In this history of roads & what they have meant to the people who have driven them, one of Britain`s favourite cultural historians reveals how a relatively simple road system turned into a maze-like pattern of roundabouts, flyovers, & spaghetti junctions. Using a unique blend of travel writing, anthropology, history & social observation, he explores how Britain`s roads have their roots in unexpected places, from Napoleon`s role in the numbering system to the surprising origin of sat-nav. Full of quirky nuggets of history, such as the day trips organised to see the construction of the M1 & the 2.5m Mills & Boons used to build the M6 Toll Road, On Roads also celebrates innovators whose work we take for granted, such as the designers of the road sign system. On subjects ranging from speed limits to driving on the left, & the `non-places where we stop to the unwritten laws of traffic jams, these hidden stories have never been told together, until now. ...

In On Royalty Jeremy Paxman delves deep into Britain`s royal past. What is the point of Kings & Queens? What do they do all day? & what does it mean to be one of them? Jeremy Paxman is used to making politicians explain themselves
- but royalty has always been off limits. Until now. He takes a long hard look at our present incumbents to find out just what makes them tick. Along the way he discovers some fascinating & little-known details. Such as: how Albania came to advertise in England for a king which English queen gave birth in front of 67 people how easy it is to beat up future kings of England & how meeting the Queen is a bit scary
- whoever you are... No other book will tell you quite as much about our kings, queens, princes & princesses: who they are & what they`re for. Paxman`s book is everyhing that royalty is not allowed to be
- witty, stylish, intelligent, pugnacious & political. (The Times). On Royalty is an absorbing, well-researched book, part serious enquiry, part rollicking anecdote. (Evening Standard). Action-packed & entertaining. (Sunday Telegraph). Jeremy Paxman is a journalist, best known for his work presenting Newsnight & University Challenge. His books include Empire, On Royalty, The English & The Political Animal. He lives in Oxfordshire.


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Discover 1, 000 cool stickers featuring awesome safari animals, like lions, elephants, giraffes, cheetahs, & more. You`ll also find skill-building puzzles & mazes, spelling & pattern games, drawing activities, photos, facts, & other activities that will keep you entertained (and learning) for hours on end. National Geographic Kids Sticker Activity Books are loaded with fun. ...

Peter Hopkirk’s “ On Secret Service East of Constantinople” tells the history, in thrilling style, of the least-remembered front of the First World War, the German-Turkish attempt to weaken the British & Russian empires in Central Asia & India. Here, told in epic detail & for the first time, is the true story behind John Buchan’s classic wartime thriller “ Greenmantle”, recounted through the adventures & misadventures of the secret agents & others who took part in it. It is an ominously topical tale today in view of the continuing turmoil in the volatile region where the “ Great Game” has never really ceased. Peter Hopkirk is a veteran journalist & is widely recognized as an authority on the complex history of Central Asia. This is one of several books he has written on the region. ...

Why do we keep sheep? Alex Linden ruminates as he watches his sheep ruminating. Naive & inexperienced, he has ditched his doctoral studies in order to move to a fully working farm in the country with his family, where he is tasked with the responsibility of caring for a herd of sheep. Linden records his new life in his diary, as he tries to manage life on the farm, the ever-escaping sheep & the trials & tribulations that come with being a shepherd
- shearing, lambing & confronting the slaughterhouse. As time passes & he gradually settles into the rhythm of shepherding, his naivete fades away & is replaced with stark realisations about what is now his everyday life. He finds himself applying his experiences of animal husbandry to consider our place
- as individuals & as a collective organism
- in the universe. Is he really the one caring for the sheep, or are they the ones keeping him? Linden finds both companionship in his flock & a sound, if complex, moral framework for examining the lives we lead. The result is a sensitive & entertaining meditation on the small wonders in our world. Translated by Frank Perry.


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Stalin was the unchallenged dictator of the Soviet Union for so long that most historians have dismissed the officials surrounding him as mere yes-men & political window dressing. On Stalin`s Team overturns this view, revealing that behind Stalin was a group of loyal men who formed a remarkably effective team with him from the late 1920s until his death in 1953. Drawing on extensive original research, Sheila Fitzpatrick provides the first in-depth account of this inner circle & their families, vividly describing how these dedicated comrades-in-arms not only worked closely with Stalin, whom they both feared & admired, but also constituted his social circle. Readers meet the wily security chief Beria, whom the rest of the team quickly had executed following Stalin`s death; Stalin`s number-two man, Molotov, who continued on the team even after his wife was arrested & exiled; the charismatic Ordzhonikidze, who ran the country`s industry with entrepreneurial flair; Andreev, who traveled to provincial purges while listening to Beethoven on a portable gramophone; & Khrushchev, who finally disbanded the team four years after Stalin`s death. Among the book`s surprising findings are that Stalin almost always worked with the team on important issues & that after his death the team managed a brilliant transition to a reforming collective leadership. Taking readers from the cataclysms of the Great Purges & World War II to the paranoia of Stalin`s final years, On Stalin`s Team paints an entirely new picture of Stalin within his milieu--one that transforms our understanding of how the Soviet Union was ruled during much of its existence. ...

Stalin was the unchallenged dictator of the Soviet Union for so long that most historians have dismissed the officials surrounding him as mere yes-men & political window dressing. On Stalin`s Team overturns this view, revealing that behind Stalin was a group of loyal men who formed a remarkably effective team with him from the late 1920s until his death in 1953. Drawing on extensive original research, Sheila Fitzpatrick provides the first in-depth account of this inner circle & their families. She vividly describes how these dedicated comrades-in-arms not only worked closely with Stalin, but also constituted his social circle. Stalin`s team included the wily security chief Beria; Andreev, who traveled to provincial purges while listening to Beethoven on a portable gramophone; & Khrushchev, who finally disbanded the team four years after Stalin`s death. Taking readers from the cataclysms of the Great Purges & World War II to the paranoia of Stalin`s final years, On Stalin`s Team paints an entirely new picture of Stalin within his milieu--one that transforms our understanding of how the Soviet Union was ruled during much of its existence. ...

Birt & Etho are best friends. Together they play on Sudden Hill, making marvellous contraptions out of cardboard boxes. But then a new boy, Shu, wants to join in too. Etho is happy to welcome him. Birt isn`t so sure. Eaten up with jealousy, he goes home & refuses to come out to play. Until Etho & Shu come to his house with the most marvellous cardboard contraption so far...A compelling story about accepting someone new, from the Benji Davies, the bestselling illustrator of The Storm Whale. ...

This is a moving love story & a vivid depiction of Berlin in the 1870s, from Germany`s greatest nineteenth-century novelist Theodor Fontane. Lene is a beautiful, orphaned young seamstress, & Botho is a handsome, aristocratic cavalry officer. They are in love, yet know they have only a short time together as society deems their relationship impossible & refuses to acknowledge the seriousness of their feelings. But while Botho appears to have a glittering life ahead of him, the love he feels may yet be his undoing. Published in 1887, On Tangled Paths caused a scandal on publication with its portrayal of a sexual affair across the classes, & is a taut, flawless masterpiece. Theodor Fontane was born in the Prussian province of Brandenburg in 1819. After qualifying as a pharmacist, he made his living as a writer. From 1855 to 1859, he lived in London & worked as a freelance journalist & press agent for the Prussian embassy. While working as a war correspondent during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1 he was taken prisoner, but released after two months. His first novel, Before the Storm, was published when he was fifty-eight & was followed by sixteen further novels, of which Effi Briest, No Way Back & On Tangled Paths are all published in Penguin Classics. He died in 1898. Peter James Bowman completed a Ph D on Fontane at Cambridge University, & now works as a writer & translator. ” On Tangled Paths has the flawless logic & beautiful design of the novella at its best”. (Paul Binding, The Spectator). ” There is an undertow of sadness to this novel, yet to read it is a joy, for its humanity, subtlety & visual immediacy”. (Ruth Pavey, The Independent). ” Theodor Fontane`s first true masterpiece; it has a perfect beginning, a perfect ending, & no superfluous sentence in between”. (Henry Garland). ...

After the war is over, a radioactive cloud begins to sweep southwards on the winds, gradually poisoning everything in its path. An American submarine captain is among the survivors left sheltering in Australia, preparing with the locals for the inevitable. Despite his memories of his wife, he becomes close to a young woman struggling to accept the harsh realities of their situation. Then a faint Morse code signal is picked up, transmitting from the United States & the submarine must set sail through the bleak ocean to search for signs of life. ” On the Beach” is Nevil Shute`s most powerful novel. Both gripping & intensely moving, its impact is unforgettable. ...