When St Patrick came to Ireland in the 5th century AD, he encountered the Celtic people & a flourishing spiritual tradition that had already existed for thousands of years. He also discovered that where the Christians worshipped one God, the Celts had many & found divinity all around them: in the rivers, hills, sea & sky. The ancient Celtic reverence for the spirit in all things survives today
- a vibrant legacy of mystical wisdom that is unique in the Western world.

Now, in this exquisite book, Irish poet & schollar John O' Donohue shares with us the secrets of this ancient world. Using authentic Irish prayers & blessings, he reveals the treasures that lie hidden within your own soul & the 'secret divinity' in your relationships. As he traces the cycles of life & nature, he draws from the holy waters of Ireland's spiritual heritage to lead you to a place where your heart can be healed & nourished. It is a place wher you will disocer your own anam cara, your true 'soul friend'.


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On 17 February 1920 a young woman was rescued from a Berlin canal & taken to a local asylum. Her body bore the scars of bullet & bayonet wounds. For a long time she refused to give her name, & was known as Fraulein Unbekannt (Miss Unknown). When she did declare herself
- as the Grand Duchess Anastasia, youngest daughter of the murdered Romanovs
- she became the centre of a storm of controversy that still continues after her death in 1983. Peter Kurth's brilliant & meticulously researched account shows that the evidence that Anna Anderson was Anastasia is in the end overwhelming. Nevertheless the extraordinary secrecy which still shrouds some of the key evidence suggests that, as her uncle the Grand Duke of Hesse wrote, an investigation of her identity could be 'dangerous'.

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An acclaimed nature writer reveals the secret life of flowers. In Anatomy of a Rose, Sharman Apt Russell eloquently unveils the 'inner life' of flowers. From their diverse fragrances to their nasty deceptions, Russell proves that, where nature is concerned, 'wonder is not only our starting point, it can also be our destination.'

Throughout this botanical journey, she reveals that the science behind these intelligent plants
- how they evolved, how they survive, how they heal
- is even more awe-inspiring than their fleeting beauty. Russell helps us imagine what a field of snapdragons looks like to a honeybee, & she introduces us to flowers that regulate their own temperature, attract pollinating bats, even smell like a rotting corpse. She also delves into cutting-edge research on everything from flower senses to their healing power.

Long used to ease everything from depression to childbirth, flowers are now our main line of defence against childhood leukaemia & the deadly Ebola virus. In this wonderful book, which combines graceful writing with a scientist's clarity, Russell brings together the work of botanists around the globe, & illuminates a world at once familiar & exotic.





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Anatomy of the Spirit is the first book to unify Eastern & Western spiritual healing into a programme for physical healing ...