As seen on TV: now a major BBC4 television series. Inspector Montalbano is awake at dawn, sitting on his porch, when his attention is caught by a seagull which falls from the sky, performing a strange dance, before lying down to die. Montalbano is perplexed by what he has witnessed & the scene hangs over him like an omen. About to depart for a holiday with his girlfriend Livia, Montalbano makes a quick trip to the police station to tie up loose ends. But when his dear colleague Fazio is discovered missing -- & it transpires that the policeman has been involved in his own secret investigations -- Montalbano instead launches a desperate search for his lost friend, as time begins to run out.. . Navigating a shadowy maze of smuggling, blackmail & the darkest murder, & moving from the docks of Vigata to its deep, dry wells where the mafia hide their terrible crimes, Inspector Montalbano must have his wits about him to unravel this tangled mystery. ...

As seen on TV: now a major BBC4 television series. Inspector Montalbano is awake at dawn, sitting on his porch, when his attention is caught by a seagull which falls from the sky, performing a strange dance, before lying down to die. Montalbano is perplexed by what he has witnessed & the scene hangs over him like an omen. About to depart for a holiday with his girlfriend Livia, Montalbano makes a quick trip to the police station to tie up loose ends. But when his dear colleague Fazio is discovered missing -- & it transpires that the policeman has been involved in his own secret investigations -- Montalbano instead launches a desperate search for his lost friend, as time begins to run out.. . Navigating a shadowy maze of smuggling, blackmail & the darkest murder, & moving from the docks of Vigata to its deep, dry wells where the mafia hide their terrible crimes, Inspector Montalbano must have his wits about him to unravel this tangled mystery. ...

The city of Simenon`s youth comes to life in this new translation of this disturbing novel set in Liege, book ten in the new Penguin Maigret series. In the darkness, the main room is as vast as a cathedral. A great empty space. Some warmth is still seeps from the radiators. Delfosse strikes a match. They stop a moment to catch their breath, & work out how far they have still to go. & suddenly the match falls to the ground, as Delfosse gives a sharp cry & rushes back towards the washroom door. In the dark, he loses his way, returns & bumps into Chabot. Maigret observes from a distance as two boys are accused of killing a rich foreigner in Liege. Their loyalty, which binds them together through their adventures, is put to the test, & seemingly irrelevant social differences threaten their friendship & their freedom. Penguin is publishing the entire series of Maigret novels. ” Compelling, remorseless, brilliant”. (John Gray). ” One of the greatest writers of the twentieth century... Simenon was unequalled at making us look inside, though the ability was masked by his brilliance at absorbing us obsessively in his stories”. (Guardian). ”A supreme writer.. .unforgettable vividness”. (Independent). Georges Simenon was born in Liege, Belgium, in 1903. Best known in Britain as the author of the Maigret books, his prolific output of over 400 novels & short stories have made him a household name in continental Europe. He died in 1989 in Lausanne, Switzerl&, where he had lived for the latter part of his life. ...

This novel explores one of the most astonishing stories in the whole history of twentieth century terrorism. Colonel Rejas was the policeman charged with the task of capturing the Peruvian guerrilla leader Ezequiel, but having been dismissed he finds the burden of silence & secrecy too heavy. On meeting Dyer, a foreign correspondent, he is moved to relate the tortuous progress of the manhunt for the first time. The Dancer Upstairs is a story reminiscent of Graham Greene & John le Carre
- tense, intricate & heartbreaking.
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The Danes, in the Xenophobe guide series; consisting of a range of pocket-sized guides which take a humorous & irreverent approach to a wide range of world cultures. Each guide explores the characteristics of a country’s people in a series of dedicated sections, encompassing nationalism & identity, behaviour, manners, character, obsessions, beliefs & values, leisure & pleasure, culture, custom & tradition, business, systems, health & hygiene, crime & punishment, government & bureaucracy, conversation & gestures & language. Written in a wholly irreverent style, Xenophobes guides attempt to forewarn readers of the main stereotypes & foibles that are associated with individual nationalities. ...

Conn Iggulden’s Dangerous Book for Boys is destined to become a publishing classic. Writing for Harper Collins in his first non-fiction work, Iggulden writes with the verve & passion that his readers have come to expect. This book has been written with his brother as a celebration of the long summers of their youth & as a compendium of information so vital to men of all ages. Lavishly designed & fully illustrated in colour & black & white throughout, it is a wonderful gift for any occasion & for father or son. Dealing with activities as diverse as thrashing someone at conkers, racing your own go-cart, & identify the best"ations from Shakespearem, Iggulden provides the answers! The Dangerous Book for Boys gives you facts & figures at your fingertips
- swot up on the solar system, learn about famous battles & read inspiring stories of incredible courage & bravery. Teach your old dog new tricks. Make a pinhole camera. Understand the laws of cricket. If ever there was a book to make you switch off your television set, The Dangerous Book for Boys is it. There`s a whole world out there: with this book, anyone can get out & explore it. The book features chapters on The Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, Conkers, Laws of Football, Dinosaurs, Fishing, Juggling, Timers & Tripwires, Kings & Queens, Famous Battles, Spies, Making Crystals, Insects & Spiders, Astronomy, Girls, The Golden Age of Piracy, Secret Inks, Patron Saints of Britain, Skimming Stones, Dog Tricks, Making a Periscope, Coin Tricks, Marbles, Artillery, The Origin of Words & The Solar System.
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A little girl is transported with the help of magic glasses from the tedium of a summer afternoon into an exciting world of mangrove swamps, spluttering volcanoes & sea where birds fly upside down & wild things threaten to pounce. But she is not alone. Old friends from Moomin Valley
- Hemulen, Sniff, Snufkin, Thingummy & Bob
- have joined her in her journey, & Moomin too, who rides to their rescue in a stripey balloon. This brand new version of a `lost classic` pairs Jansson`s irresistible artwork with a playful rhyming text by one of Britain`s star poets.

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The Danish Girl is now a major motion picture starring Eddie Redmayne & Alicia Vikander, directed by Tom Hooper. Loosely inspired by a true story, this tender portrait of marriage asks: What do you do when the person you love has to change? It starts with a question, a simple favour asked by a wife of her husband while both are painting in their studio, setting off a transformation neither can anticipate. Uniting fact & fiction into an original romantic vision, The Danish Girl eloquently portrays the unique intimacy that defines every marriage & the remarkable story of Lili Elbe, a pioneer in transgender history, & the woman torn between loyalty to her marriage & her own ambitions & desires. The Danish Girl is an evocative & deeply moving novel about one of the most passionate & unusual love stories of the 20th century. ...

Boston. 1865. A small group of elite scholars prepares to introduce Dante`s vision of hell to America. But so does a murderer. The literary geniuses of the Dante Club
- poets & Harvard professors Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell & publisher J. T. Fields
- are finishing America`s first translation of The Divine Comedy. The powerful old guard of Harvard College wants to keep Dante in obscurity, believing that the infiltration of such foreign superstitions will prove as corrupting as the immigrants invading Boston Harbor. The members of the Dante Club fight to keep their sacred literary cause alive, but their plans fall apart when a series of murders erupts through Boston & Cambridge. Only this small group of scholars realises that the gruesome killings are modeled on the descriptions of Hell`s punishments from Dante`s Inferno. With the police baffled, lives endangered & Dante`s literary future at stake, the Dante Club must shed its sheltered literary existence & find a way to stop the killer.

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This practical guide to the River Danube starts at Passau & sails along the navigable stretch of the river, stopping off at the major cities & making side trips into the surrounding countryside along the way. From its source in southwest Germany, Europe ...