`I travelled to Haverfordwest to get to the past. From Paddington Station a Great Western locomotive took me on a journey westwards from London further & further back into geological time, from the age of mammals to the age of trilobites... Under the River Severn & into Wales, I was back before the time of the dinosaurs, to a time when Wales steamed & sweated with the humid heat of moss-laden & boggy forests in coal-swamps, where dragonflies the size of hawks flitted in the mist; & then on back still further in time, so far back that life had not yet slithered or crawled upon the land from its aqueous nursery.` So begins this enthralling exploration of time & place in which Richard Fortey peels away the top layer of the land to reveal the hidden landscape
- the rocks which contain the story of distant events, which dictate not only the personality of the landscape, but the nature of the soil, the plants that grow in it & the regional characteristics of the buildings. We travel with him as our guide throughout the British Isles & as the rocks change so we learn to read the clues they contain: that Britain was once divided into two parts separated by an ocean, that Scottish malt whisky, Harris tweed, slate roofs & thatched cottages can be traced back to tumultuous events which took place many millions of years ago. ” The Hidden Landscape” has become a classic in popular geology since its first publication in 1993. This new edition is, fully updated & beautifully illustrated.
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A visually stunning journey into the diversity & wonders of forests. In his international bestseller The Hidden Life of Trees, ...

Sunday Times Bestseller `A paradigm-smashing chronicle of joyous entanglement` Charles Foster Are trees social beings? How do trees live? Do they feel pain or have awareness of their surroundings? In The Hidden Life of Trees Peter Wohlleben makes the case that the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, & even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods & forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death & regeneration he has observed in his woodl&.A walk in the woods will never be the same again. ...

In this international bestseller, forester & author Peter Wohlleben convincingly makes the case that the forest is a social network. He draws on groundbreaking scientific discoveries to describe how trees are like human families: tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, support them as they grow, share nutrients with those who are sick or struggling, & even warn each other of impending dangers. Wohlleben also shares his deep love of woods & forests, explaining the amazing processes of life, death, & regeneration he has observed in his woodl&. After learning about the complex life of trees, a walk in the woods will never be the same again.

Includes:: a Note From a Forest Scientist, by Dr. Suzanne Simard

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London`s streets have always worn a variety of influences, reflecting the diverse crowds who live & work on them. Take a walk down any number of historic streets & an abundance of tales exist in the bricks & mortar, waiting to be told. The Hidden Lives of London`s Streets takes the reader on a journey through Soho, Piccadilly, Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Kensington, Fitzrovia & Clerkenwell. A street map is provided for each area, marking out the streets & buildings in which the various activities
- some forgotten, others well-remembered
- took place. Stories include those of courtesans such as the notorious Lola Montez & Theresa de Cornelys, who gave lavish balls at their home in Soho Square which were little more than orgies, during which a man playing the violin while on roller skates crashed through her plate glass window; Casanova & his quarrel with Marianne Charpillon after he taught a parrot to say she was a `whore`; clubs
- great (the Gargoyle), the artistic (Muriel Belcher`s Colony), & the small (Royston Smith`s club for dwarves); the police; robberies; murder & executions; the nightclubs; cinemas & theatres; the villains & prostitution. Beyond mere gangs & criminality, the book will trace the social changes that have gradually unfolded on any given street. For example the metamorphosis of Old Compton Street as home to race gangs in the 1920s, to becoming an essentially Italian street, to being part of the gay community.


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The bestselling author of Richard & Judy Book Club hit The Cold Season returns with a chilling Victorian mystery
- where superstition
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The city of Timbuktu in modern Mali has been a destination of legend for centuries, ever since the days when camel caravans made epic journeys across the Sahara to trade in salt, gold & slaves in its markets. Less well known is that by the mid-1400s the city was a major centre of Islamic learning & scholarship in the heart of Africa. Today the town is home to a series of collections of extraordinary historic books & manuscripts. Beautifully graphic, vividly evocative, these exquisite treasures reveal great craftsmanship as well as learning, & they form the lavish visual heart of this book. It confirms the manuscripts of Timbuktu as extraordinary treasures: invaluable historical documents; objects of tremendous beauty; &, a testament to a great centre of learning & civilization. ...

Shortlisted for a 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. In The Hidden Ways, Alistair Moffat traverses the lost paths of Scotl&. Down Roman roads tramped by armies, warpaths & pilgrim routes, drove roads & rail roads, turnpikes & sea roads, he traces the arteries through which our nation`s lifeblood has flowed in a bid to understand how our history has left its mark upon our landscape. Moffat`s travels along the hidden ways reveal not only the searing beauty & magic of the Scottish landscape, but open up a different sort of history, a new way of understanding our past by walking in the footsteps of our ancestors. In retracing the forgotten paths, he charts a powerful, surprising & moving history of Scotland through the unremembered lives who have moved through it. ...

Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards In The Hidden Ways, Alistair Moffat traverses the lost paths of Scotland
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A powerful & moving novel about one man`s final, fatal, heroic act of resistance in Nazi France When a Czech engineer arrives in Paris in 1939, he cannot know that three years later he will be in hiding, confined to the damp, dark cellar of a French doctor. Alone with his memories, he writes to his ”dearest Hanichka”, confessing everything: the hope of a love affair for which he travelled to Paris, the discovery of the German warrant for his arrest, & the murder he was forced to commit.A claustrophobic classic of Czech literature, The Hideout is one man`s last love letter to his wife. As he contends with his failing eyesight & the loss of his teeth, so too must he grapple with the guilt of leaving his family & the dwindling hope of ever returning home. ...