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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Set in the 1890s, Andre Gide`s famous satire centres around a group of ingenious fraudsters (` The Millipede`) who convince their wealthy victims that the pontiff has been imprisoned in the Vatican cellars, & a false Pope has been enthroned in his place. Posing as clergy, they con money by promising to obtain the true Pope`s release & restoration. The book features one of Gide`s most memorable creations: the amoral Lafcadio, who in pushing a man from a moving train commits the ultimate motiveless crime. Unavailable in the UK for 25 years, this scandalous, funny & highly original novel has been re-translated to mark the centenary of its publication. Supported by English PEN. ...

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. ...

` An unputdownable thriller` Gregory Dowling` It is no surprise to find that Philip Gwynne Jones lives in Venice... art & architecture interweave into a story that builds to an almost surreal climax` Daily Mail A game of cross & double-cross in Venice, one of the most beautiful cities on earth. From his office on the Street of the Assassins, Nathan Sutherland enjoys a steady but unexciting life translating Italian DIY manuals. All this changes dramatically when he is offered a large sum of money to look after a small package containing an extremely valuable antique prayer book illustrated by a Venetian master. But is it a stolen masterpiece
- or a brilliant fake? Unknown to Nathan, from a vast mansion on the Grand Canal twin brothers Domenico & Arcangelo Moro, motivated by nothing more than mutual hatred, have been playing out a complex game of art theft for twenty years. & now Nathan finds himself unwittingly drawn into their deadly business... ` Superb
- always gripping, beautifully constructed & vivid` Stephen Glover` Sinister & shimmering, The Venetian Game is as haunting & darkly elegant as Venice itself.` L.S. Hilton, bestselling author of Maestra` The Venetian setting is vividly described... good, fluid writing makes for easy reading` Literary Review

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