A comedic romp through one man`s life in the Loire Valley, France Comedian, mod, & professional grump Ian Moore has had enough. Tired of being unable to park anywhere near his cramped house in a noisy town he doesn`t like, he hatches a plan to move his wife & young son to a remote corner of the Loire Valley in search of serenity & space. Several years later, Ian finds himself up to his neck in bilingual offspring, feral cats, promiscuous horses, dysfunctional spaniels, & needy hens; he`s wrestling with electric fences, a foreign language, a mountain of animal waste, & a wife who collects livestock like there`s a biblical flood on the horizon, all while trying not to dirty his loafers. But despite the ups, downs, & increasing demands of Ian`s showbiz career, the Moore family persevere to create a unique, colorful, & ultimately rewarding life in their new home--”a la campagne & a la mod”! ...

In 1849, Heinrich Barth joined a small British expedition into unexplored regions of North & Central Africa. One by one his companions died but he carried on alone, eventually reaching the fabled city of Timbuktu. His five-&-a-half-year, 10, 000-mile adventure ranks among the greatest journeys in the annals of exploration & his discoveries are considered indispensable by modern scholars of Africa. Yet because of shifting politics, European preconceptions about Africa & his thorny personality, Barth has been almost forgotten. Though he made his journey for the British government, he has never had a biography in English. Barth & his achievements have, until now, fallen through a crack in history. ...

A psychological drama of cat & mouse, A Ladder to the Sky shows how easy it is to achieve the world if you are prepared to sacrifice your soul. If you look hard enough, you can find stories pretty much anywhere. They don’t even have to be your own. Or so would-be writer Maurice Swift decides very early on in his career.A chance encounter in a Berlin hotel with celebrated novelist Erich Ackermann gives him an opportunity to ingratiate himself with someone more powerful than him. For Erich is lonely, & he has a story to tell. Whether or not he should do so is another matter entirely. Once Maurice has made his name, he sets off in pursuit of other people’s stories. He doesn’t care where he finds them – or to whom they belong – as long as they help him rise to the top. Stories will make him famous but they will also make him beg, borrow & steal. They may even make him do worse. ...

It is 1923 & Evangeline English, keen lady cyclist, arrives with her sister Lizzie & their zealous leader Millicent at the ancient city of Kashgar to establish a mission. As they encounter resistance & calamity, Eva commences work on her Lady Cyclist`s Guide to Kashgar... In present-day London, Frieda opens her door to find a man sleeping on the landing. Tayeb, a Yemeni refugee, has arrived in Frieda`s life just as she learns that she is next-of-kin to a stranger, a woman whose abandoned flat contains many surprises. The two wanderers embark on a journey that is as great, & as unexpected, as Eva`s. ...

A wonderful colouring book in the traditional Ladybird mini hardback format, perfect for Ladybird fans of all ages. The book contains twenty-four classic Ladybird covers for you to colour, reimagine & make your own. Either follow the design of the original vintage covers that are shown on every left-hand page, or create your very own bespoke Ladybird masterpieces! Some favourite covers included are: Well-loved Tales Cinderella, Tootles the Taxi, Understanding Maps, Shopping with Mother, Learning to Sew, Key Words: Play with us, The Ladybird Book of London, & How it works: The Computer. ...

Help young children learn the names of all the key things that go with this beautiful special gift book, featuring iconic original Ladybird artwork from the 1950s & 60s & in the classic Ladybird format with one clear word on the left page, & image on the right. Taken from favourite vintage Ladybird books such as The Story of Flight, Underwater Exploration & Merchant Ships, each of the stunningly detailed 26 pictures will delight adults & children alike. Vehicles featured include car, train, aeroplane, ship, submarine, rocket & lorry. ...

A first animal words buggy book for babies on the move, containing ten stunning original illustrations from the vintage Ladybird ...

Born in 1831, Isabella, daughter of a clergyman, set off alone to the Antipodes in 1872 `in search of health` & found she had embarked on a life of adventurous travel. In 1873, wearing Hawaiian riding dress, she rode on her spirited horse Birdie through the American ` Wild West`, a terrain only recently opened to pioneer settlement. Here she met Rocky Mountain Jim, her `dear (one-eyed) desperado`, fond of poetry & whisky
- `a man any women might love, but no sane woman would marry`. He helped her climb the ` American Matterhorn` & round up cattle on horseback. The wonderful letters which make up this volume were first published in 1879 & were enormously popular in Isabella Bird`s lifetime. They tell of magnificent unspoilt landscapes & abundant wildlife, of small remote townships, of her encounters with rattlesnakes, wolves, pumas & grizzly bears & her reactions to the volatile passions of the miners & pioneer settlers.
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Isabella Bird, an Englishwoman whose extensive travels & writings earned her the first female membership of the Royal Geographic Society, visited the Rocky Mountains alone during the autumn of 1873.A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, gives a fascinating description of life in the untamed Colorado Territory at a time when it was only notionally under the control of the American authorities, having been brutally seized from the Indians. Her intrepid journeys through remote areas are relayed in the form of fluent, achingly beautiful, highly spirited letters written to her sister. They tell of magnificent unspoiled landscapes, of small remote townships, of her encounters with rattlesnakes, wolves, pumas & grizzly bears & her reactions to the volatile pioneer settlers as they came to terms with their isolation, poverty & difficulties as immigrants in the wake of the Civil War. These letters, first published in 1879, were enormously popular in Bird’s own lifetime & remain as wonderfully vivid & powerful as ever. Stanfords Travel Classics feature some of the finest historical travel writing in the English language, with authors hailing from both sides of the Atlantic. Every title has been reset in a contemporary typeface to create a series that every lover of fine travel literature will want to collect & keep. ...

”A Lake District Miscellany” is a treasure-trove of facts, figures & lists for one of England`s most celebrated regions, offering a wealth of information on everything from finding Wordsworth`s famous daffodils to the region`s sheep-farming, from Kendal Mint cake to home of pencils. Compiled by Lake District resident & veteran walker Tom Holman, this Miscellany is guaranteed to absorb the reader with its collection of tidbits, covering history, geography, literary connection, food, lifestyle, language, walking, weather & much more besides. ...