The stories & secrets behind BBC television's most-loved show. The official companion to series 1 & 2 as well as the forthcoming Christmas special. The Life & Times of Call the Midwife takes you behind the scenes of the small-screen sensation that has brought to life Jennifer Worth's experiences as a midwife among the slums & buzzing dockyards of London's East End in the Fifties. Find out how Fifties fashions make-up & homes were flawlessly recreated. Discover the hidden secrets of the nurses & nuns of Nonnatus House & what flavour cake ruled in the kitchen when war-time rationing finally came to an end. Immerse yourself in a world that's been fondly revived to celebrate a glimpse of history that like today has childbirth at its heart. ...

In a South Africa torn by civil war Michael K sets out to take his mother back to her rural home. On the way there she dies leaving him alone in an anarchic world of brutal roving armies. Imprisoned Michael is unable to bear confinement & escapes determined to live with dignity. Life & Times of Michael K goes to the centre of human experience
- the need for an interior spiritual life for some connections to the world in which we live & for purity of vision.
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Some say that the first hint that Bill Bryson was not of Planet Earth came when his mother sent him to school in lime-green Capri pants. Others think it all started with his discovery at the age of six of a woollen jersey of rare fineness. Across the moth-holed chest was a golden thunderbolt. It may have looked like an old college football sweater but young Bryson knew better. It was obviously the Sacred Jersey of Zap & proved that he had been placed with this innocuous family in the middle of America to fly become invisible shoot guns out of people's hands from a distance & wear his underpants over his jeans in the manner of Superman. Bill Bryson's first travel book opened with the immortal line 'I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.' In his deeply funny new memoir he travels back in time to explore the ordinary kid he once was & the curious world of 1950s America. It was a happy time when almost everything was good for you including DDT cigarettes & nuclear fallout. This is a book about growing up in a specific time & place. But in Bryson's hands it becomes everyone's story one that will speak volumes
- especially to anyone who has ever been young.
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Powerful new research methods are providing fresh & vivid insights into the makeup of life. Comparing gene sequences examining the atomic structure of proteins & looking into the geochemistry of rocks have all helped to explain creation & evolution in more detail than ever before. Nick Lane uses the full extent of this new knowledge to describe the ten greatest inventions of life including DNA sex sight & consciousness based on their historical impact role in living organisms today & relevance to current controversies. Lane also explains how these findings have come about & the extent to which they can be relied upon. The result is a vivid gripping & lucid account of the ingenuity of nature & a book which is essential for anyone who has wondered at how we came to be here. ...

The debut of a female Steve Jones
- likeable literate lucid & laconic. A sprightly lavishly illustrated book on the science of
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The aim of this course is to explore the Beatitudes which encapsulate the teaching of Jesus. Jesus himself lived out the Beatitudes in his earthly life & called his followers to do the same. This five-session group study course encourages Christians to examine their lifestyle in the light of Jesus radical teaching & to live out these kingdom values
- now. This course takes a two-pronged approach to studying the Beatitudes deepening our understanding of Jesus & challenging our deepest personal values; & helping us understand how they should impact on our approach to major global issues such as environmental pollution & the deep-seated hostilities & injustices that afflict our world. Each session of the course contains enough material for 90 minutes &

Includes:: guidelines for group study with full background notes for leaders interactive activities including questions for group discussion & multimedia suggestions a wide range of suggestions for Lenten prayer & meditation & a challenge to practical action.


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As Britain's leading psychic medium perhaps it's not surprising that more than 200 000 people buy tickets every year to see Colin Fry's theatre tour up & down the country (and in New Zealand). It's also not surprising that his top-rating TV show 6ixth Sense is now in its 7th series & continues to hold an average of 100 000 viewers per month. With such an enormous fan base there is therefore huge interest in Colin Fry's first book Life Before Death. A compelling read full of extraordinary stories from his life & work it also investigates a theme which comes up time & again in his conversations with people who come to him for readings: how do you make the most of your time in this world. Colin Fry has a gift for being able to receive messages from souls in the spirit world. Remarkable & fascinating as this is he feels strongly that the messages he receives should be used to help us maximise our life's potential. Life Before Death explains how he was able to develop his gift & what being a psychic medium actually means. But it also gives advice on how to make better connections with your friends & family how to be open to new things in life how to both forgive & give more readily & how to accept all that happens to you. ...

Children who remember a previous life usually begin talking about it quite spontaneously at the age of two or three. This remarkable book builds on the ground-breaking investigations into reincarnation carried out by Professor Ian Stevenson at the University of Virginia. For the past 40 years doctors at this major American medical centre have conducted research into your childrens reports of past-life memories. In Life Before Life psychiatrist Dr Jim B. Tucker reveals their fascinating research. * British twins whose birthmarks & behaviour closely resembles their deceased older sisters. *A boy in Africa who knows the names & personal details of everyone in another village without ever having been there. *A child who dies of a gunshot in a previous life & carries a birthmark of the same size shape & placement in this life. This remarkable material will challenge & ultimately change your understanding about life & death. ...

Wendy Lawson has an autism spectrum disorder. Considered to be intellectually disabled & almost incapable of doing as she is told" at school she was later misdiagnosed as schizophrenic
- a label that stuck with her for more than 25 years. Her sense of self was then non-existent but Wendy is now a mother of four with two university degrees; she is a social worker & adult educator & operates her own business. She is also a poet & writer sharing her understanding of autism with others to help "build a bridge.. .from my world to theirs". This book is part of that bridge."
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Last year the telly-watching public was gripped by Downton Abbey"
- the most successful British period drama in years & the
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