Will most of the major fisheries of the world be exhausted by 2048, as has been claimed? Have the number of large fish in the ocean decreased by 90 per cent over the past 50 years, as has been asserted by a respected scientist? Are 60 per cent of the fish species studied by the United Nations Food & Agriculture Organisation either fully exploited or depleted, as one of their reports attests? Fishing at sea, an ancient trade & a way of life that has defined coastal towns throughout history, may be coming to an end. The culture & traditions of coastal Britain & of seagoing nations everywhere are now threatened with extinction.

In his most important book yet, Mark Kurlansky

...

The map of England bears names which used to resonate through kitchens in the land: Colchester, Cheddar, Hereford, Swaledale, Bath, Lincoln, York, Wensleydale
- the list goes on. England has more breeds of livestock, fruit cultivars & vegetable seeds to its credit than any other country in the world. Sussex, for example, was known for its cockles, herrings, truffles, seakale, cabbage, alongside its middlehorn beef, Southdown mutton & Tipper beer. We tend to think that our native food has disappeared off the map completely
- & in some cases it is undoubtedly endangered. But Marwood Yeatman shines a light on what remains, & highlights what could endure. His quest to find the 'last food' in England leads to his discovery of the last domestic faggot oven in use; the undertaker-cum-butcher who roasts his own oxen; the fisherman who regularly takes his life in his hands to catch oysters; green top milk being made deep in the forest; crayfish facing extinction; four types of English butter. This book is a wonderful voyage of discovery
- an invitation to cook without recipes, travel without guides, & find history without museums. Take time to read about our fertile food heritage & the map of England will never look the same again.


...

Climate change is not a matter of gradually increasing temperatures. New scientific findings about how our planet works show that it does not do gradual change. Under pressure, it lurches into another mode of operation. Man-made global warming is on the verge of unleashing unstoppable planetary forces. Biological & geological monsters are being woken, & they will consume us. Virtually overnight Nature ...

Climate change is not a matter of gradually increasing temperatures. New scientific findings about how our planet works show that it does not do gradual change. Under pressure, it lurches into another mode of operation. Man-made global warming is on the verge of unleashing unstoppable planetary forces. Biological & geological monsters are being woken, & they will consume us. Virtually overnight Nature ...

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colourful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise & dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college drop-out, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped & murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, & his newspaper began to prosper. The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling & dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, & he was sentenced to life in prison. But in Mississippi in 1970, 'life' didn't necessarily mean 'life', & nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, & the retribution began. ...

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colourful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise & dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college drop-out, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped & murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, & his newspaper began to prosper. The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling & dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, & he was sentenced to life in prison. But in Mississippi in 1970, 'life' didn't necessarily mean 'life', & nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, & the retribution began. ...

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colourful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise & dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college drop-out, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped & murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, & his newspaper began to prosper. The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling & dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, & he was sentenced to life in prison. But in Mississippi in 1970, 'life' didn't necessarily mean 'life', & nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, & the retribution began. ...

In 1970, one of Mississippi's more colourful weekly newspapers, The Ford County Times, went bankrupt. To the surprise & dismay of many, ownership was assumed by a 23 year-old college drop-out, named Willie Traynor. The future of the paper looked grim until a young mother was brutally raped & murdered by a member of the notorious Padgitt family. Willie Traynor reported all the gruesome details, & his newspaper began to prosper. The murderer, Danny Padgitt, was tried before a packed courtroom in Clanton, Mississippi. The trial came to a startling & dramatic end when the defendant threatened revenge against the jurors if they convicted him. Nevertheless, they found him guilty, & he was sentenced to life in prison. But in Mississippi in 1970, 'life' didn't necessarily mean 'life', & nine years later Danny Padgitt managed to get himself paroled. He returned to Ford County, & the retribution began. ...

In 1970, The Ford County Times, one of Mississipi's more colourful weekly newspapers, went bankrupt. To the surprise & dismay ...

When Claude goes to the Isle of Skye for a quiet holiday with his dad & aunt, all recuperating from the recent death of his mother, he expects his only adventures to be in his active imagination. However, having been befriended by Roddy, an old fisherman, Claude is amazed to see what look like hundreds of body parts being washed up on the beach. On closer examination, these turn out to be shop-window dummies & a curious attraction leads Roddy to keep one of the heads as a souvenir. But Roddy's harmless pilfering surely shouldn't attract the attentions of two very dangerous-looking men from Italy, who mysteriously appear on Skye? A fantastic mystery story, which moves from Scotland to Italy, & will grip the reader all the way. ...