Search results for ""shelter""
HarperCollins Publishers Angel's Peak (A Virgin River Novel, Book 9)
A Netflix original series Can you fall in love with the same man twice? Four years ago, Franci Duncan and Sean Riordan reached an impasse. She wanted marriage and a family. He did not. So Franci left. But Sean has settled down in spite of himself—he’s not the arrogant pilot he was, and when a chance meeting proves their sizzling chemistry hasn’t cooled, he wants them to try again. After all, they have a history. But that’s not all they share… Franci’s secret reason for walking away when Sean refused to commit is now three and a half: a beautiful little girl, who shares her daddy’s emerald-green eyes. Sean is stunned—and furious with Franci for the deception. News travels fast in Virgin River and soon the whole town is taking sides. Rebuilding their trust could take a small miracle but if they can it could be the start of a whole new beginning for this unexpected family. Check out the rest of the Virgin River series! Book 1: Mel and Jack’s story! Virgin RiverBook 2: Preacher and Paige's story! Shelter MountainBook 3: Whispering RockBook 4: A Virgin River ChristmasBook 5: Second Chance PassBook 6: Temptation RidgeBook 7: Paradise ValleyBook 8: Forbidden FallsBook 9: Angel's PeakBook 10: Moonlight RoadBook 11: Promise CanyonBook 12: Wild Man CreekBook 13: Harvest MoonBook 14: Bring Me Home for ChristmasBook 15: Hidden SummitBook 16: Redwood BendBook 17: Sunrise PointBook 18: My Kind of ChristmasBoom 19: Return to Virgin RiverBook 20: ´Tis the Season
£10.45
Simon & Schuster Fox Creek: A Novel
The New York Times bestselling Cork O’Connor Mystery Series returns with this “genuinely thrilling and atmospheric novel” (The New York Times Book Review) as Cork races against time to save his wife, a mysterious stranger, and an Ojibwe healer from bloodthirsty mercenaries. The ancient Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux has had a vision of his death. As he walks the Northwoods in solitude, he tries to prepare himself peacefully for the end of his long life. But peace is destined to elude him as hunters fill the woods seeking a woman named Dolores Morriseau, a stranger who had come to the healer for shelter and the gift of his wisdom. Meloux guides this stranger and his great niece, Cork O’Connor’s wife, to safety deep into the Boundary Waters, his home for more than a century. On the last journey he may ever take into this beloved land, Meloux must do his best to outwit the deadly mercenaries who follow. Meanwhile, in Aurora, Cork works feverishly to identify the hunters and the reason for their relentless pursuit, but he has little to go on. Desperate, Cork begins tracking the killers but his own skills as a hunter are severely tested by nightfall and a late season snowstorm. He knows only too well that with each passing hour time is running out. But his fiercest enemy in this deadly game of cat and mouse may well be his own deep self-doubt about his ability to save those he loves. New and longtime “fans will be enthralled” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) by this gripping and richly told addition to a masterful series.
£10.99
Little Tiger Press Group Everything Changes
A sensitively-told story that addresses the tricky subject of divorce with care and understanding, from Clare Helen Welsh and Åsa Gilland. Laughing and playing together as a family on the beach, it seems the happy, warm days of summer will never end. Then, everything changes. Mummy and Daddy say they can’t live together anymore, and sad, worried feelings begin to emerge – It’s not fair! Was it all my fault? But, as time passes and the seasons change, it becomes clearer that hard times won’t always be quite so hard . . . A lyrical book about the difficult emotions a child can feel when their parents break up, with an optimistic message of hope and resilience. Gorgeous illustrations and an emotive colour palette perfectly capture the nuances of emotion felt by both the child and parents during a separation. Much like Pat Thomas’s My Family's Changing, Claire Masurel’s Two Homes and Patrice Karst’s The Invisible String, Everything Changes offers a way to help children understand their feelings during big changes in their family unit. Also available from this author and illustrator: The Perfect Shelter PRAISE FOR EVERYTHING CHANGES: "Parental separation is never easy, but this gentle picture book handles the subject with tenderness and sensitivity . . . It's an ideal book for offering gentle guidance to children who are experiencing big changes in their family and processing the feelings that come with it." – BookTrust "Everything Changes is a beautiful, lyrical text which uses swirling, crashing waves and stormy weather as a metaphor for emotions a young child might feel. Åsa Gilland's stunning illustrations take us through the changing seasons and remind us that, in life, sometimes everything changes." – Teach Early Years
£7.99
HarperCollins Publishers Minecraft for Beginners
Minecraft for Beginners is the perfect introduction to Survival mode on Bedrock Edition for true beginners. Parents can read and use this book easily with young children aged 6+, or even on their own! Follow the simple, step-by-step instructions to help you stay alive. Learn how to start a game, which biomes you'll want to spawn in and which you'll want to avoid. Next, learn how to punch trees, craft basic tools and weapons, find food and build a shelter when night falls. By the end of this book, you will have ventured into a cave just below the surface and made a set of iron armour. Now you're ready for more dangerous adventures in exciting new biomes! Collect all of the official Minecraft books to become the best Minecrafter you can be: Minecraft Survival Sticker Book: 9781405288552 Minecraft The Nether and the End Sticker Book: 9781405290326 Minecraft Aquatic Adventure Sticker Book: 9781405293020 Minecraft Guide to Exploration: 9781405285971 Minecraft Guide to Creative: 9781405285988 Minecraft Guide to Redstone: 9781405286008 Minecraft Guide to the Nether and the End: 9781405285995 Minecraft Guide to Enchantments and Potions: 9781405288958 Minecraft Guide to PVP Minigames: 9781405288965 Minecraft Guide to Farming: 9781405290104 Minecraft Blockopedia: 9781405273534 Minecraft: Exploded Builds: Medieval Fortress: 9781405284172 Minecraft The Survivors' Book of Secrets: 9781405283335 Minecraft Survival Tin: 9781405288200 Minecraft Mobestiary: 9781405286022 Minecraft: The Ultimate Construction Collection: 9781405291927 Minecraft is a multi-platform block-based gaming sensation available on Xbox, PlayStation, PC and mobile devices. Whether you're in Creative, Survival or Hardcore Mode, the official Mojang-approved Minecraft books contain all the advice you need to survive and thrive.
£10.99
Rowman & Littlefield Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future
Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future is the first book to fully explore your “Handprint” – how you can create sustainability in your life and in the world. Your Handprint is limited only by yourimagination. The good you do can be greater than your Footprint. It is time to put more energy into your Handprint!The smart beauty of the Handprint is that it can be self-perpetuating. Take planting a tree as an example. You put a seedling into the ground, water it, and then leave it alone. That tree will then grow itself and pull carbon dioxide from the air and create oxygen for us to breathe for as long as it lives. And, seeds from that tree create more trees.Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future draws our attention to proven strategies across the spectrum. We make a difference with intelligent clothing and investments. We can promote environmental justice and sustainable development. We can teach environmental literacy and eat earth-friendly foods. Handprint Thinking applies to shelter (eco-remodeling and LEED buildings), motion (electric cars and living without a car), and earth-friendly energy.We create Collective Handprints whenever we set aside a park, recover a toxic waste site, revive a river, or ban plastic bags. Spending our money intentionally sets the stage for a Circular Economy. We are finding creative ways to make the Paris Climate Change Agreement work. Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future makes the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals personal. The final chapters show how you can become a hero in your own story – while creating twelve Collective Future Handprints.
£30.00
Hodder & Stoughton The Dark Net
'One of the best Stephen King novels not written by the master himself' - New York Times*******************The dark net is an online shadowland for criminals to operate anonymously, but when a demonic force begins to hack the minds of its users there is nowhere left to hide.Twelve-year-old HANNAH has been fitted with a high-tech prosthetic that restores her sight, but can't understand why she can now see shadows surrounding certain people.LELA, an emotionally shut-off, technophobic journalist stumbles onto a story nobody wants her to uncover. A story someone will kill to keep hidden.A former evangelist, MIKE, suffers demons - figurative and literal - and keeps an arsenal of weapons stored in the basement of the homeless shelter he runs.And DEREK is a hacker who believes himself a soldier, part of a cyber army dedicated to changing the world for the better.With the virus spreading throughout the net and an ancient evil threatening to break lose on the real world, it falls to these strangers to stop the rising darkness. THE DARK NET is a cracked-mirror version of the digital nightmare we already live in, a timely and wildly imaginative techno-thriller about the evil that lurks in real and virtual spaces, and the power of a united few to fight back.****************Praise for THE DARK NET'THE DARK NET is a megawatt defibrillator to the reader's heart' - Dean Koontz'An impressive, propulsive narrative velocity at work here' - Metro'THE DARK NET kicked my ass with its deft mash-up of both blackhat hacker culture and black magic. A fast, fantastic, throat-punch of a read' - Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbirds and Zer0es
£9.99
Prometheus Books Anthill Economics: Animal Ecosystems and the Human Economy
Does modern economic theory violate some basic, fundamental laws of physics? That is the question that award-winning environmental and energy writer Nathanial Gronewold sets out to answer in Anthill Economics. Gronewold points out that the modern school of economics is missing a significant piece of the puzzle: energy. And not just oil, or natural gas or wind power, but rather the fundamental importance of energy in transforming matter into food, shelter, and material possessions. Ecologists have been using the principles of biophysics –population density, energy return on investment, and habitation patterns –to study ecosystems for centuries. But what if those same principles hold the key to the global human economy? After all, at its core, the global economy is simply humanity’s ecosystem.Anthill Economics puts forth an innovative and cross-disciplinary approach, asserting that biophysical laws are just as fundamental to the global economy as they are to zoology and entomology. The rollercoaster-like rise and fall of caribou population on a remote island can teach us about resource allocation and global inequality. The behavior of squirrels gathering nuts is a lesson in economic energy return on investment and wage stagnation. Could human traffic patterns mimic the daily pulse of ants in the forests marching in and out of their own central business districts? And, will global warming change these patterns for humans and insects alike? This clearly written book full of illuminating ecological analogies gives readers an informed and entertaining introduction to the cutting-edge field of biophysical economics –also known as thermoeconomics –that seeks to provide a more complete understanding of the global economy. The result is a radical new way of looking at the world and how the laws of physics and nature can be used to more precisely understand human demographics, population patterns, and economics.
£17.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Aurore
'Historical fiction of a high order' The Times Barely half of the Bomber Command's aircrews survive a full tour, but wireless operator Billy Angell has beaten the odds and completed his 30th – and final – mission. Now, Billy is due two-weeks leave, a posting to a training squadron and a six-month exemption from active duty. Except that MI5 need an airman to drop into Nazi-occupied France. MI5 are interested in Hélène Lafosse, a Frenchwoman keeping unusual company in her small family château in the depths of the Touraine. Hélène has begun an affair with a senior Abwehr intelligence officer, who, in return, has turned a blind eye to the succession of Jews, refugees, resistance fighters and downed Allied airmen to whom she offers shelter. MI5 believe they can exploit this relationship and plant a false lead about the anticipated allied invasion of northern France. It falls to Billy, playing a downed airman, to find Hélène, to win her confidence and to plant a lie that will only make sense to her German lover. But this time, Billy isn't flying at 20,000 feet and he won't be able to escape the incendiary consequences of his actions. Aurore is part of the SPOILS OF WAR Collection, a thrilling, beguiling blend of fact and fiction born of some of the most tragic, suspenseful, and action-packed events of World War II. From the mind of highly acclaimed thriller author GRAHAM HURLEY, this blockbuster non-chronological collection allows the reader to explore Hurley's masterful storytelling in any order, with compelling recurring characters whose fragmented lives mirror the war that shattered the globe. 'Hurley's capable and understated characterization makes his lead's story plausible and engaging' Publishers Weekly
£8.99
Anness Publishing Gardening Projects for Kids
This title includes fantastic ideas for making things, growing plants and flowers and attracting wildlife, with 60 practical projects and 175 photographs. It offers over 60 fun, child-friendly projects for gardening, with ideas for cultivating flowers, growing fruit and vegetables, making crafty projects and attracting insects, birds and animals. It contains an introduction with all the gardening basics includes advice on safety, equipment, understanding plants and a guide to commonly used gardening terms. It helps you grow a hyacinth in a glass, have tomatoes tumbling down the wall, spell your name in flowers, shape a den out of bamboo and make a mini-beast shelter. Every project features an at-a-glance 'you will need' list, growing times and a star rating guide to show you how easy or hard it is. Each idea has simple step-by-step instructions and there are over 175 fantastic colour photographs showing you what to do. A list of popular plants shows how to grow and use the plants in the book and many others, including where they like to live and how they like to be treated. Growing plants and making things for the garden is endless fun. This book is bursting with planting and gardening ideas to suit children from the ages of 5 to 12. It offers an introduction that arms the reader with all they need to know about plants, soil and tools. Then, over 60 step-by-step projects have ideas for doing things indoors, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, making crafty bits and pieces for the garden and encouraging wildlife to visit. Whatever the weather, here are masses of ways to keep you occupied in and out of the garden, with fun activities for all children, from tiddlers to safari explorers.
£9.04
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC The Book of Hopes: Words and Pictures to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain
_______________ Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year _______________ In difficult times, what children really need is hope. And in that spirit, bestselling author Katherine Rundell emailed some of the children's writers and artists whose work she loved most: 'I asked them to write something very short, fiction or non-fiction, or draw something that would make the children reading it feel like possibility-ists: something that would make them laugh or wonder or snort or smile. The response was magnificent, which shouldn’t have surprised me, because children’s writers and illustrators are professional hunters of hope … I hope that the imagination can be a place of shelter for children and that The Book of Hopes might be useful in that, even if only a little.' This collection, packed with short stories, poems and pictures from the very best children’s authors and illustrators, aims to provide just that. Within its pages you'll find animal friends from insects to elephants, high-flying grandmas, a homesick sprite, the tooth fairy, and even extra-terrestrial life. There are 133 contributions from authors and illustrators, including Anthony Horowitz, Axel Scheffler, Catherine Johnson, Jacqueline Wilson, Katherine Rundell, Lauren Child, Michael Morpurgo and Onjali Q. Raúf. A donation from the sale of each book will go to NHS Charities Together, in gratitude for the incredible efforts of all those who worked in hospitals over the quarantine period. _______________ 'An anthology on the theme of hope … it includes a rich range of images, poetry, stories and non-fiction' - Sunday Times, 'Stories to charm on endless days' Proceeds from this book will be donated to NHS Charities Together. In respect of UK sales, this will be £2.10 and in respect of sales in other territories this will be 16% of net receipts (at least 62p). NHS Charities Together is a charity registered in England and Wales (registered charity no. 1186569).
£12.99
Simon & Schuster Ltd The History of the World in 100 Plants
From the author of The History of the World in 100 Animals, a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week, comes an inspirational new book that looks at the 100 plants that have had the greatest impact on humanity, stunningly illustrated throughout. As humans, we hold the planet in the palms of ours hands. But we still consume the energy of the sun in the form of food. The sun is available for consumption because of plants. Plants make food from the sun by the process of photosynthesis; nothing else in the world can do this. We eat plants, or we do so at second hand, by eating the eaters of plants. Plants give us food. Plants take in carbon dioxide and push out oxygen: they give us the air we breathe, direct the rain that falls and moderate the climate. Plants also give us shelter, beauty, comfort, meaning, buildings, boats, containers, musical instruments, medicines and religious symbols. We use flowers for love, we use flowers for death. The fossils of plants power our industries and our transport. Across history we have used plants to store knowledge, to kill, to fuel wars, to change our state of consciousness, to indicate our status. The first gun was a plant, we got fire from plants, we have enslaved people for the sake of plants. We humans like to see ourselves as a species that has risen above the animal kingdom, doing what we will with the world. But we couldn’t live for a day without plants. Our past is all about plants, our present is all tied up with plants; and without plants there is no future. From the mighty oak to algae, from cotton to coca here are a hundred reasons why.
£27.00
John Wiley & Sons Inc How I Became a Quant: Insights from 25 of Wall Street's Elite
Praise for How I Became a Quant "Led by two top-notch quants, Richard R. Lindsey and Barry Schachter, How I Became a Quant details the quirky world of quantitative analysis through stories told by some of today's most successful quants. For anyone who might have thought otherwise, there are engaging personalities behind all that number crunching!" --Ira Kawaller, Kawaller & Co. and the Kawaller Fund "A fun and fascinating read. This book tells the story of how academics, physicists, mathematicians, and other scientists became professional investors managing billions." --David A. Krell, President and CEO, International Securities Exchange "How I Became a Quant should be must reading for all students with a quantitative aptitude. It provides fascinating examples of the dynamic career opportunities potentially open to anyone with the skills and passion for quantitative analysis." --Roy D. Henriksson, Chief Investment Officer, Advanced Portfolio Management "Quants"--those who design and implement mathematical models for the pricing of derivatives, assessment of risk, or prediction of market movements--are the backbone of today's investment industry. As the greater volatility of current financial markets has driven investors to seek shelter from increasing uncertainty, the quant revolution has given people the opportunity to avoid unwanted financial risk by literally trading it away, or more specifically, paying someone else to take on the unwanted risk. How I Became a Quant reveals the faces behind the quant revolution, offering you?the?chance to learn firsthand what it's like to be a?quant today. In this fascinating collection of Wall Street war stories, more than two dozen quants detail their roots, roles, and contributions, explaining what they do and how they do it, as well as outlining the sometimes unexpected paths they have followed from the halls of academia to the front lines of an investment revolution.
£18.90
Pan Macmillan The God of that Summer
‘This book’s power lies in its depiction of civilians trying to lead ordinary lives during the horror of war . . . It is shattering stuff, but Rothmann is tender towards his characters and this book is as memorable as his last.’ - The Times, ‘Historical Fiction Book of the Month’As the Second World War enters its final stages, millions in Germany are forced from their homes by bombing, compelled to seek shelter in the countryside where there are barely the resources to feed them.Twelve-year-old Luisa, her mother, and her older sister Billie have escaped the devastation of the city for the relative safety of a dairy farm. But even here the power struggles of the war play out: the family depend on the goodwill of Luisa’s brother-in-law, an SS officer, who in expectation of payment turns his attention away from his wife and towards Billie. Luisa immerses herself in books, but even she notices the Allied bombers flying east above them, the gauntness of the prisoners at the camp nearby, the disappearance of fresh-faced boys from the milk shed – hastily shipped off to a war that’s already lost.Living on the farm teaches Luisa about life and death, but it’s man’s capacity for violence that provides the ultimate lesson, that robs her of her innocent ignorance. When, at a birthday celebration, her worst fears are realized, Luisa collapses under the weight of the inexplicable.Ralf Rothmann’s previous novel, To Die in Spring, described the horror of war and the damage done on the battlefield. The God of that Summer tells the devastating story of civilians caught up in the chaos of defeat, of events that might lead a twelve-year-old child to justifiably say: ‘I have experienced everything.’
£9.99
Little, Brown Book Group First Blood: A completely gripping mystery thriller
'It is immediately clear why her books stand out from the crowd. Chilling and compelling plots, brilliant characterisation . . . Addictive from start to finish' RACHEL ABBOTTA detective hiding dark secrets, Kim Stone will stop at nothing to protect the innocent. In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She's about to meet her team for the first time. The victim of her next case is about to meet his killer... When the body of a young man is found beheaded and staked to the ground in a secluded woodland area of the Clent Hills, Kim and her new squad rush to the crime scene. Searching the victim's home, Kim finds a little girl's bedroom and a hidden laptop, but where is the child? And why does the man's own sister seem relieved that he's dead? As Kim begins to unearth the shocking truth about the victim, a disturbing resemblance is spotted with the recent murder of a man found beneath the staircase of Redland Hall with multiple stab wounds. Both these men had dark secrets and Kim discovers a link to a women's shelter. As a child of the care system herself, Kim knows all too well what it means to be vulnerable. Could the shelter be the key to cracking this case? With the killer about to strike again, Kim is in deep water with a rookie squad. Inexperienced Stacey is showing signs of brilliance but struggling to hold her nerve and, while D.S. Bryant is reliable and calm, D.S. Dawson is a liability. With his home life in pieces, his volatile behaviour is already fracturing her fragile new team. Can Kim bring Dawson in line and pull her crew together in time to catch the killer before another life is taken? This time, one of her own could be in terrible danger . . .Discover where it all began for Kim and her team. An absolutely heart-stopping mystery thriller that will keep you glued to the pages, reading late into the night. Perfect for new readers to the million-copy bestselling series, and fans of Val McDemid, Mark Billingham and Karin Slaughter.Read what everyone is saying about First Blood and the Detective Kim Stone series: 'A great introduction to the best crime series on the shelves right now . . . I loved this book from cover to cover . . . A brilliant read which will have people turning the pages at a feverish rate' Nigel Adams Bookworm, five stars'I cannot begin to tell you how god damn good it is. First Blood is so bloody brilliant and so gripping . . . Totally blown my mind...Without a doubt one of my best reads this year leaving me with a book hangover' Baker's Not So Secret Blog, five stars'Superb!!! I love Kim - always have, always will!! . . . Breath-taking, heart-pounding, exciting and thrilling!!! I completely and utterly recommend reading not just this book, but the whole series!! Fab, fab, fab, fab, fab' Stardust Book Reviews, five stars'There is a smile on my face and goosebumps on my arms. Rarely have I been so satisfied with a novel . . . Breath-taking . . . A masterpiece, the star at the top of your Christmas tree . . . Get going with the series if you haven't already' Chocolate 'n' Waffles, five stars'Oh my life. This is the book that all Kim Stone fans have been waiting for and they didn't even know it . . . A dark and deadly case, high on thrills, intrigue, mystery and tension, perfectly pitched on pace and featuring the dry humour and banter we know and love . . . Top stuff - Loved it' Jen Med's Book Reviews, five stars
£9.99
Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd Joburg Noir
‘This place is labelled the city of gold, Jozi Maboneng. There is indeed a constant rush, the winner takes it all, and a “survival of the fittest” mentality driving the hunger and competitive spirit of those born here, and equally seen in the eyes of the immigrants; legal and illegal alike. Dreams not realised have left most of the once-eager hopefuls desolate, seeking shelter under bridges and abandoned city buildings… Oh Yeoville, Yeoville man, now this was a whole different world on its own … the culture, the music, the DJs and live bands, the food and the hangout places’ – Gloria Bosman, ‘A Little Something from the Pot’ Joburg Noir is a collection of writings about memories, legends, loss, jokes, stories, myths and experiences by twenty-two gifted and versatile authors in South Africa. It makes the reader experience present-day Johannesburg as if one were in the past. The stories seek to understand, reconstruct, reinvent and recover this city space of loss, joy, deprivation, resistance and possibility by revealing its complex dynamics. They are funny, shocking, violent, absurd, strangely tender and memorable. Their lasting resonance lies in the fact that they invoke the joys and traumas of the past and present, making the two to co-exist and interlock. After reading this uncompromising and gritty anthology, the reader is bound to feel like a time-traveller who has voyaged into a magical alternate city and a reality that was either misnamed or not named at all. The intention is to help the readers to delve into their own memories in search of pictures of their sweet childhood and fractured identities.
£18.95
Headline Publishing Group The Woman on the Bridge: the poignant and escapist historical novel about fighting for the people you love
THE NO. 1 IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER'Utterly captivating . . . a story of love, war and how women will fight for the people they love' Cathy Kelly'A riveting rollercoaster of drama, tragedy, triumph and love' Patricia Scanlan 'Unputdownable, full of poignancy, warmth and real and relatable women' Kate ThompsonDublin. The 1920s. As war tears Ireland apart, two young people fall in love amongst events that will bring tragedy and tough choices as they fight for a better future.In a country fighting for freedom, it's hard to live a normal life. Winnie O'Leary supports the cause, but she doesn't go looking for trouble. Then rebel Joseph Burke steps into her workplace. Winnie is furious with him about a broken window. She's not interested in romance. But love comes when you least expect it. Joseph's family shelter fugitives and smuggle weapons. Joseph would never ask Winnie to join the fight; but his mother and sisters demand commitment. Will Winnie choose Joseph, and put her own loved ones in deadly danger? Or wait for a time of peace that may never come? Ireland's tumultuous independence struggle is the backdrop for an unforgettable story of courage and heartbreak, in which heroes are made of ordinary people. Inspired by the story of Sheila O'Flanagan's grandmother, The Woman on the Bridge is the unmissable, compulsive new novel from a bestselling author.PRE-ORDER Sheila O'Flanagan's new contemporary novel, THE HONEYMOON AFFAIR! Coming April 2024. Readers love Sheila's books'Do I rejoice when a new Sheila O'Flanagan book hits the shelves? I do' Roisin Meaney'One of my favourite authors' Marian Keyes'Sheila writes with such verve and positivity and emotional intelligence' Veronica Henry
£9.99
Oxford University Press Inc The Rules of Rescue: Cost, Distance, and Effective Altruism
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. When do you have to sacrifice life and limb, time and money, to prevent harm to others? When must you save more people rather than fewer? These questions might arise in emergencies involving strangers drowning or trapped in burning buildings, but they also arise in our everyday lives, in which we confront opportunities to donate time or money to help distant strangers in need of food, shelter, or medical care. With the resources available, we can provide more help--or less. In The Rules of Rescue, Theron Pummer argues that we are often morally required to engage in effective altruism, directing altruistic efforts in ways that help the most. Even when the personal sacrifice involved makes it morally permissible not to help at all, he contends, it often remains wrong to provide less help rather than more. Using carefully crafted examples, he defends the view that helping distant strangers is more morally akin to rescuing nearby strangers than most of us realize. The ubiquity of opportunities to help distant strangers threatens to make morality extremely demanding, and Pummer argues that it is only thanks to adequate permissions grounded in considerations of cost and autonomy that we may pursue our own plans and projects. He ultimately concludes that many of us are required to provide no less help over our lives than we would have done if we were effective altruists.
£24.86
Island Press The Bird-Friendly City: Creating Safe Urban Habitats
How does a bird experience a city? A backyard? A park? As the world has become more urban, noisier from increased traffic, and brighter from streetlights and office buildings, it has also become more dangerous for countless species of birds. Warblers become disoriented by nighttime lights and collide with buildings. Ground-feeding sparrows fall prey to feral cats. Hawks and other birds-of-prey are sickened by rat poison. These name just a few of the myriad hazards. How do our cities need to change in order to reduce the threats, often created unintentionally, that have resulted in nearly three billion birds lost in North America alone since the 1970s? In The Bird-Friendly City, Timothy Beatley, a longtime advocate for intertwining the built and natural environments, takes readers on a global tour of cities that are reinventing the status quo with birds in mind. Efforts span a fascinating breadth of approaches: public education, urban planning and design, habitat restoration, architecture, art, civil disobedience, and more. Beatley shares empowering examples, including: advocates for "catios," enclosed outdoor spaces that allow cats to enjoy backyards without being able to catch birds; a public relations campaign for vultures; and innovations in building design that balance aesthetics with preventing bird strikes. Through these changes and the others Beatley describes, it is possible to make our urban environments more welcoming to many bird species. Readers will come away motivated to implement and advocate for bird-friendly changes, with inspiring examples to draw from. Whether birds are migrating and need a temporary shelter or are taking up permanent residence in a backyard, when the environment is safer for birds, humans are happier as well.
£26.00
Simon & Schuster Fox Creek: A Novel
The latest in the New York Times bestselling Cork O’Connor Mystery Series from the “master storyteller” (Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author) follows Cork in a race against time to save his wife, a mysterious stranger, and an Ojibwe healer from bloodthirsty mercenaries. The ancient Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux has had a vision of his death. As he walks the Northwoods in solitude, he tries to prepare himself peacefully for the end of his long life. But peace is destined to elude him as hunters fill the woods seeking a woman named Dolores Morriseau, a stranger who had come to the healer for shelter and the gift of his wisdom. Meloux guides this stranger and his great niece, Cork O’Connor’s wife, to safety deep into the Boundary Waters, his home for more than a century. On the last journey he may ever take into this beloved land, Meloux must do his best to outwit the deadly mercenaries who follow. Meanwhile, in Aurora, Cork works feverishly to identify the hunters and the reason for their relentless pursuit, but he has little to go on. Desperate, Cork begins tracking the killers but his own skills as a hunter are severely tested by nightfall and a late season snowstorm. He knows only too well that with each passing hour time is running out. But his fiercest enemy in this deadly game of cat and mouse may well be his own deep self-doubt about his ability to save those he loves. From “an author who never disappoints” (Bookreporter), this is another gripping and richly told addition to a masterful series.
£20.00
University of Hertfordshire Press Sevenoaks 1790–1914: Risk and choice in West Kent
This book offers a fresh perspective on British history in the long nineteenth century through the lens of a study of Sevenoaks and the surrounding area of West Kent. It considers, in particular, how the risks faced by the people of this region, and the choices they made to try to mitigate them, shaped their lives and relationships. During a period of often dramatic change, the economic, social, political, religious and cultural interests of individuals were subject to different risk factors; the responses they made (and the reasons for those choices) provide valuable insights and enable the writing of highly nuanced local history. The authors pinpoint the fundamental risk factors affecting the lives of West Kent’s inhabitants (especially the poor): the struggle to obtain the four bare necessities of shelter, food, fuel and clothing, without which their survival was threatened. Other risks abounded too, from abysmal sanitary conditions and the dangers of giving birth, to industrial injuries and being a victim of crime. Secure work and strong family networks were essential to limiting risks – often forming part of the ‘makeshift economy’ – as well as charity, education, health insurance and access to medical care. For many, not all these options were available – or not until much later in the period. Choice was central to religious and political struggles. The examination of beliefs and values reveals the immense impact such issues had across West Kent society, and how and why it divided as a direct result. Finally, the authors consider the advent of motor vehicles, which combined both risk and choice in exciting but potentially dangerous ways. This innovative approach provides a fruitful new way of writing history and offers a model for future local history studies.
£14.99
Black Dog Press Morgan Howell at 45RPM
Morgan Howell paints classic 7" singles and takes into account every crease, every tear, every imperfection-producing a one-off, truly unique artwork, almost identical to the owner's original copy, but blown up, supersize, to 70 by 70 cm, and three-dimensional, with the spindle in the centre, as if the record is ready to play. This completely original approach has resulted in Howell attracting a cult following amongst art collectors and musicians alike-with paintings commissioned by the likes of Neil Diamond, Jude Law, Edgar Wright, and The Stone Roses' Ian Brown, and major music labels selecting the artist's work for display in their headquarters, indeed, Howell's painting of David Bowie's The Jean Genie is displayed at the Sony Music Building in London, and Yesterday by The Beatles has been shown at the Capitol Building in L.A. Morgan Howell at 45 RPM, published by Black Dog Press, beautifully documents 95 of Howell's creations, from 'Tutti Frutti' by Little Richard to 'Heart of Glass' by Blondie, to 'Gimme Shelter' by The Rolling Stones, to 'Waterloo Sunset' by The Kinks. The artworks are shown in full, alongside evocative commentaries from fans of Howell's work, including The Smiths' Johnny Marr, Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp, comedian Al Murray, journalist Tony Parsons, actress Kay Mellor, Happy Mondays' Shaun Ryder, producer William Orbit and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. The book features Forewords by Sir Peter Blake and Andrew Marr, plus an in-depth interview with Morgan Howell, exploring his process as an artist and why, for him, music and art are intrinsically linked. With a format perfectly designed to fit on record shelves, this book is a must for vinyl junkies, music heads and art lovers everywhere.
£35.96
Luath Press Ltd McSmörgåsbord: What post-Brexit Scotland can learn from the Nordics
The Nordic countries have a veritable smörgåsbord of relationships with the European Union, from in to out to somewhere in between. So, what does that mean for Scotland? Well, somewhere in this incredible diversity of relationships with Europe is an arrangement that’s likely to be good for Scotland too – strangely enough, maybe more than one. Inside or outside the UK, Scotland wants to keep trade and cultural links with Europe – that much is clear. But is the EU really the best club in town for an independent Scotland? Or would Scots benefit from ‘doing a Norway’ – joining the halfway house of the EEA and keeping the Single Market but losing the troublesome Common Fisheries and Agriculture Policies? Would an independent Scotland need the support and shelter of another union – or could the nation stand alone like the tiny Faroes or Iceland? These tough questions have already been faced and resolved by five Nordic nations and their autonomous territories within the last 40 years. Perhaps there’s something for Scotland to learn? The unique combination of personal experience and experts’ insights give this book its hands-on character: pragmatic and thought-provoking, challenging and instructive, full of amazing stories and useful comparisons, enriching the debates about Scotland’s post-Brexit future as a Nordic neighbour. Scotland’s response to Britain’s divided Brexit vote has been positively Nordic – Scots expect diversity and empowerment to be entirely possible – whilst Westminster’s reaction has been decidedly British. One singer – one song. One deal for everyone – end of. Lesley Riddoch Of course, the majority of Nordic nations are eu members. But perhaps the eea is a closer fit for Scotland? Perhaps, too, a viable halfway house option would boost support for Scottish independence? Especially since Holyrood may not automatically retrieve powers from Europe post Brexit. Paddy Bort
£8.03
Hodder & Stoughton A Time to Rejoice: Book Three in the the gripping, uplifting Rivenshaw Saga set at the close of World War Two
'Anna Jacobs' books are deservedly popular. She is one of the best writers of Lancashire sagas around' - Historical Novels Reviews'Anna Jacobs' books have an impressive grasp of human emotions' - Sunday Times'Catherine Cookson fans will cheer!' - Peterborough Evening Telegraph***************The heartwarming third instalment of the Rivenshaw series from bestselling saga writer Anna Jacobs.After a stray bomb scored a direct hit on his childhood home in Hertfordshire, the only thing that has kept Francis Brady going while he works day and night salvaging what he can from the rubble is the thought that soon he'll be joining war-time friends Mayne, Daniel and Victor as electrician in their new dream building firm in Lancashire. But things are not going to plan: Mayne isn't answering any of his letters; Francis' wife is having a change of heart about moving up north - and her parents seem set on destroying his reputation... A lot of marriages are breaking up in these times of change, and Francis is loathe for his to be one of them... But how can he turn down the opportunity of a new life and career in Rivenshaw? Meanwhile in Rivenshaw itself, newly married Mayne and Judith's plans to convert Esherwood house into flats have come to an abrupt halt. While clearing out the house in readiness for the rebuild, they've discovered that someone has been stealing valuables and hiding them in the old Nissen hut. But who hid them there - and are they planning on returning for them? And are they also responsible for something else found in the shelter: a body, buried in a shallow grave...With so much going against them, can these four friends ever turn their dreams into reality?
£8.99
Little, Brown Book Group We Cry for Blood: The Reborn Empire, Book Three
The empire has fallen and another rises in its place in the action-packed continuation of Devin Madson's sweeping epic fantasy quartet.Ambition and schemes have left the Kisian Empire in ashes. Empress Miko Ts'ai will have to move fast if she hopes to secure a foothold in its ruins. However, the line between enemies and allies may not be as clear-cut as they first appeared. After failing to win back his Swords, former Captain Rah e'Torin finds shelter among the Levanti deserters. But his presence in the camp threatens to fracture the group, putting him on a collision course with their enigmatic leader. Assassin Cassandra Marius knows Leo Villius's secret-one that could thwart his ambitions to conquer Kisia. But her time in Empress Hana's body is running out and each attempt they make to exploit Leo's weakness may be playing into his plans. And, as Leo's control over the Levanti emperor grows, Dishiva is caught in his web. To successfully challenge him, she'll have to decide how many of her people are worth sacrificing in order to win.Praise for We Ride the Storm'Highly recommended' John Gwynne 'Madson is an exciting new author in fantasy' Mark Lawrence'A complex tale of war, politics and lust for power' Guardian 'Damn this was a good book. We Ride The Storm is perfect for devourers of grimdark fantasy and a triumph of a debut' Fantasy Hive'A visceral, intriguing, intense and emotionally charged ride' Grimdark Magazine'Breathtakingly triumphant . . . it has become one of my favourite books of all time' Novel Notions'Buckle your seatbelts and prepare for a hell of a ride' Fantasy Book Critic'Complex and immersive . . . doesn't let go until the final electrifying pages' Fantasy Book Review
£10.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd Dragon's Fire
When Masterharper Zist takes over as Harper for Natalon's coal-mining camp, he takes with him his apprentice, the orphaned, mute Pellar, and Pellar's fire-lizard Chitter. Pellar has become a gifted tracker and Zist gives him his own mission - to find out if the recent thefts of coal are the work of the Shunned, criminals condemned to a life of wandering and hardship. Halla is one of the children of the Shunned. Though innocent of their parents' crimes, these children have inherited their cruel punishment. With no shelter when the lethal Thread falls again they will have no protection against it. Life is even tougher for Halla, all her family are dead and she must fend for herself. Yet Halla is kind and gentle, devoted to helping those more helpless than she, unlike Tenim, a fellow child of the Shunned. Tenim is in league with Tarik, a crooked miner from Camp Natalon, who helps him steal coal in exchange for a cut of the profit. But Tenim soon realizes there is a lot more to be made from firestone, the volatile mineral that enables the dragons of Pern to burn Thread out of the sky. Tenim doesn't care what he has to do, or whom he has to kill, in order to corner the market. Cristov is Tarik's son. Dishonored by his father's greed and treachery, he decides he must make amends somehow... even if it means risking his life by mining the volatile firestone, which blows up at contact with the slightest drop of moisture.When the last remaining firestone mine explodes in flames, a desperate race begins to find a new deposit of the deadly but essential mineral, for without it there can be no defence against Thread. But Tenim has a murderous plan to turn the tragedy to his own advantage, and only Pellar, Halla and Cristov can stop him - and ensure that there will be a future for all on the world of the Dragonriders.
£10.99
Oxford University Press Geology: A Very Short Introduction
Ranging across the 4.6 billion year history of the planet, geology is the subject that encompasses almost all that we see around us, in one way or another, and also much that we cannot see, beneath our feet, and on other planets. The fruits of geology provide most of the materials that give us shelter, and most of the energy that drives our modern lives. Within the study of geology lie some of the clues to the extraordinary impact our species is going to play out on the planet, in centuries and millennia to come. In this Very Short Introduction Jan Zalasiewicz gives a brief introduction to the fascinating field of geology. Describing how the science developed from its early beginnings, he looks at some of the key discoveries that have transformed it, before delving into its various subfields, such as sedimentology, tectonics, and stratigraphy. Analysing the geological foundations of the Earth, Zalasiewicz explains the interlocking studies of tectonics, geophysics, and igneous and metamorphic petrology and geochemistry; and describes how rocks are dated by radiometric dating. Considering the role and importance of geology in the finding and exploitation of resources (including fracking), he also discusses its place in environmental issues, such as foundations for urban structures and sites for landfill, and in tackling issues associated with climate change. Zalasiewicz concludes by discussing the exciting future and frontiers of the field, such as the exploration of the geology of Mars. 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.
£9.04
RIBA Publishing A History of Council Housing in 100 Estates
‘It was like heaven! It was like a palace, even without anything in it … We’d got this lovely, lovely house.’In 1980, there were well over 5 million council homes in Britain, housing around one third of the population. The right of all to adequate housing had been recognised in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but, long before that, popular notions of what constituted a ‘moral economy’ had advanced the idea that everyone was entitled to adequate shelter.At its best, council housing has been at the vanguard of housing progress – an example to the private sector and a lifeline for working-class and vulnerable people. However, with the emergence of Thatcherism, the veneration of the free market and a desire to curtail public spending, council housing became seen as a problem, not a solution.We are now in the midst of a housing crisis, with 1.4 million fewer social homes at affordable rent than in 1980.In this highly illustrated survey, eminent social historian John Boughton, author of Municipal Dreams, examines the remarkable history of social housing in the UK. He presents 100 examples, from the almshouses of the 16th century to Goldsmith Street, the 2019 winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize. Through the various political, aesthetic and ideological changes, the well-being of community and environment demands that good housing for all must prevail.Features: 100 examples of social housing from all over the UK, illustrated with over 250 images including photographs and sketches. A complete history, dating from early charitable provision to ‘homes for heroes’, garden villages to new towns, multi-storey tower blocks and modernist developments to contemporary sustainable housing. Iconic estates, including: Alton East and West, Becontree, Dawson’s Heights, Donnybrook Quarter, Dunboyne Road and Park Hill. Projects from leading architects and practices, including: Peter Barber, Neave Brown, Karakusevic Carson, Kate Macintosh and Mikhail Riches.
£42.00
Chelsea Green Publishing Co The Permaculture City: Regenerative Design for Urban, Suburban, and Town Resilience
Permaculture is more than just the latest buzzword; it offers positive solutions for many of the environmental and social challenges confronting us. And nowhere are those remedies more needed and desired than in our cities. The Permaculture City provides a new way of thinking about urban living, with practical examples for creating abundant food, energy security, close-knit communities, local and meaningful livelihoods, and sustainable policies in our cities and towns. The same nature-based approach that works so beautifully for growing food—connecting the pieces of the landscape together in harmonious ways—applies perfectly to many of our other needs. Toby Hemenway, one of the leading practitioners and teachers of permaculture design, illuminates a new way forward through examples of edge-pushing innovations, along with a deeply holistic conceptual framework for our cities, towns, and suburbs. The Permaculture City begins in the garden but takes what we have learned there and applies it to a much broader range of human experience; we’re not just gardening plants but people, neighborhoods, and even cultures. Hemenway lays out how permaculture design can help towndwellers solve the challenges of meeting our needs for food, water, shelter, energy, community, and livelihood in sustainable, resilient ways. Readers will find new information on designing the urban home garden and strategies for gardening in community, rethinking our water and energy systems, learning the difference between a “job” and a “livelihood,” and the importance of placemaking and an empowered community. This important book documents the rise of a new sophistication, depth, and diversity in the approaches and thinking of permaculture designers and practitioners. Understanding nature can do more than improve how we grow, make, or consume things; it can also teach us how to cooperate, make decisions, and arrive at good solutions.
£18.00
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day
In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones' infamous Altamont concert, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s. In the annals of rock history, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival on December 6, 1969, has long been seen as the distorted twin of Woodstock-the day that shattered the Sixties' promise of peace and love when a concertgoer was killed by a member of the Hells Angels, the notorious biker club acting as security. While most people know of the events from the film Gimme Shelter, the whole story has remained buried in varied accounts, rumor, and myth-until now. Altamont explores rock's darkest day, a fiasco that began well before the climactic death of Meredith Hunter and continued beyond that infamous December night. Joel Selvin probes every aspect of the show-from the Stones' hastily planned tour preceding the concert to the bad acid that swept through the audience to other deaths that also occurred that evening-to capture the full scope of the tragedy and its aftermath. He also provides an in-depth look at the Grateful Dead's role in the events leading to Altamont, examining the band's behind-the-scenes presence in both arranging the show and hiring the Hells Angels as security. The product of twenty years of exhaustive research and dozens of interviews with many key players, including medical staff, Hells Angels members, the stage crew, and the musicians who were there, and featuring sixteen pages of color photos, Altamont is the ultimate account of the final event in rock's formative and most turbulent decade.
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Foe
Nobel Laureate and two-time Booker prize-winning author of Disgrace and The Life and Times of Michael K, J. M. Coetzee reimagines Daniel DeFoe's classic novel Robinson Crusoe in Foe. In an act of breathtaking imagination, J.M Coetzee radically reinvents the story of Robinson Crusoe.In the early eighteenth century, Susan Barton finds herself adrift from a mutinous ship and cast ashore on a remote desert island. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a man named Cruso and his tongueless slave, Friday. In time, she builds a life for herself as Cruso's companion and, eventually, his lover. At last they are rescued by a passing ship, but only she and Friday survive the journey back to London.Determined to have her story told, she pursues the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe in the hope that he will relate truthfully her memories to the world. But with Cruso dead, Friday incapable of speech and Foe himself intent on reshaping her narrative, Barton struggles to maintain her grip on the past, only to fall victim to the seduction of storytelling itself.Treacherous, elegant and unexpectedly moving, Foe remains one of the most exquisitely composed of this pre-eminent author's works.'A small miracle of a book. . . of marvellous intricacy and overwhelming power' Washington Post'A superb novel' The New York TimesSouth African author J. M. Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003 and was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice for his novels Disgrace and The Life and Times of Michael K. His novel set during the South African apartheid, Age of Iron, winner of the Sunday Express Book of the Year award is also available in Penguin paperback.
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Way of a Pilgrim: Candid Tales of a Wanderer to His Spiritual Father
By the mercy of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, by calling a homeless wanderer of the lowliest origins, roaming from place to place. Here, see my belongings: a bag of dry crusts on my back and the Holy Bible in my breast pocket; that's it.In 1884 there appeared in Russia a slim volume containing four short tales. They told of a pilgrim, a lone wanderer, led by his quiet curiosity and a deep spiritual longing to undertake a lifelong journey across the land. A folk hero, a figure familiar from the works of Tolstoy and Leskov, this gentle pilgrim and his simple story would soon travel the world - and would even, much later, traverse the pages of JD Salinger's Franny and Zooey as the 'small pea-green cloth-bound book' that Franny keeps close in her handbag. The pilgrim's ancient journey takes him from a city monastery through forests, fields and the steppes of Siberia. He walks by day and by night, through rains and summer months, finding food and shelter where he can. Along the way, he encounters priests and professors, convicts, nuns and beggars, a tipsy old man in a soldier's greatcoat, from whom he slowly gathers great stores of wisdom and experience. But at the heart of his journey is his time spent praying as he journeys on alone, discovering the peace and consolation that come of constant prayer and silent contemplation.Simple and sincere, The Way of a Pilgrim paints an enduring picture of a life of detachment through wandering and prayer. And, as the pilgrim makes his way through the wilds, he invites us to travel with him, along an ancient path into an immense, mystical landscape.
£9.99
Anness Publishing Dog's Abc
This is an alphabet adventure! This fun story will help young children to learn the alphabet and new words. This is an apple, a bird and Cleo the cat are encountered by Dog one morning - read on as he spots eggs, a frog, a gate, a hill...and objects and ideas that begin with all the other letters as well. The letters are shown in a panel on the side of each page, in both upper- and lower-case versions, together with a picture of something that begins with that letter and the word spelled out, to aid learning. The book is built to last, with sturdy board pages that will stand up to repeated use. Dog is in the garden when his alphabet adventure begins. An apple falls on his head. Bump! A bird flies away. Cleo the cat says meow! Dog replies with a friendly woof! The bird lands again and sits on her eggs. Dog plays with Freddie the frog, chasing him over a gate and up a hill. Buzz! An insect stings Dog's nose, making him jump! He runs into the kitchen on his little legs. A meal will make him feel better! Dog's nose still hurts. An orange fish in a pond says, "Put your nose in the cold water." The ducks quack in agreement. Then it starts to rain.As the sky turns dark, Dog takes shelter under a tree. Soon, he sees a big red umbrella. His owner Vicky has come to find him...Finally, with a yawn, it is time for bed. Zzzzzzzz! Endearing pictures by the popular illustrator Emma Dodd make this book a wonderful aid to learning that small children will want to return to again and again.
£9.99
Hodder & Stoughton The Wind through the Keyhole: A Dark Tower Novel
For readers new to The Dark Tower, The Wind Through the Keyhole is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. The Dark Tower is soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, due in cinemas August 18, 2017.The No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller The Wind through the Keyhole is a perfect bridge between the fourth and fifth novels in Stephen King's epic masterpiece. A story within a story which features both the younger and older gunslinger, it is also a wonderful introduction to The Dark Tower series.As Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet leave the Emerald city, a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. While they shelter from the starkblast, Roland tells a story about his younger days, when he was sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-changer. At the scene of the crime he had tried to comfort a terrified young boy called Bill Streeter by reciting a story from The Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, 'The Wind through the Keyhole'. 'A person's never too old for stories,' he said to Bill. 'Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.' And stories like these, they live for us.JOIN THE QUEST FOR THE DARK TOWER...THE DARK TOWER SERIES:THE DARK TOWER I: THE GUNSLINGER THE DARK TOWER II: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE THE DARK TOWER III: THE WASTE LANDS THE DARK TOWER IV: WIZARD AND GLASS THE DARK TOWER V: WOLVES OF THE CALLA THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH THE DARK TOWER VII: THE DARK TOWERTHE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE: A DARK TOWER NOVEL
£10.99
Bradt Travel Guides Me, My Bike and a Street Dog Called Lucy
This new title from Bradt tells the inspiring and emotional story of Ishbel Holmes, also known as `World Bike Girl', a Scottish-Iranian woman who became a champion racing cyclist in spite of having been abandoned by her family, and who set off on the adventure of a lifetime despite her lack of experience, money or equipment. Ishbel Holmes was determined to cycle the world but her journey took a completely unexpected turn when, despite her initial instincts not to, she rescued a street dog in Turkey. Ishbel was lost and alone when she started on her epic trip, but in Lucy found a companionship never previously known. Between the two there formed a deep bond and their relationship was followed and supported by thousands of readers online, before becoming a media sensation overnight when Ishbel put out a plea for help to transport Lucy to an animal shelter three hundred miles away. This heart-rending tale is about more than just the relationship between a woman and her dog. It is a testimony to the human spirit, overcoming present-day challenges and churning up long-buried and painful memories from Ishbel's earlier life. It is also a tale of adventure, one person's determination to cross an unfamiliar country by bike and the unforgettable scenes that greet her on the Turkey-Syria border and into Syria itself. And it is a loving portrait of Lucy, the street dog that was determined not to let Ishbel go and whose dogged persistence helped to break down the barriers around her heart and in so doing change her life in ways she had never imagined. Ultimately, this is a tale of love and healing, a modern fable that touches the soul and reminds us all of the need to belong.
£9.99
Headline Publishing Group Happy: An imaginative and innovative debut novel for fans of Slumdog Millionaire
'A MIRACULOUS NOVEL' MEGHA MAJUMDAR 'PLAYFUL AND PROFOUND . . . USING WRY HUMOUR TO DELIVER A DEAD SERIOUS MESSAGE' MELISSA FU'A BONKERS STORY THAT READS LIKE A FINE TEN-COURSE MEAL' GARY SHTEYNGARTA young cinephile leaves his rural village in India with big dreams, only to find himself trapped in menial jobs and forced to work off a debt he may never repay. In a small farming village in Punjab, India, a boy crouches over his brother's phone in a rapeseed field watching clips of Godard's Bande à part on YouTube. His name is Happy Singh Soni and when he's not sleeping among the cabbages and eating sugary rotis, Happy dreams of becoming an actor, one who plays the melancholy roles; the sad, pretty boys, rare in Indian cinema. He plans a clandestine journey to Europe, where he'll finally land a breakout role. After a nightmarish passage to Italy, Happy still manages to find relief in food and fantasy, even as he is forced into ever-worsening work conditions on a radish farm by the syndicate involved in smuggling him to Europe to pay off the supposed debt they claim he has accrued. While disillusionment amongst the farm workers rise, Happy will find the love - and tragedy - that his favourite films always promised. At turns funny and heart-breaking, sunny and tragic, Happy is a formally ambitious novel about the psychic fissures produced by the splintering of nations, and the lovely, generative, artful coping mechanisms created by generations of diasporic people. With this ingenious, daringly cinematic debut, Celina Baljeet Basra argues for the things that are basic to human survival: food, water, shelter, but also pleasure, romance, art, and the right to a vivid inner life.
£20.00
Scholastic The Oak Tree
Watch a thousand years unfold in the life of one magnificent tree! A thousand years ago, a tiny acorn fell to the ground. As the years pass, it grows . . . and GROWS into an enormous oak tree! As the centuries sweep by, children play games around the tree. Families dance about it. A fleeing king even hides inside its hollow trunk! The tree gives food and shelter to a host of animals, from squirrels and badgers to birds and beetles. After a thousand years, the ancient tree finally falls in a storm - but a new acorn sprouts, and the cycle of life begins all over again. The tree's magical life story is brought to life in Julia Donaldson's rich, dramatic rhyme. Victoria Sandøy's gorgeous, atmospheric illustrations perfectly capture the changing seasons, and the people and wildlife that pass by Children will love spotting all the creatures in the pictures, and seeing the games children play around the tree This is a book that encourages us all to look more closely at nature, and to appreciate the wonder of our ancient trees. The final pages of the book contain extra fascinating facts about oak trees and the animals that depend on them. Praise for The Christmas Pine, also by Julia Donaldson and Victoria Sandøy: "Magical . . . as well as paying tribute to tradition, the gentle rhythmic verse and stunning pictures illuminate the two other things close to Julia's heart: the power of children and song" Good Housekeeping Julia Donaldson is the author of many of the best-loved children's books ever written. She has been awarded a CBE for services to literature, and is the most celebrated children's writer in Britain today. Many of Julia Donaldson's beloved picture books have been made into award-winning animated films which are regularly shown on the BBC at Christmas.
£12.99
Medina Publishing Ltd The Afghanistan File
The Afghanistan File, written by the former head of Saudi Arabian Intelligence, tells the story of his Department's involvement in Afghanistan from the time of the Soviet invasion in 1979 to Nine Eleven 2001. It begins with the backing given by Saudi Arabia to the Mujahideen in their fight against the Soviet occupation, and moves on to the fruitless initiatives to broker peace among the Mujahideen factions after the Soviet withdrawal, the rise to power of the Taleban and the shelter the Taleban gave to Osama Bin Laden. A theme that runs through the book is the extraordinary difficulties Saudi Arabia and its allies had in dealing with the Mujahideen. Prince Turki found them magnificently brave, but exasperating. On one occasion in trying to arrange peace among them, he got permission from the King to open the Kaaba in Mecca, and had the leaders go inside, where they were overcome with emotion and swore never to fight each other again . A few hours later on their way to Medina they almost came to blows on the bus. Turki's account gives details of the Saudi attempts in the 1990s to bring its volunteers out of Afghanistan - with chequered success - and his negotiations with the Taleban for the surrender of Osama Bin Laden. The book includes a number of declassified Intelligence Department documents. Prince Turki explains that the nihilistic, apparently pointless terrorism that has been seen in the Middle East in the last twenty years had its origins in Afghanistan with Osama's deluded belief that he had helped defeat the Russians. There is no evidence that he ever fought them at all. Soon after Nine Eleven Saudi Arabia discovered that it had a home grown terrorist problem involving some of the returnees from Afghanistan. Much of the huge change that has taken place in the Kingdom since has stemmed from the campaign to tackle this.
£20.00
teNeues Publishing UK Ltd Born to Ice
SeaLegacy co-founder, National Geographic photographer, acclaimed ocean conservationist, and TED Talks favourite, Paul Nicklen traces his extraordinary love affair with the polar regions in his most recent book, Born to Ice. His powerful images of iconic arctic and antarctic wildlife and scenery, coupled with his inspiring photographic storytelling, blends ethereal beauty of the icy landscape with a compelling call to action. The Arctic is in Paul Nicklen’s blood. Born and raised on Baffin Island, Nunavut, he grew up in one of the only non-Inuit families in a tiny Inuit settlement amid the ice fields, floes, and frigid seas of Northern Canada. At an age when most children are playing hide-and-seek, he was learning important lessons on survival; how to read the weather, find shelter in a frozen snowscape, or live off the land as his Inuit neighbours had done for centuries. Today, Nicklen is a naturalist and wildlife photographer uniquely qualified to portray the impact of climate change on the Polar Regions and their inhabitants, human and animal alike. Whether he is diving off the floe edge in the Canadian Arctic or sitting on a piece of glacial ice in Antarctica to scout for leopard seals, Paul Nicklen goes to great lengths and depths to secure his award-winning images of life in the polar regions. This National Geographic-featured photographer and conservationist never shies away from extreme and challenging conditions as he feels urgently compelled to connect a global audience to the species and ecosystems he cares so deeply about. One of the world’s most acclaimed nature photographers, Nicklen focuses on marine wildlife and polar environments. For Nicklen, we must act now to save Earth’s delicate ecosystems and the precious diversity of life. Combining some of his most extraordinary photographs with personal experiences — learning and inspirational — this stunning Paul Nicklen photo compendium is both a remarkable collection of nature photography and a passionate rallying cry to stand up, have a voice, and enact positive change for our planet. Text in English, German and French.
£72.00
Basic Books Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell
Thomas Sowell has an almost godlike status amongst conservative intellectuals. "It's a scandal that economist Sowell has not been awarded the Nobel Prize," wrote a reviewer in Forbes. A profile in the Wall Street Journal described him as "one of America's great sages." His writing on politics, economics, and social issues have prompted both contempt and praise. In Maverick, Jason Riley explores the life and ideas of Thomas Sowell, one of America's most important Black intellectuals.A bright student with a tumultuous home life, Sowell was admitted to one of New York's most competitive high schools but dropped out at age 16. He left home a year later and moved into a shelter in the Bronx for homeless boys where he kept a knife under his pillow for protection. Years later, the G.I. bill enabled him to enroll in night school at Howard University and after his freshman year, he transferred to Harvard. By 1968, Sowell received his doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago, his dissertation written under the guidance of future Nobel economists Milton Friedman and George Stigler. Maverick follows Sowell from the University of Chicago to his early critiques of the Civil Rights moment. In the 60s and 70s, Sowell accepted teaching positions at Howard, Cornell, UCLA, and elsewhere -- but the campus turmoil of the era clashed with Sowell's principles and he refused to bend. He turned his attention to writing.Over the past fifty tears, Sowell has written over thirty books and countless columns and media appearances. Riley offers an introduction to Sowell's ideas, from race and inequality to economics and education. Riley considers how Sowell's own history alongside the moments and movements that shaped his thinking to offer a nuanced portrait of one of America's leading conservative intellectuals. Maverick explores the extraordinary scope and depth of arguably the most influential and trenchant Black social critics alive in America today - one whose contributions have been underacknowledged because they do not align with progressive ideas about race.
£22.50
Simon & Schuster Ltd Run Me to Earth
From award-winning author Paul Yoon comes a beautiful, aching novel about three kids orphaned in 1960s Laos—and how their destinies are entwined across decades, anointed by Hernan Diaz as, “one of those rare novels that stays with us to become a standard with which we measure other books.” Alisak, Prany, and Noi—three orphans united by devastating loss—must do what is necessary to survive the perilous landscape of 1960s Laos. When they take shelter in a bombed out field hospital, they meet Vang, a doctor dedicated to helping the wounded at all costs. Soon the teens are serving as motorcycle couriers, delicately navigating their bikes across the fields filled with unexploded bombs, beneath the indiscriminate barrage from the sky. In a world where the landscape and the roads have turned into an ocean of bombs, we follow their grueling days of rescuing civilians and searching for medical supplies, until Vang secures their evacuation on the last helicopters leaving the country. It’s a move with irrevocable consequences—and sets them on disparate and treacherous paths across the world. Spanning decades and magically weaving together storylines laced with beauty and cruelty, Paul Yoon crafts a gorgeous story that is a breathtaking historical feat and a fierce study of the powers of hope, perseverance, and grace. “If you truly believe in the transformative power of literature then you must read this book. Run Me to Earth is a genuine masterpiece; fierce, tender, wise, earth-shattering, pulsating with love and hope.”—MIRIAM TOEWS, author of Women Talking “With Run Me to Earth, Paul Yoon proves, yet again, that he is a master at finding depth of emotion in formal restraint and discovering the timeless core in the most urgent issues of our day. This is one of those rare novels that stays with us to become, over the years, a standard with which we measure other books.”—HERNAN DIAZ, author of In the Distance, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers Inc Wanderlust: An Eccentric Explorer, an Epic Journey, a Lost Age
The mesmerizing, larger-than-life tale of an eccentric adventurer who traversed some of the greatest frontiers of the twentieth century, from uncharted Arctic wastelands to the underground resistance networks of World War II."An absolute joy...Wanderlust is a compelling introduction to one of the most charismatic explorers to ever cross the ice."—New York Times Book ReviewDeep in the Arctic wilderness, Peter Freuchen awoke to find himself buried alive under the snow. During a sudden blizzard the night before, he had taken shelter underneath his dogsled and become trapped there while he slept. Now, as feeling drained from his body, he managed to claw a hole through the ice only to find himself in even greater danger: his beard, wet with condensation from his struggling breath, had frozen to his sled runners and lashed his head in place, exposing it to icy winds that needed only a few minutes to kill him… But if Freuchen could escape that, he could escape anything.Freuchen’s life seemed ripped from the pages of an adventure novel—and provided fodder for many books of his own. A wildly eccentric Dane with an out-of-nowhere sense of humor, his insatiable curiosity drove him from the twilight years of Arctic exploration to the Golden Age of Hollywood, and from the burgeoning field of climate research to the Danish underground during World War II. He conducted jaw-dropping expeditions, survived a Nazi prison camp, and overcame a devastating injury that robbed him of his foot and very nearly his life. Through it all, he was guided not only by restlessness but also by ideals that were remarkably ahead of his time, championing Indigenous communities, environmental stewardship, and starting conversations that continue today. Meticulously researched and grippingly written, Wanderlust is an unforgettable tale of daring and discovery, an inspiring portrait of restlessness and grit, and a powerful meditation on our relationship to the planet and our fellow human beings. Reid Mitenbuler’s exquisite book restores a heroic giant of the last century back into public view.
£27.98
Big Finish Productions Ltd Survivors: New Dawn Volume 3
From the world of Terry Nation's cult-classic series. The world has ended. The pandemic crossed continents, sparing only a fraction of the global population. The survivors are now trying to pick up the pieces and rebuild society to create a new future. But with only a handful of towns and cities starting to rise from the ashes, and governance and law-making in a fragile, fledgling state, everyone must start over. And the worst of human nature has survived along with the best. Food shortages threaten the stability of the New Federal Government. Prime Minister Celia Tate clings to power and Robin Page - once a thorn in her side and now a minister - becomes involved in an uprising to depose her. Once again, the world is changing, and the best Abby and Jenny can hope for is to survive. 3.1 The Turning Part One. Caught between an increasingly authoritarian Prime Minister and activists determined to bring down the New Federal Government, Jenny struggles to prevent the collapse of everything they've worked so hard to build. 3.2 The Turning Part Two. Answering her friend's desperate call for help, Abby returns to find Cambridge in chaos, and Jenny is surrounded by danger and betrayal as a new regime desperately try to restore order. 3.3 Samaritans. Escaping Cambridge, Abby and Jenny save the life of an elderly man they find living alone in the woods and gratefully accept his offer of warmth and shelter. But as the cold and dark close in it's not only the animals that come out at night... Cast: Carolyn Seymour (Abby Grant), Lucy Fleming (Jenny Richards), Tom Alexander (FormerRanger / Cleric), Daisy Badger (Debra Adams), Sean Connolly (Mike Ferguson / Groom), Mark Elstob (Andrew / Terry Matthews), Jonathan Keeble (Mark Osborne), Belinda Lang (Celia Tate), Hannah Raymond-Cox (Boo / Judy Lawson), Enzo Squillino Jnr (Phil Harris), Sam Stafford Robin Page). Other parts played by members of the cast. NOTE: Survivors contains adult material and is not suitable for younger listeners.
£22.49
Big Finish Productions Ltd The Seventh Doctor Adventures Volume 1
Big Finish have been producing Doctor Who audios since 1999, starring Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Paul McGann, David Tennant and John Hurt. This special boxed set features some of the Doctor’s adventures with Roz Forrester and Chris Cwej, lawmaker companions from the future. This set contains four adventures; 1. The Trial of a Time Machine by Andy Lane. After colliding with another time-ship in the vortex, the TARDIS materialises on Thrantas where it is arrested and forced to face trial. While Chris and Roz investigate the crime scene, the Doctor must defend his most loyal companion against a society where guilt has no meaning. 2. Vanguard by Steve Jordan. The planet Vanguard was once ravaged by a war between its peoples: the Dauntless and the Intrepid. Now, robotic titans stalk the desolation, searching for survivors. Their mission: to end the war for one side or the other. But which side will the Doctor take? 3. The Jabari Countdown by Alan Flanagan. Arriving on a mysterious island, stranded with a group of mathematicians, the Doctor and his companions find themselves on the fringes of the Second World War. Trapped with only each other and an unknown threat, the group must work together to solve a puzzle greater than just one world’s war. 4. The Dread of Night by Tim Foley. When a grieving household offers the TARDIS travellers shelter from the weather, the Doctor, Chris and Roz find themselves exposed to even less hospitable conditions. A sinister presence stalks the house, plaguing its inhabitants... and only the truth can free them. CAST: Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Yasmin Bannerman (Roz Forrester), Travis Oliver (Chris Cwej), Liz Sutherland-Lim (Maratuk), Vikash Bhai (Sydyck), John Heffernan (Honos), Mina Anwar (Forsetti), Janine Duvitski (Alpha Wheeler), Leonie Schliesing (Zsa Zsa Straus), Franchi Webb (Eleanor Burke), Rupert Young (Binkum Fray), Silas Carson (Arbuckle), Sara Powell (Contessa), Olivia Morris (Green), Connor Calland (Blue), Jacob Dudman (Cannon), Melanie Kilburn (Hooley),Rhian Blundell (Isabel), Elaine Fellows (Annabel), Ellie Darvill (Willis).
£31.50
Groundwood Books Ltd ,Canada The Red Sash
The Red Sash is the story of a young Metis boy who lives near the fur trading post of Fort William, on Lake Superior, nearly 200 years ago. The Red Sash is the story of a young Metis boy who lives near the fur trading post of Fort William, on Lake Superior, nearly 200 years ago. His father spends the long winter months as a guide, leading voyageurs into the northwest to trade with the Indigenous Peoples for furs. Now it is Rendezvous, when the voyageurs paddle back to Fort William with their packs of furs, and North West Company canoes come from Montreal bringing supplies for the next season. It is a time of feasting and dancing and of voyageurs trading stories around the campfire. With preparations underway for a feast in the Great Hall, the boy canoes to a nearby island to hunt hare. But once there, a storm begins to brew. As the waves churn to foam, a canoe carrying a gentleman from the North West Company appears, heading toward the island for shelter. The boy helps land the canoe, which has been torn by rocks and waves. Then he saves the day as he paddles the gentleman across to Fort William in his own canoe, earning the gift of a voyageur's red sash. Jean E. Pendziwol was inspired to write The Red Sash through her involvement with Fort William Historical Park as a volunteer, and she worked closely with the Fort’s historian on the story. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.5 Describe the overall structure of a story, including describing how the beginning introduces the story and the ending concludes the action. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.3.7 Explain how specific aspects of a text's illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting)
£10.99
Island Press People, Planet, Design: A Practical Guide to Realizing Architecture's Potential
If you were asked to close your eyes and envision where you are happiest, would you picture somewhere inside a building? North Americans are inside buildings for more than 90% of the day. Meanwhile, the indoors are stifling us, sometimes even killing us. Buildings, and the materials that make them up, expose us to materials linked to negative health impacts. The construction and operation of buildings is responsible for 40% of climate-changing carbon emissions. In the US, the design choices made by the typical architecture firm employee each year can reduce emissions by about 300 times that of an average American. But the promise of sustainable architecture will not be realised if sustainability remains a secondary consideration for architects. What if great design were defined by its ability to cool the planet, heal communities, enhance ecological functioning, and advance justice? In People, Planet, Design, architect Corey Squire builds the case, provides the data, and lays out the practical tools for a transformative human-centred architecture. This approach integrates beauty and delight with an awareness of how every design choice impacts the community, the planet, and the people who will use the building. Outcome-focused with a deep dive into practical design strategies, the book showcases ten building systems that embody design excellence. Squire centres the idea that by focusing on the desired outcomes—that buildings shelter us from the elements without disconnecting us from the world, that buildings provide the quality of air, light, and views we now know to be essential to health, productivity, and joy—we can move beyond the checklist mentality that has captured much of the design community. Essential reading for architects who want to transform what the profession means, People, Planet, Design pioneers a new vision and sets readers up with clear guidance on implementing it. Only when design prioritises people, as it should, can architecture realise its full potential.
£30.00
Button Books Live Like a Hunter Gatherer: Discovering the Secrets of the Stone Age
If you imagined that all Stone Age people lived in caves, were not very clever, not very clean and said "Ugg" a lot, then think again. Marking the start of all human history, the Stone Age lasted around 3.5 million years (the last part of that was only 71 grand parents ago!). Delve into that incredible time with this book packed full of amazing facts, information, crafts, storytelling and myth debunking to find out what it was really like to live as a hunter gatherer. Dotted through the book are step-by-step craft activities and recipes that give you first-hand experience of some vital Stone Age skills making a Mesolithic shelter, fat lamps, a digging stick, creating cave art, making a bow and arrow and a fishing hook are just a few. AGES: 5 to 11 AUTHOR: Naomi Walmsley runs Outback2Basics with her partner Dan Westall from their patch of woodland in Shropshire, UK. Specialising in bushcraft and Stone Age skills, they provide unique experiences for school children and teachers to connect to nature. Naomi is a qualified bushcraft instructor and Forest School Leader and believes that every child should be able to safely light a fire and have at least ten uses for a stick by the age of ten. She has also written for many magazines, including Bushcraft & Survival Skills, LivingWoods and Juno. So passionate are they about the Stone Age way of life, they have actually lived and breathed it for themselves. Naomi and Dan undertook a five-month Stone Age immersion experience in the US in 2010, living in the wilderness without any modern equipment, profoundly influencing their lives and teaching. Recently (Sept 2020),they appeared in Channel 4's fascinating documentary Surviving the Stone Age. A three-part series filmed in Bulgaria with six other Stone-Age experts living as a tribe of hunter gatherers for one month. Naomi has co-authored two previous books for GMC Publications; Forest School Adventure and Urban Forest School. 50 photographs, 200 illustrations
£12.99
Groundwood Books Ltd ,Canada A Forest in the City
This beautiful book of narrative non-fiction looks at the urban forest and dives into the question of how we can live in harmony with city trees. “Imagine a city draped in a blanket of green … Is this the city you know?” A Forest in the City looks at the urban forest, starting with a bird’s-eye view of the tree canopy, then swooping down to street level, digging deep into the ground, then moving up through a tree’s trunk, back into the leaves and branches. Trees make our cities more beautiful and provide shade but they also fight climate change and pollution, benefit our health and connections to one another, provide food and shelter for wildlife, and much more. Yet city trees face an abundance of problems, such as the abundance of concrete, poor soil and challenging light conditions. So how can we create a healthy environment for city trees? Urban foresters are trying to create better growing conditions, plant diverse species, and maintain trees as they age. These strategies, and more, reveal that the urban forest is a complex system—A Forest in the City shows readers we are a part of it. Includes a list of activities to help the urban forest and a glossary. The ThinkCities series is inspired by the urgency for new approaches to city life as a result of climate change, population growth and increased density. It highlights the challenges and risks cities face, but also offers hope for building resilience, sustainability and quality of life as young people act as advocates for themselves and their communities. Key Text Features diagrams author's note glossary sources definitions Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
£15.17
Hal Leonard Corporation Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters
Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters is both a gonzo rush—capturing the bristling energy of the Rolling Stones and the times in which they lived—and a wide-eyed reflection on why the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World needed the world's greatest rock 'n' roll drummer. Across five decades, Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has had the best seat in the house. Charlie Watts, the anti-rock star—an urbane jazz fan with a dry wit and little taste for the limelight—was witness to the most savage years in rock history, and emerged a hero, a warrior poet. With his easy swing and often loping, uneven fills, he found nuance in a music that often had little room for it, and along with his greatest ally, Keith Richards, he gave the Stones their swaggering beat. While others battled their drums, Charlie played his modest kit with finesse and humility, and yet his relentless grooves on the nastiest hard-rock numbers of the era ("Gimme Shelter," "Street Fighting Man," "Brown Sugar," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," etc.) delivered a dangerous authenticity to a band that on their best nights should have been put in jail. Author Mike Edison, himself a notorious raconteur and accomplished drummer, tells a tale of respect and satisfaction that goes far beyond drums, drumming, and the Rolling Stones, ripping apart the history of rock'n'roll, and celebrating sixty years of cultural upheaval. He tears the sheets off of the myths of music making, shredding the phonies and the frauds, and unifies the frayed edges of disco, punk, blues, country, soul, jazz, and R&B—the soundtrack of our lives.Highly opinionated, fearless, and often hilarious, Sympathy is as an unexpected treat for music fans and pop culture mavens, as edgy and ribald as the Rolling Stones at their finest, never losing sight of the sex and magic that puts the roll in the rock —the beat, that crazy beat!—and the man who drove the band, their true engine, the utterly irreplaceable Charlie Watts.
£12.99