Category Archives: Travel Guides
Edge of Empires, a History of Georgia
Georgia is the most Western-looking state in today`s Near or Middle East and, despite having one of the longest, most turbulent histories in the Christian or Near Eastern world, no proper history of the country has been written for decades. Donald Rayfield redresses this balance in Edge of Empires, focusing not merely on the post-Soviet
London: From Punk To Blair
From galleries to clubs, pubs to Tube stations, crap weather to pigeon crap, London from Punk to Blair is a brilliant anthology of personal and subjective readings of the capital since the late 1970s, which takes on London like no other book has before.
The Idea of North
As with the compass needle, so people have always been most powerfully attracted northwards; everyone carries within them their own concept of north. “The Idea of North” is a study, ranging widely in time and place, of some of the ways in which these ideas have found expression. Peter Davidson explores the topography of north
Orwell`s Nose: A Pathological Biography
Orwell`s Nose, now available in paperback, is an original and imaginative account of the life and work of George Orwell, exploring the `scent narratives` that abound in Orwell`s fiction and non-fiction. This illuminating and irreverent book provides a new understanding of one of our most iconic and influential writers.
The Last of the Light: About Twilight
This ambitious account of the arts of the evening, now available in paperback, deftly combines prose-poetry, memoir, philosophy and art history. Intertwining personal, cultural and artistic histories, it is a richly rewarding book written in a unique voice.
African Violet Caine Prize For African Writing 2012
Five short stories about Africa that the annual Caine Prize awards to authors for their stories which they are then published in this annual book.
The Small Planet Vegetarian Cookbook
The Small Planet Vegetarian Cookbook introduces a global spread of delicious low-impact vegetarian dishes. There`s something particularly enticing about a meal made up of several `small` dishes, as with Middle Eastern mezze or Spanish tapas. Troth Wells has taken this style of cooking and enjoying food and given it an exciting global dimension. Western livestock-rearing
Global Vegetarian Kitchen, The
The Global Vegetarian Kitchen starts from where you are, whether you only have a windowbox with some herbs, or an allotment, yard or other space to grow things. There are recipes for dishes you can make from your own garden, as well as popular foods from all parts of the world. With an emphasis on
Caine Prize For African Writing 2013
Now in its fourteenth year, the Caine Prize for African Writing is Africa`s leading literary prize, and is awarded to a short story by an African writer published in English, whether in Africa or elsewhere. This collection collects the five 2013 shortlisted stories, along with stories written at the Caine Prize Writers` Workshop, taking place
The Spanish Armada
After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, Protestant England was beset by the hostile Catholic powers of Europe – not least Spain. In October 1585 King Philip II of Spain declared his intention to destroy Protestant England and began preparing invasion plans, leading to an intense intelligence war between the two countries, culminating in
Red Nile: The Biography of the World`s Greatest River
So much begins on the banks of the Nile: all religion, all life, all stories, the script we write in, the language we speak, the gods, the legends and the names of stars. This mighty river that flows through a quarter of all Africa has been history`s most sustained creator. In this dazzling, idiosyncratic journey
Merchant Adventurers: The Voyage of Discovery That Transformed Tudor England
In the spring of 1553 three ships sailed north-east from London into uncharted waters. The scale of their ambition was breathtaking. Drawing on the latest navigational science and the new spirit of enterprise and discovery sweeping the Tudor capital, they sought a northern passage to Asia and its riches. The success of the expedition depended
Where`d You Go, Bernadette?
Bernadette Fox is notorious. To Elgie Branch, a Microsoft wunderkind, she`s his hilarious, volatile, talented, troubled wife. To fellow mothers at the school gate, she`s a menace. To design experts, she`s a revolutionary architect. And to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, quite simply, mum. Then Bernadette disappears. And Bee must take a
I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban
In 2009 Malala Yousafzai began writing a blog on BBC Urdu about life in the Swat Valley as the Taliban gained control, at times banning girls from attending school. When her identity was discovered, Malala began to appear in both Pakistani and international media, advocating the freedom to pursue education for all. In October 2011,
I Chose To Climb
`I Chose to Climb`, first published in 1966, was Chris Bonington`s first book. He was recognised then, as now, as one of the outstanding members of a brilliant generation of mountaineers, which included such personalities as Hamish MacInnes, Don Whillans and Ian Clough. Here he describes his climbing beginnings as a teenager as well as
The Prisoner of Heaven
The third book in Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind trilogy, The Prisoner of Heaven returns to the world of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the Sempere & Sons bookshop. The novel opens just before Christmas in Barcelona in 1957, one year after Daniel and Bea from the first novel in the cycle,
Soho: A Street Guide to Soho`s History, Architecture and People
Soho – illicit, glamorous, sordid, louche, poverty-stricken, squalid, exhilarating. One of Britain`s best-loved historians, Dan Cruickshank, grants us an intimacy with centuries of rich and varied history as he guides us around the Soho of the last five hundred years. We learn of its original aspirations towards respectability, how it became London`s bohemian quarter and
Berlin: City of Imagination
The first single-volume biography of Berlin, one of the world`s great cities – told via twenty-one portraits, from medieval times to the twenty-first century. A city devastated by Allied bombs, divided by a Wall, then reunited and reborn, Berlin today resonates with the echo of lives lived, dreams realised and evils executed. No other city
City of Lies: Love, Sex, Death and the Search for Truth in Tehran
Lying in Tehran is about survival. Welcome to Tehran, a city where survival depends on a network of subterfuge. Here is a place where mullahs visit prostitutes, drug kingpins run crystal meth kitchens, surgeons restore girls` virginity and homemade porn is sold in the sprawling bazaars; a place where ordinary people are forced to lead
Travelling to Work: Diaries 1988-1998
The third volume of Michael Palin`s celebrated diaries. `Travelling to Work` is a roller-coaster ride driven by the Palin hallmarks of curiosity and sense of adventure. Michael was not the BBC`s first choice for the travel series `Around the World in 80 Day`s, but after its success, the public naturally wanted more. Palin, however, had
