` 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.
...

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. ...

Kefalonia at 1:65, 000 with Ithaca at 1:25, 000 on a contoured, GPS compatible double-sided map from a wide coverage of the Greek islands by Anavasi, printed on light, waterproof & tear-resistant plastic paper. On one side are both islands presented at 1:65, 000, with an enlargement of Ithaca to 1:25, 000 shown on the reverse. Contours at 20m intervals are enhanced by relief shading & spot heights, with graphics indicating different types of vegetation: forests, shrubbery, olive groves & vineyards. Road network indicates dirt roads in poor condition or difficult roads, & shows locations of petrol stations & driving distances on main routes. Also marked are country trails ranging from narrow earth roads to faintly defined paths. Symbols mark various places of interest. The maps have a UTM grid for GPS use & latitude/longitude margin ticks. All place names are in both Greek & Latin alphabet, as are the indexes for each isl&. Map legends include English. (Kefallonia, Kefallinia, Cephalonia, Cefalonia, Ithaka, Ithaki) ...

Kefalonia & Ithaca at 1:50, 000 on a large, clear map of the two islands, plus a street plan of Argostoli. Place names are shown in both Greek & Latin alphabet. Locations of campsites & various places of interest are highlighted, & local beaches are prominently marked. Road network

Includes:: selected country paths & gives locations of petrol stations & driving distances. Ferry routes are also marked. Topography is shown by relief shading, with colouring for woodlands. The map has latitude & longitude lines at intervals of 5’. Also provided is a street plan of Argostoli with names of selected streets shown in Latin alphabet. (Kefallonia, Kefallinia, Cephalonia, Cefalonia, Ithaka, Ithaki)

...

If holidays are about new experiences, then this pocket guide solves two problems — where to enjoy walking in Kefalonia & where to find some good, traditional food. There are strolls for hot days & longer walks to work up an appetite. & if you‘re just after some recommendations for where to eat out in Kefalonia, you need look no further! For each suggested restaurant there is a photograph of the décor & one of their dishes, plus sample menu, price guide, opening times, & a recipe for one of their specialities. Other sections include: planning your trip, logistics on arrival, shopping for self-catering (including health food shops), local markets & specialities, glossary of local food terms, etc. A special feature is the emphasis on natural local foods suitable for those with food intolerances. All recipes have been made by the authors & are known to ‘work’. Area covered: The walks are spread all around the island & there is at least one near every major resort. There isn’t much information available for walking on the isl&, & this book brings together ten of Kefalonia’s best walks. The best months for walking in Kefalonia are from early April to end May & late September till October. ...

One of the titles in the 1:50, 000 topographic survey of Icel&. The series is not complete. So far 102 maps have been published, out of the total of 199, with the north-west & the east of the country not yet covered. The series has been compiled from aerial photography & has contours at 20m intervals. The maps do not give as much information on the type of the terrain & land use as the 1:100, 000 series, but the cartography

Includes:: many other

Features: hot & cold springs & wells, streams graded by width, etc. Each map covers an area of Approx. 23 x 28 km / 14 x 17 miles. The maps have a UTM grid, with margin ticks showing latitude & longitude in steps of 5'. Map legend

Includes:: English.





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Your writer, in conjuring this tale of murder, adultery, incest, ghosts, redemption & remorse, takes you first to a daffodil-filled garden in Highgate, North London, where, just outside the kitchen window, something startling shimmers on the very edges of perception. Fluttering & chattering, these are our kehua
- a whole multiplying flock of Maori spirits (all will be explained) goaded into wakefulness by the conversation within. Scarlet
- a long-legged, skinny young woman of the new world order
- has announced to Beverley
- her aged grandmother
- that she intends to leave home & husband for the glamorous actor, Jackson Wright
- he of the vampire films. Beverley may be well on her way to her ninth decade, but she`s not beyond using this intelligence to stir up a little trouble. & neither are the kehua outside the window. The sins & traumas of the past haunt us all. Call them hungry ghosts, grateful dead, dybbuks, kelpies, poltergeists, furies or kehua, we carry them with us
- across continents, oceans, decades & generations. Quite how they became attached to a three-year-old white girl is the origin of your writer`s tale. Suffice to say that murder is at the root of it all, that Beverley & her female bloodline carry a weighty spiritual burden & that this is the story of how they learn to live with their ghosts, or maybe how their ghosts learn to live with them -






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