A fascinating collection of entertaining stories from as far afield as Europe, Indian & America revealing unusual railway journeys across the centuries, including ghost trains, vanishing passengers & trains fitted with homing pigeons instead of a communication cord! From eccentric lords, who transferred their carriages complete with horses & footmen onto the train, to drivers who stole garden fencing to keep up a good head of steam. ` Railways Strangest Journeys` takes you from the dawn of railway travel when speeds of 15 mph were considered blasphemous & damaging to one”s internal organs through the Victorian heyday of Royal Trains & seaside specials, right up to the present day. ...

A study of rain in Britain. The British are getting used to a new kind of rain. There is more of it
- the year 2000 was the wettest
...

Barney Campbell`s Rain is a searing debut that reads like a British Matterhorn. ”A wonderfully achieved, enthralling & moving novel of war. Its authenticity is as telling as it is terrifying.” (William Boyd). ” No better on-the-ground description of Britain`s war will ever be written. Rain is what Chickenhawk or, more recently, Matterhorn was to Vietnam. It`s unputdownable, except for when the reader needs to draw breath or battle a lump in the throat.” (Evening Standard). Corporal Thomas (my acting sergeant since Adams died) & I have to go down the line of the boys as they`re checking their kit before we go out. Some of them are crying, not bawling just weeping gently but still steadfast; others are just pumped to the max, bouncing their heads up & down like they`re listening to trance music, just amped about getting the rounds down. Those are the ones I`m most worried about; how they`re going to cope with being back home is beyond me. Tom Chamberlain was destined to be a soldier from the moment he discovered a faded picture of his father patrolling the streets of Belfast. With the war in Afghanistan at its savage peak, Tom is dispatched from home in the dead of an anonymous September night, a blood tribute leaving without fanfare. Full of eagerness, but wracked by self-doubt, he must discover who he is & what he is capable of. But as the bonds with his comrades grow, home
- & the loved ones left behind
- seem ever more remote from the surreal violence & exhilaration of war. Drawing on the author`s own experience, Rain is the most powerful, vivid & affecting portrait of the Afghan frontline to have yet emerged
- a novel of war that will take its place among the classics from previous generations. ” Rain is not merely good, it`s remarkable. Powerful, at times unbearably harrowing, it captures both the fear & exhilaration of men pushed to breaking point.” (Jeremy Paxman). ” Gripping...the ending is genuinely shocking.” (Daily Mail). ”A powerful & moving story of war with all the authenticity of a memoir.” (Charles Cumming). ” One of the most powerful & emotional works ever written about British soldiers in battle. Troubling, funny, upsetting, exhilarating & deeply moving. You will never forget it.” (Colonel Richard Kemp).” Thrilling, gut-wrenching & profoundly moving, this book, like all the very best novels of war, has the utterly compelling grip of authenticity.” (James Holland). ” An extraordinary book: authentic, beautifully written & very moving.” (Saul David). ” Simply superb. It could become the defining account of the British in Afghanistan.” (Tom Petch, writer & directer of ` The Patrol`). ” One of the best novels about the Afghanistan war. Brutally honest, it could have been a memoir.” (David Axe). ”A must-read debut.” (Tom Newton-Dunn).


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Sam wants to go out but it`s pouring with rain, so he & Grandpa decide to stay inside until the rain stops. Sam drinks hot chocolate & reads his books & dreams of adventures while Grandpa gets on with his important paperwork. Grandpa seems to have a VERY important letter to write. Then that very important letter has to be posted, despite the rain & floods. As they finally go outside, Sam & Grandpa have a magical adventure. Rain is the follow-up to the acclaimed Snow; & is the second title in a four-book series based on the weather. ...

When rain comes to the parched African savannah, the animals use all their senses to track the storm. The porcupine smells rain in the air. The zebra sees lightning. The baboons hear thunder. The rhino feels the first drops. & the lion tastes the cool water. For a time, the grasslands abound with new green leaves, juicy fruits & fresh pools of water. But soon the hot sun dries out the l&, & the animals must again wait for the next big rain. Manya Stojic`s picture book debut is as satisfying & refreshing as the rain she describes. With paintings that are exuberant & saturated with colour & simple text that rolls off the tongue with pleasure & ease, here is a book parents & teachers will enjoy sharing again & again. ...

Rain Later, Good is the award winning story of Peter Collyer`s extraordinary journey around the Shipping Forecast areas. The Shipping Forecast is a national institution, relied upon by mariners but also strangely comforting & poetic to landlubbers. Published in 1998 to great acclaim, Rain Later, Good was chosen by the RNLI to celebrate their 175th anniversary, & has since sold over 25, 000 copies. Fifteen years later, this gorgeous book will be available in paperback for the first time, completely revised & updated, with several new paintings. Peter Collyer`s brilliant & detailed paintings offer a series of images which help conjure up the most mythical locations, whilst his delightful idiosyncratic text provides a wealth of fascinating insights. He introduces us to the people who live & work in these areas, & passes on snippets of tantalising information to give a powerful impression of the place & convey a real feeling of being there. The beautiful paintings from his travels truly capture the spirit of these wild & isolated spots, & this new edition

Includes:: new paintings, sketches & up to date text. This is a much-loved book celebrating an iconic broadcast, & its reissue will be welcomed by Peter`s many admirers. `A very remarkable painter. His work is simply stunning with an observed intensity which makes him very special indeed.` Chris Beetles in The Daily Telegraph ` The most delightful & unexpected book I`ve encountered this year...a wonderful book.` John Naughton, The Times ` He is not only a marvellous, delicate draughtsman & watercolourist...but a drily observant writer & amateur naturalist.` Libby Purves

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” Rain Over Madrid” is a collection of four novella-length stories where intense loneliness & desire guide an alienated cast of characters. In ” Fatherhood, ” a Madrid musician recognizes his inability to communicate with his estranged son. In the claustrophobic ” Guile, ” a middle-aged woman is weighed down by memories as she cares for her elderly mother. A young woman`s emerging sexuality clashes with her father`s womanizing in ” Fidelity.” &, in ” Shopping, ” a daughter emotionally stunted by the tyranny of her mother recognizes & identifies with the helplessness of an apprehended shoplifter. What isn`t said is as important as what is in these poignant depictions of repression & guilt-each of the four stories illuminates the others. ...

This is an evocative meditation on the English landscape in wet weather by the acclaimed novelist & nature writer, Melissa Harrison. Whenever rain falls, our countryside changes. Fields, farms, hills & hedgerows appear altered, the wildlife behaves differently, & over time the terrain itself is transformed. In Rain, Melissa Harrison explores our relationship with the weather as she follows the course of four rain showers, in four seasons, across Wicken Fen, Shropshire, the Darent Valley & Dartmoor. Blending these expeditions with reading, research, memory & imagination, she reveals how rain is not just an essential element of the world around us, but a key part of our own identity too. ...

A wonderful meditation on the English landscape in wet weather by the acclaimed novelist & nature writer, Melissa Harrison. Whenever rain falls, our countryside changes. Fields, farms, hills & hedgerows appear altered, the wildlife behaves differently, & over time the terrain itself is transformed. In Rain, Melissa Harrison explores our relationship with the weather as she follows the course of four rain showers, in four seasons, across Wicken Fen, Shropshire, the Darent Valley & Dartmoor. Blending these expeditions with reading, research, memory & imagination, she reveals how rain is not just an essential element of the world around us, but a key part of our own identity too. ...

Ren Ishida is nearly finished with graduate school when he receives news of his sister, Keiko`s, sudden death. She was viciously stabbed one rainy night on her way home, & there are no leads. Ren heads to Akakawa to conclude his sister`s affairs, still failing to understand why she chose to abandon the family & Tokyo for this desolate town years ago. As he comes to know the figures in Akakawa, from the enigmatic politician to his fellow teachers & a rebellious, alluring student named Rio, Ren delves into his shared childhood with Keiko & what followed, trying to piece together what happened the night of her death. Haunted in his dreams by a young girl who is desperately trying to tell him something, Ren struggles to find solace in the void his sister has left behind. ...