` As if Bill Bryson had taken to two wheels` FTSomewhere in a German forest 200 years ago, during the darkest, wettest summer for centuries, the story of cycling began. The calls to ban it were more or less immediate. Re: Cyclists is the tale of the following two centuries. It tells how cycling became a kinky vaudeville act for Parisians, how it was the basis of an American business empire to rival Henry Ford`s, & how it found a unique home in the British Isles. The Victorian love of cycling started with penny-farthing riders, who explored lonely roads that had been left abandoned by the coming of the railways. Then high-society took to it
- in the 1980s the glittering parties of the London Season featured bicycles dancing in the ballroom, & every member of the House of Lords rode a bike. Twentieth-century cycling was very different, & even more popular. It became the sport & the pastime of millions of ordinary people who wanted to escape the city smog, or to experience the excitement of a weekend`s racing. Cycling offered adventure & independence in the good times, & consolation during the war years & the Great Depression. Re: Cyclists tells the story of cycling`s glories & also of its despairs, of how it only just avoided extinction in the motoring boom of the 1960s. & finally, at the dawn of the 21st century, it celebrates how cycling rose again
- a little different, a lot more fashionable, but still about the same simple pleasures that it always has been: the wind in your face & the thrill of two-wheeled freedom.

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In 1931, at the age of 21, Douglas Bader was the golden boy of the RAF. Excelling in everything he did he represented the Royal Air Force in aerobatics displays, played rugby for Harlequins, & was tipped to be the next England fly half. But one afternoon in December all his ambitions came to an abrupt end when he crashed his plane doing a particularly difficult & illegal aerobatic trick. His injuries were so bad that surgeons were forced to amputate both his legs to save his life. Douglas Bader did not fly again until the outbreak of the Second World War, when his undoubted skill in the air was enough to convince a desperate air force to give him his own squadron. The rest of his story is the stuff of legend. Flying Hurricanes in the Battle of Britain he led his squadron to kill after kill, keeping them all going with his unstoppable banter. Shot down in occupied France, his German captors had to confiscate his tin legs in order to stop him trying to escape. Bader faced it all, disability, leadership & capture, with the same charm, charisma & determination that was an inspiration to all around him. ...

Warning: Contains Spoliers. On September 1, 1994, Lee Child went out to buy the paper to start writing his first novel, in pencil. The result was Killing Floor, which introduced his hero Jack Reacher. Twenty years later, on September 1, 2014, he began writing Make Me, the twentieth novel in his number-one- bestselling Reacher series. Same day, same writer, same hero. The difference, this time, was that he had someone looking over his shoulder. Andy Martin, uber Reacher fan, Cambridge academic, expert on existentialism, & dedicated surfer, sat behind Lee Child in his office & watched him as he wrote. While Lee was writing his Reacher book, Andy was writing about the making of Make Me. Reacher Said Nothing is a book about a guy writing a book. An instant meta-book. It crosses genres, by bringing a high-level critical approach to a popular text, & gives a fascinating insight into the art of writing a thriller, showing the process in real time. It may well be the first of its kind. [ Spoiler alert: if you haven`t read Make Me yet, this book contains spoilers]. ...

What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? In this gripping & illuminating book, Dr Allan Ropper reveals the extraordinary stories behind some of the life-altering afflictions that he & his staff are confronted with at the Neurology Unit of Harvard`s Brigham & Women`s Hospital. Like Alice in Wonderl&, Dr Ropper inhabits a place where absurdities abound: a sportsman who starts spouting gibberish; an undergraduate who suddenly becomes psychotic; a mother who has to decide whether a life locked inside her own head is worth living. How does one begin to treat such cases, to counsel people whose lives may be changed forever? Dr Ropper answers these questions by taking the reader into a world where lives & minds hang in the balance. ...

This is one of a series in which each book contains flaps & fold-outs, & is accompanied by a sheet of reusable stickers. Readers can turn a disc to see which stars are in view on a particular day of the year, & how travellers once used the positions of the stars to find their way. The book covers the Moon
- its orbit, what happens during an eclipse, & exploration
- as well as the planets & all the other space bodies that make up the solar system. It also looks at the work of astronomers.

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This book demystifies the writing process, empowering you to write your own novel or short story. The author explains expert technique in a clear & jargon-free way, with examples from twenty-five masters of prose. For aspiring writers of all ages & abilities, Read This If You Want to Be a Great Writer will motivate & strengthen your writing talent. ...

So you`ve got an Instagram account, you`re posting pictures, but your follower count has flatlined. Read This If You Want to Be Instagram Famous holds the answers to fixing up your feed & finding thousands of new followers. Packed with the essential secrets of the hottest Instagrammers around, the book features tips covering photographic techniques, captioning, codes of conduct, kit & managing your account. Put the advice into practice & soon you too will be hailed as an Instagram icon. ...

Photography is now more popular than ever thanks to the rapid development of digital cameras. Read This If You Want to Take Great Photographs is for this new wave of DSLR dabblers & amateur snapshooters. It contains no graphs, no techie diagrams & no camera-club jargon. Instead, it inspires readers through iconic images & playful copy packed with hands-on tips. Split into five sections, the book covers composition, exposure, light, lenses, & the art of seeing. Masterpieces by acclaimed photographers including Henri Cartier- Bresson, Sebastiao Salgado, Fay Godwin, Nadav Kander, Daido Moriyama & Martin Parr serve to illustrate points & encourage readers to try out new ideas. Todays aspiring photographers want immediacy & see photography as an affordable way of expressing themselves quickly & creatively. This handbook meets their needs, teaching them how to take photographs using professional techniques. ...

From the author of the best-selling Read This If You Want To Take Great Photographs series, this jargon-free introduction covers all aspects of photographing places, including landscapes, cityscapes, architecture & interiors. Whatever your camera, whatever your interest, whatever your level, this indispensable guide gives you all the essential techniques & demystifies the work of acclaimed photographers. Packed with practical tips & iconic images, this accessible book will arm you with the know-how you need to take meaningful pictures of the places that matter to you most. Featuring 50 master photographers, including Alec Soth, Martin Parr, Robert Adams, Todd Hido, Rut Blees Luxemburg, Julius Shulman, Rinko Kawauchi, Thomas Ruff, Tim Hetherington & Joel Sternfeld. ...

A beautiful homage to the art of reading
- light & funny. A celebration of the union of sensuality & language. Marie-Constance
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