Iran is a country rich in wildlife &, under the Shah, was one of the first in the world to develop a conservation program. A natural crossroads over which migrations of men & animals have flowed since the beginning of time, the country has two completely different climatic zones enabling an extraordinary variety of species to flourish. Surprisingly, however, the details are poorly documented in the West. This book is the first to explore the major species of mammals & birds, both as they are now & as they have evolved through time. It will serve as an invaluable guide for wildlife enthusiasts & travelers. ...

The British like to see themselves as tolerant & believers in fair play. Yet, often in thought & deed, they behave in a fashion that could not remotely be considered moral. This is the great British moral dilemma, a country forever wrestling with whether to be Lions who roar & conquer everyone or gentle lambs that gambol about happily without a care in the world. In the days of the empire these two faces of Britain meant the metropolitan face of Magna Carta, of Habeas Corpus, the Mother of Parliaments, & the country that harboured people who were forced to flee their homelands. To the wider world, however, there was an imperial face where colonial subjects were made very aware that the British knew how to ensure obedience from subject peoples, even if that required the use of brutal force. Brexit has once again highlighted this duality. Those who voted to leave want Britain to roar like a Lion, as it did for more than two hundred years. In contrast the Remainers saw Brexit as a self-inflicted wound feel, believing the only option is to live happily with the Europeans & work out a common future. Bose`s perspective on this British duality is that of an immigrant who is neither a refugee nor an economic migrant. While he has experienced racism in his near half century in Britain, he has also been provided wonderful opportunities to become a writer that he would never have had in his native l&. ...

Richie Cathar's father, Alaric, was a renaissance man: an intellectual, explorer, archaeologist & historian. He was also a man of the sixties: a fantasist, absentee parent & drug abuser. Alaric named his son after his hero, Richard, Coeur de Lion, but left him little when he died apart from conflicting memories. Now Richie, thirty-something, is in search of his own role... Following his father's trail to the Holy Land to research the Art of the Medieval Latin Kingdom, Richie's quest
- to uncover the fate of Christianity's most sacred relic & the truth about his father
- takes him from the high-table intrigue of Oxford to the imposing Crusader castles of Jordan, & into a passionate love affair with Noor, a Canadian-Arab journalist, whose fate will become entwined with Richie's own. Shot through with Justin Cartwright's trademark sharp observation & heartbreaking drama, Lion Heart is a thrilling, romantic & original work from one of our finest novelists.

...

Richard Cathar was named after his father`s hero, Richard the Lionheart. Richard remembers his recently-deceased father, Alaric, as a delusional hippy, who saw himself as an intellectual & historian. Following in his father`s footsteps, Richard travels to Jerusalem where he falls deeply in love with Noor, a beautiful but mysterious Canadian-Arab journalist. When Noor is kidnapped on assignment in Cairo & the facts of her capture emerge, Richard stumbles upon an important document, one that could rewrite not just the history of the Crusades, but his father`s & his own as well. ...

Avi Shlaim`s Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War & Peace is the first major account one of the most important figures in the turbulent history of the Middle East. Peace-broker, statesman, charismatic ruler & master of realpolitik, Hussein of Jordan was one of the dominant figures in Middle Eastern politics, its most continuous presence, & one of the most consistent proponents of peace with Israel. For over forty years he was at the eye of the storm in the region, constantly negotiating between the Arab world & the Israelis, guiding his country through conflict, surviving assassination attempts & trying to fulfill his lifelong quest for peace & the survival of his dynasty. This is the first major account of Hussein`s remarkable dialogue across the battle lines, & of his covert meetings with Israeli leaders. Drawing on extensive archival sources & on unprecedented interviews with Hussein, his family, & confidants, it reveals a titanic leader & a courageous man. `A thrilling, masterful biography` Simon Sebag-Montefiore, Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year ` The most comprehensive biography of the ”plucky little king”` Anton La Guardia, Literary Review `A nuanced portrait of Jordan`s late King Hussein.. . salutes Hussein`s extraordinary physical & moral courage` Daily Telegraph Avi Shlaim was born in Baghdad in 1945; grew up in Israel; & received his university education at Cambridge & the LSE. His books include Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, The Zionist Movement, & the Partition of Palestine (Winner of the Political Studies Association`s WJM Mackenzie Prize, 1988), War & Peace in the Middle East: A Concise History & The Iron Wall: Israel & the Arab World. ...

For Rian Malan, the blessing of living in South Africa is that every day presents him with material whose richness astounds those who live in saner places. Twenty years after the publication of his bestseller My Traitor`s Heart, he is still strongly committed to the struggle against suffocating political rectitude. Malan eviscerates politicians, provokes rabid fury in Aids activists, pursues justice in the music industry, & exults in the company of an extraordinary cast of characters from truckers to tycoons. ...

” As a five-year old in India, I got lost on a train. Twenty-five years later, I crossed the world to find my way back home.” Five-year-old Saroo lived in a poor village in India, in a one-room hut with his mother & three siblings... until the day he boarded a train alone & got lost. For twenty-five years. This is the story of what happened to Saroo in those twenty-five years. How he ended up on the streets of Calcutta. & survived. How he then ended up in Tasmania, living the life of an upper-middle-class Aussie. & how, at thirty years old, with some dogged determination, a heap of good luck & the power of Google Earth, he found his way back home. Lion is a triumphant true story of survival against all odds & a shining example of the extraordinary feats we can achieve when hope endures. ...

Lionel the lion does NOT like to share. After all, lions always get the lion`s share. He buys all the best instruments from the music shop, all the smartest hats from the hat shop & all the brightest balloons from the balloon stall. But at Chloe`s birthday party Lionel goes too far & eats ALL the cake. That`s when Lionel`s friends decide that something has to be done... ...

Lion`s Head, Four Happiness is the captivating story of Xiaomei Martell, who was born in one of China`s most remote regions just two years before Mao launched the Cultural Revolution. The youngest of four daughters
- her name means ` Little Sister`
- her family had no money or connections, yet they raised her with a thirst for knowledge & a love of food, ranging from the Lion`s Head meatballs her Uncle Deng cooked to the `phoenix feet` that apparently cured wrinkles, by way of two-hundred-year-old eggs. Xiaomei`s entertaining & inspiring story takes us to a world where children play with painted pig toes, dumplings give you perfect ears & rather than saying hello, you ask `chilema` or ` Have you eaten?` This is a unique & engaging account of a culture & cuisine that is a world away from the China we know today.

...

A wry & humorous account of the author's quest to get her Iranian passport renewed. She embarks on a bizarre & circuitous journey, meeting a colourful cast of characters along the way: two photographers who specialise in Islamic portraits, a forensic surgeon who trades in human organs, a madam who wants to send prostitutes to Dubai & a grandmother who offers a live chicken to an implacable official. TEHRAN, LIPSTICK & LOOPHOLES is a fascinating look at the constraints & contradictions of contemporary life in Tehran from the author's unique standpoint of being both a native of Iran & a foreigner. ...