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The First Bohemians: Life and Art in London's Golden Age
by Vic GatrellThe colourful, salacious and sumptuously illustrated story of Covent Garden - the creative heart of Georgian London - from Wolfson Prize-winning author Vic GatrellSHORT-LISTED FOR THE HESSELL TILTMAN PRIZE 2014In the teeming, disordered, and sexually charged square half-mile centred on London's Covent Garden something extraordinary evolved in the 18th century. It was the world's first creative 'Bohemia'. The nation's most significant artists, actors, poets, novelists, and dramatists lived here. From Soho and Leicester Square across Covent Garden's Piazza to Drury Lane, and down from Long Acre to the Strand, they rubbed shoulders with rakes, prostitutes, market people, craftsmen, and shopkeepers. It was an often brutal world full of criminality, poverty and feuds, but also of high spirits, and was as culturally creative as any other in history. Virtually everything that we associate with Georgian culture was produced here.Vic Gatrell's spectacular new book recreates this time and place by drawing on a vast range of sources, showing the deepening fascination with 'real life' that resulted in the work of artists like Hogarth, Blake, and Rowlandson, or in great literary works like The Beggar's Opera and Moll Flanders. The First Bohemians is illustrated by over two hundred extraordinary pictures, many rarely seen, for Gatrell celebrates above all one of the most fertile eras in Britain's artistic history. He writes about Joshua Reynolds and J. M. W. Turner as well as the forgotten figures who contributed to what was a true golden age: the men and women who briefly dazzled their contemporaries before being destroyed - or made - by this magical but also ferocious world.About the author:Vic Gatrell's last book, City of Laughter, won both the Wolfson Prize for History and the PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize; his The Hanging Tree won the Whitfield Prize of the Royal Historical Society. He is a Life Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge.
The English Year: A Month-by-month Guide To The Nation's Customs And Festivals, From May Day To Mischief Night
by Steve RoudThis enthralling book will take you, month-by-month, day-by-day, through all the festivities of English life. From national celebrations such as New Year’s Eve to regional customs such as the Padstow Hobby Horse procession, cheese rolling in Gloucestershire and Easter Monday bottle kicking in Leeds, it explains how they originated, what they mean and when they occur.A fascinating guide to the richness of our heritage and the sometimes eccentric nature of life in England, The English Year offers a unique chronological view of our social customs and attitudes
Eugene Onegin
by Alexander PushkinThis novel in verse, said to be the parent of all Russian novels, is a tragic story of innocence, love and friendship. Eugene Onegin, an aristocrat, much like Pushkin and his peers in his attitude and habits, is bored. He visits the countryside where the young and passionate Tatyana falls in love with him. In a touching letter she confesses her love but is cruelly rejected. Years later, it is Onegin's turn to be rejected by Tatyana.
The Fellowship: The Story of a Revolution
by John GribbinFrom the bestselling author of Science: A History comes the enthralling story of a revolution that shook the world. Seventeenth-century England was racked by civil war, plague and fire; a world ruled by superstition and ignorance. A series of meetings of 'natural philosophers' in Oxford and London saw the beginning of a new method of thinking based on proof and experiment. John Gribbin's gripping, colourful account of this unparalleled time of discovery explores the impact of the Royal Society, culminating with Isaac Newton's revolutionary description of the universe and Edmund Halley's prediction of the return of a comet in 1759. This compelling book shows the triumph not as the work of one isolated genius, but of a Fellowship.
Firehead
by K M PeytonThe invasion of the Norsemen is approaching, and the people of Edmund Firehead's settlement must flee if they are to stand any chance of survival. But people have always found Edmund's fiery red hair startling - and the Norsemen are no exception. Instead of killing Edmund on the spot, they take him as a slave.It's the beginning of a new life - a life that leads Edmund into the heart of battle. Now that the colour of his hair is no longer enough to save him, it is time for Edmund Firehead to fight for his life . . .
Eugene Onegin: A Novel in Verse
by Alexander PushkinEugene Onegin is the master work of the poet whom Russians regard as the fountainhead of their literature. Set in 1820s Russia, Pushkin's verse novel follows the fates of three men and three women. Engaging, full of suspense, and varied in tone, it contains a large cast of characters and offers the reader many literary, philosophical, and autobiographical digressions, often in a highly satirical vein. Eugene Onegin was Pushkin's own favourite work, and this new translation by Stanley Mitchell conveys the literal sense and the poetic music of the original.
Felix the Railway Cat
by Kate Moore**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - AS SEEN ON THE ONE SHOW**It will make you laugh and it will make you cry: Felix The Railway Cat is the extraordinary tale of a close-knit community and its amazing bond with a very special cat. 'The global sensation' Daily Telegraph When Felix arrived at Yorkshire's Huddersfield Train Station as an eight-week-old kitten, no one knew just how important this little ball of fluff would become. Although she has a vital job to do as 'Senior Pest Controller', Felix is much more than just an employee of TransPennine Express. Felix changes lives in surprising ways. She is always ready to leap into action and save the day: from bringing a boy with autism out of his shell to providing comfort to a runaway child shivering on the platform one night. So when tragedy hits the team at Huddersfield, it is only Felix who can pull them back together. But a chance friendship with a commuter that she waits for her on the platform every morning finally gives Felix the recognition she deserves, catapulting her to international stardom . . . Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Prostate Cancer UK (registered charity 1005541, SC039332).
The English Vice
by Yolanda CelbridgeNineteen-year-old Beryl Beaton takes up a place at Trismegist Towers Finishing School. She is soon mixed up haplessly in a bizarre, longstanding boundary dispute with neighbouring Parvex Hall. The discipline at Trismegist runs a gamut from traditional corporal punishment to inhumation in mud, and worse. But Beryl soon finds it as nothing compared to the flagellant excesses of sybarites of Parvex.
Firebird: (Firebird:1) An enthralling, heart-wrenching and moving saga set amongst the Welsh hills
by Iris GowerA sensational story of tragedy, riches, poverty and love from bestselling author Iris Gower. If you like Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, you will love this..! READERS ARE LOVING FIREBIRD!"Her characters come to life and feel as if they're [your] neighbours..." - 5 STARS"Can't put it down..." - 5 STARS"Excellent" - 5 STARS"Brilliant" - 5 STARS*********************************************************************PASSIONS RUN HIGH AMIDST THE WELSH HILLS...When Llinos Savage's mother dies an untimely death, she finds herself in charge of the family pottery while still a young girl, attempting to keep the business afloat and dealing with the plotting of Philip Morton Edwards, the powerful and rich owner of the rival pottery in Swansea. Her father's return, badly wounded, from fighting Napoleon in France should be a joyous reunion, but instead his presence only adds to her difficulties.Two men make her world even more complicated: Eynon Morton Edwards, Philip's son - a gentle and sympathetic figure yet despised by his father; and Joe, an exotic outsider, born of an unlikely union between a cultured English businessman and a Native American squaw.How will Llinos cope with running the pottery, while suffering from the hatred of the Morton Edwards family and battling to suppress her own feelings for the man who seems her most unlikely suitor? Firebird is the first novel in Iris Gower's Firebird series. The saga continues in Dream Catcher.
The Ethicurean Cookbook: Recipes, foods and spirituous liquors, from our bounteous walled garden in the several seasons of the year
by The EthicureanThe Ethicurean philosophy is simple: eat local, celebrate native foods, live well.The Ethicurean is quietly changing the face of modern British cooking: all from a walled garden in the heart of the Mendip Hills. The Ethicurean Cookbook follows a year in their magnificent kitchen and garden, and celebrates the greatest food, drink and traditions of this fair land.The combinations are electric: confit rabbit is paired with lovage breadcrumbs, cured roe deer flirts with wood sorrel, and foraged nettle soup is fortified by a young Caerphilly. The salads are as fresh as a daisy: honeyed walnuts nestle amongst beetroot carpaccio, rich curd cheese is balanced by delicate cucumber. And the comfort of pies and puds - pork and juniper pie, Eccles cakes with Dorset Blue Vinny - is only enhanced by the apple juice, cider and beer poured in equal measure.With 120 recipes and a year of seasonal inspiration in photographs and words, Ethicureanism is a new British cooking manifesto.
Felix Holt: The Radical
by George EliotWhen the young nobleman Harold Transome returns to England from the colonies with a self-made fortune, he scandalizes the town of Treby Magna with his decision to stand for Parliament as a Radical. But after the idealistic Felix Holt also returns to the town, the difference between Harold's opportunistic values and Holt's profound beliefs becomes apparent. Forthright, brusque and driven by a firm desire to educate the working-class, Felix is at first viewed with suspicion by many, including the elegant but vain Esther Lyon, the daughter of the local clergyman. As she discovers, however, his blunt words conceal both passion and deep integrity. Soon the romantic and over-refined Esther finds herself overwhelmed by a heart-wrenching decision: whether to choose the wealthy Transome as a husband, or the impoverished but honest Felix Holt.
The Fire Still Burns: a powerful story of love and peril set in pre-war Europe and Russia
by Constance HeavenLet much-loved author Constance Heaven sweep you away in this captivating and compelling romance spanning pre-war Europe. Both heart-warming and heart-wrenching, this is perfect for fans of Fiona Valpy, Kristin Hannah and Katie Flynn.'Readable and atmospheric' -- DUBLIN TIMES.'Excellent! Difficult to put down' -- ***** Reader review'Exciting read' -- ***** Reader review'A great novel from a great writer' -- ***** Reader review***************************************************************Leading a demonstration for the starving children of the Rhondda, Luke Llewellyn Jones is literally swept off his feet by the daughter of a Russian princess. For it is Tanya who first hits, then carries him in her car to her father's hospital.It it something of an eye-opener for Luke to be invited to the Cambridgeshire home of Lord Aylsham, and to meet his delightful and unconventional family who chatter as easily in Russian as English. And all too easy to fall for the lovely and impetuous girl who still insists it was him that ran into her.But Luke's dream of winning Tanya's heart is broken the moment she meets the charming but enigmatic Dirk von Richter. She leaves England to live in a Europe trembling on the brink of war.And it is in very different and dangerous circumstances that Luke risks all to see her again - among the bleak and far-flung mountains of Siberia.
An East End Girl
by Maggie FordWill she ever be anything more than an East End girl?Cissy Farmer longs to escape her life in London's Docklands where times are hard and money is tight. And when she meets the debonair Langley Makepeace, her dream seems within reach. But the price of belonging in Langley's brittle, sophisticated world could be much higher than Cissy ever imagined. Torn between Langley and her gentle childhood sweetheart, Eddie Bennet, she is forced to gamble on her future chance of happiness, a decision that will change her life forever...From the author of A Girl in Wartime and A Soldier’s Girl
English Romantic Verse
by David WrightEnglish Romantic poetry from its beginnings and its flowering to the first signs of its decadence. Nearly all the famous piéces de résistance will be found here - 'Intimations of Immortality', 'The Ancient Mariner', 'The Tyger', excerpts from 'Don Juan' - as well as some less familiar poems. As far as possible the poets are arranged in chronological order, and their poems in order of composition, beginning with eighteenth-century precursors such as Gray, Cowper, Burns and Chatterton. Naturally most space has been given over to the major Romantics - Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Clare and Keats - although their successors, poets such as Beddoes and Poe, are included too, as well as early poems by Tennyson and Browning. In an excellent introduction David Wright discusses the Romantics as a historical phenomenon, and points out their central ideals and themes.
Feeling Myself: How I shed my shame to find sexual freedom and you can too
by Natalie LeeTrauma, porn, masturbation, sexuality, sex after motherhood, sex when you feel sh*t about your body, sex after separation... these are all topics around which we skirt delicately, as if they're bombs which will explode if we prod them too curiously. In this way, sex is intimately connected with shame. Like most of us, shame has followed me around for most of my life. I felt shame for the colour of my skin, shame for being female, and shame for wanting more, but I also felt shame around the subject of masturbation. Even as an adult, I carried an intense feeling that masturbation was somehow dirty. I look back on this now and realise how warped our approach to sex is and how the shame that surrounds these conversations holds women back.In this honest and revealing memoir, Natalie Lee digs deep into her own relationship with sex to expose the shame that many of us feel. Taking us through her journey, from traumatic beginnings to marriage, motherhood and eventually experiencing sexual freedom after divorce in her thirties, Feeling Myself is a story of learning to be your true self in a society that doesn't prioritise your pleasure. It is a book for every woman to feel empowered by and to learn the tools to experience their own emancipation too.
Fire Over London: A Novel of the Adams Family Saga (The Adams Family #13)
by Mary Jane StaplesThe war is only into its second year, but already it has claimed one victim from the Adams family. Emily, Boots's cherished wife, has died in an air-raid,and the whole family mourns her. But for Polly Simms the prospect of a new life dawns, while the members of the younger generation who are in uniform, and doing their bit for King and Country, have their own problems to contend with. Tim has been posted to Scotland, to train as a Commando, and has met the lovely young officer Felicity; Eloise, now a sergeant in the ATS, is enjoying her new job as driver to the formidable Major Lucas. And has Rosie, now commissioned, lost her heart at last?The Blitz all but destroys the factory in Shoreditch, but Sammy and Tommy Adams manage to find some alternative accommodation. And love is in the air - for young and old alike - as the Adams family refuse to let Hitler get the better of them.
Easily Distracted
by Steve CooganSteve Coogan was born and raised in Manchester in the 1960s, the fourth of six children. From an early age he entertained his family with impressions and was often told he should 'be on the telly'. Failing to get into any of the London-based drama schools, he accepted a place at Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre and before graduating had been given his first break as a voice artist on the satirical puppet show Spitting Image. The late eighties and early nineties saw Coogan developing characters he could perform on the comedy circuit, from Ernest Moss to Paul Calf, and in 1992 he won a Perrier award with John Thomson. It was around the same time, while working with Armando Iannucci and Patrick Marber on On The Hour and The Day Today, that Alan Partridge emerged, almost fully formed. Coogan, once a tabloid fixture, is now a respected film actor, writer and producer. He runs his own production company, Baby Cow, has a raft of films to his name (from 24 Hour Party People to Alpha Papa, the critically-acclaimed Partridge film), six Baftas and seven Comedy Awards. He has found huge success in recent years with both The Trip and Philomena, the latter bringing him two Oscar nominations, for producing and co-writing.In Easily Distracted he lifts the lid on the real Steve Coogan, writing with distinctive humour and an unexpected candour about a noisy childhood surrounded by foster kids, his attention-seeking teenage years and his emergence as a household name with the birth of Alan Partridge.
The English Rebel: One Thousand Years of Trouble-making from the Normans to the Nineties
by David HorspoolThe English have a rich and glorious history of making trouble for themselves. One hundred and forty years before the French Revolution, the English executed their king and instituted a radical revolutionary government. In 1215, more than 570 years before the United States ratified its Bill of Rights, England's barons forced King John to accept the Magna Carta. In 1926 over 1.5 million strikers brought the nation to its knees. From the Peasants' Revolt to the suffragettes, from Oliver Cromwell to Arthur Scargill, this ground-breaking and hugely enjoyable book describes a rich and continuous tradition of resistance, rebellion and radicalism, of violent and charismatic individuals with axes to grind, and of social eruptions and political earthquakes that have shaped England's whole culture and character.
Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
by J.L. MackieAn insight into moral skepticism of the 20th century. The author argues that our every-day moral codes are an 'error theory' based on the presumption of moral facts which, he persuasively argues, don't exist. His refutation of such facts is based on their metaphysical 'queerness' and the observation of cultural relativity.
Feelgood Family Food
by Dean EdwardsDean Edwards’ fail-safe recipes and down-to-earth style have made him a firm favourite with the millions of viewers who watch him cooking up a storm every week on ITV’s Lorraine. As a busy working dad, he’s all too familiar with the never-ending challenge of getting wholesome, tasty, fuss-free meals on the table – the hectic demands of family life mean our wells of inspiration can often run dry! But now Dean’s here to help us shake things up and get mealtimes back on track with his new collection of nourishing everyday recipes that the whole family will enjoy. Whether you’re searching for a quick breakfast idea for when you’re late for the school run, a one-pot dinner to save on the washing-up or even a guilt-free version of the family’s favourite takeaway, here you'll find easy-to-follow recipes, using simple-to-find ingredients. The results are so delicious you’ll forget they’re good for you too. Try a warming one-pot winner like Chicken and Sweet Potato Tagine, a twist on a family favourite like Caribbean Cottage Pie, or a melt-in-your-mouth treat like Raspberry Cheesecake Pots. Feel-good Family Food is all about appetizing ingredients, healthy meals and happy, well-fed families, so tuck in!
Fire Hawk
by Geoffrey Archer__________________________________________Sam Packer of the British Secret Service knows a mission to Iraq is dangerous. But none more dangerous than this one.A whispered secret in a Baghdad hotel lobby leads to his kidnapping, torture and expected execution. His paymasters have given him up for dead. Only the intervention of his ex-lover, Chrissie, and a hostage swap get him released.But days later Chrissie is murdered. Perhaps she knew too much, knew of the secret that Sam had uncovered - that a biological terror weapon codenamed Fire Hawk had been smuggled from Iraq for use against an unknown target in the West. Personal motives of revenge clash with priorities of State Security as Sam follows the weapon's and his dead lover's murky past through the Middle East, Cyprus and the Ukraine.At each step the mystery of the ultimate target deepens and the fanatics who control it become ever more elusive...
The Feel-Good Cookbook
by Ainsley HarriottFollowing the success of his most recent Friends and Family Cookbook, Ainsley is turning his culinary attention to feel-good cookery food that makes you feel great. Capturing Ainsley's enthusiasm for making cooking fun, The Feel-Good Cookbook brings us food that is good for the body and the soul: healthy, tasty and easy to prepare. 150 brand-new recipes make up a bible of deliciously simple recipes, essential for time-pressed cooks wanting fresh, flavoursome and nutritious food. Chapters range from Light Bites and Quick and Easy Suppers to Mid-week Meals and Substantial Salads, and features include handy menu spreads, store-cupboard essentials and a guide to sourcing ingredients.
Earthy Delights
by Tesni MorganRosemary Maddox is TV's most popular gardening presenter. Her career and business are going brilliantly but her sex life is unpredictable. Someone is making dirty phonecalls and sending her strange objects in the post, including a doll that resembles her dressed in kinky clothes.And when she's sent on an assignment to a bizarre country house, things get even stranger. The owner of the house is a peculiarly eccentric and masterful character, and plans to add Rosemary to his collection of beautiful things.
The English Prisoner: The Gripping True Story Of One Man's Survival Inside A Russian Prison Camp
by Tig HagueIn July 2003 young Englishman Tig Hague was on a routine business trip to Moscow when he was arrested at the airport. Within hours he was accused of a major crime. Next, he was tried and transported hundreds of miles to the remote, forsaken wastes of Mordovia.And prison camp Zone 22.Sentenced to spend the next four years there, every day was a struggle against disease, freezing temperatures, malnutrition, the unpredictable, sometimes terrifying behaviour of the camp guards and his fellow prisoners.But, most of all, it was a fight to ensure his own psychological survival.Only the thought of his girlfriend Lucy, fighting Russia's corrupt and labyrinthine legal system, kept Tig sane - and gave him a reason to see each day to its end.The English Prisoner is an extraordinary story of endurance, as one man - plucked from his normal, everyday life - is forced to reach deep inside himself to survive life in one of the bleakest outposts in the world: Russia's vast and unforgiving 'forgotten zone'.
Feel Good: Quick and easy recipes for comfort and joy
by Melissa Hemsley'Not just good food, great food, to brighten every day.' - Nadiya Hussain'Melissa's food is delicious, adventurous and always makes me smile! I always have her books to hand.' - Dr Rupy Aujla'This is a beauty; full of life-affirming food.' - Thomasina Miers-100 delicious recipes for fuss-free healthy cooking.Melissa Hemsley, bestselling author of Eat Happy and co-author of The Art of Eating Well, brings simple, nutritious recipes to help you feel your best, whether it's a quick dinner after a long day, cook-ahead lunches to see you through the week or easy one-tin traybake for a cosy night in.Find energising veg dishes, flexible meat and fish recipes, flavour-packed feasts to share with friends, and easy snacks and desserts.Many recipes take less than half an hour, and all use readily available ingredients.Includes Mushroom and Aubergine Pancakes with Sesame Sauce, Halloumi and Chickpea Rainbow Salad, Mum's Filipino Chicken with Mango-Tomato Salsa and Three-Ingredient Chocolate Pots.