Walking is one of Britain's favourite leisure activities & this guide features a variety of mapped walks to suit all abilities. The book features all the practical detail you need accompanied by fascinating background reading on the history & wildlife of Hertfordshire as well as other local points of interest. All walks are annotated with places to visit along the way including tea rooms & pubs with extra details on their character & the food on offer. Every walk is given a summary of distance time gradient level of difficulty type of surface & access landscape dog friendliness parking & public toilets. ...

Welcome to the world of Blop! A Blop is a simple shape somewhere between a flower & a butterfly a sponge & a drawing of a little man -- above all Blop is whatever you want it to be. Using very few woods & handwritten text I AM BLOP!" explore many concepts encountered for the first time by young children including up & down single & plural individual & family city & countryside etc. This single shape represents anything a child's mind can imagine. With 110 illustrations in varying colors & patterns little or sometimes no words at all each page has a unique Blop that brigs a whole new dimension to children's reading. "I AM BLOP!" is an invitation to discover & explore everyday life & hundreds of ideas through one simple shape." ...

A masterful twist on the epistolary novel Saul Bellow's Herzog" is part confessional part exorcism & a wholly unique achievement in postmodern fiction. This " Penguin Classics" edition

Includes:: an introduction by Malcolm Bradbury in " Penguin Modern Classics". Is Moses Herzog losing his mind? His formidable wife Madeleine has left him for his best friend & Herzog is left alone with his whirling thoughts
- yet he still sees himself as a survivor raging against private disasters & the myriad catastrophes of the modern age. In a crumbling house which he shares with rats his head buzzing with ideas he writes frantic unsent letters to friends & enemies colleagues & famous people the living & the dead revealing the spectacular workings of his labyrinthine mind & the innermost secrets of his troubled heart. Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was a Canadian
- born American writer who enjoyed a dazzling career as a novelist marked with numerous literary prizes including the Pulitzer Prize & the Nobel Prize for Literature. His books include " The Adventures of Augie March" " Herzog" " More Die of Heartbreak" " Mosby's Memoirs & Other Stories" " Mr. Sammler's Planet" " Seize The Day" & " The Victim". If you enjoyed " Herzog" you might like Bellow's " Seize the Day" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". " Spectacular.. .surely Bellow's greatest novel" (Malcolm Bradbury). "A masterpiece.. . Herzog's voice for all its wildness & strangeness & foolishness is the voice of a civilization our civilization". (" The New York Times Book Review")."



...

Together the poetry of Hesiod & Theognis" offers a superb introduction to the life & thought of ancient Greece. Hesiods ...

Even to a girl from the slums of Bristol the streets of Glasgow were inhospitable & grey; the wealth & splendour of its mansions cold & heartless. But for Hester Dark there could be no turning back
- she would make this cruel city the home of her dreams. Everyone said that Hester was lucky. Lucky to have a wealthy uncle in Scotland who was willing to take her in. Lucky to have all the advantages that his money could buy. But Hesters new bright world held dark secrets jealousies & fears. & no one had spoken of the women who would despise her for her beauty & her independence
- & the men who would buy her soul & call it love.

...

Until now home cooking has remained stubbornly out of touch with technological development but Heston Blumenthal champion of the scientific kitchen is set to change all that with his radical new book. With meticulous precision he explains what the most effective techniques are & why they work. Heston's instructions are precise & easy to follow with lots of helpful tips & each chapter is introduced with an explanation of Heston's approach to 1) Stocks 2) Soups 3) Starters 4) Salads 5) Meat 6) Fish 7) Sous-vide 8) Pasta & grains 9) Cheese 10) Sides & condiments 11) Ices 12) Desserts & sweets 13) Biscuits snacks & drinks. Recipes include Green bean & radish salad; Prawn cocktail; Roast chicken; Shepherd's pie; Sea bass with vanilla butter; Liquorice poached salmon; Carbonara; The ultimate cheese toastie; Strawberry sundae; Liquid centre chocolate pudding & Raspberry sherbert. & of course Heston's famous Triple-cooked chips. Heston Blumenthal at Home will change the way you think about cooking forever
- prepare for a culinary revolution!
...

Once upon a time there was a Chef called Heston who opened a small restaurant called the Fat Duck. At first he served only simple French classics but gradually as is the way of things the Chefs curiosity got the better of him & he began thinking up more unusual dishes such as Snail Porridge & Chocolate Wine. There was even talk of a meringue that made diners snort plumes of vapour like a dragon. Word spread & reached the ears of the Executives who ran a television channel & they summoned the Chef to their glass fortress. We command you to create six Fantastical Feasts they said. These must be based on history but you may draw on fairytales & legends. We should warn you that the Quest will involve journeys to Transylvania in search of the legendary Leech Recipe of Sibiu & to the Black Forest to eat the eyes of the Wild Boar of Munstertal. You must resist the temptations of the Burlesque Girls & you must turn chocolate cake into a raging fireball & chickens testicles into jelly beans. There will be hunting for hallucinogenic mushrooms & cooking with Play-Doh. Out of this you must create the most magical dishes imaginable. Well how about lickable wallpaper a savoury Zoom lolly a chocolate-covered iceberg a golden egg & an edible graveyard? offered the Chef. Its a start said the Executives. Oh & once you have achieved the Quest you must bring us proof in the form of a Book. But not just any Book. We want tales of extravagant ingredients of revolutionary techniques of familiar kitchen appliances put to unfamiliar uses. We want to see what you see. Taste what you taste. In short we want complete & unparalleled access to your fantastical world. ...

Heterotopia literally meaning 'other place' is a rich concept in urban design that describes a space that is on the margins of ordered or civil society & one that possesses multiple fragmented or even incompatible meanings. The term has had an impact on architectural & urban theory since it was coined by Foucault in the late 1960s but it has remained a source of confusion & debate since. Heterotopia & the City seeks to clarify this concept & investigates the heterotopias which exist throughout our contemporary world: in museums theme parks malls holiday resorts gated communities wellness hotels & festival markets. With theoretical contributions on the concept of heterotopia including a new translation of Foucault's influential 1967 text Of Other Space & essays by well-known scholars the book comprises a series of critical case studies from Beaubourg to Bilbao which probe a range of (post)urban transformations & which redirect the debate on the privatization of public space. Wastelands & terrains vagues are studied in detail in a section on urban activism & transgression & the reader gets a glimpse of the extremes of our dualized postcivil condition through case studies on Jakarta Dubai & Kinshasa. Heterotopia & the City provides a collective effort to reposition heterotopia as a crucial concept for contemporary urban theory. The book will be of interest to all those wishing to understand the city in the emerging postcivil society & post-historical era. Planners architects cultural theorists urbanists & academics will find this a valuable contribution to current critical argument. ...

London 1876. Hetty Feather is just a tiny baby when her mother leaves her at the Foundling Hospital. The Hospital cares for abandoned children
- but Hetty must first live with a foster family until she is big enough to go to school. Life in the countryside is sometimes hard but with her foster brothers Jem & Gideon Hetty helps in the fields & plays vivid imaginary games. Together they sneak off to visit the travelling circus & Hetty is mesmerised by the show
- especially the stunning Madame Adeline & her performing horses. But Hetty's happiness is threatened once more when she must return to the Foundling Hospital to begin her education. The new life of awful uniforms & terrible food is a struggle for her & she desperately misses her beloved Jem. But now she has the chance to find her real mother. Could she really be the wonderful Madame Adeline? Or will Hetty find the truth is even more surprising? Jacqueline Wilson will surprise & delight old fans & new with this utterly original historical novel. Featuring a br&-new feisty Victorian heroine Hetty Feather this is a compelling moving funny & totally fascinating Tracy Beaker-esque tale that will thrill & captivate readers.

...

Its London 1876. Hetty Feather is just a tiny baby when her mother leaves her at the Foundling Hospital. The Hospital cares for abandoned children
- but Hetty must live with a foster family until she is big enough to go to school. Life in the countryside is hard but she has brothers Jem & Gideon to play with & together they sneak off to visit the travelling circus. Hetty is mesmerised by the show especially Madame Adeline & her performing horses. When she is returned to the Foundling Hospital the new life of awful uniforms & terrible food is a struggle for Hetty. But now she has the chance to find her real mother. Could she really be the wonderful Madame Adeline? Or is the truth even more surprising?.. .read by the author herself with all the liveliness this most lively of stories demands
- Chichester Observer". A delightful & utterly original take on a historical novel this warm funny & moving story read by Jacqueline Wilson will thrill her many fans
- " Primary Times"."


...