Wise, often funny, sometimes heartbreaking, ” Persepolis” tells the story of Marjane Satrapi`s life in Tehran from the ages of six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah`s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution & the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent & outspoken child of radical Marxists, & the great-grandaughter of Iran`s last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. ” Persepolis” paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran & of the bewildering contradictions between home life & public life. Amidst the tragedy, Marjane`s child`s eye view adds immediacy & humour, & her story of a childhood at once outrageous & ordinary, beset by the unthinkable & yet buffered by an extraordinary & loving family, is immensely moving. It is also very beautiful; Satrapi`s drawings have the power of the very best woodcuts. ...

The Story of a Childhood & The Story of a Return The intelligent & outspoken child of radical Marxists, & the great-grandaughter of Iran`s last emperor, Satrapi bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country. Persepolis paints an unforgettable portrait of daily life in Iran & of the bewildering contradictions between home life & public life. This is a beautiful & intimate story full of tragedy & humour
- raw, honest & incredibly illuminating.
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Shortlisted for a 2016 Edward Standford Travel Writing Award. The part-time vegetarian who was identified in Sally`s first book, Veggiestan, has become a thing. Great swathes of the population are now eschewing meat for the best part of the week in favour of healthier, vegetable-based alternatives. The appetite for new ways to brighten your broccoli, add sparkle to your spinach & titillate your tomatillos has never been greater. Since opening her vegetarian cafe within her shop Persepolis, Sally has seen an explosion of interest in her Middle Eastern-influenced vegetarian dishes. Inspired by the food Sally serves up daily to her hungry customers, this sequel to Veggiestan, ventures a little further from the Middle Eastern shores, deserts & mountain ranges to other continents & beyond... The book still mostly draws on Sally`s experience in Mediterranean & Middle Eastern cuisine, but once again she looks to all parts of the globe for vegetarian recipes (and stories). Persepolis brings you the most outstanding (and fun) ways of feeding without meat or fish, stopping along the way for a chat with the residents & a bit of sightseeing.150 new recipes, including more vegan recipes/alternatives, offer a fantastic variety of ideas for the vegetarian cook. ...

Written just after the Second World War, ” Perseus in the Wind” (named after the constellation) is perhaps the most personal, & haunting, of all Freya Stark`s writings. She muses on the seasons; the effect light has on a landscape at a particular time of day; the smell of the earth after rain; Muslim saints, Indian temples, war & old age. Each chapter is devoted to a particular theme: Happiness (simple pleasures, like her father`s passion for the view from his cabin in Canada); Education (to be able to command happiness, recognize beauty, value death, increase enjoyment); Beauty (incongruous, flighty & elusive
- a description of the stars, the burst of flowers in a park); Death (a childhood awareness of the finality of Time, the meaningfulness of the end); &, Memory (the jewelled quality of literature, pleasure, love, an echo or a scent when aged by the passage of time). For those who have loved her travel writing, ” Perseus in the Wind” illuminates the motivations behind her journeys & the woman behind the traveller.
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The land of the Iranians, known to European travelers for centuries as Persia, is a land riven by mountain-ranges, made inhospitable by deserts, yet rich in plains, forests & jewel-like gardens. Home to the most sublime architecture in the world, & a breeding ground for poets, Empires, Mystics & saints, it has an enduring & invincible fascination. David Blow enriches our understanding with his knowledgeable selection of the best of three thousand years of descriptive writing. He allows us to visit the courts of Cyrus & Xerxes, to ride out with the Parthians & Sassanians & to make a passing acquaintanceship with both the Shah & the late Ayatollah Khomeini, with Hafiz, & with Omar Khayyam. ...

In 480 BC, Xerxes, the King of Persia, led an invasion of mainland Greece. Its success should have been a formality. For seventy years, victory
- rapid, spectacular victory
- had seemed the birthright of the Persian Empire. In the space of a single generation, they had swept across the Near East, shattering ancient kingdoms, storming famous cities, putting together an empire which stretched from India to the shores of the Aegean. As a result of those conquests, Xerxes ruled as the most powerful man on the planet. Yet somehow, astonishingly, against the largest expeditionary force ever assembled, the Greeks of the mainland managed to hold out. The Persians were turned back. Greece remained free. Had the Greeks been defeated at Salamis, not only would the West have lost its first struggle for independence & survival, but it is unlikely that there would ever have been such & entity as the West at all. Tom Holland`s brilliant new book describes the very first `clash of Empires` between East & West. Once again he has found extraordinary parallels between the ancient world & our own. There is no competing popular book describing these events.

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” Are we the same, I wonder, when all our surroundings, association, acquaintances are changed? I conclude that it is not the person who danced with you at Mansfield St who writes to you today from Persia. Yet there are dregs, English sediment at the bottom of my sherbet, & perhaps they flavour it more than I think. I write to you of Persia: I am not me, that is my only excuse. I am only I am merely pouring out for you some of what I have received in the last two months.” When Gertrude Bell`s uncle was appointed Minister in Tehran in 1891, she declared that the great ambition of her life was to visit Persia. Several months later, she did. & so began a lifetime of travel & a lifelong enchantment with what she saw as the romance of the East, which evolved into a deep understanding of its cultures & people. This vivid & impressionistic series of sketches, her first foray into writing, is an evocative meditation that moves between Persia`s heroic past & its long decline; the public face of Tehran & the otherworldly `secret, mysterious life of the East`, the lives of its women, its lush, enclosed gardens; from the bustling cities to the lonely wastelands of Khorasan. ...

Still little known in the West, Persian poetry offers extraordinary riches. While celebrating the beauty of the world in poems about love, wine & poetry itself, or telling anecdotes of everyday life, Persian poetry set these themes in the wider religious & philosophical context of Islam. Omar, Rumi, Saadi, Sanai, Attar, Hafez & Jami
- the great lyric & didactic poets of medieval Persia
- are all represented in this selection of translations spanning almost two hundred & fifty years.

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How can you shake off everyday worries? Let the magic of the East transport you to a world of a thousand & one colours & lose yourself in all the little details of colouring in. These 50 designs include geometric & ornamental shapes, arabesques, scrolls & much more. Simply choose a design at random & make a start. There are no rules
- you can use felt tips, pencils, gouache, pastels... As you concentrate on the action of colouring you`ll find your mind clearing & calm returning. Just 5-10 minutes a day of colouring is enough to encourage mindfulness.
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Persiana: the new must have cookbook. Sabrina Ghayour`s debut cookbook Persiana is an instant classic. The Golden Girl Observer Food Monthly A celebration of the food & flavours from the regions near the Southern & Eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, with over 100 recipes for modern & accessible Middle Eastern dishes, including Lamb & Sour Cherry Meatballs; Chicken, Preserved Lemon & Olive Tagine; Blood Orange & Radicchio Salad. ...