Spring 1858. The route of the Caledonian Railway through the southern uplands of the Scottish countryside is disrupted by a fatal crash. Inspector Robert Colbeck & Sergeant Victor Leeming are called from the crime of London to investigate & must contend with old enemy Superintendent Rory Mc Turk to uncover the criminals behind the disaster. The motive for the crash is unclear with suspects including the North British Railway a group of sabbatarians & those with personal vendettas to enact. Colbeck & Leeming face further obstacles when the Railway announces a reward of GBP400 for information
- soon they are pitched against criminals the public & their own colleagues in their attempts to solve the case. Meanwhile with the investigation stalling the newly married Madeleine Colbeck & her father race to reach Inspector Colbeck with important information. Will they be in time to save the royal family before their train journey to Balmoral?
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Internationally bestselling historian Antonia Fraser's new book brilliantly evokes a key period of pre-Victorian political & social history
- the passing of the Great Reform Bill of 1832. For our inconclusive times there is an attractive resonance with 1832 with its 'rotten boroughs' of Old Sarum & the disappearing village of Dunwich & its lines of most resistance to reform. This book is character-driven
- on the one hand the reforming heroes are the Whig aristocrats Lord Grey Lord Althorp & Lord John Russell & the Irish orator Daniel O' Connell. They included members of the richest & most landed Cabinet in history yet they were determined to bring liberty which whittled away their own power to the country. The all-too-conservative opposition comprised Lord Londonderry the Duke of Wellington the intransigent Duchess of Kent & the consort of the Tory King William IV Queen Adelaide. Finally there were 'revolutionaries' & reformers like William Cobbett the author of RURAL RIDES. This is a book that features one eventful year much of it violent. There were riots in Bristol Manchester & Nottingham & wider themes of Irish & 'negro emancipation' underscore the narrative. The time-span of the book is from Wellington's intractable declaration in November 1830 that ' The beginning of reform is the beginning of revolution' to 7th June 1832 the date of the extremely reluctant royal assent by William IV to the Great Reform Bill under the double threat of the creation of 60 new peers in the House of Lords & the threat of revolution throughout the country. These events led to a total change in the way Britain was governed a two-year revolution that Antonia Fraser brings to vivid dramatic life.

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England has a wealth of surviving houses from past centuries be they country mansions or rustic framed cottages & the circumstances of the age are often reflected in the interiors. Linda Hall charts the development of the fixtures & fittings we still see today
- from medieval & Tudor times to Georgian & Victorian. Each chapter deals with a different component & is supplemented by photographs & line drawings. This book will be useful for anyone with an interest in period features
- as a reference book for restoration or a guide to visits.

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Britain has a wonderfully rich stock of period houses
- everything from medieval cottages to Georgian townhouses & Edwardian mansions.
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Primo Levis The Periodic Table" is a collection of short stories that elegantly interlace the authors experiences in Fascist Italy & later in Auschwitz with his passion for scientific knowledge & discovery. This " Penguin Modern Classics" edition of is translated by Raymond Rosenthal with an essay on Primo Levi by Philip Roth. A chemist by training Primo Levi became one of the supreme witnesses to twentieth-century atrocity. In these haunting reflections inspired by the elements of the periodic table he ranges from young love to political savagery; from the inert gas argon
- & inert relatives like the uncle who stayed in bed for twenty-two years
- to life-giving carbon. Iron honours the mountain-climbing resistance hero who put iron in Levis student soul Cerium recalls the improvised cigarette lighters which saved his life in Auschwitz while Vanadium describes an eerie post-war correspondence with the man who had been his boss there. In his essay Philip Roth reproduces a conversation with Primo Levi delving into the process of Levis authorial technique his sense of identity & distinctiveness & the relationship between science writing & survival. Primo Levi (1919-87) an Italian Jew did not come to the wide attention of the English-reading audience until the last years of his life. A survivor of the Holocaust & imprisonment in Auschwitz Levi is considered to be one of the centurys most compelling voices & " The Periodic Table" is his most famous book. Levi is the author of " Moments of Reprieve" & " If Not Now When?" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". Philip Roth is the author of " Nemesis" & " The Plot Against America" & winner of the both the Pulitzer prize & the Man Booker International prize. If you enjoyed " The Periodic Table" you might like Levis " If Not Now When?" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". "A book it is necessary to read". (Saul Bellow author of " Herzog"). " One of the finest writers in post-war Ital". (" The Times")."

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The phenomenal Sunday Times" bestseller " Periodic Tales" by Hugh Andersey-Williams packed with fascinating stories & unexpected information about the building blocks of our universe. Everything in the universe is made from them including you. Like you the elements have personalities attitudes talents shortcomings stories rich with meaning. Here youll meet iron that rains from the heavens & noble gases that light the way to vice. Youll learn how lead can tell your future while zinc may one day line your coffin. Youll discover what connects the bones in your body with the Whitehouse in Washington the glow of a streetlamp with the salt on your dinner table. Unlocking their astonishing secrets & colourful pasts " Periodic Tales" is a voyage of wonder & discovery showing that their stories are our stories & their lives are inextricable from our own. " Science writing at its best. A fascinating & beautiful literary anthology bringing them to life as personalities. If only chemistry had been like this at school. A rich compilation of delicious tales". (Matt Ridley " Prospect"). "A love letter to the chemical elements. Aldersey-Williams is full of good stories & he knows how to tell them well". (" Sunday Telegraph"). " Great fun to read & an endless fund of unlikely & improbable anecdotes". (" Financial Times"). " The history science art literature & everyday applications of all the elements from aluminium to zinc". (" The Times"). Hugh Aldersey-Williams studied natural sciences at Cambridge. He is the author of several books exploring science design & architecture & has curated exhibitions at the Victoria & Albert Museum & the Wellcome Collection. He lives in Norfolk with his wife & son." ...

Rugby as with most other team sports is a game of technical finesse tactical boldness & refined & complex physical development. Periodization in Rugby" addresses one of the most crucial elements of the sport
- physical conditioning. Utilizing the revolutionary training techniques developed by Tudor Bompa
- the father of modern sports periodization
- this superb volume presents readers with proven training principles an overview of the fundamentals of rugby & an explanation of the physiological demands of the sport & how they impact on training. It also features short term & annual training plans with numerous drills & exercises to improve the skills of all players as well as expert tips on recovery & nutrition."


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Sports conditioning has advanced tremendously since the era when a no pain no gain" philosophy guided the training regimens of athletes. Dr. Tudor Bompa pioneered most of these breakthroughs proving long ago that its not only how much & how hard an athlete works but also when & what work is done that determines the athletes conditioning level. In " Periodization Training for Sports " Bompa demonstrates how to use periodized workouts in order to peak at optimal times by manipulating six different training phases: anatomical adaptation hypertrophy maximum strength conversion to power maintenance & transition. Coaches & athletes in 32 sports have at their fingertips a proven program that is sure to produce the best results. No more guessing about preseason conditioning in-season workloads or appropriate rest & recovery periods; now its simply a matter of identifying & implementing the information in this book. Presented in a useful format with plenty of ready-made training schedules " Periodization Training for Sports" is your best conditioning planner if you want to know what works why it works & when it works in the training room & on the practice field. Get in better shape next season & see the benefits of smarter workouts in competition." ...

Beck Hardin returns to his Texas hometown
- & his estranged father
- after the death of his wife leaves him with two children

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The story of Perkin Warbeck is one of the most compelling mysteries of English history. A young man suddenly emerged claiming to be Richard of York the younger of the Princes in the Tower. As such he tormented Henry VII for eight years. He tried three times to invade England & behaved like a prince. Officially however he was proclaimed to be Perkin Warbeck the son of a Flemish boatman. A diplomatic pawn he was used by the greatest European rulers of the age for their own purposes. All who dealt with him gave him the identity they wished him to have: either the Duke of York or a jumped-up lad from Flanders. It is possible that he was neither. It is also possible that by the end even he did not really know who he was. In Perkin Ann Wroe tells again a marvellous tale that is on the brink of being forgotten. She also dissects the official cover story. In doing so she delves into the secret corners of European history & produces a portrait of the late fifteenth century that is breathtaking in its detail. ...