In 1870 Bismarck ordered the Prussian Army to invade France inciting one of the most dramatic conflicts in European history. It transformed not only the states-system of the Continent but the whole climate of European moral & political thought. The overwhelming triumph of German military might evoking general admiration & imitation introduced an era of power politics which was to reach its disastrous climax in 1914. First published in 1961 & now with a new introduction The Franco-Prussian War is acknowledged as the definitive history of one of the most dramatic & decisive conflicts in the history of Europe. ...

This work covers the Franco-Prussian War which broke out in 1870 when Bismarck engineered a war with the French Second Empire of Napoleon III. This was part of his wider political strategy of uniting Prussia with the Southern German Confederation & excluding Austria. The war was an overwhelming Prussian victory & the king was proclaimed Emperor of the new united Germany. The Second Empire collapsed & Napoleon III fled in exile to Britain. In the clearing up operation against the French Third Republic Germany gained the eastern French provinces of Alsace & Lorraine areas that were to provide a bone of contention for years to come. ...

Following on from the success of the best-selling Paintbox" (over 100 000 copies sold) Frank Clarke is back to encourage more would-be artists to have a go. Using his foolproof Have Some More Fun method Frank shows how anyone can achieve fantastic results in next to no time. A self-taught artist himself Frank guides the new reader through the basic techniques needed for watercolour painting before embarking on a series of eight step-by-step lessons. The lessons offer new artists lots of opportunity to practise their techniques & will inspire readers of the first book to continue developing their hobby. It

Includes:: advice on materials & equipment brush techniques effects & strokes & how to correct mistakes. Franks infectious enthusiasm & straightforward method of teaching have turned millions of people into amateur artists. " Paintbox 2" will have people reaching for their watercolours & creating beautiful pictures that most beginners can only dream of."

...

This is a new biography of the Founder of the Legion of Mary one of the Catholic Churchs most effective charitable agencies in the world today. In the Legion of Mary Duff built an organisation that depended on each member playing his or her part rather than on any individual leader. Describing responsibility as the biggest tonic on earth he believed in sharing responsibility & warned against thinking that others cannot do things as well as we can ourselves. The Legion of Mary is an organisation of lay Catholics dedicated to every form of social service & Catholic action for the welfare of the Church & of society. Duffs vision of a lay movement was revolutionary in its time & as recounted in this book explains why he faced so much opposition from Church authorities especially in Irel&. But Duff who is on the path towards canonisation exemplified the Catholic tradition of charitable work at its best
- that you do not preach by lecturing but by works of mercy compassion & unselfish altruism. This is an inspiring tale.
...

Frank Lloyd Wright was the greatest American architect of the 20th century. During a long life he designed many of the most striking & iconic buildings in the USA
- structures such as Fallingwater a house poised above a waterfall in rural Pennsylvania the Unity Temple the USAs first all-concrete public building & New Yorks amazing spiral-shaped Guggenheim Museum. One of the most remarkable innovators in the history of architecture Wright produced some of the most revolutionary buildings
- breathtaking prairie houses the Johnson Wax company headquarters with its Pyrex glazing & stunning mushroom columns his own canvas-roofed desert home & office. Wright was a technological innovator too pioneering inventions such as double-glazing sound-absorbing office furniture & prefabricated office partitions. But Wright did not pursue the new for its own sake. All his work is underpinned by a belief system: that buildings should be at one with their environment that their form should grow from the needs of the client & that site floor plan structural materials & the use of the building should be in harmony. Wright called this set of ideas organic architecture & both the philosophy & the buildings it produced are as inspiring now as they were when Wright was alive & working. This book showcases fifty of Wrights most important projects. It covers buildings throughout his whole career from the house he built for himself in Oak Park Illinois in 1889 to the landmark structures of his final years like the Beth Sholom Synagogue & the Guggenheim Museum. The projects include a handful of influential buildings that are no longer standing such as the masterly Larkin Company Building & the Imperial Hotel Tokyo as a tribute to designs that still fascinate architects & others who follow the work of this inspiring American master. Brief opening & closing chapters outline the architects life & describe his wide influence which with his emphasis on architecture & environment is as relevant as ever today.

...

Gay Talese is the father of American New Journalism who transformed traditional reportage with his vivid scene-setting sharp observation & rich storytelling. His 1966 piece for Esquire" one of the most celebrated magazine articles ever published describes a morose Frank Sinatra silently nursing a glass of bourbon struck down with a cold & unable to sing like Picasso without paint Ferrari without fuel
- only worse. The other writings in this selection include a description of a meeting between two legends Fidel Castro & Muhammad Ali; a brilliantly witty dissection of the offices of Vogue magazine; an account of travelling to Ireland with hellraiser Peter OToole; & a profile of fading baseball star Joe Di Maggio which turns into a moving immaculately-crafted meditation on celebrity."
...

Frank Skinner is undoubtedly of one of the funniest & most successful comedians appearing on British screens. Born Chris Collins in 1957 he grew up in the West Midlands where he inherited his fathers passion for football a West Bromich Albion supporter along with a liking for alcohol. Expelled from school at 16 Frank held various jobs later going on to gain an MA in English Literature. Nurturing a serious drink problem from the age of fourteen Frank eventually turned to Catholicism in 1987 & hasnt had a drink since. He performed his first stand up gig in December 1987. His first television appearance in 1988 met with fits of laughter from the audience & 131 complaints including one from cabinet minister Edwina Currie. He met fellow comedian David Baddiel in 1990 & the two went on to share a flat throughout the early 90s & to create the hit TV series Fantasy Football League. Winner of the prestigious Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Festival Skinners is a unique mixture of laddish & philosophical humour which has won him the prime time ITV show
- The Frank Skinner Show. Here for the first time Frank candidly tells us of the highs & lows of his fascinating life & career.
...

Every year thousands of students rely on Frank Wood's best-selling books to help them pass their accountancy exams.

Used

...

Champions Day Ascot 20 October 2012 saw Frankel win his 14th race a 100 per cent win record & a truly outstanding performance confirming his status as a superstar. Frankel: The Wonder Horse is the complete illustrated story of the worlds best racehorse. The book charts the superstars career from his birth through each of his races to his retirement at Banstead Manor Stud. Frankel set the bar higher than any horse has ever done through utterly memorable performances & the book relives these races & the incredible training feat by Sir Henry Cecil. Assembled from the archives of the Racing Post the book

Includes:: contributions from all his connections as well as a complete record of all his races & full statistics of his phenomenal career. Fully illustrated with stunning photographs from the Racing Posts archives.

...

A terrifying vision of scientific progress without moral limits Mary Shelley's Frankenstein" leads the reader on an unsettling journey from the sublime beauty of the Swiss alps to the desolate waste of the arctic circle. This " Penguin Classics" edition is edited with an introduction & notes by Maurice Hindle. Obsessed with the idea of creating life itself Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material with which to fashion a new being shocking his creation to life with electricity. But this botched creature rejected by its creator & denied human companionship sets out to destroy Frankenstein & all that he holds dear. Mary Shelley's chilling gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen living with her lover Percy Shelley near Lord Byron's villa on Lake Geneva. It would become the world's most famous work of Gothic horror & Frankenstein's monster an instantly-recognisable symbol of the limits of human creativity. Based on the third edition of 1831 this volume contains all the revisions Mary Shelley made to her story as well as her 1831 introduction & Percy Shelley's preface to the first edition. This revised edition

Includes:: as appendices a select collation of the texts of 1818 & 1831 together with "A Fragment" by Lord Byron & Dr John Polidori's " The Vampyre: A Tale". Mary Shelley (1797-1851) was the only daughter of the author & political philosopher William Godwin & Mary Wollstonecraft author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman". In 1814 she eloped with poet Percy Bysshe Shelley whom she married when his first wife died in 1816. She is best remembered as the author of " Frankenstein" but she wrote several other works including " Valperga" & " The Last Man". If you liked " Frankenstein" you might enjoy Bram Stoker's " Dracula" also available in " Penguin Classics"."

...