By awarding the European post monopoly to the Thurn & Taxis family 500 years ago, a truly continental postal service was born. Moreover, 1516 also saw the early birth of the Royal Mail. The perfect occasion to celebrate this milestone in history with a wonderful history book, aimed at both philatelists & laymen with an interest in world history. Written by a world class expert with unrivalled access to unique documents, this book brings together storytelling with high quality reproductions of rarely seen objects. The letter in which Emperor Charles V confirms the monopoly of the Thurn & Taxis family; the first transatlantic letter of 1512; the very first postage stamp & envelope... Read all about those & 47 other historical objects in this ambitious book, which covers the entire history of the postal service in Europe from 1516 until the founding of the Universal Postal Union in 1875, as well as important milestones before & after. Lose yourself in the captivating history of the postal service & get to know the role of Belgium & other European countries in this book, filled with amusing anecdotes & important facts. ...

The unforgettable inspiration for the Academy Award-winning Il Postino, this classic novel established Antonio Skarmeta`s reputation as ”one of the most representative authors of the post-boom generation in contemporary Latin American letters” (Christian Science Monitor). Boisterously funny & passionate, The Postman tells of young love ignited by the poetry of Pablo Neruda. Set in the colorful, ebullient years preceding the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, the book has been translated into nearly twenty-five languages around the world. ...

` Nobody has ever quite pulled it off the way Cain does, not Hemingway, & not even Raymond Chandler` Tom Wolfe The torrid story of Frank Chambers, the amoral drifter, Cora, the sullen & brooding wife, & Nick Papadakis, the amiable but inconvenient husb&, has become a classic of its kind, & established Cain as a major novelist with a spare & vital prose style & a bleak vision of America. ...

First published in 1934, The Postman Always Rings Twice caused a scandal with its explosive mix of violence & sex, & immediately became a bestseller. The torrid story of Frank Chambers, the amoral drifter, Cora, the sullen & brooding wife, & Nick Papadakis, the amiable but inconvenient husb&, has become a classic of its kind, & established Cain as a major novelist with a spare & vital prose style & a bleak vision of America. ...

” The Sunday Times” bestseller ” The Postmistress” by Sarah Blake is a heart-rending & profoundly moving story of love & loss in World War II. It is 1940, & bombs fall nightly on London. In the thick of the chaos is young American radio reporter Frankie Bard. She huddles close to terrified strangers in underground shelters, & later broadcasts stories about survivors in rubble-strewn streets. But for her listeners, the war is far from home. Listening to Frankie are Iris James, a Cape Cod postmistress, & Emma Fitch, a doctor`s wife. Iris hears the winds stirring & knows that soon the letters she delivers will bear messages of hope or tragedy. Emma is desperate for news of London, where her husband is working
- she counts the days until his return. But one night in London the fates of all three women entwine when Frankie finds a letter
- a letter she vows to deliver...” The Postmistress” is an unforgettable story of three women: their loves, their partings & the secrets they must bear, or bury...”A beautifully written, though-provoking novel that I`m telling everyone to read”. (Kathryn Stockett, author of ” The Help”).”A brilliant story, beautifully crafted, that touches the heart & captures the imagination”. (” Sunday Express”). ” Unforgettable, heart-wrenching, captivating. A profoundly moving story of love, loss & life in war time”. (” Sunday Independent”). ” Heartbreaking”. (” Daily Express”). ”A World War Two blockbuster with echoes of Atonement”. (” Red”). ”A moving tale that will stay with you long after the final page”. (” Good Housekeeping”). Sarah Blake lives in Washington, D.C., with her husb&, the poet Josh Weiner, & their two sons.

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As seen on TV: now a major BBC4 television series. WINNER OF THE CWA INTERNATIONAL DAGGER AWARD 2012 While Vigata is wracked by storms, Inspector Montalbano is called to attend the discovery of a dismembered body in a field of clay. Bearing all the marks of an execution style killing, it seems clear that this is, once again, the work of the notorious local mafia. But who is the victim? Why was the body divided into 30 pieces? & what is the significance of the Potter's Field? Working to decipher these clues, Montalbano must also confront the strange & difficult behaviour exhibited by his old colleague Mimi, & avoid the distraction of the enchanting Dolores Alfano -- who seeks the inspector's help in locating her missing husb&. But like the Potter's Field itself, Montalbano is on treacherous ground & only one thing is certain -- nothing is quite as it seems.. . ...

In 1774, Josiah Wedgwood, master craftsman possessed with a burning scientific vision, embarks upon the thousand piece Frog Service for Catherine the Great. Josiah`s nephew Tom journeys to America to buy clay from the Cherokee for this exquisite china. Tom is caught up in the American rebellion, & falls for a Cherokee woman who will come to play a crucial role in Josiah`s late, great creation: the Portland Vase. As the family fortune is made, & Josiah`s entrepreneurial brilliance creates an empire that will endure for generations, it is his daughter Sukey, future mother of Charles Darwin, who bears clear-eyed witness. ...

From the bestselling author of The Kashmir Shawl. Olivia Giorgiadis has left her English roots behind. She lives on a tiny Greek isl&, married to a local man, mother to two small sons. Year on year, island life has followed a peaceful unchanging rhythm. Until now. An earthquake ravages the coast, its force devastating the isl&. In the aftermath comes a stranger: an Englishwoman, destitute but for the clothes she wears. Olivia welcomes the stranger into her home, the potter`s house. But as Kitty melts into the family & the village community, so Olivia begins to sense that her mysterious visitor threatens all she holds dear... ...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2017 BAILEYS WOMEN`S PRIZE FOR FICTION What if the power to hurt were in women`s hands? Suddenly
- tomorrow
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During a vicious persecution of the clergy in Mexico, a worldly priest, the `whisky priest`, is on the run. With the police closing in, his routes of escape are being shut off, his chances getting fewer. But compassion & humanity force him along the road to his destiny, reluctant to abandon those who need him, & those he cares for. ...