The latest in the bestselling Alfred series from number one historical novelist Bernard Cornwell. In the last years of the ninth century King Alfred of Wessex is in failing health & his heir is an untested youth. The Danes who have failed so many times to conquer Wessex smell opportunity... First comes Harald Bloodhair a savage warrior leading a Viking horde who is encouraged to cruelty by his woman Skade. But Alfred still has the services of Uhtred his unwilling warlord who leads Harald into a trap & at Farnham in Surrey inflicts one of the greatest defeats the Vikings were ever to suffer. This novel the fifth in the magnificent series of Englands history tells of the final assaults on Alfreds Wessex. That Wessex survived to become England is because men like Uhtred defeated an enemy feared throughout Christendom. ...

A strongly issue-led play Burning Monkey relates the story of a teenage couple & their interactions with an older war veteran trying to rebuild his fractured relationship with his daughter. While their exchanges initially show a hostile & unsympathetic clash of generations it soon becomes apparent that they share similar pain
- based on their damaged family relationships & absent parents/children
- & they begin to feel empathy for one another's plight. In the background the presence of war looms; the character of Old is haunted by memories of his time as a soldier & the character of Monkey looks forward to a time when he can escape the depressing realities of his life & join the army. In the midst of this Shell is fifteen madly in love with Monkey & pregnant with his child. Her attempts to try & make the irresponsible immature Monkey stay with her become increasingly desperate. Burning Monkey is a play that raises important issues for teenagers addressing themes such as war violence separated families & responsibility.

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Take one complex scientific discipline. Add the future of energy economics & geopolitics. Season with human nature... Entertaining & authoritative The Curve" shines a fascinating new light on the world's energy & climate change challenges. Combining accessible explanation & cutting-edge analysis Berners-Lee & Clark join the dots between the science politics economics & psychology of this sprawling issue to uncover surprising & overlooked truths. Human energy use & carbon emissions it turns out have been rising exponentially
- following a smooth upwards curve
- for hundreds of years. Nothing we've done so far has made any difference because saving energy is like squeezing a balloon: gains made in one place reappear as bumps elsewhere. But if previous efforts have failed what would it take to flatten off the curve? & what happens if we fail to do so? In answering these questions " The Curve" reveals climate change as an intriguing intellectual social & political puzzle that will enthral readers of popular science economics & psychology alike."

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In 1915 the first euphoria of the war has worn off but the nation is more determined than ever to win. When Ned is sent to the Front ahead of his battalion Jessie already involved in various charity works feels the need to do more & becomes an auxiliary nurse. But life on the wards is harder than she expects. Meanwhile Helen & Jack settle in a home of their own at last & Helen takes on a surprise war role of her own. & for violet in London a chance meeting with talented young artist threatens to destroy her calm & ordered life. With stalemate on the Eastern Front everything now hangs on the new September offensive on the Western Front the Battle of Loos. Both Ned & Bertie will be leading their men over the top leaving the rest of the family to pray for their safe return. ...

' Centaine screamed & drove the point of her stave down into the jaws with all her strength. She felt the sharpened end bite into the soft pink mucous membrane in the back of its throat saw the spurt of scarlet blood & then the lion locked its jaws on the stave & with a toss of its flying mane ripped it out of her hands & sent it windmilling out & down to hit the earth below.' The passionate love of a beautiful French aristocrat for a courageous South African aviator is begun & extinguished in the blazing skies of war-torn France. But Centaine de Thiry is bent on realizing some of the dreams which she & Michael Courtney had shared
- & sets out to seek a future for his unborn child in the country of Michael's birth. But in a monumental odyssey of disaster & adventure she must first brave all the combined terrors of war shipwreck thirst fever & the burning vastnesses of Namibia's Skeleton Coast before she sees another living soul...
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Randall Haight has a secret: when he was a teenager he & his friend killed a 14-year-old girl. Randall did his time & built a new life in the small Maine town of Pastors Bay but somebody has discovered the truth about Randall. He is being tormented by anonymous messages haunting reminders of his past crime & he wants private detective Charlie Parker to make it stop. But another 14-year-old girl has gone missing this time from Pastors Bay & the missing girls family has its own secrets to protect. Now Parker must unravel a web of deceit involving the police the FBI a doomed mobster named Tommy Morris & Randall Haight himself. Because Randall Haight is telling lies.. . ...

The true chronicler of my life a tall soft-looking man with watery eyes came up to me at the gathering & said as if he had been waiting a long time to tell me that he knew everything. I had never seen him before. This is the brilliant memoir of a man who starts out in Manhattan & comes of age in the skies over Korea before emerging as one of Americas finest authors in the New York of the 1960s. Burning the Days showcases Salters uniquely beautiful style with some of the most evocative pages about flying ever written together with portraits of the actors directors & authors who later influenced him. It is an unforgettable book about passion ambition & what it means to live & to write. ...

Bred by capricious parents for his innate leopard-shifting abilities billionaire Jake Bannaconni has spent his life in an emotional vacuum
- especially after a tragic twist of fate has left him to raise his infant son alone. But when his path crosses that of an enigmatic young woman Jake's life takes a detour he could never have predicted. There is something irresistible about Emma Reynolds
- something Jake can't live without. She's the first human to stir something in him he's never felt before so he hires her as his son's nanny to keep her close. It soon becomes apparent that she may not be all that she seems yet what's raging between them is pure animal instinct
- out of control burning wild & as hot as the lick of a flame.


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This title comes with an introduction by Salman Rushdie. As well as her eight novels Angela Carter published four wonderful collections of short stories during her lifetime & contributed stories to several anthologies. The stories were scattered amongst different publishers & a couple of the volumes are now out of print. In Burning your Boats" they are gathered for the first time; this is a key collection & a major event for Angela Carter aficionados." ...

Burnley Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of Lancashire. Reproduced in full colour this is an exciting examination of well-known streets & famous faces & what they meant to the people of this area throughout the 19th & into the 20th Century. Looking beyond the exquisite exterior of these well-kept photos readers can see the historical context in which they are set & through the authors factual captions for every picture & carefully-selected choice of images the reader can achieve a reliable view of the local history. There is something for everyone here whether they have lived in the area all their lives or whether they are just visiting Burnley for the first time. Burnley Through Time also shows how photography has continually evolved to keep up with an ever changing society. ...