In 1966 Dervla Murphy travelled the length & breadth of Ethopia, first on a mule, Jock, whom she named after her publisher, & later on a recalcitrant donkey. The remarkable achievement was not surviving three armed robberies or the thous&-mile trail, but the gradual growth of affection for & understanding of another race. ...

Geert Mak spent the year 1999 in Europe criss-crossing the continent, tracing its history from Verdun to Berlin, St Petersburg to Auschwitz, Kiev to Srebrenica. He set off in search of evidence & witnesses, looking to define the condition of Europe at the verge of a new millennium. The result is mesmerising: Mak`s rare double talent as a sharp-eyed journalist & a hugely imaginative historian makes ” In Europe” a dazzling account of that journey, full of diaries, newspaper reports & memoirs, & the voices of prominent figures & unknown players; from the grandson of Kaiser Wilhelm II to Adriana Warno in Pol&, with her holiday job at the gates of the camp at Birkenau. But Mak is above all an observer. He describes what he sees at places that have become Europe`s well-springs of memory, where history is written into the landscape. At Ypres he hears the blast of munitions from the Great War that are still detonated twice a day. In Warsaw he finds the point where the tram rails that led to the Jewish ghetto come to a dead end in a city park. And in an abandoned creche near Chernobyl, where tiny pairs of shoes still stand in neat rows, he is transported back to the moment time stood still in the dying days of the Soviet Union. Mak combines the larger story of twentieth-century Europe with details that suddenly give it a face, a taste & a smell. His unique approach makes the reader an eyewitness to his own half-forgotten past, full of unknown peculiarities, sudden insights & touching encounters. ” In Europe” is a masterpiece; it reads like the epic novel of the continent`s most extraordinary century. ...

' Cesar Montero was dreaming about elephants. He'd seen them at the movies on Sunday...' Only moments later, Cesar is led away by police as they clear the crowds away from the man he has just killed. But Cesar is not the only man to be riled by the rumours being spread in his Colombian hometown
- under the cover of darkness, someone creeps through the streets sticking malicious posters to walls & doors. Each night the respectable townsfolk retire to their beds fearful that they will be the subject of the following morning's lampoons. As paranoia seeps through the town & the delicate veil of tranquility begins to slip, can the perpetrator be uncovered before accusation & violence leave the inhabitants' sanity in tatters?
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‘ It has always seemed to me that what I write about is humanity in extremis, pushed to the unendurable, & that it is important to tell people what really happens in wars.’ MARIE COLVIN, 2001`A stunningly good biography` WILLIAM BOYDMarie Colvin was glamorous, hard-drinking, braver than the boys, with a troubled & rackety personal life. She reported from the most dangerous places in the world, going in further & staying longer than anyone else. Like her hero, the legendary reporter Martha Gellhorn, she sought to bear witness to the horrifying truths of war, to write ‘the first draft of history’ & to shine a light on the suffering of ordinary people. Marie covered the major conflicts of our time: Israel & Palestine, Chechnya, East Timor, Sri Lanka – where she was hit by a grenade & lost sight in her left eye, resulting in her trademark eye-patch – Iraq & Afghanistan. Her anecdotes about encounters with dictators & presidents – including Colonel Gaddafi & Yasser Arafat, whom she knew well – were incomparable. She was much admired, & as famous for her wild parties as for the extraordinary lengths to which she went to tell the story, including being smuggled into Syria where she was killed in 2012. Written by fellow foreign correspondent Lindsey Hilsum, this is the story of the most daring war reporter of her time. Drawing on unpublished diaries & interviews with Marie`s friends, family & colleagues, Hilsum conjures a fiercely compassionate, complex woman who was driven to an extraordinary life & tragic death. In Extremis is the story of our turbulent age, & the life of a woman who defied convention. ...

Travel the globe & find a fresh perspective with ` In Focus Cities’. This super-sized book delves into the cultural, social & historical identities of ten world-famous cities. Lift the giant flaps on every spread to find out more about the iconic cities on the map. ...

Stanfords Children`s Book of the Month July 2016 Ten illustrators place ten subjects under the microscope to uncover what lies beneath the surface. From famous landmarks to fruit & veg & from the natural world to everyday inventions, In Focus investigates a fresh perspective by looking at 10 wonders of the world from the outside, in. ...

National Geographic Society has throughout its history been famous for its excellent photographs, particularly for its portraits which have provided many iconic images from all over the world. In Focus: National Geographic Greatest Portraits offers an extensive selection of photos spanning well over a century. The images are grouped into periods that correspond roughly to changes in photographic equipment & techniques, from the cumbersome cameras & long exposures of early days to the advent of colour film & the lightweight, versatile modern gear that fostered a new, informal spontaneity in portraiture. The book traces the evolving roles & goals of photographers themselves, & offers revealing insights on how their work both reflects & influences how we see ourselves & our world. ...

The tenth Richard Bolitho novel in Alexander Kent`s spectacularly successful series deals with Bolitho`s life as a young lieutenant aboard the Trojan, an eighty-gun ship of the line. The year is 1777 when the revolution in America has erupted into a full-scale war. The navy`s main task is to prevent military supplies from reaching Washington`s armies & to destroy the fast-growing fleet of French & American privateers. As a junior officer Bolitho is often bewildered by swiftly changing events, but in a ship of the line, under a hard & determined captain, he has little opportunity for uncertainty. At a time of shortages & sudden death even a lieutenant can find himself faced with tasks & decisions more suitably given to officers of greater experience
- & as the Trojan goes about her affairs the threat to Bolitho & his companions makes itself felt from New York to the Caribbean.
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Though much has been written about the political implications of the religious revival which has engulfed America in recent years, a question remains unanswered: what pushes its people into `declaring for Jesus`? Douglas Kennedy spent a long hot summer cruising through that expanse of the American South known as ` The Bible Belt` exploring that question. In a remarkable journey into one of the strangest corners of the United States, Kennedy finds himself spending time in Miami with a one-time member of the Mafia turned charismatic preacher, discovering Christian heavy metal music in Nashville, & visiting Death Row in South Carolina with an evangelist who ministers to the condemned. Repeatedly discovering the extraordinary within the ordinary, IN GOD`S COUNTRY is a profound, yet brilliantly entertaining exploration of life in late twentieth century America. ...