Throughout the 1950s, as the Cuban people laboured under a violently repressive regime, the mob-financed revelry in Havana never stopped. Tourists from around the world flooded in to gamble, go to the racetrack, see an elaborate floorshow at the Tropicana & perhaps partake in the sexual activities that flourished on the fringe of the most colourful nightlife scene of the twentieth century. It may have seemed like fun & games, but for the Havana Mob it was a serious business. Led by Meyer Lansky & Lucky Luciano
- & with the full compliance of President Fulgencio Batista
- the Mob set out to create a financial empire that would rival the `glory days` of Prohibition in the US. For a time, the plan seemed to be a runaway success, but they were sowing the seeds of their own demise. Behind the scenes, Fidel Castro was building opposition to what he portrayed as the debauchery & corruption of capitalism run amok in Havana
- the result was revolution. ” The Havana Mob” captures a unique & exotic chapter not only in the history of organised crime but also in the history of the United States, & the story is told through interviews & the first-hand accounts.


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The Hawthorns in 1888 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. In this title: two versions have been published for this area. The maps cover the eastern part of West Bromwich & western part of Handsworth, with the area known as The Hawthorns in the centre. Coverage stretches from Roebuck Lane eastward to Booth Street. Features on the 1886 map include GWR railway with Handsworth Junction, Handsworth & Smethwick station & portion of Stourbridge extension line; tramway, Railway Carriage Works, Sandwell Place, Phoenix Bolt Works, St James church Handsworth, Sandwell Park Colliery, Galton Junction, St Stephen's Mission Room, Belle Vue Brewery, etc. The 1913 version shows a more built-up scene, with many more terraced streets running south of the Holyhead Road. It

Includes:: extracts from a 1907 directory for Booth Street, Downing Street, Holyhead Road & Wattville Road, Handsworth. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25

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The Hawthorns in 1913 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. Two versions have been published for this area. The maps cover the eastern part of West Bromwich & western part of Handsworth, with the area known as The Hawthorns in the centre. Coverage stretches from Roebuck Lane eastward to Booth Street. Features on the 1886 map include GWR railway with Handsworth Junction, Handsworth & Smethwick station & portion of Stourbridge extension line; tramway, Railway Carriage Works, Sandwell Place, Phoenix Bolt Works, St James church Handsworth, Sandwell Park Colliery, Galton Junction, St Stephen`s Mission Room, Belle Vue Brewery, etc. The 1913 version shows a more built-up scene, with many more terraced streets running south of the Holyhead Road. It

Includes:: extracts from a 1907 directory for Booth Street, Downing Street, Holyhead Road & Wattville Road, Handsworth. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25” OS Series: Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. The plans have been taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). On the reverse most maps have historical notes & many also include extracts from contemporary directories. Most maps cover about one mile (1.6kms) north/south, one & a half miles (2.4kms) across; adjoining sheets can be combined to provide wider coverage.FOR MORE INFORMATION & A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE TITLES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK.

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Seth Greenland’s witty, clear-eyed new novel is a story of interconnecting lives, in which generations, races, & religions converge & conflict. Jay Gladstone was born to privilege. He is a civic leader & a generous philanthropist, as well as the owner of an NBA team. But in today’s New York, even a wealthy man’s life can spin out of control, no matter the money or influence he possesses. Jay sees himself as a moral man, determined not to repeat his father’s mistakes. He would rather focus on his unstable second marriage & his daughter Aviva than worry about questions of race or privilege. However, he moves through a sensitive & aware world: that of Dag Maxwell, the black star forward, & white Officer Russell Plesko, who makes a decision that has resonating consequences?particularly for DA Christine Lupo, whose hopes for a future in politics will rest on an explosive prosecution. Set during Barack Obama’s presidency, this artful novel illuminates contemporary America & does not shy away from our scalding social divide: why is conversation about race so fraught, to what degree is the justice system impartial, & does great wealth inoculate those who have it? At times shocking, but always recognizable, this captivating tale explores the aftermath of unforgivable errors & the unpredictability of the court of public opinion. With a brilliant eye for character, Greenland creates a story that mixes biting humor with uncomfortable truth. ...

Seventeen-year-old Alice & her mother have spent most of Alice`s life on the road, always a step ahead of the strange bad luck biting at their heels. But when Alice`s grandmother, the reclusive author of a book of pitch-dark fairy tales, dies alone on her estate
- the Hazel Wood
- Alice learns how bad her luck can really get. Her mother is stolen away
- by a figure who claims to come from the cruel supernatural world where her grandmother`s stories are set. Alice`s only lead is the message her mother left behind: STAY AWAY FROM THE HAZEL WOOD. To retrieve her mother, Alice must venture first to the Hazel Wood, then into the world where her grandmother`s tales began...


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It's two days before Christmas & Helsinki is battling ruthless climate catastrophe: subway tunnels are flooded; abandoned vehicles are burning in the streets. People are fleeing to the far north where conditions are still tolerable. Social order is crumbling & private security firms have undermined the police force. Tapani Lehtinen, a struggling poet, is among the few still willing to live in the city. When Tapani's wife Johanna, a journalist, goes missing, he embarks on a frantic hunt for her. Johanna's disappearance seems to be connected to a story she was researching about a serial killer known as ' The Healer'. Determined to find Johanna, Tapani's search leads him to uncover secrets from her past: secrets that connect her to the very murders she was investigating... Atmospheric & moving, The Healer is a story of survival, loyalty & determination. Even when the world is coming to an end, love & hope endure. ...

There are dramatic differences in health between countries & within countries. But this is not a simple matter of rich & poor. A poor man in Glasgow is rich compared to the average Indian, but the Glaswegian`s life expectancy is 8 years shorter. The Indian is dying of infectious disease linked to his poverty; the Glaswegian of violent death, suicide, heart disease linked to a rich country`s version of disadvantage. In all countries, people at relative social disadvantage suffer health disadvantage, dramatically so. Within countries, the higher the social status of individuals the better is their health. These health inequalities defy usual explanations. Conventional approaches to improving health have emphasised access to technical solutions
- enhanced medical care, sanitation, & control of disease vectors; or behaviours
- smoking, drinking
- obesity, linked to diabetes, heart disease & cancer. These approaches only go so far. Creating the conditions for people to lead flourishing lives, & thus empowering individuals & communities, is key to reduction of health inequalities. In addition to the scale of material success, your position in the social hierarchy also directly affects your health, the higher you are on the social scale, the longer you will live & the better your health will be. As people change rank, so their health risk changes. What makes these health inequalities unjust is that evidence from round the world shows we know what to do to make them smaller. This new evidence is compelling. It has the potential to change radically the way we think about health, & indeed society.


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` Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, & in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.`
- Jonas Salk, inventor
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WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ALI SMITHA classic of fantastic literature, Leonora Carrington`s The Hearing Trumpet is the occult twin to Alice in Wonderl&, published with an introduction by Ali Smith in Penguin Modern Classics. One of the first things ninety-two-year-old Marian Leatherby overhears when she is given an ornate hearing trumpet is her family plotting to commit her to an institution. Soon, she finds herself trapped in a sinister retirement home, where the elderly must inhabit buildings shaped like igloos & birthday cakes, endure twisted religious preaching & eat in a canteen overlooked by the mysterious portrait of a leering Abbess. But when another resident secretly hands Marian a book recounding the life of the Abbess, a joyous & brilliantly surreal adventure begins to unfold. Written in the early 1960s, The Hearing Trumpet remains one of the most original & inspirational of all fantastic novels. Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) was a British born Surrealist painter & writer described, alongside people such as Pablo Picasso & Joan Miro, as one of the leading lights of the Surrealist movement. Born in Lancashire to a strict Catholic family, she first came into contact with surrealism through her lover, Surrealist painter Max Ernst, before moving to Mexico in 1942. The Hearing Trumpet, her most famous piece of writing, was first published in France in 1974. If you enjoyed The Hearing Trumpet, you might like Fernando Pessoa`s The Book of Disquiet, also available in Penguin Modern Classics.` Reading The Hearing Trumpet liberates us from the miserable reality of our days` Luis Bunuel` One of the most original, joyful, satisfying & quietly visionary novels of the twentieth century` Ali Smith` This book is so inspiring...I love its freedom, its humour & how it invents its own laws. What specifically do I take from her? Her wig` Bjoerk ...

Stan & Charmaine are a married couple trying to stay afloat in the midst of economic & social collapse. Living in their car, surviving on tips from Charmaine`s job at a dive bar, they`re increasingly vulnerable to roving gangs & in a rather desperate state. So when they see an advertisement for the Positron Project in the town of Consilience
- a `social experiment` offering stable jobs & a home of their own
- they sign up immediately. All they have to do in return for this suburban paradise is give up their freedom every second month, swapping their home for a prison cell. At first, all is well. But slowly, unknown to the other, Stan & Charmaine develop a passionate obsession with their counterparts, the couple that occupy their home when they are in prison. Soon the pressures of conformity, mistrust, guilt & sexual desire take over, & Positron looks less like a prayer answered & more like a chilling prophecy fulfilled.

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