When Nicholas father dies he his mother & sister Kate are left penniless. To earn his keep Nicholas becomes a tutor at Dotheboys Hall but soon discovers that the headmaster Wackford Squeers is a one eyed tyrant who insists on a harsh regime. Nicholas embarks on an adventure that takes him from loathsome boarding schools to the London stage. Dickens confronts issues of neglect & cruelty in this blackly comic masterpeice. ...

Nicholas Parsons has enjoyed a long & varied career encompassing theatre television film & radio. He is perhaps best known as the straight man to Arthur Haynes in the 60s as the presenter of Sale of the Century in the 70s & today as the chairman of the long-running Radio 4 panel game Just a Minute". Along the way he has performed impersonations in the lavatories of a Clydebank engineering yard during the war been the voice of a Gerry Anderson Texan sheriff roller-skated in Charlie Girl at the Victoria Palace & appeared in a series of Doctor Who. His comedy chat show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is now in its tenth consecutive year. Here he recalls an extraordinary career that has led him to star on the West End stage work with some of Britains finest comedians including Kenneth Williams Tony Hancock Benny Hill & Paul Merton & appear in stockings & suspenders in " The Rocky Horror Show". Funny thoughtful & at times moving " Nicholas Parsons: With Just a Touch of Hesitation Repetition & Deviation" celebrates a fascinating life in comedy." ...

Forget the huge belly & the jolly old elf stuff because before Santa grew out the beard & shimmied his way down your chimney he was a swashbuckling young man with a bit of a wild streak-and a talent for wizardry. When St. Norths latest invention The Robot Genie falls under the spell of The Nightmare King Santa pays a terrible price. He is shrunken frozen in place & trapped in a metallic shell & turned into a toy which means he is powerless to stop The Robot Genie from enacting The Nightmare Kings evil plot to terrorize children. But toys are magical things arent they? Without being able to speak or interact they can form powerful & lasting bonds with young children children who care for them & love them with all of their hearts-and when St. North the toy falls into the hands of a little girl who needs a toy more than most they unlock the spell & set off a chain of events that send St. North on a sleigh ride through a starry starry night...and lays the foundation for the next Guardian books. ...

This is the first biography of the Deputy Prime Minister & Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. The 2010 general election was a breakthrough moment in British politics for the Liberal Democrat Party. By forming an historic coalition partnership with the Conservatives their charismatic young leader steered them into government something they could not have dared think about only weeks previously. But who is this man who now leads our country whenever David Cameron is absent? Where is he from? What makes him who he is? This book gives the background on who Nick Clegg really is & what drives him. It charts Cleggs rise from MEP to Deputy Prime Minister & lynchpin in the historic coalition government. It also looks at the extraordinary family history that helps define him as a politician & the incidents in his own past that have threatened to derail him. Released in time for the September 2011 Liberal Democrat Conference Nick Clegg: The Biography will also be in a position to reflect upon the momentous first fifteen months of the coalition government
- including the results of the May 2011 referendum on AV
- & its impact upon both Clegg & the party he leads.

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Nick Knight is among the worlds most influential fashion photographers. His clients are among the top in fashion & design & include Alexander Mc Queen Calvin Klein Christian Dior Levi Strauss Yohji Yamamoto & Yves Saint Laurent. He has also shot album covers for Bjork David Bowie Kylie & Massive Attack & his work has been exhibited at international institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum & Saatchi Gallery. The book is a collection of Knights most beautiful & important images as well as previously unpublished photographs. Contents cover the different aspects of Knights work to explain & visually reveal his point of view on a range of topics that he believes are crucial to understanding the motivation behind what he does. The book contains an introductory essay by Charlotte Cotton the head of the Photography department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as well as a variety of images exploring new photographic technology: his video work & the body of imagery he has developed for showstudio.com. All in all this is a gorgeous comprehensive volume by one of the worlds most innovative highly respected fashion photographers. ...

In the culinary world Scotland is renowned for the quality of its ingredients. Whether its wild salmon organically reared beef raspberries shellfish or even whisky Scottish produce is full of depth & flavour. Combine these ingredients with Scotlands top chef Nick Nairn & the results are outstanding. A self-taught cook Nick has been a long-time champion of fresh Scottish produce but his cooking also takes its influences from all over the world. In New Scottish Cookery Nick combines the very best fresh Scottish ingredients with a myriad of international flavours to create a mouth-watering collection of recipes destined to become the Scottish classics of the future. Containing the signature dishes that have made Nicks reputation from his bestselling Wild Harvest books as well as over 80 new recipes the book is a celebration of good quality great-tasting food. Beautifully illustrated with 100 colour photos & including a useful guide to where to buy the best Scottish ingredients Nick Nairns New Scottish Cookery will delight food lovers everywhere. ...

This series explores how prime ministers have used their power & responded to the great challenges of their time & how they made the job what it is today: Sir Robert Walpole the first & longest-serving prime minister; Lord North remembered as the prime minister who lost America; Sir Robert Peel who put national interest before party; Lord Palmerston who cultivated a cavalier image & dominated mid-Victorian politics; Benjamin Disraeli turned his skills as a novelist to politics & became Britains first Jewish-born prime minister; David Lloyd George Welsh radical who set up the early welfare state became a presidential PM in the First World War & split the Liberal party; Stanley Baldwin the first prime minister to master radio broadcasting his notion of Englishness shaped inter-war Britain; & Clement Attlee who lacked any charisma but created the modern welfare state & managed the big political beasts in his Cabinet. The BBCs Nick Robinson presents his fascinating & absorbing Radio 4 series featuring eight famous British prime ministers. ...

Holiday camp is one of the best things about summer thanks to Nicki the Holiday Camp Fairy! Rachel & Kirsty have been looking forward to camp for months but everything is going wrong. Can they help Nicki fix things before the whole summer is ruined? ...

From its humble origins as a Tudor hunting lodge to its present-day status as a protected historic building Nicky Haslam's delightful ' Folly de Grandeur' is a unique English country house that is one of the renowned decorator's favourite places. In this beautifully illustrated book Part 1: A History of the House provides a timeline of the house together with an overview of the design aesthetics that characterize Haslam's look. Part 2: The Essence of Style covers wall finishes soft furnishings the transition from room to room furniture form style & arrangement classical elements & creating tableaux with objets & photographs. In Part 3: A House for All Seasons you will find a year-round appreciation of this remarkable home which was once owned by John Fowler co-founder of Colefax & Fowler. By recounting events
- from society gatherings to quiet country weekends
- stories about the rooms & details about the decoration & furnishings Haslam reveals the personal touches that give the folly its unique sense of life both indoors & out. Inviting us into his carefully preserved & lovingly decorated country home he explains the intricacies & delights of carefully mismatched furniture collected over the years a colour palette of subtle warming tones that are quietly welcoming & effortlessly romantic & a wonderful collection of art that is nothing short of inspirational. Finally in Part 4: The Perfect Setting Haslam shares unique garden design secrets & outdoor 'rooms' that complement his celebrated home.

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Rachel & Kirsty are so excited about returning to Rainspell Island for a holiday! But their hearts sink when they go to their favourite beach & see that it's covered in litter. They're determined to clean it up but they need a very special fairy friend to help them... ...