When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, & calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. Strike is a war veteran
- wounded both physically & psychologically
- & his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model`s complex world, the darker things get
- & the closer he gets to terrible danger.. .A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London
- from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho
- The Cuckoo`s Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.




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Now a major BBC drama: The Strike series When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, & calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. Strike is a war veteran
- wounded both physically & psychologically
- & his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model`s complex world, the darker things get
- & the closer he gets to terrible danger... A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London
- from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho
- The Cuckoo`s Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.




...

So Just who is the Fixie rider? It`s the buzz question that a lot of people want to know right now. If we`re to believe some, then the Fixie rider is a horribly spoilt late twenty something male of affluent background. He`s never been required to grow up & spends all of his pocket money on cool toys & fads in a never ending effort to be trendy. Cynics would say that the Fixie rider is a myth in the process of being invented by those people who want to sell stuff to rich kids; ie the brands. Through contemporary observation & the collaboration of those on the inside from Taiwan to New York, Brick Lane to Tokyo, 42x 12 gives a unique insight into whats going on at ground level. ...

Acclaimed by the Daily Mail as `definitive & harrowing`, this is the final volume of ` The People`s Trilogy`, begun by the Samuel Johnson prize-winning Mao`s Great Famine. After the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives between 1958 & 1962, an ageing Mao launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation & eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalist elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology. But the Chairman also used the Cultural Revolution to turn on his colleagues, some of them longstanding comrades-in-arms, subjecting them to public humiliation, imprisonment & torture. Young students formed Red Guards, vowing to defend the Chairman to the death, but soon rival factions started fighting each other in the streets with semi-automatic weapons in the name of revolutionary purity. As the country descended into chaos, the military intervened, turning China into a garrison state marked by bloody purges that crushed as many as one in fifty people. When the army itself fell victim to the Cultural Revolution, ordinary people used the political chaos to resurrect the marked & hollow out the party`s ideology. In short, they buried Maoism. In-depth interviews & archival research at last give voice to the people & the complex choices they faced, undermining the picture of conformity that is often understood to have characterised the last years of Mao`s regime. By demonstrating that decollectivisation from below was an unintended consequence of a decade of violent purges & entrenched fear, Frank Dikotter casts China`s most tumultuous era in a wholly new light. Written with unprecedented access to previously classified party documents from secret police reports to unexpurgated versions of leadership speeches, this third chapter in Frank Dikotter`s extraordinarily lucid & ground-breaking ` People`s Trilogy` is a devastating reassessment of the history of the People`s Republic of China. ...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN HESSELL-TILTMAN PRIZE 2017 After the economic disaster of the Great Leap Forward that claimed tens of millions of lives between 1958 & 1962, an ageing Mao launched an ambitious scheme to shore up his reputation & eliminate those he viewed as a threat to his legacy. The stated goal of the Cultural Revolution was to purge the country of bourgeois, capitalist elements he claimed were threatening genuine communist ideology. But the Chairman also used the Cultural Revolution to turn on his colleagues, some of them longstanding comrades-in-arms, subjecting them to public humiliation, imprisonment & torture. Young students formed Red Guards, vowing to defend the Chairman to the death, but soon rival factions started fighting each other in the streets with semi-automatic weapons in the name of revolutionary purity. As the country descended into chaos, the military intervened, turning China into a garrison state marked by bloody purges that crushed as many as one in fifty people. When the army itself fell victim to the Cultural Revolution, ordinary people used the political chaos to resurrect the marked & hollow out the party`s ideology. In short, they buried Maoism. In-depth interviews & archival research at last give voice to the people & the complex choices they faced, undermining the picture of conformity that is often understood to have characterised the last years of Mao`s regime. By demonstrating that decollectivisation from below was an unintended consequence of a decade of violent purges & entrenched fear, Frank Dikotter casts China`s most tumultuous era in a wholly new light. Written with unprecedented access to previously classified party documents from secret police reports to unexpurgated versions of leadership speeches, this third chapter in Frank Dikotter`s extraordinarily lucid & ground-breaking ` People`s Trilogy` is a devastating reassessment of the history of the People`s Republic of China. ...

Whether you work in a home office or abroad, business success in our ever more globalized & virtual world requires the skills to navigate through cultural differences & decode cultures foreign to your own. Renowned expert Erin Meyer is your guide through this subtle, sometimes treacherous terrain where people from starkly different backgrounds are expected to work harmoniously together. When you have Americans who precede anything negative with three nice comments; French, Dutch, Israelis, & Germans who get straight to the point (”your presentation was simply awful”); Latin Americans & Asians who are steeped in hierarchy; Scandinavians who think the best boss is just one of the crowd--the result can be, well, sometimes interesting, even funny, but often disastrous. Even with English as a global language, it`s easy to fall into cultural traps that endanger careers & sink deals when, say, a Brazilian manager tries to fathom how his Chinese suppliers really get things done, or an American team leader tries to get a handle on the intra-team dynamics between his Russian & Indian team members. In The Culture Map, Erin Meyer provides a field-tested model for decoding how cultural differences impact international business. She combines a smart analytical framework with practical, actionable advice for succeeding in a global world. ...

Foxy Du Bois is on a mission to get rich quick. Only one thing stands in her way
- Alphonso the Alligator! Can Foxy`s hair-brained
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Hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, typhoons
- we watch in horror before springing into action with aid & support, shocked again
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A first introduction to the natural world that looks at the myriad ways in which plants & animals have adapted to give themselves the best chance of survival. Natural World explores & explains why living things look & behave the way they do in a series of visually compelling information charts. ...

This is the ultimate guide to the history, science & cultural influence of coffee according to coffee aficionado & master storyteller Tristan Stephenson. You`ll explore the origins of coffee, the rise of the coffee house & the evolution of the cafe before discovering the varieties of coffee, & the alchemy responsible for transforming a humble bean into the world`s most popular drink. You`ll learn how to roast coffee at home in the fascinating Roasting section before delving into the Science & Flavour of Coffee & finding out how sweetness, bitterness, acidity & aroma all come together. You`ll then get to grips with grinding before learning about the history of the espresso machine & how to make the perfect espresso in the Espresso chapter. Discover how espresso & milk are a match made in heaven, yielding such treasures as the Latte, Cappuccino, Flat white & Macchiato; you`ll also find out how to pour your own Latte art. Other Brewing Methods features step-by-step guides to classic brewing techniques to bring the coffee to your table, from a Moka pot & a French press to Aeropress & Siphon brewing. Finally, why not treat yourself to one of Tristan`s expertly concocted recipes. From an Espresso Martini to a Pumpkin Spice Latte & Coffee Liqueur to Butter Coffee, this really is the essential anthology for the coffee enthusiast. ...