Between 1900 & 1950 the British state amassed a huge collection of over 800 historic buildings monuments & historic sites & opened them to the public. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. Of course collections of paintings sculptures & books had been made by governments but the British created an outdoor museum of national history. This book explains why the extraordinary collecting frenzy took place. It locates it in the fragile & nostalgic atmosphere of the interwar years dominated by neo-romanticism & cultural protectionism. It dissects a government programme that established a modern state on deep historical & rural roots; in the words of the Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin heritage was the rock out of which the nations children would be hewn. The governments activities were mirrored by the establishment of dozens of voluntary bodies including the Council for the Protection of Rural England the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings & the National Trust. It was during the Second World War when the government realized that its collecting activities could not be sustained but that the National Trust could provide a vehicle for the continued collection of the nations heritage. It was the war too that extended for the first time protection to buildings that were occupied & not just ruins. The book sets all this activity for the first time in its political economic & cultural contexts painting a picture of a country traumatized by war fearful of losing what was left of its history & a government that actively set out to protect them. In the last chapter it brings the story up to date. ...

Highly praised as a fabulous mix of comedy real life & emotional depth (Daily Express) this addictive novel from Adele Parks bestselling author of ABOUT LAST NIGHT looks at what happens after you find the one... Neil & Nat seem to be perfectly matched. They hate Marmite & the opera. They love reality TV & the missionary position. & they both absolutely do not want children. At least thats what Nat thought. But now Neil seems to have softened to the prospect & hes practically begging her for a baby. Nat tries to ignore his change of heart & wont explain her reasons for hating the idea; she cant. Are they that compatible after all? As the cracks start to show Nat wonders if Neil really is the man of her dreams. Or is it possible that someone from her past could actually be the one? *
Includes: bonus material*
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This is a book about men who love women. But it is not a collection of love stories. It is a study of the secret erotic fantasies that men have always kept hidden a taboo-shattering investigation that reveals the deepest most conflicting feelings that men have about women men & their own sexuality. Men in Love goes beyond the socio-sexual cliche of woman seen as either madonna or whore to reveal the conflict of love & rage at the centre of men's emotions & erotic desires. Based on thousands of candid responses from men ranging from their teens to their sixties Men in Love
- startling & shocking
- will change men's deepest feelings about their sexuality & make the women who care about them understand them as never before.

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After seven years presenting the hugely successful Something for the Weekend & now as frontman for the equally popular Sunday Brunch Simon Rimmer knows how to whip up delicious fun exotic & traditional food to really indulge in over the weekend. Men Love Pies Girls Like Hummus is the perfect combination of delicious modern dishes personal anecdotes & the approachable laid back voice that has made Simon so popular around the UK. With chapters including ' Tim hates coriander' 'I like Prawns but they don't like me' & 'A muckment of sauce' Simon brings his inimitable style to the table & creates a variety of dishes that will please everyone including your parents unexpected visitors your partner & your friends. ...

Its 526 BC & the empire of the Pharaohs is dying crumbling under the weight of its own antiquity. Corruption & decay cripple its cities infects its leaders & cripples its armies while across the great expanse of Sinai like jackals drawn to carrion the forces of the omnipotent king of Persia watch & wait... But all is not quite lost. For leading the fight to preserve the soul of Egypt is the Phoneician warrior Hasdrubal Barca the pharaohs deadliest killer
- possessor of a rage few men can fathom & fewer can withst&. But the defection of one of Egypts most celebrated generals the Greek mercenary Phanes to the Persians triggers a savage war that will test Barcas military skills & his humanity to the limit. But Barca is changing
- a girl who was once a slave but with a gift for healing
- tends to his wounds & as she does so eases his tortured soul & teaches him how to be truly human again. From the political wastelands of Palestine & the searing deserts east of the Nile to the streets of the ancient city of Memphis Barca & Phanes play a desperate & brutal game of cat-&-mouse that culminates in the bloodiest battle of Egypts history. In the dusty hills east of Pelusium a reckoning will unfold for there over the dead of two nations Hasdrabal Barca will face the same choice of as those great heroes of old: death & eternal fame or long life & obscurity...


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Few modes of travel have the enduring appeal of steam railways. Today preserved lines locomotives & rolling stock attract not just expert enthusiasts but more casual visitors who are keen to savour the distinctive atmosphere of a lost era in transport history. Yet these relics are but one aspect of the long story of steam for they cannot reveal the human side of working life on the railways
- the experience of the railwaymen who operated the machinery of the steam age. It is this the human aspect of railway history that David Wragg has chosen as the subject of this landmark book. He has selected extracts from the personal reminiscences of railwaymen to create an allround portrait of the industry in its prime. He records their memories anecdotes & insights & he brings the routines of the steam railway vividly back to life. As this fascinating portrait of the industry reveals the men who worked on the railways during that era knew a different world from todays electric & diesel network. The railways were not simply a job for life but the job was their life. They could spend their entire careers advancing step by step through the industry from engine cleaner to fireman to driver & from working on a shunter to operating a famous named express. Fortunately for us the railwaymen of that time shared their experiences with one another through their employee magazinesand their books so they have left behind them a fascinating record of their work their attitudes & concerns. The observations eyewitness accounts operating procedures complaints anecdotes & simple descriptions of the long-lost daily routines of the steam railway are the raw material for David Wraggs remarkable book.
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I don't remember the first time I changed into a wolf. One night I passed out & awoke to find my body covered in yellow fur. My brain was beyond reacting. It took this in its stride as it had everything else in my new life. I got to my feet & went in search of food. As a curious & independent six-year-old Clayton didn't resist the bite
- he asked for it. But as a lone child werewolf his life is under constant threat. So when enigmatic Pack member Jeremy Danvers saves him Clayton is determined to protect his adoptive father no matter what the cost. So begins this gripping collection of four tales chronicling the bloody feuds of the American Pack & the coming of age of Clay Danvers a very powerful
- & very singular
- werewolf.


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The two-engined Mosquito was one of the classic aircraft of the Second World War. Famously wooden-built its graceful lines & powerful performance have made it into an airborne icon. Its operational versatility as a fighter low level bomber & reconnaissance aircraft was unsurpassed. In this book we get the first-hand crew accounts of a selection of the actions & missions that the Mossie undertook. These include audacious raids on Nazi HQs & Gestapo jails
- real precision attacks carried out by ace fliers.
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In 1781 the British Empire suffered its most devastating defeat in a war that most believed Britain ought to have won. Common wisdom has held that incompetent military commanders & political leaders in London must have been to blame their arrogant confidence & outdated tactics proving no match for the innovative & determined Americans. But this is far from the truth. Weaving together the personal stories of ten prominent men who directed the British dimension of the war Andrew O' Shaughnessy dispels the myths emerging with a very different & much richer account of the conflict
- one driven by able & at times even brilliant leadership. In interlinked biographical chapters O' Shaughnessy follows the course of the war from the perspectives of King George III Prime Minister Lord North military leaders including General Burgoyne the Earl of Sandwich & others whose stories shed new light upon our understanding of how the war unfolded. Victories were frequent & in fact the British conquered every American city at some stage of the Revolutionary War retaining key strongholds even during the peace negotiations. Taking a wider lens to events O' Shaughnessy looks past the surrender at Yorktown to British victories against the French & Spanish demonstrating that ultimately many of the men who lost America would go on to save the empire.
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In 1979 a secret unit was established by the US Army. Defying all known military practice -- & indeed the laws of physics -- they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility pass cleanly through walls & perhaps most chillingly kill goats just by staring at them. They were the First Earth Battalion. & they really werent joking. Whats more theyre back & fighting the War on Terror. So unbelievable it has to be true -- this is the real-life account that inspired the film. Simultaneously frightening & hilarious The Times Not only a narcotic road trip through the wackier reaches of Bushs war effort but also an unmissable account of the insanity that has lately been done in our names Observer ...