Category Archives: Travel Guides
A More Perfect Heaven
In the 1520s a Polish cleric named Nicolaus Copernicus developed a revolutionary theory which placed the Sun, not the Earth, at the centre of our universe. The secret existence of this manuscript tantalised scientists everywhere in Europe. Then in 1539 a young German mathematician, Rheticus, travelled to meet Copernicus in the hope of setting eyes
Fold
Five friends. One year. All bets are off. Reading, 2009. It may not be Vegas, but for Nick, Doug, Vijay, Alan and Simon, it`s as good as they`re going to get. Each in their forties, and beset by anxieties, flaws and frustrations, they meet monthly in each other`s houses for a `friendly` game of poker,
Pao
SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD I was just a boy when I come to Jamaica. Kingston, 1938. Fourteen-year-old Yang Pao steps off the ship from China with his mother and brother, after his father has died fighting for the revolution. They are to live with Zhang, the `godfather` of Chinatown, who mesmerises Pao
The Whispers of Nemesis
It is winter in the mountains of Greece and as the snow falls in the tiny village of Vrisi a coffin is unearthed and broken open, revealing some unexpected remains to the astonished mourners gathered at the graveside. In a village where gossip flows like ouzo, the discovery in the grave sets tongues wagging and
Rip Tide
When pirates attack a cargo ship off the Somalian coast and one of them is found to be a British-born Pakistani, alarm bells start ringing at London`s Thames House. MI5 Intelligence Officer Liz Carlyle is brought in to establish how and why a young British Muslim could go missing from his well-to-do family in Birmingham
The Network
The world is about to change…In the months leading up to 9/11 the intelligence community is on high alert for terrorist threats. Former army officer Anthony Taverner is recruited by the Secret Intelligence Service for an apparently straightforward mission: to destroy a cache of the CIA`s precious Stinger missiles in Taliban-held Afghanistan. But in the
A Cruel Bird Came To The Nest And Looked In
Far away, in the ancient empire of Greater Fallowfields, things are falling apart. The imperial orchestra is presided over by a conductor who has never played a note, the clocks are changed constantly to ensure that the sun always sets at five o` clock, and the Astronomer Royal is only able to use the observatory
The Finkler Question
WINNER OF THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular former BBC radio producer, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. Despite very different lives, they`ve never quite lost touch with each other – or with their former teacher, Libor Sevcik. Both Libor and Finkler are
Ed King
In 1962, when Walter Cousins sleeps with his British au pair, Diane Burroughs, he can have no sense of the magnitude of his error: this brief affair sets in motion a tragedy of epic proportions, upending Sophocles`s immortal tale of fate, free will, and forbidden desire. At the centre is Ed King, an infant given
The Lost and Forgotten Languages of Shanghai
When an explosion reverberates through the Swan Hotel in Shanghai, it is not just shards of glass and rubble that come crashing down. Li Jing and Zhou Meiling find their once-happy marriage rocked to its foundations. For Li Jing, his head pierced by a shard of falling glass, awakens from brain surgery only able to
Purgatory
Simon Cardoso has been dead for thirty years when his wife, Emilia Dupuy, finds him in a New Jersey diner. Testimonies confirmed that Simon had been one of the thousands of victims of Argentina`s military regime, executed for being a `subversive`; yet this man is identical to the man she lost three decades ago. While
The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt
This is a story studded with extraordinary achievements and historic moments, from the building of the pyramids and the conquest of Nubia, through Akhenaten`s religious revolution, the power and beauty of Nefertiti, the glory of Tutankhamun`s burial chamber, and the ruthlessness of Ramesses, to Alexander the Great`s invasion, and Cleopatra`s fatal entanglement with Rome. As
I Shall Not Hate
Heart-breaking, hopeful and horrifying, I Shall Not Hate is a Palestinian doctor`s inspiring account of his extraordinary life, growing up in poverty but determined to treat his patients in Gaza and Israel regardless of their ethnic origin. A London University- and Harvard-trained Palestinian doctor who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee camp in
The Curious Gardener
In The Curious Gardener, Anna Pavord brings together in 12 chapters – one from each month of the year – 72 pieces on all aspects of gardening. From what to do in each month and how to get the best from flowers, plants, herbs, fruit and vegetables, through reflections on the weather, soil, the English
The Omnivore`s Dilemma: The Search for a Perfect Meal in a Fast-Food World
What shall we have for dinner? Such a simple question has grown to have a very complicated answer. We can eat almost anything nature has to offer, but deciding what we should eat stirs anxiety. Should we choose the organic apple or the conventional? If organic, local or imported? Wild fish or farmed? Low-carb or
Polpo – A Venetian Cookbook (Of Sorts)
Tucked away in a backstreet of London`s edgy Soho district, Polpo is one of the hottest restaurants in town. Critics and food aficionados have been flocking to this understated bacaro where Russell Norman serves up dishes from the back streets of Venice. A far cry from the tourist-trap eateries of the famous floating city, this
How to Avoid Being Killed in a Warzone: The Essential Survival Guide for Dangerous Places
Everyone needs this book if they want to know how to get out of difficult situations whether at home or abroad. Written by Rosie Garthwaite, whose career as a journalist started in war-torn Basra, this book combines practical advice with contributions from many journalists and commentators including Rageh Omar and John Simpson, who share their
Democracy
It is 490BC and Athens is at war. Leander, trying to rouse his comrades for the morrow`s battle against a far mightier enemy, begins to recount the story of his own life. Having witnessed the evils of the old tyrannical regimes and the rise of a new political system, Leander tells a tale of danger,
The Doctor of Thessaly
ENVY, REVENGE AND RETRIBUTION IN THE THRILLING NEW INSTALMENT OF THE MYSTERIES OF THE GREEK DETECTIVE SERIES My first question must be, why do you want no investigation? If some malicious person has robbed you – as you believe – of your precious sight, why do you not want that person caught, tried and punished
Underground Time
Everyday Mathilde takes the Metro, then the commuter train to the office of a large multi-national where she works in the marketing department. Everyday, the same routine, the same trains. But something happened a while ago – she dared to voice a different opinion from her moody boss, Jacques. Bit by bit she finds herself
