A definitive study of the history of medicine from the earliest humans to the present day. Medicine is advancing at an incredible rate. We now have the ability to overcome sickness but also to transform the nature of life itself: in many parts of the world human existence has simply ceased to be 'nasty brutish & short'. In this titanic history of medicine & disease Roy Porter examines the traditions of East & West to chart how this revolution has come about. Covering medical milestones big & small
- from dissection to surgery & from anaesthesia to AIDS
- Roy Porter's masterpiece is both a superlative history of medicine & a sweeping survey of human life & death.

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Robin Friday was an exceptional footballer who should have played for Engl&. He never did. Robin Friday was a brilliant player who could have played in the top flight. He never did. Why? Because Robin Friday was a man who would not bow down to anyone who refused to take life seriously & who lived every moment as if it were his last. For anyone lucky enough to have seen him play Robin Friday was up there with the greats. Take it from one who knows: ' There is no doubt in my mind that if someone had taken a chance on him he would have set the top division alight ' says the legendary Stan Bowles. ' He could have gone right to the top but he just went off the rails a bit.' Loved & admired by everyone who saw him Friday also had a dark side: troubled strong-minded reckless he would end up destroying himself. Tragically after years of alcohol & drug abuse he died at the age of 38 without ever having fulfilled his potential. The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw provides the first full appreciation of a man too long forgotten by the world of football & along with a forthcoming film based on Friday's life with a screenplay by co-author Paolo Hewitt this book will surely give him the cult status he deserves. ...

A great must-have book packed full of brilliant tips & ideas from award-winning BBC radio gardening presenter & journalist Steve Brookes. The book is a result of Steve's 30+ years as a professional horticulturalist & nearly 20 years as a gardening broadcaster & presenter. It is packed full of ideas for banishing slugs snails aphids ants cats squirrels & countless other garden pests plus many fun money-saving & innovative tips for growing healthier plants in your garden. Steve has included many useful plant lists for different garden aspects & some brilliant recycling ideas that will really get you smiling. The book also forms the basis of Steve's ' The Greatest Gardening Tips in the World' live show which he performs around the UK & on cruise ships across the world. Novice & experienced gardeners alike will find this a rewarding & enjoyable read which they will refer to again & again! ...

A penniless young knight with few prospects William Marshal is plucked from obscurity when he saves the life of Henry II's formidable queen Eleanor of Aquitaine. In gratitude she appoints him tutor to the heir to the throne. However being a royal favourite brings its share of conflict & envy as well as fame & reward. William's influence over the volatile fickle Prince Henry & his young wife is resented by less favoured courtiers who set about engineering his downfall. In a captivating blend of fact & fiction award-winning novelist Elizabeth Chadwick resurrects one of England's greatest forgotten heroes restoring him to his rightful place at the apex of the Middle Ages. ...

The Greatest Love Story of All Time is a laugh-out-loud debut novel from the Marie Claire blogger Lucy Robinson. It's Fran's thirtieth birthday & things are good... She's bluffed her way into a Very Posh Job & her outlandishly handsome & talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the shape of a ring box in his pocket. But something has gone wrong. Very wrong. By the end of the evening Fran is howling in bed with a bottle of cheap brandy & one of Michael's old socks. In her quest to figure out why her life has suddenly gone down the pan Fran comes up with a failsafe plan: live like a badger stalk a stranger called Nellie & cancel her beloved Gin Thursdays in favour of drinking gin every night. But then Fran's friends force a very different plan on her & it's nowhere near as fun. How could eight dates possibly make her feel better? But eventually she agrees. & so begins the greatest love story of all time... Praise for Lucy Robinson: The new Marian Keyes.. .romantic & laugh-out-loud hilarious" (Cosmopolitan). " An absolute must-read" (Huffington Post). " Prepare for public-transport belly laughs" (Glamour). " Refreshingly playful" (Red). The Greatest Love Story of All Time is Lucy Robinson's debut novel. Prior to writing Lucy worked first in West End theatre production & then factual television working on documentaries for the BBC ITV Channel 4 & five. Her writing career began when she started a dating blog for marieclaire.co.uk where she entertained readers with frank tales from her laughably unsuccessful foray into the world of internet dating. Lucy is from Gloucestershire where she was brought up surrounded by various stupid animals & is currently conducting an early mid-life crisis in South America. When in London she likes to think she lives in Highbury but in truth she is a person of no fixed abode." ...

The Tour de France has it all: extremes of ego temperature & terrain; grazes bruises & streaks; wrecks wheels & winding paths. Now in celebration of 100 years of the Tours infamous mountain section comes the ultimate tribute to cyclings greatest race. World-renowned sports photographer Mike Powell has spent 25 years photographing the greatest sports contests around the globe & has now devoted 2 years to creating the most epic photographic celebration of the Tour de France ever published: vibrant compelling & gritty images of the competitors support crew & spectators beautifully juxtaposed against the breathtaking settings of the Pyrenees the Alps & the French countryside. An introduction by Lewis Blackwell author of 2009s best-selling The Life & Love of Trees details the history of the tour & incorporates a pertinent selection of historical images. The Greatest Race is an epic & stunning tribute to indeed the greatest race. ...

Charles Darwins masterpiece On the Origin of Species" shook society to its core on publication in 1859. Darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century & a half later. Evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists & indeed theologians yet millions of people continue to question its veracity. In " The Greatest Show on Earth" Richard Dawkins takes on creationists including followers of Intelligent Design & all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. Like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts & disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection in birds & insects; the time clocks of trees & radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record & the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology & genetics. All of this & much more bears witness to the truth of evolution. " The Greatest Show on Earth" comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the fact of evolution is now flourishing as never before especially in America. In Britain & elsewhere in the world teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. Richard Dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly & comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. At the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world & the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. Written with elegance wit & passion it is hard-hitting absorbing & totally convincing." ...

The Greatest Trade Ever" is the thrilling story of the trader John Paulson who predicted the economic crash in 2008
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On 3 May 1961 after a trial conducted largely in secret a man named George Blake was sentenced to an unprecedented forty-two years in jail. At the time few details of his crimes were made known. By his own confession he was a Soviet spy & rumours later circulated that his actions had endangered British agents but the reasons for such a severe punishment were never revealed. To the public Blake was simply the greatest traitor of the Cold War. Yet as Roger Hermiston reveals in this thrilling new biography his story touches not only the depths of treachery but also the heights of heroism. In WWII the teenage Blake performed sterling deeds for the Dutch resistance before making a dramatic bid for freedom across Nazi-occupied Europe. Later recruited by British Intelligence he quickly earned an exemplary reputation & was entrusted with building up the Service's networks behind the Iron Curtain. & following a posting to Seoul he also suffered for his adopted country when captured by North Korean soldiers at the height of their brutal war with the South. By the time of his release in 1953 Blake was a hero one of the Service's brightest & best officers. But unbeknownst to SIS they were harbouring a mole. Week after week year after year Blake was assiduously gathering all the important documents he could lay his hands on & passing them to the KGB. Drawing on hitherto unpublished records from his trial new revelations about his dramatic jailbreak from Wormwood Scrubs & original interviews with former spies friends & the man himself The Greatest Traitor sheds new light on this most complex of characters & presents a fascinating shadow history of the Cold War. ...

Who are the fifteen best players ever to represent Wales at rugby? We all know the answers but all our answers are different! In pubs & clubs in classrooms & chat rooms the length & breadth of this rugby-mad nation this is a question that prompts energetic & entertaining debate; a question that has divided households & destabilized lifelong friendships. In The Greatest Welsh XV Ever which

Includes:: over 130 full-colour photographs Eddie Butler has gone where angels (and ex-international back-row forwards) fear to tread. Devoting a chapter to each position on the field he produces a shortlist of the great players before making his final decisive definitive choice in each case. So will it be Barry John or Phil Bennett at number 10? Jamie Roberts or John Dawes at number 12? Graham Price or Adam Jones at number 3? This is your chance to join in the greatest national debate since devolution.

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