SS Obersturmfuhrer Paul Meissner arrives in Auschwitz from the Russian front. After being badly wounded he is fit only for administrative duty & his first & most pressing task is to improve flagging camp morale. He sets up a chess club which thrives, as the officers & enlisted men are allowed to gamble on the results of the games. However, when Meissner learns from a chance remark that chess is also played by the prisoners he hears of a Jewish watchmaker who is `unbeatable`. Meissner sets out to discover the truth behind this rumour & what he finds will haunt him to his death... ...

`A book worth reading` Andrew Marr, Sunday Times The Debatable Land was an independent territory which used to exist between Scotland & Engl&. At the height of its notoriety, it was the bloodiest region in Great Britain, fought over by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I & James V. After the Union of the Crowns, most of its population was slaughtered or deported & it became the last part of the country to be brought under the control of the state. Today, its history has been forgotten or ignored. When Graham Robb moved to a lonely house on the very edge of Engl&, he discovered that the river which almost surrounded his new home had once marked the Debatable Land`s southern boundary. Under the powerful spell of curiosity, Robb began a journey
- on foot, by bicycle & into the past
- that would uncover lost towns & roads, reveal the truth about this maligned patch of land & result in more than one discovery of major historical significance. Rich in detail & epic in scope, The Debatable Land takes us from a time when neither England nor Scotland could be imagined to the present day, when contemporary nationalism & political turmoil threaten to unsettle the cross-border community once more. Writing with his customary charm, wit & literary grace, Graham Robb proves the Debatable Land to be a crucial, missing piece in the puzzle of British history.
Includes: a 16-page colour plate section.


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For Winston Churchill the men & women at Bletchley Park were `the geese the laid the golden eggs`, providing important intelligence that led to the Allied victory in the Second World War. At the peak of Bletchley`s success, a total of twelve thousand people worked there of whom more than eight thousand were women. These included a former ballerina who helped to crack the Enigma Code; a debutante working for the Admiralty with a direct line to Churchill; the convent girl who operated the Bombes, the top secret machines that tested Enigma settings; & the German literature student whose codebreaking saved countless lives at D-Day. All these women were essential cogs in a very large machine, yet their stories have been kept secret. In The Debs of Bletchley Park & Other Stories author Michael Smith, trustee of Bletchley Park & chair of the Trust`s Historical Advisory Committee, tells their tale. Through interviews with the women themselves & unique access to the Bletchley Park archives, Smith reveals how they came to be there, the lives they gave up to do `their bit` for the war effort, & the part they played in the vital work of ` Station X`. They are an incredible set of women, & this is their story. ...

A seminal work of European literature that has inspired writers from Chaucer to Shakespeare, the ” Penguin Classics” edition of Giovanni Boccaccio`s ” The Decameron” is translated with an introduction by G.H. Mc William. In the summer of 1348, as the ” Black Death” ravages their city, ten young Florentines take refuge in the countryside. Taken from the Greek, meaning `ten-day event`, Boccaccio`s Decameron sees his characters amuse themselves by each telling a story a day, for the ten days of their confinement
- a hundred stories of love & adventure, life & death, & surprising twists of fate. Less preoccupied with abstract concepts of morality or religion than earthly values, the tales range from the bawdy Peronella, hiding her lover in a tub, to Ser Cepperallo, who, despite his unholy effrontery, becomes a Saint. The result is a towering monument of European literature & a masterpiece of imaginative narrative. This is the second edition of G.H. Mc William`s acclaimed translation of the ” Decameron”. In his introduction Mc William illuminates the worlds of Boccaccio & of his storytellers, showing Boccaccio as a master of vivid & exciting prose fiction. Boccaccio (1313-75) was an Italian writer of both verse & prose. He wrote ” The Decameron” over a period of ten years, & is also the author of ” Teseide & Filostrato”. If you enjoyed ” The Decameron”, you might like Dante`s ” Inferno”, also available in ” Penguin Classics”. ” Mc William`s finest work, his translation of Boccaccio`s ” Decameron” remains one of the most successful & lauded books in the series”. (” The Times”).
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The dramatic climax of ” The Sea of Fertility” tetraology takes place in the late 1960s. Honda, now an aged & wealthy man, discovers & adopts a sixteen-year-old orphan, Toru, as his heir, identifying him with the tragic protagonists of the three previous novels, each of whom died at the age of twenty. Honda raises & educates the boy, yet watches him, waiting. ...

Most of us face the same questions every day: What do I want? & how can I get it? How can I live more happily & work more efficiently? This updated edition of the international bestseller distils into a single volume the fifty best decision-making models used on MBA courses, & elsewhere, that will help you tackle these important questions
- from the well known (the Eisenhower matrix for time management) to the less familiar but equally useful (the Swiss Cheese model). It will even show you how to remember everything you will have learned by the end of it. Stylish & compact, this little black book is a powerful asset. Whether you need to plot a presentation, assess someone`s business idea or get to know yourself better, this unique guide will help you simplify any problem & take steps towards the right decision.
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No empire has been larger or more diverse than the British Empire. At its apogee in the 1930s, 42 million Britons governed 500 million foreign subjects. Britannia ruled the waves & a quarter of the earth`s surface was painted red on the map. Yet no empire (except the Russian) disappeared more swiftly. Within a generation this mighty structure collapsed, often amid bloodshed, leaving behind a scatter of sea-girt dependencies & a ghost of an empire, the Commonwealth, overshadowed by Imperial America. It left a contested legacy: at best a sporting spirit, a legal code & a near-universal language; at worst, failed states & internecine strife. Full of vivid particulars, brief lives, telling anecdotes, comic episodes, symbolic moments & illustrative vignettes, The Decline & Fall of the British Empire is popular history at its scholarly best. ...

Bounded by the highest mountains in Britain, the majestic River Dee winds its way through some of Scotland`s most celebrated scenery. From its source in the shadow of Ben Macdui & Braeraich high in the Cairngorm mountains, the Dee cascades over waterfalls & meanders through the remnants of the ancient Caledonian forest before making its way to Aberdeen & the North Sea. There is no better way to discover the wildlife, architecture & history of this area of Scotland than to walk. Whatever your ability
- walking at high or low level, following tough terrain or level paths
- the 25 routes in this guide offer something for everyone.

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A small boy pushes his little boat out to sea to begin a fantastic adventure travelling all around the world. More than 60 remarkable ocean creatures (including clownfish, flying fish, anchovies & whales) swim, dive & glide through the pages of this sea journey in an informative introduction to ocean creatures. ...

Already the best-selling English-language guide to the area, universally known as `THE BIBLE`, this is the sixth, completely revised, up-to-date, much expanded edition of the DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE D-DAY NORMANDY LANDING BEACHES. Written to the same highly acclaimed formula as all of the other books in this important series of Battlefield Guides (Somme, Ypres, Gallipoli, Market-Garden, Western Front
- North, Western Front
- South). Once again the cold facts are interlaced with anecdotes of bravery, humour, sadness & humanity. This new edition now contains:rnrn All the landing Beaches: JUNO, SWORD, GOLD, OMAHA, UTAH All the Airborne Operations: British & American Two Approach Routes; Six timed & measured Itineraries 21 in-text Itinerary maps, Battle maps & Diagrams Approx 400 recommended sites within the D-Day planned area of advance, rnall with photos, each with Latitude & Longitude references (New for this Edition) Over 400 coloured pictures, 352 pages Memorials / Museums / Batteries / Bunkers / Landing fields Allied & German War Cemeteries Historical background to the landings The Plans & what actually happened Information about Allied & German War Graves Associations Veterans` & other commemorative associations Normandy tourist information: Where to stay / where to eat Cameos about personalities
- VCs / MOHs / Poets / Photographers etc...


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