Cats! Some are sane some are mad & some are good & some are bad. Meet magical Mr Mistoffelees sleepy Old Deuteronomy & curious Rum Tum Tugger. But you'll be lucky to meet Macavity because Macavity's not there! In 1925 T.S. Eliot became co-director of Faber & Faber who remain his publishers to this day. Throughout the 1930s he composed the now famous poems about Macavity Old Deuteronomy Mr Mistoffelees & many other cats under the name of Old Possum". In 1981 Eliot's poems were set to music by Andrew Lloyd Webber as Cats which went on to become the longest-running Broadway musical in history." ...

Apulia (or Puglia) is the heel of Italy stretching down from the spur of the Italian boot. Its landscape is often very beautiful & it has wonderful old cities with Romanesque cathedrals Gothic castles & a great wealth of Baroque architecture together with rupestrian churches that contain Byzantine frescoes. But although far from inaccessible until quite recently it was seldom visited by Anglo Saxons. Today however Apulia is becoming fashionable an alternative to Tuscany. It is featured on radio & television; travel supplements describe its beaches & its cooking supermarkets stock Apulian wine oil bread & pasta. Yet almost nothing about the region has been published in English since the days of Norman Douglas & the Sitwells. One can find holiday histories of Tuscany but there is no popular introduction to Apulian history not even in Italian. Our book which grew out of what was originally intended as a travel book has been written to fill the gap by providing a simple readable account. ...

This is a comprehensive survey of the social historical & architectural importance of the English parsonage & its future. Traditional English rectories & vicarages sold out of service by the Church have become uniquely desirable to property buyers & are now cherished by their new private owners. They combine many coveted qualities: their fine architecture their air of civilization their charm & character the traditional values & quality of essential ' Englishness' which they evoke; their large gardens & often splendidly rural locations. Despite their historical social & architectural importance there is no comprehensive book about them currently in print. This book examines the place of rectories & vicarages in the history of the Church & of this country & traces their evolution through the centuries. It looks at their many & varied styles of architecture profiling some individual houses & highlighting some of the most architecturally outstanding & interesting ones. It is handsomely illustrated with quality color & black-&-white photographs. Although rectories & vicarages have had their ups & downs throughout history the period from the early twentieth century to the present day has posed perhaps the greatest challenge: why if they are so desirable has the Church been selling off its finest houses? The Old Rectory" examines the contribution to our culture made by the clerical families who occupied these houses & looks at some of the famous people (and eccentrics) who have been associated with them." ...

Power: Two clever stylish & ambitious women are fighting for control of a multi-million cosmetics empire. Mystery: What is the secret that lies behind its charming ruthless creator Julian Morell? & why when he dies does he leave half his fortune to a complete stranger? Glamour: Here are the designer interiors the jewels cars & to-die-for couture of the rich & the super-rich
- the glittering fabulous world Julian created for himself & the women who loved him. Passion: & here is a love story
- poignant sexy tempestuous
- featuring a mother a mistress a wife & a daughter all of whom are overshadowed by.. .old sins.


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John Lowe is one of Britain's greatest ever darts champions. Unruffled on the oche even in the face of the greatest challenges ' Old Stoneface' as John is known became an indomitable force in the darts world. With every major darts accolade under his belt his name has gone down in the history of the game. It was fate that kick-started John's career in the sport when one evening he was asked to take someone's place during a match. Had it not been for this John would have followed his father down the mine & led quite a different life. In this fascinating book John speaks candidly of his two marriages the glamour & the strain brought about by jetting around the world to play in tournaments as well as tales from all the major matches & what he really thinks about his big-name opponents. A must-read for any sports fan. ...

As one of the richest sources of diversion for the people of Britain between the end of the First World War & the 1960s the variety theatre emerged from the embers of music hall a vulgar & rumbustious entertainment that had held the working classes in thrall since the 1840s. Music hall bosses decided they would do better business if a man going to theatres on his own could take his wife & children with him knowing they would see or hear nothing that would scandalise them. So variety a gentler less red-blooded entertainment was gradually established. At the top of the profession were Gracie Fields a peerless singer & comedienne & Max Miller a comic who was renowned for being risque but who in fact never cracked a dirty joke. They were supported by acts that matched the word variety: ventriloquists drag artists animal acts acrobats jugglers magicians & many more. But the variety theatre was constantly under threat first from revue then radio the cinema girlie shows the birth of rock n roll & finally television. By the end of the 1950s the variety business seemed to have given up but the recent & extraordinary popularity of talent shows on television has proved the public appetite is still there. Variety could be about to start all over again. ...

In the past 100 years Old Trafford has hosted World Cup & European Championship matches FA Cup Finals & a Champions League Final & has witnessed countless United wins draws & defeats. Yet it endures above all as a monument to the vision of the club's founder & first patron John Henry Davies. Recognising football's exponential growth in the 1900s & the need to safely house vast numbers of supporters Davies recognised that the champions of England & 1909 FA Cup winners needed a more spacious home than tatty old Bank Street in Clayton a ground with few facilities & a capacity of less than 25 000. A brewer by trade the chairman found a spare plot of land in Old Trafford & bolstered by the club's success appointed famed football stand architect Archibald Leitch to construct a 100 000 capacity stadium on the site. Built in 1909 & officially opened in February 1910 for the league visit of Liverpool Old Trafford was instantly acclaimed by one reporter as the most handsomest [sic] the most spacious & the most remarkable arena I have ever seen. As a football ground it is unrivalled in the world it is an honour to Manchester & the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed." Unfortunately the stadium arrived at just the wrong time for the club as United were about to begin a 37 year trophy-free run the longest in the club's history. Consequently United's average attendance before the war rarely topped the 30 000 mark in a ground with a capacity of over 70 000. The luckless stadium suffered further blows on the nights of the 8th & 11th March 1941 when it was bombed during The Blitz. & so for four seasons after the war United were forced to play their 'home' fixtures at Maine Road. Now in its second 'life' Old Trafford was no longer alone as a large capacity stadium yet United's resurgence under Matt Busby filled it more often than not. The arrival of floodlights & European football heralded a new chapter: the stadium is widely regarded as at its best on such occasions & from the first game against the immortals of Real Madrid in 1957 the ground hosted continental opposition & became renowned across Europe. In the sixties the ground had a new cantilever stand added to the west in preparation for the 1966 World Cup Finals & later more seats were added at the Scoreboard End & behind the Stretford End. However these improvements were as nothing compared to the dramatic changes brought about in the wake of the Taylor Report. The birth of the Premier League & United's domestic dominance helped transform the ground
- first into an all-seater stadium then steady season-by-season growth saw it swell to hold over 75 000. For a period during the protracted construction of Wembley the ground even became the national stadium hosting twelve England matches. In ' Old Trafford' Iain Mc Cartney updates his original 1996 book. Featuring the original site plans never-seen-before pictures of the ground's construction development & of course the great matches hosted there. Almost alone now among the grounds built during the first football boom in the early 20th century Old Trafford has become an essential part of the English football landscape to the extent that it is inconceivable that any future World Cup bid would not feature it prominently. A century on it is still 'an honour to Manchester' & the north's prime football arena."
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The Old Ways" is the stunning new book by acclaimed nature writer Robert Macfarlane Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize ...

The Old Ways" is the stunning new book by acclaimed nature writer Robert Macfarlane. Shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson prize ...

First published in 1908 The Old Wives' Tale" affirms the integrity of ordinary lives as it tells the story of the Baines sisters
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