'I was wrong ' said Captain Flint. ' He's not mad but bad. It isn't only eggs he wants. He wants to take the credit for it. You're quite right. It's up to us it's up to the ship to see he doesn't.' Dick's birdwatching discovery turns the cruise of the Sea Bear into a desperate chase. Not only do the Swallows & Amazons have to prove the facts of the case but they also have to dodge the savage natives & evade the ruthless pursuit of a fanatic egg-collector determined to kill a pair of rare birds & steal the credit. Fortunately Nancy has a few plans. ...

2012 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of one of our greatest & most important novelists Charles Dickens. To celebrate were publishing eight of his best & most well-loved novels in this exclusive must-have boxed set of our authoritative Penguin Classics editions. ...

Little Miss Muffet is bored of her own nursery rhyme so goes in search of a new nursery rhyme to be in. But before you can say Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers the whole book of rhymes is thrown into chaos! With some of the most favourite rhymes including The Grand Old Duke of York Jack & Jill Hickory Dickory Dock Ding Dong Bell Hey Diddle Diddle Sing a song of Sixpence The Queen of Hearts & Little Miss Muffet. ...

With four famous operas each from Mozart Verdi & Puccini & two each from Rossini & Donizetti there is a feast of information. Here are short guides to The Marriage of Figaro & Don Giovanni; to the splendour of Aida the heart-breaking La Traviata; the drama of Tosca. The range is very broad. There is Wagners great love story Tristan und Isolde; there is Johann Strausss light comedy Die Fledermaus. On the way you can be briefed about such favourites as Handels Giulio Cesare Bizets Carmen Gounods Faust Tchaikovskys Eugene Onegin & Brittens Peter Grimes. With plot summaries composer biographies observations on musical points of interest & background on the historical & cultural context of each opera every one of these guides will enhance your appreciation & enjoyment & help you discuss the work & the performance with your fellow opera-goers. Steen shares his expert knowledge with a lightness of touch that makes each guide a pleasure to read. Witty informative & beautifully presented Great Operas is an indispensable reference guide for both seasoned opera-goers & those enjoying opera for the first time. ...

When fugitive oil heir Chas Worthington settles the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch plants a flag & declares it his own sovereign nation the reality of the environmental catastrophe is only the beginning of his odyssey. From acclaimed writer Joe Harris (Ghost Projekt Spontaneous) & artist Martin Morazzo (Absolute Magnitude) comes a sprawling adventure across earth's newest strangest frontier! Collects issues numbered 1-6 of this groundbreaking series. ...

READ BY HARRY ENFIELD. An exciting picture book & audio featuring brand new characters & a fantastic repertoire of voices from the talented Harry Enfield drawing from the wonderful imagination of best selling Childrens book author & illustrator Oliver Jeffers. READ BY HARRY ENFIELD. When life in the forest begins to change; when trees mysteriously lose their branches when whole tree trunks start to disappear when homes are lost the only course of action for the forest dwellers is to begin a full scale investigation. Alibis must be proved clues must be sought but even so blame is never far from anyone's thoughts. Who is the perpetrator of this heinous crime? Will justice be done? ...

Writing with his usual grace & fluency Jonathan Sacks moves beyond the tired arguments of militant atheists such as Dawkins & Hitchens to explore how religion has always played a valuable part in human culture & far from being dismissed as redundant must be allowed to temper & develop scientific understanding in order for us to be fully human. Ranging around the world to draw comparisons from different cultures & delving deep into the history of language & of western civilisation Jonathan Sacks shows how the predominance of science-oriented thinking is embedded deeply even in our religious understanding & calls on us to recognise the centrality of relationship to true religion & thus to see how this core value of relationship is essential if we are to avoid the natural tendency for science to rule our lives rather than fulfilling its promise to set us free. ...

Beginning with the death of Socrates in 399 BC & following the story through the centuries to recent figures such as Bertrand Russell & Wittgenstein Bryan Magee's conversations with fifteen contemporary writers & philosophers provide an accessible & exciting account of Western philosophy & its greatest thinkers. The contributors include A. J. Ayer Bernard Williams Martha Nussbaum Peter Singer & John Searle so that the book is not only an introduction to the philosophers of the past but gives an invaluable insight into the view & personalities of some of the most influential philosophers of the twentieth century. ...

When we look at everyday life we realize that it is far from easy. Indeed we are often confronted with the contrary: complicated instead of simple; demanding instead of effortless. As photographers we face a similar situation with regard to our chosen hobby. The camera & computer are wonderful technical instruments but their growing complexity can sometimes take away from the joy we find when we engage in creative work. In this book author Bernd Daub shows us that simplicity works. He describes how with simple camera techniques traditional film & some imagination we can create ambitious artwork. This book teaches us how to focus our attention on the motivation behind our chosen image & develop a strong image impact without the need for high-tech equipment & flawless exposures. Learn about a variety of reasonably priced low-tech cameras-such as the Holga Diana & Blackbird-as well as single-use cameras the good old Agfa-Box & the pinhole camera. For price-conscious beginners & intermediate photographers with high-quality equipment this book provides ideas for alternative techniques without large investments. You'll discover many new possibilities as you foster your creativity. ...

Here is a lively history of modern physics as seen through the lives of thirty men & women from the pantheon of physics. William H. Cropper vividly portrays the life & accomplishments of such giants as Galileo & Isaac Newton Marie Curie & Ernest Rutherford & Albert Einstein right up to contemporary figures such as Richard Feynman Murray Gell-Mann & Stephen Hawking. We meet scientists all geniuses who could be gregarious aloof unpretentious friendly dogged imperious generous to colleagues or contentious rivals. Cropper also offers vivid portraits of their great moments of discovery their bitter feuds their relations with family & friends their religious beliefs & education. In addition since scientists in a particular field often inspire those who follow Cropper has grouped these biographies by discipline mechanics thermodynamics particle physics & so on each section beginning with a historical overview. Our understanding of the physical world has increased dramatically in the last four centuries starting with Galileo & his telescope & stretching to Stephen Hawking's work on black holes & cosmology. With Great Physicists" readers can retrace the footsteps of the men & women who led the way." ...