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. ...

On the Black Hill is an elegantly written tale of identical twin brothers who grow up on a farm in rural Wales & never leave home. They till the rough soil & sleep in the same bed, touched only occasionally by the advances of the 20th century. In depicting the lives of Benjamin & Lewis & their interactions with their small local community Chatwin comments movingly on the larger questions of human experience. ...

Estienne Barbier, born in the Loire Valley in 1699, lays claim to service in the armies of the kings of France & Prussia, but he is an inveterate liar, & the truth is less glorious: irate husbands have made the Lowlands too hot to hold him, & he has deserted his pregnant wife to stow away for the Cape of Good Hope. An expedition to the hinterland opens his eyes to the majesty of the African landscape & its wondrous animals & he is enchanted by the rumour of a fabled city of gold. But he also begins to see clearly the sordid dealing that underlies the self-righteous pomposity of the East India Company. It is a vision that makes him powerful enemies. Taking cover on a remote farm, & energetically consoling sundry widows, Barbier finds himself, to his own surprise, fomenting rebellion. ...

Couchsurfing? Surely a sofa would sink on the open sea? Couchsurfing is a global community of over a million people in 232 countries that offers couches, beds & body-sized horizontal surfaces via the internet for fellow members to bunk down on for the night. Couchsurfing is everywhere, from Kazakhstan, where there are 124 empty couches for the daring traveller, to Antartica where 30 cold couches are available. It`s free, it`s friendly & it`s the new way to travel. Fleur Britten, Sunday Times features writer is about to lose her couchsurfing virginity. Starting out in Moscow & taking the Trans-Siberian Railway with a couple of stops in Siberia & Ulan Ude, she`ll then fly to Beijing & travel through China, crossing into Kazakhstan, followed by Ubekistan. Finding couches in the unlikeliest of places finally arriving back in London to play host to other couchsurfers. With the promise of `couch available` rarely entailing a couch alone, with stories of meals, unofficial local tours & a family-like welcome, she will explore the unique couchsurfing community & so-called `couchsurfing spirit`. What motivates people to invite strangers to sleep on their sofas? How is it possible to couchsurf & stay safe & what is it that is it that has made couchsurfing such a phenomenon? This is an adventure of kindness that will lead Fleur to meet the most unusual people & visit the most unexpected places. Combined with revealing, candid images this promises to be much, much more than your average travelogue. ...

These photographs reveal not only the seaside resorts & clifftop walks we all know, in a new light, the also depict the more dramatic & remote stretches of coast that are relatively inaccessible. The pictures are more than studies of empty landscape, for they reveal man's essential & natural affinity with the l&, & nowhere is this more poignantly apparent in a seafaring nation, than at the interface between rock & water, terra firma & the tidal ocean. ...

In 1972, The Limits to Growth introduced the idea that world resources are limited. Soon after, people became aware of the threats to the world`s rainforests, the biggest terrestrial repositories of biodiversity & essential regulators of global air & water cycles. Since that time, new research & technological advances have greatly increased our knowledge of how rainforests are being affected by changing patterns of resource use. Increasing concern about climate change has made it more important than ever to understand the state of the world`s tropical forests. This book provides an up-to-date picture of the health of the world`s tropical forests. Claude Martin, an eminent scientist & conservationist, integrates information from remote imaging, ecology, & economics to explain deforestation & forest health throughout the world. He explains how urbanization, an increasingly global economy, & a worldwide demand for biofuels put new pressure on rainforest l&. He examines the policies & market forces that have successfully preserved forests in some areas & discusses the economic benefits of protected areas. Using evidence from ice core records & past forest cover patterns, he predicts the most likely effects of climate change. ...

Little ones can join in the fun On the Farm by pulling out the sliders, jiggling the animals & making all the different noises! Quack along with the ducks, moo with the cows & neigh with the horses. Children will love playing with this bright & colourful board book with gentle rhyming text & beautifully illustrated by the award-winning Axel Scheffler. Also available: In the Jungle ...

This is the story of a life in crisis, set in the world of high finance. At the age of twenty-eight, Dubliner Geri Molloy has put her troubled past behind her to become a major player at Steiner's investment bank in London, earning $850k a year doing business with a reclusive hedge fund manager in Hong Kong who, in return for his patronage, likes to ask her about Kant & watch while she eats exotic Asian delicacies. For five years Geri has had it all, but in the months leading up to the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1991, her life starts to unravel. Abandoned by her corporate financier boyfriend, in the grip of a debilitating insomnia, & drinking far too much, Geri becomes entangled in a hostile takeover involving her boss, her client & her ex. With her career on the line as a consequence, & no one to turn to, she is close to losing it, in every sense. Taut & fast-paced, On the Floor is about making money & taking risks; it's about getting away with it, & what happens when you're no longer one step ahead; ultimately, though, it's a reminder to never, ever underestimate the personal cost of success. ...

Brain Box Travel On The Go World contains 44 beautifully-illustrated cards showing the very best the World has to offer, & then some! The object of the game is to study a card for 10 seconds & then answer a question based on the roll of a die. If the question is answered correctly, the card is kept & the person with the most number of cards after 5 or 10 minutes is the winner. Made from a minimum of 70% recycled material, the Brain Box range is fabulous fun. Find out who the Brain Box is in your family – it may not be who you think it is! ...