From Norman Davies the acclaimed author of Europe: A History" comes the magical history of Europe's lost realms selected as a Book of the Year by the " Sunday Times" " Daily Telegraph" " New Statesman" " Independent" " Guardian" & " Financial Times". Europe's history is littered with kingdoms duchies empires & republics which have now disappeared but which were once fixtures on the map of their age. What happened to the once-great Mediterranean ' Empire of Aragon'? Where did the half-forgotten kingdoms of Burgundy go? Which current nations will one day become a distant memory too? This original & enthralling book peers through the cracks of history to discover the stories of lost realms across the centuries. " Dazzling provocative & brilliant". (Dominic Sandbrook " Sunday Times" Books of the Year). "A luminous account.. .there are few better ways of understanding the multilayered splendours & horrors of Europe's past than through the pages of this wise humane & unfailingly engaging book". (John Adamson " Sunday Telegraph"). "" Vanished Kingdoms" is great history & also great art. It is written with verve passion & profound empathy". (David Marquand " New Statesman" Books of the Year). "A magnificent achievement. Brocaded with scholarship the book is unlikely ever to be equalled". (Ian Thomson " Independent")." ...

A killer flees the scene of a homicide at a prestigious Manhattan music school & locks himself in a classroom. Within minutes the police have him surrounded. Then a scream rings out followed by a gunshot. The police break down the door. The room is empty. Lincoln Rhyme & Amelia Sachs are brought in to help with the high-profile investigation. For the ambitious Sachs solving the case could earn her a promotion. For the quadriplegic Rhyme it means relying on his protge to ferret out a master illusionist theyve dubbed the conjurer who baits them with gruesome murders that become more diabolical with each fresh crime. As the fatalities rise & the minutes tick down Rhyme & Sachs must move beyond the smoke & mirrors to prevent a terrifying act of vengeance that could become the greatest vanishing act of all. ...

Rupert Everett's first memoir
- Red Carpets & Other Banana Skins
- was an international bestseller & an instant classic on publication

...

Rupert Everett's first memoir
- Red Carpets & Other Banana Skins
- was an international bestseller & an instant classic on publication

...

Twenty years ago one-year-old Lauren disappeared in the most terrifying way imaginable. Snatched from a creche during a momentary blackout Lauren was never seen again & to this day her mother still grieves her loss. When ex-policeman Tom Lomax gets a mysterious offer from Sara Eaton heir to a massive fortune to fly to her private island all expenses paid he cannot help but be intrigued. Sara has received a troubling message & despite all the privileges in her life she now has no one to turn to & doesn't know whom she can trust. In a matter of hours both will be thrown headfirst into a race against time that will challenge everything they've believed in & change both their lives for ever. An action-packed nail-biting thriller with a heart-wrenching story of loss at its core The Vanishing is the brand new novel from acclaimed thriller writer John Connor. ...

THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX is vintage Maggie O' Farrell: a stunning imagining of a life stolen & reclaimed. Edinburgh ...

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father Andrew she now has a young daughter a handsome fianc & her own Search & Rescue bloodhound
- which she uses to find missing persons. But as she plans her wedding she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. Then a policeman shows up at her door arresting her father for the kidnap of a little girl. & Delia's past & present fracture into little pieces. VANISHING ACTS is a book about the very nature & power of memory. It explores what happens when the past we have been running from catches up to us & questions who we trust to tell us the story of our lives before we are capable of remembering it ourselves.
...

There was a smell in the air of tar & rope & rusted chain a smell of tidal water. Down harbour around the point was the open sea. Here was the freedom I desired long sought-for not yet known. Freedom to write to walk to wander freedom to climb hills to pull a boat to be alone.. .I for this & this for me. Daphne du Maurier lived in Cornwall for most of her life. Its rugged coastline wild terrain & tumultuous weather inspired her imagination & many of her works are set there including Rebecca Jamaica Inn & Frenchmans Creek. In Vanishing Cornwall she celebrates the land she loved exploring its legends its history & its people eloquently making a powerful plea for Cornwalls preservation. ...

Vanishing Ireland is a unique collection of portrait interviews looking at the dying ways & traditions of Irish life & taking us back to an Ireland virtually unrecognisable to todays post-boom generation. Illustrated with over a hundred evocative & stunning photographs we meet the people & customs that shaped the cultural identity of the Irish nation. Through their own words & memories sixty-four men & women transport us back to a time when people lived off the land & the sea when music & storytelling were essential parts of life when a person was defined by their trade. Divided into five parts
- Children of the Field Children of the Music Children of the Horse Children of the Trade & Children of the Water
- Vanishing Ireland brings together the stories of those who lived through Irelands formative years. We hear of children harassed by the Black & Tans of ceilis in kitchens & the rigours of working in the fields of the wonder of electricity & the devastation of emigration. From coalminers to saddlers farmers to fishermen along with horse dealers publicans housemaids & musicians
- these remarkably poignant interviews & photographs in their simplicity & honesty will make you laugh & cry but above all will provide a valuable chronicle that connects twenty-first century Ireland to a rapidly disappearing world.


...

London is & always has been a vortex of perpetual change. The 7 million people that live in the city today are presented with a volume of commercial technological & cultural choice that dwarfs any other period in its history. As each new high street brand & high-tech building appears on the urban landscape it becomes increasingly difficult to recall what once came before. This sense of loss is exacerbated by the sheer pace of life that creates an almost 'tunnel vision' effect in its citizens & visitors. This book offers an opportunity to remove those blinkers & enjoy a quirky & evocative look at a bygone city. Using atmospheric photography gleaned from the extensive Mirrorpix archives it chronicles the changing topography of London as well as charting the social evolution of the city through its industries sub-cultures fashions & momentous occasions. ...