Since the 1950s, some of the world's greatest libraries have, as a matter of common practice, dismantled their collections of original bound newspapers & books, replacing them with microfilmed copies. The originals, often irreplaceable, are cut up to be sold as birthday gifts, or are pulped. In this passionately argued book, the acclaimed author Nicholson Baker reveals the real motives behind the dismantling of our recorded heritage. The libraries argue that paper is too fragile to be stored in their archives, & point to the so-called brittle paper crisis; Baker shows us that paper can be stored for years without deterioration, & that libraries are under budgetary pressure to save space. The players include the British Library, the Library of Congress, the CIA, NASA, microfilm lobbyists, newspaper dealers & a colourful array of librarians & digital futurists, as well as Baker himself
- who eventually discovers that the only way to save one important newspaper archive being disposed of by the British Library is to buy it.
...

Jessica & Carol, two childhood friends, are both engaged to be married. Secretly afraid her fiancé is going to chicken out, Carol is insisting on a double wedding.
Jessica is appalled at the idea: she doesn't want to share the happiest day of her life with whining Carol & her womanising boyfriend. Unfortunately for her, she has a very soft heart & is easily persuaded to agree.
Carol

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Jessica & Carol, two childhood friends, are both engaged to be married. Secretly afraid her fiancé is going to chicken out,
...

Summer 1940. The evacuation of Dunkirk proves that the British can rise to a challenge, even against seemingly insurmountable odds. But now the soldiers walk the streets of Dover, even wandering through Woolworths store, & take weary turns on the town's skating rink.

Life, despite the threat of invasion & the reality of bombing, must go on & people must take comfort where they find it. Toby Hendry, a fighter pilot, is awaiting orders when he meets Giselle, a young Frenchwoman who took the chance to flee occupied France with the English troops. Their love affair feels like a summer idyll, but can it withstand the forces of war?

Meanwhile, reserve naval commander Paul Instow has been called up to fight in a war for which he feels too old. Distracting him from his worries is Molly, a young Dover prostitute. Their relationship is tender & happy, but is this a love born from desperation or could it be something more permanent?

And then there are Harold, Spots & Boot, three boys desperate to fight the German invaders, armed only with catapults & a stolen Bren gun...

In Dover Beach Thomas chronicles the lives & loves of ordinary people in besiged Britain during these tense, but curiously elated days.







...

Summer 1940. The evacuation of Dunkirk proves that the British can rise to a challenge, even against seemingly insurmountable odds. But now the soldiers walk the streets of Dover, even wandering through Woolworths store, & take weary turns on the town's skating rink.

Life, despite the threat of invasion & the reality of bombing, must go on & people must take comfort where they find it. Toby Hendry, a fighter pilot, is awaiting orders when he meets Giselle, a young Frenchwoman who took the chance to flee occupied France with the English troops. Their love affair feels like a summer idyll, but can it withstand the forces of war?

Meanwhile, reserve naval commander Paul Instow has been called up to fight in a war for which he feels too old. Distracting him from his worries is Molly, a young Dover prostitute. Their relationship is tender & happy, but is this a love born from desperation or could it be something more permanent?

And then there are Harold, Spots & Boot, three boys desperate to fight the German invaders, armed only with catapults & a stolen Bren gun...

In Dover Beach Thomas chronicles the lives & loves of ordinary people in besiged Britain during these tense, but curiously elated days.







...