When the Department
- faded since the war & busy only with bureaucratic battles
- hears rumour of a missile base near the West

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A tragic love story about two sisters who cannot live with or without each other. Far out on the plains of northern Norway stands a house. It belongs to two middle-aged sisters. They seldom venture out & nobody visits. The older needs nursing & the younger keeps house. Then, one day, a man arrives...------- Why Peirene chose to publish this book: ` This is a tragedy about a woman who yearns for love but ends up in a painfully destructive conflict with her sister. It is also a story about loneliness
- both geographical & psychological. Facing the prospect of a life without love, we fall back into isolating delusions at exactly the moment when we need to connect.` Meike Ziervogel, Publisher
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Imagine living in a box at the bottom of the sea for a month at a time. Locked away in a saturation chamber, plumbed to depths of more than 500 feet, this has been David Beckett`s love, life & work for all his adult life. Destined to become a pig farmer in the late 1960s, a twist of fate saw David become an air diver, & within a short space of time he progressed to saturation diving. He would brush with death on more than one occasion
- not least when helping to recover 47 bodies of the victims of the Sumburgh chinook disaster in Scotland`s Shetland Islands
- & when called in to assist with the deadliest peacetime shipwreck in Europe, as the MS Estonia sank in the Baltic Sea in 1994 & claimed 852 lives. Amongst the depths of despair, there are many lighter moments, including treasure hunting in the Philippines, almost clinching a contract to salvage the bursar`s safe from the Titanic & surviving a 24-hour typhoon which brought 80-foot waves crashing down on his boat. The Loonliness of a Deep Sea Diver is gritty, sometimes comical & offers a unique glimpse into a life at sea, much of it at the bottom.

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A shocking investigative journey into the way the resource trade wreaks havoc on Africa, ` The Looting Machine` explores the dark underbelly of the global economy. Africa: the world`s poorest continent &, arguably, its richest. While accounting for just 2 percent of global GDP, it is home to 15 per cent of the planet`s crude oil, 40 per cent of its gold & 80 per cent of its platinum. A third of the earth`s mineral deposits lie beneath its soil. But far from being a salvation, this buried treasure has been a curse. ` The Looting Machine` takes you on a gripping & shocking journey through anonymous boardrooms & glittering headquarters to expose a new form of financialized colonialism. Africa`s booming growth is driven by the voracious hunger for natural resources from rapidly emerging economics such as China. But in the shadows a network of traders, bankers & corporate raiders has sprung up to grease the palms of venal local political elites. What is happening in Africa`s resource states is systematic looting. In country after country across the continent, the resource industry is tearing at the very fabric of society. But, like its victims, the beneficiaries of this looting machine have names. For six years Tom Burgis has been on a mission to expose corruption & give voice to the millions of Africans who suffer the consequences of living under this curse. Combining deep reporting with an action-packed narrative, he travels to the heart of Africa`s resource states, meeting a warlord in Nigeria`s oil-soaked Niger Delta & crossing a warzone to reach a remote mineral mine in eastern Congo. The result is a blistering investigation that throws a completely fresh light on the workings of the global economy & will make you think twice about what goes into the mobile phone in your pocket & the tank of your car. ...

A shocking investigative journey into the way the resource trade wreaks havoc on Africa, ` The Looting Machine` explores the dark underbelly of the global economy. Africa: the world`s poorest continent &, arguably, its richest. While accounting for just 2 percent of global GDP, it is home to 15 per cent of the planet`s crude oil, 40 per cent of its gold & 80 per cent of its platinum. A third of the earth`s mineral deposits lie beneath its soil. But far from being a salvation, this buried treasure has been a curse. ` The Looting Machine` takes you on a gripping & shocking journey through anonymous boardrooms & glittering headquarters to expose a new form of financialized colonialism. Africa`s booming growth is driven by the voracious hunger for natural resources from rapidly emerging economics such as China. But in the shadows a network of traders, bankers & corporate raiders has sprung up to grease the palms of venal local political elites. What is happening in Africa`s resource states is systematic looting. In country after country across the continent, the resource industry is tearing at the very fabric of society. But, like its victims, the beneficiaries of this looting machine have names. For six years Tom Burgis has been on a mission to expose corruption & give voice to the millions of Africans who suffer the consequences of living under this curse. Combining deep reporting with an action-packed narrative, he travels to the heart of Africa`s resource states, meeting a warlord in Nigeria`s oil-soaked Niger Delta & crossing a warzone to reach a remote mineral mine in eastern Congo. The result is a blistering investigation that throws a completely fresh light on the workings of the global economy & will make you think twice about what goes into the mobile phone in your pocket & the tank of your car. ...

Continuing the story begun in The Hobbit, all three parts of the epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, in one paperback. Features the definitive edition of the text, fold-out flaps with the original two-colour maps, & a revised & expanded index. Sauron, the Dark Lord, has gathered to him all the Rings of Power
- the means by which he intends to rule Middle-earth. All he lacks in his plans for dominion is the One Ring
- the ring that rules them all
- which has fallen into the hands of the hobbit, Bilbo Baggins. In a sleepy village in the Shire, young Frodo Baggins finds himself faced with an immense task, as the Ring is entrusted to his care. He must leave his home & make a perilous journey across the realms of Middle-earth to the Crack of Doom, deep inside the territories of the Dark Lord. There he must destroy the Ring forever & foil the Dark Lord in his evil purpose. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic & otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of young & old alike. This single-volume paperback edition is the definitive text, fully restored with almost 400 corrections
- with the full co-operation of Christopher Tolkien
- & features a striking new cover.




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Four-volume boxed-set edition of The Lord of the Rings in hardback, featuring Tolkien`s original unused dust-jacket designs, together with fourth hardback volume, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader`s Companion.

Includes:: special features & the definitive edition of the text. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic & otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of young & old alike, with one hundred & fifty million copies of its many editions sold around the world. In 2005 Tolkien`s text was fully restored
- with the full co-operation of Christopher Tolkien
- with almost 400 corrections, the original red & black maps as fold-out sheets, a fully revised & enlarged index, & for the first time a special plate section containing the pages from the Book of Mazarbul, making this set as close as possible to the version that J.R.R. Tolkien intended. This Diamond Anniversary reissue of the prized boxed set marks 60 years since the first publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. These hardback editions feature Tolkien`s original unused dust-jacket designs from the 1950s, reworked for this edition, & some additional text corrections. The four-volume boxed set

Includes:: The Lord of the Rings: A Reader`s Companion, a unique annotated guide to the text, fully updated since its first publication in 2005, & is a book which will enhance the reader`s enjoyment & understanding of one of the most influential books of the 20th century.





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The third novel in Bernard Cornwell`s epic & bestselling series on the making of England & the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. BBC2`s major Autumn 2015 TV show THE LAST KINGDOM is based on the first two books in the series. Uhtred wants revenge. He wants the land & castle that is his. He wants his treacherous uncle to pay for taking them. Heading north with his lover, former nun Hild, he finds chaos as the Vikings battle among themselves to consolidate their hold on the region. At the heart of it are men from Uhtred`s past
- Sven the One-Eyed & Kjartan the Cruel, men of vicious reputation. Still, he has matched such men before. Then Uhtred suffers a betrayal to rival the treachery that deprived him of his birthright. It will leave him trapped with no hope of escape.. . Uhtred of Bebbanburg`s mind is as sharp as his sword. A thorn in the side of the priests & nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves & the cause he has sworn to serve.
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ENGLAND IS BORN. BBC2`s major TV series THE LAST KINGDOM is based on Bernard Cornwell`s bestselling novels on the making of England & the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. The Lords of the North is the third book in the series. Season 2 of the epic TV series premiers this March. The year is 878. Uhtred of Bebbanburg, fresh from fighting for Alfred the Great, must journey north with a band of men to avenge his father, who has been cut down by the Danish lord Kjartan, Uhtred`s oldest enemy. But the north is a realm of chaos, rebellion & bloody retribution. As he plans his revenge attack, Uhtred is betrayed & ends up on a slave voyage to Icel&. Friends & alliances must unite to free him, & fight once more in the battle for Engl&. ...

Scotland`s rich past & varied landscape have inspired an extraordinary array of legends & beliefs, & in ” The Lore of Scotland” Jennifer Westwood & Sophia Kingshill bring together many of the finest & most intriguing: stories of heroes & bloody feuds, tales of giants, fairies, & witches, & accounts of local customs & traditions. Their range extends right across the country, from the Borders with their haunting ballads, via Glasgow, site of St. Mungo`s miracles, to the fateful battlefield of Culloden, & finally to the Shetlands, home of the seal-people. More than simply retelling these stories, ” The Lore of Scotland” explores their origins, showing how & when they arose & investigating what basis
- if any
- they have in historical fact. In the process, it uncovers the events that inspired Shakespeare`s ” Macbeth, ” probes the claim that Mary King`s Close is the most haunted street in Edinburgh, & examines the surprising truth behind the fame of the Mac Crimmons, Skye`s unsurpassed bagpipers. Moreover, it reveals how generations of Picts, Vikings, Celtic saints & Presbyterian reformers shaped the myriad tales that still circulate, &, from across the country, it gathers together legends of such renowned figures as Sir William Wallace, St Columba, & the great warrior Fingal. The result is a thrilling journey through Scotland`s legendary past & an endlessly fascinating account of the traditions & beliefs that play such an important role in its heritage.

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