It`s two decades since Chris Stewart moved to his farm on the wrong side of a river in the mountains of southern Spain & his daughter Chloe is preparing to fly the nest for university. In this latest, typically hilarious dispatch from El Valero we find Chris, now a local literary celebrity, using his fame to help his old sheep-shearing partner find work on a raucous road trip; cooking a TV lunch for visiting British chef, Rick Stein; discovering the pitfalls of Spanish public speaking; &, most movingly, visiting famine-stricken Niger for Oxfam. Yet it`s at El Valero, his beloved sheep farm, that Chris remains in his element as he, his wife Ana & their assorted dogs, cats & sheep weather a near calamitous flood & emerge as newly certified organic farmers. His cash crop? The lemons & oranges he once so blithely drove over, of course. ...

Told for the first time in English, Paul Preston`s new book tells the story of a preventable tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more at the end of the Spanish Civil War. This is the story of an avoidable humanitarian tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more. It has many protagonists but centres on three individuals. One, Dr Juan Negrin, the victim of what might be termed a conspiracy of fools, tried to prevent it. Two bore responsibility for what transpired. One of those, Julian Besteiro, was guilty of culpable naivety. The other, Segismundo Casado behaved with a remarkable combination of cynicism, arrogance & selfishness. On 5 March 1939, the eternally malcontent Colonel Casado launched a military coup against the government of Juan Negrin. Ironically, he ensured that the end of the Spanish Civil War was almost identical to its beginning. As Mola, Franco & the other conspirators of 1936 had done, Casado led a part of the Republican Army in revolt against the Republican government. He claimed, as they had done, & equally without foundation, that Negrin`s government was the puppet of the Communist Party & that a coup was imminent to establish a Communist dictatorship. Casado`s ambition was to go down in history as the man who ended the Spanish Civil War. Instead he ensured the Republic ended in catastrophe & shame as Negrin`s attempts to achieve an honourable & negotiated peace with guarantees for the civilian population were thwarted & Franco & his forces wreaked havoc & revenge. Madrid collapsed into civil war & two thousand people died. Refugees fled reprisals in their thousands & those who couldn`t escape met a terrible fate. Paul Preston, the leading historian of 20th century Spain, tells this shocking story for the first time in English. It is a harrowing tale of how the flawed decisions of politicans can lead to tragedy. ...

Told for the first time in English, Paul Preston`s new book tells the story of a preventable tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more at the end of the Spanish Civil War. This is the story of an avoidable humanitarian tragedy that cost many thousands of lives & ruined tens of thousands more. It has many protagonists but centres on three individuals. One, Dr Juan Negrin, the victim of what might be termed a conspiracy of fools, tried to prevent it. Two bore responsibility for what transpired. One of those, Julian Besteiro, was guilty of culpable naivety. The other, Segismundo Casado behaved with a remarkable combination of cynicism, arrogance & selfishness. On 5 March 1939, the eternally malcontent Colonel Casado launched a military coup against the government of Juan Negrin. Ironically, he ensured that the end of the Spanish Civil War was almost identical to its beginning. As Mola, Franco & the other conspirators of 1936 had done, Casado led a part of the Republican Army in revolt against the Republican government. He claimed, as they had done, & equally without foundation, that Negrin`s government was the puppet of the Communist Party & that a coup was imminent to establish a Communist dictatorship. Casado`s ambition was to go down in history as the man who ended the Spanish Civil War. Instead he ensured the Republic ended in catastrophe & shame as Negrin`s attempts to achieve an honourable & negotiated peace with guarantees for the civilian population were thwarted & Franco & his forces wreaked havoc & revenge. Madrid collapsed into civil war & two thousand people died. Refugees fled reprisals in their thousands & those who couldn`t escape met a terrible fate. Paul Preston, the leading historian of 20th century Spain, tells this shocking story for the first time in English. It is a harrowing tale of how the flawed decisions of politicans can lead to tragedy. ...

Simon Armitage is rightly celebrated as one of the country`s most original & engaging poets; but he is also an adaptor & translator of some of our most important epics, such as Sir Gawain & the Green Knight, The Death of King Arthur & Homer`s Odyssey. The latter, originally a commission for BBC Radio, rendered the classical tale with all the flare, wit & engagement that we have come to expect from this most distinctive of contemporary authors, & in so doing brought Odysseus` return from the Trojan War memorably to life. ...

1870. Charles Dickens is dead. The final instalment of his last manuscript has vanished. The script was last seen addressed to the publisher whose fortunes depend on it. Since its sudden disappearance the only clue to its whereabouts is a trail of brutal murders. With his livelihood
- indeed his life
- in jeopardy, Dickens` publisher sets out to unravel the mystery. The trail leads him from bustling West End theatres, through grimy East End backstreets, into the fug of illicit opium dens, as the crime he hopes to solve ensnares him.

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On Christmas Day 1991 Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as president of the Soviet Union. By the next day the USSR was officially no more & the USA had emerged as the world`s sole superpower. Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy presents a page-turning account of the preceding five months of drama, filled with failed coups d`etat & political intrigue. Honing in on this previously disregarded but crucial period & using recently declassified documents & original interviews with key participants, he shatters the established myths of 1991 & presents a bold new interpretation of the Soviet Union`s final months. Plokhy argues that contrary to the triumphalist Western narrative, George H. W. Bush desperately wanted to preserve the Soviet Union & keep Gorbachev in power, & that it was Ukraine & not the US that played the key role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The consequences of those five months & the myth-making that has since surrounded them are still being felt in Crimea, Russia, the US, & Europe today. With its spellbinding narrative & strikingly fresh perspective, The Last Empire is the essential account of one of the most important watershed periods in world history, & is indispensable reading for anyone seeking to make sense of international politics today. ...

This title is presented with an introduction by Sir Ranulph Fiennes. ” The Last Expedition” is Captain Scott`s gripping account of his expedition to the South Pole in 1910-12. It was meant to be a voyage of scientific discovery & a heroic exploration of the last unconquered wilderness. Scott`s expedition, carried in the Terra Nova, pitted him & his team not only against the elements but also against the Norwegian explorer, Amundsen. Ultimately, Scott was beaten by both. The journals are full of incident & drama, courage & endurance, hope & bitter disappointment. These journals were found, along with Scott`s body, several months after his death & just 11 miles from base camp & safety. ...

Meet the Hunter family: Adam, Kate, & their children Hal & Charlotte. & Prince, their Labrador. Prince is an earnest young dog, striving hard to live up to the tenets of the Labrador Pact (Remain Loyal to Your Human Masters, Serve & Protect Your Family at Any Cost). Other dogs, led by the Springer Spaniels, have revolted. As things in the Hunter family begin to go badly awry
- marital breakdown, rowdy teenage parties, attempted suicide
- Prince`s responsibilities threaten to overwhelm him & he is forced to break the Labrador Pact & take desperate action to save his Family.

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` Offers powerful insight into the barbarity the Yazidi suffered alongside glimpses into their mystical culture... this is an important book by a brave woman, fresh testament to humankind`s potential for chilling & inexplicable evil (Ian Birrell The Times) Courageous... Anyone who wants to understand the so called Islamic State should read (The Economist) With a foreword by Amal Clooney A Nobel Peace Prize nominee & the first Goodwill Ambassador the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking of the United Nations & winner of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize, Nadia Murad is a courageous young woman who has endured unimaginable tragedy (losing eighteen members of her family) & degradation through sexual enslavement to ISIS. But she has fought back. This inspiring memoir takes us from her peaceful childhood in a remote village in Iraq through loss & brutality to safety in Germany. Courage & testimony can change the world: this is one of those books. ...

An engaging & informative first-hand account of the last `grain race` of maritime history, from respected travel writer Eric Newby. In 1939, a young Eric Newby
- later renowned as a travel writer of exceptional talent
- set sail aboard Moshulu, the largest sailing ship still employed in the transportation of grain from Australia to Europe. Every year from 1921 to 1939, the vessels involved in the grain trade would strive to find the shortest, fastest passage home
- `the grain race`
- in the face of turbulent seas, atrocious weather conditions & hard graft. First published in 1956, ` The Last Grain Race`, featuring many photographs from the author`s personal collection, celebrates both the spirit of adventure & the thrill of sailing on the high seas. Newby`s first-hand account
- engaging & informative, with frequent bursts of humour & witty observations from both above & below deck
- chronicles this classic sailing voyage of the Twenties & Thirties, & records the last grain race of maritime history.





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