First rocketing to fame when he purchased a 13-yearold girl as part of a campaign against child prostitution W. T. Stead was the pioneer of investigative reporting. As criminal convict Puritan sex-fanatic occultist social reformer & stuntman Steads notoriety escalated throughout his life until his tragic death in the Titanic disaster. This book traces the rise & fall of W. T. Stead from his childhood as the son of a strict Nonconformist minister in Newcastle to his rapid & Machiavellian career as an influential investigative journalist & his last years when he was ridiculed as a madman for his devotion to the occult. Steads campaigns
- all conducted with his trademark invincible zeal
- are vividly described ranging from the reform of London slums to denouncing an ex-slave trader who claimed to be the Messiah. A hundred years after his death author Will Robinson presents new material about Steads life taken from his personal papers previously suppressed by his wife giving us a fuller portrait than ever before of the sensational father of journalistic campaigning.

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Chosen as a Fiction Book of the Year in the Daily Telegraph by Maggie OFarrell In this witty & subversive collection of stories Michele Roberts explores womens desires memories & loves as only she can. A jilted woman skirts the edges of time & place as she walks the streets of London at night; another returns to the scene of her honeymoon without her husband; a wife takes apt revenge on her vegetarian husband.. . ...

The popular view of the First World War remains that of ' Blackadder': incompetent generals sending brave soldiers to their deaths. Alan Clark"ed a German general's remark that the British soldiers were 'lions led by donkeys'. But he made it up. Indeed many established 'facts' about 1914-18 turn out to be myths woven in the 1960s by young historians on the make. Gordon Corrigan's brilliant witty new history reveals how out of touch we have become with the soldiers of 1914-18. They simply would not recognize the way their generation is depicted on TV or in Pat Barker's novels. Laced with dry humour this will overturn everything you thought you knew about Britain & the First World War. Gordon Corrigan reveals how the British embraced technology & developed the weapons & tactics to break through the enemy trenches. ...

As Ellie's fiftieth birthday approaches & her ambitions of a steady income a successful career & an ascent of Everest seem as far away as ever she begins to doubt she's capable of achieving anything at all. So when her best friend Mick suggests a gruelling cycle ride from Land's End to John o' Groats she takes up the challenge. They opt for the scenic route which takes them along cycle paths towpaths & the back roads & byways of Britain unable to resist sampling local beers in the pubs they pass along the way. But as the pints start to stack up faster than the miles they're putting under their tyres Ellie wonders if they'll ever make it to the finishing line! ...

Bear Grylls is a man who has always sought the ultimate in adventure. Growing up on the Isle of Wight he was taught by his father to sail & climb at an early age. As a teenager he found identity & purpose through both mountaineering & martial arts which led the young adventurer to the foothills of the mighty Himalaya & a grandmaster's karate training camp in Japan. On returning home he embarked upon the notoriously gruelling selection course for the British Special Forces to join 21 SAS
- a journey that was to push him to the very limits of physical & mental endurance. Then in a horrific free-fall parachuting accident Bear broke his back in three places. It was touch & go whether he would ever walk again. However only eighteen months later Bear became one of the youngest ever climbers to scale Everest aged only twenty-three. But this was just the beginning of his many extraordinary adventures... Known & admired by millions Bear Grylls has survived where few would dare to go. Now for the first time Bear tells the story of his action-packed life. Gripping moving & wildly exhilarating Mud Sweat & Tears" is a must-read for adrenalin junkies & armchair adventurers alike."
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Originally published in 1979 this was the first of Robert Munschs oral stories to be turned into a book. Since then it has made countless children (and adults) all around the world laugh out loud. When Jule Ann goes outside a mud puddle jumps on her & gets her dirty all over. No sooner does her mother scrub her clean than she ventures out again only to be pounced upon by the troublesome mud puddle. The cycle continues until finally Jule Ann gets the better of the mud puddle with cheerful ingenuity & two bars of smelly yellow soap. Lively clever artwork by award-winning illustrator Dusan Petricic gives this bestselling picture book a fresh & energetic look that will charm a new generation of young readers. ...

How did Bear Grylls become one of the worlds toughest adventurers? This is the thrilling story of everyones favourite real-life action man
- from secret childhood missions to climb the towns school buildings & steeples to starring in his own global TV series & becoming Chief Scout to the Scouting Association. Known & admired by millions Bear Grylls has survived in dangerous environments few would dare to visit. Find out what its like to take on mountaineering martial arts parachuting life in the SAS
- & all that nature can throw at you! It is abridged for younger readers.

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Meet Dirty Bertie
- world's grubbiest trouble magnet! Join Bertie in three hilarious new stories as he faces a barrage of footballs
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Meet the Muddle Builders
- youre sure to be impressed On every job big or small they really are the best! This is an another action-packed
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Once upon a time a spell went wrong -- & ordinary Joe Jefferson found himself transported to Muddle Earth where the wizards are mad the pink stinky hogs are stinky & the lampposts have serious attitude! Now two years later Muddle Earth needs him back. But can Joe find the lost Goblet of Porridge & rescue his sister from a thumb-sucking vampire Barbarian all before a dragon battle breaks out & threatens to toast them all! Get prepared for another epic battle between the forces of good evil & everything in between! ...