Cricket defines Englishness like no other national pastime. From its earliest origins in the sixteenth century (or an early version played by shepherds called creag in the 1300s) through the formation of the MCC & the opening of Lords cricket ground in 1787 to the spread of county cricket in the next century when the Wisden Cricketers Almanack" was first published & the Ashes series was born this simple sport of bat & ball has captured the imagination of the masses. Throughout its 500-year history cricket has been a mirror for society as a whole reflecting the changes that have brought us from the quintessential village green to Freddie Flintoffs pedalo from W G Grace to Monty Panesar via a fair number of eccentrics heroes & downright villains. William Hill Award-winning writer Simon Hughes no mean player himself has lived & breathed cricket his whole life & now takes his analytical skills & typically irreverent eye to charting the history of English cricket. But this is no dry dusty tome. It is the story of the mad characters who inhabit the game the extraordinary lengths people will go to watch & play it the tale of a national obsession. It debunks the myth of cricket sportsmanship showing the origins of sledging & match-fixing in centuries of subterfuge corruption & violence. & it takes us beyond sport to the heart of what it really means to be English." ...

Double acts dont come any closer than the The Two Ronnies. Messrs Barker & Corbett kept a nation laughing for two decades & yet despite the rigorous work that went into writing rehearsing & broadcasting almost a hundred episodes to millions of viewers each week the pair never shared a cross word. For the first time Ronnie Corbett tells the story of the their rise from theatre through The Frost Report & into their own legendary show as well as how some of their greatest sketches including Mastermind & Fork Handles came into being. This is the story of one of the great British institutions of the last thirty years & a hilarious & moving look inside the working lives of two of our most-beloved comedians. ...

At the time of Jesuss birth the world was in ferment. Across Europe North Africa the Middle East & Asia
- societies rife with gods
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From Americas most celebrated true-crime writer comes the heartbreaking real-life drama of a doomed young woman hopelessly trapped in a web of sexual intrigue political manipulation & emotional deception by her charming & successful
- but ultimately deadly
- lover. In the most complex & shocking book of her long career Ann Rule delves into the motivation that drove a seemingly successful man to kill & she explores hitherto unknown aspects of a fatal affair between a beautiful young woman who moved confidently in the heady world of the upper echelons of government & a widely admired millionaire attorney who was an immensely popular political figure. Ann Rule brilliantly traces the lives of both Ann Marie Fahey & Tommy Capano as she discloses the intimate details of their ill-fated bonding. A vulnerable trusting woman becomes spellbound by a charming duplicitous married man & what begins as a seemingly unremarkable affair is slowly transformed into an obsessive convoluted & deadly relationship.

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Who is Radio 4's 'fourteen-stone budgie'? How did Phyllis Willis & Mavis Davis make announcer Charlotte Green lose her cool? What does ' Ruth' really think about The Archers? When did Today stop having a keep-fit spot? & who was the Spam Fritter Man & what became of him? This wonderful history-cum-guide answers these & many other questions about the irreplaceable world of Radio 4. It is an essential reading for every devotee. ...

Thousands of visitors go to the Italian Chapel in Orkney every year witnesses to a series of remarkable acts of transformation. Among these are the Churchill Barriers nearby straddling the ocean to link a number of Orkneys southernmost islands to its mainl&. Constructed to protect Britains naval fleet in Scapa Flow during World War Two its builders included a group of Italian soldiers imprisoned in this bleak & windswept part of Scotl&. In the course of this they not only played a part in changing Orkneys way-of-life forever but also transformed a simple Nissen Hut constructing through their labours a place-of-worship that still stands till this day a remarkable symbol of their identity & faith. & On This Rock tells the story of the strength & tenacity laughter & tears of the men who built the Italian Chapel showing how spirits defeated & despondent during years of exile were lifted by its creation. It does this with its own artistry & grace using folk-tale & myth to provide a fitting counterpart to the wonder & beauty of the building that inspired it. ...

Those who read or listen to our stories see everything as though through a lens. This lens is the secret of narration & it is ground anew in every story ground between the temporal & the timeless.. . In our brief mortal lives we are grinders of these lenses. When John Berger wrote this apparently unclassifiable book it was to become a sensation translated into nine languages & indelible from the minds of those who read it. This stunning work is a shoebox filled with delicate love letters containing poetry & thoughts on mortality art love & absence capturing moments in time that hover above Bergers surprising landscapes. From his lyrical description of the works of Caravaggio & profound explorations of death & immigration to the sight of some lilac at dusk in the mountains this is a beautiful & most intimate response to the world around us. ...

Caro London presents 30 sewing projects for both nightwear & accessories. With items for both adults & children all with beautifully illustrated step-by-step instructions you'll be spoilt for choice. In the summer the pleated camisole & shorts set will be perfect for balmy nights as will the frilled strappy nightdress & the holiday kaftan is beautiful enough to be worn day or night. Meanwhile in colder seasons wrap up in the kimono with taffeta trim or go for the classic long-sleeved shirt & matching trousers. Young girls will love the vintage lace nightdress while for boys there's a traditional pyjama set. Why not make one of the gorgeous accessories
- a cosy hot water bottle cover or a bolster bed cushion? Or try one of the smaller items such as a travel jewellery roll or a fabric headband that can be worn with your favourite outfit as well as in the bathroom. If you're not an experienced sewer fear not as the comprehensive techniques section will explain everything you need to know. Also included are full-size patterns & templates for all the projects.
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Maya Angelous poetry
- lyrical & dramatic exuberant & playful
- speaks of love longing partings; of Saturday night partying

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In April 1993 Stephen Lawrence was murdered by a group of young white men on a street in South-East London. From the first police investigation onwards the case was badly mishandled. In the end long after the case against the five suspects had been dropped the government had to give in to mounting pressure & hold a public inquiry which became the most explosive in British legal history. These facts leave the reader unprepared for Doreen Lawrence's own story of her son's murder. In this raw honest book she writes about her life for the first time & recreates the pain frustration & bafflement she experienced as she realised that there would never be a moment when she could say to herself that justice had been done. ...