In this revelatory career-length biography produced through many hours of interviews with Danny Boyle he talks frankly about the secrets behind the opening ceremony as well as the struggles joys & incredible perseverance needed to direct such well-loved films as Trainspotting" " Slumdog Millionaire" "28 Days Later" & " Shallow Grave". Throughout his career Danny Boyle has shown that he has an incredible knack of capturing the spirit of the times be they are the nineties drug scene the aspirations of noughties Indian slum-dwellers or the things that make British people proud of their nation today from the NHS to the internet. Starting out life in a Catholic working-class family in Lancashire in 1956 Boyle has proved himself a talented maverick who has fought to maintain his integrity against the odds." ...

Danny the Champion of the World" by Roald Dahl is the much-loved tale of how Danny & his father outwitted the mean Mr Victor Hazell. Danny thinks his dad is the most marvellous & exciting father a boy could wish for. Life is happy & peaceful in their gipsy caravan until one day Danny discovers his dad has been breaking the law. What's more soon Danny has to join his father as they attempt to pull off a daring & devilish plot against horrible red-faced Mr Victor Hazell..."A true genius.. . Roald Dahl is my hero". David Walliams Roald Dahl the best-loved of children's writers was born in Wales of Norwegian parents. After school in England he went to work for Shell in Africa. He began to write after "a monumental bash on the head" sustained as an RAF pilot in World War II. Roald Dahl died in 1990. Quentin Blake is one of the best-known & best-loved children's illustrators & it's impossible now to think of Roald Dahl's writings without imagining Quentin Blake's illustrations." ...

This book is about a most private & secret habit my father had & about the strange adventures it led us both into... Danny thinks the world of his father who has looked after him ever since his mother died when Danny was just four months old. But as he grows up Danny discovers that his father's secret spells adventure & trouble for both of them! ...

This is a new title in the fantastic First Reading" series aimed at children who are beginning to read. Danny the dragon gets on well with the local villagers. He lights their fires cooks their food & is liked by all. But when a traveling salesman arrives at the market offering magic fire sticks it looks like Danny could soon be out of a job. This title is accompanied clear & compelling text accompanied by enchanting original illustrations by Peter Cottrill. It is developed in consultation with Alison Kelly who is a senior lecturer in education & an early reading specialist from Roehampton University. It is a great value quality hardback with ribbon marker guaranteed to foster pride in book ownership." ...

A bilingual fiction title for children who are independent readers. The parallel text speech bubbles & pictures by different talented illustrators provide a child-friendly bridge to reading
- & speaking
- in another language. There is a quiz at the end of each story to help comprehension & revise vocabulary.

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An Anita Blake Vampire Hunter novel It was the middle of November I was supposed to be out jogging but instead I was sitting at my breakfast table talking about men sex werewolves & vampires. I should be concentrating on my dangerous situation
- the ardeur between me & Jean-Claude Master Vampire of the City & Richard my werewolf lover is reaching new levels evolving into something altogether new acting with a will of its own. But instead Anita Blake preternatural expert & feared executioner is less interested in vampire politics than in the ancient ordinary dread that women down the ages have experienced: am I pregnant? & if so is the father a vampire a werewolf or someone else entirely. & being a Federal Marshall known for raising the dead & hunting vampires is no way to bring up a baby.
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A guide to cycling the Danube Cycle Way from Donauschingen in Bavaria to Budapest. The Danube Cycle Way has become the most popular holiday cycle touring route in mainland Europe. It has magnificent scenery fascinating places to visit throughout its length & a wide cultural diversity. It is not unusual to sit in a wayside bar & hear seven different languages being spoken at the same time but not one of them is likely to be English. It is high time this changed. This guide aims to introduce the Danube Cycle Way not only to keen long-distance cyclists but also to people who have never experienced the joys of this kind of journey. The fact that the majority of the route is on dedicated clearly signed cycle tracks means that it is perfect for whole families to enjoy. Although the guide divides the length of the cycle way into 20 suggested days a plentiful amount of low-priced accommodation throughout the entire length of the route means that each day's journey can be tailored to cyclists' needs. The way is almost free of hills

Includes:: visits to monasteries castles museums & ancient cities as well as picturesque villages & provides adventurous cyclists with a month's sheer pleasure. It is there waiting to be enjoyed.

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Daphne Armitage is the acknowledged beauty of that family of renowned belles but beauty is more than skin deep. Black-haired exquisite Daphne is certain she can avoid the turmoil of true love by demanding nothing more of a husband than to be an elegant companion. The self-absorbed Mr Archer seems to fit the bill to perfection. But when Mr Simon Garfield agitates Daphnes calm outward manner the results are dramatic & delightful. ...

Celebrated novelist Daphne Du Maurier & her sisters eclipsed by her fame are revealed in all their surprising complexity in this riveting new biography. The middle sister in a famous artistic dynasty Daphne du Maurier is one of the master storytellers of our time author of ' Rebecca' ' Jamaica Inn' & ' My Cousin Rachel' & short stories ' Don't Look Now' & the terrifying ' The Birds' among many. Her stories were made memorable by the iconic films they inspired three of them classic Hitchcock chillers. But her sisters Angela & Jeanne a writer & an artist of talent had creative & romantic lives even more bold & unconventional than Daphne's own. In this group biography they are considered side by side as they were in life three sisters who grew up during the 20th century in the glamorous hothouse of a theatrical family dominated by a charismatic & powerful father. This family dynamic reveals the hidden lives of Piffy Bird & Bing full of social non-conformity love rivalry & compulsive make-believe their lives as psychologically complex as a Daphne du Maurier novel. ...

Daphne du Maurier (1907-89) is the author of Rebecca Jamaica Inn Frenchman's Creek Don't Look Now & The Birds among many others which continue to thrill & fascinate readers worldwide. The daughter of Sir Gerald du Maurier the leading actor manager of his day she grew up in a wildly imaginative ' Peter Pan' world peopled by London's leading writers & actors before arriving in Cornwall at the age of 19. The place & its people inspired her to write her first novel The Loving Spirit a work which so affected a young major in the Grenadier Guards later Lieutenant-General Sir Frederick Browning that he travelled to Fowey in his boat Ygdrasil to meet
- & eventually to marry
- the author. This bewitching evocation of place was to remain a feature of Daphne du Maurier's writing & the source of much of her enduring popularity. Hilary Macaskill explores the homes & landscapes of Daphne du Maurier's life & how these relate to her work in sometimes unexpected ways. Generously illustrated with little-seen material from the family archive as well as new colour photographs this is a book which will enrich & transport anyone who has ever lost themselves between the covers of a Daphne du Maurier novel.

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