Search results for ""bloomsbury publishing""

This useful, resourceful and practical guide provides those working with autistic children one hundred ideas of how to support and develop their learning. Ideas range from developing pupils' understanding and communication skills to ensuring they are comfortable within their learning environment.

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Rabbi Jonathan Sacks presents a proposal for reframing the terms of this important debate. The first major statement by a Jewish leader on the ethics of globalization, it introduces a new paradigm into the search for co-existence. Sacks argues that we must do more than search for common human values. We must also learn to make space for difference, even and especially at the heart of the monotheistic imagination. The global future will call for something stronger than earlier doctrines of toleration or pluralism. It needs a new understanding that the unity of the Creator is expressed in the diversity of creation.;Sacks argues that this new thinking also sheds fresh light on the global challenges of an age of unprecedented change: economic inequality, environmental destruction, the connection between information technology and human dignity, and the structures of civil society.

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Drew Daniel explores the album's multiple agendas: a series of close readings of each song, with key concepts, strategies, and contexts.Previous writings about Throbbing Gristle have tended to dissolve into lurid half-truths about deviance on and offstage; their actual recordings, lyrics and images have received comparatively slim analysis. Yet their work informs a broad range of music which draws inspiration from TG's arcane, deliberately misleading example: not just 'industrial' music but also synth-pop, the lounge revival, the noise scene, techno and the English esoteric underground - they can all trace their debts to Throbbing Gristle. "Twenty Jazz Funk Greats" (a deliberately 'inconsistent' album) explains why.Drew Daniel creates an exploded view of the album's multiple agendas: a series of close readings of each song, shot through with a sequence of thematic entries on key concepts, strategies and contexts. For example, noise, leisure, process, the abject, information, and repetition. The book will argue that on Twenty Jazz Funk Greats, Throbbing Gristle modelled a critically new and highly promiscuous way of relating to or inhabiting musical genre - where punk rock was passionate and direct, TG were arch and mysterious, perverse and cold. Drew has interviewed all four members of the band."Thirty-Three and a Third" is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music.

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Hayden Childs' "Shoot Out The Lights" puts Richard and Linda Thompson's album in context.In the fall of 1980 Richard and Linda Thompson (of Fairport Convention fame) had recently been dumped from their record label and were on the verge of divorce. Somehow they overcame these miserable circumstances and managed to make an album considered by many to be a masterpiece."Shoot Out The Lights" puts the album - from the personal history driving the songs, to the recording difficulties they encountered and the subsequent fall-out - in context. This is a brilliant, emotional book about a brilliant, emotional album."33 1/3" is a series of short books about a wide variety of albums, by artists ranging from James Brown to the Beastie Boys. Launched in September 2003, the series now contains over 50 titles and is acclaimed and loved by fans, musicians and scholars alike.

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Two entwined narratives run through the creation of "Swordfishtrombones" and form the backbone of this book. As the 1970s ended, Waits felt increasingly constrained and trapped by his persona and career. Bitter and desperately unhappy, he moved to New York in 1979 to change his life. It wasn't working. But at his low point, he got the phone call that changed everything: Francis Ford Coppola asked Tom to write the score for "One From the Heart". Waits moved back to Los Angeles to work at Zoetrope's Hollywood studio for the next eighteen months. He cleaned up, disciplined himself as a songwriter and musician, collaborated closely with Coppola and met a script analyst named Kathleen Brennan - his "only true love".They married within two months at the Always and Forever Yours Wedding Chapel at 2am. "Swordfishtrombones" was the first thing Waits recorded after his marriage, and it was at Kathleen's urging that he made a record that conceded exactly nothing to his record label, or the critics, or his fans. There aren't many love stories where the happy ending sounds like a paint can tumbling in an empty cement mixer!Kathleen Brennan was sorely disappointed by Tom's record collection. She forced him out of his comfortable jazzbo pocket to take in foreign film scores, German theatre and Asian percussion. These two stories of a man creating that elusive American second act, and also finding the perfect collaborator in his wife give this book a natural forward drive."Thirty-Three and a Third" is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the past 40 years. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music.

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The story behind the making of the album that signaled the descent of Sylvester Sly Stone Stewart into a haze of drug addiction and delirium is captivating enough for the cinema. In the spacious attic of a Beverly Hills mansion belonging to John and Michelle Phillips (of the Mamas and the Papas) during the fall of 1970, Sly Stone began recording his follow-up to 1969's "Stand!" the most popular album of his band's career.

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Seemingly granted 'classic album' status within days of its release in 1997, OK Computer transformed Radiohead from a highly promising rock act into The Most Important Band in the World - a label the band has been burdened by (and has fooled around with) ever since. Through close analysis of each song, Dai Griffiths explores the themes and ideas that have made this album resonate so deeply with its audience - and he argues that OK Computer is one of the most successfully realised CD albums - as opposed to vinyl albums - so far created. 33 1/3 is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives, often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. (A task that can be, as Elvis Costello famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.) What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen. Previous titles in this now well-established series have beaten sales expectations and received excellent review coverage - the third batch is sure to continue this success. More titles follow in the spring of 2005.

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When the Motor City 5 stormed the stage, the band combined the kinetic flash of James Brown on acid with the raw musical dynamics of the Who gone berserk. It's a unique band that can land itself on the cover of Rolling Stone, a month before the release of its debut album and then be booted from its record contract just a few months later. Rock had never before seen the likes of the MC5 and never will again. Many of us who were floored by the 5 in concert were convinced that this was the most transcendently pulverizing rock we would ever experience, while many more who heard or read about the band dismissed the 5 as a caricature, a fraud, White Panther bozos play-acting at revolution. There was always plenty of humour to the 5 - visionary knuckleheads - though the question was whether they were in on the joke. Frequently ridiculed during their short career, they've since been hailed as a primal influence on everything from punk to metal to Rage Against the Machine to the Detroit populist resurgence of the White Stripes, Kid Rock and Eminem.

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One of the defining moments of College Rock in the USA, Let It Be (and the Replacments themselves) had an enormous impact on the lives of the fans who fell under its spell. For Colin Meloy, a daydreaming adolescent in the cultural wilderness of Montana, the album was a lifeline and an inspiration. In this disarming memoir, Meloy lovingly recreates those initial years when music grips you, and never lets go. 33 1/3 is a series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives, often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. (A task that can be, as Elvis Costello famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.) What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen. Previous titles in this now well-established series have beaten sales expectations and received excellent review coverage - the third batch is sure to continue this success. More titles follow in the spring of 2005.

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33 1/3 is a new series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. Focusing on one album rather than an artist's entire output, the books dispense with the standard biographical background that fans know already, and cut to the heart of the music on each album. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives - often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. (A task which can be, as Elvis Costello famously observed, as tricky as dancing about architecture.) What binds this series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, scholars, and writers - are deeply in love with the album they have chosen.

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This title is one of a series of books which focus on epic albums of our time. Here, Andrew Hultkrans looks at Love's album "Forever Changes".

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Internationally acclaimed Egyptian feminist writer Nawal El Saadawi's landmark novel Woman at Point Zero, published here with a new foreword.Firdaus is on death row. Her crime, the murder of a man. Born into poverty in a rural Egyptian village, her childhood dreams and ambitions had been met with neglect and abuse by the world and the men who rule it. Driven to sex work to support herself, she is faced with the moral outrage of society and the bitter knowledge that for a woman, true freedom comes only when all hope is abandoned. In Woman at Point Zero, Firdaus tells her unforgettable story.Woman at Point Zero is also available in audiobook format from audiobook retailers.

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An estimated 300,000 people have been detained or have died in prison since the Syrian uprising broke out. Syrians can be arrested for liking a post on Facebook or for the political activities of a distant relative. They are imprisoned without trial, and tortured and starved, often to death. This book is the first to expose the worst prisons in the Middle East, if not the world. In previous years it had been too dangerous to undertake research on this subject, but the enormous numbers of Syrians taking refuge in neighbouring countries and Europe has allowed unprecedented access to their stories. Based on interviews with both the victims and perpetrators, survivors’ memoirs and notes, as well as leaked regime archives, leaked photos, and leaked intelligence files, the book is a testament of the internment and imprisonment system in Syria under the rule of the Assads, father and son (1970-2020). A harrowing account of the machinery of the Assad dynasty, Syrian Gulag is also an urgent exposé on Syria today.

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A magnificent and indispensable portrayal of the rich folklore of the Islamic world. According to Islamic tradition, Allah created three types of beings: angels, made of light; humans, made of earth; and jinn, made of smokeless fire. Supernatural, shape-shifting, intelligent and blessed with free will and remarkable powers, jinn have over the ages been given many names - demon, spirit, ghoul, genie, ifrit and shaitan. Believed in by hundreds of millions of people throughout the world and from all faiths, jinn have played a particularly central role in the literature, culture and belief systems of the Middle East and the Islamic world. Legends of the Fire Spirits explores through time and across nations the enduring phenomenon of the jinn. From North Africa to Central Asia, from the Mediterranean to sub-Saharan Africa and beyond, this riveting, often chilling, yet reasoned book draws on ancient testimonies, medieval histories, colonial records, anthropologist's reports and traveller's tales to explore the different types of jinn, their behaviour, society, culture and long history of contact with humankind. It documents their links with famous figures in history such as King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba and illustrates the varied and vivid portrayals of jinn in world literature. In essence, Legends of the Fire Spirits demonstrates the colourful diversity of human culture and the durability of faith and is a magnificent and indispensable portrayal of the rich folklore of the Islamic world.

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From Africa to the Arctic, Central Asia and beyond, China's foreign policy will affect us all. Here, noted China expert Kerry Brown guides us through China's foreign policy, from its skirmishes with US Navy destroyers in the South China Sea to its arguments with Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and its increased displays of military prowess - including huge investments in cyber warfare. Brown also assesses China's extraordinary plan to create a `New Silk Road' across Central Asia - one of the biggest infrastructure projects in modern history. In doing so he seeks to answer a simple question: what does China want? The answer lies in the unique way China thinks about the world. A comprehensive analysis by one of the world's most recognized and respected authorities, and based upon unparalleled research into Chinese leaders, their beliefs and their instincts, China's World is an essential read.

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In a mist-shrouded valley on China's invisible border with Tibet is a place known as the 'Kingdom of Women'. A small tribe called the Mosuo lives in a cluster of villages that have changed little in centuries. This is one of the last matrilineal societies on earth, where power lies in the hands of women. All decisions and rights related to money, property, land and the children born to them rest with the Mosuo women, who live completely independently of husbands, fathers and brothers, with the grandmother as the head of each family. A unique practice is also enshrined in Mosuo tradition - that of 'walking marriage', where women choose their own lovers from men within the tribe but are beholden to none. Choo WaiHong, a corporate lawyer, yearned for escape and ended up living in Mosuo for six years - the only non-Mosuo to have ever done so. She tells the story of the remarkable story of her time in the remote mountains of China and gives a vibrant, compelling glimpse into a way of life that teeters on the knife-edge of extinction.

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Winner of the Society for Theatre Research Book Prize 2020 Vivien Leigh was perhaps the most iconic actress of the twentieth century. As Scarlett O’Hara and Blanche Du Bois she took on some of the most pivotal roles in cinema history. Yet she was also a talented theatre actress with West End and Broadway plaudits to her name. In this ground-breaking new biography, Alan Strachan provides a completely new full-life portrait of Leigh, covering both her professional and personal life. Using previously unseen sources from her archive, recently acquired by the V&A, he sheds new light on her fractious relationship with Laurence Olivier, based on their letters and diaries, as well as on the bipolar disorder which so affected her later life and work. Revealing new aspects of her early life as well as providing glimpses behind-the-scenes of the filming of Gone with the Wind and A Streetcar Named Desire, this book provides the essential and comprehensive life-story of one of the twentieth century’s greatest actresses. 'A gripping new biography' - The Daily Mail '[Vivien Leigh's] life, lived to the full at every second, will never be better told than it is in these pages' - The Sunday Times 'One of the most revealing showbiz biographies ever' - Sir Ian McKellen 'Enthralling' - Michael Codron 'A wonderful tribute' - Dame Penelope Keith DBE, DL

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From workaday marigolds to hand-wear custom crafted for the Queen, gloves perform many functions – insulation from the cold, protection from injury, and even ceremonial roles. Gloves have been used since prehistoric times, but in Britain their use as formal and fashion items took off during Elizabeth I's reign, and played a surprisingly significant cultural role well into the nineteenth century. They were often given as precious gifts, used in coronation ceremonies, sent to indicate assent, or even to offer a formal challenge. This beautifully illustrated history, published in association with the Worshipful Company of Glovers of London, delves into the glove's place in history, offers detailed descriptions of their production in the artisanal workshop and on the factory floor, and also tells the fascinating story of the closely guarded privileges of the glove-makers' guilds.

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In the Middle Ages, it was thought that praying at the right shrine could save you from just about anything, from madness and famine to false imprisonment and even shipwreck. Kingdoms, cities, and even individual trades had patron saints that would protect them from misfortune and bring them wealth and prosperity, and their feast days were celebrated with public holidays and pageants. With saints believed to have the ear of God, veneration of figures such as St Thomas Becket, St Cuthbert, and St Margaret brought tens of thousands of pilgrims from all walks of life to sites across the country. Saints, Shrines and Pilgrims takes the reader across Britain, providing a map of the most important religious shrines that pilgrims would travel vast distances to reach, as well as descriptions and images of the shrines themselves. Featuring over 100 stunning photographs and a gazetteer of places to visit, it explains the history of pilgrimage in Britain and the importance that it played in medieval life, and describes the impact of the unbridled assault made on pilgrimage by the Reformation.

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For British Rail, the 1970s was a time of contrasts, when bad jokes about sandwiches and pork pies often belied real achievements, like increasing computerisation and the arrival of the high-speed Inter-City 125s. But while television advertisements told of an ‘Age of the Train’, Monday morning misery continued for many, the commuter experience steadily worsening as rolling stock aged and grew ever more uncomfortable. Even when BR launched new electrification schemes and new suburban trains in the 1980s, focus still fell on the problems that beset the Advanced Passenger Train, whose ignominious end came under full media glare. In British Railways in the 1970s and ’80s, Greg Morse guides us through a world of Traveller’s Fare, concrete concourses and peak-capped porters, a difficult period that began with the aftershock of Beeching but ended with BR becoming the first nationalised passenger network in the world to make a profit.

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Mind the gap and jump aboard this fascinating history of the world's oldest and greatest underground railway. On seven guided journeys, travel through time and observe at first hand the influence of great Underground architects, such as Charles Holden and Sir Norman Foster, and how the stations have changed - but also how many things have stayed the same.

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The name Lancelot 'Capability' Brown (1716–83) has become synonymous with the eighteenth-century English landscape garden. Ruthlessly efficient, he could stake out the 'capabilities' of a particular terrain within an hour on horseback. Rising to the position of Master Gardener to George III, his trademark features included bald lawns, clumped trees, lakes and enclosing belts of woodland on the estate's perimeter, setting a park formula that lasted well into the next century. Laura Mayer presents a concise and colourful introduction to Brown and other leading landscape gardeners of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, such as William Kent, Richard Payne Knight and Humphry Repton. She explores how competing ideas in garden design were shaped both by changes in prevailing fashion and by the innovations of particular designers, and why Brown's designs are currently considered to be the epitome of landscape gardening in this period.

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The Land Rover has undergone a number of facelifts in its sixty-year life. This book tells the story of Land Rover, encompassing different models and dividing them according to their use. It also tells the distinguished histories of Land Rover on expedition, in agriculture, warfare, and in many other fields.

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To primitive man the whisper and movement of leaves and the silent unfolding of flowers were proofs of life and power, and their regeneration was a promise of nature's continuity. Cures, magic, divination and portents were all connected with the rich variety of available plant life, especially in verdant Britain. Some of these beliefs were astonishingly long-lasting and, even if an altered or faded form, have survived the sophistications of modern life, as this book sets out to show. This volume is arranged in alphabetical order and is illustrated with engravings from old herbals.'

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LULU: OVER A MILLION COPIES SOLD 'Simply told, full of familiar activities with wonderful attention to detail ... Very pretty to look at too' The Children's Bookseller on Lulu books Join Lulu on her exciting edible day as she discovers sticky honey, a banana to peel, a picnic box to unpack and a brilliant finale - a plate full of spaghetti! An action-packed activity book perfect for all toddlers, picky eaters or not. With robust tabs and novelty elements, Lulu's Lunch is an ideal mealtime accompaniment.

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Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

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When de July sun hot like fire, Den I have jus' one desire, To run down to de shop an' buy a Kisko pop. The World Is Sweet and Hot Like Fire published in one volume for the first time. Valerie Bloom's poetry is beautifully crafted yet full of energy and fun. Her mixed use of standard English and dialect is a delight to read and hear. Children love reading and listening to her work! Valerie's subjects range from global pollution, problems with maths homework and the sad demise of pet frogs (he croaked of course) to taking sandwiches to school and being afraid of ghosts.

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An alphabet book with a story about two children and their pet gazelle who head off, treasure map in hand, on an underground journey into a place where monsters and pirates roam. Will they find the treasure? Will they get out alive? Will the alphabet ever be the same again?

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This brilliantly illustrated tale of reason, insanity, love and truth recounts the story of Bertrand Russell's life. Raised by his paternal grandparents, young Russell was never told the whereabouts of his parents. Driven by a desire for knowledge of his own history, he attempted to force the world to yield to his yearnings: for truth, clarity and resolve. As he grew older, and increasingly sophisticated as a philosopher and mathematician, Russell strove to create an objective language with which to describe the world - one free of the biases and slippages of the written word. At the same time, he began courting his first wife, teasing her with riddles and leaning on her during the darker days, when his quest was bogged down by paradoxes, frustrations and the ghosts of his family's secrets. Ultimately, he found considerable success - but his career was stalled when he was outmatched by an intellectual rival: his young, strident, brilliantly original student, Ludwig Wittgenstein. An insightful and complexly layered narrative, Logicomix reveals both Russell's inner struggle and the quest for the foundations of logic. Narration by an older, wiser Russell, as well as asides from the author himself, make sense of the story's heady and powerful ideas. At its heart, Logicomix is a story about the conflict between pure reason and the persistent flaws of reality, a narrative populated by great and august thinkers, young lovers, ghosts and insanity.

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In this collection of wonderful stories, which range between fantasy, humour, science fiction and a sprinkling of horror, the reader will relish the range and skill of Neil Gaiman's writing. Be prepared to laugh at the detective story about Humpty Dumpty's demise, spooked by the sinister jack-in -the-box who haunts the lives of the children who own it, and intrigued by the boy who is raised by ghosts in a graveyard in this collection of bite-sized narrative pleasures.

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______________ ‘Excellent ... a marvellous imagining of the life of Shakespeare's wife and a devastating exposure of the misogyny of the male biographers who have disparaged her’ - Sunday Telegraph ‘Greer dares to think the unthinkable ... this is a bold and imaginative book’ – Independent 'A spirited, voluble, scholarly book which gives some depth and some dignity to the marginalised Mrs Shakespeare' - Guardian ______________ AS READ ON BBC RADIO 4’S BOOK OF THE WEEK Little is known of the wife of England's greatest playwright. In play after play Shakespeare presents the finding of a worthy wife as a triumphant denouement, yet scholars persist in believing that his own wife was resented and even hated by him. Here Germaine Greer strives to re-embed the story of their marriage in its social context and presents new hypotheses about the life of the farmer's daughter who married our greatest poet. This is a daring, insightful book that asks new questions, opens new fields of investigation and research, and rights the wrongs done to Ann Shakespeare. 'A refreshing corrective to the usual portrait ... Greer is impressive when it comes to detailing their Stratford life and times ... It's robust, lively stuff' - The Times

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It is the 1970s in Northern California. A farmer and his teenage daughters, Anna and Claire, work the land with the help of Coop, the enigmatic young man who lives with them. Theirs' is a makeshift family, until they are riven by an incident of violence - of both hand and heart - that 'sets fire to the rest of their lives'. This is a story of possession and loss, about the often discordant demands of family, love, and memory. Written in the sensuous prose for which Michael Ondaatje's fiction is celebrated, "Divisadero" is the work of a master story-teller.

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'It would be disingenuous to the animal not to make the most of the whole beast; there is a set of delights, textural and flavoursome, which lie beyond the fillet.' In this new collection of recipes, Fergus Henderson, award-winning author of Nose to Tail Eating, inspires with more carnivorous classics such as deep-fried rabbit, pigeon pie, venison liver and pressed pig's ear. Justin Piers Gellatly, Head Baker and Pastry Chef at St. John Restaurant, introduces us to the world of breads and sweets - sourdough loaves and lardy cakes, puddings such as chocolate baked Alaska, burnt sheep's milk yoghurt and goat's curd cheesecake, and delicious ice creams including bay leaf and the famous Dr. Henderson. This covetable collection is complemented by quirky colour photographs by Jason Lowe and a St. John-inspired monochrome design, making it the perfect companion to Fergus's first book.

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One of the world's most celebrated authors, Margaret Atwood has written a collection of smart and entertaining fictional essays, in the genre of her previous books, "Good Bones" and "Murder in the Dark". Chilling and witty, prescient and personal, delectable and tart, these highly imaginative tales tackle a broad range of subjects, reflecting the times we live in with deadly accuracy and knife-edge precision. Punctuated with wonderful illustrations by the author, they are vintage Atwood.

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Patrick O' Brian, C.S. Forester and Captain Marryat all based their literary heroes on Thomas Cochrane, but Cochrane's exploits were far more daring and exciting than those of his fictional counterparts. He was a man of action, whose bold and impulsive nature meant he was often his own worst enemy. Writing with gripping narrative skill and drawing on his own travels and original research, Cordingly tells the rip-roaring story of a flawed Romantic hero who helped define his age.

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One of the world's most renowned chefs, Heston Blumenthal has made his name creating such original - and some might say bizarre - dishes as Snail Porridge and Nitrogen Scrambled Egg & Bacon Ice Cream at his internationally acclaimed restaurant, The Fat Duck. Heston decided, though, that it was time to go back to both his and our roots and to focus his creative talent on reinventing some of our most well-known and abused dishes. In order to do this he travelled around the world in search of 'perfect' versions of eight dishes which represent the essence of our culinary heritage: Roast Chicken & Roast Potatoes Pizza Bangers & Mash Steak Spaghetti Bolognese Fish & Chips Black Forest Gateau Treacle Tart & Ice Cream Everybody's idea of 'perfection' is different, and so Heston, drawing on interviews with experts and cooks as well as using his own culinary and scientific research, sets out to discover what makes these standards so great. He explores the origins of each dish, how to find the best ingredients, and of course the many different ways - and whys - of cooking them to perfection. He reveals priceless culinary tips along the way: everything from how to cut potatoes for flawless frying, to what makes the choicest beef, to the secret ingredients in the perfect spaghetti Bolognese, to capturing the essence of a fish and chip shop in a perfume bottle, to making aerated chocolate bars at home with a vacuum cleaner. In Search of Perfection examines the role of food in our lives and memories and is a completely original, inspiring and fascinating exploration of these kitchen classics.

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It's just before New Year, and Frank, an overweight American tourist, has hired Kenji to take him on a guided tour of Tokyo's nightlife. But, Frank's behaviour is so odd that Kenji begins to entertain a horrible suspicion: his client may in fact have murderous desires. Although Kenji is far from innocent himself, he unwillingly descends with Frank into an inferno of evil, from which only his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Jun, can possibly save him.

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When John Thaw, star of The Sweeney and Inspector Morse, died from cancer in 2002, a nation lost one of its finest actors and Sheila Hancock lost a beloved husband. In this unique double biography she chronicles their lives - personal and professional, together and apart. John Thaw was born in Manchester, the son of a lorry driver. When he arrived at RADA on a scholarship he felt an outsider. In fact his timing was perfect: it was the sixties and television was beginning to make its mark. With his roles in Z-Cars and The Sweeney, fame came quickly. But it was John's role as Morse that made him an icon. In 1974 he married Sheila Hancock, with whom he shared a working-class background and a RADA education. Sheila was already the star of the TV series The Rag Trade and went on to become the first woman artistic director at the RSC. Theirs was a sometimes turbulent, always passionate relationship, and in this remarkable book Sheila describes their love - weathering overwork and the pressures of celebrity, drink and cancer - with honesty and piercing intelligence, and evokes two lives lived to the utmost.

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____________________ ‘A superbly edited and evocatively illustrated collection that brings together everything that Scott wrote to his wife' - Sunday Telegraph 'Heartbreaking ... Love has seldom seemed more poignant' - Sunday Times 'Excellent ... the correspondence speaks for itself and the editors allow readers to draw their own conclusions' - Daily Telegraph ____________________ Through his alcoholism and her mental illness, his career highs (and lows) and her institutional confinement, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for more than twenty-two years. Now, for the first time, the story of the love of these two glamorous and hugely talented writers can be given in their own letters. Introduced by an extensive narrative of the Fitzgeralds' marriage, the 333 letters - three-quarters of them previously unpublished or out of print - have been edited by the noted Fitzgerald scholars, Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy W. Barks. They are illustrated throughout with a generous selection of familiar and unpublished photographs.

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'I didna want to leave really. I wanted to push the red emergency button like they have on trains to stop and you have to pay a fifty pound fine if you didna mean it. I wanted to make the pilot turn the plane around. I wanted to go back to ma school. I didn't even know what Maidstone looked like. It sounded grey. Grey, dull and dreary. No music, no Castle, no Firth of Forth, no Lucy, no Helen, no Saturdays into Princes Street on the bus for GBP1, we get on for half I folded ma arms, arranging ma face into a permanent sulk with a clear 'No Entry' sign on it.' Isla moves down with her parents from Scotland to England and instantly feels herself in an alien land. But then she meets Luke and slowly their friendship blossoms into love. Each chapter reveals the alternate viewpoints of Isla and Luke - Isla the motormouth, Luke more measured. With the potential to appeal to both boys and girls, this is a brilliant first novel from a very talented author, also a teacher, who was discovered on the 'slush' pile.

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"Sometimes funny, always creepy, genuinely moving, this marvellous spine-chiller will appeal to readers from nine to ninety." - "Books for Keeps". "I was looking forward to "Coraline", and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I was enthralled. This is a marvellously strange and scary book." - Philip Pullman, "Guardian". "If any writer can get the guys to read about the girls, it should be Neil Gaiman. His new novel "Coraline" is a dreamlike adventure. For all its gripping nightmare imagery, this is actually a conventional fairy story with a moral." - "Daily Telegraph". Stephen King once called Neil Gaiman 'a treasure-house of stories' and, in this wonderful novel, which has been likened to both "Alice in Wonderland" and the "Narnia Chronicles", we get to see Neil at his storytelling best.

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*Join Harry Potter on the magical journey of a lifetime in this large print edition of the third book in J.K. Rowling’s multi-award-winning series. When the Knight Bus crashes through the darkness and screeches to a halt in front of him, it’s the start of another far from ordinary year at Hogwarts for Harry Potter. Sirius Black, escaped mass-murderer and follower of Lord Voldemort, is on the run – and they say he is coming after Harry. In his first ever Divination class, Professor Trelawney sees an omen of death in Harry’s tea leaves … But perhaps most terrifying of all are the Dementors patrolling the school grounds, with their soul-sucking Kiss … J.K. Rowling’s internationally bestselling Harry Potter books continue to captivate new generations of readers. Harry’s third adventure alongside his friends, Ron and Hermione, invites you to explore even more of the wizarding world; from the secret passages of Hogwarts castle to the snowy lanes of Hogsmeade. This gorgeous large print edition features a spectacular cover by award-winning artist Jonny Duddle, and is perfect for those who have difficulty reading standard size print. Get ready to lose yourself in the biggest children’s books of all time. TIME-TURNING - TREACHERY - TRANSFIGURATION Seven magical stories, one epic adventure. *Please note: The book cover and spine design you receive may vary slightly from the image shown.

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Slowly Jack learns the pleasures of writing poetry as Miss Stretchberry encourages him to tell his own story through verse. What emerges is a moving and memorable story about a boy and his dog and his growing passion for poetry.

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In 1900 Lady Anna Winterbourne travels to Egypt where she falls in love with Sharif, and Egyptian Nationalist utterly committed to his country's cause. A hundred years later, Isabel Parkman, an American divorcee and a descendant of Anna and Sharif, goes to Egypt, taking with her an old family trunk, inside which are found notebooks and journals which reveal Anna and Sharif's secret.

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Do you want to be more successful at work? Do you want to improve your chances of promotion? Do you want to get on better with your colleagues? Daniel Goleman draws on unparalleled access to business leaders around the world and the thorough research that is his trademark. He demonstrates that emotional intelligence at work matters twice as much as cognitive abilities such as IQ or technical expertise in this inspiring sequel.

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Demystifies Buddhism by explaining, without jargon or obscure terminology, what awakening is and how to practise it.

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Part of a series about the adventures of the mice from the "Tribe of Mousity", this story looks at whether Curiosity will find the fulfilment she seeks outside the cosiness of her mouse hole.

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