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A gorgeous animal series set in the beautiful Blossom Wood - where children turn into magical creatures. Cousins Cora, Isabelle and Lei arrive in Blossom Wood to bright sunshine - and as soon as they enter, they turn into unicorns! But moments later, a storm begins to rain down. Blossom Wood is being flooded and the animals need their help. The only problem is, Lei still doesn't know what her unicorn magic is! Can the Unicorns of Blossom Wood come to the rescue? with magical line illustrations throughout BLOSSOM WOOD BOOKS Owls: The Birthday Party Owls: An Enchanted Wedding Owls: Lost and Found Owls: A Magical Beginning Owls: Save the Day Owls: To the Resue Unicorns: Believe In Magic Unicorns: Best Friends Unicorns: Festival Time Unicorns: Storms and Rainbows

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Among liberal thinkers, there is an optimistic belief that men and women are on a cultural journey toward equality - in the workplace, on the street, and in the home. But observation and evidence both tell us that in many ways this progress has stopped - and in some cases even reversed. In "The End of Equality", renowned feminist Beatrix Campbell argues that even as the patriarchy has lost some of its legitimacy, new inequalities are emerging in our culture. We are living, Campbell writes, in an era of neopatriarchy in which violence has proliferated; body anxiety and self-hatred have flourished; rape is committed with impunity; sex trafficking thrives; and the struggle for equal pay is at an end. After four decades observing society, Campbell still speaks of the long-sought goal of gender equality. But now she calls for a new revolution.

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During the waning days of World War II, a frenzied race was underway in rubble-strewn Europe as US and Soviet forces sought to seize advanced German weapons technology. Over the next quarter century, North American Aviation (NAA) would enhance these spoils of war into fearsome weapons in America's arsenal. There's the swept-wing F-86 Sabre jet fighter, which would go on to be the only Allied warplane to outmaneuver a Soviet MiG-15 over Korea. X-15 rocket planes carried humans to the boundaries of space, setting speed and altitude records that still hold today. The story of these weapons and the engineers who nourished them is a fascinating look into postwar corporate history of the NAA and its impact on US aviation and space history.

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A respectable bookseller is found bludgeoned and strangled and it's up to Chief Superintendent Wycliffe to find out why . . .When Matthew Glynn is murdered, Wycliffe is mystified. Why would anyone want to kill him? But a look at Glynn's background reveals tension within the family. Alfred Glynn, an eccentric recluse, has born a grudge against his brother for years. The other brother, Maurice, argued bitterly with Matthew over the sale of family land. His sister Sara is caught out in several crucial lies to the police. Add to this a discontented son, the discovery of valuable documents in the bookseller's safe, and the mysterious, still unexplained disappearance of Matthew's wife years earlier, and Wycliffe faces one of his most impenetrable cases yet.And then another Glynn dies . . .

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As night fell in Picardy on Thursday 24 October 1415, Henry V and his English troops, worn down by their long march in search of a crossing of the Somme, can only have dreamt that the battle of the next day would be remembered as one of the most momentous victories ever won. Six hundred years down the line, the battle of Agincourt still rings through the centuries. In this stupendous victory English and Welsh archers who formed the bulk of Henry’s army prevailed against large numbers of French men-at-arms and cavalry. This startling and revisionist history recreates the campaign and battle from the perspectives of the English. Acclaimed as one of the best battle accounts ever published, Anne Curry has updated her classic work in honour of the 600th anniversary of Agincourt.

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U.S. Marshal Jameson Arkeley taught police investigator and vampire fighter Laura Caxton everything she knows about monsters. When an army of vampires attacked Gettysburg, Arkeley gave up his own life to save others. Except he didn't exactly die . . .He accepted the curse and is now a vampire himself - one that knows all the tricks better than anyone else. Now Laura is faced with the task of destroying him before he succeeds in his quest to exterminate his own family, one member at a time. But Arkeley knows all her tactics too; after all, he taught her.Worse still, if Laura fails to stop him then Arkeley will become a beast exponentially more dangerous - a Vampire Zero.

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This volume contains two plays by one of Britain's finest playwrights. In Quartet Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred are in a home for retired opera singers. Each year, on 10 October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on . . .Equally Divided begins shortly after the funeral of Edith and Renata's mother. Edith, severe, embattled, unmarried, has sacrificed her life to nurse the bedridden old woman. Renata, glamorous and married several times, has spent her life doing what she pleases. When the contents of the will are made known, childhood rivalries re-emerge and the result is a moral tale both powerful and comic.

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Alistair MacLeod musters all of the skill and grace that have won him an international following to give us No Great Mischief, the story of a fiercely loyal family and the tradition that drives it. Generations after their forebears went into exile, the MacDonalds still face seemingly unmitigated hardships and cruelties of life. Alexander, orphaned as a child by a horrific tragedy, has nevertheless gained some success in the world. Even his older brother, Calum, a nearly destitute alcoholic living on Toronto's skid row, has been scarred by another tragedy. But, like all his clansman, Alexander is sustained by a family history that seems to run through his veins. And through these lovingly recounted stories-wildly comic or heartbreakingly tragic-we discover the hope against hope upon which every family must sometimes rely.

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Agatha Christie’s ‘most absorbing mystery’ – her own autobiography. Over the three decades since her death on 12 January 1976, many of Agatha Christie’s readers and reviewers have maintained that her most compelling book is probably still her least well-known. Her candid Autobiography, written mainly in the 1960s, modestly ignores the fact that Agatha had become the best-selling novelist in history and concentrates on her fascinating private life. From early childhood at the end of the 19th century, through two marriages and two World Wars, and her experiences both as a writer and on archaeological expeditions with her second husband, Max Mallowan, Agatha shares the details of her varied and sometimes complex life with real passion and openness.

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A story spanning centuries. A long awaited revenge. In London, journalist Jo Clifford plans to debunk the belief in past-lives in a hard-hitting magazine piece. But her scepticism is shaken when a hypnotist forces her to relive the experiences of Matilda, Lady of Hay, a noblewoman during the reign of King John. She learns of Matilda's unhappy marriage, her love for the handsome Richard de Clare, and the brutal death threats handed out by King John, before it becomes clear that Jo’s past and present are inevitably entwined. She realises that eight hundred years on, Matilda’s story of secret passion and unspeakable treachery is about to repeat itself… Barbara Erskine’s iconic debut novel still delights generations of readers thirty years after its first publication.

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The interplay of electronic textiles and wearable technology, wearables for short, and fashion, design and science is a highly promising and topical subject. Offered here is a compact survey of the theory involved and an explanation of the role technology plays in a fabric or article of clothing. The practical application is explained in detail and numerous illustrations serve as clarification. Over 50 well-known designers, research institutes, companies and artists, among them Philips, Burton, MIT Media Lab, XS Labs, New York University, Hussein Chalayan, Cute Circuit or International Fashion Machines are introduced by means of their latest, often still unpublished, project, and a survey of their work to date. Given for the first time is a list of all the relevant information on research institutes, materials, publications etc. A must for all those wishing to know everything about fashionable technology.

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When you sell your soul, the devil gives no refunds... When an old man is burned alive in a sleepy ex-mining village, Detective Chief Inspector Ryan is called in to investigate. He soon discovers that, beneath the facade of a close-knit community, the burn from decades-old betrayal still smoulders. When everyone had a motive, can he unravel the secrets of the past before the killer strikes again? Meanwhile, back at Northumbria CID, trouble is brewing with rumours of a mole in Ryan’s department. With everyone under suspicion, can he count on anybody but himself? Murder and mystery are peppered with romance and humour in this fast-paced crime whodunnit set amidst the spectacular Northumbrian landscape. “LJ Ross keeps company with the best mystery writers” – The Times “A literary phenomenon” – Evening Chronicle

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NOW THE NO.1 DRAMA IN THE HISTORY OF APPLE TV+The much anticipated prequel to bestseller Wool that takes us back to the beginnings of the silo. In a future less than fifty years away, the world is still as we know it. Time continues to tick by. The truth is that it is ticking away.A powerful few know what lies ahead. They are preparing for it. They are trying to protect us.They are setting us on a path from which we can never return.A path that will lead to destruction; a path that will take us below ground.The history of the silo is about to be written.Our future is about to begin.________________'We have been mesmerised with Hugh Howey's silo stories since we first laid eyes on book one in the trilogy...' Grazia Daily'An epic feat of imagination. You will live in this world.' Justin Cronin

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Discover wilderness as nature intended – the pristine places on our beautiful planet that still remain untouched by human hands. Explore the rugged mountains, clear waters and dense forests of the great outdoors, from the Himalayas to the Rockies, from icy fjord and to desert plateau and everything between.Including information on the best trails and trips to take around the globe, and inspirational quotes from explorers, conservationists and writers, this bitesize book will help wanderers of all walking speeds reconnect with the wonderful world outside their windows.SAMPLE FACT: Blaze: When wanderlusting in the wilderness, and lost, look to the trees to help you find a path. A blaze is a coloured marker, usually painted or nailed to a tree. It helps guide hikers when a trail becomes difficult to follow or makes an abrupt turn.

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This new edition of our superb Exam Practice Workbook for Foundation Level Edexcel GCSE Maths contains a massive range of realistic exam-style questions for every topic, with grade stamps and problem-solving stamps to indicate the difficulty level. Better still, we’ve included plenty of helpful exam tips throughout. There are step-by-step solutions (with a full mark scheme) for every question, so it’s simple for students to check and correct their work - plus, there are QR codes to access brilliant new worked video solutions! And finally, the book is rounded off with a full set of mock exam papers - the answers to these are available to download from the CGP website. CGP’s range for Foundation Level Edexcel GCSE Maths also includes a matching Revision Guide (9781782944003) and Workbook (9781782944010).

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This new edition of our superb Exam Practice Workbook for Foundation Level AQA GCSE Maths contains a massive range of realistic exam-style questions for every topic, with grade stamps and problem-solving stamps to indicate the difficulty level. Better still, we’ve included plenty of helpful exam tips throughout. There are step-by-step solutions (with a full mark scheme) for every question, so it’s simple for students to check and correct their work - plus, there are QR codes to access brilliant new worked video solutions! And finally, the book is rounded off with a full set of mock exam papers - the answers to these are available to download from the CGP website. CGP’s range for Foundation Level AQA GCSE Maths also includes a matching Revision Guide (9781782943914) and Workbook (9781782943921).

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This new edition of our superb Exam Practice Workbook for Foundation Level OCR GCSE Maths contains a massive range of realistic exam-style questions for every topic, with grade stamps and problem-solving stamps to indicate the difficulty level. Better still, we’ve included plenty of helpful exam tips throughout. There are step-by-step solutions (with a full mark scheme) for every question, so it’s simple for students to check and correct their work - plus, there are QR codes to access brilliant new worked video solutions! And finally, the book is rounded off with a full set of mock exam papers - the answers to these are available to download from the CGP website. CGP’s range for Foundation Level OCR GCSE Maths also includes a matching Revision Guide (9781782943754) and Workbook (9781782943761).

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In a time of intense uncertainty, social strife, and ecological upheaval, what does it take to envision the world as it yet may be? The field of anthropology, Anand Pandian argues, has resources essential for this critical and imaginative task. Anthropology is no stranger to injustice and exploitation. Still, its methods can reveal unseen dimensions of the world at hand and radical experience as the seed of a humanity yet to come. A Possible Anthropology is an ethnography of anthropologists at work: canonical figures like Bronislaw Malinowski and Claude Lévi-Strauss, ethnographic storytellers like Zora Neale Hurston and Ursula K. Le Guin, contemporary scholars like Jane Guyer and Michael Jackson, and artists and indigenous activists inspired by the field. In their company, Pandian explores the moral and political horizons of anthropological inquiry, the creative and transformative potential of an experimental practice.

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A trainee jockey has been kicked to death by an aggressive stallion at the local stables. Deemed an accidental death, the case is closed. But when the jockey’s brother returns from active service, he sparks an armed siege, demanding the investigation be re-opened and the truth uncovered. Still recovering from the physical and mental scars of his last case, Detective Inspector Nick Dixon is dragged deep into a murky world of betting scams and murder, where people will do anything to keep their secrets. Even if that means silencing a DI who keeps asking the wrong questions about the wrong dead jockey... Kickback is the third novel in the highly acclaimed DI Nick Dixon Crime Series. Revised edition: This edition of Kickback includes editorial revisions.

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A true modern classic, THE SMALL BACK ROOM is a towering novel of the Second World War.Sammy Rice is a weapons scientist, one of the 'back room boys' of the Second World War. A crippling disability has left him cynical and disillusioned - he struggles with a drink problem at home, and politics and petty pride at work. Worse still, he fears he is not good enough for the woman he loves.The stakes are raised when the enemy begin to drop a new type of booby-trapped bomb, causing many casualties. Only Sammy has the know-how to diffuse it - but as he comes face to face with real danger, all his old inadequacies return to haunt him.Can he, at last, prove his worth and put his demons to rest?

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'In a tale that more than matches its predecessors for pace and atmosphere, Hawkins is forced into confrontation with a psychopathic killer...hugely enjoyable' The Sunday Times'You will burn.'Late spring, 1728. Fresh from his escape from the gallows, Thomas Hawkins has arrived in Yorkshire with his ward, Sam Fleet. But death still has a hand upon his shoulder, even in such idyllic surroundings.John Aislabie, Tom's reluctant host, is being tormented by anonymous letters threatening murder. A disgraced politician, Aislabie certainly has plenty of enemies. But, trapped in a house haunted by old tragedies, Tom begins to suspect that the danger lies much closer to home. Someone is playing a subtle and deadly game of revenge, years in the planning. And now Tom is standing in their way...

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'The Gateway to the Broads’, Beccles is a thriving market town in Suffolk that has been central to local communications for two millennia, prospering as a hub of trade and industry, while still retaining its cohesiveness and welcoming atmosphere. The historian Granville Baker wrote of his adopted town, ‘Beccles is as a city that is at unity in itself.’ While never wishing to be extensive, the town’s substantial church, two marketplaces and stately Georgian buildings testify amply to its historical importance. Beccles Through Time features images depicting much of its significant architecture, from the eleventh century onwards, as well as documenting some of the smaller but no less fascinating alterations in the town’s appearance. The changing role of the river, which gave Beccles the Saxon name for ‘the pasture by the stream’, is illustrated, and scenes of celebration and recreation are also shown.

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Investigator and former Marine Wayne Weston is found at home, killed by a single gunshot wound to the head, the gun still lying in his right hand. There is no sign of his wife and six-year-old daughter.The police believe Wayne Weston killed his family before turning the gun on himself. Weston's father is convinced his son was murdered. He turns to Lincoln Perry, former cop, now private investigator, for help.All the evidence supports the police's conclusions, but as soon as he starts asking questions, Lincoln hears rumours of gambling, extortion, and links to Cleveland's Russian mob. When the FBI asks him to back off, followed by a second murder, Lincoln is more determined than ever to uncover the truth, even if that means putting himself in danger . . .

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THE CHILLING SEVENTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING FRIEDA KLEIN SERIES 'Menacing' GuardianSomeone is coming for Frieda, someone deadly . . .Psychotherapist Frieda Klein has believed serial killer Dean Reeve escaped justice for years. Despite what the police say, she is convinced he's still alive. And finally she has the evidence. Because under her floor is the rotting corpse of an ex-policeman who she'd hired to hunt for Reeve.Now the police have to take her seriously.It's clear that whoever did this is very dangerous and must be found, but it's also clear that they're not finished with Frieda - or those she loves most.As Frieda is about to learn - it's always darkest just before the dawn . . .'Addictive' Daily Express'Nail-biting' Marie Claire'Ingenious' Daily Telegraph

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Comic Sans is one of the most used and most reviled typefaces of the digital age. How was it made? How could it spawn a movement to ban it and yet still be so widely promoted by educators? What does its accidental creator make of its contentious and singular history?This quirky and unique book considers how the computer transformed type into something that anyone could use and have an opinion on. It examines how a typeface, correctly used, may sell us almost anything, and how new types with names such as Crash Soul, Lovely Scream Queens and Ampersandist (to name but three recent examples of the hundreds issued each year) each attempt to keep the alphabet exciting and new. And it concludes with an alluring question: could Comic Sans now be the coolest typeface ever made?

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The Erewash Valley line, linking the busy railway junctions at Trent through the once bustling yards of the iconic railway location of Toton and to the main line at Clay Cross, has seen much in the way of change over the last half a century. Infrastructure, traffic types, wagon and locomotive classes have all seen a mixture of rationalisation, overhaul, replacement, withdrawal and investment. This changing scene has provided enthusiasts and photographers with outstanding variety and opportunities to record the changing times, and while the amount of traffic lost can be lamented, the modern-day photographer can still find good variety. With 180 previously unpublished photographs, this book provides a snapshot of diesels working over the route through this period of change, from the corporate British Rail era to the early years of privatisation and up to the present day.

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'Dad, it's the happiest day of my life,' Kate said. 'I wish time would stand still and it could be today forever.' It's June 1897, and Kate is celebrating her eleventh birthday on the day of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Kate's joy is short-lived, as tragedy strikes, threatening her family with the loss of all they hold dear. Before long they are evicted from their home in Ancoats, Manchester, and with no wages coming in and a mother unable to cope, Kate has to grow up fast. Her deepest desire is to keep her brothers and sisters together. A journey of hope and heartache takes Kate from the hardships of the workhouse to the dubious comforts of a position in service to the rich; from the joys of marriage to a good man, to the sorrows and losses suffered during the Great War.

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Kate Fox was a teenage orphan from the rough side of the Bronx. Now a beautiful woman, Kate wants wealth and security for life. When media mogul Marcus Broder proposes, it seems the dream has come true. But a life of pampered luxury does not make Kate happy. When she walks out and forges a career of her own, a humiliated Marcus is furious. Bitterly jealous, he is determined to destroy her. Wall Street's favourite entrepreneur, David Abrams, has heard the rumours that Kate Fox is a gold digger. But is Kate still the woman she once was? When irresistible passion flares between them, David has to decide if winning Kate is worth the gamble of losing everything he has...including his heart.

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Eighteen-year-old Toni and her boyfriend, Ryan, were wrongly convicted of the murder of her younger sister. Seventeen years later, she's out on parole and back in her hometown, but she's struggling to adjust to a new life on the outside. Ryan is convinced he can uncover the truth; her mother still doesn't believe Toni's innocent; and the former high school girls who made Toni's life miserable may have darker secrets than anyone can imagine. Before Toni can move forward, she must take a terrifying step back to her past to find out the truth and clear her name, before it's too late. Fast-paced, gripping and thought-provoking, That Night is a breathtaking thriller that you'll never forget.

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With the face of an angel and a sunny nature, Lucy Mellor is a daughter any parent would be proud of. But Lucy only knows cruelty from the woman who brought her into the world. Her father, Bob, is the one shining light in her life. He tries to protect her, but he is no match for the devious wife who gives him no peace of mind and has no love for his daughter. The walls of the house are thin and Ruby Mellor's angry attacks on Lucy can be heard by their neighbours. One day, Irene Pollard decides she must do something, and she takes the girl under her wing. And two doors up, Mrs Aggie and her seafaring son, Titch, enrich Lucy's life with their sense of fun. But Lucy she still craves a mother's love...

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Molly Bennett and Nellie McDonough are as close as can be. They sort out all the neighbours' problems, care for seven children between them, and still have time for a giggle and a gossip. So imagine the excitement when Nellie's son, Steve, proposes to Molly's daughter, Jill. But it's not long before unsettling events turn their attention again to friends in need. The Bradley family, who have moved in up the street, are a bad lot, and Molly and Nellie find their hands full with sorting out the troubles that ensue. Meanwhile, Molly's teenage daughter, Doreen, has fallen head over heels in love with a young lad named Philip. She hasn't been with anyone quite like him before, and she's in for a terrible shock when she finds out whose family he comes from...

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One of the best-known figures of British history, collective memory of Henry VIII presents us with the image of a corpulent, covetous, and cunning king whose appetite for worldly goods met few parallels, whose wives met infamously premature ends, and whose religion was ever political in intent. 1536 - focusing on a pivotal year in the life of the King - reveals a fuller portrait of this complex monarch, detailing the finer shades of humanity that have so long been overlooked. We discover that in 1536 Henry met many failures - physical, personal, and political - and emerged from them a revolutionary new king who proceeded to transform a nation and reform a religion. A compelling story, the effects of which are still with us today, 1536 shows what a profound difference can be made merely by changing the heart of a king.

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For nearly a century the two most powerful nations on earth, Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia, fought a secret war in the lonely passes and deserts of Central Asia. Those engaged in this shadowy struggle called it 'The Great Game', a phrase immortalized by Kipling. When play first began the two rival empires lay nearly 2,000 miles apart. By the end, some Russian outposts were within 20 miles of India. This classic book tells the story of the Great Game through the exploits of the young officers, both British and Russian, who risked their lives playing it. Disguised as holy men or native horse-traders, they mapped secret passes, gathered intelligence and sought the allegiance of powerful khans. Some never returned. The violent repercussions of the Great Game are still convulsing Central Asia today.

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Now a BBC Radio 4 Drama Series.Inspector Chen Cao of the Shanghai Police Bureau is summoned by an official of the Party to lead a highly charged corruption investigation. Tentacles have spread through the police force, the civil service, the vice trade and deep into the criminal underworld. The principal figure and his family have long since fled to the United States, beyond the reach of the Chinese government. But the network is still intact and it is only a matter of time before it becomes stronger than before. Chen is charged - and it is a job he cannot refuse - with uncovering those responsible, and destroying the organisation from the top down to its roots. In a twisting case that reunites him with his counterpart from the US Marshals service - Inspector Catherine Rohn - Chen must find a measure of justice in a corrupt, expedient world.

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For many Jewish Christians of the first century, living in the light of the gospel was challenging. Having accepted Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah, they were regarded by still-skeptical family, friends and neighbors as dangerous, misguided and even disloyal to all that God had said earlier on. The letter to the Hebrews was written to show that you can't go back to an earlier stage of God's purposes but must press on eagerly to the one that is yet to come. In these studies we find encouragement and assurance that pressing on, even in the face of such close and constant pressure to fall back, is its own reward. The guides in this series by Tom Wright can be used on their own or alongside his New Testament for Everyone commentaries. They are designed to help you understand the Bible in fresh ways under the guidance of one of the world's leading New Testament scholars.

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The life and works of Augustine of Hippo (354-430) have shaped the development of the Christian Church, sparking controversy and influencing the ideas of theologians through subsequent centuries. His words are still frequently quoted in devotions throughout the global Church today. His key themes retain a striking contemporary relevance - what is the place of the Church in the world? What is the relation between nature and grace? Augustine's intellectual development is recounted with clarity and warmth in this newly rediscovered biography of Augustine, as interpreted by the acclaimed church historian, the late Professor Henry Chadwick. Augustine's intellectual journey from schoolboy and student to Bishop and champion of Western Christendom in a period of intense political upheaval, is narrated in Chadwick's characteristically rigorous yet sympathetic style. With a foreword by Peter Brown reflecting on Chadwick's distinctive approach to Augustine.

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The fourth book in the internationally bestselling series that includes The Breadwinner, Parvana's Journey and Mud City. In this stunning sequel, Parvana, now fifteen, is found in a bombed-out school and held as a suspected terrorist by American troops in Afghanistan. The army major thinks she may be a terrorist working with the Taliban. Parvana does not respond to questions in any language and remains silent. As she waits for foreign military forces to determine her fate, she remembers the past four years of her life. Reunited with her mother and sisters, she has been living in a village where her mother has finally managed to open a school for girls. But even though the Taliban has been driven from the government, the country is still at war, and many continue to view the education and freedom of girls and women with suspicion and fear.

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'Two hours ago I fell in love and trembled, and tremble still, and haven't a clue whom I should tell'From one of the truly singular and beloved poets of contemporary Italy, these are poems of the self, the body, pasta, cats, the city and - always, and above all - love. This volume is the first substantial gathering of the best of Patrizia Cavalli's work from her first six collections, from 1974 to 2006, translated by a selection of renowned poets. By turns thoughtful and sly, sensual and comic, charismatic and profound, these are works perfectly attuned to the pleasures and pains of everyday life and love.'The most intensely ethical poetry in Italian literature of the twentieth century' Giorgio Agamben 'Amazingly fresh and surprising. The world does change, in the telling' John AshberyEdited by Gini Alhadeff

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More than fifteen centuries after its fall, the Roman Empire remains one of the most formative influences on the history of Europe. Its physical remains dot the landscape from Scotland to Syria. Its cities are still the great metropolises of the continent. Its law and institutions have shaped modern practice, and its ideal of a united Europe has haunted politicians ever since. Fully illustrated and featuring more than sixty full- colour maps, this atlas traces the rise and fall of the first great multinational state. It looks at its provinces and cities, its trade and economy, its armies and frontier defences; follows its foreign ward and internecine struggles; and charts its transformation into a Christian theocracy and its fall in 476.

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'Salman Rushdie's greatest novel' Sunday Times Moraes 'Moor' Zogoiby is the last in line of a crooked and fantastical dynasty of spice merchants and crime lords from Cochin. He is also a compulsive storyteller and an exile. As we travel with him on a route that takes him from India to Spain, he spins his labyrinthine family tale of mad passions and volcanic family hatreds. But does the India of his parents - populated by extravagant artists, piratical gatekeepers and mysterious lost paintings - still exist? And will he ever discover what became of his fiery and tempestuous mother? Moraes' epic quest to uncover the truth of the past is a love story to a vanishing world, and also its last hurrah. **One of the BBC's 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**

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Artist Jed Martin emerges from a ten-year hiatus with good news. It has nothing to do with his broken boiler, the approach of another lamentably awkward Christmas dinner with his father or the memory of his doomed love affair with the beautiful Olga. It is that, for his new exhibition, he has secured the involvement of none other than celebrated novelist Michel Houellebecq. The exhibition brings Jed new levels of global fame. But, his boiler is still broken, his ailing father flirts with oblivion and, worst of all, he is contacted by an inspector requiring his help in solving an unspeakable, atrocious and gruesome crime, involving none other than celebrated novelist Michel Houellebecq...Shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2013.

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WOW! Said the Owl is the bestselling board book about colours by Tim Hopgood, winner of the Best Emerging Illustrator, Booktrust Early Years Award.At night, when we are feeling tired and ready for bed, owls are just waking up. But this curious little owl decides to stay awake all day, instead of all night, and discovers a world bursting with colour! When the night-time comes around again, the stars above her head are still the most beautiful sight of all.Preschoolers will love joining in with the WOWs in this warm and simple story, and a final activity spread about colours makes this book perfect for sharing together at story time.Little ones can find plenty more WOW moments in WOW! It's Night-Time.

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Sitting on a riverbank, with rod and line, must count as one of the most relaxing and enjoyable – yet occasionally frustrating – experiences known to man.Chris Yates discovered the joys of fishing early in life and was quickly hooked by its pleasures. Many years later, he is still content to sit, day after day, observing the quirks of different fish and losing track of time. For him, fishing is much more than just a question of technique; sometimes it’s about listening to nothing but your instincts, and at other times it’s about enjoying the perfect cup of tea. And it’s always about not knowing how the day is going to unfold . . .There’s no better guide for the uninitiated – and no better companion for those already familiar with the satisfactions of fishing – than Chris Yates. And immersing yourself in How To Fish is almost as delightful an activity as fishing itself.

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***WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2023*** 'Never before, in years of reviewing books about buildings, has one brought me to tears. This one did.' Rowan Moore, Observer Book of the Week On 14 June 2017, a 24-storey block of flats went up in flames. The fire climbed up cladding as flammable as solid petrol. Fire doors failed to self-close. No alarm rang out to warn sleeping residents. As smoke seeped into their homes, all were told to ‘stay put’. Many did – and they died. It was a tragedy decades in the making. Peter Apps exposes how a steady stream of deregulation, corporate greed and institutional indifference caused a tragedy. This is the story of a grieving community forsaken by our government, a community still waiting for justice.

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"Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film" offers an extraordinary close-up of the hitherto overlooked golden age of Japanese cult, action and exploitation cinema from the early 1950s through to the late 1970s, and up to the present day. Having unique access to the top maverick filmmakers and Japanese genre film icons, Chris D. brings together interviews with, and original writings on, the lives and films of such transgressive directors as Kinji Fukasaku ("Battles Without Honour and Humanity"), Seijun Suzuki ("Branded to Kill") and Koji Wakamatsu ("Ecstasy of the Angels") as well as performers like Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba ("The Streetfighter', 'Kill Bill Vol. 1") and glamorous actress Meiko Kaji ("Lady Snowblood"). Bringing the story up to date with an overview of such Japanese 'enfants terrible' as Takashi Miike ("Audition") and Kiyoshi Kurasawa ("Cure"), the book also provides a compendium of facts and extras including filmographies, related bibliographies on genre fiction including Manga, and a section on female yakuzas. Illustrated with fantastic stills and posters from some of Japan's finest cult and action films, this is a veritable bible for fans and newcomers alike.

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Winner of the 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Book Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions Shows how early 20th-century resistance to conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America that still resonate today When Joseph Nathaniel Beckles registered for the draft in the 1942, he rejected the racial categories presented to him and persuaded the registrar to cross out the check mark she had placed next to Negro and substitute “Ethiopian Hebrew.” “God did not make us Negroes,” declared religious leaders in black communities of the early twentieth-century urban North. They insisted that so-called Negroes are, in reality, Ethiopian Hebrews, Asiatic Muslims, or raceless children of God. Rejecting conventional American racial classification, many black southern migrants and immigrants from the Caribbean embraced these alternative visions of black history, racial identity, and collective future, thereby reshaping the black religious and racial landscape. Focusing on the Moorish Science Temple, the Nation of Islam, Father Divine’s Peace Mission Movement, and a number of congregations of Ethiopian Hebrews, Judith Weisenfeld argues that the appeal of these groups lay not only in the new religious opportunities membership provided, but also in the novel ways they formulated a religio-racial identity. Arguing that members of these groups understood their religious and racial identities as divinely-ordained and inseparable, the book examines how this sense of self shaped their conceptions of their bodies, families, religious and social communities, space and place, and political sensibilities. Weisenfeld draws on extensive archival research and incorporates a rich array of sources to highlight the experiences of average members. The book demonstrates that the efforts by members of these movements to contest conventional racial categorization contributed to broader discussions in black America about the nature of racial identity and the collective future of black people that still resonate today.

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Eighteen years have passed since ten countries from Central & Eastern Europe joined the European Union and more than three decades since the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 - but ignorance about what is popularly still called Eastern Europe is as widespread as ever. Slovenia still gets mixed up with Slovakia, the Slavs remain a mystery in a Europe apparently dominated by Romanic and Germanic nations and a country like the Czech Republic is labelled as Eastern European, although one needs to travel west to get from Vienna to Prague. First published in 2009 under the title What's so eastern about Eastern Europe?, this book is much more than a revised and updated version of the first edition. Its presentation of the political and cultural history of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, written in an accessible language is now complemented with recent developments in the region. The new edition digs into the reasons behind the illiberal turn in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere, putting the alleged democratic backslide into the wider context of European populism. Leon Marc offers a new and fresh perspective in explaining the roots of populism and social conservatism in the region, which the book sees in a mixture of historical factors, economic conditions, the heavy burden of Communist legacy, as well as a reaction to contemporary social developments in the West. Drawing on a wide range of literature, the book calls for more sensibility to these underlying causes, critical examination of the true European values, and for a coalition of defenders of Humanism and Judeo-Christian tradition as key pillars of its identity, in order to save Europe and its liberal democracy. This updated and expanded edition contains a brand new chapter bringing this book up to date with recent events, including Covid-19 and the Ukrainian conflict.

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The Victorian era was the high point of literary tourism. Writers such as Charles Dickens, George Eliot, and Sir Walter Scott became celebrities, and readers trekked far and wide for a glimpse of the places where their heroes wrote and thought, walked and talked. Even Shakespeare was roped in, as Victorian entrepreneurs transformed quiet Stratford-upon-Avon into a combination shrine and tourist trap. Stratford continues to lure tourists today, as do many other sites of literary pilgrimage throughout Britain. And our modern age could have no better guide to such places than Simon Goldhill. In "Freud's Couch, Scott's Buttocks, Bronte's Grave", Goldhill makes a pilgrimage to Sir Walter Scott's baronial mansion, Wordsworth's cottage in the Lake District, the Bronte parsonage, Shakespeare's birthplace, and Freud's office in Hampstead. Traveling, as much as possible, by methods available to Victorians - and gamely negotiating distractions ranging from broken bicycles to a flock of giggling Japanese schoolgirls - he tries to discern what our forebears were looking for at these sites, as well as what they have to say to the modern mind. What does it matter that Emily Bronte's hidden passions burned in this specific room? What does it mean that Scott self-consciously built an extravagant castle suitable for Ivanhoe - and star-struck tourists visited it while he was still living there? Or that Freud's meticulous recreation of his Vienna office is now a meticulously preserved museum of itself? Or that Shakespeare's birthplace features student actors declaiming snippets of his plays...in the garden of a house where he almost certainly never wrote a single line? Goldhill brings to these inquiries his trademark wry humor and a lifetime's engagement with literature. The result is a travel book like no other, a reminder that even today, the writing life still has the power to inspire.

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