Whenever an august figure departs the world of cricket, The Daily Telegraph records a decorous tribute. There will certainly be an obituary
- in days of yore penned by the doyen of cricket writers, E.W. Swanton, in recent times unafraid to be a lot more whimsical, waspish, & even extremely funny. There will often be an appreciation by one of the paper`s stable of cricket correspondents, such as Derek Pringle, Michael Henderson or Scyld Berry, most likely drawing on their memories of having played against the subject or watched his deeds. & sometimes a hero`s demise will prompt a heartfelt tribute from someone whose only qualification as an elegist is their own eloquence, as John Major displays on Denis Compton & Michael Parkinson on Keith Miller. & those cricket lives deemed worthy of memorialising need not be illustrious Test careers, though all the great names from Bradman to Bedser, Cowdrey to D` Oliviera, are here. They can also be quixotic county mavericks like ` Bomber` Wells, self-effacing professionals like Tom Cartwright & Derek Shackleton, or charismatic one-offs like Colin Milburn or the Nawab of Pataudi. They may not even be cricketers, but rather much-loved commentators & broadcasters like Brian Johnston & Christopher Martin-Jenkins, players-turned-umpires like David Shepherd & Bill Alley, or, like the Bishop of Liverpool who previously opened for Sussex & Engl&, have made their name equally elsewhere. Their achievements are often hymned by their peers
- Mark Nicholas on his Hampshire team-mate Malcolm Marshall, Tony Lewis on John Arlott, Colin Croft on Alf Valentine, & Simon Hughes on facing the fearsome Sylvester Clarke. Here, then, are more than eighty greats of the game
- Australians & South Africans alongside Somerset yeomen & Yorkshire`s finest. For any cricket lover, this little book is an endlessly browsable testament to the sheer richness & variety of the cricketing life.


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From the detention centre on Ellis Isl&, Ludwig Somner looks across a small stretch of water to the glittering towers of New York, which whisper seductively of freedom after so many years of wandering through a perlious, suffering Europe. Remarque`s final novel, left unfinished at his death, tells of the precarious life of the refugee – life lived in hotel lobbies, on false passports, the strange, ill-assorted refugee community held together by an unspeakable past. For Somner, each new luxury
- ice cream served in drugstores, bright shop windows, art, a new suit, a new romance
- has a bittersweet edge. Memories of war & inhumanity continue to resurface even in this peaceful promised l&.A haunting snapshot of a unique time, place & predicament, this is another powerful comment from Remarque on the devastating effects of war.

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Marcia is sixteen, overweight & unhappy. One day, as she`s walking down a Buenos Aires street, she hears a shout: ` Wannafuck?` Startled, she turns round & is confronted by two punk girls Lenin & Mao. Soon, she`s beguiled by them & the possibilities they open up. But the two have little time for a philosophical discussion of love: they need proof, & with their own savage logic the duo, calling themselves the Commando of Love, hold up a supermarket as the novel climaxes in an unforgettable splatter-fest finale. ...

. The Prophet, an international besteller & translated into over fifty languages, is the best-known & best-loved of Kahil Gibran`s many spiritual & religious writings. Inspired largely by the beauty & timelessness of nature, The Prophet, arrayed as twentysix prose poetry essays, speaks of love & marriage, joy & sorrow, reason & passion, beauty & death, & conveys the yearning for a Unity of Being that can only be achieved through love. These qualities made The Prophet the iconic book of the 1960s counter-culture, which embraced love & spirituality. Illustrated with his own enchanting & mystical drawings, The Prophet is a masterpiece, the most famous work of religious fiction of the Twentieth Century, & a wonderful companion for anybody embarking on their own spiritual journey. ...

” When love beckons to you follow him, Though his ways are hard & steep”. (The Prophet, On Love). The time has come for the revered Prophet to leave Orphalese. Before he departs, people gather around him & ask him to speak of love, marriage, time, sorrow, friendship & children. The Prophet`s replies are illuminating & humane & provide a timeless guide to living. The Prophet was an instant bestseller on publication in 1923. Since then it has been translated into more than 20 languages & is a classic work of inspirational fiction. ...

Utterly unique & beloved around the world, The Prophet is a collection of twenty-six poetic essays by the Lebanese artist, philosopher & writer Khalil Gibran. Telling the story of the prophet Al-Mustafa & his conversations with various acquaintances as he returns home after a long absence, the book touches on subjects of universal concern, including love, friendship, passion, pain, religion & freedom. Thought-provoking, comforting & wise, the simple truths of The Prophet remain compelling & rewarding to this day. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector`s Library is a series of beautiful special gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector`s Library are books to love & treasure. ...

The Prophet Muhammad is a hero for all mankind. In his lifetime he established a new religion, Islam; a new state, the first united Arabia; & a new literary language, the classical Arabic of the Qur`an, for the Qur`an is believed to be the word of God revealed to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. A generation after his death he would be acknowledged as the founder of a world empire & a new civilisation. Any one of these achievements would have been more than enough to permanently establish his genius. To our early twenty-first century minds, what is all the more astonishing is that he also managed to stay true to himself & retained to his last days the humility, courtesy & humanity that he had learned as an orphan shepherd boy in central Arabia. If one looks for a parallel example from Christendom, you would have to combine the Emperor Constantine with St Francis & St Paul, an awesome prospect. Barnaby Rogerson`s elegant biography not only looks directly at the life of the Prophet Muhammad, but beautifully evokes for western readers the Arabian world into which he was born in 570 AD. ...

Idealistic, misguided Morten Falck is a newly ordained priest sailing to Greenland in 1787 to convert the Inuit to the Danish church. A rugged outpost battered by harsh winters, Sukkertoppen is overshadowed by the threat of dissent; natives from neighboring villages have united to reject Danish rule & establish their own settlement atop Eternal Fjord. As Falck becomes involved with those in his care-his ambitious catechist, a lonely trader`s wife, & a fatalistic widow he comes to love-his faith & reputation are dangerously called into question. ...

Idealistic, misguided Morten Falck is a newly ordained priest sailing to Greenland in 1787 to convert the Inuit to the Danish church. A rugged outpost battered by harsh winters, Sukkertoppen is overshadowed by the threat of dissent; natives from neighboring villages have united to reject Danish rule & establish their own settlement atop Eternal Fjord. As Falck becomes involved with those in his care-his ambitious catechist, a lonely trader`s wife, & a fatalistic widow he comes to love-his faith & reputation are dangerously called into question. ...

Before there was Gonzo, there was just plain Hunter -- a precocious, earnest, & occasionally troublesome honor student in Louisville, Kentucky. Before there was Doctor Thompson, there was Airman Thompson -- the military`s answer to Grantland Rice, protecting America by covering sports for his Florida base`s newspaper. Before there was Fear & Loathing, there was Dow Jones -- that is, Thompson`s early reportage for that company`s National Observer, which raised the standard for hip & provocative foreign coverage. Before there was Rolling Stone, there were job applications everywhere -- in hopes of being hired by a paper, pretty much any paper, an obsession for the starving writer with expensive tastes in alcohol, nicotine, & room service. In The Proud Highway, readers will find a Hunter S. Thompson they`ve imagined but never known. With the publication of these extraordinary letters, written from the time of his high school graduation in 1955 through the triumph of his first book, Hell`s Angels, in 1966, critics & fans can finally trace the development & maturation of a singular talent, one of our era`s most important voices. How Thompson changed the face of contemporary nonfiction -- & of America itself -- is the mesmerizing story of The Proud Highway. ...