WINNER OF THE 2018 WAINWRIGHT BOOK PRIZEThe full story of seabirds from one of the greatest nature writers. The book looks at the pattern of their lives, their habitats, the threats they face & the passions they inspire
- beautifully illustrated by artist Kate Boxer. Seabirds are master navigators, thriving in the most demanding environment on earth. In this masterly book, drawing on all the most recent research, Adam Nicolson follows them to the coasts & islands of Scotl&, Irel&, Icel&, Norway, & the Americas. Beautifully illustrated by Kate Boxer, The Seabird`s Cry is a celebration of the wonders of the only creatures at home in the air, on land & on the sea. It also carries a warning: the number of seabirds has dropped by two-thirds since 1950. Extinction stalks the ocean & there is a danger that the grand cry of a seabird colony will this century become little but a memory.
...

Seabreezes are the lifeblood of cruising & racing sailors
- but they are a fickle resource & it`s vital to be able to predict &
...

After a separation of many years, Emily ` Fido` Faithfull bumps into her old friend Helen Codrington on the streets of Victorian London. Much has changed: Helen is more & more unhappy in her marriage to the older Vice-Admiral Codrington, while Fido has become a successful woman of business & a pioneer in the British Women`s Movement. But, for all her independence of mind, Fido is too trusting of her once-dear companion & finds herself drawn into aiding Helen`s obsessive affair with a young army officer. Then, when the Vice-Admiral seizes the children & sues for divorce, the women`s friendship unravels amid accusations of adultery & counter-accusations of cruelty & attempted rape, as well as a mysterious `sealed letter` that could destroy more than one life.. . ...

A Zoe Ball ITV Book Club Pick` Sally Magnusson has taken an amazing true event & created a brilliant first novel. It`s an epic journey in every sense: although it`s historical, it`s incredibly relevant to our world today. We had to pick it` Zoe Ball Book Club`A remarkable feat of imagination.. . I enjoyed & admired it in equal measure` Sarah Perry, author of The Essex Serpent `A powerful tale of Barbary pirates.. . richly imagined & energetically told.` Sunday Times
- 100 Best Books to Read This Summer` Engrossing` Sunday Express ` Fascinating.. . a really, really good read` BBC R2 Book Club` The best sort of historical novel` Scotsman `A lyrical tale` Stylist ` Compelling stuff` Good Housekeeping` An extraordinarily immersive read.. . examining themes of motherhood, identity, exile & freedom` Guardian 1627. In a notorious historical event, pirates raided the coast of Iceland & abducted 400 people into slavery in Algiers. Among them a pastor, his wife, & their children. In her acclaimed debut novel Sally Magnusson imagines what history does not record: the experience of Asta, the pastor`s wife, as she faces her losses with the one thing left to her
- the stories from home
- & forges an ambiguous bond with the man who bought her. Uplifting, moving, & witty, The Sealwoman`s Gift speaks across centuries & oceans about loss, love, resilience & redemption. Chosen for the BBC Radio 2 Book Club (a really really good book) & the ITV Zoe Ball Book Club (the quality of the writing is amazing).` Icelandic history has been brought to extraordinary life... An accomplished & intelligent novel` Yrsa Sigurðardóttir, author of Why Did You Lie?` Vivid & compelling` Adam Nichols, co-translator of The Travels of Reverend Ólafur Egilsson


...

School`s out, & Bobby Parrish is spending the summer on his dad`s boat. Job number one is to deal with the seals infesting the peninsula. The money`s good
- but Bobby knows, deep down, that he hasn`t got it in him. Will Bobby’s dad let him be different?A story of the split-second choices that can change lives forever. Eoin Colfer`s trademark humour & lightness of touch & Victor Ambrus`s classic artwork evoke a strong sense of place, character & vitality.
...

It was Czechoslovakia, 1942. Jan's father has been summarily executed by the Nazis. His mother & his older sister Maria have disappeared, & his younger sister Lena has been removed to a remote farm in the German countryside. With Europe in the throes of war, the ten-year-old boy embarks on a personal journey to reunite the family he has been violently torn from. The experiences he goes through & the horror he faces during this desperate quest will change his life for ever. ...

In the late-19th & early-20th centuries, as China opened its doors to the rest of the world, Western archaeologists introduced new field methods that led to important discoveries & the establishment of scientific bodies of research. However, as China turned in on itself from 1949 to 1990, Chinese archaeology entered a dark age. Today, in an era of cooperation, the splendours & achievements of ancient China are revealed to modern eyes. This work is an examination of the latest discoveries in the archaeology of Ancient China, including: the early Neolithic painted pottery; the Shang bronzes; the bronze bells of the Marquis Yi of Zeng; the terracotta army of Qin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor; & the lavish tomb of the Marquis of Dai & his family from the Han dynasty. ...

The Search for Ancient Egypt is Jean Vercoutter & Ruth Sharman`s riveting compilation of the major discoveries of ancient Egypt, including the stories of Howard Carter & Lord Carnarvon, Belzoni & Champollion. They write of the `pharaoh`s curse`, the Patagonian Samson, the unlocking of the ever-secretive hieroglyphs & a remarkable rescue of Egypt`s monuments from ravaging flood waters. Buried treasure, looting, intrigue & dedicated scholarship; `wonderful things` gleaming in the darkness; the cache of royal mummies; &, most wonderful of all, the tomb of Tutankhamun. Add this to your cart today! ...

The idea of a hidden refuge, a paradise far from the stresses of modern life, has universal appeal. In 1932 the writer James Hilton coined the word ” Shangri-La” to describe such a place, when he gave that name to a hidden valley in the Himalayas in his popular romance, Lost Horizon. Charles Allen, oral & military historian, acclaimed traveller, & author of several best-selling books on colonial themes, explores here the myth behind the story, tracking down the sources that Hilton drew upon in writing his novel, & then setting out to discover what lies behind the legend that inspired him. In the course of this lively & amusing account of his four journeys into Tibet, Allen also provides a controversial new reading of the country`s early history, dismissing notions of Tibet as a Buddhist paradise & seeking to restore the mysterious pre-Buddhist religion of Bon to its rightful place in Tibetan culture. In his travels to Tibet, Allen located the ”lost” kingdom of Shang-shung &, in doing so, the original Shangri-La itself: in an astounding gorge beyond the Himalayas, full of extraordinary ruins. ...

George Orwell, a man fond of a pint, used to write about his fantasy pub, The Moon Under Water, in his Evening Standard columns
-
...