Stephanie Harker is travelling through security at O` Hare airport with five-year-old Jimmy. But in a moment, everything changes. In disbelief, Stephanie watches as a uniformed agent leads her boy away
- & she`s stuck the other side of the gates, hysterical with worry. The authorities, unaware of Jimmy`s existence, just see a woman behaving erratically; Stephanie is wrestled to the ground & blasted with a taser gun. By the time she can tell them what has happened, Jimmy is long gone. But as Stephanie tells her story to the FBI, it becomes clear that everything is not as it seems. There are many potential suspects for this abduction. With time rapidly running out, how can Stephanie get him back? A breathtakingly rich & gripping psychological thriller, The Vanishing Point is Val Mc Dermid`s most accomplished standalone novel to date, a work of haunting brilliance.
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Some of the most stunning architectural structures in India are to be found below ground: these are its stepwells, ancient ...

`A breathtaking, magisterial panorama, telling the epic story of post-war anarchy, dying empires & rising nation states. It makes us rethink our understanding of Europe`s twentieth century` David Motadel, The Times Literary Supplement For the Western allies 11 November 1918 has always been a solemn date
- the end of fighting which had destroyed a generation, & also a vindication of a terrible sacrifice with the total collapse of their principal enemies: the German Empire, Austria-Hungary & the Ottoman Empire. But for much of the rest of Europe this was a day with no meaning, as a continuing, nightmarish series of conflicts engulfed country after country. In this highly original, gripping book Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. ` Lucid, incisive & packed with fascinating details` Financial Times, Books of the Year ` Important & timely.. .obliges us to reconsider a period & a battlefront that has too often been neglected` Margaret Mac Millan, The New York Times Review of Books ` This narrative of continent-wide chaos performs a valuable service by chronicling the postwar turmoil of Europe.. .helps us understand why few wars reach tidy conclusions` Max Hastings, Sunday Times ` Reminds us, in vivid & often shocking detail, that only some countries saw killing end on the 11th day of the 11th month.. .leaves a sense of foreboding for our own time` Robert Tombs, The Times
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` This war is not the end but the beginning of violence. It is the forge in which the world will be hammered into new borders & new communities. New molds want to be filled with blood, & power will be wielded with a hard fist.` Ernst Junger (1918) For the Western allies 11 November 1918 has always been a solemn date
- the end of fighting which had destroyed a generation, & also a vindication of a terrible sacrifice with the total collapse of their principal enemies: the German Empire, Austria-Hungary & the Ottoman Empire. But for much of the rest of Europe this was a day with no meaning, as a continuing, nightmarish series of conflicts engulfed country after country. In this highly original, gripping book Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. In large part it was not the fighting on the Western front which proved so ruinous to Europe`s future, but the devastating aftermath, as countries on both sides of the original conflict were wrecked by revolution, pogroms, mass expulsions & further major military clashes. If the War itself had in most places been a struggle purely between state-backed soldiers, these new conflicts were mainly about civilians & paramilitaries, & millions of people died across central, eastern, & south-eastern Europe before the USSR & a series of rickety & exhausted small new states came into being. Everywhere there were vengeful people, their lives racked by a murderous sense of injustice, & looking for the opportunity to take retribution against enemies real & imaginary. Only a decade later, the rise of the Third Reich & other totalitarian states provided them with the opportunity they had been looking for.
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Our planet is full of life! Did you know there are 400, 000 species of beetle
- but only eight species of bear? This stunning
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Marrying the art of butchery with the joy of gorgeous seasonal produce, The Vegetable Butcher is the fresh, inspiring, & essential guide that demystifies the world of vegetables, from exotic crosnes & gnarly celeriac to the amazingly versatile everyday potato. It`s the book that shows exactly how to prepare an artichoke-plus peel a tomato, chiffonade kale, slice kohlrabi into carpaccio, break down a butternut squash, & cut a cauliflower into steaks. This is a complete vegetable education, from what to look for at the market to how to make vegetables the centre of truly distinctive dishes. Over 100 recipes, all vegetarian (and all extraordinarily luscious), celebrate the soul-satisfying flavour of each vegetable: Orange- Shallot Fiddlehead Ferns & Ricotta Crostini; a summery Zucchini, Sweet Corn, & Basil Penne with Pine Nuts & Mozzarella; Cauliflower & Caramelized Fennel Soup; a Parsnip-Ginger Layer Cake with Burnt-Buttercream Frosting to sweeten a winter meal. Vegetables are modern, sexy, & outrageously delicious. & now, completely knowable, too. ...

Get inspired to grow your own fruit, vegetables & herbs with this practical & accessible guide to seasonal edible planting. You can find out when to plant runner beans, where best to store your produce & how to make cider from your apple harvest. With diary pages for recording your own notes, this pocket-sized companion is an indispensable piece of gardening kit for the green-fingered
- homemade produce has never tasted so good.
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Vegetarian diets have seen a sharp rise in recent years, however, becoming vegetarian does not necessarily mean wise choices or healthy meals. In The Vegetarian Year, author & vegetarian food expert Jane Hughes explores the possibilities of plant-based foods through 365 nutritionally-balanced & great-tasting dishes. Following natural seasonal rhythms, The Vegetarian Year provides an exciting & diverse menu of classic recipes, modern twists & authentic world cuisines, using the freshest produce available all year round. The clear & concise recipes are suitable for novice & experienced cooks alike. A broad range of dishes that

Includes:: quick suppers, show-stopping dinner party centrepieces & satisfying mid-week lunches means that living well, eating healthily, & respecting nature will be easy, enjoyable, & rewarding.

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Yeong-hye & her husband are ordinary people. He is an office worker with moderate ambitions & mild manners; she is an uninspired but dutiful wife. The acceptable flatline of their marriage is interrupted when Yeong-hye, seeking a more `plant-like` existence, decides to become a vegetarian, prompted by grotesque recurring nightmares. In South Korea, where vegetarianism is almost unheard-of & societal mores are strictly obeyed, Yeong-hye`s decision is a shocking act of subversion. Her passive rebellion manifests in ever more bizarre & frightening forms, leading her bland husband to self-justified acts of sexual sadism. His cruelties drive her towards attempted suicide & hospitalisation. She unknowingly captivates her sister`s husb&, a video artist. She becomes the focus of his increasingly erotic & unhinged artworks, while spiralling further & further into her fantasies of abandoning her fleshly prison & becoming
- impossibly, ecstatically
- a tree. Fraught, disturbing & beautiful, The Vegetarian is a novel about modern day South Korea, but also a novel about shame, desire & our faltering attempts to understand others, from one imprisoned body to another.

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When the Velveteen Rabbit first arrives in the nursery, he`s snubbed by the other toys. But the Rabbit soon makes friends with the Skin Horse who explains how toys can become `real`, if only they are loved enough. But when Boy is ill with Scarlet Fever, & Rabbit is thrownaway, Rabbit finally discovers what it truly means to be real. ...