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The Hungry Spirit: New Thinking for a New World
by Charles HandyWith his characteristically very personal anecdotal style, Charles Handy analyses how materialistic capitalism is self-limiting, how efficiency may be the enemy of a cohesive society, and examines the false certainties of science and religion. Offering a carefully considered and compelling alternative vision, the book challenges the status quo on everything from capitalism and organization to goal-setting and morality. With nods to Kant, Keynes, Sartre and Drucker, The Hungry Spirit is not your usual business tome, but that, of course, is part of Handy's plan.
London's Lost Rivers: a beautifully illustrated guide to London's secret rivers
by Paul TallingPacked with surprising and fascinating information, London's Lost Rivers uncovers a very different side to London - showing how waterways shaped our principal city and exploring the legacy they leave today. With individual maps to show the course of each river and over 100 colour photographs, it's essential browsing for any Londoner and the perfect gift for anyone who loves exploring the past...'An amazing book' -- BBC Radio London'Talling's highly visual, fact-packed, waffle-free account is the freshest take we've yet seen. A must-buy for anyone who enjoys the "hidden" side of London -- Londonist'A fascinating and stylish guide to exploring the capital's forgotten brooks, waterways, canals and ditches ... it's a terrific book' - Walk'Pocket-sized, beautifully designed, illustrated and informative - in short a joy to read, handle and use' -- ***** Reader review'Delightful, informative and beautifully produced' -- ***** Reader review'A small gem. A really great book. I can't put it down' -- ***** Reader review'Fascinating from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review************************************************************************************************From the sources of the Fleet in Hampstead's ponds to the mouth of the Effra in Vauxhall, via the meander of the Westbourne through 'Knight's Bridge' and the Tyburn's curve along Marylebone Lane, London's Lost Rivers unearths the hidden waterways that flow beneath the streets of the capital. Paul Talling investigates how these rivers shaped the city - forming borough boundaries and transport networks, fashionable spas and stagnant slums - and how they all eventually gave way to railways, roads and sewers. Armed with his camera, he traces their routes and reveals their often overlooked remains: riverside pubs on the Old Kent Road, healing wells in King's Cross, 'stink pipes' in Hammersmith and gurgling gutters on streets across the city. Packed with maps and over 100 colour photographs, London's Lost Rivers uncovers the watery history of the city's most famous sights, bringing to life the very different London that lies beneath our feet.
Warriors: British Fighting Heroes
by Ross Kemp_____________Ross Kemp has encountered conflict and warfare the world over, broadcasting from some of the most volatile military hot-zones. From meeting the world's deadliest gangsters, to perhaps his hardest assignment of all; embedded with the British Army in Afghanistan's Helmand province, where he witnessed some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict and was trained in the tactics they use to stay alive.Stationed with British forces for his award-winning television documentaries, Ross Kemp has not only experienced the terror and exhilaration of life on the frontline, but also the courage and leadership of today's servicemen and women. The plight of our Armed Forces is one especially close to his heart, and here for the first time Kemp tells the breathtaking stories of commandos, medics, submariners, fighter pilots, infantrymen, sailors and engineers in daring raids, stirring last stands and acts of extreme valour. British Fighting Heroes is Ross Kemp's personal tribute to some of the most remarkable men and women to have served in the British Armed Forces during the two World Wars, many of them unsung or forgotten. From Sgt Major Stan Hollis, D-Day's only VC winner, to Freddie Spencer Chapman the reluctant war hero who spent three years behind enemy lines in Burma fighting guerrilla warfare against troops, each account is an extraordinary tale of courage, adventure and patriotic sacrifice.
Flame Of Adventure
by Simon YatesSimon Yates, author of Against the Wall, takes us back to his early years as a climber - the escapades and excitement of a young life lived on the edge and for the moment, when experience was all-important and dramatic achievements and failures came as naturally as the hair-raising risks themselves.A mountaineering travelogue of dazzling variety, The Flame of Adventure moves from the camaraderie of deprived Russian climbers in the little-known peaks in the Tien Shan to the awesome experience of the North Face of the Eiger, from a rumbustious motorbike ride across Australia with a psychotic lorry driver. We meet a remarkable gallery of climbers, from Doug Scott to Joe Simpson, and, when not exploring high mountains, we enter the bizarre world of rope access workers: mavericks balancing high above building sites on the London skyline.
Survival Squad: Book 1 (Survival Squad #1)
by Jonathan RockThere's a reason they're known as the Survival Squad...The Tiger Patrol are on an expedition out on the wild and desolate moors when a new member runs off. Soon they're all in trouble - they're completely lost, and they have no way of contacting anyone for help... This is where their training kicks in - are they prepared to survive outdoors?
Jaws of Death - Max Cassidy 2 (Max Cassidy #2)
by Paul AdamThe second exciting title in the Max Cassidy action-adventure series.'Be careful, Max . . . They will try to destroy you, as they are trying to destroy me . . .'His father is missing presumed dead and his mother is serving a twenty-year sentence for his murder, but teenage escapologist Max Cassidy is certain everybody is wrong - about both things . . . And now, his quest to find the truth has become very dangerous . . .Max learns that his dad was part of a secret global organisation, the Cedar Alliance. Desperate to find him alive, he seeks help from the other members of the group. But they are scattered across the world - and then they start disappearing one by one . . .Escapology is dangerous but not nearly as dangerous as real life . . .
Attack At Dead Man's Bay - Max Cassidy 3 (Max Cassidy #3)
by Paul AdamThis is the third book in Paul Adam's fast and furious Max Cassidy thriller series.Teenage escapologist, Max Cassidy, knows for sure that his mother did not kill his father, his father is not even dead . . . But somebody seems very determined to prevent Max from discovering the truth - in fact, somebody wants him dead.In this, the final instalment of the thrilling Max Cassidy series, Max travels across the world; from London to San Francisco to Russia in his quest to be reunited with his family.
Monster Republic: The Judas Code (Monster Republic #2)
by Ben HortonThe explosion at the Prime Minister's visit to Long Harbour means the cover of the Monster Republic is blown, and they are forced deep into hiding. Lazarus Fry turns his tactics to infiltration, and is confident of their swift crushing. Plus his new pets, the Blood Hawks, are hungry to get their talons into some fresh kill...But Fry hasn't counted on this band of rebel kids' awesome will for survival. When your back is against the wall, the only option is to come out fighting...
Survival Squad: Book 2 (Survival Squad #2)
by Jonathan RockThere's a reason they're known as the Survival Squad...It's winter and the snow is falling thick and fast. The Tiger Patrol are learning to ski, building snow shelters, and igloos. They're even working with the local search and rescue team. Then they're caught in a snow blizzard and a young girl is missing in the snow...Time is running out for the Survival Squad.
Survival Squad: Book 3 (Survival Squad #3)
by Jonathan RockThere's a reason they're known as the Survival Squad...An ordinary expedition for the Tiger Patrol turns into an exciting adventure of paragliding, cycle racing and catching thieves in the night.No matter what situation they're thrown into, they manage to come out on top...is there anything that the Tiger Patrol can't do?
How Could He Do It?
by Emma Charles'In many ways we were an ordinary family: mum, dad, two kids, three dogs, one rabbit, two guinea pigs. I stayed at home, studying with the Open University, and dad worked, and the kids went to private schools. We lived in a rather nice semi in a rather nice area of Edinburgh, with a rather nice Volvo in the drive, and took rather nice holidays, wearing rather nice clothes. I loved Daniel deeply and I thought - no, I was sure - he loved me deeply, too. And we both loved our kids deeply (I thought). And that was as it should be. We had it made.In some ways we weren't a completely ordinary family. There was Daniel, for one; he worked for most of the time we were married as a ship's engineer, and so he was away from home for up to four months and then home on leave for up to two. And Tamsin, our fifteen-year-old daughter, had specific learning difficulties. But I'm pretty ordinary: an unlikely heroine. I am disabled because of back problems. I'm pretty fat - I've put on a lot of weight through lack of exercise and, yes, comfort-eating! Not the stuff of movies.But I never for a moment dreamt that my family was all that extraordinary - until that day when Tamsin broke down and told me that her father, my loving husband, had been sexually abusing her.'
The Doings of Hamish and Dougal: You'll Have Had Your Tea?
by Barry Cryer Graeme GardenHello there! You'll have had your tea? Dougal here. Well, here we go, with our wee book. It's a collection or pot pourri (I've no idea what Hamish means by that - it sounds like something to do with the Pope) of our activities or 'doings' in the village we call home, because that's exactly what it is.Together with our housekeeper, Mrs Naughtie, and of course, the Laird who lives up at the big hoose and shoots grouse and other bottles of whisky, these are the actual scripts of our wee show which we performed on the wireless, when most of you were probably in bed! Hamish and I have known each other all our lives - well, not yet, obviously! We have a very close relationship and also with each other. Mrs Naughtie been with us since we first met her at the Krankie Arms, where she was working as part-time barmaid and bouncer.In addition to the scripts you'll find all kinds of other things tucked away under its kilt. There's a hectic social life in the village. You'll visit the 'bide a wee' café, proud possessor of three Michelin tyres. You'll have a conducted tour of the big hoose by Big Tam, our local guide (not during opening hours). You'll marvel at the site of the Battle of Auchtermuchty, now allotments. You'll peek into the Laird's social diary in 'oot and aboot' (40p at the post office). And a great deal more.Well, I hope this wee note will make you hurry to the till and spend the terrible amount of money these wee books cost these days. But then again this particular wee book is Scotland's answer to Richard and Judy! Hurrah!Away now ...
Survival Squad: Book 4
by Jonathan RockThere's a reason they're known as the Survival Squad...A white water rafting expedition for the Tiger Patrol takes a turn for the worse when the water level rises. It's a matter of life or death, and they have only their training and skill to rely on.
Charlie Small: The Final Showdown (Charlie Small #16)
by Charlie SmallSomething happened to Charlie when he was just eight years old. He went on a journey - and he's been trying to get back for over four hundred years!Yippee! Charlie is finally on his way home! But first he has to tackle a horrible hairy yeti, dodge crazy tumbleweed spiders and navigate the bustling metropolis of Fortune City. And all with his archenemy hot on his heels. YIKES!GADGETS, INVENTIONS, MONSTROUS CREATURES, EVIL VILLAINS... No adventure is too BIG for Charlie Small!
Blackout
by Robert SwindellsAnother gripping World War Two drama from the master storyteller and multi-award-winner, Robert Swindells.Life in a small village is boring now the war is over, there is still rationing and bomb damage and war losses. But when a group of children hear of some treasure kept locked in the village, things look at bit more interesting. And then two strangers turn up in the village - and they've heard of the treasure too . . .
Monster Republic: Omnibus Edition (Monster Republic Ser. #1)
by Ben HortonAn explosion in a nuclear power plant. Kids patched up with scavaged body parts and bionic implants.A growing army of superhuman soldiers programmed for destruction. Shunned by his family and friends, Cameron joins forces with the Monster Republic to seek revenge on the psycho scientist who did this to them.
Strands: A Year of Discoveries on the Beach
by Jean SpracklandStrands describes a year's worth of walking on the ultimate beach: inter-tidal and constantly turning up revelations: mermaid's purses, lugworms, sea potatoes, messages in bottles, buried cars, beached whales and a perfect cup from a Cunard liner. This is a series of meditations prompted by walking on the wild estuarial beaches of Ainsdale Sands between Blackpool and Liverpool, Strands is about what is lost and buried then discovered, about all the things you find on a beach, dead or alive, about flotsam and jetsam, about mutability and transformation - about sea-change.
Whose Side Are You On?
by Teddy JamiesonFrom the late 1960s, Northern Ireland has been mired in violence. Yet it has had seen more than its fair share of sporting heroes - from footballer George Best, through snooker champion Alex Higgins, to boxer Barry McGuigan. Life was tough for these working-class lads, but they could shine on the football field or find refuge at the town boxing club. For other kids, like the young Teddy Jamieson, a knockabout in the back-lanes was as good as it got, but at least they had their heroes. Watching McGuigan on telly, Teddy could feel proud to be Northern Irish. But sport - like everything else in Northern Ireland - could quickly turn nasty when politics were involved. This extraordinary journey through sport and the Troubles has it all: from Olympic gold-medals to Gaelic football; from death threats to reconciliations. Then there is Teddy's own story, as we learn how the age-old playground question 'Whose side are you on?' doesn't always have an easy answer.
Visions of England: Or Why We Still Dream of a Place in the Country
by Roy StrongWhy do we still get misty-eyed about England's green and pleasant land?What explains our obsession with country houses - from the National Trust to Downton Abbey?Why do we still dream of a place in the country?In this delightul book Roy Strong explores the definition of Englishness. Celebrating our literature, music, art, gardening and drama, Strong identifies those icons and traditions that still speak to us - it is a vision of England that is inclusive and relevant for everybody living in the country today.
Duncan Grant: The Art Of Vanessa Bell And Duncan Grant 1910- 1934
by Frances SpaldingThe life of the painter and designer Duncan Grant spanned great changes in society and art, from Edwardian Britain to the 1970s, from Alma-Tadema to Gilbert and George. This authoritive biography combines an engrossing narrative with an invaluable assessment of Grant's individual achievement and his place within Bloomsbury and in the wider development of British art. 'Spalding's skill is to sketch out the intricate emotional web against the bright bold untouchable figure of the artist. . . Her achievement is to let that sense of a man living with his craft shine through on every page: the result is an exceptionally honest and warm portrait. ' Financial Times
Gwen Raverat: Friends, Family and Affections
by Frances Spalding'The best of these Darwins is that they are cut out of rock - three taps is enough to convince one how immense is their solidarity.' So wrote Virginia Woolf affectionately of Gwen Raverat, the granddaughter of Charles Darwin. In this first full biography, Frances Spalding looks beyond the artist Gwen Raverat's childhood memoir; Period Piece, and creates a fascinating and moving portrait of Charles Darwin's granddaughter. She explores her Darwin inheritance; her conflicts when she moves beyond her home environment to enter the Slade School of Art; her encounter with post-Impressionism; and her friendships with Stanley Spencer, Rupert Brooke and members of the Bloomsbury set. At each stage, Gwen's artistic creativity is interwoven with her relationships and circumstances. She helps revive the medium of wood-engraving and with her husband, Jacques Raverat, celebrates the South of France in the art they produce while living in Venice. Drawing on a huge cache of unpublished papers, Spalding brings us a life lived with bravery, humour; realism and integrity, surrounded by a remarkable cast of relatives, friends and associates.
David Astor
by Jeremy LewisFew newspaper editors are remembered beyond their lifetimes, but David Astor of the Observer is a great exception to the rule. He converted a staid, Conservative-supporting Sunday paper into essential reading, admired and envied for the quality of its writers and for its trenchant but fair-minded views. Astor grew up at Cliveden, the country house on the Thames which his grandfather had bought when he turned his back on New York, the source of the family fortune. His liberal-minded father was a constant support, but his relations with his mother, Nancy, were always embattled. At Oxford he suffered the first of the bouts of depression that were to blight his life; a lost soul for much of the Thirties, he became involved in attempts to put the British Government in touch with the German opposition in the months leading up to the war. George Orwell had urged Astor to champion the decolonisation of Africa, and Nelson Mandela always acknowledged how much he owed to the Observer’s long-standing support. A generous benefactor to good causes, he helped to set up Amnesty International and Index on Censorship. A good man and a great editor, he deserves to be better remembered.
Educating Jack
by Jack SheffieldAs the 1982 school year begins, Jack Sheffield returns to Ragley village school for his sixth year as headteacher. Nora Pratt celebrates twenty-five years in her coffee shop, Ronnie Smith finally tries to get a job, and little Krystal Entwhistle causes concern in the school Nativity play. It's the time of ET and Greenham Common,. Price William's birth, Fame legwarmers and the puzzling introduction of the 20p piece. Meanwhile, for Jack, the biggest surprise of his life is in store...
A Taste for Love
by Marita Conlon-McKennaAlice loves to cook. She believes the secret of good food is to cook with passion. Her love affair with cookery has taken her from her parents' seaside hotel, to Paris and then one of Dublin's finest restaurants. Then she marries Liam, and is happy to hang up her chef's hat and cook for her family and friends instead. But now she's cooking for one! Her marriage to Liam over, it's high time she learns to stand on her own two feet and begin again...Alice opens The Martello School of Cookery and a group of total strangers learn from her to create food that is tasty and delicious. And in the comfort of her kitchen they discover, not only how to cook - but recipes for life...By the number one bestselling author of The Mother of the Bride
Rome: (Rome 4): A captivating historical page-turner full of political tensions, passion and intrigue
by Manda ScottThe Sunday Times bestselling author Manda Scott brings Ancient Rome to life in this memorable tale of treachery, espionage and violence. Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow, Robert Harris and Conn Iggulden."Superior in almost every way...one of the most entertaining "Roman" novels I have read...Head and shoulders above the crowd" -- Simon Scarrow"Intricately woven, cleverly plotted. Miss this at your peril!" - Ben Kane "Excellent series - each book was a joy to read - final book kept you guessing right up until the end" -- ***** Reader review"A superb and exciting read, finished at 3am, and which I cannot recommend enough..." -- ***** Reader review"There's only one way in which I could say Manda Scott's work is predictable: every time I pick up a new Scott book, I can guarantee it will be new, refreshing, fascinating and totally different from anything that's gone before." -- ***** Reader review***************************************************ROME ON A KNIFE EDGE. A TRAITOR IN THE MIDST. Rome: AD69. The Year of the Four Emperors. Three Emperors have ruled in Rome this year and a fourth, Vespasian, has been named in the East.As the legions march toward civil war, Sebastos Pantera, the spy whose name means leopard, returns to Rome intent on bribery, blackmail and persuasion: whatever it takes to bring the commanders and their men to Vespasian's side.But in Rome, as he uses every skill he has ever learned of subterfuge, codes and camouflage, it becomes clear that one of those closest to him is a traitor, who will let Rome fall to destroy him.Together the two spies spin a web of deceit with Rome as the prize and death the only escape.