Christophe Bassons is a former professional cyclist. His career was a successful one albeit never in the full glare of the media. That all changed when, in 1998, the Festina doping scandal broke & Bassons shot to fame as one of the handful of clean riders in the peloton
- & as the only professional who dared to speak openly about the topic. Having been seen as a possible champion, his instinctive & stubborn refusal to dope saw him outstripped in physique, stamina & speed by men he`d once equalled or exceeded. His willingness to denounce the doping culture set him against the entire ethos of professional cycling: owners, management & his peers
- the likes of Lance Armstrong, Richard Virenque, Christophe Moreau. A year later, Bassons` career was over. Having clashed publicly with other riders
- notably with Armstrong during the 1999 Tour de France
- & written in French newspapers of his disbelief & disgust, Bassons found himself exhausted & exiled
- chewed up & spat out by the sport he loved. First published in French in 2000 & now updated following recent revelations from Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton & other high-profile figures, & translated by Peter Cossins, A Clean Break is unmissable reading for all cycling fans. It offers a unique & heartbreaking take on the subject.




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Intimidated by her father, the rector of Knype Hill, Dorothy performs her submissive roles of dutiful daughter & bullied housekeeper. Her thoughts are taken up with the costumes she is making for the church school play, by the hopelessness of preaching to the poor & by debts she cannot pay in 1930s Depression Engl&. Suddenly her routine shatters & Dorothy finds herself down & out in London. She is wearing silk stockings, has money in her pocket & cannot remember her name. Orwell leads us through a landscape of unemployment, poverty & hunger, where Dorothy`s faith is challenged by a social reality that changes her life. ...

THE NEW INSPECTOR ADAMSBERG NOVEL. Longlisted for the CWA International Dagger. A woman is found dead in her bath. The murder has been disguised as a suicide & a strange symbol is discovered at the scene. Then the symbol is observed near a second victim, who ten years earlier had also taken part in a doomed expedition to Icel&. How are these deaths, & rumours of an Icelandic demon, linked to a secretive local society? & what does the mysterious sign mean? Commissaire Adamsberg is about to find out. ...

Anthony Burgess` nightmare vision of a society overrun by nihilistic violence & governed by a menacing totalitarian state, ”A Clockwork Orange”

Includes:: an introduction by Blake Morrison in ” Penguin Modern Classics”. Fifteen-year-old Alex doesn`t just like ultra-violence
- he also enjoys rape, drugs & Beethoven`s ninth. He & his gang of droogs rampage through a dystopian future, hunting for terrible thrills. But when Alex finds himself at the mercy of the state & subject to the ministrations of Dr Brodsky, & the mind-altering treatment of the Ludovico Technique, he discovers that fun is no longer the order of the day. The basis for Stanley Kubrick`s notorious 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange is both a virtuoso performance from an electrifying prose stylist & a serious exploration of the morality of free will. In his introduction, Blake Morrison situates ”A Clockwork Orange” within the context of Anthony Burgess` many other works, explores the author`s unhappiness with the Stanley Kubrick film version, analyses the composition of the Nadsat argot spoken by Alex & his droogs, & examines the influences on Burgess` unique, eternally original style. Anthony Burgess (1917-93) was born in Manchester in 1917. From 1954 to 1960 he was stationed in Malaysia as an education officer
- during this time he started writing The Malayan Trilogy. Diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour in 1959, Burgess became a full-time writer & went on to write a book a year up until his death in 1993. His many works include: ” The Complete Enderby”, ” Tremor of Intent”, ” The Kingdom of the Wicked” & ”A Clockwork Orange”. If you enjoyed ”A Clockwork Orange”, you might like Ken Kesey`s ” One Flew Over the Cuckoo`s Nest”, also available in ” Penguin Modern Classics”. ”I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language...a very funny book.” (William S. Burroughs).



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Set in Amsterdam, the novel introduces Lotte Meerman, a Cold Case detective still recovering from the emotional devastation of her previous investigation. A tip-off leads Lotte to an unresolved ten-year-old murder case in which her father was the lead detective. When she discovers irregularities surrounding the original investigation that make him a suspect, she decides to cover for him. She doesn`t tell her boss about the family connection & jeopardises her career by hiding evidence. Now she has to find the real murderer before her acts are discovered, otherwise her father will go to jail & she will lose her job, the one thing in life she still takes pride in.. . ...

Perfect for fans of John le Carre, a gripping & suspenseful spy novel from `the master of the modern spy thriller` (Mail on Sunday) MI6`s Head of Station in Turkey is killed in a mysterious plane crash. Amelia Levene, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, wants the incident investigated
- quickly & quietly. The only man she can trust is Thomas Kell, a disgraced spy searching for redemption. Arriving in Istanbul, Kell discovers that MI6 operations in the region have been fatally compromised: a traitor inside Western Intelligence threatens not just the Special Relationship, but the security of the entire Middle East. Kell`s search for the mole takes him from London, to Greece, & into Eastern Europe. But when Kell is betrayed by those closest to him, the stakes become personal. He will do anything to see this operation through
- including putting himself, & others, in the line of fire...

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A collection of four historic maps of Cambridgeshire from 1611-1836. John Speed, 1611; Johan Blaeu, 1648; Thomas Moule Cambridgeshire, 1836; Thomas Moule City of Cambridge, 1836.A historic souvenir for visiting tourists to Cambridgeshire as well as a valuable reference resource for local & family history research. ...

It was 1953 when, not long after arriving in New York City, a young artist named Andy Warhol had begun to make his way in the world of commercial illustration. As Arthur Edelman, his former employer, relates in his introductory note, in a hallway of the Empire State Building stood a young man with Jackson Pollock shoes, a rumpled black suit, a portfolio, & a shock of white hair. Over several years, the Edelmans & Warhol worked closely together. Their relationship culminated in a coloring book that could have only come from the mind of Warhol, created especially for clients children for Christmas in 1961, & somewhat of a cause celebre when it was published in 1990. Now back in print, ”A Coloring Book: Drawings by Andy Warhol” will amuse & charm a new audience with its delightfully carefree animal drawings, revealing the whimsical side to his creativity. ...

The saga that has enthralled the millions of readers of The Pillars of the Earth & World Without End now continues with Ken Follett`s magnificent, gripping A Column of Fire. Christmas 1558, & young Ned Willard returns home to Kingsbridge to find his world has changed. The ancient stones of Kingsbridge Cathedral look down on a city torn by religious hatred. Europe is in turmoil as high principles clash bloodily with friendship, loyalty & love, & Ned soon finds himself on the opposite side from the girl he longs to marry, Margery Fitzgerald. Then Elizabeth Tudor becomes queen & all of Europe turns against Engl&. The shrewd, determined young monarch sets up the country`s first secret service to give her early warning of assassination plots, rebellions & invasion plans. Elizabeth knows that alluring, headstrong Mary Queen of Scots lies in wait in Paris. Part of a brutally ambitious French family, Mary has been proclaimed the rightful ruler of Engl&, with her own supporters scheming to get rid of the new queen. Over a turbulent half-century, the love between Ned & Margery seems doomed, as extremism sparks violence from Edinburgh to Geneva. With Elizabeth clinging precariously to her throne & her principles, protected by a small, dedicated group of resourceful spies & courageous secret agents, it becomes clear that the real enemies
- then as now
- are not the rival religions. The true battle pitches those who believe in tolerance & compromise against the tyrants who would impose their ideas on everyone else
- no matter the cost.


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