When Commissario Brunetti receives a visit from one of his wife's students with a strange & vague interest in investigating the possibility of a pardon for a crime committed by her grandfather many years ago he thinks little of it despite being intrigued by the girl's intelligence & moral conscience. But when the girl is found stabbed to death Claudia Leonardo is no longer Paola's student but instead becomes Brunetti's case. Claudia seemed to have no discernible living family but lived with an elderly Austrian woman. Brunetti is stunned by the extraordinary art collection the old woman keeps & when she in turn is found dead the case begins to unlock long buried secrets of collaboration during the war secrets few in Italy are happy to explore... ...

In the 2006 case of the US Government vs Enron the presiding judge instructed the jurors to take account of the concept of wilful blindness as they reached their verdict about whether the chief executives of the disgraced energy corporation were guilty. It was not enough for the defendants to say that they did not know what was going on; that they had not seen anything. If they failed to observe the corruption which was unfolding before their very eyes not knowing was no defence. The guilty verdict sent shivers down the spine of the corporate world. In this book distinguished business woman & writer Margaret Heffernan examines the phenomenon of wilful blindness. Drawing on a wide array of sources from psychological studies & social statistics to interviews with the relevant protagonists she examines what it is about human nature which makes us so prone to wilful blindness. Taught from infancy to obey authority & absorbing the importance of selective vision as a key social skill humans exacerbate their tendency to become institutionalised by joining organisations which are run by like-minded people. She looks at how hard work & the information overload of the modern workplace add to the problem. & she examines why whistleblowers & Cassandras are so very rare. Ranging freely through history & from business to science government to the family this engaging & anecdotal book will explain why wilful blindness is so dangerous in the globalised interconnected world in which we live before suggesting ways in which institutions & individuals can start to combat it. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell & Nassim Nicholas Taleb Margaret Heffernan's thought provoking book will force open our eyes. ...

Book & DVD. This is a unique eye-witness documentary record of life inside Auschwitz at its full operational peak as recalled with impressive lucidity & matter-of-factness by Wilhelm Brasse prisoner no. 3444 who due to his professional skills escaped extermination by becoming a photographer whom the ever-well-organised Nazis obliged to record photographically the running of the camp including such detail as Dr Mengeles infamous experiments. Wilhelm Brasse was born in 1917 in Zywiec of an Austrian father & a Polish mother. Before the war Brasse worked in a photographic studio in Katowice. For refusal to join the Wehrmacht he was sent to Auschwitz where from 1941 to 1945 he worked in the Identity Service as a photographer. He took tens of thousands of photographs of prisoners hundreds of portraits of SS-men & documented some so-called medical experiments. After the war ended he returned to Zywiec where he has been living ever since. In March 2010 Maria Anna Potocka conducted an interview with Wilhelm Brasse. The outcome is this book & its edited tales of the prisoner-cum-chief-photographer of Auschwitz together with a film with extracts from the interview. There is an introduction by the historian Teresa Wontor-Cichy the academic editor at the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The book is generously illustrated with photographs from Wilhelm Brasses own archives as well as the photographic archives of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum & Yad Vashem. The book is published in association with the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow Pol&. The publication has been supported by the following ministries & organizations: The Ministry of Culture & National Heritage of the Republic of Pol&. ...

Short & oddly built with a head too big for his body extremely short-sighted unable to stay still dressed in colourful clothes as if playing a certain part in the great general drama of life Wilkie Collins looked distinctly strange. But he was none the less a charmer befriended by the great loved by children irresistibly attractive to women -- & avidly read by generations of readers. Ackroyd follows his hero the sweetest-tempered of all the Victorian novelists from his childhood as the son of a well-known artist to his struggling beginnings as a writer his years of fame & his life-long friendship with the other great London chronicler Charles Dickens. A true Londoner Collins like Dickens was fascinated by the secrets & crimes -- the fraud blackmail & poisonings -- that lay hidden behind the citys respectable facade. He was a fighter never afraid to point out injustices & shams or to tackle the establishment head on. As well as his enduring masterpieces The Moonstone -- often called the first true detective novel -- & the sensational The Woman in White he produced an intriguing array of lesser known works. Collins had his own secrets: he never married but lived for thirty years with the widowed Caroline Graves & also had a second liaison as Mr & Mrs Dawson with a younger mistress Martha Rudd with whom he had three children. Both women remained devoted as illness & opium-taking took their toll: he died in 1889 in the middle of writing his last novel Blind Love. Told with Peter Ackroyds inimitable verve this is a ravishingly entertaining life of a great story-teller full of surprises rich in humour & sympathetic understanding. ...

Will & Kate: Fairy-Tale Romance is one of an exciting series of lush books celebrating some of the most popular & influential figures of the day
- who are constantly talked about & whose every life event fashion choice or opinion is awaited with baited breath by legions of fans. Prince William had many adoring fans already of course but when Will & Kate became William & Catherine the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge their allure & popularity went through the roof
- starting with that wedding & THAT dress. Will & Kate is the ultimate celebration of the world's favourite couple. Discover the fairy tale through the story of their courtship wedding & marriage told alongside inspirational & beautiful photography
- revel in the romance the outfits the fantasy.


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Sky cowboy Will Gallows is finding life hard on the ranch. Should he follow his heart & join the elf side of his family learning their magical secrets? Or should he join the Sky Cavalry with his friend Jez? His decision is put on hold when his grandma is kidnapped
- by the most terrifying creature Will has ever encountered a rock demon with a seventy-year-old grudge to avenge...
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One cold night in a most unlikely corner of Chicago teenager Will Grayson crosses paths with... Will Grayson"! Two teens with the same name who run in two very different circles suddenly find their lives going in new & unexpected directions. Culminating in epic turns-of-heart on both of their parts they team up to produce the most fabulous musical ever to grace the high-school stage. Told in alternating voices from two award-winning popular names in young-adult fiction
- John Green (author of " The Fault in Our Stars") & David Levithan (author of " Boy Meets Boy")
- this unique collaborative novel features a double helping of the heart & humour that has won both authors legions of fans. John Green has a huge online presence through his 1.1 million Twitter followers & You Tube channel Vlogbrothers which has been viewed over 200 million times & has 660 000 subscribers making it one of the most successful online channels in history. This is a Penguin logo edition."

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In his almost 20 years in the sport Will Greenwood has achieved just about everything a professional rugby player could ever aspire to playing an integral role in the World Cup-winning campaign of 2003 & achieving great things with England beyond that at the Six Nations & on tour with the Lions. Never was a man more well placed to write on the sport. From the grass roots to elite professionalism Greenwood has made his name as the face of intelligent & entertaining rugby writing & punditry. From hilarious character sketches of players to technical discussion of scrummaging & World Cup reminiscences Greenwood delivers unrivalled writing on the game of rugby. ...

Every British comic actor that followed Will Hay owes Hay a debt of gratitude -- for it was Hay who defined the modern essence of British comedy. Working closely with Hays family Graham Rinaldis definitive tribute to the respected comic actor takes a close look into Hays on-screen & off-screen personae. Drawing upon Hays own writings -- newspaper articles notes from his astronomy observations & pilots logbooks & extracts from his unfinished & previously unpublished autobiography I Enjoyed Every Minute" -- the book gives a unique insight into Hays childhood his continuous thirst for knowledge & his passion for aviation astronomy & comedy. The book is illustrated throughout with previously unpublished photographs from Hays family albums including a rare photograph of Hay with Amy Johnson plus memorabilia from his performing career. Extensive research into Hays stage work

Includes:: extracts from his original Fourth Form at St Michaels sketches The Will Hay Radio Programme & for the first time from all of his revue & variety shows including Nosey Knows & Moonstruck for Fred Karno. Each of Hays 18 films is examined with insightful information regarding their production written extracts from deleted scenes (including for the first time in their entirety the missing sequences from Ask a Policeman ) previously unpublished stills & interviews with those who worked with him from Val Guest Leslie Gilliat & Roy Ward Baker to Dame Thora Hird Barry Morse & Googie Withers. Did you know that in addition to creating the mould for British comedy that Hay was an accomplished astronomer linguist & pilot? No? Then you must read this book about one of British films most fascinating characters!"

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Ben Hunt-Davis won Olympic Gold at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 as part of the Mens Rowing Eight. He & Executive Coach Harriet Beveridge have teamed up to show you how to use similar strategies to improve your own life. The pair have been road-testing these methods for 10 years with clients from all walks of life; managers leaders call centre staff sales reps athletes & shop assistants; whatever your challenges whatever your goals there are ideas that will help everyone. Will It Make The Boat Go Faster? is divided into 11 chapters each of which is split into 2 halves. Firstly Ben provides a narrative recounting an episode from the eights journey to Gold & shows the team using the methods in action. Then comes the analysis explaining why & how the crew did what they did. Simple & chatty the book is a warts-&-all authentic account of a journey to success that will show you how you can succeed in whatever you want to do. It is aimed at readers interested in personal development & managers wanting to achieve corporate goals. It will appeal to sports enthusiasts practitioners & coaches who will find the Olympic story compelling & learn plenty of techniques for improving their own game strategies. ...