In 1894, Martin Conway became the first man to walk the Alps `from end to end` when he completed a 1, 000-mile journey from the Col de Tende in Italy to the summit of the Ankogel in Austria. On a midsummer`s morning, nearly 120 years later, Simon Thompson followed in his footsteps, setting out to explore both the mountains & the man. A charming rogue who led a `fantastically eventful` life, according to The Times, Conway was a climber & pioneering explorer of the Himalaya, Spitsbergen, the Andes & Patagonia; a serial pursuer of American heiresses; an historian, collector & Slade Professor of Fine Art at Cambridge; a company director & stock market promoter of dubious gold mines & non-existent rubber forests; the founder of the Imperial War Museum; the first foreigner to see the Russian crown jewels after the revolution; a successful journalist & author of over thirty books; a liberal politician; & a conservative MP. Shortly before he died, he was created 1st Baron Conway of Allington. Conway was a clubbable man who counted Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Henry James, Rudyard Kipling, J. P. Morgan, John Ruskin, Mark Twain & Edward Whymper among his many friends & acquaintances. An imperialist, a dreamer, a liar & a cheat, Conway `walked in sunshine all his life`, according to contemporaries, but he was also a restless, discontented man, constantly searching for meaning & purpose in his life. & that search that led him back, time & time again, to the Alps. In A Long Walk with Lord Conway, Simon Thompson retraces Conway`s long journey over the peaks, passes & glaciers of the Alps & rediscovers the life of a complex & remarkable English adventurer. ...

A Long Way Down
- Nick Hornby`s hilarious bestseller now a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan. ` Can I explain why I
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Irene Bobs loves fast driving. Her husband is the best car salesman in rural south eastern Australia. Together with Willie, their lanky navigator, they embark upon the Redex Trial, a brutal race around the continent, over roads no car will ever quite survive.A Long Way from Home is Peter Carey`s late style masterpiece; a thrilling high speed story that starts in one way, then takes you to another place altogether. Set in the 1950s in the embers of the British Empire, painting a picture of Queen & subject, black, white & those in-between, this brilliantly vivid novel illustrates how the possession of an ancient culture spirals through history
- & the love made & hurt caused along the way.
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Irene Bobs loves fast driving. Her husband is the best car salesman in rural south eastern Australia. Together they embark upon the Redex Trial, a brutal car race around the continent, over roads no car can ever quite survive. Set during the 1950s in the dying embers of the British Empire, A Long Way from Home is a thrilling high-speed story, illuminating a country`s relationship with its own ancient culture, & the love made & hurt caused along the way. ...

Leah Chishugi grew up in eastern Congo but, aged seventeen, she moved to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, to work as a model. She married & had a son. Then in 1994 she was caught up in the horrific conflict, & escaped only after being left for dead under a pile of corpses. She fled with her son to Uganda, then South Africa where she was miraculously reunited with her husband whom she believed dead. Leah finally settled in the UK where she was granted asylum & became a nurse. After her mother died, Leah decided to set up a charity to help the women & children of eastern Congo
- victims of continuing war atrocities. A LONG WAY FROM PARADISE is a deeply courageous narrative of one woman`s survival of personal trauma & finding a greater purpose in life through devotion to the service of others.
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Aged five, Saroo Brierley was separated from his older brother & ended up alone on the streets of Calcutta. After weeks surviving alone, he was taken into an orphanage & later adopted by an Australian couple. Although happy with his new family, Saroo couldn`t help but think about the family he`d lost. Years later, he swapped the map of India on his wall for Google Earth scouring it for landmarks he recognised from his childhood. One day, he saw something he recognised. & he set off on a journey to find his mother, half a world away... Saroo Brierley is an India born Australian businessman. He grew up with an adopted family in Tasmania, Australia. ...

The no. 1 bestseller from the author of Kolymsky Heights. ” As significant as.. .le Carre in bringing a gritty new realism to the thriller.” (Sunday Telegraph). An ancient scroll has been discovered in Israel. Caspar Laing, a young & brilliant professor, is asked to decipher it. It contains the directions to the secret location of a priceless artefact. As he makes the treacherous journey into the desert, he is joined by dangerous rivals determined to claim the prize. He must win the race at all costs. ” Ceaselessly gripping.. .A joy to devour.”. (The Times). ” Brilliantly entertaining.” (Sunday Express). ...

A Loo With A View. According to statistics we can spend three years of our lives in the toilet, more often than not, staring at the back of a door. But it doesn’t have to be this way! Luke Barclay has compiled a collection of the most spectacular, intriguing & thought provoking loos with views in the world. It’s possible to sit in the open air enjoying sweeping vistas of the world’s beautiful mountains, stand at a urinal & see an entire city laid out beneath you, bird-watch, train spot & even watch international sport from the loo. Each toilet & its view is shown & described by humorous yet informative snippets of accompanying text. ...

For eight centuries the City of London has hosted one of the world`s greatest public parades, as the newly elected Lord Mayor embarks on a procession through the heart of the City to the edge of Westminster, culminating in an oath of allegiance to the representatives of the Crown. This ancient tradition has become one of the most eagerly anticipated events in the London calendar, combining pageantry with carnivaleseque levity in a distinctly English blend of grandeur & irreverence. This book brings together a host of experts to provide a portrait of the Show across all periods & from a variety of different perspectives. The landmark locations such as the Guildhall & St Paul`s, the regiments & livery companies with a proud history of participation in the Show, the Lord Mayor himself (more recently, herself) & his coach, barge, robes & banquet
- all are here, as well as some of the fascinating ways in which the Show has been represented, from the paintings of Canaletto & the cartoons of George Cruikshank to the films of Alfred Hitchcock. This collectionof essays, beautifully illustrated with archive & newly commissioned photography, presents an engagingly kaleidoscopic vision of one of the nation`s best-loved annual events.
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Once described as `a tale of adventure & betrayal on the long bloody road to Culloden Moor`, A Lost Lady of Old Years is set in Scotland during the Rebellion of `45. Young Edinburgh-born Francis Birkenshaw cares nothing for the Jacobite cause until an encounter with the beautiful wife of Bonnie Prince Charlie`s secretary, Mrs Margaret Murray, leads to a dangerous involvement with her husb&, John Murray of Broughton, an infamous turncoat. A dark & compelling portrayal of the Jacobite Rebellion. ...