Drifting through its cast of vivid, earthy characters in a series of impressionistic vignettes, ” The Wayward Bus”, published in ” Penguin Modern Classics”, is John Steinbeck`s Californian Canterbury Tales. ” The Wayward Bus” travels through the backroads of the lush California countryside, transporting the lost & the lonely to new destinations. Juan Chicoy is at the wheel, a man of the l&, hot-blooded & uninhibited. His passengers include Ernest, a travelling salesman out for fun, seventeen-year-old Kit, also known as Pimples, & Camille the stripper who dances at stag nights & takes the star-struck young Norma under her wing. This powerful & unsentimental novel becomes a story of crisis & passion, love & longing, as the travellers reveal their secrets & journey away from their pasts & towards, possibly, the promise of the future. ” The Wayward Bus”, with its profound insight into human desires & failings, remains one of Steinbeck`s most powerful novels. John Steinbeck (1902-68), winner of the Pulitzer Prize & the Nobel Prize for literature, is remembered as one of the greatest & best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. During the Second World War Steinbeck served as a war correspondent, with his collected dispatches published as ” Once There Was a War” (1958); in 1945 he was awarded the Norwegian Cross of Freedom for his novel ” The Moon is Down” (1942), a portrayal of Resistance efforts in northern Europe. His best-known works include the epics ” The Grapes of Wrath” (1939) & ” East of Eden” (1952), & his tragic novella ” Of Mice & Men” (1937). John Steinbeck`s complete works are published in ” Penguin Modern Classics”. If you enjoyed ” The Wayward Bus”, you might like Jack Kerouac`s ” On the Road”, also available in ” Penguin Modern Classics”. ` Sustained brilliance, complete credibility & vividness”. (” Saturday Review”). ” One of Steinbeck`s best books”. (” Newsweek”). ...

The 200th anniversary of Henry Mayhew`s birth is overshadowed by that of his friend & collaborator Charles Dickens. But in fact Mayhew was a pioneering investigative journalist whose writings & descriptions may have inspired some of Dickens` characters. In some respects, Mayhew was his own worst enemy. He was disorganised
- one of his books ended in mid-sentence
- & cantankerous, & perhaps as a result his funeral was sparsely attended. But embedded in his fine reportage, which included long & moving interviews with Londoners, are passages descriptive of London, of people`s appearances & of their shabby homes, which stand alongside Dickens` own writings for the quality & compassion of the prose.

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A detailed topographic map from the Ordnance Survey Explorer series, covering Cranbrook, Hawkhurst & Bewl Water. Edition B2; Publication date April 2011 About this series: These highly detailed maps show all the administrative boundaries, settlements as small as isolated farms, the road network down to unfenced roads & country tracks, & field boundaries (hedges & drystone walls) which make navigation across the countryside much easier. Steep gradients on roads are indicated. Various landmarks, e.g. powerlines, archaeological sites, windmills, churches & lighthouses are shown & additional graphics indicate natural terrain features such as cliffs, scree, mud & vegetation variations. The contour interval is 5 metres in the lower parts of the country & 10 metres in the uplands, & spot heights are marked. Each map covers an area of 30 x 20km (i.e. approx. 19 x 12 miles), with some double-sided maps covering more, as indicated in the individual descriptions. The maps are fully GPS compatible, with the National Grid shown at 1km intervals & latitude & longitude indicated by margin ticks at 1'. The Explorer series has replaced the earlier, green-cover Pathfinder maps. The Explorer series is now complete & covers all of Engl&, Wales & Scotl&. Some sheets for popular areas like the National Parks are still branded as Outdoor Leisure (OL) maps, but are now included in this series as the cartography is the same as that in the Explorer Maps. The Explorer maps offer a substantial improvement on the Pathfinder series, with greater use of colour, larger area per map, & stronger emphasis on information for ramblers & tourists. This series is ideal for walking & other outdoor pursuits & each map shows a large amount of information for ramblers & tourists. Public rights of way are shown (except in Scotland), together with other routes with public access: National Trails & Recreational Paths, permitted paths & bridleways, & selected cycle routes. Open access land created under the Countryside & Rights of Way Act 2000 is marked. Tourist information

Includes:: caravan & camp sites, Park & Ride locations, recreation/leisure/sport centres, museums, historic buildings, English Heritage & National Trust sites, rural pubs, etc. The map legend is in English only, except for the tourist information content which is also in French & German.

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Luke Skywalker returns for an all-new adventure in this thrilling upper middle grade novel. Set between Star Wars: A New Hope & Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, the story finds Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, & R2-D2 stranded on a mysterious planet, & explores a dangerous duel between Luke & a strange new villain. Hidden in the story are also clues & hints about the upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, making this a must-read for fans old & new! ...

BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HIDDEN LIFE OF TREES, PETER WOHLLEBEN, INVITES US TO RECONNECT WITH NATUREAs soon as we step out of the door, nature surrounds. Thousands of small & large processes are taking place, details that are long often fascinating & beautiful. But we`ve long forgotten how to recognise them. Peter Wohlleben, bestselling author of The Hidden Life of Trees, invites us to become an expert, to take a closer look & interpret the signs that clouds, wind, plants & animals convey. Chaffinches become weather prophets, bees are live thermometers, courgettes tell us the time. The Weather Detective combines scientific research with charming anecdotes to explain the extraordinary cycles of life, death & regeneration that are evolving on our doorstep, bringing us closer to nature than ever before. A walk in the park will never be the same again ...

Spring, summer, autumn or winter
- the intrepid Weather Girls are ready for whatever the seasons might bring! Join them as they
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The Weather Handbook is the essential guide to how the weather is formed, providing readers with the ability to look at the sky & interpret its signs, & combine this knowledge with information provided by professional forecasts to assess for themselves what the coming weather is likely to be. This handbook has been the standard reference for almost 20 years for students on Day Skipper & Yachtmaster courses, & the handbook of choice for skippers & crew of cruising & racing yachts. It has now been completely redesigned for the third edition to be more user friendly, with new photos & updated explanatory text. The book also addresses new sources of weather information that have exploded on to the market. There are countless websites & apps providing forecast data, & The Weather Handbook guides users in how to use & interpret this information for themselves. ` The perfect introduction to understanding weather` Practical Boat Owner ...

Taking up where AN INVITATION TO THE WALTZ left off, THE WEATHER IN THE STREETS shows us Olivia Curtis ten years older, a failed marriage behind her, thinner, sadder, & apprently not much wiser. A chance encounter on a train with a man who enchanted her as a teenager leads to a forbidden love affair & a new world of secret meetings, brief phone calls & snatched liaisons in anonymous hotel rooms. Years ahead of its time when first published, this subtle & powerful novel shocked even the most stalwart Lehmann fans with its searing honesty & passionate portrayal of clandestine love. ...

” The Weather Makers” tells the dramatic story of the earth`s climate, of how it has changed, how we have come to understand it, & of what that means for the future. Tim Flannery`s gripping narrative takes the reader on an extraordinary journey into the past & around the globe, bringing us closer to the science than ever before. Along the way he explodes the many illusions that have grown up around this subject. ...

The Pacific Northwest experiences the most varied & fascinating weather in the United States, including world-record winter snows, the strongest non-tropical storms in the nation, & shifts from desert to rain forest in a matter of miles. Local weather features dominate the meteorological landscape, from the Puget Sound convergence zone & wind surges along the Washington Coast, to gap winds through the Columbia Gorge & the ” Banana Belt” of southern Oregon. This book is the first comprehensive & authoritative guide to Northwest weather that is directed to the general reader; helpful to boaters, hikers, & skiers; & valuable to an expert meteorologist. In ” The Weather of the Pacific Northwest”, University of Washington atmospheric scientist & popular radio commentator Cliff Mass unravels the intricacies of Northwest weather, from the mundane to the mystifying. By examining our legendary floods, snowstorms, & windstorms, & a wide variety of local weather features, Mass answers such interesting questions as: Why does the Northwest have localized rain shadows? What is the origin of the hurricane force winds that often buffet the region? Why does the Northwest have so few thunderstorms? What is the origin of the Pineapple Express? Why do ferryboats sometimes seem to float above the water`s surface? Why is it so hard to predict Northwest weather? Mass brings together eyewitness accounts, historical records, & meteorological science to explain Pacific Northwest weather. He also considers possible local effects due to global warming. The final chapters guide readers in interpreting the Northwest sky & in securing weather information on their own. Cliff Mass, Professor of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Washington & weekly guest on KUOW, is the preeminent authority on Northwest weather. He has published dozens of articles on Northwest weather & leads the regional development of advanced weather prediction tools. ...