Gavin Francis fulfilled a lifetimes ambition when he spent fourteen months as the base-camp doctor at Halley a profoundly isolated British research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. So remote it is said to be easier to evacuate a casualty from the International Space Station than it is to bring someone out of Halley in winter. Antarctica offered a year of unparalleled silence & solitude with few distractions & very little human history but also a rare oppurtunity to live among emperor penguins the only species truly at home in the Antarctic. Following the penguins throughout the year
- from a summer of perpetual sunshine to months of winter darkness
- Gavin Francis explores a world of great beauty conjured from the simplest elements the hardship of living at 50degree C below zero & the unexpected comfort that the penguin community bring. Empire Antarctica" is the story of one man & his fascination with the worlds loneliest continent as well as the emperor penguins who weather the winter with him. Combining an evocative narrative with a sublime sensitivity to the natural world this is travel writing at its very best."

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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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The Oxford History of the United States is by far the most respected multi-volume history of the USA. The series

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Sidorio fuelled by grief & revenge is intent on becoming King of the Vampirates & building a new empire to bring terror to the oceans. He faces growing opposition from both the Pirate Federation including Vampirate Assassin Cheng Li & the Nocturnals
- the more benign vampirate realm
- led by Mosh Zu & Lorcan Furey. Both the pirates & the Nocturnals are forced to raise their game in response to the new & urgent threat from Sidorio & the renegade Vampirates. Twins Grace & Connor Tempest still ricocheting from the recent discovery of their true parenthood & its explosive implications are thrust deep into the heart of the conflict. Old foes & allies are thrown together in unexpected ways & as the stakes rise higher than ever before Grace & Connor find their alliances shifting in ways no-one could ever have possibly foreseen...

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The gripping & largely untold story of the role of the intelligence services in Britain's retreat from empire. Against the background of the Cold War & the looming spectre of Soviet-sponsored subversion in Britain's dwindling colonial possessions the imperial intelligence service MI5 played a crucial but top secret role in passing power to newly independent national states across the globe. Mining recently declassified intelligence records Calder Walton reveals this 'missing link' in Britain's post-war history. He sheds new light on everything from violent counter-insurgencies fought by British forces in the jungles of Malaya & Kenya to urban warfare campaigns conducted in Palestine & the Arabian Peninsula. Drawing on a wealth of previously classified documents as well as hitherto overlooked personal papers this is also the first book to draw on records from the Foreign Office's secret archive at Hanslope Park which contains some of the darkest & most shameful secrets from the last days of Britain's empire. Packed with incidents straight out of a John le Carre novel Empire of Secrets is an exhilarating read by an exciting new voice in intelligence history. ...

The 4th novel in the bestselling Conqueror series continuing the life & adventures of the mighty Khan dynasty. Genghis Khan is dead but his legend & his legacy live on. His son Ogedai has built a white city on a great plain & made a capital for the new nation. Now the armies have gathered to see which of Genghis sons has the strength to be khan. The Mongol empire has been at peace for two years but whoever survives will face the formidable might of their great enemy Chinas Song dynasty. The great leader Tsubodai sweeps into the west: through Russia over the Carpathian mountains & into Hungary. The Templar knights have been broken & there is no king or army to stop him reaching France. But at the moment of Tsubodais greatest triumph as his furthest scouts reach the northern mountains of Italy Tsubodai must make a decision that will change the course of history forever. ...

The 4th novel in the bestselling Conqueror series continuing the life & adventures of the mighty Khan dynasty. Genghis Khan is dead but his legend & his legacy live on. His son Ogedai has built a white city on a great plain & made a capital for the new nation. Now the armies have gathered to see which of Genghis' sons has the strength to be khan. The Mongol empire has been at peace for two years but whoever survives will face the formidable might of their great enemy China's Song dynasty. The great leader Tsubodai sweeps into the west: through Russia over the Carpathian mountains & into Hungary. The Templar knights have been broken & there is no king or army to stop him reaching France. But at the moment of Tsubodai's greatest triumph as his furthest scouts reach the northern mountains of Italy Tsubodai must make a decision that will change the course of history forever. ...