` Gentlemen-` Fitzmaurice`s eyes gleamed & he revealed many teeth `-- lace up your stoutest boots & pack your warmest underwear -- we`re all off to the bloody Arctic!` It is Dublin in the spring of 1916: while war rages across Europe & rebellion threatens the Irish capital, three young College friends embark on a foolhardy seafaring mission to find the lost skeleton of an Irish giant. With mishaps, mischief, & a little romance, their voyage is a hilarious odyssey round the edges of history & into a curious, wonderful adventure that will change their lives forever. Ernest Shackleton meets P.G. Wodehouse in this heart-warming tale of three men in a ship (to say nothing of the dog, a foul-mouthed Scotsman & an iguana...) By the author of Jammy Dodger, nominated for the 2013 Desmond Elliott Prize for new fiction ...

This inspirational & comprehensive handbook leads the reader step by step through choosing, planning & following the voyager's life. Whether long distance sailor or armchair cruiser; contemplating a cruise for a few months or even a year; sailing on a shoestring or a CEO's pension; this new edition is the most comprehensive, best organised & authoritative treatment of how to prepare & execute a major voyage under sail. Packed with detailed information on finding & equipping the right boat, selecting crewmembers, financing the voyage, weather forecasting, passage planning, heavy-weather sailing, staying healthy & sane, & mid-ocean repairs, The Voyager's Handbook is the ultimate resource for anyone planning, preparing for, or just dreaming about the adventure of a lifetime. ' Belongs on the bookshelf of every cruising vessel' Blue Water Sailing ' If you are serious about that extended voyage, read ' The Voyager's Handbook' Sailing ...

Captain James Cook is probably the most famous explorer of all time, & not without good reason. The three Pacific voyages of discovery he made between 1768 & 1779 set new standards in navigation, surveying & shipboard health; & he discovered & charted numerous lands, resulting in lasting trade & the development of British interests abroad. The interest & influence of the Royal Society in the expeditions meant that a group of scientists & artists accompanied Cook & his crew to record the people & places that they encountered. In turn, the samples they collected & catalogued, & the paintings & drawings they made not only advanced the botanical & natural sciences, but left us with a vivid visual reminder of those voyages. Many books have been written on the subject of Cook`s voyages & his maritime career, but this is the first to approach them from the point of view of the reader with a healthy curiosity rather than a scholarly interest. Similarly, for someone who has been been inspired & intrigued by a visit to the Endeavour replica, or to one of the many museums devoted to Captain Cook, this is a concise & readable guide that pulls out the key questions & provides clear, engaging answers, detailing essential information on the many aspects of Cook`s voyages. The 101 Questions & Answers structure is an ideal format for dealing with such diverse yet frequently-asked questions as: How many ships took part in the voyages? What were their names? What is a collier? What were Cook`s secret instructions? Did Cook discover Antarctica? Who said ” Ne plus ultra”? Where did Cook learn his surveying techniques? What was the transit of Venus? How did they measure longitude? Which voyage did the artist William Hodges accompany Captain Cook on? What is breadfruit? All these questions & many more are answered simply & accurately, employing contemporary paintings, charts & other images to illustrate each point where necessary. ...

` Tim & I both understood we had done something really stupid. We had underestimated the danger involved in going out to sea. We had no radio, compass, life raft or flares. In other words, we were a couple of idiots.` This is the story of Shane & Timothy Spall & their Dutch barge The Princess Matilda. After a summer on the Thames they head out to sea with only a road atlas & a vast amount of ignorance
- & it is absolutely terrifying! On their travels, memories are triggered of childhood trips to the seaside, but also of more recent times. A decade before, Tim had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia & was given only days to live. Shocked at how life can pass you by they decided that when, & if, Tim got better, they would buy a boat. As Tim & Shane explore the coast from the Medway to Cornwall, eventually they start to wonder, could they make it out of England altogether? Could Matilda make it to... Wales? Taking over five years, ” The Voyages of The Princess Matilda” is a minor epic, charting a very personal, moving & uplifting story of an everyday couple`s adventure around their much loved homel&. It is a winner of the British Travel Press` Narrative Travel Book of the Year Award.
...

On January 7, 1980, in the run-up to the publication of Thy Neighbor`s Wife, Gay Talese received an anonymous letter from a man in Colorado. ` Since learning of your long awaited study of coast-to-coast sex in America, ` the letter began, `I feel I have important information that I could contribute to its contents or to contents of a future book.` The man went on to tell Talese a remarkable, shocking secret, so compelling that Talese travelled to Colorado to verify it in person. But because the letter-writer insisted on remaining anonymous, Talese filed his reporting away, certain the story would remain untold. Over the next thirty-five years, the man occasionally reached out to Talese to fill him in on the latest developments in his life, but he continued to insist on anonymity. Finally, after thirty-five years, he`s ready to go public. In the tradition of Thy Neighbor`s Wife, Talese`s landmark, best-selling exploration of the sexual revolution in America, this will be a provocative, eye-opening & much-talked-about book. ...

The Wainwright Companion is a fully illustrated collection of fascinating facts, statistics, trivia & opinion based on A Wainwright`s legendary guidebooks to the English Lake District. Which fell has most waterfalls? The longest ridges? The roughest ascent? The best views? The wettest path? The only ascent description that starts with a descent? & what did AW ever do for the Romans? All these questions & hundreds more are answered in this `book about the books`
- the seven Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells & their companion, The Outlying Fells of Lakel&.
...

Fir Tree`s ” The Wainwright Fells of the Lake District” map presents a panoramic view of the Lake District with all the 214 Wainwright fells numbered & colour-coded to correspond to the seven volumes of Alfred Wainwright`s classic series of pictorial guides. A list below the map shows each Wainwright fell with its altitude in feet & metres, plus a space for the users to enter the date of reaching its summit. ...

Alfred Wainwright, the legendary fell walker & author of the incomparable & unique Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells was also a fluent, eloquent & diligent correspondent. Writing to old friends & to the many new ones gained through his books, & to his love, & later second wife, Betty, his letters display a much warmer, more sensitive & emotional character than his gruff popular image would suggest. Hunter Davies, Wainwright's biographer, has here collected a selection of letters that range from his early years in Blackburn to his established position as Borough Treasurer in Kendal, & cover all aspects of his professional & personal life, as well as the voluminous correspondence that was a consequence of writing & publishing the Pictorial Guides. The latter vividly illuminate many aspects of that turbulent but ultimately triumphant process, while the former present a picture of a dedicated public servant whose personal life had been deeply unhappy until late in life he found unexpected but transcendent love & happiness. In turn business-like & comic, wonderfully well informed & remarkably innocent, deeply moving & yet tough-minded, the letters present a vivid & unforgettable picture of one of the great but eccentric creative geniuses of the twentieth century. ...

The Wainwrights Pocket Log is a very small & classy note book which has been customised for Lakeland Fell-Walkers. The texture of the cover & the gold trimmings give it a stylish retro feel. The contents are in black & white, with the fells arranged alphabetically within the seven sections of the 214 Wainwrights. Its size is its charm but also its advantage. Full size log books expect a lot more to be written than is helpful to most people, take up space & can`t be easily carried. Wall charts don`t allow for notes & aren`t mobile either. Smartphone apps are efficient but, well, we don`t think AW would have approved... So this is it! All you need to carry with you for the next week/year/retirement. ...

` As if The Remains of the Day had been written by Kingsley Amis... brilliantly exquisite... This book is a meal you won`t want to finish.` J. Ryan Stradal Welcome to The Hills, Oslo`s most esteemed restaurant, an institution stewed in tradition & clinging to the faded grandeur of old Europe. A neurotic waiter tends to the desires of his regular
- & irregular
- clientele. Aristocrats & artistes, wealthy widows & roguish entrepreneurs, he observes all their dramas with a wit as sharp as a filleting knife. At table ten sits the impeccable Mr Graham, the most demanding of them all, impatiently awaiting a special guest. When at last she arrives
- young, beautiful, mysterious
- she will prove a challenging new flavour, throwing into disarray our waiter`s nerves, & the delicately balanced ingredients of the room. Exquisitely observed & wickedly playful, The Waiter is a novel for lovers of food, wine, & of European sensibilities, but also for anyone who spends time in restaurants, on either side of the service.



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