In the 18th century, exploration entered a new dimension
- explorers were motivated by scientific inquiry rather than greed. To
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LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL 2017 With the Yi River on one side & the Balou Mountains on the other, the village of Explosion was founded a thousand years ago by refugees fleeing a volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era, the name takes on a new significance as the rural community grows explosively from a small village to a town to a city to a vast megalopolis. Behind this rapid expansion are three rival clans linked together by a web of ambition, madness & greed. The four Kong brothers; Zhu Ying, the daughter of the former village chief; & Cheng Qing, who starts out as a secretary & goes on to become a powerful political & business figure in her own right, transform their hometown into a Babylon of modern times -- an unrivalled urban superpower built on lies, sex & thievery. Brimming with absurdity, intelligence & wit, The Explosion Chronicles considers the high stakes of passion & power, the consequences of corruption & greed, the dynamics of love & hate, as well as the seemingly boundless excesses of capitalist culture.` One of the masters of modern Chinese literature` Jung Chang` One of China`s most successful writers... [ Yan Lianke] writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that ”reality & satire are the same”` Evan Osnos, New Yorker ...

With the Yi River on one side & the Balou Mountains on the other, the village of Explosion was founded a thousand years ago by refugees fleeing a volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era, the name takes on a new significance as the rural community grows explosively from a small village to a town to a city to a vast megalopolis. Behind this rapid expansion are three rival clans linked together by a web of ambition, madness & greed. The four Kong brothers; Zhu Ying, the daughter of the former village chief; & Cheng Qing, who starts out as a secretary & goes on to become a powerful political & business figure in her own right, transform their hometown into a Babylon of modern times
- an unrivalled urban superpower built on lies, sex & thievery. Brimming with absurdity, intelligence & wit, The Explosion Chronicles considers the high stakes of passion & power, the consequences of corruption & greed, the dynamics of love & hate, as well as the seemingly boundless excesses of capitalist culture. ” One of the masters of modern Chinese literature”. (Jung Chang). ” One of China`s most successful writers.. .[ Yan Lianke] writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that ”reality & satire are the same”.” (Evan Osnos, New Yorker).
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By the best selling author of The Selfish Gene ` This entertaining & thought-provoking book is an excellent illustration of why the study of evolution is in such an exciting ferment these days.` Science ` The Extended Phenotype is a sequel to The Selfish Gene.. .he writes so clearly it could be understood by anyone prepared to make the effort` John Maynard Smith, London Review of Books ` Dawkins is quite incapable of being boring this characteristically brilliant & stimulating book is original & provocative throughout, & immensely enjoyable.` G. A. Parker, Heredity ` The extended phenotype is certainly a big idea & it is pressed hard in dramatic language.` Sydney Brenner, Nature ` Richard Dawkins, our most radical Darwinian thinker, is also our best science writer.` Douglas Adams ` Dawkins is a superb communicator. His books are some of the best books ever written on science.` Megan Tressider, Guardian ` Dawkins is a genius of science popularization.` Mark Ridley, The Times ...

The Selfish Gene is a classic exposition of evolutionary thought. In it Professor Dawkins articulates a gene`s eye view of evolution
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` On the contrary, my dear Watson, you can see everything. You fail, however, to reason from what you see.` Herein lie the problems: a stolen jewel, the inexplicable death of a young woman, the disappearance of one of the most remarkable racehorses in Engl&, a missing butler, the curious symbols of dancing men, a broken bust of Napoleon, a possible kidnapping & the bad business of a coachman shot through the heart. The solution? Elementary my dear friend. Call the super sleuth famed for his rapid deductions, his swift intuitions & ingenious solutions
- Sherlock Holmes of 221b Baker Street.

Includes:: exclusive

Material: In the Backstory you can test your powers of observation & deduction, learn about the author & brush up on your detective skills! Vintage Children`s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds & the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book & Alice`s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas & The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.




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Through the foggy streets of Victorian London to the deepest countryside, Sherlock Holmes uses his unique powers of deduction in eight thrilling investigations, including the mysteries of ” The Speckled Band” & ” The Reigate Puzzle”. It comes with a captivating introduction by award-winning Jonathan Stroud. ...

I am how I`ve always been. My name is Auden Dare.I am eleven years old. Auden Dare has an unusual perspective on life: he cannot see in colour. He`s always had this rare condition
- & life is beginning to get harder for Auden. The war for water that is raging across the world is getting a little closer all the time. It hardly rains any more, anywhere. Everyone is thirsty all the time, & grubby, & exhausted. Auden has to learn to live without his father, who is away fighting, & has had to move to a new town with his mother, & start a new school, where everyone thinks he`s a weirdo. But when he meets Vivi Rookmini, a smiling girl bright with cleverness, his hopes begin to lift. It soon becomes clear to Auden, though, that there are some strange things afoot in his new hometown. He & his mother have moved into the old cottage of his recently-dead uncle Jonah Bloom
- a scientist & professor at the university. The place is in disarray
- & although Auden`s mother tells him it`s because Jonah was a messy old thing, Auden knows differently. Someone else did this
- someone who was looking for something of Jonah`s. Auden had heard too that Jonah was working on something that could cure Auden`s condition
- could this be it? Then Auden & Vivi make an extraordinary discovery. Hidden away under the shed at the bottom of Jonah`s garden is an engimatic & ingenious robot, who calls himself Paragon. A talking, walking, human-like robot. Apparently built by Jonah
- but why? The answer to this will take Auden & Vivi on a thrilling journey of discovery as they seek to find out just what exactly Paragon is
- & what link he has to Auden
- & find that the truth is bigger & more wonderful than either of them could have imagined.







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Joe is a boy just like any other, but Joe loves to imagine. Joe lives in a pretty ordinary tower block, in a rather ordinary city. His world is rather grey. However, he spends his time imagining a wonderful world filled with exotic plants & unusual animals. Once day Joe decides to plant a seed on his balcony, he waits & waits but nothing happens! Joe gives up & goes back to his daily life, but one day when he least expects it he spots that the seed has turned into the most beautiful tree. Joe begins caring for the tree & growing lots of other plants on his balcony & soon everyone in the neighbourhood is getting involved.A charming story about the important of nature, teaching us that if we work hard enough our dreams really can come true! ...

Armed only with a counterfeit 100-Euro note, Ajatashatru the fakir arrives in Paris. His mission? To acquire a splendid new bed of nails. His destination? IKEA. Once there he finds an obliging wardrobe in which to lay his head, only to discover on waking that he is locked in & headed for England in the back of a truck. So begins a magnificent adventure for the intrepid fakir as he travels to Italy in a suitcase, writes a novel on a shirt, flees a revenge-crazed taxi driver, flies to Libya in a hot air balloon & finds love in the unlikeliest of places... ...