The northern half of Hampshire covers territory ranging from the rolling chalk downland of the Test & Itchen valleys to the Wealden edge & the heathlands at the borders with Surrey & Berkshire. Winchester is not only unrivalled for medieval architecture but like many of the smaller towns such as Alton & Alresford has some of the most charming streets in the southern counties. The countryside is rich in small villages with buildings of a delightful mix of timber-framing brick flint & tile & an abundance of houses & gardens of the Arts & Crafts Movement. There are fine country houses of every period from the quiet grandeur of The Vyne to the Victorian showpiece of Highclere Castle. But the area also has late twentieth-century architecture of great distinction much of it by the county's own architects & several monuments of unique interest from Jane Austen's house at Chawton to the spectacular French Imperial mausoleum at Farnborough Abbey & Stanley Spencer's moving series of war paintings for the chapel at Burghclere. ...

Situated beside the River Thames south-west of London Hampton Court Palace was a centre of court life in England from 1529 to 1737 & remains one of the finest palaces in Europe. The Official Illustrated History celebrates this intriguing architectural ensemble including the palaces original sixteenth-century building of Henry VIIIs reign. It features full coverage of the famous formal gardens & also reveals the lifestyles of monarchs mistresses & courtiers.

Includes:: full coverage of Hampton Courts famous & everpopular formal gardens a precious survival of gardening 300 years ago In the same series as Merrells highly popular official illustrated histories of the Tower of London Kensington Palace & Kew Palace

...

The Collins Family Pet Guides are attractive colour-illustrated guides that give all the practical advice necessary for raising healthy happy pets. This comprehensive family guide is full of helpful information & expert advice to choosing & owning a hamster. All aspects of everyday care are covered & in addition many interesting facts & anecdotes about one of Britain s most popular family pets are included. Highly illustrated with beautiful specially commissioned colour photographs this book has information & advice on: * Origins & history * Hamster species & varieties * Behaviour & biology * Acquiring a hamster * Housing * Looking after your hamster * Breeding * Healthcare * Emergency care ...

High jump champion Izumi Sano has realized that his slender new roommate Miyuki is a girl but hes decided to keep her secret so she doesnt get kicked out of their all-boys high school. Now theyre becoming good friends without worrying about guy" or "girl" stuff
- or so Miyuki thought until Izumi kissed her one night! Before Miyuki has time to freak out in steps a bigger problem: her American half-brother Shizuki whos not too thrilled to find out that his little sister is cross-dressing 24 hours a day. But handsome Shizuki has problems of his own..."
...

Hancox is the Tudor hall house in rural Sussex where Charlotte Moore grew up & where she lives today. Its been in the family since her ancestor Milicent Ludlow young single & an orphan took it on in 1891 & began to enlarge the house & manage the farm. Hancox" tells the story of the house & the family over the following thirty years in the long run-up to the First World War. In one sense its a rural idyll: the arrival of the car disturbs this peaceful agrarian world but apart from that the rhythms of the countryside go on as they had for centuries before. But all was not quite as it seemed: Milicent made a distinguished marriage but her husband harboured a secret. Milicent herself gradually succumbed to religious fanaticism. & the death of the youngest boy at Ypres devastated the family bringing the idyll to a painful end. Using extraordinary archive material held at Hancox today Charlotte Moore weaves an Edwardian tale of madness & jealousy love & loss heroism & tragedy." ...

Tristram Abberley was an acclaimed English poet of the 1930s whose legendary reputation was sealed when he died fighting for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War. Nearly fifty years later his sister Beatrix is brutally murdered in her seaside cottage. Her family are stunned by the crime
- especially Beatrix's niece Charlotte Ladram. But Charlotte has little time to mourn her aunt as fifty years of secrets begin to unravel. Beatrix is the victim of a dark conspiracy one that her loved ones are powerless to defeat. A harrowing quest for answers begins one that uncovers a shocking tale of wartime greed & treachery & a vendetta seemingly without end...
...

In Cambridge 1355 the colleges of the fledgling university are as much at odds with each other as they are with the ordinary townfolk. This tension has recently been heightened by the return of two well-born murderers after receiving the Kings pardon showing no remorse but ready to confront those who helped convict them. & in the midst of this Bartholomew the physician is called to the local mill to examine two corpses. It is almost a relief to be able to turn his back on the fractious town but as always in Cambridge nothing is disconnected. ...

Moleskine present a catalogue-style book collecting 378 full-colour illustrations consisting of sketches & drawings from a selection of internationally acclaimed architects. Complementing the new A4 Moleskine ' Folio' format the collection also contains interesting & previously unpublished essays that explore drawing & sketching as the most important tools at the architect's disposal as well as being the root of the design process & a metaphor for any creative endeavour.

Includes:: a free 120-page Moleskine sketchbook.

...

Winner of the 2010 Costa Novel Award THE HAND THAT FIRST HELD MINE is a gorgeously written story of love & motherhood a tour de force from one of our best loved novelists When the sophisticated Innes Kent turns up on her doorstep Lexie Sinclair realises she cannot wait any longer for her life to begin & leaves for London. There at the heart of the 1950s Soho art scene she carves out a new life. In the present day Elina & Ted are reeling from the difficult birth of their first child. Elina struggles to reconcile the demands of motherhood with sense of herself as an artist & Ted is disturbed by memories of his own childhood that dont tally with his parents version of events. As Ted begins to search for answers an extraordinary portrait of two women is revealed separated by fifty years but connected in ways that neither could ever have expected. ...

THE SENSATIONAL NEW THRILLER FROM THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE PRINCESS OF BURUNDI Uppsala Sweden. Sven-Arne Persson suddenly walks out of a business meeting & disappears leaving behind his wife
- no trace is found of him. Inspector Ann Lindell is investigating the discovery of a dismembered foot washed up on the beach. Anns boss Berglund is delving into a cold case
- a man beaten to death
- an unsolved mystery that he finds impossible to forget. What connects the three? It will be a challenge for Ann Lindell to unravel the knots & discover what ties bind the cases together. Kjell Eriksson is the winner of two Crime Novel awards in Sweden & one of Scandinavias top selling authors. Translated by Let the Right One Ins Ebba Segerberg


...