In a snowbound railway station deep in the Soviet Union a stranded passenger comes across an old man playing the piano in the dark silent tears rolling down his cheeks. Once on the train to Moscow he begins to tell his story: a tale of loss love & survival that movingly illustrates the strength of human resilience. 'A novella to be read in a lunch hour & remembered for ever' Jilly Cooper Books of the Year Sunday Telegraph ...

This is Colin's story about becoming an adult at 35 years of age. From a strictly time-tabled athletics lifestyle from the age of 17 suddenly after retiring from his sporting career he had to grow up very quickly. Having created a name for himself on a world stage now he has to create a life in reality. Colin talks about the glamour of Strictly Come Dancing" & the emotional journey of " Who Do You Think You Are?" that took him back to his ancestors' roots in Panama & the Caribbean plus his motivational work with young children." ...

This title shows how the noisy atomic cloud gives rise to the orderly world of the molecular machine
- & to life itself. The cells
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The assassin's bullet misses the Archduke's carriage moves forward & a catastrophic war is avoided. So too with the history of life. Re-run the tape of life as Stephen J. Gould claimed & the outcome must be entirely different: an alien world without humans & maybe not even intelligence. The history of life is littered with accidents: any twist or turn may lead to a completely different world. Now this view is being challenged. Simon Conway Morris explores the evidence demonstrating life's almost eerie ability to navigate to a single solution repeatedly. Eyes brains tools even culture: all are very much on the cards. So if these are all evolutionary inevitabilities where are our counterparts across the galaxy? The tape of life can only run on a suitable planet & it seems that such Earth-like planets may be much rarer than hoped. Inevitable humans yes but in a lonely Universe. ...

In this informative & amusing book newly revised & updated Simon Hoggart provides a highly personal selection of 100 exciting & eclectic wines that are invariably good value (including 10 new ones). Life's Too Short to Drink Bad Wine is aimed at the amateur wine lover prepared occasionally to spend a little more than supermarket prices to get something special. Simon eschews pretentious 'wine-speak' yet describes his encounters with each of them so wittily you will be sure to remember them. Whether or not you have the pleasure of drinking all of the featured wines you will certainly enjoy every page. The wines are arranged alphabetically with entries interspersed with interesting features varying from how to read a wine label or on how to buy wine to an account of the Judgment of Paris when Californian wines beat the French in a blind tasting. From the 100 Simon has selected he has awarded ten of them Top 10 status. At the back of the book is an extensive source list of wine makers distributors & merchants with complete details including websites for ease of ordering. ...

I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks & a widow for six. In the summer of 1914 the Empress Alexandra a magnificent ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion on its voyage from London to New York City. On board are Henry Winter a rich banker & his young new wife Grace. Somehow Henry manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for Grace. But the survivors quickly realize it is over capacity & could sink at any moment. For any to live some must die. As the castaways battle the elements & each other Grace watches & waits. She is a woman who has learned the value of patience
- her journey to a life of glittering privilege has been far from straightforward. Now she knows it is in jeopardy & her very survival is at stake. Over the course of three perilous weeks the passengers on the lifeboat plot scheme gossip & console one another while sitting inches apart. Their deepest beliefs about goodness humanity & God are tested to the limit as they begin to discover what they will do in order to survive. The Lifeboat is a page-turning story of moral dilemmas & also the moving & haunting story of Grace a woman as unforgettable & complicated as the story she recounts.
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I was to stand trial for my life. I was twenty-two years old. I had been married for ten weeks & a widow for six. It is 1914 & Europe is on the brink of war. When a magnificent ocean liner suffers a mysterious explosion en route to New York City Henry Winter manages to secure a place in a lifeboat for his new wife Grace. But the survivors quickly realize the boat is over capacity & could sink at any moment. For any to live some must die. Over the course of three perilous weeks the passengers on the lifeboat plot scheme gossip & console one another while sitting inches apart. Their deepest beliefs are tested to the limit as they begin to discover what they will do in order to survive. ...

The RNLI is one of the best known maritime rescue organisations in the world. It receives no financial support from the British government & is supported entirely by public donations. Edward Wake-Walker the RNLIs former director of public relations tells the story of the Institution from its beginnings during the reign of Queen Victoria to the hi-tech rescue maritime organisation it has become in the 21st Century. He describes how it all began; the early lifeboats
- pulling & sailing; early lifeboat heroes
- what it took to be a volunteer in the 19th century some famous coxswains; early rescues & disasters; motorised lifeboats; the arrival of speed
- inshore & all-weather craft; the modern fleet; the modern volunteer crewmember; new areas for the RNLI
- mudflats (hovercraft) rivers beaches prevention of accidents; partners in rescue
- Coast Guard Royal Navy RAF etc; & concludes with a survivors story.




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The perfect job. Working for an easy-going boss at his luxurious mansion by the sun-kissed beach watching beautiful women walk ...

A SERIES OF KILLINGS Three men sleeping rough on London's mean streets have been found brutally murdered
- each victim kicked to
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