ‘blackamoors’ and the global slave-trading empire. It shows that the great industrial boom of the nineteenth century was built on American slavery, and that black Britons fought at Trafalgar and in the trenches of both World Wars. Black British history is woven into the cultural and economic histories of the nation. It is not a singular history, but one that belongs to us all.Unflinching, confronting taboos, and revealing hitherto unknown scandals, Olusoga describes how the lives of black and white Britons have been entwined for centuries.Winner of the 2017 PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize.Winner of the Longman History Today Trustees’ Award.A Waterstones History Book of the Year.Longlisted for the Orwell Prize.Shortlisted for the inaugural Jhalak Prize.Trade ReviewYou could not ask for a more judicious, comprehensive and highly readable survey of a part of British history that has been so long overlooked or denied. David Olusoga, in keeping with the high standards of his earlier books, is a superb guide. -- Adam HochschildGroundbreaking. * Observer *[A] comprehensive and important history of black Britain . . . Written with a wonderful clarity of style and with great force and passion. It is thoroughly researched and there are many interesting anecdotes. -- Kwasi Kwarteng * The Sunday Times *A radical reappraisal of the parameters of history, exposing lacunae in the nation’s version of its past. -- Arifa Akbar * Guardian *A thrilling tale of excavation -- Colin Grant * Guardian *[Olusoga] has discovered new and exciting research materials . . . Such sources give his writing freshness, originality and compassion . . . [Black and British] will inspire and will come to be seen as a major effort to address one of the greatest silences in British historiography -- David Dabydeen * New Statesman *Lucid and accessible. * Herald Scotland *Olusoga's account challenges narrow visions of Britain's past. By tracing the triangulated connections between Britain, America and Africa, he presents black British history in global terms [...] His subjects, even those who barely figure in the historical record, appear as individuals who matter, both in their own right and as historical exemplars. * The London Review of Books *An insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain . . . Rich in detail and packed with strong personalities, this is an important contribution to our understanding of life in the UK. * History Revealed *An insightful, inclusive history of black people in Britain which is rich in detail and packed with strong, interesting characters. -- Stephanie Yeboah * GQ *Ambitious . . . Long overdue -- Hakim Adi * Spectator *Olusoga has single-handedly over recent years forced our forgotten history on the agenda . . . Written with an urgency it is a thrilling and engaging read. * Nigerian Watch *An erudite exploration of racism and how it continues to mutate . . . it is exhilarating to read a fine mind at work. -- Cathy Rentzenbrink * Guardian *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Preface Introduction - iii: ‘Years of Distant Wandering’ Chapter - One: ‘Sons of Ham’ Chapter - Two: ‘Blackamoors’ Chapter - Three: ‘For Blacks or Dogs’ Chapter - Four: ‘Too Pure an Air for Slaves' Chapter - Five: ‘Province of Freedom’ Chapter - Six: ‘The Monster is Dead’ Chapter - Seven: Moral Mission Chapter - Eight: ‘Liberated Africans’ Chapter - Nine: ‘Cotton is King' Chapter - Ten: ‘Mercy in a Massacre' Chapter - Eleven: ‘Darkest Africa’ Chapter - Twelve: ‘We are a Coloured Empire' Chapter - Thirteen: ‘We Prefer their Company' Chapter - Fourteen: ‘Swamped' Section - iv: Conclusion Acknowledgements - v: Acknowledgements Section - vi: Bibliography Section - vii: Notes Index - viii: Index

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Book SynopsisIn 299 Dogs (and a cat), a cunning cluster puzzle, there are no regular jigsaw shapes and a whole lot of canines! Have you got what it takes to assemble all 299 dogs into a perfect puzzle? A great game for avid puzzlers, families, kids and pet lovers alike - it will provide hours of fun!The follow-up to 299 Cats (and a dog), (shortlisted for the 2021 Gift of The Year Awards!)A JIGSAW WITH A TWIST: no two shapes are the same, and each piece is a dog (except for one that''s a cat. See if you can find it!)HOURS OF MADDENING FUN. Have you got what it takes to assemble all 299 dogs into a perfect puzzle?CHARMING ILLUSTRATIONS by Léa MaupetitSTURDY & ATTRACTIVE BOX perfect for gifting and storage

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