A writer discovers a set of notes in his notebook & sets off on a journey through the Paris of his past, in search of the woman he loved forty years previously. Set in the Montparnasse district of Paris, the author, Jean, retraces his nocturnal footsteps around the left bank during France`s period of decolonisation during the 1960`s. He tries to remember what brought him into contact with a gang that frequented the hotel Unic in the area. His quest through seedy cafes & cheap hotels becomes an enquiry into a woman, Dannie, whom Jean loved & who once tried to admit to a terrible crime. Over the course of several voyages between past & present, we meet various shady characters, & discover that Dannie may have killed ”someone”. As his memories overlap with the discovery of an old vice squad dossier, Jean reinvestigates the closed case of a crime where he could well be the last remaining witness. ...

The frozen body of a woman is found in a fishing ark on the ice near Tornetrask in northern Sweden. She has been brutally tortured, but the killing blow was clumsy, almost amateur. The body is quickly identified, raising hopes of an open-&-shut solution. But when a six-month-old suicide is disinterred, Rebecka Martinsson & Anna-Maria Mella find themselves investigating shocking corruption at the heart of one of Sweden`s most successful mining companies. One that has powerful enemies of its own. ...

`A clear-eyed & thrilling vision of the man behind the legend` DAN JONES. In 1346, at the age of sixteen, he won his spurs at Crecy; nine years later he conducted a brutal raid across Languedoc; in 1356 he captured the king of France at Poitiers; as lord of Aquitaine he ruled a vast swathe of southwestern France. He was Edward of Woodstock, eldest son of Edward III, but better known to posterity as `the Black Prince`. Michael Jones tells the remarkable story of a great warrior-prince
- & paints an unforgettable portrait of warfare & chivalry in the late Middle Ages.
...

”A spectacular, elegant, brilliant portrait of skulduggery, murder & sex in Renaissance Florence.” (Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard, Books of the Year). 1531
- after years of brutal war & political intrigue, the bastard son of a Medici Duke & a ” Half-negro” maidservant rides into Florence. Within a year, he rules the city as its Prince. Backed by the Pope & his future father-in-law the Holy Roman Emperor, the nineteen-year-old Alessandro faces down bloody family rivalry & the scheming hostility of Italy`s oligarchs to reassert the Medicis` faltering grip on the turbulent city-state. Six years later, as he awaits an adulterous liaison, he will be murdered by his cousin in another man`s bed. ” Nothing in sixteenth-century history is more astonishing.” (Hilary Mantel).
...

” Nothing in sixteenth-century history is more astonishing than the career of Alessandro de` Medici”. (Hilary Mantel). In The Black Prince of Florence, a dramatic tale of assassination, spies & betrayal, the first retelling of Alessandro`s life in two-hundred years opens a window onto the opulent, cut-throat world of Renaissance Italy. The year is 1531. After years of brutal war & political intrigue, the bastard son of a Medici Duke & a `half-negro` maidservant rides into Florence. Within a year, he rules the city as its Prince. Backed by the Pope & his future father-in-law the Holy Roman Emperor, the nineteen-year-old Alessandro faces down bloody family rivalry & the scheming hostility of Italy`s oligarchs to reassert the Medicis` faltering grip on the turbulent city-state. Six years later, as he awaits an adulterous liaison, he will be murdered by his cousin in another man`s bed. From dazzling palaces & Tuscan villas to the treacherous backstreets of Florence & the corridors of papal power, the story of Alessandro`s spectacular rise, magnificent reign & violent demise takes us deep beneath the surface of power in Renaissance Italy
- a glamorous but deadly realm of spies, betrayal & vendetta, illicit sex & fabulous displays of wealth, where the colour of one`s skin meant little but the strength of one`s allegiances meant everything.
...

Frederick Bruce Thomas is not a famous man. His life does not feature in the history books, it has not been translated to film or stage. & yet, in his own way, Frederick Thomas is one of the most remarkable characters of the twentieth century. After the brutal murder of his father, Thomas fled his home for Europe. Through his own ingenuity, he mastered the languages & cultures that he found there, moving from London to Monte Carlo before settling in the imperial decadence of pre-revolution Moscow. There against a backdrop of European war, Thomas became a rich & respected member of the bourgeoisie, married, became a millionaire through bootleg vodka, remarried, gave up his American citizenship & fled in penury before the bloody October Revolution. All of this as the third son of former slaves. ...

Based on previously published cruising notes this guide provides sailing directions for all the countries surrounding the Black Sea. Packed with useful background information & supported by the RCCPF’s access to the latest & often changing information this is an essential companion for anyone venturing north from the Bosphorus. ...

The lands surrounding the Black Sea share a colourful past. Though in recent decades they have experienced ethnic conflict, economic collapse, & interstate rivalry, their common heritage & common interests go deep. Now, as a region at the meeting point of the Balkans, Central Asia, & the Middle East, the Black Sea is more important than ever. In this lively & entertaining book, which is based on extensive research in multiple languages, Charles King investigates the myriad connections that have made the Black Sea more of a bridge than a boundary, linking religious communities, linguistic groups, empires, & later, nations & states. ...

A condensed guide to life from the bestselling author of ” The Black Swan”, Nassim Nicholas Taleb`s ” The Bed of Procrustes” is an invaluable collection of aphorisms navigate the modern world. Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable? In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance & erudition against modern philistinism & phoniness. Only by accepting what we don`t know, he shows, can we see the world as it really is. ” Happily provocative.. .blistering.. .his observations concern superiority, wealth, suckerdom, academia, modernity, technology & the all-purpose, ignorant ”they”.. .very"able”. (” The New York Times”). ”A master philosopher”. (” The Times”). ” Taleb`s crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems”. (” Financial Times”). ” Opinionated & witty... It showcases his wit & learning, & provides ways to fillet his enemies”. (” Independent on Sunday”). Nassim Nicholas Taleb spends most of his time as a flaneur, meditating in cafes across the planet.A former trader, he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University. He is the author of ” Fooled by Randomness” & ” The Black Swan”, an international bestseller which has become an intellectual, social, & cultural touchstone. ...

Formed into a regiment in 1739 & named for the dark tartan of its soldiers` kilts, The Black Watch has fought in almost every major conflict of nation & empire between 1745 & the present, & has a reputation second to none. Following on from The Highland Furies, in which she traced the regiment`s history to 1899, Victoria Schofield tells the story of The Black Watch in the 20th & 21st centuries. She tracks its fortunes through the 2nd South African War, two World Wars, the `troubles` in Northern Ireland & the war in Iraq
- up to The Black Watch`s merger with five other regiments to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006. Drawing on diaries, letters & interviews, Victoria Schofield weaves the many strands of the story into an epic narrative of a heroic body of officers & men. In her sure hands, the story of The Black Watch is no arid recitation of campaigns & battle honours, but a rewarding account of the fortunes of war of a regiment that has played a distinguished role in British, & world, history.
...