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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Electras family is falling apart. Her dads moving out her mums given in to her daytime TV addiction & her little brother (aka The Little Runt) has just been caught shoplifting. Even the guinea-pigs gone mental. & all Electra can think about is whether green eyeliner compliments or clashes with blue eyes. Where can a girl turn in her hour of need? To her best friends of course. Together they think up a plan: persuading the class geek to stalk her dad seemed like a good idea at the time.. . ...

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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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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* From the cook butler & housekeeper to the footman ladys maid & nanny this is a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of some of Britains grandest houses. * An entertaining social history steering the reader through the minefield of etiquette & hierarchy that kept Britains great houses running like clockwork. * A bygone era is brought vividly to live through letters journals interviews lively descriptions & stunning photography of the places & possessions left behind. The largely untold stories of innumerable rather humble lives spent in service are lying just below the surface of many great houses; the physical evidence can be seen in surviving servants quarters the material of their everyday life even their uniforms & possessions. This account provides a fascinating glimpse at whos who behind the scenes from the cook butler & housekeeper to the footmen ladys maids governesses & tutors nannies & nursemaids. Giving a fascinating insight into the heirarchy within the servants quarters
- from the power-wielding cook to the ever-discreet butler
- this guide describes how relationships were forged & changed as the gap between upstairs & downstairs was bridged. Describing their typical working day as well as the holidays entertainments & pastimes enjoyed on a rare day off not to mention the whirl of the social season this previously unwritten history recalls vividly the nature of their lives below stairs.

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By the end of the 1920s domestic service remained the largest female occupation in Britain. We view it today as an undesirable job owing to the class divide it has come to represent & this is reflected in the portrayals of mistresses & servants in books & on the screen in such dramas as Upstairs Downstairs & Downton Abbey. But what do we really know about how girls felt when taking up these positions in other peoples houses or how they were treated? Pamela Horn uses first-hand accounts & reminiscences as well as official records & newspaper reports to extract the truth about the lives & status of men & women in domestic service from 1900 to 1939. ...