As their holiday unfolds Colin & Maria are locked into their own intimacy. They groom themselves meticulously as though there waits someone who cares deeply about how they appear. Then they meet a man with a disturbing story to tell & become drawn into a fantasy of violence & obsession. ...

In Muriel Sparks fantastic first novel the only things that arent ambiguous are her matchless originality & glittering wit. Caroline Rose is plagued by the tapping of typewriter keys & the strange detached narration of her every thought & action. She has an unusual problem
- she realises she is in a novel. Her fellow characters are also possibly deluded: Laurence her former lover finds diamonds in a loaf of bread
- could his elderly grandmother really be a smuggler? & Baron Stock her bookseller friend believes he is on the trail of Englands leading Satanist.

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The Comforts of Home" is a book that enters into the spirit of how we want to live now at a time when excess is no longer desirable. Author Caroline Clifton-Mogg puts a welcoming & beautiful haven within everyones reach. The first section The Elements extols the joys of an orderly haven covering both decorative aspects such as textiles & finishing touches & practical topics such as storage & cleaning. The second section The Rooms shows how to create a home thats cosy & easy to live in
- from the wecloming hallway to the cozy kitchen comfortable living room satisfying study practical bathroom & peaceful bedroom
- through to the garden. " The Comforts of Home" offers clever decorating ideas that rely on imagination & style rather than a deep purse & suggests ways of making the most of what we have to put the heart back into our homes."

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Every super hero has a power be it super strength mind control special gadgets or super speed. In this book youll not only discover how to draw original heroes in their unique costumes but also how to recreate these super powers on the page! The How to Draw series takes a highly visual & practical approach to drawing featuring step-by-step instructions for each art project. Duotone lines highlight each step. Each title

Includes:: information on the drawing materials you can use & where to use them most effectively. Pencil pen crayon paints & charcoal & more are all covered in detail. The series covers a comprehensive range of rudimentary techniques
- with sections on materials composition & perspective. The How To Draw series is an excellent way to introduce the concepts of drawing to child & adult alike.


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For anyone from the effortlessly erudite to those who think that a myth is a female moth its extremely handy to know about Greek myths. Not only are they everywhere
- books films language the collective subconscious
- it will also make you look clever. Now from Jason & the Argonauts to Helen of Troy (via Achilles Heel) all the essential myths
- plus a few brilliant but less well-known ones
- have been condensed in one hilarious volume. Featuring eye-gouging baby-eating liver-pecking & wooden horses these are some of the most exciting & satisfying tales ever told.. .from the stories that created Heroes invented Amazons & brought you the Cyclops centaurs & ladies with snakes in their hair. It was written by Tracey Turner & illustrated by celebrated cartoonist Sally Kindberg.



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A true-life sporting memoir of one of the best batsman in the game who stunned the cricket world when he prematurely ended his own England career. Trescothicks brave & soul-baring account of his mental frailties opens the way to a better understanding of the unique pressures experienced by modern-day professional sportsmen. At 29 Marcus Trescothick was widely regarded as one of the batting greats. With more than 5 000 Test runs to his name & a 2005 Ashes hero some were predicting this gentle West Country cricket nut might even surpass Graham Goochs record to become Englands highest ever Test run scorer. But the next time Trescothick hit the headlines it was for reasons no one but a handful of close friends & colleagues could have foreseen. On Saturday 25 February 2006 four days before leading England into the first Test against India in place of the injured captain Vaughan Trescothick was out for 32 in the second innings of the final warm-up match. As he walked from the field he fought to calm the emotional storm that was raging inside him at least to hide it from prying eyes. In the dressing room he broke down in tears overwhelmed by a blur of anguish uncertainty & sadness he had been keeping at bay for longer than he knew. Within hours Englands best batsman was on the next flight home. His departure was kept secret until after close of play when coach Duncan Fletcher told the stunned media his acting captain had quit the tour for personal family reasons. Until now the full extraordinary story of what happened that day & why of what preceded his breakdown has never been told. He reveals for the first time that he almost flew home from the 2004 tour to South Africa
- of what caused it & of what followed
- his comeback to the England side & a second crushing breakdown nine months later that left him unable to continue the 2006-07 Ashes tour down under. Coming Back to Me replaces the myths & rumours with the truth as Trescothick talks with engaging openness & enthusiasm about his rise to the top of international cricket; & describes with equal frankness his tortured descent into private despair.

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The late Terry Newton sparked controversy from his earliest days in rugby league. Initially signing at 14 for Warrington he also signed for Leeds on his 16th birthday missing the entire Centenary season until Leeds won the resulting tribunal. A phenomenal hooker for Leeds Terry went on to star for Wigan Great Britain Bradford & finally Wakefield. Coming Clean is the startlingly frank yet honest story of the highs & lows of Terrys career & life from his tough upbringing in Worsley Mesnes through rugby league success to the recent tragic death of his sister & his own career-ending drugs ban. Now notorious as the first ever sports person to test positive for taking the banned drug Human Growth Hormone Terry explains what drove a star player to end a glittering career in such a cloud of controversy. Love or hate the bad boy of rugby league his story will make you laugh cry & feel despair in equal measures. This new edition

Includes:: a tribute from Terrys father Tony Newton.

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Fully revised & updated edition covering China's new membership of the WTO & with a new introduction. ' Damning data & persuasive arguments that should set some Communist knees a-knocking.' Kirkus Reviews'A compelling account of the rot in China's institutions & the forces at work to end the Communist Party's monopoly on power.' James A. Dorn Cato Institute Washington D. C. Co-Editor of China's future: Constructive Partner or Emerging Threat? ' Quite simply the best book I know about China's future. Gordon Chang writes marvellously & knows China well. I hope everyone concerned with that country will pay careful consideration to what he sees ahead.' Arthur Waldron Director of Asian Studies American Enterprise Institute; Lauder Professor of International Relations University of Pennsylvania.'A tour de force not to be missed.' Willy Wo-Lap Senior China Analyst at CNN's Hong Kong office & author of The Era of Jiang Zemin.' When he warns that China's two centuries of troubles are still not over we had better take notice.' Andrew J. Nathan Professor of Political Science Columbia University; Co-Editor The Tiananmen Papers. ...

A brutally honest portrayal of the realities of war this novel relays the story of 15year old Thomas Elkin as he engages in the First World War. A tale of conflict both global & personal & of redemption this is a novel that has the potential to rank alongside the best of retrospective First World War literature. Accepting the blame for the accidental death of his recently conscripted brother Elkin switches identity with his dead brother & enters into the fray of the conflict. His burning ambition is to die a glorious death in his brothers name. Believing that in fully submitting to the reality of war he is atoning for his sins he faces all the attendant horrors with a steel will & a poignant resignation. His personal conflict sees itself mirrored in the wider events & soon the two are inextricably linked raising issues of mortality morality guilt & faith. This novel enacts the kind of existential crises experienced on the battlefield with the constant threat of imminent & fatal danger a companion. Written with deft skill & sensitivity for the subject matter at hand this is a piece of stylish work that places the reader at the heart of the action. Featuring nuanced characters & vivid action scenes it works to evoke a real sense of the times as the story unfolds. ...

Born in Colombo Judith Dunbar spends her teenage years at boarding school while her beloved mother & younger sister live abroad with her father. When her new friend Loveday Carey-Lewis invites Judith home for the weekend to Nancherrow the Carey-Lewises beautiful estate on the Cornish coast it is love at first sight. She falls in love too with the generous Carey-Lewises themselves. With their generosity & kindness Judith grows from naive girl to confident young woman basking in the warm affection of a surrogate family whose flame burns brightly. But it is a flame soon to be extinguished in the gathering storm of war. & Judith herself has far to travel before at last.. .coming home. ...