Category Archives: Travel Guides
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History
Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions of life on earth. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. Elizabeth Kolbert combines brilliant field reporting, the history of ideas and the
Draw it! London
Add boats to the map of the Thames, put fish in the pelican`s mouth, draw the Jurassic fossils you spot in Green Park underground station and much more! Experience weird and wonderful London with this amazing doodle book, bursting with strange facts, fun things to colour in, maps, and plenty of space to draw! The
Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I
January, 1649. After seven years of fighting in the bloodiest war in Britain`s history, Parliament had overpowered King Charles I and now faced a problem: what to do with a defeated king, a king who refused to surrender? Parliamentarians resolved to do the unthinkable, to disregard the Divine Right of Kings and hold Charles I
Kidnap in Crete: The True Story of the Abduction of a Nazi General
This is the story of how a small SOE unit led by Patrick Leigh Fermor kidnapped a German general on the Nazi-occupied island of Crete in 1944. For thirty-two days, they were chased across the mountains as they headed for the coast and a rendezvous with a Royal Navy launch waiting to spirit the general
The Photographer`s Wife
Jerusalem, 1920: in an already fractured city, eleven-year-old Prudence feels the tension rising as her architect father launches an ambitious – and wildly eccentric – plan to redesign the Holy City by importing English parks to the desert. Prue, known as the `little witness`, eavesdrops underneath the tables of tearooms and behind the curtains of
The Bitter Taste of Victory: Life, Love and Art in the Ruins of the Reich
As the Second World War neared its conclusion, Germany was a nation reduced to rubble: 3.6 million German homes had been destroyed leaving 7.5 million people homeless; an apocalyptic landscape of flattened cities and desolate wastelands. In May 1945 Germany surrendered, and Britain, America, Soviet Russia and France set about rebuilding their zones of occupation.
Pondlife: A Swimmer`s Journal
The ponds of Hampstead Heath are small oases; fragments of wild nature nestled in the heart of north-west London. For the best part of his life Al Alvarez – poet, critic, novelist, rock-climber and poker player – has swum in them almost daily. An athlete in his youth, Alvarez, now in his eighties, chronicles what
A Beginner`s Guide to Bearspotting
Stanfords Children`s Book of the Month February 2017Bearspotting is a dangerous business – you ought to take it seriously, you know. So here`s what you need to know for starters – black bears are dangerous and black, brown bears are dangerous and brown. Although sometimes black bears can be a little brown, and brown bears
Close Call: A Liz Carlyle Novel
The international arms trade is about to become a national problem…In 2012, in a Middle Eastern souk, CIA agent Miles Brookhaven was attacked. At the time he was infiltrating rebel groups in the area. No one was certain if his cover had been blown or if the act was just an arbitrary attack on Westerners.
The Night Rainbow
During one long, hot summer, five-year-old Pea and her little sister Margot play alone in the meadow behind their house, on the edge of a small village in Southern France. Her mother is too sad to take care of them; she left her happiness in the hospital, along with the baby. Pea`s father has died
Kerrigan in Copenhagen
Kerrigan is writing a guidebook to the city of Copenhagen. Specifically, a guide to the city`s drinking establishments – of which there are over 1,500. Thus, it is a project potentially without end, and one with a certain amount of drunken numbness built into it. And that`s the point: for Kerrigan, an American expat fleeing
Clay
Eight-year-old TC skips school to explore the city`s overgrown, forgotten corners. Sophia, seventy-eight, watches with concern as he slips past her window, through the little park she loves. She`s writing to her granddaughter, Daisy, whose privileged upbringing means she exists in a different world from TC – though the two children live less than a
Man on Fire
A powerful and touching novel from the Booker-shortlisted author of Pigeon English `A writer of considerable talent` Financial Times I was beating the life out of Bibhuti with a baseball bat when my first monsoon broke…John Lock has come to India to meet his destiny. He has fled the quiet desperation of his life in
The Planner
James is exactly what you`d expect from one of London`s most promising, young town planners. He`s cautious, respected by colleagues and performs well in team meetings. But while James understands the glitter and grime of the city better than almost anyone, he hasn`t actually experienced much of it. And, as he watches his university friends
Sea Legs: One Family`s Adventure on the Ocean
Three years after his return from the Alaskan wilderness, Guy Grieve was living on the Isle of Mull in Scotland with his wife Juliet and their two young sons. Sick of the weather, perennial colds and their increasingly routine lifestyle, they`d all been getting restless. Finally, Guy and Juliet broke in spectacular style – they
Island Summers: Memories of a Norwegian Childhood
`My grandmother bought the island. The year was 1947 and she was thirty-three, a couple of years older than I am now. She was the visionary sort of person who can make something magical out of very little.` From the moment that Tilly`s grandmother, Mor-mor, set eyes on the rocky outline of Smaholmene, it captured
The House at Bishopsgate
From the Sunday Times bestselling author comes a haunting, magical story set in 17th century London, perfect for fans of Jessie Burton and Elif Shafak1611. Celia Lamprey looks out across the rooftops of Aleppo for the last time. After ten years living in the Orient, she and her husband, Paul Pindar, are setting sail for
Cities Are Good for You: The Genius of the Metropolis
The 21st century will be the age of the city. Already over 50% of the world population live in urban centres and over the coming decades this percentage will increase. Blending anecdote, fact and first hand encounters – from exploring the slums of Mumbai, to visiting roof-top farms in Brooklyn and attending secret dinner parties
Rise Up Women!: The Remarkable Lives of the Suffragettes
A Telegraph Book of 2018An Observer Pick of 2018A New Statesman Book of 2018A definitive history and anarchic celebration of the fight for women`s right to vote; `A huge achievement` Rachel Cooke, Observer`Glorious` Sunday Times`A definitive history of the suffragettes` The Times`Magisterial` TelegraphBetween the death of Queen Victoria and the outbreak of the First World
Outlaws
In the late 1970s, as Spain was adrift between the death of Franco and the rebirth of democracy, people were moving from the poor south to the cities of the north in search of a better life. But the work, when there was any, was poorly paid and the housing squalid. Out of this world
