Take a step into the forest & join a young squirrel as she looks for her family in this sumptuous ”touch & feel” layered board book. The perfect introduction for preschool children to animals & their habitats, this simple, charming story unfolds across a series of layered pages that increase in size, & shows different animal families as they go about their daily lives. With gently rhyming text & beautiful illustrations, the book encourages children to interact with the book & turn each page, delighting in the increasingly expansive forest spreads. ...

Join Rebecca & her friends at Trebizon Boarding School, perfect for fans of Enid Blyton`s Malory Towers & St Clare`s. Rebecca can`t wait to start in the Fourth Year at Trebizon, with new rooms & a chance to play in an exciting hockey tournament. But with the arrival of Swedish exchange student Ingrid everyone starts falling out, Rebecca & Robbie included. Can Court House recover from Ingrid`s icy influence? The eighth exciting book in the classic Trebizon series. Praise for the Trebizon series: ” As warm & comforting as a cup of cocoa, the Trebizon books are a real treat.” (Katherine Woodfine, author of The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow). ” An absolute hug of a book, this is school storytelling at its warm, delightful, comforting best.” (Robin Stevens, author of Murder Most Unladylike). Follow Rebecca & her friends through all the ups & downs of boarding school in: First Term at Trebizon; Second Term at Trebizon; Summer Term at Trebizon; Boy Trouble at Trebizon; More Trouble at Trebizon; Tennis Term at Trebizon; Summer Camp at Trebizon; Into the Fourth at Trebizon; Hockey Term at Trebizon; &, Fourth Year Triumphs at Trebizon. Anne Digby is the author of Trebizon, several titles in Enid Blyton`s Naughtiest Girl series & the Me, Jill Robinson series. She lives in East Sussex. ...

A poignant, deeply human portrait of Egypt during the Arab Spring, told through the lives of individuals` Sweeping, passionate.. . An essential work of reportage for our time` Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families In 2011, Egyptians of all sects, ages & social classes shook off millennia of autocracy, then elected a Muslim Brother as president. The 2013 military coup replaced him with a new strongman, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has cracked down on any dissent or opposition with a degree of ferocity Mubarak never dared. New York Times correspondent David D. Kirkpatrick arrived in Egypt with his family less than six months before the uprising first broke out in 2011. As revolution & violence engulfed the country, he received an unexpected & immersive education in the Arab world. In this candid narrative, Kirkpatrick lives through Cairo`s hopeful days & crushing disappointments alongside the diverse population of his new city: the liberal yuppies who first gathered in Tahrir Square; the persecuted Coptic Christians standing guard around Muslims at prayer during the protests; & the women of a grassroots feminism movement that tried to seize its moment. Juxtaposing his on-the-ground experience in Cairo with new reporting about conflicts over Egypt in Washington & London, Kirkpatrick traces how authoritarianism was allowed to reclaim Egypt after thirty months of turmoil. Into the Hands of the Soldiers is a heartbreaking story with a simple message: the failings of decades of autocratic rule are the reason for the chaos we see today across the Arab world. Understanding the story of what happened in those years can help readers make sense of everything taking place across the region today
- from the terrorist attacks in North Sinai to the bedlam in Syria & Libya.
...

Into the Heart of Borneo is Redmond O` Hanlon`s account of his expedition to the Borneo jungle. Armed with equipment & advice from 22 SAS Hereford, & accompanied by three trackers, Redmond O` Hanlon, the naturalist, & James Fenton, the poet, set out on a long river voyage into the interior of Borneo`s tropical jungle hoping to reach the Tiban massif. At once funny & knowledgeable, Redmond O` Hanlon`s account of how they battled with insects, discomfort & setbacks is a hugely entertaining & informative adventure story in the best tradition of the world`s great travel classics. ...

The hold of the Mafia on southern Italy, from Naples, home of Mafia-controlled mozzarella & toxic waste, through no less rotten Calabria to Sicily, cradle of Cosa Nostra, is as strong as ever. In this memorable journey round the cities & villages of the Italian South, David Lane gives us out of his unrivalled knowledge of Italy a telling expose of the operations of the Mafia today. Lane shows how globalisation has transformed the Mafia into more than simply a local phenomenon. He describes in painful detail the daily accommodation to Mafia pressure endured by priests, politicians & prosecutors, businessmen, trade unionists & ordinary citizens. At the same time, he incorporates a portrait of the South`s long & tumultuous history & powerful flavours to provide a richly coloured portrait of a European region under siege. ...

The adventurer & artist John Castle, of mixed British & Prussian descent, was one of several foreigners commissioned by the Russian Empire to take part in the Orenburg Expedition which started in 1734. Its aims were to secure & encircle Bashkiria, to the north of present-day western Kazakhstan. The Russians planned to establish a line of forts, a trading base & centre for overseeing the Kazakhs at Orenburg at the junction of the Or & Ural (Jaik) rivers & to investigate the natural resources of the region. The Expedition attracted numerous merchants, surveyors & curious travellers. Castle volunteered to visit Khan Abulkhayir of the Lesser Kazakh Horde & to negotiate with him on behalf of the Russians. At the time Abulkhayir had been compelled, against the will of his people, to swear an oath of allegiance to Russia, & the situation with the Kazakhs remained volatile. Castle set off into virtually uncharted territory in the midst of chaos due to a major Bashkir rebellion prompted by the Orenburg Expedition. During his two-month journey he recorded his impressions of places, people & customs. Castle`s diary describes this dangerous journey, subsequent events & his return to safety. It provides information on the tense political dynamics of the time, on the ethnography, geography & natural resources of Kazakhstan & on the difficult interactions between foreign members of the Expedition & Russian officials. The diary`s rich ethnographic content, which

Includes:: first-hand observations of exorcism & divination rituals & the local administration of justice, gives clear
- & for its time extremely rare
- insights into the combined use of customary Kazakh steppe practices & Islam. It is a major historiographical source because it is written from the point of view of a foreigner & not a Russian. This book is the first English translation (by Sarah Tolley) & edition of John Castle`s Journal von der AO 1736 aus Orenburg zu dem Abul Geier Chan der Kirgis-Kaysak Tartarichen Horda
-, Riga 1784 (Journal of a Journey undertaken in AO 1736 from Orenburg to Abul Geier, Khan of the Kirgis Caysak Horde
- ). It reproduces the diary in full, with its glossary & 13 plates. These include unique illustrations of the Khan, his yurt & life on the steppe. An introduction provides the context of the Expedition, & footnotes accompany the text giving further clarifications & explanations.





...

The second sophisticated & dark installment in Jake Woodhouse`s Amsterdam Quartet, featuring returning series character Inspector Jaap Rykel. A body is found on a rooftop, the dead man`s hands blowtorched, his head removed. The man tasked with tracking down the killer is Amsterdam Inspector Jaap Rykel. But as he searches the headless body for clues Rykel finds something which makes his blood run cold
- a picture of himself on the victim`s phone. & then a message from the killer reveals the location of a second mutilated corpse. It`s another day in Western Europe`s murder capital.
...

Dive into the ocean to join a young turtle on a game of hide-&-seek, & learn about sea creatures & their habitat, with this beautiful, ”touch & feel” layered board book. The perfect introduction for preschool children to sea creatures & their habitats, this simple, charming story, which unfolds across a series of layered pages that increase in size, is about a turtle playing hide-&-seek with his friends, & shows different animal families as they go about their daily lives. With gently rhyming text & beautiful illustrations, the book encourages children to interact with the book & turn each page, delighting in the increasingly expansive ocean spreads. ...

The peatlands of the Outer Hebrides are half l&, half water. Their surface is a glorious tweed woven from tiny, living sphagnums rich in wildlife, but underneath is layer upon layer of dead mosses transforming into the peat. One can, with care, walk out onto them, but stop & you begin to sink into them. For time immemorial the peatlands have been places
- for humans at least
- of seasonal habitation but not of constant residence. In this book Robin A. Crawford explores the peatlands over the course of the year, explaining how they have come to be & examining how peat has been used from the Bronze Age onwards. In describing the seasonal processes of cutting, drying, stacking, storing & burning he reveals one of the key rhythms of island life, but his study goes well beyond this to include many other aspects, including the wildlife & folklore associated with these lonely, watery places. Widening his gaze to other peatlands in the country, he also reflects on the historical & cultural importance that peat has played, & continues to play
- it is still used for fuel in many rural areas & plays an essential role in whisky-making
- in the story of Scotl&.



...

In the tradition of The Perfect Storm & Into Thin Air, Rachel Slade`s Into the Raging Sea is a nail-biting account of the sinking of the container ship El Faro, the crew of thirty-three who perished onboard, & the destructive forces of globalisation that put the ship in harm`s way. On October 1, 2015, Hurricane Joaquin barreled into the Bermuda Triangle & swallowed the container ship El Faro whole, resulting in one of the worst shipping disasters in decades. No one could fathom how a vessel equipped with satellite communications, a sophisticated navigation system, & cutting-edge weather forecasting could suddenly vanish
- until now. Relying on hundreds of exclusive interviews with family members & maritime experts, as well as the words of the crew members themselves
- whose conversations were captured by the ship`s data recorder
- journalist Rachel Slade unravels the mystery of the sinking of El Faro. As she recounts the final twenty-four hours onboard, Slade vividly depicts the officers` anguish & fear as they struggled to carry out Captain Michael Davidson`s increasingly bizarre commands, which, they knew, would steer them straight into the eye of the storm. Taking a hard look at America`s aging merchant marine fleet, Slade also reveals the truth about modern shipping
- a cutthroat industry plagued by razor-thin profits & ever more violent hurricanes fueled by global warming. A richly reported account of a singular tragedy, Into the Raging Sea takes us into the heart of an age-old American industry, casting new light on the hardworking crew of El Faro who paid the ultimate price in the name of profit.



...