Category Archives: Travel Guides
Liquid Gold: Bees and the Pursuit of Midlife Honey
`A light-hearted account of midlife, a yearning for adventure, the plight of bees, the quest for “liquid gold” and, above all, friendship.` Sunday TelegraphAfter a chance meeting in the pub, Roger Morgan-Grenville and his friend Duncan decide to take up beekeeping. Their enthusiasm matched only by their ignorance, they are pitched into an arcane world
Shearwater: A Bird, an Ocean, and a Long Way Home
“Charming and impassioned… a rich tribute to an extraordinary bird.” Horatio Clare, author of `A Single Swallow` and `Heavy Light`A very personal mix of memoir and natural history from the author of `Liquid Gold`.Ten weeks into its life, a Manx shearwater chick will emerge from its burrow and fly 8,000 miles from the west coast
The Babel Message: A Love Letter to Language
“Quite simply, and quite ridiculously, one of the funniest and most illuminating books I have ever read. I thought I was obsessive, but Keith Kahn-Harris is playing a very different sport. He really has discovered the whole world in an egg.” Simon GarfieldA thrilling journey deep into the heart of language, from a rather unexpected
Invisible Pleasures
A highly amusing memoir from a newly published author, Invisible Pleasures beautifully and vividly describes his life from the first tremors of his imagination as a child, through his early memories in the War, to the wild youthful Rabelaisian excitement of the 60s in London and his subsequent working in Borneo and Malaya as an
The Big Ones: How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (And What We Can Do About Them)
When the forces that give our planet life exceed our ability to withstand them, they become disasters. Together they have shaped our cities and architecture, elevated leaders and toppled governments, influenced the way we think, feel, fight, unite and pray. The history of natural disasters is a history of ourselves. The Big Ones investigates some
The 50 Greatest Churches and Cathedrals of Great Britain
Britain is well-known for its churches and cathedrals; buildings of great architecture and religious grandeur that form many of our recognisable skylines. But these grand structures are also full of facts, histories and stories that you may not have been aware of. Did you know that there are only three cathedrals in Britain without a
Ghost Riders: Operation Cowboy, the World War Two Mission to Save the World`s Finest Horses
April 1945. As Allied bombs rain down on Europe, a 400-year-old institution looks set to be wiped off the face of the Earth. The famous white Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, unique and precious animals representing centuries of careful breeding, are scattered across rural Austria and Czechoslovakia in areas soon to
Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees
Bees are like oxygen: ubiquitous, essential, and, for the most part, unseen. While we might overlook them, they lie at the heart of relationships that bind the human and natural worlds. In `Buzz`, the award-winning author of `Feathers` and `The Triumph of Seeds` takes us on a journey that begins 125 million years ago, when
Apollo 11: The Inside Story
“Terrific and enthralling” New Scientist”An authoritative account of Apollo 11 and the end of the space race, shedding light on the true drama behind the mission.” ObserverFifty years ago, in July 1969, Apollo 11 became the first manned mission to land on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong the first man to step on to its
Corrupt Bodies: Death and Dirty Dealing in a London Morgue
In 1985, Peter Everett landed the job as Superintendent of Southwark Mortuary. In just six years he`d gone from lowly assistant to running the UK`s busiest murder morgue. He couldn`t believe his luck. What he didn`t know was that Southwark, operating in near-Victorian conditions, was a hotbed of corruption. Attendants stole from the dead, funeral
A Chip Shop in Poznan: My Unlikely Year in Poland
`One of the funniest books of the year` – Paul Ross, talkRADIOWARNING: CONTAINS AN UNLIKELY IMMIGRANT, AN UNSUNG COUNTRY, A BUMPY ROMANCE, SEVERAL SHATTERED PRECONCEPTIONS, TRACES OF INSIGHT, A DOZEN NUNS AND A REFERENDUM.Not many Brits move to Poland to work in a fish and chip shop.Fewer still come back wanting to be a Member
Moving Heaven and Earth (Icon Science): Copernicus and the Solar System
When Nicolaus Copernicus claimed that the Earth was not stationary at the centre of the universe but circled the Sun, he brought about a total revolution in the sciences and consternation in the Church.Copernicus` theory demanded a new physics to explain motion and force, a new theory of space, and a completely new conception of
30-Second Psychology: The 50 Most Thought-provoking Psychology Theories, Each Explained in Half a Minute
The key ideas in Psychology explained, with colour illustrations, in half a minute. Pavlov`s Dogs, Psychoanalysis, Milgram`s Obedience Study, and Beck`s Cognitive Therapy? Sure, you know what they all mean. That is, you`ve certainly heard of them. But do you know enough about these psychology theories to join a dinner party debate or dazzle the
30-Second Maths: The 50 Most Mind-Expanding Theories in Mathematics, Each Explained in Half a Minute
From Rubik`s cubes to Godel`s incompleteness theorem, everything mathematical explained, with colour illustrations, in half a minute. Maths is enjoying a resurgence in popularity. So how can you avoid being the only dinner guest who has no idea who Fermat was, or what he proved? The more you know about Maths, the less of a
30 Second Quantum Theory
The bestselling 30-Second… series takes a revolutionary approach to learning about those subjects you feel you should really understand.Each title selects a popular topic and dissects it into the 50 most significant ideas at its heart. Each idea, no matter how complex, is explained in 300 words and one picture, all digestible in 30 seconds.30-Second
Places I Stopped on the Way Home: A Memoir of Chaos and Grace
A beautiful memoir from an exciting young writer, Meg Fee, on finding her way in New York City. Full of the dramas and quiet moments that make up a life, told with humour, heart, and hope. In Places I Stopped on the Way Home, Meg Fee plots a decade of her life in New York
The French Exception: Emmanuel Macron – The Extraordinary Rise and Risk
`Adam Plowright`s excellent book captures the strangeness of Macron`s life` Evening StandardTHE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF EMMANUEL MACRON IN ENGLISHFrom total unknown to one of Europe`s most powerful men in just a few years, at 39, France`s youngest leader since Napoleon is intent on conquering the world stage. But what lies beneath the facade of this
The 50 Greatest Train Journeys of the World
Whether you`re on the Orient Express or the Inverness to Wick and Thurso route traversing some of the wildest country in Britain, train travel affords a vision of the world like no other. From the modest line through North Yorkshire`s Esk Valley to the Trans-Siberian; from a narrow-gauge web of lines in the Harz Mountains
Hitler`s British Traitors: The Secret History of Spies, Saboteurs and Fifth Columnists
Hitler`s British Traitors is the first authoritativeaccount of a well-kept secret: the British Fifth Column and its activitiesduring the Second World War.Drawing on hundreds of declassifiedofficial files – many of them previously unpublished – Tim Tate uncovers thelargely unknown history of more than 70 British traitors who were convicted,mostly in secret trials, of working to
The 50 Greatest Castles and Palaces of the World
Castles and palaces around the world are structures of grandeur, might and beauty. From the flamboyance of Germany`s fairy tale-Neuschwanstein Castle to the gothic, Dracula-inspiring Bran Castle, perched high in the craggy peaks of Romania`s Carpathian Mountains; Tokyo`s Imperial Palace, previously home to samurai warriors to Ireland`s Blarney Castle, where `the gift of the gab`
