SHORTLISTED FOR THE CWA ENDEAVOUR HISTORICAL DAGGER AWARD 2017LONDON 1885
- A woman's body is discovered on Edgware Road Ten miles
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Elizabeth Smart's passionate fictional account of her intense love-affair with the poet George Barker described by Angela Carter as Like MADAME BOVARY blasted by lightning A masterpiece' One day while browsing in a London bookshop Elizabeth Smart chanced upon a slim volume of poetry by George Barker
- & fell passionately in love with him through the printed word Eventually they communicated directly & as a result of Barker's impecunious circumstances Elizabeth Smart flew both him & his wife from Japan where he was teaching to join her in the United States Thus began one of the most extraordinary intense & ultimately tragic love affairs of our time They never married but Elizabeth bore George Barker four children & their relationship provided the impassioned inspiration for one of the most moving & immediate chronicles of a love affair ever written
- By Grand Central Station I Sat Down & Wept' Originally published in 1945 this remarkable book is now widely identified as a classic work of poetic prose which seven decades later has retained all of its searing poignancy beauty & power of impact

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By Its Cover is the much anticipated twenty-third instalment in Donna Leon's bestselling crime series where Commissario Brunetti is better than ever as he addresses questions of worth & value alongside his ever-faithful team of Ispettore Vianello & Signorina Elettra When several valuable antiquarian books go missing from a prestigious library in the heart of Venice Commissario Brunetti is immediately called to the scene The staff suspect an American researcher has stolen them but for Brunetti something doesn't quite add up Taking on the case the Commissario begins to seek information about some of the library's regulars such as the ex-priest Franchini a passionate reader of ancient Christian literature & Contessa Morosini-Albani the library's chief donor & comes to the conclusion that the thief could not have acted alone However when Franchini is found murdered in his home the case takes a more sinister turn & soon Brunetti finds himself submerged in the dark secrets of the black market of antiquarian books Alongside his ever-faithful team of Ispettore Vianello & Signorina Elettra he delves into the pages of Franchini's past & into the mind of a book thief in order to uncover the terrible truth ...

During the course of a single night Father Sebastian Urrutia Lacroix a Chilean priest who is a member of Opus Dei a literary critic & a mediocre poet relives some of the crucial events of his life He believes he is dying & in his feverish delirium various characters both real & imaginary appear to him as icy monsters as if in sequences from a horror film Thus we are given glimpses of the great poet Pablo Neruda the German writer Ernst Junger General Pinochet whom Father Lacroix instructs in Marxist doctrine as well as various members of the Chilean intelligentsia whose lives during a period of political turbulence have touched upon his By the author of 2666 ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play A fascinating behind-the-scenes visit to the OFFICIAL SUPPLIERS to the royal family Have you ever wondered who makes Prince Charles suits? Or who it is that maintains the dozens of priceless Royal carriages? Who provides the Duke of Edinburgh with his favourite cheese? Or who looks after HM the Queen s magnificent ceremonial robes? This special programme shines a light on the talented craftsmen & women who all hold warrants as official suppliers to the Royal Family who have earned the right to display a Royal Coat of Arms & say that they are By Royal Appointment They include florists tailors cheese makers cobblers wine sellers medal makers furniture restor-ers & carriage makers All of them supply individually crafted items using the traditional skills & methods that make them special enough to number the royal family among their clients The Programme features The History of the Royal suppliers & the story behind the granting of Royal Warrants The Palaces & the work of Edward Goodyear florist to Her Majesty the Queen The Furniture Makers & Restorers who maintain the Royal Palaces The Food from the world famous store Fortnum & Mason which has supplied groceries to the Royal Family since the reign of King George lll The Wine from Berry & Rudd the Royal wine merchant The Clothes
- a peak behind the scenes of Lobb & Co the world famous shoemakers & Turnbull & Asser of Jermyn Street in London the favourite tailor of the Royal princes The Pageantry focusing on the craftspeople who supply the Royal carriages & the ceremonial robes for the major Royal events The Future
- the new favourites of the younger Royals

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By Steppe Desert & Ocean is nothing less than the story of how humans first started building the globalized world we know today Set on a huge continental stage from Europe to China it is a tale covering over 10000 years from the origins of farming around 9000 BC to the expansion of the Mongols in the thirteenth century AD An unashamedly 'big history' it charts the development of European Near Eastern & Chinese civilizations & the growing links between them by way of the Indian Ocean the silk Roads & the great steppe corridor (which crucially allowed horse riders to travel from Mongolia to the Great Hungarian Plain within a year) Along the way it is also the story of the rise & fall of empires the development of maritime trade & the shattering impact of predatory nomads on their urban neighbours Above all as this immense historical panorama unfolds we begin to see in clearer focus those basic underlying factors
- the acquisitive nature of humanity the differing environments in which people live & the dislocating effect of even slight climatic variation
- which have driven change throughout the ages & which help us better understand our world today

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'a minor classic in battle picture painting It has an authenticity about it which could only come from deep personal experience translated by a lucid pen' The Times ' Movingly & evocatively written Tank! surely merits a place on the bookshelf of Second World War classics' British Army Review Normandy 1944 Like most of his comrades Ken Tout was just 20 years old Not until many years later did he feel able to gather their memoirs in three Hale books Tank! Tanks Advance! & To Hell with Tanks! Now these adventures are condensed into this one continuous narrative Follow the ordinary young lads of the Northamptonshire Yeomanry through the massive enemy defences on Bourguebus Ridge to the snows of the Ardennes to the night crossing of the River Rhine & finally to Grote Kerk I where they celebrated with liberated Dutch citizens They were not professional soldiers but young conscripts willing to 'do their bit' knowing that their Shermans were outgunned by the enemy's much heavier Tiger & Panther tanks By Tank D Day to VE Days vividly recalls in one complete volume the whole experience of battle with utter authenticity the fear confusion boredom excitement & grief ...

Set in the mysterious landscape of the bogs of rural Ireland Carr's lyrical & timeless play tells the story of Hester Swane an Irish traveller with a deep & unearthly connection to her land Tormented by the memory of a mother who deserted her Hester is once again betrayed this time by the father of her child the man she loves On the brink of despair she embarks on a terrible journey of vengeance as the secrets of her tangled history are revealed'A piece of poetic realism steeped in the past Carr has an extraordinary ability to move between the mythic & the real' Guardian'A great play a great work of poetry the word should soon carry across both sides of the Atlantic' Independent By the Bog of Cats premiered at the Abbey Theatre Dublin in 1998 It was revived at Wyndham's Theatre London in November 2004 ...

No quilter can resist a stack of beautifully co-ordinated fabrics all neatly folded into a bundle & tied with a bow As more fabric stores specialise in combining & marketing their own custom bundles of fat quarters it leaves many quilters with just a taste' of many fabrics in the form of these 18 x 22'' cuts (called fat quarters) but not really enough to make an entire quilt out of Emma a former fabric shop owner in Australia herself inspires quilters to create one of her 12 quilts specifically designed to showcase these fabulous cuts whether they are from a single fabric collection or a complementary combination of many fabric lines Emma's patterns cross over beautifully between the modern & the new traditional quilt maker alike ...

Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play This high octane thriller tells the story of Nick Tortano (Ben Barnes The Chronicles of Narnia Prince Caspian Dorian Gray) a smooth-talking & ambitious criminal from the streets of Boston After years spent working & idolizing the Italian gangsters higher up the chain he has to find a way to prove himself to the boss (Harvey Keitel Reservoir Dogs From Dusk Till Dawn) ...