` That London could have had electric buses a hundred years ago is extraordinary enough, but as Mick Hamer recounts with great panache, the reason it didn`t is even more extraordinary. This is a great tale, expertly told`
- Michael Palin On a warm April morning in 1906 a crowd of expectant correspondents from London`s leading newspapers gathered at the Hotel Cecil in the Strand to view the new wonder of the age
- the electrobus. This clean, green machine was gearing up to take on the noisy, polluting petrol vehicle, which was just starting to replace the horse-drawn omnibus & surely had the potential to be a game changer in terms of what it would mean to Londoners & other city-dwellers who were already choking on petrol fumes. Disastrously though, the London Electrobus Company was in the grip of a gang of greedy & fraudulent financiers, who systematically conned shareholders, looted the company`s coffers & drove the promise of the electrobus into the ground. Rammed with fascinating characters & vividly capturing the Edwardian era, A Most Deliberate Swindle uncovers one of the biggest frauds in history & reveals why a century later this historic scam has left us all gasping for breath.

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Big History, the field that studies the entire known past of our universe to give context to human existence, has so far been the domain of historians. In A Most Improbable Journey, Walter Alvarez-best known for his ” Impact Theory” explaining dinosaur extinction-makes a compelling case for a new, science-first approach to Big History. He brings a scientist`s view to the human story, from the creation of our universe & our planet, the rise of life, the movement of our continents & its effect on human migration, to humanity`s ascendance. Alvarez`s observations & stories will give readers a new appreciation of the events that have led to the human situation. Through entertaining, bite-sized chapters, A Most Improbable Journey will send readers out in a thousand directions to learn more. ...

A half-starved young Russian man in a long black overcoat is smuggled into Hamburg at dead of night. He has an improbable amount of cash secreted in a purse round his neck. He is a devout Muslim. Or is he? He says his name is Issa. Annabel, an idealistic young German civil rights lawyer, determines to save Issa from deportation. Soon her client's survival becomes more important to her than her own career. In pursuit of Issa's mysterious past, she confronts the incongruous Tommy Brue, the sixty-year-old scion of Brue Freres, a failing British bank based in Hamburg. A triangle of impossible loves is born. Meanwhile, scenting a sure kill in the so-called War on Terror, the spies of three nations converge upon the innocents. Poignant, compassionate, peopled with characters the reader never wants to let go, A Most Wanted Man is alive with humour, yet prickles with tension until the last heart-stopping page. It is also a work of deep humanity, & uncommon relevance to our times. ...

` One of the most sophisticated fictional responses to the war on terror yet published` Guardian An illegal Muslim immigrant arrives in Hamburg with a traumatic past & the key to a fortune held in a private bank. He says his name is Issa. To the idealistic young human rights lawyer Annabel, determined to save him from deportation, he is a worthy cause. To the intelligence services of Britain, Germany & America, however, he is a potential jihadist
- & a pawn between them as they seek to make a kill in the war on terror. A Most Wanted Man is a gripping & disquieting story of paranoia, disillusionment & betrayal in the moral no-man`s land of the post-9/11 world. `A first-class novel about the most pressing concerns of our time` Daily Telegraph
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A Motor-Car Trip through Ukraine is a unique, comprehensive touring guide to the country. Arranged into twenty-eight regions, the guide offers seventy car-touring itinerates accompanied by a series of illustrated maps that clearly mark routes referred to in the text. Each itinerary consists of clear route directions & thorough route descriptions that highlight the attractions to be seen along the way
- such as cities/towns, churches, museums, parks & castles. Historical/background information is provided for regions, sites & attractions, & practical information such as address details, contact numbers & opening hours are given when necessary. Information boxes also highlight accommodation, restaurants, public transport & top-attractions for each itinerary. The breadth & depth of coverage in this guide is truly impressive, boasting 24 plans of regional centers, 43 map-schemes of highways based on two to three day touring itineraries, 70 illustrated route maps through cities & regions, as well as an incredible 1000 full-colour photographs. Listed attractions include over 1000 architectural treasures, 78 castles & forts, 52 palaces, over 400 churches & museums, 300 hotels & 355 places to eat & drink.
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Throughout the East there runs a legend of a great mountain at the centre of the world, where four rivers have their source. Charles Allen traces this legend to Western Tibet where there stands Kailas, worshipped by Hindus & Buddhists alike as the home of their gods & the navel of the world. Close by are the sources of four mighty rivers: the sacred Ganges, the Indus, the Sutlej & Tsangpo-Brahmaputra. For centuries Kailas remained an enigma to the outside world. Then a succession of remarkable men took up the challenge of penetrating the hostile, frozen wastelands beyond the Western Himalayas, culminating in the great age of discovery, the final years of the Victorian era. A Mountain in Tibet is an extraordinary story of exploration & high adventure, full of the excitement & colour expected from the author of Plain Tales from the Raj. ...

”A Mountain of Crumbs” is the moving story of a young Soviet girl`s discovery of the hidden truths of adulthood & her country`s profound political deception. Elena, born with a desire to explore the world beyond her borders, finds her passion in the complexity of the English language
- but in the Soviet Union of the 1960s, such a passion verges on the subversive. Elena`s home is no longer the majestic Russia of literature or the tsars. Instead, it is a nation humiliated by its first faltering steps after World War II, putting up appearances for the sake of its regime & fighting to retain its pride. In this deeply affecting memoir, Elena re-creates the world that both oppressed & inspired her. She recounts stories passed down to her about the horrors of the Bolshevik Revolution & probes the daily deprivations & small joys of her family`s bunkerlike existence. Through Elena`s captivating voice, we learn not only the personal story of Russia in the second half of the twentieth century, but also the story of one rebellious citizen whose love of a foreign language finally transports her to a new world. ` This moving memoir made me cry`
- ” The New York Times.”

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Hemingway`s memories of his life as an unknown writer living in Paris in the twenties are deeply personal, warmly affectionate & full of wit. Looking back not only at his own much younger self, but also at the other writers who shared Paris with him
- James Joyce, Wyndham Lewis, Scott & Zelda Fitzgerald
- he recalls the time when, poor, happy & writing in cafes, he discovered his vocation. Written during the last years of Hemingway`s life, his memoir is a lively & powerful reflection of his genius that scintillates with the romance of the city.

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Published posthumously in 1964, A Moveable Feast remains one of Ernest Hemingway`s most beloved works. Since Hemingway`s personal papers were released in 1979, scholars have examined & debated the changes made to the text before publication. Now this new special restored edition presents the original manuscript as the author prepared it to be published. Featuring a personal foreword by Patrick Hemingway, Ernest`s sole surviving son, & an introduction by the editor & grandson of the author, Sean Hemingway, this new edition also

Includes:: a number of unfinished, never-before-published Paris sketches revealing experiences that Hemingway had with his son Jack & his first wife, Hadley. Also included are irreverent portraits of other luminaries, such as F. Scott Fitzgerald & Ford Madox Ford, & insightful recollections of his own early experiments with his craft. Sure to excite critics & readers alike, the restored edition of A Moveable Feast brilliantly evokes the exuberant mood of Paris after World War I & the unbridled creativity & enthusiasm that Hemingway himself experienced. In the world of letters it is a unique insight into a great literary generation, by one of the best American writers of the twentieth century.

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A Moveable Feast is Lonely Planet’s collection of food-related tales from around the world provided by a range of contributors, including Simon Winchester, Mark Kurlansky & Ruth Rabin. A range of food stories feature: from bat on the island of Fais to chicken on a Russian train, to barbeque in the American heartl&, & from mutton in Mongolia to couscous in Morocco to tacos in Tijuana. A total of 38 food-related stories are recounted, awful & ambrosial, in a collection of travel writing dedicated to food. ...