Drawing on Debrett's extensive expertise in manners & etiquette this practical guide will help to ensure that hosts & hostesses are able to cope with an array of dilemmas & challenges from catering for vegans & people with food allergies to dealing with drunken visitors ensuring that guests mingle & laying on special entertainments for small children & elderly relatives. Structured around the four seasons the book explores British rituals customs & traditions throughout the year
- from Christmas Valentine's Day Shrove Tuesday & Easter to Halloween & Bonfire Night. It is also a helpful guide to the social events & occasions that punctuate the British calendar from country house operas & days at the races to summer barbecues & village cricket matches.
...

Pre-war debutantes were members of the most protected not to say isolated stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. For most of them the war changed all that for ever. It meant independence & the shock of the new & daily exposure to customs & attitudes that must have seemed completely alien to them. For many the almost military regime of an upper class childhood meant they were well suited for the no-nonsense approach needed in wartime. This book records the extraordinary diversity of challenges shocks & responsibilities they faced
- as chauffeurs couriers ambulance-drivers nurses pilots spies decoders factory workers farmers land girls as well as in the Women's Services. How much did class barriers really come down? Did they stick with their own sort? & what about fun & love in wartime
- did love cross the class barriers?

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After eighteen years inside Johnny Frank is coming out of jail with just one thing on his mind to kill the man who put him there. But his plans soon go dramatically awry. As his past returns to haunt him a vicious murder & kidnap force him back on the streets of London. He could choose simply to disappear
- if it weren't for Simone. Through her marriage to Reggie Kray the author has a unique insight into the inner conflicts of a long-term prisoner & just as Roberta's life was irrevocably changed by meeting Reg so Simone's will never be the same again after she enters Johnny's dangerous & unpredictable universe. Praise for Roberta Kray: ' Well into Martina Cole territory Roberta Kray's first novel gets under the skin of the London underworld with no problem'
- Independent". ' Action intrigue & a character-driven plot are delivered in well-written style sure to please any crime fiction fans'
- " Woman". ' You might expect a crime novel written by the widow of Reg Kray would be tough
- & it is. Recommend this to fans of Ian Rankin'
- " Booklist". '" The Debt" convinces on every page
- not only about the gangster world but also as a portrait of a woman whose life has been changed by forces beyond her control'
- " Chicago Tribune"."






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A short novel of immense scope that shows Terry Goodkind's story telling powers at their very best. In the days of the war against Panis Rahl a young woman presents the first wizard with an intractable choice & forces him into an encounter that could unleash a maelstrom of magic. Terry Goodkind's skill at showing characters struggling with free will & facing nightmarish dilemmas as their spirits are tested is shown to its best effect in DEBT OF BONES as is his consummate world building. ...

Jack Ryan defends the USA against economic sabotage from the East that escalates into war in Tom Clancy's record-breaking Sunday Times No 1 bestseller -- now reissued in a new cover. It begins with the murder of an American woman in the back streets of Tokyo. It ends in war! Called out of retirement to serve as the new President's National Security Adviser Jack Ryan quickly realizes that the problems of peace are fully as complex as those of war. Enemies have become friends friends enemies & even the form of conflict has changed. When one of those new enemies readies a strike not only at America's territory but at the heart of her economy it is Ryan who must somehow prepare an untested President to meet the challenge. For there is a debt of honour to be paid -- & the price will be terrifyingly high! ...

Can the secrets of one woman's past change another woman's future? Cate is a gifted young artist who survives in New York by producing remarkable copies of Old Masters. She arrives in London to stay with her aunt Rachel who owns an auction house determined to leave the pain of her past behind. Cate is sent to Devon with Rachel's colleague Jack to value the contents of Endsleigh the grand Georgian home of a former socialite. But inside its once elegant interiors are now worn with age & dust. Then Cate discovers hidden in the back of one of the bookshelves an old shoebox containing an exquisite pair of silk dancing shoes from the 1930's along with a mysterious collection of objects
- a diamond brooch a photograph of a handsome young sailor a dance card & a beautiful pearl & emerald bracelet from Tiffany's. Unable to solve the questions in her own life Cate quickly becomes engaged in solving the mystery of the shoe box & begins to unravel the story of Baby Blythe; bright beautiful & reckless she was the most famous debutante of her generation. The clues in the box reveal a tale of a dark addictive love a tale that will lead Cate to uncover some secrets of her own.
...

A successor to Phaidons award-winning Century: One Hundred Years of Human Progress Suffering Regression & Hope" (1999) " Decade" provides a comprehensive visual overview of the last 10 years in world history. Adhering to the same standards of historical accuracy & scholarship as its predecessor this book offers a sensitive anthology of 10 years in photography that will appeal to readers of all ages & interests. " Decade" presents 500 engaging photographic images both iconic & idiosyncratic selected by acclaimed photo editor Eamonn Mc Cabe & arranged in chronological order to tell the story of the first decade in our new millennium. The shorter historical span of this book compared to " Century" allows this sequence to explore more deeply developments in art architecture sport & technology alongside key moments in international political affairs so that the reader encounters surprising moments from our history alongside those familiar from coverage in the mass media. Global in scope these photographs tackle subjects ranging from the World Trade Center attacks of 9/11 to the AIDS epidemic in Africa from the first tests of the Hadron Collider at CERN Geneva to the death of the King of Pop Michael Jackson. Award-winning documentary photography sits alongside the new citizen journalism which has seen ordinary bystanders capture historic events equipped with nothing more sophisticated than a mobile phone camera. Each image is accompanied by both a short descriptive & an extended historical caption to provide a wider context within which to understand these often beautiful always surprising photographs. 15 historical & thematic essays are also included exploring the events trends & social phenomena that have characterized the decade. Engaging with debates in photography while providing a visual record of world events both regional & international this book provides an extraordinary insight into our recent history
- dramatic nostalgic intimate & educational by turns."
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As a professional cleaner Jonathan Quinn disposes of bodies & ties up loose ends. Doesnt get his hands dirty no wet work. But when he discovers hes been hired to vanish all traces of Steven Markoff one of his best friends who just happened to work for the CIA his job suddenly hits too close to home. This time its personal. Quinn is determined to get justice for Markoff. Plus now Markoffs girlfriend Jenny who had been an assistant to an ambitious Congressman has also disappeared. Racing from the corridors of power in Washington to the bustling streets of Singapore
- along with his smart eager apprentice Nate & brilliant beautiful Orlando his closest friend whos saved his life more than once
- events quickly spiral dangerously out of control. With an addictive momentum & fascinating characters The Deceived" takes us on a thrilling nerve-wracking journey."

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In the war against Hitler the Allies had to use every ounce of cunning & trickery that they possessed & combining military deceptions with the double-agent network run by the intelligence services they were able to send the enemy inaccurate & misleading information about Allied troops plans & operations. From moving imaginary armies around the desert to putting a corpse with fake papers floating in the Mediterranean & from faking successful bombing campaigns to the convoluted deceptions which kept part of the German forces away from Normandy prior to D-Day Terry Crowdy explores the deception war that combined the double-agent network with ingenious plans to confuse & hoodwink the Fuhrer. ...

On New Year's Eve Callum Ormond is chased down the street by a crazed man with a deadly warning: They killed your father. They'll kill you. You must survive the next 365 days! Cal has one month to go but the secrets are mounting higher & time is not on his side. The answers lie hidden thousands of miles away but with friends & family at his side Cal's determined to reveal the truth or die trying.. . ...