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 classic lift-the-flap book Dear Zoo has been a firm favourite with toddlers & parents alike ever since it was first published in 1982. 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 thick card pages, chunky cased cover & sturdy flaps make it perfect for small hands.

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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. ...

Viktor is an aspiring writer with only Misha, his pet penguin, for company. Although he would prefer to write short stories, he earns a living composing obituaries for a newspaper. He longs to see his work published, yet the subjects of his obituaries continue to cling to life. But when he opens the newspaper to see his work in print for the first time, his pride swiftly turns to terror. He & Misha have been drawn into a trap from which there appears to be no escape. ...