The Moonstone a priceless Indian diamond which had been brought to England as spoils of war is given to Rachel Verrinder on her eighteenth birthday. That very night the stone is stolen. Suspicion then falls on a hunchbacked housemaid on Rachel's cousin Franklin Blake on a troupe of mysterious Indian jugglers & on Rachel herself. The phlegmatic Sergeant Cuff is called in & with the help of Betteredge the Robinson Crusoe-reading loquacious steward the mystery of the missing stone is ingeniously solved. ...

Moonwalk" is the only book about his life that Michael Jackson ever wrote. It chronicles his humble beginnings in the Midwest his early days with the Jackson 5 & his unprecedented solo success. Giving absolutely unrivalled insight into the King of Pops life it details his songwriting process for hits like " Beat It" " Rock With You" " Billie Jean" & " We Are the World"; describes how he developed his signature dance style including the Moon Walk; & opens the door to his very private personal relationships with his family including sister Janet & stars like Diana Ross Berry Gordy Marlon Brando Quincy Jones Paul Mc Cartney & Brooke Shields. At the time of its original publication in 1988 " Moonwalk" broke the fiercely guarded barrier of silence that surrounded Michael Jackson. Candidly & courageously Jackson talks openly about his wholly exceptional career & the crushing isolation of his fame as well as the unfair rumors that have surrounded it. " Moonwalk" is illustrated with rare photographs from Jackson family albums & Michaels personal photographic archives as well as a drawing done by Michael exclusively for the book. It reveals & celebrates as no other book can the life of this exceptional & beloved musician." ...

Moonwalk" is the only book about his life that Michael Jackson ever wrote. It chronicles his humble beginnings in the Midwest his early days with the Jackson 5 & his unprecedented solo success. Giving absolutely unrivalled insight into the King of Pop's life it details his songwriting process for hits like " Beat It Rock With You" " Billie Jean" & " We Are the World"; & describes how he developed his signature dance style including the " Moon Walk". It also opens the door to his very private personal relationships with his family including sister Janet & stars like Diana Ross Berry Gordy Marlon Brando Quincy Jones Paul Mc Cartney & Brooke Shields. At the time of its original publication in 1988 " Moonwalk" broke the fiercely guarded barrier of silence that surrounded Michael Jackson. Candidly & courageously Jackson talks openly about his wholly exceptional career & the crushing isolation of his fame as well as the unfair rumors that have surrounded it. " Moonwalk" is illustrated with rare photographs from Jackson family albums & Michael's personal photographic archives as well as a drawing done by Michael exclusively for the book. It reveals & celebrates as no other book can the life of this exceptional & beloved musician." ...

Joshua Foer's Moonwalking with Einstein" is an astonishing journey through the mind & secrets of how our memory really works. Can anyone get a perfect memory? Joshua Foer used to be like most of us forgetting phone numbers & mislaying keys. Then he learnt the art of memory training discovering the mnemonic ancient 'memory palace' technique first practiced by Simonides of Ceos over 2 500 years ago. & only year later Foer found himself in the finals of the US Memory Championships alongside 'mental athletes' who could memorise the precise order of ten shuffled decks of cards in under an hour. From the man who can recall nine thousand books to another who constantly forgets who he is from the ancient world to the cutting edge of neuroscience Joshua Foer discovers a truth we often forget: that memory is the key to everything we are. " Passionate & deeply engrossing... The more we challenge ourselves the greater our capacity. It's a fact that every teacher parent & student would do well to learn. The lesson is unforgettable". (" Washington Post"). " Captivating... Engaging.. . Mr. Foer writes in these pages with fresh enthusiasm. His narrative is smart & funny". (Michiko Kakutani " New York Times"). " Delightful.. .empathetic thought-provoking &...memorable". (Elizabeth Pisani " Prospect"). " An endearingly geeky world.. .witty & revelatory". (Oliver Burkeman " Guardian"). "A charming book.. .interwoven with informed exposition about the psychological science of memory". (Professor Larry R Squire " Nature"). " Great fun & hugely readable". (Mark Turner " Independent"). Joshua Foer studied evolutionary biology at Yale University & is now a freelance science journalist writing for " National Geographic" & " The New York Times" among others. Researching an article on the US Memory Championships Foer became intrigued by the potential of his own memory. After just one year of training he won the following year's Championship." ...

In fourteenth-century Devon runaway villeins were brutally punished if apprehended by their masters. But when Peter Bruther flees the home of Sir William Beauscyr he puts himself in the protection of the king by setting up as a tin miner on the moors. & the bailiff of Lydford Simon Puttock has to inform an irate Sir William that he has no legal claim on his wayward servant. When Bruthers body is found hanging from a tree Simon assisted by the former Knight Templar Sir Baldwin Furnshill finds himself investigating cold-blooded murder. & theres no shortage of suspects from Sir William himself to his feuding sons to Thomas Smyth a wealthy tinner who runs a ruthlessly enforced protection racket funded by landowners. The pressure is on Simon & Baldwin to unravel the truth before further violence ensues. ...

Evil is not confined to war or to circumstances in which people are acting under extreme duress. Today it more frequently reveals itself in the everyday insensitivity to the suffering of others in the inability or refusal to understand them & in the casual turning away of ones ethical gaze. Evil & moral blindness lurk in what we take as normality & in the triviality & banality of everyday life & not just in the abnormal & exceptional cases. The distinctive kind of moral blindness that characterizes our societies is brilliantly analysed by Zygmunt Bauman & Leonidas Donskis through the concept of adiaphora: the placing of certain acts or categories of human beings outside of the universe of moral obligations & evaluations. Adiaphora implies an attitude of indifference to what is happening in the world -- a moral numbness. In a life where rhythms are dictated by ratings wars & box-office returns where people are preoccupied with the latest gadgets & forms of gossip in our hurried life where attention rarely has time to settle on any issue of importance we are at serious risk of losing our sensitivity to the plight of the other. Only celebrities or media stars can expect to be noticed in a society stuffed with sensational valueless information. This probing inquiry into the fate of our moral sensibilities will be of great interest to anyone concerned with the most profound changes that are silently shaping the lives of everyone in our contemporary liquid-modern world. ...

Atwood entices us to flip through the photo album of a Canadian woman who closely resembles herself. Come here sit beside me she seems to say. Then she takes us on an emotional journey through loneliness love loss & old age Sarah Emily Miano THE TIMES Short stories that trace the course of a life & the lives intertwined with it
- MORAL DISORDER is Margaret Atwood at her very finest. Funny touching beady-eyed slouchily elegant giving us family life in all its horrors. The secret resentments & alignments
- difficult siblings unfair parents hopeless yearnings & rage
- are funny to read about hellish to experience. Atwood makes it look so easy doing what she does best: tenderly dissecting the human heart.. .A marvellous writer Lee Langley DAILY MAIL A model of distillation precision clarity & detail.. . Atwood writes with compassion & intensity not only about her characters but also about the 20th century itself Mary Flanagan INDEPENDENT MORAL DISORDER is an infinitely ingenious & perceptive study as intimate as a self-portrait but with an epic breadth of vision. It deserves to become a quiet classic Charlotte Moore SPECTATOR


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Sam Harris's first book The End of Faith ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath Harris discovered that most people
- from religious fundamentalists to nonbelieving scientists
- agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed our failure to address questions of meaning & morality through science has now become the primary justification for religious faith. In this highly controversial book Sam Harris seeks to link morality to the rest of human knowledge. Defining morality in terms of human & animal well-being Harris argues that science can do more than tell how we are; it can in principle tell us how we ought to be. In his view moral relativism is simply false
- & comes at an increasing cost to humanity. & the intrusions of religion into the sphere of human values can be finally repelled: for just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra there can be no Christian or Muslim morality. Using his expertise in philosophy & neuroscience along with his experience on the front lines of our 'culture wars' Harris delivers a game-changing book about the future of science & about the real basis of human cooperation.


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THE NO.1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY published in 1998 introduced the world to the one & only Precious Ramotswe the engaging & sassy owner of Botswanas only detective agency. TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE took us further into this world & now continuing the adventures of Mma Ramotswe MORALITY FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS finds her expanding her business to take in the world of car repair & a beauty pageant. Alexander Mc Call Smiths sense of humour & gentle charm have created a substantial cult following. MORALITY FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS will win him yet more fans. ...

THE NO.1 LADIES DETECTIVE AGENCY published in 1998 introduced the world to the one & only Precious Ramotswe the engaging & sassy owner of Botswanas only detective agency. TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE took us further into this world & now continuing the adventures of Mma Ramotswe MORALITY FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS finds her expanding her business to take in the world of car repair & a beauty pageant. Alexander Mc Call Smiths sense of humour & gentle charm have created a substantial cult following. MORALITY FOR BEAUTIFUL GIRLS will win him yet more fans. ...