In the bitter cold of Danish Jutl&, where the sea freezes over & the Nazis have yet to invade, a young girl dreams of one day going on a great journey to Siberia, while her beloved brother Jesper yearns for the warmer climes of Morocco. Their home, with a pious mother who sings hymns all day & a silent father, is as cold as their surroundings. But the unshakeable bond between brother & sister creates a vital warmth which glows in spite of the chill & the dark clouds that threaten to overtake their dreams. ...

Few places on earth can have escaped the singular eye of Norman Lewis. But always, in the course of his long career, he has come back to Sicily. From his first, wartime visit
- to a land untouched since the Middle Ages
- through his frequent returns, he has watched the island & its people as they have changed over the years. Lewis treats us to his observations on the Mafia. We benefit from his friendships with policemen, journalists & common people. Moreover, he writes beautifully of landscape & language, of his memories of his first father-in-law (professional gambler, descendant of princes & member of the Unione Siciliana), of Sicily's changing sexual mores, of the effects of African immigration, of Palermo & its ruined palaces
- & of strange superstitions, of witches & bandits & murder.


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In Spite of Oceans: Migrant Voices explores the individual journeys of generations in transition from the South Asian subcontinent to Engl&. Poignantly written, & based on real events & interviews, what emerges is the story of lives between cultures, of families reconciling customs & traditions away from their ancestral roots, & of the tensions this necessarily creates. We hear from the young bride from Bangladesh, married to a stranger, who comes to England to navigate life with a man she cannot love; from an Indian father who struggles to come to terms with his son`s mental illness & hides it from people he knows; about how a mother & daughter`s relationship was shattered in the clash over the Pakistani traditions her daughter chooses not to follow. Each narrative describes a journey that is both literal & deeply emotional, exploring the hold an inherited culture can have on the decisions & choices we make. At times heart-breaking, at times inspirational, In Spite of Oceans brings to life the pull of the past & the push of the future, & the evolving nature of what we understand as home. ...

India is poised to become one of the world`s three largest economies in the next generation & to overtake China as the world`s most populous country by 2032. Well before then India`s incipient nuclear deterrent will have acquired intercontinental range & air, sea & land capabilities. India`s volatile relationship with its nuclear-armed neighbour, Pakistan, may prove to be the source of the world`s next major conflict. & if you call anyone- from your bank to rail enquiries- your query may well be dealt with by a graduate in Gujarat. Any way one looks at it, India`s fate matters. Edward Luce, one of the most incisive & talented journalists of his generation, assesses the forces that are forging the new nation. Cutting through the miasma that still clouds thinking about India, this extraordinarily accomplished book takes the measure of a society that is struggling to come to grips with modernity. Drawing on historical research, existing literature & his own unparalleled access as the New Delhi-based, South Asia correspondent of the FT, this is a book that will enthral as well as educate & will remain the definitive book on the country for many years. ...

To Mohamed Choukri, Tangier was `the most extraordinary & mysterious city in the world.` A haven for many Western writers in the twentieth century, Tangier drew the likes of Paul Bowles, Jean Genet & Tennessee Williams. Each was befriended by Choukri. Choukri`s recollections of these encounters offer a unique insight into these three cult figures of twentieth-century literature. ...

In spring 1956, Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire
- youngest of the six legendary Mitford sisters
- invited the writer & war

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In the Absence of Absalon revolves around an unnamed investigator, a set of keys & a townhouse. He is investigating a series of disappearances: of his colleague, Marguerite; of Harold Absalon, the Mayor`s transport advisor, whose disappearance Marguerite had been investigating prior to his own disappearance; of Richard Knox, the owner of the townhouse, who had fallen out with Absalon before disappearing; & of Absalon`s wife Isobel, who is glimpsed, partially undressed, in an upper storey bedroom as the investigator approaches. Pursued from all sides & seemingly losing his mind, what the investigator discovers, as he enters the house, is both familiar & utterly devastating. ...

Did you know that the word dinosaur” means ”great lizard”? Have you ever heard of an animal that had to swallow thousands of pounds of plants every day to feed itself? & do you know the name of the largest known flying animal of all time? In the Age of Dinosaurs will answer all of these questions & many more, presenting a range of interactive activities, stickers, & fun facts for children. Lovingly illustrated by Olivia Cosneau, this book introduces children to the world of dinosaurs & keeps them entertained for hours through fun activities, such as sticking on the missing bottom teeth of a Tyrannosaurus rex or coloring in the back plates of a Stegosaurus. In the process children learn about the different types of dinosaurs that existed, their diet, how they hunted, how they protected their young, & other interesting facts. A quiz at the end of the book tests their knowledge.” ...

Death in paradise: sea, sex & a sinister downward spiral on a Caribbean coast The young intellectuals J. & Elena abandon the parties, the drinking & the money of the city, & start a new life on a remote tropical coast. Among mango trees, hot sands & everlasting sunshine, they plan to live the Good Life, self-sufficient & close to nature. But with each day come small defeats & imperceptible dramas. Gradually paradise turns into hell, as brutal weather, mounting debts, the couple`s brittle relationship, & the sea itself threaten to destroy them. Based on a true story, In the Beginning Was the Sea is a dramatic & searingly ironic account of the disastrous encounter of the imagined life with reality
- a satire of hippyism, ecological fantasies, & of the very idea that man can control fate. Tomas Gonzalez was born in 1950 in Medellin, Colombia. He studied Philosophy before becoming a barman in a Bogota nightclub, whose owner published In the Beginning Was the Sea, his first novel, in 1983. Gonzalez has lived in Miami & New York, where he wrote much of his work while making a living as a translator. After twenty years in the US, he returned to Colombia, where he now lives. His books have been translated into six languages. In the Beginning Was the Sea is Gonzalez`s first book to be published in English.
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In the bloody footsteps of Genghis Khan is a breathtaking first person account of an intrepid 7, 200 mile journey across the largest landmass on Earth, from Moscow to Beijing, undertaken to introduce Western readers to the peoples of Eurasia & their daily lives. ...