` Keep Calm & Carry On` has become one of the most recognisable slogans of the twenty-first century. But where is it from & why has it resonated so strongly with the modern British public? This book reveals the truth behind the now infamous poster, tracing its origins to the Second World War, when it was created to allay public panic in the event of a German invasion. Of course this feared invasion never happened, & the poster would have been resigned to the dusty shelves of history were it not for a chance discovery by the owners of Barter Books in 2001. Later seized upon as an encouragement in the economic crisis, ` Keep Calm` went on to become arguably the most successful meme in history. This book tells the story of that phenomenon, including colourful posters & archive photographs throughout. ...

A pocket-sized guide of reasons to cycle” For the majority of civilized humanity, walking is on its last legs.” --” Scientific American, ” 1869”” Cycle tracks will abound in utopia.” --H. G. Wells”” Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.” --John F. Kennedy”” Bicycling is a big part of the future. It has to be. There`s something wrong with a society that drives a car to work out at the gym.” --Bill Nye” In the never ending streams of traffic & the choking fumes of pollution this book gives the average cycle enthusiast or, indeed novice, a collection of"es, sayings, & proverbs on even more reasons why one should get on their bike. Perfect for the Keep Calm & Carry On series, this is a book that will give a cyclist comfort in the knowledge that their passion for bikes is shared with some of the world`s greatest leaders & authors. ...

Everyone knows `tis the season to be jolly; when you can roast chestnuts on an open fire, treetops glisten & sleigh bells ring alongside the sound of small children`s laughter. However, if you don`t think Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year then reach for ” Keep Calm at Christmas” & let its soothing advice reassure you that Christmas comes but once a year. ” Keep Calm at Christmas” follows ” Keep Calm for Ladies” & ” Keep Calm for Chaps” & offers many merry pearls of wisdom to help you get through the festive season; on everything from relatives to office parties, & gluttony to New Year resolutions. This is an insightful pocket gift for Christmas. ” What I don`t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day”. (Phyllis Diller). ” About all you can do is dream of a white Christmas, for it seems like it always leaves most of us in the red”. (Anon). ” Once again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice”. (Anon). ” Next to a circus there ain`t nothing that packs up & tears out faster than the Christmas spirit”. (Kin Hubbard). ” New Year`s Day...now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual”. (Mark Twain). ...

Enlivened with vivid autobiographical detail, George Orwell`s Keep the Aspidistra Flying is a tragically witty account of the struggle to escape from a materialistic existence from the author of 1984, with an introduction by Peter Davison in Penguin Modern Classics. Gordon Comstock loathes dull, middle-class respectability & worship of money. He gives up a `good job` in advertising to work part-time in a bookshop, giving him more time to write. But he slides instead into a self-induced poverty that destroys his creativity & his spirit. Only Rosemary, ever-faithful Rosemary, has the strength to challenge his commitment to his chosen way of life. Through the character of Gordon Comstock, Orwell reveals his own disaffection with the society he once himself renounced. If you enjoyed Keep the Aspidistra Flying you might like Orwell`s Burmese Days, also available in Penguin Modern Classics. ”A completely harrowing & stark account of poverty...written in clear & violent language.” (Cyril Connolly). ...

From first arrival in Lebanon as a fresh faced graduate to the heat of the first Gulf War conflict as managed from Saudi Arabia, Sir Alan Munro`s account of life representing Her Majesty`s government in embassy posting across the world will enchant & engage. This book is intended to convey something of the flavour
- & the frivolities
- of escapades & encounters which Sir Alan & his wife experienced in the course of thirty-five years in diplomacy in the Middle East, Africa & South America, & at home too. The narrative is set against a half-century of post-imperial adjustment in Britain`s foreign policy, in which withdrawal from a global role is offset by an overriding concern, shared with western partners, to counter the extension
- political & economic as well as military
- of Soviet Marxist influence across a fractious post-colonial world. It is no purpose of mine to denigrate or burlesque any individuals who appear in its pages. This account brings out the human side, as well as the value, of a profession in which `life`s rich tapestry` plays an uncommonly prominent part.



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` Flaubert believed that it was impossible to explain one art form in terms of another, & that great paintings required no words of explanation. Braque thought the ideal state would be reached when we said nothing at all in front of a painting. But we are very far from reaching that state. We remain incorrigibly verbal creatures who love to explain things, to form opinions, to argue... It is a rare picture which stuns, or argues, us into silence. & if one does, it is only a short time before we want to explain & understand the very silence into which we have been plunged.` Julian Barnes began writing about art with a chapter on Gericault`s The Raft of the Medusa in his 1989 novel A History of the World in 101/2 Chapters. Since then he has written a series of remarkable essays, chiefly about French artists, which trace the story of how art made its way from Romanticism to Realism & into Modernism. Fully illustrated in colour throughout, Keeping an Eye Open contains Barnes` essays on Gericault, Delacroix, Courbet, Manet, Fantin-Latour, Cezanne, Degas, Redon, Bonnard, Vuillard, Vallotton, Braque, Magritte, Oldenburg, Howard Hodgkin & Lucian Freud. ...

`I seem to have banged on this year rather more than usual. I make no apology for that, nor am I nervous that it will it make a jot of difference. I shall still be thought to be kindly, cosy & essentially harmless. I am in the pigeon-hole marked `no threat` & did I stab Judi Dench with a pitchfork I should still be a teddy bear.` Alan Bennett`s third collection of prose Keeping On Keeping On follows in the footsteps of the phenomenally successful Writing Home & Untold Stories, each published ten years apart. This latest collection contains Bennett`s peerless diaries 2005 to 2015, reflecting on a decade that saw four premieres at the National Theatre (The Habit of Art, People, Hymn & Cocktail Sticks), a West End double-bill transfer, & the films of The History Boys & The Lady in the Van. There`s a provocative sermon on private education given before the University at King`s College Chapel, Cambridge, & ` Baffled at a Bookcase` offers a passionate defence of the public library. This is an engaging, humane, sharp, funny & unforgettable record of life according to the inimitable Alan Bennett. ...

From the jungles of South America to the deserts of Arizona, one thing remains consistent: bees are disappearing. A world without bees would be much less colourful, with fewer flowers. But that`s not all-bees are responsible for up to one-third of our food supply, & the consequences of not taking action to protect them are frightening. While the media focuses on colony-collapse disorder & the threats to honey bees specifically, the real danger is much greater: all bees are at risk, whether it be from loss of habitat, pesticide use or disease, among other factors. & because of the integral role these insects play in the ecology of our planet, we may be at risk as well. In Keeping the Bees, Laurence Packer, a melittologist whose life revolves around bees, debunks many myths about these creatures & takes us behind the scenes with scientists around the world who are working to save these fascinating creatures before it`s too late. ...

When India became independent in 1947, the general view, which has prevailed until now, is that Britain had been steadily working for an amicable transfer of power for decades. In this book Walter Reid argues that nothing could be further from the truth. With reference to a vast amount of documentary material, from private letters to public records & state papers, he shows how Britain held back political progress in India for as long as possible
- a policy which led to unimaginable chaos & suffering when independence was granted, & which created a legacy of hatred & distrust that continues to this day.
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In 1996, in the middle of watching an ill-tempered football match between England & Germany, Philip Oltermann`s parents tell him that they are going to leave their home city Hamburg behind & move to London. A number of worrying questions arise. How would English schoolboys take to a lanky 16-year-old German? How did they think & do things differently? What was the secret of the famed British humour? & were there values that English & German people shared? In search of answers, Oltermann interweaves memoir & history, taking ten key Anglo-German encounters from the last 200 years as his starting point. These include: an encounter between Joe Strummer & the Baader Meinhof gang, Helmut Kohl trying to explain the virtues of German cuisine to a sceptical Margaret Thatcher & philosophers Theodor Adorno & A. J. Ayer clashing over jazz. What emerges is nothing less than an alternative national story for the two countries: not one marked by military conflict & diplomatic hostility, but one shaped by dialogue, interaction & genuine fondness. ...