Prem is a recently married teacher who is neither very good at teaching nor at being married. He is promised an ally against his wife Indu, whom he regards with varying degrees of irritation, when his mother comes to visit. He soon finds, though, that maternal interference is far from helpful, & he receives comfort from an entirely unexpected quarter
- his wife
- as he discovers through her the joys of being a `settled husband & householder`. From every page rise the heat, the smells, the flashing iridescent colours & the ceaseless rhythms of Indian life. & such is the strength of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala`s humorous & perceptive pen that this appealing tale of a young man trying to come to terms with marriage & maturity becomes more than a highly comic vignette of a particular society
- it is also a reflection of a universal experience.


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Working as a housekeeper was one of the most prestigious jobs a nineteenth & early twentieth century woman could want
- & also
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A perennially popular collection of colour cartoon illustrations, with accompanying texts, on the endearing oddities of our British life & character. Drawing on their many years` experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language the authors also offer the wider world a tongue-in-cheek guide on how to get around in English & at the same time make sense of our `funny ways`. It`s a gentle brand of satire, & although there`s the occasional barbed arrow for bland food, fashion disasters or dubious standards of hygiene, the tone of The ” How To Be British Collection” is more nostalgic than scornful, & the pet-loving, royal-watching, tea drinking characters that populate its pages are viewed with wry affection. Cartoons like ” How to be Polite” & ” How to Complain” have been reproduced in publications all over the world, perhaps because they put a finger on that peculiar tentativeness that foreigners find so puzzling (and so funny) about us. In order to be British, or at any rate to pass unnoticed in British society, the visitor must learn not to `make a fuss`. A fuss is something that the true Brit cannot st&. ...

The most unusual feature of Donald Trump`s nationalist & populist campaign for the presidency of the USA was his obsessive use of Twitter. Like other social media, this form of communication has often been assumed to encourage the dissemination of liberal values & the circulation of facts. Trump`s tweets, by contrast, formed a constant stream of provocations, insults, conspiracy theories, `alternative facts` & outright lies. & they helped him win power. Peter Oborne, author of The Rise of Political Lying & Not The Chilcot Report, analyses Trump`s incendiary mendacity in all its bewildering guises, & shows how this fusion of entertainment & cunningly crafted propaganda has destabilised the world`s most powerful democracy. ...

When Gunnar Huttunen turns up in a small village to restore its run-down mill, its inhabitants are wary. Gunnar is big. He`s a bit odd. &, strangest of all, he howls wildly at night. If Gunnar is different, then he must be mad, the villagers decide. Hounded from his home, he must find a way to survive the wilds of nature & the greater savagery of civilization. The Howling Miller is a dark fairytale of community, conformity & our place in the world. ...

The Hudson River has always played a vital role in American culture. Flowing through a valley of sublime scenery, the great river uniquely connects America`s past with its present & future. This book traces the course of the river through four centuries, recounting the stories of explorers & traders, artists & writers, entrepreneurs & industrialists, ecologists & preservationists
- those who have been shaped by the river as well as those who have helped shape it. Their compelling narratives attest to the Hudson River`s distinctive place in American history & the American imagination. Among those who have figured in the history of the Hudson are Benedict Arnold, Alexander Hamilton, Franklin & Eleanor Roosevelt, the Astors & the Vanderbilts, & Thomas Cole of the Hudson River school. Their stories appear here, alongside those of less famous individuals such as the surveyor who found the source of the Hudson & the engineer who tried to build a hydroelectric plant at Storm King Mountain. Inviting us to view the river from a wider perspective than ever before, this entertaining & enlightening book is worthy of its grand subject.
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Now this fabulously quirky group of characters is introduced to younger readers in these toddler friendly board books from the internationally bestselling, award-winning author/illustrator, Oliver Jeffers, creator of How to Catch a Star & Lost & Found. A fight has broken out amongst The Hueys. ” It was not me! It was him!” But no one can remember what they`re fighting about. If only they could find an interesting distraction... ...

Guide to author`s favourite hills under 2, 000 feet, on the Scottish mainl&, including some that are rarely climbed, some that are well-known & iconic, & all of which offer a distinctive hillwalking experience. These are all hills with great character, they have attitude rather than altitude. ...

Following the Reformation, a growing number of radical Protestants came together to live & worship in Catholic France. These Huguenots survived persecution & armed conflict to win
- however briefly
- freedom of worship, civil rights, & unique status as a protected minority. But in 1685, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes abolished all Huguenot rights, & more than 200, 000 of the radical Calvinists were forced to flee across Europe, some even farther. In this capstone work, Geoffrey Treasure tells the full story of the Huguenots` rise, survival & fall in France over the course of a century & a half. He explores what it was like to be a Huguenot living in a ”state within a state”, weaving stories of ordinary citizens together with those of statesmen, feudal magnates, leaders of the Catholic revival, Henry of Navarre, Catherine de` Medici, Louis XIV, & many others. Treasure describes the Huguenots` disciplined community, their faith & courage, their rich achievements, & their unique place within Protestantism & European history. The Huguenot exodus represented a crucial turning point in European history, Treasure contends, & he addresses the significance of the Huguenot story
- the story of a minority group with the power to resist & endure in one of early modern Europe`s strongest nations.


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` Our relationship with nature has changed.. .radically, irreversibly, but by no means all for the bad. Our new epoch is laced with invention. Our mistakes are legion, but our talent is immeasurable.` In The Human Age award-winning nature writer Diane Ackerman confronts the fact that the human race is now the single dominant force of change on the planet. Humans have `subdued 75 per cent of the land surface, concocted a wizardry of industrial & medical marvels, strung lights all across the darkness`. We now collect the DNA of vanishing species in a `frozen ark`, equip orang-utans with iPads, create wearable technologies & synthetic species that might one day outsmart us. Ackerman takes us on an exciting journey to understand this bewildering new reality, introducing us to many of the people & ideas now creating
- perhaps saving
- the future. The Human Age is a surprising, optimistic engagement with the dramatic transformations that have shaped, & continue to alter, our world, our relationship with nature & our prospects for the future. Diane Ackerman is one of our most lyrical, insightful & compelling writers on the natural world & The Human Age is a landmark book.

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