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. ...

Escapee from suburbia, overweight, oversexed.. . Morgan Leafy isn`t overburdened with worldly success. Actually, he is refreshingly free from it. But then, as a representative of Her Britannic Majesty in tropical Kinjanja, it was not very constructive of him to get involved in wholesale bribery. Nor was it exactly oiling his way up the ladder to hunt down the improbably pointed breasts of his boss` daughter when officially banned from horizontal delights by a nasty dose.. . Falling back on his deep-laid reserves of misanthropy & guile, Morgan has to fight off the sea of humiliation, betrayal & ju-ju that threatens to wash over him. ...

Sometimes the end is just the beginning of a new adventure. Martin`s life changes the day his dad is killed in a car accident. No one talks about it. His mum refuses to leave the house. His sister is only interested in her boyfriend. & Martin? He spends his afternoons alone with the family chickens
- that`s why they call him ` Clucky`
- & at night, he solves difficult maths problems in his head to help him fall asleep. But one day Martin meets a boy called Vusi, who dreams of making a zombie movie. The two are plunged head first into a wild adventure, pulling everyone they know along with them. Shortlisted for the Found in Translation award, it has also since been made into a popular film in Afrikaans.

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Identifying the murderer of the Chancellor of the University is not the only challenge facing physician Matthew Bartholomew. Many of his patients have been made worse by the ministrations of a `surgeon` recently arrived from Nottingham, his sister is being rooked by the mason she has commissioned to build her husband`s tomb, & his friend, Brother Michael, has been offered a Bishopric which will cause him to leave Cambridge. Brother Michael, keen to leave the University in good order, is determined that the new Chancellor will be a man of his choosing. The number of contenders putting themselves forward for election threatens to get out of control, then more deaths in mysterious circumstances make it appear that someone is taking extreme measures to manipulate the competition. With passions running high & a bold killer at large, both Bartholomew & Brother Michael fear the very future of the University is at stake. ...

Identifying the murderer of the Chancellor of the University is not the only challenge facing physician Matthew Bartholomew. Many of his patients have been made worse by the ministrations of a `surgeon` recently arrived from Nottingham, his sister is being rooked by the mason she has commissioned to build her husband`s tomb, & his friend, Brother Michael, has been offered a Bishopric which will cause him to leave Cambridge. Brother Michael, keen to leave the University in good order, is determined that the new Chancellor will be a man of his choosing. The number of contenders putting themselves forward for election threatens to get out of control, then more deaths in mysterious circumstances make it appear that someone is taking extreme measures to manipulate the competition. With passions running high & a bold killer at large, both Bartholomew & Brother Michael fear the very future of the University is at stake. ...

Welcome to London in the late 17th century. After years of Civil War & repressive Puritan rule, King Charles II is back in town & his restoration has brought new life to this great city. The theatres are open again, markets & shops are thriving & the streets are crowded. People are talking about new ideas in science & architecture & experimenting with new fashions. This book takes you on a journey across London at this time, telling you about its `five-star` sights & their history. It also explains the key events of the time: the reasons for the Restoration, the arrival of the Plague &, of course, the Great Fire of 1666 & the new London that arose out of its ashes. Published to coincide with the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire, this book gives older children a much broader context for this famous event. With a mixture of maps, archive images & present day photography, it acts as a wonderful guide both to London in the 1660s & how its legacy can still be found in the capital today. London on Fire is an ideal resource for readers aged 10+ & supports the history curriculum at Key Stage 3. ...

The untold story of how America`s secret war in Laos in the 1960s transformed the CIA from a loose collection of spies into a military operation & a key player in American foreign policy. January, 1961: Laos, a tiny nation few Americans have heard of, is at risk of falling to communism & triggering a domino effect throughout Southeast Asia. This is what President Eisenhower believed when he approved the CIA`s Operation Momentum, creating an army of ethnic Hmong to fight communist forces there. Largely hidden from the American public-and most of Congress-Momentum became the largest CIA paramilitary operation in the history of the United States. The brutal war lasted more than a decade, left the ground littered with thousands of unexploded bombs, & changed the nature of the CIA forever. With ”revelatory reporting” & ”lucid prose” (The Economist), Kurlantzick provides the definitive account of the Laos war, focusing on the four key people who led the operation: the CIA operative whose idea it was, the Hmong general who led the proxy army in the field, the paramilitary specialist who trained the Hmong forces, & the State Department careerist who took control over the war as it grew. Using recently declassified records & extensive interviews, Kurlantzick shows for the first time how the CIA`s clandestine adventures in one small, Southeast Asian country became the template for how the United States has conducted war ever since-all the way to today`s war on terrorism. ...

The UK's most influential food & drink journalist shoots a few of the sacred cows of the food world. The doctrine of local food is dead. Farmers' markets are merely a lifestyle choice for the affluent middle classes. & 'organic' has become little more than a marketing label that is way past its sell by date. That may be a little hard to swallow for the ethically-aware food shopper but it doesn't make it any less true. & now the UK's most outspoken & entertaining food writer is ready to explain why. This engaging, witty & honest narrative is driven by the appetite of one large man: Jay Rayner
- someone who lives to eat, but also understands that there is a world beyond the high-end obsessions of the farmers' market. Combining sharply-observed memoir
- growing up with the UK's most famous agony aunt who also happened to be a bloody good TV chef; witnessing the arrival of Mc Donald's & Dayville's ice cream in Seventies London; working as a butcher's boy
- with hard-nosed reportage, Jay Rayner will blow conventional foodie wisdom apart. For here is the reality: within a few decades we will have nine billion mouths to feed, & we won't be doing that by flogging free-range eggs from a stall in Borough market. Jay explains why the doctrine of organic has been eclipsed by the need for sustainable intensification; & why the future lies in large-scale food production rather than the cottage industries that foodies often cheer for. From the the cornfields of Illinois to the killing lines of Yorkshire abattoirs, Rayner takes us on a journey that will change the way we shop, cook & eat forever. & give us a few belly laughs along the way.


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Now with a new epilogue, the UK`s most influential food & drink journalist shoots a few sacred cows of food culture. Buying `locally` does no good. Farmers` markets are merely a lifestyle choice. & `organic` is little more than a marketing label, way past its sell by date. This may be a little hard to swallow for the ethically-aware food shopper but it doesn`t make it any less true. & now the UK`s most outspoken & entertaining food writer is ready to explain why. Jay Rayner combines personal experience & hard-nosed reportage to explain why the doctrine of organic has been eclipsed by the need for sustainable intensification; & why the future lies in large-scale food production rather than the cottage industries that foodies often cheer for. From the cornfields of America to the killing lines of Yorkshire abattoirs via the sheep-covered hills of New Zeal&, Rayner takes us on a journey that will change the way we shop, cook & eat forever. & give us a few belly laughs along the way. ...

War is the normal occupation of man
- war & gardening` Winston Churchill. A Green & Pleasant Land tells the intriguing & inspiring
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