Perfect to dip into, this beautifully illustrated collection brings together all the best-loved classics, selections from favourite books such as ” Peter Pan”, ” Treasure Island”, ” Mary Poppins” & ” Heidi”, & poems such as ” The Owl & the Pussy-cat” by Edward Lear, ” You Are Old, Father William” by Lewis Carroll & Rudyard Kipling`s ” If”. ...

Tales of escape & adventure on Britain`s waterways. In The Pull of the River two foolhardy explorers do what we would all love to do: they turn their world upside down & seek adventure on their very own doorstep. Showing that it is still possible to get lost while knowing exactly where you are, The Pull of the River is a beautifully written exploration of nature, place & friendship, & an ode to the great art
- & joy
- of adventure.

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` Peter, Peter, Pumpkin eater Had a wife & couldn`t keep her...` In this extraordinary, semi-autobiographical novel, Penelope Mortimer depicts a married woman`s breakdown in 1960s London. With three husbands in her past, one in her present & a numberless army of children, Mrs Armitage is astonished to find herself collapsing one day in Harrods. Strange, unsettling & shot through with black comedy, this is a moving account of one woman`s realisation that marriage & family life may not, after all, offer all the answers to the problems of living. ...

The Pure Gold Baby is the story of Anna, a little girl with a luminescent quality, her mother, Jess, & the community that envelops them. A happy child, Anna is the unchanging core of this journey spanning decades & continents through the lives of those that love her. This profoundly engaging portrait of family, friendship, & the way we care for each other is a powerful reminder, if one were needed, of Margaret Drabble`s literary greatness. ...

Once, Theodora was little more than a slave, the daughter of a bear-keeper, running barefoot through the streets of Constantinople. Now she is Theou doron, `the Gift of God`, Empress of Byzantine Rome & the most powerful woman in the world. In Stella Duffy`s compelling new novel, the beguiling & extraordinary Empress Theodora emerges from the shadow of history into brilliant light. Clever, courageous & ruthless when betrayed, Theodora rules alongside her husb&, the Emperor Justinian
- a true love match in a world of political marriages. While wars rage on the borders of the Empire, Theodora discovers that the greatest danger to her reign
- & her life
- lies much closer to home. From the catastrophic & terrifying riots that burn through the city; to vengeful enemies at the palace who will never accept ` Theodora-from-the-brothel`; to plagues & plots & murder, Theodora learns what it truly means to be Empress. Spanning over twenty dramatic years of Theodora`s reign, The violet Shroud is a vivid portrait of a charismatic, exceptional woman & a fascinating exploration of both the pleasures & the burdens of power.


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The ” Pursuit of Italy” traces the whole history of the Italian peninsula in a wonderfully readable style, full of well-chosen stories & observations from personal experience, & peopled by many of the great figures of the Italian past, from Cicero & Virgil to Dante & the Medici, from Cavour & Verdi to the controversial political figures of the twentieth century. The book gives a clear-eyed view of the Risorgimento, the pivotal event in modern Italian history, debunking the influential myths which have grown up around it. Gilmour shows that the glory of Italy has always lain in its regions, with their distinctive art, civic cultures, identities & cuisine & whose inhabitants identified themselves not as Italians, but as Tuscans & Venetians, Sicilians & Lombards, Neapolitans & Genoese. This is where the strength & culture of Italy still comes from, rather than from misconceived & mishandled concepts of nationalism & unity. This wise & enormously engaging book explains the course of Italian history in a manner & with a coherence which no one with an interest in the country could fail to enjoy. ...

Nancy Mitford`s The Pursuit of Love is one of the funniest, sharpest novels about love & growing up ever written. ` Obsessed with sex!` said Jassy, `there`s nobody so obsessed as you, Linda. Why if I so much as look at a picture you say I`m a pygmalionist.` In the end we got more information out of a book called Ducks & Duck Breeding. ` Ducks can only copulate, ` said Linda, after studying this for a while, `in running water. Good luck to them.` Oh, the tedium of waiting to grow up! Longing for love, obsessed with weddings & sex, Linda & her sisters & cousin Fanny are on the lookout for the perfect lover. But finding Mr Right is much harder than any of the sisters had thought. Linda must suffer marriage first to a stuffy Tory MP & then to a handsome & humourless communist, before finding real love in war-torn Paris...” Utter, utter bliss.” (Daily Mail). ...

`A scintillating, encyclopaedic history, rich in detail from the arcane to the familiar...a veritable tour de force` Richard Overy, New Statesman ` Transnational history at its finest.. .social, political & cultural themes swirl together in one great canvas of immense detail & beauty` Gerard De Groot, The Times ` Dazzlingly erudite & entertaining` Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times A masterpiece which brings to life an extraordinarly turbulent & dramatic era of revolutionary change. The Pursuit of Power draws on a lifetime of thinking about nineteenth-century Europe to create an extraordinarily rich, surprising & entertaining panorama of a continent undergoing drastic transformation. The book aims to reignite the sense of wonder that permeated this remarkable era, as rulers & ruled navigated overwhelming cultural, political & technological changes. It was a time where what was seen as modern with amazing speed appeared old-fashioned, where huge cities sprang up in a generation, new European countries were created & where, for the first time, humans could communicate almost instantly over thousands of miles. In the period bounded by the Battle of Waterloo & the outbreak of World War I, Europe dominated the rest of the world as never before or since: this book breaks new ground by showing how the continent shaped, & was shaped by, its interactions with other parts of the globe. Richard Evans explores fully the revolutions, empire-building & wars that marked the nineteenth century, but the book is about so much more, whether it is illness, serfdom, religion or philosophy. The Pursuit of Power is a work by a historian at the height of his powers: essential for anyone trying to understand Europe, then or now. ...

The Middle Ages inherited from antiquity a tradition of prophecy & gave it new life. This tradition foretold a millennium in which humanity would enjoy a new paradise on earth, free from suffering & sin. This is the story of those millenarian fanaticisms, & points to their persistence in the modern era. ...

In 1853 Karl Marx predicted the Indian Railways would foster the growth of parallel industries `not immediately connected with the railways.` But the most successful industry-which Marx could not possibly have dreamed of-was that of cultural representations of the railways, which began even before the railways, themselves. From Rudyard Kipling to Mark Twain to R.K. Narayan to Ruskin Bond-the aura of Indian trains & railway stations have enchanted many. What imperialism made opulent, nationalism embraced a swadeshi tool, Partition turned into theaters of the macabre, & the nation`s destiny marked for its favorite foster child, came to embody the portable architecture of India`s modernity. &, what with iconic railway cinematography from Aradhana (1969), Sonar Kella (1974), Gandhi (1982), Dil Se (1997), or Parineeta (2005), Indian cinema has forged mythical railroads in the national psyche. The Purveyors of Destiny brings together all these elements together, for the first time, in a book replete with anecdotes from colonial & Indian accounts, the battlefronts of the Indian nationalist movement, Indian cinema, advertisements, & much more, in an ever expanding cultural biography of the Great Indian Railways.` In this fascinating cultural history, Arup K Chatterjee charts the extraordinary journey of the Indian Railways, from the laying of the very first sleeper to the first post-Independence bogey. It evokes our collective accumulation of those innumerable memories of platform chai & rail-gaadi stories, bringing alive through myriad voices & tales the biography of one of India`s defining public institutions.`- Shashi Tharoor, Author, M.P., Lok Sabha` The Purveyors of Destiny is a fascinating & well-researched cultural biography of the Indian Railways-those intricate arteries of the soul of India, as have been experienced, written, filmed, & dreamed. We cannot all travel by rail to know India, as Gandhiji did, but we can & should read this book!`- Tabish Khair, Author, Professor` Drawing on an impressive repertoire of literature & film, this elegantly crafted biography of the railways takes us on a riveting journey through the cultural history of the Indian nation, from the 1850s to the present. Written with wit & verve, it is a delight to read.`- Sugata Bose, Author, Professor, M.P., Lok Sabha`A deeply engaging work that comfortably straddles, & masters, the worlds of academic research & modern nonfiction, offering countless delightful gems of India`s railway legends & narratives for the curious reader. Crafted with great skill & a keen understanding of modern culture from the region & beyond...a remarkable achievement!`- Kaushik Barua, Author`...a wonderfully eclectic account of the Indian Railways & the vital place they occupy in our cultural history, with memorable moments & motifs from literature, cinema & other elements of our collective imagination. A great train journey, replete with all of the essentials from garam chai & A.H. Wheeler to historic arrivals & departures...`- Stephen Alter, Author ...