Winner of the Sunday Times EFG Short Story Prize Auntie Mei is a live-in nanny for newborns & their mothers. She has worked for a hundred & twenty-six families & looked after a hundred & thirty-one babies, one set of clients easily replaced by the next. But the hundred & thirty-second baby & his mother Chanel prompts a crisis in Auntie Mei`s life
- a tremor that threatens to destroy her resolute detachment.
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Through the story of one man, Caleb Bawcombe, a shepherd whose flocks graze the Wiltshire, Hampshire & Dorset borders, we meet men & women of humble birth
- poachers, gypsies, farmers & laborers
- striving to survive on the l&. As we read, the cumulative affect of their stories becomes much more than a record of rural life. It reads like a lost hymn, sung by people whose lives were disregarded & whose histories are now forgotten. W.H. Hudson`s masterful book, merging fiction, reminiscence, memoir & oral history, was recognized as a classic when it was first published in 1910. It remains so today. First published by Methuen & Co.

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Tapas & sherry bars are everywhere: Berlin, London, LA, Paris, Munich. Now it`s time to bring the trend home & serve this glorious marriage of flavours to friends. In A Sherry & A Little Plate of Tapas Kay Plunkett-Hogge tells the story of tapas & its beloved companion, sherry, & offers 80 easy-to-cook-at-home recipes. The book begins by exploring the mysteries of sherry, one of the world`s oldest wines, considering the five key types, how they`re made & how they`re served, with tips on the best food & sherry matches & a selection of sherry cocktails. Kay then plunges into the tapas, with chapters on cold tapas
- hams & olives & their like
- & latillas; montaditos or `mounted` tapas; pintxos, or `things on sticks`; & on cooked tapas, with chapters on vegetables, eggs & dairy, seafood & meat. Kay has even created some delicious sherry-based desserts.

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Chief Inspector Domenic Jejeune hopes an overseas birding trip will hold some clues to solving his fugitive brother`s manslaughter case. Meanwhile, in Jejeune`s absence his long-time nemesis has been drafted in as cover to investigate an accountant`s murder. & unfortunately Marvin Laraby proves just a bit too effective in showing how an investigation should be handled. With the manslaughter case poised to claim another victim, Jejeune learns an accident back home in Britain involving his girlfriend, Lindy, is much more than it seems. Lindy is in grave danger, & she needs Jejeune. Soon, he is faced with a further dilemma. He can speak up on a secret he has discovered relating to Laraby`s case, knowing it will cost his job on the north Norfolk coast he loves. Or he can stay silent, & let a killer escape justice. Turns out that sometimes the wrong choice is the only one there is. ...

May, 1810
- & thirty-nine-year-old Captain Horatio Hornblower has been handed his first ship of the line... Though the seventy-four-gun
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After spending his childhood & school years in Albania, imagining that the mini-skirts & quiz-shows of Italian state TV were the reality of life in the West, & fantasizing accordingly about living on the other side of the border, the death of Hoxha at last enables Gazmend Kapllani to make his escape. However, on arriving in the Promised L&, he finds neither lots of willing leggy lovelies nor a warm welcome from his long-lost Greek cousins. Instead, he gets banged up in a detention centre in a small border town. As Gazi & his fellow immigrants try to find jobs, they begin to plan their future lives in Greece, imagining riches & successes which always remain just beyond their grasp. The sheer absurdity of both their plans & their new lives is overwhelming. Both detached & involved, ironic & emotional, Kapllani interweaves the story of his experience with meditations upon border syndrome
- a mental state, as much as a geographical experience
- to create a brilliantly observed, amusing & perceptive debut.

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Augustin Fresnel (1788-1827) shocked the scientific elite with his unique understanding of the physics of light. The lens he invented was a brilliant feat of engineering that made lighthouses blaze many times brighter, farther, & more efficiently. Battling the establishment, his own poor health, & the limited technology of the time, Fresnel was able to achieve his goal of illuminating the entire French coast. At first, the British sought to outdo the new Fresnel-equipped lighthouses as a matter of national pride. Americans, too, resisted abandoning their primitive lamps, but the superiority of the Fresnel lens could not be denied for long. Soon, from Dunkirk to Saigon, shores were brightened with it. The Fresnel legacy played an important role in geopolitical events, including the American Civil War. No sooner were Fresnel lenses finally installed along U.S. shores than they were drafted: the Union blockaded the Confederate coast; the Confederacy set about thwarting it by dismantling & hiding or destroying the powerful new lights. Levitt`s scientific & historical account, rich in anecdote & personality, brings to life the fascinating untold story of Augustin Fresnel & his powerful invention. ...

Dive into this visually inspired, fun & insightful guide to the United Kingdom, past & present, packed full of historical highlights from the dark days of ancient Britain to the lightning-fast Age of Information. Discover the stomach-churning scope of Henry VIII`s voluminous diet, learn about the intricate anatomy of a Spitfire & improve your understanding of the mind-boggling phenomenon that is the British weather. These & many more fascinating facts are presented in this beautifully designed infographic guide to the best bits of Blighty! ...

In 330 AD, the first Christian Emperor, Constantine the Great, moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium & renamed it Constantinople. This concise book, an abridged version of the author`s acclaimed three-volume history, uses character sketches & vivid descriptions bring history to life. A real-life epic of love & war, accessible to anyone
- Independent on Sunday
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The turbulent & chequered past of the world`s most populous country is one of the most fascinating in world history, & relatively little known in the west. From the beginnings of Chinese prehistory right through to internet censorship with the Great Firewall of China, Gordon Kerr offers a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous country. ...