Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2015 The Lie Tree is a dark & powerful novel from universally acclaimed author Frances Hardinge It was not enough All knowledge- any knowledge
- called to Faith & there was a delicious poisonous pleasure in stealing it unseen Faith has a thirst for science & secrets that the rigid confines of her class cannot supress & so it is that she discovers her disgraced father's journals filled with the scribbled notes & theories of a man driven close to madness Tales of a strange tree which when told a lie will uncover a truth the greater the lie the greater the truth revealed to the liar Faith's search for the tree leads her into great danger
- for where lies seduce truths shatter ' Brilliant dark thrilling utterly original' Patrick Ness' The Lie Tree is a wonder I can't think of anyone who would not love this story' Matt Haig'I loved this book so much' Lucy Mangan' Complex & intelligent a lustrous delicious romp' Philip Womack The Telegraph

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Winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2015 The Lie Tree is a dark & powerful novel from universally acclaimed author Frances Hardinge & illustrated by Children's Laureate Chris Riddell It was not enough All knowledge- any knowledge
- called to Faith & there was a delicious poisonous pleasure in stealing it unseen Faith has a thirst for science & secrets that the rigid confines of her class cannot supress & so it is that she discovers her disgraced father's journals filled with the scribbled notes & theories of a man driven close to madness Tales of a strange tree which when told a lie will uncover a truth the greater the lie the greater the truth revealed to the liar Faith's search for the tree leads her into great danger
- for where lies seduce truths shatter The Lie Tree Illustrated Edition is packed full of gorgeous black & white illustrations by triple Kate Greenaway Medal winning-illustrator Chris Riddell author of the Goth Girl & Ottoline series' Brilliant dark thrilling utterly original' Patrick Ness' The Lie Tree is a wonder I can't think of anyone who would not love this story' Matt Haig'I loved this book so much' Lucy Mangan' Complex & intelligent a lustrous delicious romp' Philip Womack The Telegraph

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They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight They say he steals from the rich & gives to the poor They say he's part man part myth & mostly street-corner rumor & they are wrong on every count Only averagely tall slender & god-awful with a sword Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn & the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit & cunning He steals from the rich
- they're the only ones worth stealing from
- but the poor can go steal for themselves What Locke cons wheedles & tricks into his possession is strictly for him & his band of fellow con-artists & thieves the Gentleman Bastards Together their domain is the city of Camorr Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers it's a city of shifting revels filthy canals baroque palaces & crowded cemeteries Home to Dons merchants soldiers beggars cripples & feral children & to Capa Barsavi the criminal mastermind who runs the city But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power A challenge from a man no one has ever seen a man no blade can touch The Grey King is coming A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi & The Grey King Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr As for Locke Lamora

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They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight They say he steals from the rich & gives to the poor They say he's part man part myth & mostly street-corner rumor & they are wrong on every count Only averagely tall slender & god-awful with a sword Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn & the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit & cunning He steals from the rich
- they're the only ones worth stealing from
- but the poor can go steal for themselves What Locke cons wheedles & tricks into his possession is strictly for him & his band of fellow con-artists & thieves the Gentleman Bastards Together their domain is the city of Camorr Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers it's a city of shifting revels filthy canals baroque palaces & crowded cemeteries Home to Dons merchants soldiers beggars cripples & feral children & to Capa Barsavi the criminal mastermind who runs the city But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power A challenge from a man no one has ever seen a man no blade can touch The Grey King is coming A man would be well advised not to be caught between Capa Barsavi & The Grey King Even such a master of the sword as the Thorn of Camorr As for Locke Lamora

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Trust in our politicians is at an all-time low We're in a "post-truth" era where feelings trump facts & where brazen rhetoric beats honesty But do politicians lie more than they used to? & do we even want them to tell the truth? In a history full of wit & political acumen Private Eye journalist Adam Macqueen dissects the gripping stories of the biggest political lies of the last half century from the Profumo affair to Blair's WMDs to Boris Johnson's GBP350 million for the NHS Covering lesser known whoppers infamous lies from foreign shores ("I did not have sexual relations with that woman") & some of the resolute untruths from Donald Trump's explosive presidential campaign this is the quintessential guide to dishonesty from our leaders
- & the often pernicious relationship between parliament & the media But this book is also so much more It explains how in the space of a lifetime we have gone from the implicit assumption that our rulers have our best interests at heart to assuming the worst even when
- in the majority of cases
- politicians are actually doing their best


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A baby is found by wood nymphs in the forest of Burzee They raise him as their own & give him the name Neclaus When he grows up Neclaus has to leave the forest so he makes a home for himself in the laughing valley of Hohaha where he lives amongst humans for the first time He discovers there that many children are very poor & neglected so to cheer them up he whittles wooden toys as gifts Eventually he makes presents for all the children & so the story of Santa Claus is born Fashioned as a whimsical fairy tale The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus was published in 1902 just two years after L Frank Baum's masterpiece of the imagination The Wonderful Wizard of Oz This festive Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus features charming original illustrations by Mary Cowles Clark & an afterword by writer & journalist Ned Halley Designed to appeal to the booklover the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful special gift editions of much loved classic titles Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love & treasure ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play A human baby is found & raised in the magical forest of Burzee The only human to ever be allowed into the forest young Nicholas soon seeks adventures that change the lives of children forever! This magical tale lets you in on all the secrets behind Christmas Why do reindeer pull the sleigh? How does Santa make all the Christmas toys in time? From the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz comes the story behind everyone's favourite holiday time! Actors Hal Holbrook Robby Benson Dixie Carter Directors Glen Hill Format Animated Dolby PALLanguage English Region Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe Read more about DVD formats) Number of discs 1 ...

Everybody knows about Sherlock Holmes the unique literary character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who has remained popular over the decades & is more appreciated than ever today But what made this fictional character dreamed up by a small-town English doctor back in the 1880s into such a great success? This is the fascinating & exciting tale of the man & people who created the Holmes legend The book was winner of the Best Non-fiction Award by The Swedish Crime Writers' Academy 2013 & shortlisted for The Great Non-Fiction Book Prize (Sweden's biggest non-fiction award) in Sweden 2013 ...

' If The Girl on the Train was the woman of 2015 then Sophie Stark is this year's model Anna North's novel The Life & Death of Sophie Stark has been a hit in America with Lena Dunham describing its protagonist as a "totally unforgettable female antihero" Out now
- soon every girl on every train will be reading it' Sunday Times Who is the real Sophie Stark? The Life & Death of Sophie Stark is the story of an enigmatic film director told by the six people who loved her most Brilliant infuriating all-seeing & unknowable Sophie Stark makes films said to be 'more like life than life itself' But her genius comes at a terrible cost to her husband to the brother she left behind & to an actress who knows too much With shades of We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves A Visit from the Goon Squad & Where'd You Go Bernadette it combines a uniquely appealing sensibility with a compulsively page-turning plot' Thriller-paced with mysteries revealed at every turn The great mystery at the centre is Sophie Stark a totally unforgettable female anti-hero who conforms to absolutely none of our expectations & suffers deeply for it' Lena Dunham' North is a natural butter-smooth storyteller' Maggie Shipstead author of SEATING ARRANGEMENTS'I read THE LIFE & DEATH OF SOPHIE STARK with my heart in my mouth Not only a dissection of genius & the havoc it can wreak but also a thunderously good story' Emma Donoghue author of ROME' Jennifer Egan eat your heart out' Sam Baker'A captivating portrait of the artist as a young woman It's a story that examines the notion of artistic legacy & meditates on the ethics involved in film-making & storytelling' THE INDEPENDENT' Gripping & graceful' THE GUARDIAN' The year's must read' GLAMOUR
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The extraordinary story of the UK's most gruelling & spectacularly beautiful islands Tom Steel's acclaimed portrait of the St Kildan's lives is now updated in this reissued edition Situated at the westernmost point of the United Kingdom the spectacularly beautiful but utterly bleak island of St Kilda is familiar to virtually nobody A lonely archipelago off the coast of Scotland it is hard to believe that for over two thousand years men & women lived here cut off from the rest of the world With a population never exceeding two hundred in its history the St Kildans were fiercely self-sufficient An intensely religious people they climbed cliffs from childhood & caught birds for food Their sense of community was unparalleled & isolation enveloped their day-to-day existence With the onset of the First World War things changed For the very first time in St Kilda's history daily communication was established between the islanders & the mainland Slowly but surely this marked the beginning of the end of St Kilda & in August 1930 the island's remaining 36 inhabitants were evacuated Newly updated to include the historic appointment of St Kilda as the United Kingdom's only UNESCO Dual Heritage site the ongoing search for information about the island & the threats that it continues to face this is the moving story of a vanished community & how twentieth century civilization ultimately brought an entire way of life to its knees ...