In 1960, when Sir Francis Chichester first raced singlehanded across the Atlantic, it was widely regarded as an insane stunt. Nowadays, the Singlehanded Transatlantic Race is not only accorded the greatest of respect but is also recognised as a true test of stamina & seamanship. Almost half a century after Chichester`s achievement, amateur sailor Paul Heiney entered the race to prove that the Corinthian spirit of the transatlantic pioneers can still get you from one side of the Atlantic to the other
- if you try hard enough. ” The Last Man Across the Atlantic” is an honest account of what it is like to be out there alone. Even the strongest yacht takes a battering after 3, 000 miles & there`s no pit stop for repairs. Sails are torn, water goes sour, the last apple turns to mush & there`s still three weeks to go before sight of l&. Paul Heiney fully expected to be the last man across the Atlantic & said it didn`t bother him in the slightest. ` It`s enough to be able to say you climbed Everest without having to run up it as well. & this is the sailing Everest
- for me, anyway.`

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From Oliver Bullough, the acclaimed author of the Orwell Prize-shortlisted, Let Our Fame Be Great, a study
- part travelogue,
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” Wonderful... These are the chronicles of a writer who truly knows Russia”. (New York Times). Award-winning writer Oliver Bullough travels the country from crowded Moscow train to empty windswept village, following in the footsteps of one extraordinary man, the dissident Orthodox priest Father Dmitry. His moving, terrifying story is the story of a nation: famine, war, the frozen wastes of the Gulag, the collapse of communism & now, a people seeking oblivion. Bullough shows that in a country so willing to crush its citizens, there is also courage, resilience & flickering glimmers of hope. ...

Eugene Cernan is a unique American who came of age as an astronaut during the most exciting & dangerous decade of spaceflight. His career spanned the entire Gemini & Apollo programs, from being the first person to spacewalk all the way around our world to commanding Apollo XVII, man`s last mission to the moon. Between those two historic events lay more adventures than an ordinary person could imagine as Cernan repeatedly put his life, his family & everything he held dear on the altar of an obsessive desire. Written with ” New York Times” bestselling author Don Davis, this is the astronaut story never before told
- about the fear, love & sacrifice demanded of the few men who dared to reach beyond the heavens for the biggest prize of all: the Moon.
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In 1939 the Savage Mountain claimed its first victim. Born into vast wealth yet uneasy with a life of leisure, Dudley Wolfe set out to become the first man to climb K2, the world`s second-highest mountain. Although close to middle age & inexperienced at high altitude, Wolfe, with the team leader, made it higher than any other members of the expedition but he couldn`t get back down. Suffering from altitude sickness & severe dehydration, he was abandoned at nearly 25, 000 feet; it would be another sixty-three years before Jennifer Jordan discovered his remains. In a story where The Great Gatsby meets Into Thin Air, readers follow Wolfe from the salons of Europe to the most forbidding landscape on earth. Wolfe went to K2 to find his own strength, only to encounter his team-mates` lethal weaknesses in a place called the Death Zone. ...

The Last Mughal
- The Fall of Delhi 1857 is William Dalrymple’s account of the life & death of Bahadur Shah Zafar II, the Seige
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Travelling throughout the remote Celtic world, award-winning author Marcus Tanner describes the relentless pressure on Celtic communities to assimilate & warns that a distinct Celtic identity may not survive for another generation--a sobering loss that would impoverish us all. Tanner has concluded we must resign ourselves to the fact that Celticism is done, over, finis. He proves it in a very good & special book that every prodigal & true Celt should read & try to prove wrong.--Malachy Mc Court, Washington Post Book World Lively.... [A] thoughtful book.--Publishers Weekly An exceptional journey into the remarkable cultural history of the Celtic people.... [ Tanner`s] experience reads like a travelogue & an insightful history with an emphasis on cultural heritage.--Raymond L. Flynn, Boston Sunday Herald[ An] angry, elegiac & meticulously researched book.--Christian Century ...

In 1930 a sixteen-year-old boy left England to become one of the last of the 'gentlemen adventurers' -- the fur traders of the Hudson's Bay Company. In the Arctic he found adventure, love & sadness as he came to grips with Eskimo life. Beautifully written, inspiring & funny, this is a boy's own story that captures a world now lost forever. Every boy dreams of adventures, but few have the courage or opportunity to make them a reality. When the Great Depression began to bite, finances forced the Maurice family to leave Britain. Edward was faced with a stark choice: to follow his mother & elder siblings to farm in New Zeal&, or pursue an uncertain future as an apprentice fur trader among the Eskimos. Preferring to make his own destiny, he signed up for five years at the princely sum of fifty pence a week, packing up the two spoons that remained of his inheritance to become one of the last ever 'gentleman adventurers'. Life in Baffin Land was harsh: there was no telephone, no radio communication, only one annual visit from the supply ship to keep in contact with the outside world. But it was also one of tremendous excitement. Under the expert tutelage of his drunken boss, Geordie, Edward learnt to build igloos, hunt polar bears & survive the myriad difficulties of Northern existence. Despite Geordie's warnings against becoming too involved with 'the natives' (and Geordie had taken one for a wife) the young boy became fascinated with the mythic Eskimo culture, learning the language & forming close friendships. After three years, he was sent to his own outpost, where, alone, he had to save the community from illness & starvation, as well as teach them English & contend with the amorous attentions of the local ladies. In charming, timeless prose, The Last of the Gentlemen Adventurers transports the reader to worlds that are now forever inaccessible. It is at once a vivid portrait of a unique society & the moving, often hilarious story of an unforgettable young man determined to triumph over every circumstance. ...

This ambitious account of the arts of the evening, now available in paperback, deftly combines prose-poetry, memoir, philosophy & art history. Intertwining personal, cultural & artistic histories, it is a richly rewarding book written in a unique voice. ...

It is 1757. Across north-eastern America the armies of Britain & France struggle for ascendancy. Their conflict, however, overlays older struggles between nations of native Americans for possession of the same lands & between the native peoples & white colonisers. Through these layers of conflict Cooper threads a thrilling narrative, in which Cora & Alice Munro, daughters of a British commander on the front line of the colonial war, attempt to join their father. Thwarted by Magua, the sinister ` Indian runner`, they find help in the person of Hawkeye, the white woodsman, & his companions, the Mohican Chingachgook & Uncas, his son, the last of his tribe. Cooper`s novel is full of vivid incident- pursuits through wild terrain, skirmishes, treachery & brutality- but reflects also on the interaction between the colonists & the native peoples. Through its characters, Cooper raises lasting questions about the practises of the American frontier & the eclipse of the indigenous cultures. This is a fast-paced portrait of fierce individualism & courage, set against massacres, raids, battles & a doomed love affair. It is also the unforgettable story of the friendship between two men. ...