Since the epic tale of his survival in the Andes, recounted in Touching the Void, Simpson has lived a life full of adventure but haunted by death. Insisting that he played a simple game on a dangerous stage because it seemed the best way of living, Simpson analyses his fascination with the mountains. Simultaneously enticed & intimidated, fascinated & repelled he examines what compels people to put themselves at risk. Confronted by the loss of close friends, Simpson is forced to question the appeal of the exhilarating sport to which he has devoted his life. The book is full of biographical detail & Simpson writes better than any other climber on both the appeal of mountaineering & the darker side of the sport. After the particularly painful loss of a close friend, he decides to turn his back on the mountains he loves, having completed one final check-list of classic ascents, culminating in a catarthic finale on the North Face of the Eiger. ...

An astonishing historical novel set in the shadowy, magical forests of South America, which draws on the captivating world of the international bestseller The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Deep in uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a forest. The shrine statues move, & anyone who crosses the border dies. But somewhere inside are cinchona trees, whose bark yields quinine: the only known treatment for malaria. On the other side of the Pacific, it is 1859 & India is ravaged by the disease. The hunt for a reliable source of quinine is critical & in its desperation, the India Office searches out its last qualified expeditionary. Struggling with a terrible injury from his last mission & the strange occurrences at his family`s ruined estate, Merrick Tremayne finds himself under orders to bring back cinchona cuttings at any cost & dispatched, against his own better judgement, to Bedlam. There he meets Raphael, a priest around whom the villagers spin unsettlingly familiar stories of impossible disappearances & living stone. Gradually, he realises that Raphael is the key to a legacy left by two generations of Tremayne explorers before him, one which will prove more dangerous & valuable than the India Office could ever have imagined. ...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE`S ENCORE AWARD 2018LONGLISTED FOR THE WALTER SCOTT PRIZE 2018`A sheer fantastical delight` The Times` Epic` New York Times` An immense treat` Observer Books of the Year`A fast-paced adventure story` i ` Magical` Sunday Express In uncharted Peru, the holy town of Bedlam stands at the edge of a mysterious forest. Deep within are cinchona trees, whose bark yields the only known treatment for malaria. In 1859, across the Pacific, India is ravaged by the disease. In desperation, the India Office dispatches the injured expeditionary Merrick Tremayne to Bedlam, under orders to return with cinchona cuttings. But there he meets Raphael, an enigmatic priest who is the key to a secret which will prove more valuable than they could ever have imagined. ...

The Bedside Book of Beasts blends the best writing about lions, tigers, leopards, cheetahs, jaguars, hyenas, bears, wolves & other alpha predators & their prey with a wealth of extraordinary illustration. Among the writers included are: as Simon Armitage, Margaret Atwood, Walter Benjamin, Italo Calvino, Angela Carter, Bruce Chatwin, Gerald Durrell, Henri Fabre, E.M. Forster, Jean Giono, Zbigniew Herbert, W. H. Hudson, Ted Hughes, Franz Kafka, Galway Kinnell, Rudyard Kipling, Barry Lopez, Konrad Lorenz, Haruki Murakami, Robert Musil, Theodore Roosevelt, Leo Tolstoy & Laurens van der Post. Among the illustrations are: prehistoric cave paintings, the work of Audubon, Robert Bateman, William Blake, Mark Catesby, Francisco de Goya, Thomas Landseer, Rene Magritte, Peter Paul Rubens & Henri Rousseau, & outstanding wildlife photography. The Bedside Book of Beasts is a captivating celebration of wild animals
- both the hunters & the hunted
- that draws on folk tales & parables as the work of well known writers, & asks fascinating questions as to whether without an alpha predator there can ever be true wilderness & crucially explores how the balance of nature was disturbed when man first learnt to kill at a distance.

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It was a year that started dramatically & just kept on delivering more shocks. The inauguration of President Trump; the continuing fallout of Brexit; tensions in Syria, North Korea & Afghanistan; a terror attack on Westminster; a surprise general election. It was a year in which fake news itself made the headlines, yet one in which cool, calm & perceptive analysis was more essential than ever. Here, the Bedside Guardian rounds up the best journalism of 2017, in a collection that follows the main news events of the year but is also unafraid to meander into quirkier, more offbeat waters. Showcasing the intelligent wit & thought-provoking opinions for which the paper is famous, this is essential reading for those of us attempting to make sense of a fast-changing world. ...

Bees play a vital & irreplaceable role in pollinating our flowers, fruits & vegetables. The more bees in your garden the healthier, more productive & more pleasant a place it will be. Yet bees are declining rapidly & many people, even if they do not wish to keep bees themselves, are asking what can be done on an individual basis to help the bee. This book is a response to that request. It will demonstrate in one accessible volume how each of us can play our part in providing a bee-friendly environment, no matter how much gardening space and/or time we may have. It
Includes::
- How bees forage, what bees you can expect to find in your garden & what plants are best for them.
- Why honey bees are so important; what they need to thrive & how they detect & access those requirements; & what varieties of plants are best suited to provide those needs.
- How the gardener can offer & maintain a bee-friendly garden, followed by a season-by-season account of what beefriendly plants are in flower & when, & what jobs the gardener can be doing during these times to help bees thrive.- A `gazetteer` of selected bee-friendly plants, arranged by type of plant in seasonal sub-sections.
- Illustrative, practical planting plans, including a culinary herb garden, a potager, a wild flower garden, & a `3 seasons` traditional border.




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Eyes with more than 6, 000 separate lenses; bodies so hairy that they attract pollen by static; the ability to communicate by dancing...bee stats are endlessly engrossing. & the bee is as important to the production of human food as any machine; without the bees to pollinate them, most of our crops would be dead in the field. So how did this furry little workaholic come to be so crucial to the planet? The Bee: A Natural History answers that question & many more, looking at bee development from 65 million years ago to today, when over 20, 000 bee species have been identified & beekeeping is enjoying a surge in popularity. Exploring evolution, anatomy, society, behaviour, & the human factor, & presenting a visual directory of 40 bee breeds alongside practical fact panels, this is the book that will become a buzz word for every keeper, student, or lover of bees. ...

In The Beekeeper of Sinjar, the acclaimed poet & journalist Dunya Mikhail tells the harrowing stories of women from across Iraq who have managed to escape the clutches of ISIS. Since 2014, ISIS has been persecuting the Yazidi people, killing or enslaving those who won`t convert to Islam. These women have lost their families & loved ones, along with everything they`ve ever known. Dunya Mikhail weaves together the women`s tales of endurance & near-impossible escape with the story of her own exile & her dreams for the future of Iraq. In the midst of ISIS`s reign of terror & hatred, an unlikely hero has emerged: the Beekeeper. Once a trader selling his mountain honey across the region, when ISIS came to Sinjar he turned his knowledge of the local terrain to another, more dangerous use. Along with a secret network of transporters, helpers, & former bootleggers, Abdullah Shrem smuggles brutalised Yazidi women to safety through the war-torn landscapes of Iraq, Syria, & Eastern Turkey. This powerful work of literary nonfiction offers a counterpoint to ISIS`s genocidal extremism: hope, as ordinary people risk torture & death to save the lives of others. ...

Your drinking companion to over 1, 700 beers from around the world. The Beer Book is a comprehensive guide to the best beers in the world, exploring more beers than any other book. Beer, the drink to taste, savour, talk about & travel for. Explore its astonishing variety & rapidly expanding new tastes
- thirst-quenching lagers, ”meal-in-a-glass” stouts, peppery white beers, tangy fruit-based brews, & classic ales & bitters
- with this updated guide to every good beer in the world. Tim Hampson, Chairman of the British Guild of Beer Writers, takes you from Brazil to Slovakia, Japan to Belgium, to features every significant brewery in every significant brewing nation. Visit over 800 breweries, such as Guinness or Kronenburg & read detailed tasting notes for over 1, 700 beers from a team of local specialists. Whet your appetite with five beer trails with trail maps that take you round key beer regions to experience the best breweries & brewpubs. With this updated edition of The Beer Book (previous ISBN 9781405333016) you can discover all the best beers of the world, which brands of beers to try & how best to enjoy them, with brews that are anything but `a pint of the usual`. It is a perfect gift for beer lovers.

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Join award-winning beer writer Mark Dredge on his search for the world`s best beer adventures & experiences. This collection of over 150 unmissable beer experiences features the world`s greatest beers, bars, breweries & events: it`s the ultimate bucket list for every beer lover. Combining travel, city guides, food & history, The Beer Bucket List takes you around the globe, via traditional old British pubs, quirky Belgian bars, brilliant Bavarian brauhauses, spots to enjoy delicious food & beer, the hop gardens of New Zeal&, Southeast Asia`s buzzing streets, amazing beer festivals, unique beer styles, pioneering breweries & the best new craft brewers. This is any beer lover`s must-read book about the most essential beer experiences on the planet. ...