It is AD 79 & Mount Vesuvius has erupted destroying Pompeii. Among the thousands of people huddled in refugee camps along the bay of Naples are Flavia Gemina & her friends Jonathan the Jewish boy Nubia the African slave-girl & Lupus the mute beggar boy. When the friends discover that children are being kidnapped from the camps they start to investigate & soon solve the mystery of the pirates of Pompeii. A terrifically exciting & dramatic story packed with superb historical detail. ...

When two young women meet under extraordinary circumstances in the eighteenth- century West Indies they are unified in their desire to escape their oppressive lives. The first is a slave forced to work in a plantation mansion & subjected to terrible cruelty at the hands of the plantation manager. The second is a spirited & rebellious English girl sent to the West Indies to marry well & combine the wealth of two respectable families. But fate ensures that one night the two young women have to save each other & run away to a life no less dangerous but certainly a lot more free. As pirates they roam the seas fight pitched battles against their foes & become embroiled in many a heart-quickening adventure. Written in brilliant & sparkling first-person narrative this is a wonderful novel in which Celia Rees has brought the past vividly & intimately to life. ...

Just make sure weve got plenty of hams on board. I didnt really enjoy our last adventure much because we ran out of hams about halfway through. & whats my motto? I like ham! It is 1837 & for the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain & his rag-tag pirate crew life on the high seas has gotten a little dull. With nothing to do but twiddle their hooks & lounge aimlessly on tropical beaches the Captain decides its time they had an adventure. A surprisingly successful boat raid leads them to the young Charles Darwin in desperate need of their help. & so the pirates set forth for London in a bid to save the scientist from the evil machinations of a diabolical Bishop. There they encounter grisly murder vanishing ladies the Elephant Man
- & have an exciting trip to the zoo.
...

To tie in with the DVD release of The Pirates! in an Adventure with Scientists this exclusive fully illustrated guide takes us behind the scenes to discover how 2012s hottest film was made. Packed with previously unseen visual material including storyboards & designs for sets & key characters this highly collectible full-colour book charts the journey from paper to screen: a five-year process for a crew of just 320 people
- requiring 3.000 storyboard images 19 456 square metres of foam board & 893 different mouths for the Pirate Captain alone. Also included are rare interviews with the directors producers & key members of the production team giving insight into the creative & technical challenges of a project of this size & ambition. The Making of The Pirates! is a must-have for the many fans of the film & for anyone interested in the methods passions & eccentricities of Aardman this most quintessentially British animation studio.
...

Whilst visiting their bank manager on the shores of Lake Geneva the Pirate Captain & his crew encounter no less than the literary giants of their age: the swaggering Lord Byron the oddly shifty Percy Shelley
- & his beautiful young fiancee Mary. Together they embark upon a journey that leads them away from Switzerland into the bowels of Oxford & finally to the forbidding heart of eastern Europe. It is an adventure that will force the Pirate Captain to confront some important questions namely: what is the secret behind his mysterious belly tattoo? Is Zombuloid the corpse-beast a better name for a monster than Gorgo: Half-man half-seaweed? & most importantly
- what happens when a pirate finally falls in love? Women in diaphanous nighties running down corridors! Brooding men with dark hair! Sinister taxidermy! Ghostly banging noises! The Pirates! In An Adventure with the Romantics contains all these things as well as a bit where the Captain dresses up as a sexy fireman.

...

This vibrant series covers over 170 destinations worldwide including our new range of UK specific titles from cosmopolitan urban delights to sun-kissed beach idylls. Bursting with insightful & easily accessible information these guides are full of practical information on how to make the most of a city break or longer holiday. The compact format quickly locates the top must see & do attractions. It spans a wide range of destinations including those served by budget airlines. It offers the most comprehensive list of UK city titles currently available. It has practical listings to suit varied budgets & tastes. It has imaginative suggestions that reveal each destination's hidden gems. It is organised by recognisable areas making orientation easy. ...

With his trademark blend of knowledge insight & wit Dadhichi shares his predictions for the new year. For Pisces 2013 promises satisfaction in your home life. This year you are at peace in your relationships with family & friends which allows you the space for clarity of mind to focus on your values & beliefs & the energy to tackle personal & professional goals. In Dadhichis horoscope for Pisces you will discover which star signs are worthy of your unreserved love & devotion how to satisfy your emotional & creative nature in the workplace & what 2013 has in store for you. YOUR STARS WILL REVEAL Monthly & daily predictions for 2013 Insights into the Pisces woman man & child Which star signs you are best matched with as well as who to avoid in the areas of love friendship & the workplace ...

First-time mum Roxy feels perennially ticked off. She & her partner Jack have left London for a new life in the village of Riverside with their ten-month-old daughter Joey. But their new house resembles a building site & Roxy is struggling to cope with parenthood. With no family or friends to turn to for help Roxy sets up a club in order to meet like-minded parents & so begins The Pissed-Off Parents Club. Hilarious & refreshingly original this is a story telling it like it is -- for mums & dads of all descriptions. ...

The work pistache (pis-tash) means a friendly spoof or parody of another's work. [ Derivation uncertain possibly a cross between pastiche & p**stake.] From Thomas Hardy's football report to Dan Brown's visit to the cash dispenser the work of the great & the not-so-great is here sent up with little hope of coming down. Most of these pieces began their life on Radio Four's The Write Stuff" but have been retooled for the printed page. Others such as Martin Amis' " First day at Hogwarts" have been written specially for this collection. Philip Larkin's " Lines in Celebration of the Queen Mother's 115th Birthday" first banned then cut by the BBC appears in its entirety for the first time. This is not a book for the faint-hearted or the downstairs lavatory. It is a book for the bedside table of someone you cannot live without." ...

Benjamin Disraeli & William Gladstone Edward Heath & Margaret Thatcher Gordon Brown & Tony Blair
- personal rivalry is the very
...