New & uncollected tales of murder, mischief, magic & madness. Ruth Rendell was an acknowledged master of psychological suspense: these are ten (and a quarter) of her most chillingly compelling short stories, collected here together for the first time. In these tales, a businessman boasts about cheating on his wife, only to find the tables turned. A beautiful country rectory reverberates to the echo of a historical murder. A compulsive liar acts on impulse, only to be lead inexorably to disaster. & a wealthy man finds there is more to his wife`s kidnapping than meets the eye. Atmospheric, gripping & never predictable, this is Ruth Rendell at her inimitable best. The stories are: Never Sleep in a Bed Facing a Mirror; A Spot of Folly; The Price of Joy; The Irony of Hate; Digby`s Wives; The Haunting of Shawley Rectory; A Drop Too Much; The Thief; The Long Corridor of Time; In the Time of his Prosperity; & Trebuchet. Introduction from Sophie Hannah. ...

The next in our Spotter`s Guide series reveals 120 of the world`s great human constructions & where to find them, from cloud-piercing skyscrapers & ancient sites to classic buildings & contemporary designs. Packed with facts, maps & photos, it`s a fun & fascinating introduction to the sublime, the strange & everything in between. When we travel it`s often to see a building
- the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower. They`re things of beauty, symbols of their age & emblems of human endeavour. Sometimes, buildings are the reason we decide to go somewhere; think of an icon such as Bilbao`s Guggenheim & Cambodia`s Angkor Wat temple complex. Other times, buildings help make a visit more enriching & rewarding, like discovering the old district of Pelourinho in Salvador, Brazil & the majestic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Amazing Architecture: A Spotter`s Guide is perfect for anyone interested in learning about many of the world`s greatest architectural sites. Each entry

Includes:: a brief introduction, who designed it & when it was built, plus a map to help you plan a visit. Famous, weird & wonderful places include: Bran Castle in Transylvania, Romania The Crooked House in Sopot, Poland Shah Mosque in Esfahan, Iran Skara Brae in Orkney, Scotland Towers of San Gimignano, Italy Roman Baths in Bath, UKAyutthaya temple complex, Thailand The Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia Millau Viaduct, southern France Chrysler Building, New York, USAQatar Faculty of Islamic Studies The mud-made Agadez Mosque, Niger


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Beautiful, bored & bourgeoise, Sabina leads a double life inspired by her relentless desire for brief encounters with near-strangers. Fired into faithlessness by a desperate longing for sexual fulfilment, she weaves a sensual web of deceit across New York. But when the secrecy of her affairs becomes too much to bear, Sabina makes a late night phone-call to a stranger from a bar, & begins a confession that captivates the unknown man & soon inspires him to seek her out ...

In `this remarkable book` (as intelligence historian Nigel West describes it in his Foreword), the reader will be struck by the vibrancy of history made real. Author Roy Berkeley has gone behind the facades of ordinary buildings, in the city that West calls `the espionage capital of the World`, to remind us that the history of intelligence has often been made in such mundane places. With his evocative photographs & compelling observations, Berkeley ensures that we will never see the streets of London
- or these particular actors on the stage of history
- in quite the same way again. The 136 sites are organised into 21 manageable walks. Among the sites: the modest hotel suite where an eager Red Army colonel poured out his secrets to a team of British & American intelligence officers; the royal residence where one of the most slippery Soviet moles was at home for years; the London home where an MP plotting to appease Hitler was arrested on his front steps in 1940.

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Aimed at the sail training sector, this practical handbook explains how the introduction of new materials has influenced design & operation. Advice is given on voyage planning, operations & safety. The different training & equipment needs for vessels with modern technology, rather than those constructed to traditional design, is covered. It is aimed at those who serve, or wish to serve, as Master, mate or boatswain on a square rigger or large fore-andaft schooner. ...

` Wise old man, won`t you help me, please? My house is a squash & squeeze.`A little old lady lives all by herself in her house but she`s not happy
- it`s just too small, even for one. Whatever can she do? The wise old man knows: bring in a flappy, scratchy, greedy, noisy crowd of farmyard animals. When she pushes them all out again, she`ll be amazed at how big her house feels! The brilliantly funny A Squash & a Squeeze was the first ever picture book written & illustrated by the unparalleled picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo. A Squash & a Squeeze 25th Anniversary edition features the classic story with a stunning foil cover & extra content.
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Join the little old lady & her animal friends in this must-have sticker book based on the bestselling picture book A Squash & a Squeeze by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler. Packed with games, activities & over four hundred stickers, A Squash & a Squeeze Sticker Book is perfect for journeys, rainy days & school holidays
- a great gift for any child.
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”A thrilling account”. (The Times). ” As heroic as Digby himself, Moshenska has defied the tyranny of genre & made his own absorbing account”. (Observer). ”A master storyteller. Full of exquisite details, but with the grandest themes...this is a gripping adventure story”. (Zia Haider Rahman). ”A brilliant account of one of the seventeenth century`s most dashing lives` Ruth Scurr ` Gripping & extraordinary”. (Ann Wroe). On the 16th of August 1628, five battle-scarred English ships sailed into the harbour of the Greek island of Milos. Dropping anchor, the 25-year-old captain banqueted with the local lord before sitting down to write an account of his journey
- an account that would transform him entirely. Sir Kenelm Digby was one of the most remarkable Englishmen who ever lived: a trusted advisor to the King, but the sworn enemy of the all-powerful Duke of Buckingham; a pioneering philosopher & scientist, but committed to the occult arts of alchemy & astrology; a friend not only of Ben Jonson, Thomas Hobbes & van Dyck, but even Oliver Cromwell. He was also widely known as the `son of a traytor & husband of a whore`: a man who witnessed his father`s gruesome execution for high treason as a Gunpowder Plotter, & the lover of the most celebrated beauty of the age, Venetia Stanley. In an attempt to clear his name, & on a quest for personal glory, Digby assembled a fleet & set sail for the Mediterranean: a world of pirate cities & ancient ruins where people, ideas & exotic goods moved freely between languages & nations. His journey
- encompassing fevers, mutiny, piracy, daring rescues & heroic sea battles
- is a great & terribly overlooked adventure, & a prism through which to view Engl&, & all of Europe, during one of the most pivotal periods in its history. A Stain in the Blood is the story of an extraordinary life, & of a journey that helped to shape a nation. It is a revelatory first work of non-fiction by one of the brightest young writers & thinkers of today.


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”A brilliant account of one of the seventeenth century`s most dashing lives”. (Ruth Scurr). ”A master storyteller. Full of exquisite details, but with the grandest themes...this is a gripping adventure story”. (Zia Haider Rahman). ” Gripping & extraordinary”. (Ann Wroe). On the 16th of August 1628, five battle-scarred English ships sailed into the harbour of the Greek island of Milos. Dropping anchor, the 25-year-old captain banqueted with the local lord before sitting down to write an account of his journey
- an account that would transform him entirely. Sir Kenelm Digby was one of the most remarkable Englishmen who ever lived: a trusted advisor to the King, but the sworn enemy of the all-powerful Duke of Buckingham; a pioneering philosopher & scientist, but committed to the occult arts of alchemy & astrology; a friend not only of Ben Jonson, Thomas Hobbes & van Dyck, but even Oliver Cromwell. He was also widely known as the `son of a traytor & husband of a whore`: a man who witnessed his father`s gruesome execution for high treason as a Gunpowder Plotter, & the lover of the most celebrated beauty of the age, Venetia Stanley. In an attempt to clear his name, & on a quest for personal glory, Digby assembled a fleet & set sail for the Mediterranean: a world of pirate cities & ancient ruins where people, ideas & exotic goods moved freely between languages & nations. His journey
- encompassing fevers, mutiny, piracy, daring rescues & heroic sea battles
- is a great & terribly overlooked adventure, & a prism through which to view Engl&, & all of Europe, during one of the most pivotal periods in its history. A Stain in the Blood is the story of an extraordinary life, & of a journey that helped to shape a nation. It is a revelatory first work of non-fiction by one of the brightest young writers & thinkers of today.


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` Dr Weiss, at forty, knew that her life had been ruined by literature.` Ruth Weiss, an academic, is beautiful, intelligent & lonely. Studying the heroines of Balzac in order to discover where her own childhood & adult life has gone awry, she seeks not salvation but enlightenment. Yet in revisiting her London upbringing, her friendships & doomed Parisian love affairs, she wonders if perhaps there might not be a chance for a new start in life.. . ...