East Lothian a unitary authority area including the old county of Haddingtonshire is one of Scotlands most historic places
- John
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What happened to Edinburgh's once notorious but picturesque Tolbooth Prison? Where was the Black Turnpike once a dominant building in the town? Why has one of the New Town designer's major layouts been all but obliterated? What else has been lost in Edinburgh? From Edinburgh's mean beginnings
- 'wretched accommodation no comfortable houses no soft beds' visiting French knights complained in 1341
- it went on to attract some of the world's greatest architects to design & build & shape a unique city. But over the centuries many of those fine buildings have gone. Some were destroyed by invasion & civil strife some simply collapsed with old age & neglect & others were swept away in the 'improvements' of the nineteenth century. Yet more fell to the developers' swathe of destruction in the twentieth century. Much of the medieval architecture vanished in the Old Town Georgian Squares were attacked Princes Street ruined old tenements razed in huge slum clearance drives & once familiar & much loved buildings vanished. The changing pattern of industry social habits health service housing & road systems all took their toll; not even the city wall was immune. The buildings which stood in the way of what was deemed progress are the heritage of Lost Edinburgh. In this informative & stimulating book. Hamish Coghill sets out to trace many of the lost buildings & find out why they were doomed. Lavishly illustrated Lost Edinburgh" is a fascinating insight into an ever-changing cityscape."

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Lost Empire" is the second phenomenal "FARGO Adventure" from international bestseller Clive Cussler. Some treasures are best left buried... Scuba diving off the Tanzanian coast husb&-&-wife treasure-hunting team Sam & Remi Fargo discover a huge ships bell covered in cryptic carvings. But as they struggle to first recover the bell & then decode its clues they find they are not alone in wanting to discover its secrets. When news of the find is publicised Mexican President Quauhtli Garza is forced to act. He knows that this bell comes from a former Confederate ship that sank off the African coast & he fears that the discovery of a missing piece of a Quetzalcoatl statuette which was aboard the ship will undermine his plans for Mexicos future. With Garza determined to stop the Fargos investigation at all costs the couple are drawn into a deadly conspiracy that connects the 1883 Krakatoa explosion with an attempt to resurrect the fallen Aztec empire... Clive Cussler author of the celebrated " Dirk Pitt" novels " Arctic Drift" & " Crescent Dawn" presents the second in the series following the adventures of treasure hunters Sam & Remi Fargo. " Lost Empire" is the second of the "FARGO Adventures"; " Spartan Gold" is the first. Praise for Clive Cussler: " Clive Cussler is hard to beat". (" Daily Mail"). The bestselling " Grandmaster of Adventure" Clive Cussler has thrilled millions of readers with this gripping fast-paced stories based around treasure-hunting action & conspiracy. As well as the " Fargo" series there are also the "NUMA" & " Oregon Files" series the " Dirk Pitt" stories (which started it all) & the " Isaac Bell" adventures series. The other titles in the " Fargo Adventures" series are " Spartan Gold" & " The Kingdom" which are both available from Penguin." ...

After a chance conversation in Egypt in 2008 bestselling historian Gavin Menzies launched himself on a quest that would reveal the truth behind the mystery of Atlantis & her destruction. Through an examination of documentary & academic research metallurgy ancient shipbuilding & navigation techniques artefacts & DNA evidence Menzies slowly & painstakingly reveals a trading empire that spanned from the Great Lakes in North America to Kerala in India. & in doing so finally explains the incredible reality behind the legendary civilisation described by Plato & its disappearance. Reading like a real-life Indiana Jones story as ex-Royal Navy submarine captain Menzies travels round the world in pursuit of his goal this is epic iconoclastic popular history. ...

The Lost Estate" is Robin Buss translation of Henri Alain-Fourniers poignant study of lost love Le Grand Meaulnes. This " Penguin Classics" edition also contains an introduction by Adam Gopnik. When Meaulnes first arrives at the local school in Sologne everyone is captivated by his good looks daring & charisma. But when Meaulnes disappears for several days & returns with tales of a strange party at a mysterious house
- & his love for the beautiful girl hidden within it Yvonne de Galais
- his life has been changed forever. In his restless search for his Lost Estate & the happiness he found there Meaulnes observed by his loyal friend Francois may risk losing everything he ever had. Poised between youthful admiration & adult resignation Alain-Fourniers compelling narrator carries the reader through this evocative & unbearably poignant portrayal of desperate friendship & vanished adolescence. Robin Buss translation of Le Grand Meaulnes sensitively & accurately renders Alain-Fourniers poetically charged expressive & deceptively simple style. In his introduction New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik discusses the life of Alain-Fournier who was killed in the First World War after writing this his only novel. Henri Alban-Fournier (1886-1914) better known by the pseudonym Alain-Fournier was born in La Chapelle d Angillon the son of a country school-master. He was educated at Brest & Paris where he met the original Yvonne who left a lasting impression on his life & work. Le Grand Meaulnes was published in 1912. Alan-Fournier joined the army as a Lieutenant in August 1914 & was killed in action on the Meuse less than a month later. Les Miracles a volume of poems & essays appeared posthumously in 1924. If you liked Le Grand Meaulnes you might enjoy Gustave Flauberts Sentimental Education also available in " Penguin Classics". "I read it for the first time when I was seventeen & loved every page. I find its depiction of a golden time & place just as poignant now as I did then." (Nick Hornby)."

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. ..scattered heaps of stone so thoroughly collapsed but still so numerous mysterious & challenging.. . This unique & engaging book takes the reader back in time on a journey into the forgotten lives of Lancashires lost hill-farming communities. In the space of little more than five square miles there used to be nearly fifty farms upon which hundreds of men women & children depended. Then almost overnight the march of progress robbed them of their homes & livelihoods leaving behind a landscape frozen in time with crumbling buildings & lonely vestiges of human habitation. Local author David Clayton has located all the remains of the old farmsteads that were the beating heart of life & work for generations of farming folk & he reveals why it all ended so suddenly. Skilfully combining his intimate knowledge of all of the farms & most of the families with testimony from surviving diaries & other documents he paints an intriguing often poignant picture of a way of life that now exists only as a memory. Presented in the form of a gentle tour that can be undertaken either from the comfort of an armchair or by wandering around the ruins Lost farms of Brinscall Moors is a journey of exploration & discovery that will appeal to anyone interested in the history of both the local area & the county of Lancashire. ...

The Lost Fleet continues its perilous journey home. Badly damaged & low on supplies the Alliance Fleet is raiding Syndic mines for raw materials & Captain ' Black Jack' Geary hopes they can continue to remain one step ahead of their enemies. But the Syndics are the least of Geary's worries when he learns of the existence of aliens with the power to annihilate the human race. ...

The Alliance has been fighting the Syndic for a century & losing badly. Now its fleet is crippled & stranded in enemy territory. Their only hope is Captain John Black Jack" Geary
- a man who has emerged from a century-long hibernation to find himself heroically idealized beyond belief. Now he must live up to his own legend."
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Outnumbered by the superior forces & firepower of the Syndicate Worlds the Alliance Fleet continues its dangerous retreat across the enemy star system. Led by legendary Captain John Black Jack" Geary the Alliance is desperately trying to return home with its captured prize: the key to the Syndic hypernet." ...

Admiral Geary's First Fleet of the Alliance has survived the journey deep into unexplored interstellar space a voyage that led to the discovery of new alien species including a new enemy & a possible ally. Now Geary's mission is to ensure the safety of the Midway Star System which has revolted against the Syndicate Worlds empire
- an empire that is on the brink of collapse.
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