In 2006, the Guardian's much-loved Country Diary column is a hundred years old, & to commemorate the anniversary Martin Wainwright has compiled a collection of the best of a century's writing. Where Harry Griffin's A Lifetime of Mountains, Aurum's first & extremely successful collaboration with Guardian Books, was essentially a collection of writing about the Lake District, this new book covers the landscape of the whole of the United Kingdom, from Wales to Northern Irel&, Scotland to Norfolk. Also the Country Diary column has consistently attracted some of Britain's best writers on natural history & the countryside: Jim Perrin the mountaineering writer, whose biography of Don Whillans won the Boardman-Tasker Award, writes the dispatches from Snowdonia; Mark Cocker, author of the bestselling Birds Britannica, writes the Country Diary from Norfolk. There are also diaries written by a leading Suffragette, one of Rupert Brooke's mistresses, & even one of the Guardian's printers! And Martin Wainwright (who also edited A Lifetime of Mountains) has found diaries to reflect the changing of the countryside over a hundred years: from the prevalence of owls in First World War trenches full of vermin to the plant surveys of Second World War bombsites. ...

A Glimpse of Eternal Snows- A journey of Love & Loss in the Himalayas by Jane Wilson-Howarth is the autobiographical story of an English doctor relocating with her family to Nepal. A decision taken in the hope that a different culture will allow her new born baby, diagnosed with a serious neurological disorder, to live in dignity & happiness. Wanting David to live life to the fullest & spare him a life dominated by hospitals, doctors & medical tests, the family settles in their new home in Rajapur Isl&. There the baby looks much calmer, happier & starts to respond to the people around him. The villagers accept him & see beyond his illness & praise his beauty & blessings. Meanwhile, Alexander, the older son enjoys a different life than the one in England learning to climb trees, catching lizards & flying kites. It is in this more tolerant culture, with its spirituality & fatalism that accepting the challenges & finding joy seems much easier. Wilson-Howarth also explores the inevitable emotions, issues & ethics surrounding disability & death. Through her remarkable experiences set against the dramatic backdrop of the Himalayas, the author brings together the sounds, sights, smells & the wildlife she encounters & reveals the warmth & complexity of the local people.A Glimpse of Eternal Snow is an inspiring, thought provoking & touching personal story that develops together with a detailed & elaborate portrait of a Nepal. ...

By the winner of the Women`s Prize for Fiction 2018 Shortlisted for the Baileys Women`s Prize for Fiction Summer, 1914. Young Englishwoman Vivian Rose Spencer is in an ancient l&, about to discover the Temple of Zeus, the call of adventure, & love. Thousands of miles away a twenty-year-old Pathan, Qayyum Gul, is learning about brotherhood & loyalty in the British Indian army. Summer, 1915. Viv has been separated from the man she loves; Qayyum has lost an eye at Ypres. They meet on a train to Peshawar, unaware that a connection is about to be forged between their lives
- one that will reveal itself fifteen years later when anti-colonial resistance, an ancient artefact & a mysterious woman will bring them together again.
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Winner of the 2015 Costa Novel Award. A God in Ruins relates the life of Teddy Todd
- would-be poet, heroic World War II bomber
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Norman Lewis avoids the easy pleasures of travelling through the hill-forts of Rajasthan, visiting palace hotels & the Taj Mahal. Instead his travels in India begin in the impoverished, overpopulated & corrupt state of Bihar
- the scene of a brutal caste war between the untouchables & higher-caste gangsters. From these violent happenings, he heads down the west coast of Bengal & into the highlands of Orissa to testify to the life of the `indigenous tribals who have survived in isolation. As William Dalrymple observed in The Spectator, `the great virtue of Norman Lewis as a writer is that he can make the most boring things interesting; whatever he is describing whether it is a rickshaw driver, an alcohol crazed elephant, or a man defecating beside the road Lewis senses are awake for sounds or smells, & he can make you think twice about scenes you have seen ten thousand times before the book is full of some of the strangest facts imaginable.. . It is a joy to read. Other Norman Lewis titles published by Eland: Jackdaw Cake, The Missionaries, Voices of the Old Sea, A View of The World, Naples 44, A Dragon Apparent, Golden Earth, The Honoured Society, An Empire of the East, In Sicily & The Tomb in Seville.
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Since it was founded in 2003, Good African Coffee has helped thousands of farmers earn a decent living, send their children to school & escape a spiral of debt & dependence. Africa has received over $1 trillion in aid over the last fifty years & yet despite these huge inflows, the continent remains mired in poverty, disease & systemic corruption. In A Good African Story, Andrew Rugasira argues that trade has achieved what years of aid failed to deliver, & has provided a tantalising glimpse of what Africa could be. As he recounts the very personal story of his company & the challenges that he has faced
- & overcome
- as an African entrepreneur, Rugasira discusses the barriers that currently prevent fair & equal trade between Africa & the rest of the world. He sets out the arguments for building a sustainable trade framework & reducing dependency on handouts. & he builds up a manifesto for a revolution in the way that Africa is perceived. This is a book about Africa taking its destiny in its own hands, & dictating the terms of its future.

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Alex George`s A Good American is a positive & uplifting novel about the American Dream. This is the story of the Meisenheimer family, told by James, a third-generation American living in Beatrice, Missouri. It`s where his German grandparents
- Frederick & Jette
- found themselves after journeying across the turbulent Atlantic, fording the flood-swollen Mississippi, & being brought to a sudden halt by the broken waters of the pregnant Jette. A Good American tells of Jette`s dogged determination to feed a town sauerkraut & soul food; the loves & losses of her children, Joseph & Rosa; & the precocious voices of James & his brothers, sometimes raised in perfect harmony.. .sometimes in discord. But above all, A Good American is about the music in Frederick`s heart, a song that began as an aria, was jazzed by ragtime, & became an anthem of love for his adopted country that the family still hears to this day. ” There`s plenty of storytelling charm on display here, with echoes of John Irving`s humane zaniness”. (The New York Times). ” Epic, lyrical, compelling”. (USA Today).”A sweeping, lush intergenerational novel about a family of German-Americans learning to live in 20th-century America”. (Oprah.com).

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How two unlikely heroes inspired a whole town Sometimes, in the blink of an eye, you do something that changes your life forever. Like climbing a tree with a girl you don`t know. Marnus is tired of feeling invisible, living in the shadow of his two brothers. His older brother is good at breaking swimming records & girls` hearts. His younger brother is already a crafty entrepreneur who has tricked him into doing the dishes all summer. But when a girl called Leila turns up on their doorstep one morning with a petition, it`s the start of an unexpected adventure. And finally, Marnus gets the chance to be noticed... ...

An egg is the simplest & most versatile of ingredients. Nutritious, rich in protein, low in fat, perfect for a quick brunch, essential for baking & key to so many starters, main courses & puddings, there is something magical about the humble egg. Eggs are cheap & available to us all
- particularly to those who keep chickens. Inspired to find the most imaginative ways to make the best use of her hens` steady supply, & at the same time use as much fruit & vegetables from her garden as possible, Genevieve Taylor has created a year`s worth of recipes that are shaped by the changing seasons & are spontaneous, unfussy & joyful. Her passion for food that tastes & looks gorgeous, whether for every day or for parties, shines through each & every recipe & photograph in this wonderfully handy book. Move over omelette & custard, here are tortillas & tarts, pasta & pies, sauces & ice-creams, curries & clafouti & a couple of cakes for every month of the year.
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The old neighbourhood block in Beirut was home to an ever- changing population as the fighting intensified & lessened. But three people were almost always there. The older Polish woman, Margo, refugee from her past, her country & family after another war, spinning her tales of freedom fighters, itinerant peoples, despair & courage. & Lebanese born & bred Layla, only recently returned from Australia after fleeing the earlier civil war to teach her students again. Palestinian Kamal; refugee, writer & lecturer, whose cherished faith in a free, tolerant, democratic Lebanon has been shattered by difficulties of living there now. Among their friends are older politicians, university friends often visiting from lucrative posts in Europe or the USA, & local political activists. The retaliation raids by Israel & the political aftermath further shatter their community: some flee to the mountains, many leave the country. Some like Layla try to identify more deeply what it is that holds her to this place, why she cannot leave. Nada Awar Jarrar has written a powerful & moving novel, full of character & insight, of joy & tears, which makes us understand how people can stand such daily fear of violence & can continue to have faith in the country of their heart. ...