Istanbul, once Constantinople, is the only city in the world to span two continents. A vibrant melting pot of olde-worlde European charm & Asian mystique, it truly is a city where anything is possible. From its progressive, modern economy & ultra-hip design scene to the beauty & tradition of its architecture, culture & people, Istanbul is a city that is moving fast
- not for nothing that it has been elected European City of Culture for 2010. Hg 2 Istanbul delves deeper than the rest to discover that there's a whole lot more to the capital of Asia Minor than belly dancing & hammams.
...

A Hedonist's Guide to London brings one of the world's most exciting cities to life. Visiting the UK's capital is not just about big red buses & Piccadilly Circus, but gourmet cooking, chic bars, underground clubs & some of the best shopping in Europe. London's prominence on the fashion, food & design scene in recent years looks set to continue & this is just the guide to help the outsider become an insider. ...

Marrakech has been one of the most talked-about cities of recent years & continues to grace the style pages of magazines & newspapers across the world
- it has become a haven for those interested in design, shopping & the naturally exotic. The centrepiece in what is widely regarded as North Africa's adventure playground, it has brought international sophistication to this dusty, dry corner of the world. The riads are among the most elegant hotels in the world, the cuisine is out of this world & the architecture striking. Hg 2 will show you the very best this desert oasis has to offer.
...

Miami is America's party capital, from spring break to celebs trying to unwind, everything is geared towards style, glamour & excess. From the Euro-influenced (relative) calm of Coral Gables to the non-stop partying of Miami Beach, Hg 2 Miami takes a peek behind the famed pastel Art Deco facades to give you the real scoop on this city that intriguingly blends European & Latin imported scenes into its own inimitable mix. Party til you drop? Here's one town where the cliche will come good. ...

From the banks of the Seine to the streets of Montmartre, the City of Lights is imbued with a unique atmosphere & history. Hg 2 Paris unravels the, at times confusing, worlds of haute-cuisine, haute-couture & haute culture. For gourmands, a comprehensive take on the restaurant scene from world-famous temples of gastronomy to smoky bistros with sublime steak tartare, for shop-a-holics, the ultimate guide to style & fashion. Potter from the elegant shops of the Rue Faubourg St Honore to the eclectic Marais & art galleries on the Left Bank, taking in the superlative cultural highlights on the way. Finally get in step with the glamour & elegance of Paris's nightlife, with its influences drawn from North & sub-Saharan Africa & Asia. ...

Deep in a wood in the Marches of Wales, in an ancient school bus there lives an old man called Bob Rowberry. A Hero for High Times is the story of how he ended up in this broken-down bus. It`s also the story of his times, & the ideas that shaped him. It`s a story of why you know your birth sign, why you have friends called Willow, why sex & drugs & rock`n`roll once mattered more than money, why dance music stopped the New-Age Travellers from travelling, & why you need to think twice before taking the brown acid. It`s the story of the hippies for those who weren`t there
- for Younger Readers who`ve never heard of the Aldermaston marches, Oz, the Angry Brigade, the Divine Light Mission, Sniffin` Glue, Operation Julie, John Seymour, John Michell, Greenham Common, the Battle of the Beanfield, but who want to understand their grandparents` stories of turning on, tuning in & not quite dropping out before they are gone for ever. It`s for Younger Readers who want to know how to build a bender, make poppy tea, & throw the I-Ching. And it`s a story of friendship between two men, one who did things, & one who thought about things, between theory & practice, between a hippie & a punk, between two gentlemen, no longer in the first flush of youth, who still believe in love.
...

A masterpiece of Russian prose, Lermontov`s only novel was influential for many later nineteenth-century authors, including Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky & Chekhov. Lermontov`s hero, Pechorin, is a dangerous man, Byronic in his wasted gifts & his cynicism, & desperate for any kind of action that will stave off boredom. In five linked episodes, Lermontov builds up a portrait of a man caught in & expressing the sickness of his times. ...

On his travels through the wild mountainous terrain of the Caucasus, the narrator of A Hero of Our Time chances upon the veteran soldier & storyteller Maxim Maximych, who relates to him the dubious exploits of his former comrade Pechorin. Engaging in various acts of duelling, contrab&, abduction & seduction, Pechorin, an archetypal Byronic anti-hero, combines cynicism & arrogance with melancholy andsensitivity. Causing an uproar in Russia when it was first published in 1840, Lermontov`s brilliant, seminal study of contemporary society & the nihilistic aspect of Romanticism
- accompanied here by the unfinished novel Princess Ligovskaya
- remains compelling to this day.

...

Read the books that inspired the How to Train Your Dragon films! This book will be a hit with children & adults alike. THE STORY CONTINUES in the sixth volume of Hiccup`s How to Train Your Dragon memoirs... Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III was an awesome sword-fighter, a dragon-whisperer & the greatest Viking Hero who ever lived. But it wasn`t always like that. Hiccup`s memoirs look back to when Hiccup was just an ordinary boy, & finding it very hard to be a Hero. Hiccup is lost in the Library Labyrinth & the Driller-Dragons & Madguts & Murderous are on the prowl. Hiccup`s birthday is not going to be the quiet affair he might have hoped for. Also contains a comprehensive Dragonese Dictionary for those who`d like to dragon-whisper as well as the dragon-whisperer himself. How to Train Your Dragon is now a major Dream Works franchise. How to Train Your Dragon 2 hits cinemas in Summer 2014 starring Gerrard Butler, Cate Blanchett & Jonah Hill & the TV series, Riders of Berk, can be seen on CBeebies & Cartoon Network. Read the rest of Hiccup`s exploits & check out the website at www.howtotrainyourdragonbooks.com. It`s the place to go for games, downloads, activities & sneak peeks! Read all about Hiccup & all of your favourite characters, learn to speak Dragonese & train your own dragon to do tricks! ...

First published in 1929 this is the story of how an idyllic life in the Caribbean ends when a hurricane hits & the four protagonists of this tale are sent to boarding school in Engl&. On route their ship if captured by pirates & it is from this point on that the tale turns savage. An admirable novel, vivid & exciting, delicate & swift. The strangeness is never exaggerated, the descriptions are exact as well as beautiful
- Cyril Connolly
...