No sporting event has had its past & present, its highs & lows so intricately entwined with those of a country like the Tour has with France. The Tour de France is the biggest annual sporting event in the world, & at the same time it transcends sport. The Tour de France comes to the people. It passes their houses, it turns right in their village squares, it thunders through their suburban streets & into the hearts of their towns & cities. It is a unique event in that people don't so much go to see the Tour, as it comes to see them. A Race for Madmen traces how the Tour de France has developed & examines tactics, bike technology & rider preparation too. It profiles some of the men who have won the Tour de France, & others who have been key players, looking closely at their lives & motivation. Subsidiary competitions, such as the King of the Mountains prize, are featured, as well as Tour lore & traditions. The book examines the Tour's extraordinary history, & how a bike race, a simple sporting contest captured the imagination of a country, then a continent & then the world, while at the same time it has stayed uniquely French, even though a Frenchman hasn't won it for over 20 years. ...

A winning horse. A fierce rivalry. A sudden death.

Belinda Sandford thrills to the cheers of the crowd as her beautiful

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From medieval Runnymede to twentieth-century Jarrow, from King Alfred to George Orwell, by way of Robin Hood, Wat Tyler & Mary Wollstonecraft, a rich & colourful thread of radicalism, both real & mythic, runs through a thousand years of British history. In this fascinating & vibrant book, Edward Vallance traces a national tendency towards revolution, irreverence & reform wherever it surfaces & in all its variety. Vallance unveils the British yeomen & preachers, millworkers, miners & intellectuals who fought & died for religious freedom, universal suffrage, justice & liberty
- & shows why, now more than ever, their heroic achievements must be recognised & celebrated. Rousing, brilliant & hugely readable, this is a panoramic & invaluable study of a millennium of one nation's free-thinking.
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In the darkest days on the Blitz, family is more important than ever.

With Ida Brogans family struggling amidst the nightly

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It's 1939, & the Brogan family of London's East End is trying to keep their spirits up. But things don't seem so rosy when rationing,

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Bill Nighy returns as Charles Paris: unsuccessful actor, bad husband & dypsomaniac. He is desperately in need of work, as he has been kicked out of the marital home, Charles jumps at playing a missing property developer in a crime reconstruction programme. ...

Country businessman seeks reliable wife. Compelled by practical reasons. Reply by letter. Rural Wisconsin, 1907. In the bitter cold Ralph Truitt stands alone on a train platform waiting for a woman who answered his newspaper advertisement. But when Catherine steps off the train she's not the 'simple honest' woman Ralph is expecting. For she is motivated by greed. But what Catherine has not counted on is that Ralph might have plans of his own for his new wife... ...

After losing her family in the Great War, Nell is grateful to marry Stan Hibbert, believing she can recapture a sense of family with him.

But five years on, she is just another back-street housewife, making every penny do the work of tuppence & performing miracles with scrag-end. When she discovers that Stan is leading a double-life, she runs away to make a fresh start.

Two years later, in 1924, Nell has carved out a fulfilling new life for herself & her young children in Manchester, where her neighbours believe she is a respectable widow & a talented machinist.

But the past is hard to run from, & Nell must fight to protect the life she has made for herself & her children.

Product Information:
• ISBN: 9780749023416
• Author: Susanna Bavin
• Publisher: Allison & Busby
• Format: Paperback
• Pages: 478
• Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 3cm













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Have hours of fun piecing together this stunning A Ride in the Countryside image. This picture-perfect puzzle



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Famous both on & off the pitch, David Beckham has reached iconic status during a career spanning 16 years & taking in four of the world's biggest clubs. Born in east London, Beckham began his football career at Tottenham Hotspur but signed schoolboy forms for Manchester United on his 14th birthday. he was part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup in 1992 &, having made his senior debut in 1994, soon established himself as United's right-sided midfielder. Beckham was integral to the club's success during his time at Old Trafford, winning six Premier League medals, two FA Cups & being part of the legendary Treble-winning side of 1998. Beckham has also been a major player for England since making his international debut in 1996. His infamous sending off against Argentina in the 1988 World Cup looked set to ruin his England career but thanks to his impressive performances & his attitude on & off the pitch, he won supporters round & became England captain in 2000. Similarly, Manchester United supporters were rocked by Beckham's move to Real Madrid in 2003, but he his still held in high regard by the club & fans alike. Awarded an OBE in 2003, Beckham is now an iconic figure in English football & has been instrumental in England's bid host the 2018 World Cup. Although injury sadly put paid to his dream of playing in the 2010 Finals, his status is such that he travelled with the England team to South Africa to act as a mentor. As much as a brand as a footballer, & with a celebrity lifestyle most can only dream of, David Beckham is much more than a footballing legend. This in-depth biography traces the incredible accomplishments of the kind-hearted & talented star who has taken the world by storm. ...