` We were told we would never get planning consent & we did. We were told we would never be able to fund it & we did. Then we were told we would never be able to build it & we did.` Irvine Sellar In 2000, Irvine Sellar, a former market trader famous for helping to create the look of the Swinging Sixties on Carnaby Street, stood on a rooftop in Southwark, London, & decided to build the tallest building in western Europe. He had virtually no experience, & he wanted to build at the wrong height, in the wrong place, on the wrong side of the river & at the wrong time. Twelve years later, the Shard, a `vertical city` designed by one of the world`s leading architects, Renzo Piano, changed the skyline of London. It immediately became one of the most instantly recognizable & admired contemporary buildings in the world. This is the story of one man`s vision for London & his determination to redefine an ancient but maligned part of the city despite seemingly insurmountable challenges including mass opposition, a huge planning inquiry, the financial crash, & major construction issues that required radical improvisation at every turn. At every twist in the tale, Sellar refused to give up. The Shard is a tale of extreme ambition, innovation & a relentless desire to recast the skyscraper as a force for good. ...

For twenty years John Aitchison has been travelling the world to film wildlife for the BBC & other broadcasters, taking him to far-away places on every continent. The Shark & the Albatross is the story of these journeys of discovery, of his encounters with animals & occasional enterprising individuals in remote & sometimes dangerous places. His destinations include the far north & the far south, expeditions to film for Frozen Planet & other natural history series, in Svalbard, Alaska, the remote Atlantic island of South Georgia & the Antarctic. They also encompass wild places in India, China & the United States. In all he finds & describes key moments in the lives of animals, among them polar bears & penguins, seals & whales, sharks & birds, & wolves & lynxes. He reveals what happens behind the scenes & beyond the camera. He explains the practicalities & challenges of the filming process, & the problems of survival in perilous places. He records touching moments & dramatic incidents, some ending in success, others desperately sad. There are times when a hunted animal triumphs against the odds, & others when, in spite of preparation for every outcome, disaster strikes. &, as the author shows in several incidents that combine nail-biting tension with hair-raising hilarity, disaster can strike for film-makers too. This is natural history writing at its absolute best: evocative, informative & gripping from first to last. ...

For twenty years John Aitchison has been travelling the world to film wildlife for the BBC & other broadcasters, taking him to far-away places on every continent. The Shark & the Albatross is the story of these journeys of discovery, of his encounters with animals & occasional enterprising individuals in remote & sometimes dangerous places. His destinations include the far north & the far south, expeditions to film for Frozen Planet & other natural history series, in Svalbard, Alaska, the remote Atlantic island of South Georgia, & the Antarctic. They also encompass wild places in India, China & the United States. In all he finds & describes key moments in the lives of animals, among them polar bears & penguins, seals & whales, sharks & birds, & wolves & lynxes. He reveals what happens behind the scenes & beyond the camera. He explains the practicalities & challenges of the filming process, & the problems of survival in perilous places. He records touching moments & dramatic incidents, some ending in success, others desperately sad. There are times when a hunted animal triumphs against the odds, & others when, in spite of preparation for every outcome, disaster strikes. &, as the author shows in several incidents that combine nail-biting tension with hair-raising hilarity, disaster can strike for film-makers too. This is natural history writing at its absolute best, evocative, informative & gripping from first to last. ...

A true story of food, Paris, & the fulfilment of a lifelong dream In 2003, Kathleen Flinn, a thirty-six-year-old American living in London, returned from holiday to find that her corporate job had been terminated. Ignoring her mother`s concern that she get another job immediately or never get hired anywhere ever again, Flinn cleared out her savings & moved to Paris to pursue a dream
- a diploma from the famed Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry is the touching & remarkably funny account of Flinn`s transformation as she moves through the school`s intense programme & falls deeply in love along the way. More than two dozen recipes are interwoven within this unique look inside Le Cordon Bleu amid battles with demanding chefs, competitive classmates & her `wretchedly inadequate` French. Flinn offers a vibrant portrait of Paris, one in which the sights & sounds of the city`s street markets & purveyors come alive in rich detail. The ultimate wish fulfilment book, her story is a true testament to pursuing a dream.
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In this ”gripping & personal view of war” (Andy Mc Nab, author of Bravo Two Zero), a celebrated photographer crafts a powerful memoir about his experiences in some of the world`s most dangerous, war-torn areas-and his terrifying capture by Syrian rebels in 2013. For a decade, Jonathan Alpeyrie-a French-American photojournalist-had ventured in & out of more than a dozen conflict zones. He photographed civilians being chased out of their homes, military trucks roving over bullet-torn battlefields, & too many bodies to count. But on April 29, 2013, during his third assignment to Syria, Alpeyrie became the story. For eighty-one days he was bound, blindfolded, & beaten by Syrian rebels. Over the course of his captivity, Alpeyrie kept his spirits up & strove to find the humanity in his captors. He took part in their activities, taught them how to swim, prayed with them, & tried learning their language & culture. He also discovered a dormant faith within himself, one that strengthened him throughout the ordeal. The Shattered Lens is a firsthand account that ”reads like a thriller” (The New York Journal of Books) by a photojournalist who has always answered the next adrenaline-pumping assignment. Yet, during his headline-making kidnapping & ”for all his suffering, Alpeyrie expresses, in words & color photographs, the compassion of a global citizen seeing beyond his personal terror & into the nuances of human interactions” (Booklist). ...

In 1992, Magnus Mac Farlane-Barrow was enjoying a pint with his brother when he got an idea that would change his life
- & radically
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Mary`s Meals is born from acts of love. If you put all those many acts of sacrifice together it creates a beautiful thing. Mary`s Meals tells the inspirational & compelling story of how a cripplingly shy fish farmer from Argyll, Scotl&, became the international CEO of a global charity that now feeds over 800, 000 children a day. In 1992, Magnus Mac Farlane-Barrow was enjoying a pint with his brother when he got an idea that would change his life
- & radically change the lives of others. After watching a news bulletin about war-torn Bosnia, the two brothers agreed to take a week`s hiatus from work to help. What neither of them expected is that what began as a one-time road trip in a beaten-up Landrover rapidly grew to become Magnus`s life`s work
- leading him to leave his job, sell his house & direct all his efforts to feeding thousands of the world`s poorest children. Magnus retells how a series of miraculous circumstances & an overwhelming display of love from those around him led to the creation of Mary`s Meals; an organisation that now holds the key to eradicating child hunger altogether. This humble, heart-warming yet powerful story has never been more relevant in our society of plenty & privilege. It will open your eyes to the extraordinary impact that one person can make.

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Lola the sheep has the most extraordinary wool. It`s soft & silky & is her pride & joy! But down on the farm, when the sun comes out, the wool comes off! Poor Lola is so upset by her haircut that she runs away to the far side of the farm where she sits all alone, waiting for it to grow back. & when it does, its no longer silky, it`s completely wild! But with it comes a wonderful surprise... Thanks to a tiny chick, this self-obsessed sheep learns an important life lesson; that great friendships are more important than simply having great hair. Another funny, thoughtful & unique picture book from award-winning, Gemma Merino, author of the best-selling The Crocodile Who Didn`t Like Water & The Cow who Climbed a Tree. ...

The moon is high, the hour is late, Goat is napping by the gate. But... The Sheep Won`t Sleep! A sleepy sheepdog struggles to put a hundred naughty sheep to bed in this chaotic farmyard romp with silly sheep to count on every page
- can you find all 100? A delightful rhyming read that`s perfect for bedtime
- from the creators of Old Macdonald had a Farm.

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The Sheep-pig is one of Dick King-Smith`s most famous tales. It shot to further fame when the film adaptation, Babe, was released in 1995. ` Why can`t I learn to be a Sheep-Pig?` When Babe, the little orphaned piglet, is won at a fair by Farmer Hogget, he is adopted by Fly, the kind-hearted sheep-dog. Babe is determined to learn everything he can from Fly. He knows he can`t be a sheep-dog. But maybe, just maybe, he might be a sheep-pig. ” An unexpectedly thrilling, funny charmer of a book”. (Guardian). ” Dick King-Smith is a huge favourite with children”. (Observer). Winner of the Guardian Fiction Award. Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, & afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the country of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. He wrote a great number of children`s books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award & filmed as Babe), Harry`s Mad, Noah`s Brother, The Queen`s Nose, Martin`s Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child & Harriet`s Hare (winner of the Children`s Book Award in 1995). In 2009 he was made an OBE for services to children`s literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight. ...