The peasants of Paradise County in China have been eking out an existence virtually unchanged for hundreds of years until a glut on the garlic market forces them to watch the crop that is their lifeblood wilt rot & blacken in the fields
- leading them to storm the seat of corrupt Communist officialdom in an apocalyptic riot. Against this heroic backdrop unfold three intricately interwoven tales of love loyalty & retribution: between man & woman father & child friend & friend. Banned in China following Tianamen Square The Garlic Ballads" is a bawdy mystical & brawling novel that portrays a landscape at once strange & utterly compelling & a people whose fierce passions overflow the rigid confines of their traditions."
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The magic of garlic for cooking & healing has been known since the dawn of civilisation. Garlic: The Mighty Bulb" is a comprehensive guide to using garlic at home not just a staple when cooking but in a variety of ways. Theres advice on growing your own (the best varieties for health) & how to cultivate & store the plant to maintain its healing properties. Author Natasha Edwards also demonstrates how to dry & plait garlic into traditional grapes how to make up decongestants & boost the immune system. Plus a collection of 50 simple & varied recipes from classic dishes such as aioli & chicken with 40 cloves of garlic to salad dressings & immune boosting winter soups." ...

In a strange room in Morocco Mary Russell is trying to solve a pressing mystery: Who am I? She has awakened with shadows in her mind blood on her hands & soldiers pounding at the door. Out in the hive-like streets she discovers herself strangely adept in the skills of the underworld escaping through alleys & rooftops picking pockets & locks. She is clothed like a man & armed only with her wits & a scrap of paper showing a mysterious symbol. Overhead warplanes pass ominously north. Meanwhile Holmes is pulled by two old friends & a distant relation into the growing war between France Spain & the Rif Revolt led by Emir Abd el-Krim
- who could be a Robin Hood or a power-mad tribesman. The shadows of war are drawing over the ancient city of Fez & Holmes badly wants the wisdom & courage of his wife whom he discovers to his horror has gone missing. As Holmes searches for her & Russell searches for herself each tries to crack deadly parallel puzzles before its too late for them for Africa & for the peace of Europe.
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The Prince a political treatise by the Florentine public servant & political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli is widely regarded as the most important exploration of politics
- & in particular the politics of power
- ever written. In Garments of Court & Palace Philip Bobbitt a preeminent & original interpreter of modern statecraft presents a vivid portrait of Machiavelli's Italy & demonstrates how The Prince articulates a new idea of government that emerged during the Renaissance. Bobbitt argues that when The Prince is read alongside the Discourses modern readers can see clearly how Machiavelli prophesied the end of the feudal era & the birth of a recognizably modern polity. As this book shows publication of The Prince in 1532 represents nothing less than a revolutionary moment in our understanding of the place of the law & war in the creation & maintenance of the modern state.

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Maureen ODonnell wasnt born lucky. A psychiatric patient & survivor of sexual abuse shes stuck in a dead-end job & a secretive relationship with Douglas a shady therapist. Her few comforts are making up stories to tell her psychiatrist the company of friends & the sweet balm of whisky. She is about to end her affair with Douglas when she wakes up one morning to find him in her living room with his throat slit. Viewed in turn by the police as a suspect & as an uncooperative unstable witness Maureen is even suspected by her alcoholic mother & self-serving sisters of being involved. Worse than that the police wont tell her anything about Douglas death. Panic-stricken & feeling betrayed by friends & family Maureen begins to doubt her own version of events. She retraces Douglas desperate last days & picks up a horrifying trail of rape deception & suppressed scandal at a local psychiatric hospital where she had been an inmate. But the patients wont talk & the staff are afraid & when a second brutalised corpse is discovered Maureen realises that unless she gets to the killer first her life is in danger. ...

Garth Evans is a sculptor as capable of evoking intimacy & simplicity as he is of dealing with the monumental & the timeless. This complete survey of his unique career is long overdue & reveals a wealth of innovative & powerful work much of it previously unseen in print. As narratives of British sculpture are reconsidered Evans is emerging as one of the most creative & influential artists to bridge the generation of Antony Caro & Philip King with that of Tony Cragg Richard Deacon Antony Gormley Alison Wilding & Bill Woodrow. This investigation into Evans' hugely varied visually eventful & challenging practice explores connections across geographies & timeframes as well as contextualizing major changes & new departures in his work. Garth Evans was born in Manchester in 1934 & settled in the USA at the midpoint of his career. He has exhibited widely in Europe & America since the early 1960s & his work is represented in major public & private collections in Australia Brazil Portugal USA & UK (including the Arts Council Collection Leeds City Art Galleries the British Museum the V&A & Tate). Evans has been the recipient of numerous awards as well as holding a number of distinguished teaching positions. Since 1988 he has taught at the Studio School in New York City where he is head of sculpture. ...

Great Britain's national treasure Gary Barlow has achieved unrivalled success with boyband Take That as a solo artist & songwriter & as a judge on The X Factor. However the path to fame is rarely easy & Gary's journey has been full of inspiring highs & distinct lows. From happy beginnings growing up in Frodshaw Cheshire as the second son to Marge & Colin Barlow Gary spent his youth immersing himself in music writing songs & learning how to play the piano. By the age of 15 Gary was struggling to break into the music industry & doing a string of gigs around the UK before landing what was to be the job that propelled him into the limelight. After hiring Barry Wooley as his manager Gary was soon in talks with casting agent Nigel Martin-Smith. Realising Gary's potential & admiring an early demo of ' A Million Love Songs' Nigel signed him up as the front man for new boy bad Take That & the rest as they say is history. Between 1990 & 1996 Take That sold millions of records packed out area tours & created an army of fans who were subsequently devastated when Take That announced their split in 1996. Gary made an attempt at a solo career but it wasn't to be & he slipped out of the public consciousness before finding the confidence to begin songwriting & collaborating with other artists to make his records. In 2005 Gary's life was to take another unexpected turn when Take That announced they were getting back together. With a new lease of life they went onto have continued record- breaking success. Gary was soon offered a slot as head judge on ITV's hit TV show The X Factor & in 2012 he was awarded an OBE
- providing that there was more to him than Take That.
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Born in 1962 Gary Hume emerged as one of the leading figures of the group of young artists working in London in the 1990s known as the YBAs. After graduating from Goldsmiths College London in 1988 he achieved early success with paintings based on hospital doors rendered with gloss on panel & displayed in groups of four. Despite their international success Hume abandoned the formal manoeuvring of the door series in the early 1990s in favour of a simple flat figurative & abstract paintings featuring startling colour combinations & appropriated images ranging from animals to celebrities to flowers. Hume was nominated for the Turner Prize in 1996 represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 1999 & was elected a Royal Academician in 2001. His work has been the subject of a number of monographic shows in UK & Europe. Published to coincide with the joint exhibition Gary Hume & Patrick Caulfield at Tate Britain in June 2013 this book will include thirty paintings by Hume that concentrate on his more edgier-side encompassing works from almost 20 years of his career as well brand new pieces. Including an introductory essay by Katharine Stout & an essay by US art writer Jack Bankowsky this concise account of Hume's work is a timely addition to the bibliography of this important British contemporary painter. ...

Gary Linekers
- Football: Its Unbelievable!" is a unique light-hearted look at the global game. Fronted by " Match of
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Gary Mackay is a Hearts legend who has played more games for the Tynecastle club than anyone else in history. He fulfilled his boyhood dream of turning out for the boys in maroon in the early 1980s & continues his love affair with Hearts to this day. Here he selects his Hearts Dream Team made from the greatest players ever to pull on the famous maroon jersey. Packed full of stories from his time at the club & other Tynecastle tales it is a fascinating read for Hearts fans of all ages. There is serious debate about Garys choices from some well-known Dons fans such as actor Ken Stott the man who played Ian Rankins Edinburgh detective Rebus & appeared in the movie The Hobbit"; respected ITN reporter Martin Geissler who has reported from some of the worlds most dangerous wars; 1990 Grand Slam rugby hero John Jeffrey & senior political figures such as First Minister Alex Salmond; Tory MSP David Mc Letchie; Lord George Foulkes of Cumnock & Charlie Falconer who was the Lord Chancellor in the Labour Government of Tony Blair." ...