Gore Vidal`s new collection of essays shows him still writing at his finest. His comments on the deplorable state of American politics
-
...

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.

...

` 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. ...

Sir Peter Blake was a much loved & greatly admired yachtsman & adventurer, & this book is a wonderful tribute to his achievements. It is drawn entirely from Peter`s logbooks of his last voyage, written up by his friend & colleague Alan Sefton, who was manager of blakexpeditions & was with Peter on the fatal voyage. In this large format book, packed with stunning photographs from Peter & the boat`s crew, we are taken on a fantastical journey from the icy waters of Antarctica to the humid rainforests of the Amazon. It is both a feast for the eyes & a wonderful tribute to an extraordinary man. ...

Scott`s last Antarctic expedition is one of the great adventure stories of the twentieth century. On 1 November 1911, a British team set out on the gruelling 800-mile journey across the coldest & highest continent on Earth to travel to the South Pole. Five men battled through unimaginably harsh conditions only to find the Norwegian flag had been planted at the Pole just weeks before. Captain Robert Falcon Scott, Lieutenant Henry Bowers, Petty Officer Edgar Evans, Captain Lawrence Oates, & Dr Edward Wilson all died on the return trek, starved & frozen to death, only eleven miles from a supply camp. In November 1912, a rescue party discovered their last letters & diaries, which told a story of bravery, hardship, & self-sacrifice that shocked the world. Recent decades have seen controversy rage over whether Scott was the last of a line of great Victorian explorers, intent on discovering uncharted lands, or a hopeless incompetent driven by personal ambition. Rejecting the stereotypes, Max Jones reveals a complex figure, a product of the passions & preoccupations of an imperial age. He also shows how heroes are made & manipulated, through a close examination of the unprecedented outpouring of public grief at the news of the death of Scott & his companions. Max Jones uses fascinating new evidence & prevously unseen illustrations to take us back to this remarkable moment in modern history, & tells for the first time the full story of The Last Great Quest. ...

In the heat & the dust of the Indian south, the last hangman of the former princely state of Travancore commits his life to paper. In seven notebooks he remembers the people he has killed, calmly recalling the final struggles of the criminals he hung by the neck to die. The Last Hangman is a remarkable & haunting novel, a meditation on death & what it means to end a life. This powerful & harrowing book explores a great moral question: what differentiates a killer in the cause of just from a murderer? ...

To mark & celebrate National Hedgehog Awareness Week, Pam Ayres has written a less-than-fond farewell from `the last hedgehog left on earth`
- a delightful & thought-provoking elegy to that most beloved inhabitant of the British countryside, the common hedgehog. Pam Ayres` spiky & wonderful creation reminds us that unless we take steps to prevent it, they will soon be far from `common` indeed: beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait, the poem sees our hero tell of all the terrible ends his family come to at our own hands
- & exactly what we can still do to keep them alive, & see them thrive once more.

...

Fans of C.J. Sansom must read this Saltire Society Literary Awards Scottish First Book of the Year
- a great non-fiction adventure
...