Palermo, 1783: The barons pursue their feuds & petty plotting. Their wives indulge in forbidden French novels. & the porcine abbot Vella, eager to curry favour with Naples, `invents` an ancient Arabic chronicle, The Council of Egypt, that enhances the rights of some families, rewriting Sicilian history. Over the ironies of plot & character, hangs the crueller irony of history. In the evocation of a country, its people & its traditions, this is Sciascia`s largest & most vivid canvas. ...

Thrown in prison for a crime he has not committed, Edmond Dantes is confined to the grim fortress of If. There he learns of a great hoard of treasure hidden on the Isle of Monte Cristo & becomes determined not only to escape but to unearth the treasure & use it to plot the destruction of the three men responsible for his incarceration. A huge popular success when it was first serialized in the 1840s, Dumas was inspired by a real-life case of wrongful imprisonment when writing his epic tale of suffering & retribution. ...

Imprisoned for a crime he didn`t commit, Edmond Dantes spends fourteen bitter years in a dungeon. When his daring escape plan works he uses all he has learnt during his incarceration to mastermind an elaborate plan of revenge that will bring punishment to those he holds responsible for his fate. No longer the naive sailor who disappeared into the dark fortress all those years ago, he reinvents himself as the charming, mysterious & powerful Count of Monte Cristo. ...

` It`s only after our death that we shall really be able to hear`. The measured tone of hopeless nihilism that pervades ” The Counterfeiters” quickly shatters any image of Andre Gide as the querulous & impious Buddha to a quarter-century of intellectuals. In sharp & brilliant prose a seedy, cynical & gratuitously alarming narrative is developed, involving a wide range of otherwise harmless & mainly middle-to-upper-class Parisians. But the setting could be anywhere. From puberty through adolescence to death, ” The Counterfeiters” is a rare encyclopedia of human disorder, weakness & despair. ...

The unique beauty of the British countryside has been celebrated down the ages in music, poetry, & art. It has also been celebrated in countless private diaries. This delightful treasury gathers together the very finest
- from Rev Gilbert White`s journal of life at his famous home in Selborne to Beatrix Potter`s holiday diaries from Perthshire. Elsewhere, the thoughts of Dorothy Wordsworth & John Fowles rub shoulders with the words of Queen Victoria, Siegfried Sassoon & Roger Deakin. Together, these private records, which have been arranged as a diary of the calendar year, paint a rich & surprising portrait of a landscape & a life we think we know so well.
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A stunning new colouring book for adults, that will take you through a year in the life of the English countryside. Nearly ...

It is the early 1960s in a country village in Irel&. Caithleen Brady & her attractive friend Baba are on the verge of womanhood & dreaming of spreading their wings in a wider world; of discovering love & luxury & liquor & above all, fun. With bawdy innocence, shrewd for all their inexperience, the girls romp their way through convent school to the bright lights of Dublin
- where Caithleen finds that suave, idealised lovers rarely survive the real world`
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The Country Girls & its sequels, The Lonely Girl & Girls in their Married Bliss, changed the temperature of Irish literature in the 1960s & inspired generation after generation of readers & writers. The passion, artistry & courage of Edna O` Brien`s vision in these three novels continue to resonate into the twenty-first century
- & they are collected here with a new introduction from Eimear Mc Bride.
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Spanning the architectural history of the country house from the disarming Elizabethan charm of South Wraxall, the classical rigour of Kinross in Scotl&, the majesty & ingenuity of Hawksmoor`s Easton Neston, the Palladian sweep of Wentworth Woodhouse, with over 300 rooms & frontage of 600 feet, the imperial exuberance of Clandeboye, through to the ebullient vitality of Lutyens` Marshcourt, the stories of these houses tell the story of our nation. All are the are buildings of the greatest architectural interest, each with a fascinating human story to tell, & all remain private homes that are closed to the public. But their owners have opened their doors & allowed Dan Cruickshank to roam the corridors & rummage in the cellars as he teases out the story of each house
- who built them, the generations who lived in them, & the families who lost them. Along the way he has uncovered tales of excess & profligacy, tragedy, comedy, power & ambition. & as these intriguing narratives take shape, Dan shows how the story of each house is inseparable from the social & economic history of Britain. Each one is built as a wave of economic development crests, or crumbles. Each one`s architecture & design is thus expressive of the aims, strengths & frailties of those who built them. Together they plot the psychological, economic & social route map of our country`s ruling class in a rich new telling of our island story.
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A range of beautiful illustrations to colour in, personalise & make your own, these exquisite artworks by Amy Jane Adams are a wonderful way to unleash your creativity. The artist has explored the length & breadth of Britain to uncover Britain`s hidden countryside gems, & these intricate designs showcase the wonderful world of the country house
- from sprawling Edwardian mansion Polesden Lacey & romantic Lindisfarne castle to modernist masterpiece The Homewood & romantic cottages such as Hill Top. Each artwork explores the interior or exterior of the property, decorating each with the patterns & treasures that can be found inside & incorporating unique details from the history of the house & its inhabitants. This fascinating collection is an imaginative & fun way to explore Britain`s country houses & bring the history of these properties to colourful life.
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