The history of SOEs war in the shadows has been told many times & much is known about the men who fought underground. However less is known about the women who also risked their lives for Britain & the liberation of France. By 1942 SOE (Britains Special Operations Executive) was in desperate need of new recruits for their dangerous missions in France & they turned to a previously unexplored group
- women. These female recruits came from all levels of society & were often motivated by an idealistic love of France & a desire to play a part in its liberation. They formed SOEs F Section. Many displayed unexpected qualities. Some proved good leaders like Pearl Witherington others like Nancy Wake laughed their way through the war many others like Noor Inayat Khan showed astonishing courage through terrible privations & many of them died bravely & painfully. Without doubt their contributions to Britains secret missions of intelligence-gathering & sabotage helped the resistance to drive out their occupiers & free France. Here for the first time is the extraordinary account of all forty SOE F women agents. It is a story that deserves to be read by everyone.
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When literary agent Elsie Thirkettle is invited to accompany tall but obscure crime-writer Ethelred Tressider to dinner at Muntham Court she is looking forward to sneering at his posh friends. What she is not expecting is that half way through the evening her host will be found strangled in his locked study. Since there is no way that a murderer could have escaped the police conclude that Sir Robert Muntham has killed himself. A distraught Lady Muntham however asks Ethelred to conduct his own investigation. Ethelred (ably hindered by Elsie) sets out to resolve a classic 'locked room' mystery; but is any one of the assorted guests & witnesses actually telling the truth? & can Ethelred's account be trusted? In the process we meet one of Ethelred's own creations the fourteenth-century detective Master Thomas who is helped in his investigations of a mediaeval crime at Muntham Court by a small & rather pushy Abbess with a taste for honey cakes.. . Is it possible that Master Thomas can shed some light on the twenty-first century case & on Ethelred's own motives for investigating Sir Robert's death? The Herring in the Library" is another ingenious outing for crime fiction's most mismatched double-act. " Tyler juggles characters story wit & clever one-liners with perfect balance". (" The Times")." ...

In an effort to rejuvenate his flagging career crime novelist Ethelred Tressider decides to set his new book in Egypt & embarks on a 'research trip' with his literary agent Elsie Thirkettle in tow. No sooner has their cruise on the Nile begun however than an attempt is made on Ethelred's life. When the boat's engine explodes & a passenger is found bloodily murdered suspicion falls on everyone aboard -- including a third-rate private eye two individuals who may or may not be undercover police & Ethelred himself. As the boat drifts out of control though it seems that events are being controlled by a party far more radical than anyone could have guessed. Herring on the Nile is an ingenious mystery & a darkly funny tribute to Agatha Christie & the golden age of crime fiction. ' Tyler juggles characters story wit & clever one-liners with perfect balance' The Times ...

OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Surveys most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities such as walking horse riding & off-road cycling. The series provides complete GB coverage & can now be used in all weathers thanks to OS Explorer Map
- Active a tough versatile version of the OS Explorer Map.
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OS Explorer Map is the Ordnance Surveys most detailed map & is recommended for anyone enjoying outdoor activities like walking horse riding & off-road cycling. Providing complete GB coverage the series details essential information such as youth hostels pubs & visitor information as well as rights of way permissive paths & bridleways. ...

Welcome to the world of Blop! A Blop is a simple shape somewhere between a flower & a butterfly a sponge & a drawing of a little man -- above all Blop is whatever you want it to be. Using very few woods & handwritten text I AM BLOP!" explore many concepts encountered for the first time by young children including up & down single & plural individual & family city & countryside etc. This single shape represents anything a child's mind can imagine. With 110 illustrations in varying colors & patterns little or sometimes no words at all each page has a unique Blop that brigs a whole new dimension to children's reading. "I AM BLOP!" is an invitation to discover & explore everyday life & hundreds of ideas through one simple shape." ...

A masterful twist on the epistolary novel Saul Bellow's Herzog" is part confessional part exorcism & a wholly unique achievement in postmodern fiction. This " Penguin Classics" edition

Includes:: an introduction by Malcolm Bradbury in " Penguin Modern Classics". Is Moses Herzog losing his mind? His formidable wife Madeleine has left him for his best friend & Herzog is left alone with his whirling thoughts
- yet he still sees himself as a survivor raging against private disasters & the myriad catastrophes of the modern age. In a crumbling house which he shares with rats his head buzzing with ideas he writes frantic unsent letters to friends & enemies colleagues & famous people the living & the dead revealing the spectacular workings of his labyrinthine mind & the innermost secrets of his troubled heart. Saul Bellow (1915-2005) was a Canadian
- born American writer who enjoyed a dazzling career as a novelist marked with numerous literary prizes including the Pulitzer Prize & the Nobel Prize for Literature. His books include " The Adventures of Augie March" " Herzog" " More Die of Heartbreak" " Mosby's Memoirs & Other Stories" " Mr. Sammler's Planet" " Seize The Day" & " The Victim". If you enjoyed " Herzog" you might like Bellow's " Seize the Day" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". " Spectacular.. .surely Bellow's greatest novel" (Malcolm Bradbury). "A masterpiece.. . Herzog's voice for all its wildness & strangeness & foolishness is the voice of a civilization our civilization". (" The New York Times Book Review")."



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Together the poetry of Hesiod & Theognis" offers a superb introduction to the life & thought of ancient Greece. Hesiods ...

Even to a girl from the slums of Bristol the streets of Glasgow were inhospitable & grey; the wealth & splendour of its mansions cold & heartless. But for Hester Dark there could be no turning back
- she would make this cruel city the home of her dreams. Everyone said that Hester was lucky. Lucky to have a wealthy uncle in Scotland who was willing to take her in. Lucky to have all the advantages that his money could buy. But Hesters new bright world held dark secrets jealousies & fears. & no one had spoken of the women who would despise her for her beauty & her independence
- & the men who would buy her soul & call it love.

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Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is the man who turned the world of cuisine on its head & became a national hero with three Michelin stars. This is the inspirational story of his enthusiastic self-taught genius. Heston is a gastronomic alchemist who sees the kitchen as a laboratory where he loves to experiment in ways to tantalise the taste-buds of diners at the Fat Duck restaurant & his newest restaurant Dinner. This biography traces his journey from a life-changing childhood holiday in France through to his brief apprenticeship in Raymond Blancs restaurant where he stood up to a kitchen bully. It then follows his as
- constantly pushing the boundaries of his work
- he reaches the top of his profession.

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