In 1527 the Spanish conquistador Panfilo de Narvaez arrived on the coast of modern-day Florida with hundreds of settlers, & claimed the region for Spain. Almost immediately, the expedition was decimated by a combination of navigational errors, disease, starvation & fierce resistance from indigenous tribes. Within a year, only four survivors remained: three noblemen & a Moroccan slave called ” Estebanico”. The official record, set down after a reunion with Spanish forces in 1536, contains only the three freemen`s accounts. The fourth, to which the title of Laila Lalami`s masterful novel alludes, is Estebanico`s own. Lalami gives us Estebanico as history never did: as Mustafa, the vibrant merchant from Azemmur forced into slavery & a new name, & reborn as the first black explorer of the Americas, discovering & being discovered by various tribes both hostile & compassionate. In Estebanico`s telling, the survivors` journey across great swathes of the New World transforms would-be conquerors into humble servants & fearful outcasts into faith healers. He remains ever-observant, resourceful & hopeful that he might one day find his way back to his family, even as he experiences an unexpected (if ambiguous) camaraderie with his masters. The Moor`s Account illuminates the ways in which stories can transmigrate into history, & how storytelling can offer a chance for redemption, reinvention & survival. ...

In 1482, Abu Abdallah Muhammad XI became the twenty-third Muslim King of Granada. He would be the last. This is the first history of the ruler, known as Boabdil, whose disastrous reign & bitter defeat brought seven centuries of Moorish Spain to an end. It is an action-packed story of intrigue, treachery, cruelty, cunning, courtliness, bravery & tragedy. Basing her vivid account on original documents & sources, Elizabeth Drayson traces the origins & development of Islamic Spain. She describes the thirteenth-century founding of the Nasrid dynasty, the cultured & stable society it created, & the feuding which threatened it & had all but destroyed it by 1482, when Boabdil seized the throne. The new Sultan faced betrayals by his family, factions in the Alhambra palace, & ever more powerful onslaughts from the forces of Ferdinand & Isabella, monarchs of the newly united kingdoms of Castile & Aragon. By stratagem, diplomacy, courage & strength of will Boabdil prolonged his reign for ten years, but he never had much chance of survival. In 1492 Ferdinand & Isabella, magnificently attired in Moorish costume, entered Granada & took possession of the city. Boabdil went into exile. The Christian reconquest of Spain, that has reverberated so powerfully down the centuries, was complete. ...

THE MORE YOU IGNORE ME IS NOW A MAJOR NEW FILM STARRING SHERIDAN SMITH, SHEILA HANCOCK, RICKY TOMLINSON & ELLA HUNT. Jo Brand`s life-affirming novel The More You Ignore Me addresses mental health issues & their impact on a family in an honest, hilarious & heartwarming way. This film tie-in edition contains a new foreword by Jo Brand about the film & an exclusive extract of the film script. For Alice, the big bad monster wasn`t green & hiding under the bed, it sat in the kitchen saying `bollocks` a lot. Prone to psychotic episodes, or `on the road to bonkersville` as Alice`s dad would say, Alice`s mum Gina isn`t easy to live with. Her unpredictable outbursts make life in their Hereford cottage eventful. As `family` means a mentally ill mother, a hippy father & grandparents who enjoy a drink or five, Alice needs someone to help her through. Unfortunately, Alice`s special someone is Morrissey of The Smiths, & the closest she`s got to him so far is watching him on Top of the Pops. Now that could all be about to change... Praise for Jo Brand`s The More You Ignore Me:`A sweet, touching, tender novel` Independent` The book is littered with endearing characters... The last line moved me to tears` Daily Express` The most enjoyable piece of fiction I have had the pleasure of reading this year... superb stuff` Now ...

Winner of the Hay Festival Award for Prose Winner of the 2016 IWMF Courage in Journalism Award Shortlisted for the New York Public Library`s Helen Bernstein Excellence in Journalism Award Shortlisted for the 2017 Moore Prize for Non-Fiction Literature In May of 2012, Janine di Giovanni travelled to Syria, marking the beginning of a long relationship with the country, as she began reporting from both sides of the conflict, witnessing its descent into one of the most brutal, internecine conflicts in recent history. Drawn to the stories of ordinary people caught up in the fighting, Syria came to consume her every moment, her every emotion. Speaking to those directly involved in the war, di Giovanni relays the personal stories of rebel fighters thrown in jail at the least provocation; of children & families forced to watch loved ones taken & killed by regime forces with dubious justifications; & the stories of the elite, holding pool parties in Damascus hotels, trying to deny the human consequences of the nearby shelling. Delivered with passion, fearlessness & sensitivity, The Morning They Came for Us is an unflinching account of a nation on the brink of disintegration, charting an apocalyptic but at times tender story of life in a jihadist war
- & an unforgettable testament to human resilience in the face of devastating, unimaginable horrors.
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On 16 March 1978, Aldo Moro, former Italian Prime Minister, was ambushed in Rome. Within three minutes the gang killed all five members of his escort & bundled Moro into one of three getaway cars. An hour later the Red Brigades announced that Moro was in their hands; on 18 March they said he would be tried in a `people`s court of justice`. Seven weeks later Moro`s body was discovered in the boot of a Renault parked in the crowded centre of Rome. In this book, Leonardo Sciasica, a master of detective fiction, untangles the real-life events of these crucial weeks & provides a unique insight into the dangerous world of Italian politics in the 1970s. ...

At the age of ten, when Martin Amis spent a year in Princeton, New Jersey, he was excited & frightened by America. As an adult he has approached that confusing country from many arresting angles, & interviewed its literati, filmmakers, thinkers, opinion makers, leaders & crackpots with characteristic discernment & wit. Included in a gallery of Great American Novelists are Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, Truman Capote, Joseph Heller, William Burroughs, Kurt Vonnegut, John Updike, Paul Theroux, Philip Roth & Saul Bellow. Amis also takes us to Dallas, where presidential candidate Ronald Reagan is attempting to liaise with born-again Christians. We glimpse the beau monde of Palm Beach, where each couple tries to out-Gatsby the other, & examine the case of Claus von Bulow. Steven Spielberg gets a visit, as does Brian de Palma, whom Amis asks why his films make no sense, & Hugh Hefner`s sybaritic fortress & sanitised image are penetrated. There can be little that escapes the eye of Martin Amis when his curiosity leads him to a subject, & America has found in him a superlative chronicler. ...

Well over half a century after it first appeared in 1948, the Morris Minor has become a much-loved classic car. It is as popular now as when in production. During the Second World War, when Alec Issigonis & his team began to design a prototype small car for the post-war era, few could have foreseen that it would become the first British car to sell a million or that the revolutionary design features would stand the test of time so well. This book traces the evolution of the Minor through the different phases of its development to its demise in the 1970s. ...

This is the first guidebook by Cicerone Press to cycling the beautiful Moselle river 512km through France, Luxembourg & Germany following a well waymarked route on good & largely flat surfaces, accessible to cyclists of all abilities. Rising in the Vosges Mountains in eastern France, the Moselle flows roughly north through the French region of Lorraine & the German Land (state) of Rheinl&-Pfalz. Once in Germany it follows a deep meandering gorge between the Hunsruck & Eifel Mountains before joining the Rhine at Deutsches Eck (` German corner`) in Koblenz. The route is described here in 14 stages
- easily tackled in a week
- with alternative stages & optional excursions through the Saar & Rhine gorges & to visit the Boucles de Moselle & the city of Luxembourg. The guide is illustrated with unique, detailed & clear route & town maps & full of extra information about local history & culture, as well as practical tips & contact information for tourist offices & accommodation providers.

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A 365km-long trail along the German section of the Moselle presented on three double-sided, GPS-compatible maps at 1:25, 000 with cartography of the German topographic survey, plus extensive overprint indicating other local hiking & cycling paths, accommodation options, places of interest, etc. The route, prominently marked on the map, starts in Perl in Saarland & follows the right bank of the Moselle to its confluence with the Rhine in Koblenz. Also highlighted are numerous other local & long-distance hiking & cycling trails in the area. A very wide range of symbols shows various accommodation options, places of interest, recreational facilities, etc. Cartography is from the German topographic survey with contours at 5m intervals & colouring/graphics indicating different types of woodlands. Map legend

Includes:: English.

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The Moselle Valley: Metz
- Thionville area in a series of cycling maps from Sportoena covering Belgium & the adjoining regions
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