With as little plot as its creator Alan Plater could get away with & as much jazz as he could manage the 1985 television drama The Beiderbecke Affair had a far-reaching impact inspiring sequels novels albums & even jazz tours. Much like its Bix Beiderbecke-style soundtrack Platers quietly joyous drama was unconventional free: its narrative following the lives & relationships of its leading characters
- teachers-turned-amateur detectives Trevor Chaplin (James Bolam) & Jill Swinburne (Barbara Flynn)
- with a gentle whimsical humour. William Gallaghers illuminating study is the first critical account of this much-loved series. Drawing on interviews with cast members & musicians the production team & Yorkshire TV executives as well as on insights from Plater himself Gallagher explores Beiderbeckes origins in Platers 1981 tv drama Get Lost! before moving on to an in-depth analysis of the series itself to reveal why such an unassuming series remains one of the best-loved examples of British television drama. The book also

Includes:: a previously unpublished BBC Radio 4 short story featuring the character of Jill Swinburne A Brief Encounter with Richard Wagner.



...

This completely updated guide reflects post-Olympic Beijing. There is also a special colour chapter on Beijings disappearing & historic hutong (passageways). You can explore old & new Beijing: from the Great Wall to the Birds Nest LP have got it covered. Crammed with more maps than any other guidebook; all maps & attractions are listed in both English & Chinese. ...

Get Straight to the Heart of the city Top Sights. The city s must-see sights plus expert advice to make your trip even better. Local Life. Discover how to unlock the city with guides to areas that the locals really love. Best of Beijing. We ve found the best walks food art shopping views nightlife & more. Plus: Maps for every neighbourhood Walking tours & day planners Packed with expert travel tips 100% independent advice ...

Dai Wei lies in his bedroom a prisoner in his body after he was shot in the head at the Tiananmen Square protest ten years earlier & left in a coma. As his mother tends to him & his friends bring news of their lives in an almost unrecognisable China Dai Wei escapes into his memories weaving together the events that took him from his harsh childhood in the last years of the Cultural Revolution to his time as a microbiology study at the Beijing University. As the minute-by-minute chronicling of the lead-up to his shooting becomes ever more intense the reader is caught in a gripping emotional journey where the boundaries between life & death are increasingly blurred. The result is an outstanding work of fiction & an extraordinary insight into modern China. ...

Although he is an indubitably international superstar Sir Sean Connery still knows the city of Edinburgh practically street by street from delivering the morning milk as a schoolboy. His round included Fettes College where Ian Fleming had sent his fictional James Bond after he was expelled from Eton. BEING A SCOT is a vivid & highly personal portrait of Scotland & its achievements which is self-revelatory whilst full of Sir Seans desire to shine light upon Scottish success & heroic failure. His personal quest with his friend & co-writer Murray Grigor has been to seek answers to some perplexing questions: How did Scots come to devise so many new sports & games or raise others to new heights? What gave fire to the Gothic tendency in Scottish literature? Why have so many creatively inventive & influential architects been Scots? Where did Scotlands unreal blend of psychotic humour originate? & what about the national tradition of self-deprecation sometimes called the Scottish cringe? Sean Connery offers a correction to misconceptions that many believe are part of the historical record whilst revealing as never before his own vibrant personal history. ...

Being Alive is the sequel to Neil Astleys Staying Alive which became Britains most popular poetry book because it gave readers hundreds of thoughtful & passionate poems about living in the modern world. Now he has assembled this equally lively companion anthology for all those readers whove wanted more poems that touch the heart stir the mind & fire the spirit. Being Alive is about being human: about love & loss fear & longing hurt & wonder. Staying Alive didnt just reach a broader readership it introduced thousands of new readers to contemporary poetry giving them an international gathering of poems of great personal force poems with emotional power intellectual edge & playful wit. It also brought many readers back to poetry people who hadnt read poetry for years because it hadnt held their interest. Being Alive gives readers an even wider selection of vivid brilliantly diverse contemporary poetry from around the world. A third companion anthology Being Human (2011) completes this modern poetry trilogy. ...

Being & Nothingness is without doubt one of the most significant books of the twentieth century. The central work by one of the world's most influential thinkers it altered the course of western philosophy. Its revolutionary approach challenged all previous assumptions about the individual's relationship with the world. Known as 'the Bible of existentialism' its impact on culture & literature was immediate & was felt worldwide from the absurd drama of Samuel Beckett to the soul-searching cries of the Beat poets. Being & Nothingness is one of those rare books whose influence has affected the mind-set of subsequent generations. Sixty years after its first publication its message remains as potent as ever
- challenging the reader to confront the fundamental dilemmas of human freedom responsibility & action.
...

The Queens Diamond Jubilee the Olympics & last years Royal wedding are events that should have created a wave of patriotism across the l&. But Britannia no longer rules the waves & a land once typified by its self-assurance & enterprise is now weighed down by the history of its decline from greatness
- afraid even to celebrate its past glories achievements seemingly tainted by jingoism & colonialism. Nor are its peers afraid to exploit such weaknesses. David Camerons veto of a European treaty to save the Euro unleashed a torrent of anti-British invective that was more than simply cosmetic; President Obama has seemingly gone out of his way to demonstrate how little weight the so-called special relationship" carries with him. Britain even faces challenges from within with the Scottish Parliament pressing for an end to the Union. With Britains values & status maligned & the subject of sneers no wonder its people are in the midst of an identity crisis. Spurred on by the vexed question of what " Britishness" actually means Whittle sets out to examine what if anything is actually wrong with being British? More than that Being British is a humorous & anecdote-packed celebration at the Britain of today covering some of our greatest national institutions habits & characters. This is a landmark book as Britain struggles to cement its place in the twenty first century."
...

Hannah thinks you have to be absolutely nuts to want to get married. Shes quite content with her life thank you very much
- her
...