Irenie, a young girl coming of age in upstate New York, has a secret at the core of her life. Her mother
- the striking, charismatic
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Moving, enlightening, heart-breaking
- Dear Zari gives voice to the secret lives of women across Afghanistan & allows them to
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” Dear Zari” gives voice to the secret lives of women across Afghanistan & allows them to tell their stories in their own words: from the child bride given as payment to end a family feud; to a life spent in a dark, dusty room weaving carpets; to a young girl brought up as a boy; to life as a widow shunned by society. Compelling & enlightening, ” Dear Zari” uncovers the reality of life in Afghanistan in stories that are by turn heart-breaking & uplifting. ...

` Concise, evocative....DEAR ZEALOTS is not just a brilliant book of thoughts & ideas--it is a depiction of the struggle of one man who, for decades, has insisted on keeping a sharp, strident & lucid perspective in the face of chaos & at times of madness.` David Grossman, winner of the Man Booker International Prize This collection of three new essays
- all based on talks delivered by Amos Oz
- was written out of a sense of urgency, concern, & a belief that a better future is still possible. It touches on the universal nature of fanaticism & its possible cures; the Jewish roots of humanism & the need for a secular pride in Israel; & the geopolitical standing of Israel in the wider Middle East & internationally. These three pleas illuminate the argument over Israeli, Jewish & human existence, & Amos Oz sheds a clear & surprising light on vital political & historical issues, daring to offer new ways out of a reality that appears to be closed down. Dear Zealots is a significant document that outlines Amos`s current thinking about the Middle East
- urgent reading for anyone interested in the conflict.


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Rod Campbell`s bestselling & much loved classic picture book, Dear Zoo. What kind of pet would you like from the zoo? An elephant, a lion, a snake
- or something a bit smaller, & cuddlier & playful? Lift the flaps & see what has been sent
- it`s bound to be a surprise! & just when you think they`ll never get it right, they send the very best, most perfect pet of all...A bestselling lift-the-flap book for more than twenty-five years, Dear Zoo is a perennial favourite & is regarded as a classic. Rod Campbell is the creator of many brilliant novelty books for babies & toddlers including ABC Zoo, Farm Babies, Farm Chase, Farm 123 & Noisy Farm as well as Dear Zoo, regarded as a classic. Other books by Rod Campbell: Dear Santa; Dear Zoo; ABC Zoo; Oh Dear!; It`s Mine!; I`m Hungry!; I Won`t Bite!; Baby`s Busy Book; My Presents; Noisy Farm; Farm 123; Farm Babies; Buster`s Day; Buster`s Zoo; Here`s Buster, but Where`s Teddy?; Buster Goes to Playschool; Buster Gets Dressed; Buster Keeps Warm; Buster`s Bedtim; The Pop-Up Farm; &, The Pop-Up Jungle.

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`I wrote to the zoo to send me a pet...` Rod Campbell`s lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo has been a firm favourite with toddlers & parents alike ever since it was first published in 1982. This hardback edition of the much-loved preschool classic has a jacket with shiny gold foil & slots neatly into a specially designed gift slipcase. Young children will love lifting the flaps to discover the animals the zoo has sent
- a monkey, a lion & even an elephant! But will they ever manage to send the perfect pet? With bright, bold artwork, a catchy refrain & a whole host of favourite animals, Dear Zoo is a must for every child`s bookshelf
- & the extra-thick paper, shiny foiled jacket & beautifully designed slipcase make this the perfect birthday, Christening or Christmas present to be treasured for years.

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In 1900, aged twenty & travelling from Havana to Europe, Margarita Johnson met & fell in love with the dashing gold prospector Charles Lumb. Her father disapproved, & after three years of secret postcards, the couple eloped to London. Cut out of her father`s will, Margarita was never welcomed again in Havana. Margarita treasured her postcards from Charles, her family & friends, who wrote from England America & Europe. They remained with her until she died in 1959. Years later they were found by her granddaughter, tucked away in a cubby hole, & are here seen for the first time. ...

The history of the Thames in London is full of death & destruction, not just of people but the buildings along its banks & the bridges that span its murky depths which hide drownings, suicide & murder
- including one with a poisoned umbrella. This fascinating book tells the story of those who sailed to their doom, whether on infamous shipwrecks such as the Princess Alice or after travelling through Traitors` Gate to their execution like Anne Boleyn. It records the destruction of buildings through fires, bombs or collapse & also reveals the changes to the Thames` banks which saw an end to Frost Fairs & elephants walking across its thick ice
- As well as the notable & bizarre deaths, the murders & executions, the book explores the positive life-saving methods in place, including the Thames Barrier. Did you know? The lights on London Bridge were made from cannons captured from Napoleon`s fleet The Thames has been in the path of some of the most destructive fires in history, including the Great Fire of 1666 & the burning of Parliament in 1834 650 people died when the Princess Alice sank on a pleasure cruise
- Britain`s largest peacetime loss of life The many ghosts along the Thames include an executed baby farmer & Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII`s most notorious wife The polluted Thames has been beset by smells including The Great Stink of 1858, & The Big Smoke of 1952 which saw thousands die in the worst smog ever recorded in London Prisoners who were hanged at Execution Dock were taken to the pub first
- a drunk man was less likely to struggle
- This is the first in the Death & Destruction series.




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On 31 March 1836 the publishers Chapman & Hall launched the first issue of a new monthly periodical entitled The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Conceived & created by the artist Robert Seymour, it contained four of his illustrations; the words to accompany them were written by a young journalist who used the pen-name Boz. The story of a sporting-cum-drinking club presided over by fat, loveable Mr Pickwick, assisted by his cockney manservant Sam Weller, The Pickwick Papers soon became a popular sensation, outselling every other book except the Bible & Shakespeare`s plays, & read & discussed by the entire population of the British Isles, from the duke`s drawing-room to the lowliest chophouse. The fame of Mr Pickwick soon spread worldwide
- making The Pickwick Papers the greatest literary phenomenon in history. But one does not need to have read a single word of The Pickwick Papers to be enthralled by the story of how this extraordinary novel came to be. The creation & afterlife of The Pickwick Papers is the subject of Stephen Jarvis` novel, Death & Mr Pickwick. This vast, intricately constructed, indeed Dickensian work is at once the ultimate homage to a much-loved book, tracing its genesis & subsequent history in fascinating detail, & a damning indictment of how an ambitious young writer expropriated another man`s ideas & then engaged in an elaborate cover-up of The Pickwick Papers` true origin. Few novels deserve to be called magnificent. Death & Mr Pickwick is one of them.
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April 1964, but spring hasn`t quite sprung. The bad weather seems suited to nothing but bad news. & bad news is coming to the police station. First, Bordelli`s friend Casimiro, who insists he`s discovered the body of a man in a field above Fiesole. Bordelli races to the scene, but doesn`t find any sign of a corpse. Only a couple of days later, a little girl is found at Villa Ventaglio. She has been strangled, & there is a horrible bite mark on her belly. Then another little girl is found murdered, with the same macabre signature. & meanwhile Casimiro has disappeared without a trace. The investigation marks the start of one of the darkest periods of Bordelli`s life: a nightmare without end, as black as the sky above Florence. ...