The incredible biography of the most famous steam locomotive in the world. Think of the Golden Age of Steam & one train leaps to mind above all others: the Flying Scotsman Nigel Gresleys elegant masterpiece of a locomotive. She broke the world speed record in 1934 & has enthralled millions with her beauty & power. Uniquely her post-war career has been even more varied & exciting than her early triumphs. Now Andrew Roden tells the Scotsmans remarkable story from her construction & the glory days between the wars through the decline of steam & her rollercoaster fortunes in the subsequent years: nearly abandoned on a tour of the United States after the money ran out crossing the Australian interior then put up for sale yet again when the company that owned her went bankrupt in 2003. A massive public campaign saved her for the nation & the Flying Scotsmans restoration began in 2005 at the National Railway Museum. With the aid of numerous interviews with those involved with the Scotsman over the years Roden brings her story memorably to life. Above all he asks: why do grown men risk their life savings to own her? Why do thousands of people still line the trackside when shes due to race past? & just what is the eternal appeal of the Flying Scotsman? ...

The Flying Scotsman is probably the most famous railway locomotive in the world. It first caused a sensation for its beauty & its speed in 1923 & it soon became a national icon. The fastest & most comfortable way of travelling between London & Scotland The Flying Scotsman only got faster & more luxurious as competition from other routes airlines & the motor car threatened. From 1928 it began running non-stop an achievement that earned it yet more attention. This superbly illustrated book celebrates the much-loved locomotive the train that shared its name the route it took & how it captured the imagination of the nation. ...

Deeply moving. His determination & single-mindedness was & still is a true inspiration to me". (Sir Chris Hoy). " This is a book that must have taken great courage to write is a harrowing reminder of how little the public know about sportsmen no matter how brightly the spotlight shines on them." (The Guardian Number 10 in Cycle Sports Best 50 Cycling Books of All Time). It

Includes:: a foreword by Sir Chris Hoy. Graeme Obrees story begins with a tough upbringing in the Ayrshire valleys where he found his escape by taking to the roads on his bike. He would emerge from total obscurity to smash Francesco Mosers World Hour Record controversy hard at his heels for his unique riding style & pioneering construction techniques
- famously using parts from a washing machine to build his bike Old Faithful. But amidst the record attempts media feeding frenzy & thrilling head-to-head duels with Chris Boardman Graeme was fighting another battle. With searing honesty he recounts his biggest battle against depression which drove him to attempt suicide."


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This is a funny super-girly story with a vampire bite to it. Sink your teeth into Olivia & Ivys eleventh fright-time adventure. Were still double trouble! The twins are apart but life is as batty as ever... Ivys settling in to Wallachia Academy but the schools strict rules are a real pain in the neck. Back in Franklin Grove Olivias begun dressing like Ivy
- to get in to a vampire rock concert! Its bound to cause a coffin-load of chaos.
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Australian aviators Charles Kingsford Smith & Charles Ulm made the first trans-Pacific flight in 1928 in an aircraft constructed largely of timber & fabric the Southern Cross. With Americans Jim Warner as radio operator & Harry Lyon as navigator they made the trip from Oakland California in nine days facing electrical storms torrential rain equipment breakdowns fuel shortages & the ever-present fear of engine failure. In Flying the Southern Cross Michael Molkentin uses logbook entries the airmens memoirs contemporary newspaper accounts & official documents supplemented by a range of historic photographs to give a gripping account of that epoch-making flight & its aftermath. He takes readers into the Southern Cross a place where courage skill & endurance could with luck outweigh the fearful risks of a long air journey. Above all he brings to life the airmen themselves four very different men who made aviation history. ...

Until the launch of the Flying V & Explorer in 1958 electric guitars were supposed to look like guitars. Suddenly Gibson turned conventional design upside down almost literally by using straight lines & angular body shapes changing the way electrics could look & in the process creating a set of rare future collectables. Flying V Explorer Firebird" tells the story of those first peculiar instruments & goes on to describe Gibsons second attempt at non-standard designs with the Firebird of the early 60s. The book shows how most of these were a commercial failure at first & goes on to detail the influence of the designs on guitar-makers such as Hamer Jackson Dean Ibanez & BC Rich all of whom embraced Gibsons original weird-is-good design ethic. In parallel with the story of the makers is an absorbing account of the players who discovered these odd-shaped instruments including Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society) Edge (U2) & Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick). Interviews with players & makers illuminate the story of this fascinating assortment of electric guitar innovations alongside specially commissioned images of every key model & brand & an enviable collection of guitar memorabilia plus a gallery of leading guitarists photographed in action with their instruments. If its weird & has strings its in " Flying V Explorer Firebird"." ...

Does the thought of flying fill you with dread?
- Do panic attacks leave you feeling scared & vulnerable? If so this book could
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They no longer hold themselves up with all their might but sink a little & at that moment appear totally human. Of the very first rank of prose stylists Robert Musil captures a scenes every telling detail & symbolic aspect with a precise & remarkable beauty. In these nine stories & essays he considers holidaymakers & stone monuments tales of war & blackbirds & the great pathos of a tiny death: a flys impossible fight against the grip of flypaper. This book

Includes:: Flypaper" " Monkey Island" " Fisherman on the Baltic" " Sheep" " As Seen in Another Light" " Sarcophagus Cover" " Monuments" " The Paint Spreader" " Its Lovely Here" & " The Blackbird"."

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Enter the world of Septimus Heap Wizard Apprentice. Magyk is his destiny. The evil necromancer Dom Daniel has been disposed of but something Darke is stirring. A Shadow pursues Extra Ordinary Wizard Marcia Overstrand around following her every move growing stronger every day. Septimus senses something sinister is afoot but before he can act Jenna is snatched
- taken by the most unlikely kidnapper. Septimus must rescue his sister but does not at first realise the power of the forces at work behind her disappearance.
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Focus on Academic Skills for IELTS is thematically linked to the Focus on IELTS coursebook. Students learn to integrate key words & phrases in their writing & speaking. It can also be used on its own for self-study or as a short intensive IELTS course. ...