Set in 1482 Victor Hugo's powerful novel of 'imagination caprice & fantasy' is a meditation on love fate architecture & politics as well as a compelling recreation of the medieval world at the dawn of the modern age. In a brilliant reworking of the tale of Beauty & the Beast Hugo creates a host of unforgettable characters -- amongst them Quasimodo the hunchback of the title hopelessly in love with the gypsy girl Esmeralda the satanic priest Claude Frollo Clopin Trouillefou king of the beggars & Louis X1 King of France.? Over the entire novel both literally & symbolically broods the Cathedral of Notre-Dame. Vivid characters & memorable set-piece action scenes combine to bring the past to life in this story of love lust betrayal doom & redemption. ...

A new paperback edition never before published in the UK written & illustrated by the one & only Dr. Seuss. This Hilarious book tells the story of a bored indecisive boy who is urged by a string of Hunches
- that come in the guise of bizarre furry creatures
- first to do this & then to do that until finally he follows the Munch Hunch & goes for lunch!

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The rigid straight line is fundamentally alien to humanity life & the whole of creation". Hundertwasser applied this philosophy not only to the famous Viennese buildings for which he was renowned but all the media & art-forms he has experimented with during his wild career. Whether it be painting sculpture performance art or designing a kindergarten Hundertwassers works are multi-coloured organic & shot through with a sense of the magical or fantastic. However Hundertwassers art has always contained a political shade. He has consistently rebelled against rationalist or determinist ideas promoted ecological awareness & mantained a passionate belief in the anarchy of the imagination. In this retrospective Pierre Restany covers all the bases of Hundertwassers eclectic development as an artist from the tenant revolt & nude lecture of the early 70s through the housing projects in Vienna right up to his designs for an alternative society." ...

When Missis & Pongos puppies go missing the two Dalmatian parents know the scary Cruella de Vil has had something to do with it. After all she adores furs & the Dalmatians have such beautiful coats... The dogs pets Mr & Mrs Dearly dont understand them so it is up to Pongo & Missis to rescue their pups
- with the help of all the dogs in Engl&. This is a thrilling adventure
- will they get there in time to save the pups?

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Patrick O' Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of their beginning with Master & Commander these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback with smart new livery. This is the nineteenth book in the series. Following the extraordinary success of The Yellow Admiral this latest Aubrey-Maturin novel brings alive the sights & sounds of North Africa as well as the great naval battles in the days immediately following Napoleon's escape from Elba. Aubrey & Maturin are in the thick of the plots & counterplots to prevent his regaining power. Coloured by conspiracies in the Adriatic in the Berber & Arab lands of the southern shores of the Mediterranean by night actions fierce pursuits slave-trading & lion hunts The Hundred Days is a masterpiece. 'O' Brian is far & away the best of the Napoleonic storytellers & The Hundred Days is one of the best of the series: a classic naval adventure crammed with incident superbly plotted & utterly gripping... This is O' Brian at his brilliant entertaining best & when he is on this form the rest of us who write of the Napoleonic conflict might as well give up & try a new career. Fans of the series will need no encouragement to buy this book but if you are new to Aubrey & Maturin then this is as splendid an introduction as you could wish for.' Bernard Cornwell ...

Stunning reissue of an international bestseller from the author of ' The Joy Luck Club' & ' The Bonesetter's Daughter'. Olivia Yee is only five years old when Kwan her older sister from China comes to live with the family & turns her life upside down bombarding her day & night with ghostly stories of strange ancestors from the world of Yin. Olivia just wants to lead a normal American life. For the next thirty years Olivia endures visits from Kwan & her ghosts who appear in the living world to offer advice on everything from restaurants to Olivia's failed marriage. But just when she cannot bear it any more the revelations of a tragic family secret finally open her mind to the startling truths hidden in Kwan's unorthodox vision of the world. ...

Packed with fascinating & enthralling historical information this book shows how the village of Bisley in Surrey has been endowed with a remarkably long & eventful history all the more surprising for it remains one of the smallest civil parishes in the county. Each chapter covers a specific aspect of the village in a way that the reader will find so much more absorbing than a chronological series of events. Who can fail to be allured by the tale of Bisley Detached for example (which is completely isolated from the rest of the village) or the inside-out" building the Grade Two Listed hole in the ground the witchcraft trial or the bird bath used at baptisms? Some of the village folk are no less interesting: The miscreants benefactors indolent hard-working & the poverty-stricken
- their stories are all here. Even the title of the book is taken from a chapter which records that this disparaging epithet was made on more than one occasion."
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Divided Houses" is a tale of contrasting fortunes. In the last decade of his reign Edward III a senile pathetic symbol of Englands past conquests was condemned to see them overrun by the armies of his enemies. When he died in 1377 he was succeeded by a vulnerable child who was destined to grow into a neurotic & unstable adult presiding over a divided nation. Meanwhile France entered upon one of the most glittering periods of her medieval history years of power & ceremony astonishing artistic creativity & famous warriors making their reputations as far afield as Naples Hungary & North Africa. Contemporaries in both countries believed that they were living through memorable times: times of great wickedness & great achievement of collective mediocrity but intense personal heroism of extremes of wealth & poverty fortune & failure. At a distance of six centuries as Jonathan Sumption skilfully & meticulously shows it is possible to agree with all of these judgments." ...

The Hundred-foot Journey is the story of Hassan Haji a boy from Mumbai who embarks along with his boisterous family on a picaresque journey first to London & then across Europe before they ultimately open a restaurant opposite a famous chef Madame Mallory in the remote French village of Lumiere. A culinary war ensues pitting Hassans Mumbai-toughened father against the imperious Michelin-starred cordon bleu until Madame Mallory realizes that Hassan is a cook with natural talents far superior to her own. ...

The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog by Jeremy Strong has become a children's classic! From The Hundred-Mile-an-Hour Dog to karate princesses & hot cross bottoms there's a Jeremy Strong story to suit every child's sense of humour. Jeremy's readers range from 7 to teen perfect for fans of Roald Dahl & Andy Stanton. Streaker is a mixed-up kind of dog.. .with quite a bit of Ferrari & a large chunk of whirlwind. Streaker is no ordinary dog. She's a rocket on four legs with a woof attached & Trevor has got until the end of the holidays to train her. If he fails he'll lose his bet with horrible Charlie Smugg & something very very yucky involving frogspawn will happen... Award-winning Jeremy Strong has written many wacky books for children aged 7-teen including My Dad's Got an Alligator & My Brother's Famous Bottom. Most of which are illustrated by Nick Sharratt who also illustrates for Jacqueline Wilson! The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog is back causing more chaos & getting into more trouble in Return of the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog Lost! The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog Wanted! The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog Christmas Chaos for the Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog & The Hundred-Mile-An-Hour Dog Goes for Gold
- guaranteed to have you laughing your socks off!
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