The influence of the British Empire is everywhere from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything from Prime Ministers decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think were good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; & the hopeless losers we will on & the food we hunger for the empire is never very far away. In this acute & witty analysis Jeremy Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers (intended to weed out the cad the feeble & the too clever) the importance of sport the sweating domestic life of the colonial officers wife (the challenge with cooking meat was to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness & putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable) & the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy & comedy of Empire & reveals its profound & lasting effect on our nation & ourselves." ...

The influence of the British Empire is everywhere from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything from Prime Ministers decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think were good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; & the hopeless losers we will on & the food we hunger for the empire is never very far away. In this acute & witty analysis Jeremy Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers (intended to weed out the cad the feeble & the too clever) the importance of sport the sweating domestic life of the colonial officers wife (the challenge with cooking meat was to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness & putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable) & the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy & comedy of Empire & reveals its profound & lasting effect on our nation & ourselves." ...

Empire magazine is the biggest selling most respected film magazine on the planet. From the biggest blockbusters to the coolest indies to the most revered art house flicks Empire magazine brings you the best in cinema & DVD every month razzing your retinas with stunning photo shoots & exclusive pictures bringing you interviews with the biggest star names from the hottest locations & helping you plan your viewing with the most comprehensive reviews section around
- all with Empire magazines unique informed irreverent sense of humour.
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From the bestselling author of The English" comes " Empire" Jeremy Paxman's history of the British Empire accompanied by a flagship 5-part BBC TV series for readers of Simon Schama & Andrew Marr. The influence of the British Empire is everywhere from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything from Prime Ministers' decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think we're good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; the hopeless losers we will on & the food we hunger for the empire is never very far away. In this acute & witty analysis Jeremy Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers ('intended to weed out the cad the feeble & the too clever') the importance of sport the sweating domestic life of the colonial officer's wife ('the challenge with cooking meat was "to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness & putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable"') & the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy & comedy of Empire & reveals its profound & lasting effect on our nation & ourselves. " Paxman is witty incisive acerbic & opinionated... In short he carries the whole thing off with panache bordering on effrontery". (Piers Brendon " Sunday Times"). " Paxman is a magnificent historian & " Empire" may be remembered as his finest work". (" Independent on Sunday"). Jeremy Paxman was born in Yorkshire & educated at Cambridge. He is an award-winning journalist who spent ten years reporting from overseas notably for " Panorama". He is the author of five books including " The English". He is the presenter of " Newsnight" & " University Challenge" & has presented BBC documentaries on various subjects including Victorian art & Wilfred Owen." ...

Frade & company must face one of their most delicate & dangerous tasks to date... October 1945: The Germans & Japanese have surrendered. For Cletus Frade & his colleagues in the OSS it should be time to pack up but they have far more important things to do. The United States made a secret deal with the German head of intelligence: in exchange for the identity of the Soviet spies in the American atomic bomb program his people would be spirited to safety. Frade & company must keep everyone safe
- but some people have other ideas...
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The Short 'C' Class Empire flying boats were designed in 1934 to implement the Empire Air Mail Scheme. They were operated by Imperial Airways (forerunner of British Airways) QANTAS & Tasman Empire Airways carrying letter mail throughout the British Empire & Dominions. Small numbers of passengers & freight were also carried. With privileged access to the British Airways Heritage Collection author Brian Cassidy describes the genesis & anatomy of the Empire boats their service career operation & maintenance of the Empires & the experience of travelling by flying boat in the 1930s. ...

The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades bastions of civilization prosperity & sophistication. They have been protected by treaties trade & a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbours. But meanwhile in far-off corners the Wasp Empire has been devouring city after city with its highly trained armies its machines its killing Art.. . And now its hunger for conquest & war has become insatiable. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker spymaster artificer & statesman can see that the long days of peace are over. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people -- as soon a black-&-gold tide will sweep down over the Lowlands & burn away everything in its path. But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empires latest victim. I cannot even begin to explain how much I enjoy the Shadows of the Apt books. Their level of originality & the sheer epic-ness makes for some of the best fantasy entertainment out there LECBook Reviews.com ...

In this tour de force of original cultural history Paul Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre & devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This is the first book to bring together the worlds most important charnel sites ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy & the skull-encrusted columns of the ossuary in Evora in Portugal to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman decorated with the exhumed skeletons of his Spanish ancestors. Illustrated with specially taken photographs of sites rarely open to the public & forgotten archive images of others long destroyed this mesmerising shocking & deeply moving book is an essential memento mori for our modern age. ...

Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase are back for their seventh blockbusting adventure by the bestselling author of THE HUNT FOR ATLANTIS Andy Mc Dermott. When archaeologist Nina Wilde & her husband ex-SAS soldier Eddie Chase are given the chance to work on an Interpol investigation into smuggled artefacts they are stunned to realise that the artefacts hold clues to the location of a lost Inca settlement hidden somewhere in South America. As Nina & Eddie dig deeper it soon becomes clear that finding the settlement may only be the start of their incredible quest. One which astonishingly may lead them to one of the greatest legends of all time: El Dorado
- the mythical city of gold. Nina & Eddie are desperate to locate the fabled city. But they are not alone in their search. Deep in the jungles of Venezuela they face corrupt soldiers murderous revolutionaries & ruthless drug lords who will stop at nothing to obtain the citys treasures. With so much at stake what price will they pay for the greatest of fortunes?
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Naomi Noviks stunning series of novels follow the adventures of Captain William Laurence & his fighting dragon Temeraire as ...