Once more we catch up with the delightful goings-on in the fictitious 44 Scotland Street from Alexander Mc Call Smith. With customary charm & deftness Alexander Mc Call Smith gives us another instalment in this popular series now running in its ninth season in The Scotsman. Anything could happen to Bertie & the gang - ...

Routledge Performance Practitioners" is a series of introductory guides to the key theatre-makers of the last century. Each volume explains the background to & the work of one of the major influences on twentieth- & twenty-first-century performance. Bertolt Brecht is amongst the worlds most profound contributors to the theory & practice of theatre. His methods of collective experimentation & his unique framing of the theatrical event as a forum for aesthetic & political change continue to have a significant impact on the work of performance practitioners critics & teachers alike. This is the first book to combine: an overview of the key periods in Brechts life & work; a clear explanation of his key theories including the renowned ideas of Gestus & Verfremdung an account of his groundbreaking 1954 production of " The Caucasian Chalk Circle"; & an in-depth analysis of Brechts practical exercises & rehearsal methods. As a first step towards critical understanding & as an initial exploration before going on to further primary research " Routledge Performance Practitioners" are unbeatable value for todays student. Meg Mumford is a lecturer in Theatre & Performance Studies at The University of New South Wales Australia. She has published widely on the subject of Brechts theatre & contemporary appropriations of his theory & practice." ...

Perfect for day trips & short breaks the OS Landranger Map series covers Great Britain with 204 detailed maps. Each map provides all the information you need to get to know your local area &

Includes:: places of interest tourist information picnic areas & camp sites plus Rights of Way information for England & Wales.

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OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Survey's most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities like walking horse riding & off-road cycling. Providing complete GB coverage the series details essential information such as youth hostels pubs & visitor information as well as rights of way permissive paths & bridleways. ...

Join best friends Melrose & Croc for a day of sunshine & laughter beside the sea! This glowing picture book from the creator of the Blue Kangaroo series is perfect for sharing with little children making friends. Little Green Croc is in a snappy mood but Melrose knows that a guessing game & a trip to the seaside will soon have his favourite friend smiling again. This charming picture book is full of sunshine brightly capturing the warmth of true friendship. Wonderfully illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark it's a perfect addition to the Melrose & Croc series. ...

We are entering a new era of eclecticism in interior design. People who are serious about their living environment are turning to designer craftsman to create unique items of furniture to suit their precise needs & enhance the aesthetic ambience of their home & workplace. By its nature this individualistic trend cannot be served by the normal retail infrastructure & it can be difficult to access makers & their products. Bespoke resolves this problem by supplying the details of 190 leading makers the galleries & exhibitions that display their work & an explanation of the typical commissioning process. On a room by room basis a wide variety of individual maker's work is shown to give the reader an idea of their different styles. ...

In 1982 for the princely sum of GBP2 000 a year the seventeen-year-old Richard Anderson became an apprentice at Huntsmans the most venerable of Savile Row tailors. Nineteen years later he opened his own eponymous business on the world-famous ' Golden Mile' where he h&-cuts exquisite suits for a global clientele. In Bespoke he does for the world of tailoring what Kitchen Confidential did for the world of haute cuisine. With him we learn the consummate craftsmanship & pefectionism that goes into a h&-made suit & the years of sweat & graft it takes to learn it. Training in the art of making trousers & coats that could cost as much as GBP10 000 was a gruelling game but Richard persisted to become the youngest head cutter in Huntsman's 150-year-old history. We meet the extraordinary cast of characters who peopled Huntsmans from the boardroom to the backroom -- the debonair Colin Hammick the grumpy eccentric Brian Hall & Dick Lakey the heroically overworked 'leg man'. Not to mention the no less colourful clients who ranged from politicians & peers of the realm to music icons & Hollywood movie stars. Frequently funny & told with great candour Bespoke is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes on Savile Row. You'll never look at a suit in the same light again. ...

May 1915. While thousands of Britons fight in the trenches a severely depleted police force remains behind to keep the Home Front safe. In London the sinking of the Lusitania sparks an unprecedented wave of anti-German riots & arson attacks across the city. Among the victims is the immigrant tailor Jacob Stein found dead in his burnt-out shop. Detective Inspector Harvey Marmion & Sergeant Joe Keedy must take on this case of cover-ups & contradictions & track down Jacobs killer
- a hunt which carries them from the crime-ridden streets of wartime London to the chaos of the front line. But is the murder simply the result of a tragic excess of wartime hysteria or perhaps a more premeditated crime?
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Bess of Hardwick was one of the most remarkable women of the Tudor era. Gently-born in reduced circumstances she was married at 15 wedded at 16 & still a virgin. At 19 she married a man more than twice her age Sir William Cavendish a senior auditor in King Henry VIIIs Court of Augmentations. Responsible for seizing church properties for the crown during the Dissolution Cavendish enriched himself in the process. During the reign of King Edward VI Cavendish was the Treasurer to the boy king & sisters & he & Bess moved in the highest levels of society. They had a London home & built Chatsworth House in Derbyshire. After Cavendishs death her third husband was poisoned by his brother. Bess 4th marriage to the patrician George 6th Earl of Shrewsbury Earl Marshall of England made Bess one of the most important women at court. Her shrewd business acumen was a byword & she was said to have a masculine understanding in that age when women had little education & few legal rights. The Earls death made her arguably the wealthiest & therefore
- next to the Queen
- the most powerful woman in the country.

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Beautiful young exuberant the amazing life of Elizabeth Blount Henry VIIIs mistress & mother to his first son who came tantalizingly close to succeeding him as King Henry IX. The earliest known & longest lasting mistress of Henry VIII Bessie Blount was the kings first love. More beautiful than Anne Boleyn or any of Henrys other wives or concubines Bessies beauty & other charms ensured that she turned heads winning a place at court as one of Catherine of Aragons ladies. Within months she was partnering the king in dancing & she rose to be the woman with the most influence over Henry much to Catherine of Aragons despair. The affair lasted five years (longer than most of Henrys marriages) & in 1519 she bore Henry VIII a son Henry Fitzroy. As a mark of his importance Cardinal Wolsey was appointed his guardian & godfather. Supplanted soon after by Mary Boleyn Bessies importance rests on the vital proof it gave Henry VIII that he could father a healthy son & through Henry Fitzroy Bessie remained a prominent figure at court. In the country at large for proving that the king was capable of fathering a son Bessie prompted the saying Blessee Bessie Blount & her position of mother of such an important child made her an object of interest to many of her contemporaries. Sidelined by historians until now Bessie & the son she had by the king are one of the great what ifs of English history. If Jane Seymour had not produced a male heir & Bessies son had not died young aged 17 in all likelihood Henry Fitzroy could have followed his father as King Henry IX & Bessie propelled to the status of mother of the king. ...