In Paris 1890, Lady`s maid Denise le Louarn fears the worst when her mistress, Odette de Valois, vanishes from the Pere-Lachaise cemetery during a visit to her husband`s grave. All alone in the great metropolis, Denise knows just one person she can go to for help: Odette`s former lover, Victor Legris. When the frightened girl turns up at his bookshop & tells him her story, Victor feels there must be a simple explanation for Odette`s disappearance. But as he begins to look into the matter, it soon becomes clear that something sinister lies behind events at the Pere-Lachaise. ...

Reissue of J. A. Baker, s extraordinary classic of British nature writing Despite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J A Baker spent a long winter looking & writing about the visitors from the uplands
- peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons & waders that share the desolate landscape with them. Including original diaries from which The Peregrine was written & its companion volume The Hill of Summer, this is a beautiful compendium of lyrical nature writing at its absolute best. Such luminaries as Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Ted Hughes & Andrew Motion have cited this as one of the most important books in 20th Century nature writing, & the bestselling author Mark Cocker has provided an introduction on the importance of Baker, his writings & the diaries
- creating the essential volume of Baker's writings. Since the hardback was published in 2010, papers, maps, & letters have come to light which in turn provide a little more background into J A Baker, s history. Contemporaries
- particularly from while he was at school in Chelmsford
- have kindly provided insights, remembering a school friend who clearly made an impact on his generation. In the longer term, there is hope of an archive of these papers being established, but in the meantime, & with the arrival of this paperback edition, there is a chance to reveal a little more of what has been learned. Among fragments of letters to Baker was one from a reader who praised a piece that Baker had written in RSPB Birds magazine in 1971. Apart from a paper on peregrines which Baker wrote for the Essex Bird Report, this article
- entitled On the Essex Coast
- appears to be his only other published piece of writing, &, with the kind agreement of the RSPB, it has been included in this updated new paperback edition of Baker, s astounding work.





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Reissue of J. A. Baker`s extraordinary classic of British nature writing, with an exclusive new afterword by Robert Macfarlane.J. A. Baker`s extraordinary classic of British nature writing was first published in 1967. Greeted with acclaim, it went on to win the Duff Cooper Prize, the pre-eminent literary prize of the time. Luminaries such as Ted Hughes, Barry Lopez & Andrew Motion have cited it as one of the most important books in twentieth-century nature writing. Despite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J. A. Baker spent long winters looking & writing about the visitors from the uplands
- peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons & waders that share the desolate landscape with them. This new edition of the timeless classic, published to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first publication, features an afterword by one of the book`s greatest admirers, Robert Macfarlane.
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Reissue of J. A. Baker`s extraordinary classic of British nature writing Despite the association of peregrines with the wild, outer reaches of the British Isles, The Peregrine is set on the flat marshes of the Essex coast, where J A Baker spent a long winter looking & writing about the visitors from the uplands
- peregrines that spend the winter hunting the huge flocks of pigeons & waders that share the desolate landscape with them. Including original diaries from which The Peregrine was written & its companion volume The Hill of Summer, this is a beautiful compendium of lyrical nature writing at its absolute best. Such luminaries as Richard Mabey, Robert Macfarlane, Ted Hughes & Andrew Motion have cited this as one of the most important books in 20th Century nature writing, & the bestselling author Mark Cocker has provided an introduction on the importance of Baker, his writings & the diaries
- creating the essential volume of Baker`s writings. Papers, maps, & letters have recently come to light which in turn provide a little more background into J A Baker`s history. Contemporaries
- particularly from his time at school in Chelmsford
- have provided insights, remembering a school friend who clearly made an impact on his generation. Among fragments of letters to Baker was one from a reader who praised a piece that Baker had written in RSPB Birds magazine in 1971. Apart from a paper on peregrines which Baker wrote for the Essex Bird Report, this article
- entitled On the Essex Coast
- appears to be his only other published piece of writing, &, with the agreement of the RSPB, it has been included in this updated new paperback edition of Baker`s astounding work.





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Renaissance master Andrea Palladio's architectural DNA can be seen on modern-day icons from Buckingham Palace to the White House, from numerous English stately homes to Virginian plantation houses. In THE PERFECT HOUSE Witold Rybczynski travels along the Brenta River in north-eastern Italy to experience the surviving original Palladian villas for himself. He sets out to discover how a rustic sixteenth-century stonemason, born Andrea di Pietro, first had to become 'cultured' before he could be one of the most respected architects of all time, & how Palladio managed to bring the elegance of Ancient Rome to the Venetian countryside. Out of the chaos of hired cars & cheap flights, towns packed with ' Ristoranti Palladio' & herds of tourists, Rybczynski savours moments of epiphany as he contemplates Palladio's perfect houses. Part travelogue, part historical biography, part architectural guide, THE PERFECT HOUSE is a delightful & enlightening exploration of the birth of domestic architecture & the man who spawned it. ...

Take a warm summer`s day, a secluded spot in the dappled shade, a blanket & a bottle of wine, friends & family, & a spread of delicious homemade food, & you have that timeless rustic idyll
- the Great British picnic. Perfect picnic food is simple, elegant & delicious, based around much-loved classics. Hilda Leyel, who wrote this book in 1936, was extraordinarily before her time. She influenced generations of foodies with her wonderfully inventive recipes, where retro meets modern, such as: Egg mayonnaise on crusty bread; Watercress, beetroot & nasturtium salad; Chicken & leek pie; &, Spiced plum cake & salted almonds. She championed local, seasonal ingredients like watercress & asparagus; she promoted traditional recipes from raised pies to strawberries & cream; &, she set a benchmark of refinement with crab souffle & spaghetti & truffles.
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Ocean storms are the most overwhelming & intoxicating aspects of nature--a relentless force that's life itself, pure energy & movement. Through extreme photographs shot by an intrepid artist in dangerous conditions, this volume captures the power of the sea during a tempest, with sailors caught in its vortex, pitted against nature. But it also portrays the ocean as pleasure, its waves ridden with audacious mastery by venturesome surfers. ...

Internationally bestselling historian Antonia Fraser`s new book brilliantly evokes one year of pre-Victorian political & social history
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` Mandatory reading` Steven Pinker Do you eat too much sugar? What proportion of your country are immigrants? What does it cost to raise a child? How much tax do the rich pay? Are we more ignorant than we used to be? Take a minute to answer these questions. No matter how educated you are, this book suggests you are likely to be very wrong indeed. Informed by exclusive research across 40 countries, conducted by global polling firm Ipsos, The Perils of Perception investigates why we don`t know basic facts about the world around us. Using the latest research into the media & decision science, Bobby Duffy asks how we can address our ignorance & why the populations of some countries seem better informed than others. Essential reading in the so-called `post-truth` era, this book will transform the way you engage with the world. ...

` So it happens, therefore, that every element says something to someone` Inspired by the rhythms of the ” Periodic Table”, Primo Levi assesses his life in terms of the chemical elements he associates with his past. From his birth into an Italian Jewish family through his training as a chemist, to the pain & darkness of the Holocaust & its aftermath, Levi reflects on the difficult course of his life in this heartfelt & deeply moving book. ...