Do you fancy finding out if you have a talent for morse code? Or discovering whether your crossword hobby might have seen you recruited into the history books? If so & you`re a Bletchley Park history buff or a fan of the GCHQ Quiz Book, then this is the book for you. When scouring the land for top-level code-breakers, the Bletchley Park recruiters left no stone unturned. From mathematical-geniuses to sixth-form students who could read orchestral scores, chess masters, linguists, & Egyptologists who could interpret hieroglyphics, code-breakers were gathered from all around the country. Once selected, the chosen few had to complete various tests
- chess puzzles, crosswords, secret language translations, complex riddles & more
- to see if they had what it takes to join the country`s elite code-breaking team. Now you can see if you have what it takes, too. Accompanied by nuggets of historical fascination such as the story of David Omand who was asked to translate an essay written in made-up Elvish & ended up as Director of GCHQ, or Jean Valentine, who volunteered in Dundee aged 18, disclosed that she loved the challenge of a cryptic crossword & found herself whisked down to Bletchley, these brain-teasing puzzles & riddles will give you a taste of what it felt like to be tested by the keenest minds in the country.

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Bletchley Park, known to those who worked there as Station X, was the scene of one of the greatest Allied triumphs of the Second World War. The breaking of the Nazi Enigma cyphers by Britain`s wartime code-breakers continues to fascinate, with well over 100, 000 people visiting the scene of their successes every year. Bletchley Park provided the intelligence that ensured Allied victories in the Battle of Atlantic, the war in North Africa &, most crucially, the D-Day invasion of Europe, & it was also the birthplace of the modern computer. The code-breakers were led by men like Dilly Knox & Alan Turing, but also included thousands of `ordinary` people, the vast majority of them young women. This book contains previously unpublished photographs showing them at work & play. It not only explains how their work influenced the battle against Nazi Germany & its Italian & Japanese allies, but also describes how they lived & loved. ...

Britain. What`s that all about then? Having skewered modern life & culture in the bestselling Is it Just Me or is Everything Shit?, Steve Lowe & Alan Mc Arthur set out to uncover the deep dark truth about Britain ? its history, its myths & its people. Over the course of a year they endure the Last Night of the Proms & search for a couple of pissed dragons under a hill in Wales. They witness Scotland rising again (a bit), encounter terrifying Europhobe ladies in Surrey & lose the will to live in Gibraltar. They also meet a lot of druids. Hilarious, provocative & filled with fascinating facts, Blighty offers a brilliant, alternative vision of Britain ? the island in the Atlantic that some people call Britain. ...

During the First World War, the railways of Great Britain were run for the benefit of the armed services. With minimal investment & much of the workforce conscripted, the railways paid the price for their war service. Many railway-owned ships were commandeered & never returned, some lost, others unfit for service at the end of the war, while yet others were retained by the Navy. The railway workshops were turned over to war work, building ambulance trains, armaments & munitions; the railway ports were heavily utilised while the tracks themselves, especially in the south of Engl&, were turned over for military use. A fascinating insight into railways operating at their peak. For the first time, archival documents from the Railway Executive Committee have been analysed, & combined with data from previously untapped resources, to show the sheer scale of the railways` contribution to the winning of a war unprecedented in its scale & violence. ...

One of the titles in a series of topographic maps covering much of north-west Africa, produced as part of the IMW* project in 1960’s. Each map covers an area spanning 6° in longitude & 4° in latitude. There is some variation in colouring & the depiction of terrain, but hill-shading, spot heights & contours are used to show the general relief. Additional graphics show features such as dunes, rock outcrops, cliffs, sand areas, escarpments, marshes, seasonal lakes & watercourses, & areas liable to flooding. Bathymetric contours are also included. Communications detail

Includes:: roads, major trails & railways, although there is some inconsistency in colouring & the extent of classification, e.g. not all maps distinguish seasonal roads. On most maps intermediate road distances are indicated on main routes. Symbols show airports, mosques, mines, oil & gas fields, lighthouses, ruins & significant isolated buildings. Administrative boundaries are marked & latitude & longitude lines are drawn at 1° intervals, with further margin ticks at 1’ intervals. The map legend is in French only on some sheets, & in English & French on others.* The International Map of the World was a project conceived in the early 20th century to compile a world map series at 1:1, 000, 000 through the efforts of participating nations. The value of the program has declined since 1970 & the IMW is no longer regarded as an active international series.

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Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman is another collection of beautiful stories from the lyrically unconventional imagination of Haruki Murakami. Here are animated crows, a criminal monkey, an ice man, as well as the dreams that shape us & the things we might wish for. Whether in a chance reunion in Italy, a romantic exile in Greece, a holiday in Hawaii or in the vicelike grip of everyday life, Murakami’s wonderfully inventive characters confront loss, sexuality, the glow of a firefly, or the impossible distance between those who ought to be closest of all. From the surreal to the mundane, these stories exhibit his ability to transform the full range of the human experience & condition in ways that are instructive, surprising & relentlessly entertaining. ...

A driver waiting at the traffic lights goes blind. An ophthalmologist tries to diagnose his distinctive white blindness, but is affected before he can read the textbooks. It becomes a contagion, spreading throughout the city. Trying to stem the epidemic, the authorities herd the afflicted into a mental asylum where the wards are terrorised by blind thugs. & when fire destroys the asylum, the inmates burst forth & the last links with a supposedly civilised society are snapped. No food, no water, no government, no obligation, no order. This is not anarchy, this is blindness. ...

Say goodbye to Ruby Redfort: every smart kid`s smart kid. The mind-blowing conclusion to the thrilling series by award-winning author Lauren Child. Ruby Redfort: undercover agent, code-cracker & thirteen-year-old genius
- you can count on her when the ice starts to crack. All good things come to an end... Ruby Redfort is running scared, a whole bunch of people want her dead & worst of all one of them is on her team. But just who is this agent of doom? You can run, Ruby, but you can`t hide...
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Slim wrist watch with light-up digital time display. Like the Blink Watch, the surface of the Blink Time Mini illuminates with the time when the watch face is pressed. However, the face & strap of the Mini are slimmer & ideal for children & customers who prefer a more feminine watch. The durable design makes it absolutely ideal for outdoor use & the light-up display excels in low light conditions. ...

From the author of The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell`s international bestseller Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking is a revolution in the understanding of the mind. An art expert sees a ten-million-dollar sculpture & instantly spots it`s a fake. A marriage analyst knows within minutes whether a couple will stay together. A fire-fighter suddenly senses he has to get out of a blazing building. A speed dater clicks with the right person... This book is all about those moments when we `know` something without knowing why. Here Malcolm Gladwell explores the phenomenon of `blink`, showing how a snap judgement can be far more effective than a cautious decision. By trusting your instincts, he reveals, you`ll never think about thinking in the same way again. ” Trust my snap judgement, buy this book: you`ll be delighted”. (The New York Times). ” Compelling, fiendishly clever”. (Evening Standard). ” Brilliant.. .the implications for business, let alone love, are vast”. (Observer). ” Superb.. .this wonderful book should be compulsory reading”. (New Statesman). ” Blink might just change your life”. (Esquire). ” Should you buy this book? You already know the answer to that”. (Independent on Sunday). Author, journalist, cultural commentator & intellectual adventurer, Malcolm Gladwell is a staff writer for the New Yorker magazine. His first book The Tipping Point captured the world`s attention with its theory that a curiously small change can have unforeseen effects. His other international bestselling books are Outliers, which looks at the stories of exceptional individuals & reveals the secrets of their success, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking & What The Dog Saw, a collection of his most provocative & entertaining New Yorker pieces. ...