In this book Steven Parissien examines the impact, development & significance of the automobile over its turbulent & colourful 130-year history. He tells the story of the auto, & of its creators, from its earliest appearance in the 1880s
- as little more than a powered quadricycle
- via the early pioneer carmakers, the advances of the interwar era, the ` Golden Age` of the 1950s & the iconic years of the 1960s to the decades of doubt & uncertainty following the oil crisis of 1973, which culminated in the global mergers of the 1990s & the bailouts of the early twenty-first century. This is not just a story of horsepower & performance. The Life of the Automobile is a tale of people: of intuitive carmakers such as Benz, Agnelli, Royce & Citroen; of exceptionally gifted designers such as Issigonis, Lefebvre, Michelotti & Bangle; & of visionary industrialists such as Ford, Tata & Porsche. Above all, The Life of the Automobile demonstrates how the epic story of the car mirrors the history of the modern era, from the brave hopes & soaring ambitions of the early twentieth century to the cynicism & ecological concerns of a century later.

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” In this book Steven Parissien examines the impact, development & significance of the automobile over its turbulent & colourful 130-year history. He tells the story of the auto, & of its creators, from its earliest appearance in the 1880s
- as little more than a powered quadricycle
- via the early pioneer carmakers, the advances of the interwar era, the ` Golden Age` of the 1950s & the iconic years of the 1960s to the decades of doubt & uncertainty following the oil crisis of 1973, which culminated in the global mergers of the 1990s & the bailouts of the early twenty-first century. This is not just a story of horsepower & performance. The Life of the Automobile is a tale of people: of flamboyant entrepreneurs, shrewd businessmen & gifted engineers; of outstanding success & abject failure. It is a chronicle of innovation, & a testimony to the value of good design. Above all, The Life of the Automobile demonstrates how the epic story of the car mirrors the history of the modern era, from the brave hopes & soaring ambitions of the early twentieth century to the cynicism & ecological concerns of a century later.”

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The bestselling book everyone is talking about, revealing the surprising art of caring less & getting more. Are you stressed out, overbooked & underwhelmed by life? Fed up with pleasing everyone else before you please yourself? Then it`s time to stop giving a f**k. This irreverent & practical book explains how to rid yourself of unwanted obligations, shame, & guilt
- & give your f**ks instead to people & things that make you happy. From family dramas to having a bikini body, the simple ` Not Sorry Method` for mental decluttering will help you unleash the power of not giving a f**k & will free you to spend your time, energy & money on the things that really matter.` The anti-guru` Observer` Absolutely blinding. Read it. Do it.` Mail on Sunday` Genius` Cosmopolitan`I love Knight`s book even before I start reading... Works a charm` Sunday Times Magazine` Life-affirming... The key practice she advocates is devising for yourself a ”fuck budget”... It`s a beautiful way of streamlining your psyche` Lucy Mangan, Guardian ALSO AVAILABLE FROM SARAH KNIGHT:YOU DO YOU: how to be who you are & use what you`ve got to get what you want ANDGet Your Sh*t Together
- the New York Times bestseller helping you organise the f**ks you want & need to give

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Transform your home into a permanently clear & clutter-free space with the incredible Kon Mari Method. Japan`s expert declutterer & professional cleaner Marie Kondo will help you tidy your rooms once & for all with her inspirational step-by-step method. The key to successful tidying is to tackle your home in the correct order, to keep only the things you really love & to do it all at once
- & quickly. After that for the rest of your life you only need to choose what to keep & what to discard. The Kon Mari Method will not just transform your space. Once you have your house in order you will find that your whole life will change. You can feel more confident, you can become more successful, & you can have the energy & motivation to create the life you want. You will also have the courage to move on from the negative aspects of your life: you can recognise & finish a bad relationship; you can stop feeling anxious; you can finally lose weight. Marie Kondo`s method is based on a `once-cleaned, never-messy-again` approach. If you think that such a thing is impossible then you should definitely read this compelling book.
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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is the charity that saves lives at sea. For nearly two hundred years its volunteers have shown courage & selflessness in facing storm & shipwreck to offer assistance. Never taken for granted, these qualities of service transcend the centuries to ring as true now as in the earliest days of the lifeboats. This unprecedented new book is a photographic celebration of every-day bravery, compassion, & outstanding commitment in the toughest of conditions. From the Cornish coasts to the Shetland Isles, we join crewman & photographer Nigel Millard as he travels the length of Britain & Irel&, living & working with his fellow lifeboatmen & accompanying them on their rescue missions. In 2011 alone some 7, 976 people were saved by lifeboat crews & a further 17, 670 were assisted by the service`s new lifeguard units, with lifeboats launching on average almost 20 times a day. This book honours the dedication of generations of hard-working people who generously give their time to those in danger & their families who wait for news while the lifeboats are out
- a visual tribute to the sea & those who go to it. All around our coasts, & every day of the year, the men & women of the RNLI are on duty`s call. Though the RNLI has evolved, through its technologies & size of organisation, its sense of purpose & vision
- to end preventable loss of life at sea
- is as clear as it was in the very beginning. This is a simple story of a voluntary rescue service, of men & women happy to race to the assistance of strangers at all hours of day or night should ever the need arise. We hope these photographs show something of this spirit. We are encouraged never to forget the bravery, skill & sacrifice of the people of the RNLI. They are heroes all.


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From time immemorial Afghanistan has been both a fortress of faith & a mountainous crossroads. Through its high valleys merchants traded Chinese porcelains, bundles of indigo cloth, sacks of lapis lazuli, golden jewellery, emeralds & fine carvings from both east & west. Ancient scrolls & beliefs entered the land in the satchels of Buddhist pilgrims & in the baggage of military invaders
- from Alexander the Great to Mughal, Persian & Arab conquerors & even the ill-fated armies of the British Raj. In this resonant account, Peter Levi seeks the clues which each migration left, in the company of the young Bruce Chatwin. Since his journey in the 1970s, Afghanistan has suffered forty years of invasion & civil war, making it all the more poignant to rediscover, with Levi, not a rocky wilderness guarded by fearsome tribes, but `this highway of archangels/this theatre of heaven/the light garden of the God-forgiven angel King.`
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” Magical, moving & deeply atmospheric”
- Patrick Barkham; As November stubs out the glow of autumn & the days tighten into shorter
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Arthur Simpson
- ` British to the core`, but without a passport to prove it
- lives in Athens, scraping by as a driver, journalist

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FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MOTHERING SUNDAY & LAST ORDERS, & reissued for the first time on the Scribner list, The Light of Day is both a gripping crime story & a remarkable love story. On a cold but dazzling November morning George Webb, a former policeman turned private detective, prepares to visit Sarah, a prisoner & the woman he loves. As he goes about the business of the day he relives the catastrophic events of two years ago that have both bound them together & kept them apart. Making atmospheric use of its suburban setting & shot through with a plain man`s unwitting poetry & rueful humour, The Light of Day is a powerful & moving tale of murder, redemption & of the discovery, for better or worse, of the hidden forces inside us. Praise for Mothering Sunday:` Bathed in light; & even when tragedy strikes, it blazes irresistibly... Swift`s small fiction feels like a masterpiece` Guardian ` Alive with sensuousness & sensuality.. . wonderfully accomplished, it is an achievement` Sunday Times ` From start to finish Swift`s is a novel of stylish brilliance & quiet narrative verve. The archly modulated, precise prose (a hybrid of Henry Green & Kazuo Ishiguro) is a glory to read. Now 66, Swift is a writer at the very top of his game` Evening Standard ` Mothering Sunday is a powerful, philosophical & exquisitely observed novel about the lives we lead, & the parallel lives
- the parallel stories
- we can never know.. . It may just be Swift`s best novel yet` Observer

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From the bestselling author of THE WEIRD SISTERS comes an enchanting tale of self-discovery that will strike a chord with anyone who has ever felt they`ve lost their way. `I adored The Light of Paris. It`s so lovely & big-hearted` JOJO MOYES ` Soulfulness & emotional insight meet laugh-out-loud humour` PAULA Mc LAIN, author of The Paris Wife Chicago, 1999. Madeleine is trapped
- by her family`s expectations, by her controlling husband
- in an unhappy marriage & a life she never wanted. But when she finds a diary detailing her grandmother Margie`s trip to Jazz Age Paris, she meets a woman she never knew: a dreamer who defied her strict family & spent a summer living on her own, & falling for a charismatic artist. When Madeleine`s marriage is threatened, she escapes to her hometown to stay with her disapproving mother. Shaken by the revelation of a family secret & inspired by her grandmother`s bravery, Madeleine creates her own summer of joy. In reconnecting with her love of painting & cultivating a new circle of friends, the chance of a new life emerges
- but will she be bold enough take it?


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