A beautifully produced paperback edition of the literary art book hailed as one of the best & most continually fascinating books about painting in recent memory. Lucian Freud (1922-2011) spent seven months painting a portrait of the art critic Martin Gayford. Gayford describes the process chronologically from the day he arrived for the first sitting through to his meeting with the couple who bought the finished painting. As Freud creates a portrait of Gayford so the art critic produces his own portrait of the notoriously private artist recounting their wide-ranging conversations & giving a rare insight into Freuds working practice. The book is illustrated throughout with photographs by David Dawson of Freud at work with paintings by Freud from the 1940s to the present & images by other artists discussed by Freud with Gayford. The result vividly conveys what it is like to be on the inside of the process of creating a painting by a great artist. It will be read as long as Freuds work is admired". (" The Sunday Times"). " If it is Freud who dominates this book it is Gayfords achievement to bring him out & to do so with wit & humor as well as acute intelligence. " Man with a Blue Scarf" is literally inimitable no one else is going to get this opportunity. It's the real deal". (" The Guardian"). "A journal an act of confession a character study of Freud a piecemeal survey of art history & an investigation into the practicalities of portraiture". (" The Spectator"). " Gayfords observations & Dawsons photos provide a unique insight into the working habits of the greatest painter of the human frame in all its infinite variety". (" New Statesman"). " Freud is vividly surprising potent & dynamic a portrait of an anarchic painter with views on everything from Leonardos failings to Princess Margarets voice". (" The Observer")." ...

' Mister there's something quite extra about the smell of death. Care to try it?' After a year missing in action Bond is back.. .brainwashed by the KGB & on a mission to assassinate M. To prove his worth to the Service he must hunt down & eliminate his fiercest opponent yet: Pistols" Scaramanga
- " The Man With The Golden Gun". Ian Fleming's final "007" novel is a fitting tribute to a unique British hero."
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From Shanklys day to the modern era the Reds have regularly broken transfer fee records & paid top wages to maintain their position at the summit of the English game. During that time trusted money man Arthur Lowe was closely involved in the handling of the clubs finances. His early days learning the ropes saw him acting as a part-time chauffeur for Shankly before rising through the ranks to become Chief Accountant a position he held for 27 years. As part of the clubs inner circle Arthur worked closely with Anfield managers & directors developing friendships & close working relationships with Bob Paisley Kenny Dalglish Gerard Houllier & Rafa Benitez among others. From Bruce Grobbelaar in 1981 to Fernando Torres in 2007 he witnessed every new Kop signing put pen to paper registering his name on some of the most important documents in the clubs history. His autobiography provides a rare insight behind the scenes at Anfield during a period when the emergence of agents & foreign stars saw football turned into a multi-million pound business. Arthur provides a unique perspective on all the big LFC talking points. He gives his inside view on the Steven Gerrard Chelsea saga & the Souness years as well as the Athens ticket fiasco & the ill-fated 2006 takeover. He also reveals more about a shock GBP40 000 fraud why Liverpool signed two keepers on the same day & how Roy Evans had a pet...alligator! If youre a Liverpool fan wanting a glimpse of what really makes the club tick The Man With The Keys To The Bank Of Anfield will be money well spent. ...

It is an intriguing collection where most of the stories concern relationships sports & household pets & interestingly does not feature any of Wodehouses regular characters; one however Extricating Young Gussie" is remarkable as the first appearance of some of Wodehouses most well-known & beloved characters Jeeves & his master Bertie Wooster (although here Berties surname appears to be Mannering-Phipps & Jeeves role is very small) along with Berties fearsome Aunt Agatha." ...

Handpicked in 1999 by the Family surrounding an ailing & increasingly unpopular Boris Yeltsin Vladimir Putin with very little governmental or administrative experience beyond having served as deputy mayor of St Petersburg seemed like the perfect choice in the eyes of an oligarchy bent on moulding the presidents successor to its own designs. Suddenly the boy who had scrapped his way through post-war Leningrad schoolyards dreaming of ruling the world was a public figure & his popularity soared. Russia & an infatuated West were determined to see the progressive leader of their dreams even as with ruthless efficiency Putin dismantled the countrys media wrested control & wealth from the countrys burgeoning business class & decimated the fragile mechanisms of democracy. Within a few brief years virtually every obstacle to his unbridled control was removed & every opposing voice silenced with political rivals & critics driven into exile or to the grave. As a journalist living in Moscow Masha Gessen experienced this history firsthand & for The Man Without a Face she has drawn on information & sources no other writer has tapped. Her horrifying & spellbinding account of how this faceless man manoeuvred his way into absolute
- & absolutely corrupt
- power will stand as a classic of narrative non-fiction.

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It is winter 1943. Bernie Gunther has left the Criminal Police & is working for the German War Crimes Bureau based in Berlin. Reports have been circulating of a mass grave hidden in a wood near Smolensk. The grave's whereabouts are uncertain until deep in the Katyn Forest a wolf digs up some human remains. Rumour has it that the grave is full of Polish officers murdered by the Russians
- a war crime that is perfect propaganda for Germany. But it needs a detective of subtle skill to investigate this horrific discovery. Cue Bernie Gunther...
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Cookings for girls but theres nothing wussy about a BBQ. Its full on flame-on macho cooking in a comedy apron. Its cooking the way God intended...just man nature red meat a beer in one hand & oversized tongs in the other. Better yet this book contains everything a young grillslinger needs to master the fine art of outdoor grilling from a rundown on the glorious history of mans BBQing forefathers to the lowdown on the most badass barbies ever created in the history of the world. So if you would like to revel in setting coals on fire on a sunny day to provide culinary delights for your family...man up & buy this book. ...

Set in the in the atmospheric & squalid streets of Paris Maigret sets out to prove the innocence of a man condemned to death for a brutal murder. In another one of Maigrets unconventional & audacious plans he arranges the escape of the condemned man in an attempt to prove his theory. The presumed murderer goes on the run across Paris & its suburbs dropping misleading clues along the way & leading Maigret into the labyrinthine twists of the mystery. Maigret is in for more than he bargained for as he encounters rich American expatriates dangerous foreigners & their hidden motives. ...

Viktor Frankl is known to millions as the author of Mans Search for Meaning" his harrowing Holocaust memoir. In this book he goes more deeply into the ways of thinking that enabled him to survive imprisonment in a concentration camp & to find meaning in life in spite of all the odds. Here he expands upon his groundbreaking ideas & searches for answers about life death faith & suffering. Believing that there is much more to our existence than meets the eye he says: No one will be able to make us believe that man is a sublimated animal once we can show that within him there is a repressed angel. In " Mans Search for Ultimate Meaning" Frankl explores our sometimes unconscious desire for inspiration or revelation. He explains how we can create meaning for ourselves & ultimately he reveals how life has more to offer us than we could ever imagine." ...

Jack Vettrianos erotic provocative & emotionally charged paintings have made him one of Britains most successful contemporary artists. Collected by celebrities the world over his exhibitions have regularly sold out & paintings now change hands for millions of pounds. This beautifully packaged gift-sized collection features Jacks men. Depicted against a backdrop of bars clubs racetracks & bedrooms the men are often mysterious hard-edged & sometimes vulnerable. It is a timeless world of drama passion secret liaisons & hedonism where men chase dreams & play for high stakes. ...