This title takes a 12, 000-year walk through history. Think of the street you live on. Now think of how it may have looked in 10, 000 BCE, or in Roman times, or in Victorian England at the height of the Industrial Revolution. Steve Noon`s ”A Street Through Time” takes you on a time travelling journey that you won`t forget. Beautiful double-page illustrations bring fourteen key periods in history to life. You will see magnificent buildings go up & come down, new churches built on the site of ancient temples, wooden bridges destroyed & then remade in stone, & statues demolished then unearthed many years later. You`ll find out how people lived long ago
- the tools they used, what they wore, what they ate & what they did all day. In an added twist, you can search for the time traveller in each period & locate the objects that have managed to survive through the ages. Revised & updated for a new generation, Steve Noon`s ”A Street Through Time” is perfect for parents & children to look at together. The more you look, the more you`ll see.
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` There`s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, & our duty is to unravel it, & isolate it, & expose every inch of it`. Arriving in the wilderness of London & in need of lodgings, Dr John Watson finds himself living at 221b Baker Street with one Sherlock Holmes. When a corpse is discovered in a derelict house Watston, fascinated by his brilliant, eccentric companion, is soon drawn into Holmes` investigations. There`s no sign of a struggle, no wounds on the body, yet scrawled in blood across the walls is the word RACHE
- revenge. Watson is baffled but for Holmes the game is afoot...
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` There`s the scarlet thread of murder running through the colourless skein of life, & our duty is to unravel it, & isolate it, & expose every inch of it`. Arriving in the wilderness of London & in need of lodgings, Dr John Watson finds himself living at 221b Baker Street with one Sherlock Holmes. When a corpse is discovered in a derelict house Watston, fascinated by his brilliant, eccentric companion, is soon drawn into Holmes` investigations. There`s no sign of a struggle, no wounds on the body, yet scrawled in blood across the walls is the word RACHE
- revenge. Watson is baffled but for Holmes the game is afoot...
...

This is the Penguin English Library edition. When Dr John Watson takes rooms in Baker Street with amateur detective Sherlock Holmes, he has no idea that he is about to enter a shadowy world of criminality & violence. Accompanying Holmes to an ill-omened house in south London, Watson is startled to find a dead man whose face is contorted in a rictus of horror. There is no mark of violence on the body yet a single word is written on the wall in blood. Dr Watson is as baffled as the police, but Holmes` brilliant analytical skills soon uncover a trail of murder, revenge & lost love... ...

Vikram Seth`s novel is, at its core, a love story: the tale of Lata
- & her mother`s
- attempts to find her a suitable husb&,

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This fourth novel in Tariq Ali`s ” Islam Quintet” is set in medieval Palermo, a Muslim city rivaling Baghdad & Cordoba in size & splendor. The year is 1153. The Normans are ruling Siqqiliya, but Arab culture & language dominate the island & the court. Sultan Rujari (King Roger) surrounds himself with Muslim intellectuals, several concubines, & an administration presided over by gifted eunuchs. The bishops, expecting to be at the pinnacle of power, are angered by the decadence of the court. In this captivating novel, Tariq Ali charts the life & loves of the medieval cartographer Muhammed al-Idrisi. Torn between his close friendship with the sultan & his friends who are leaving the island or plotting a resistance to Norman rule, Idrisi finds temporary solace in the harem; but, confronted by the common people of Noto & Catania, his conscience is troubled. ...

The only travel writing book on Gascony, ”A Summer in Gascony” is a charming & humorous tale of an extraordinary summer spent in this relatively unknown part of south-western France, the home of D Artagnan, Cyrano de Bergerac, gutsy red wine, fine sweet wine Armagnac & sunflowers. It is a tale of two love affairs: an idyllic summer romance & a lifelong love affair with Gascony with its village festivals, dusty roads & sun-baked wine country. Stretching from Toulouse in the east to the Atlantic coast in the west, from the river Garonne in the north to the Pyrenees in the south, Gascony is a golden land of rolling hills & wide horizons, swathed with vineyards, sunflowers, maize & pastures. It has a distinct identity which sets it apart from the rest of France & old affinities with England: the Gascons fought alongside the English in the Middle Ages & the Napoleonic Wars against their common foe the French. In the tiny hamlet of Peguilhan, Martin Calder is introduced to the Gascon way of life: working in the fields, shepherding & slaughtering sheep, feeding the cattle, harvesting the wheat, watering the crops. He discovers a unique people, fiercely proud of their independent heritage. Full of colourful characters: the charismatic & convivial Jacques-Henri, the hardworking farmer whose family take Martin into their home & hearts; the yoga-practising Germans; &, Pattes, the mischievous stray dog; Madame Parle-Beaucoup, the town gossip & Monsieur Fustignac, whose pride in his Gascon heritage is unforgettable. But the real star of the book is Gascony itself, with its strong spirit of independence & the simple pleasures it provides. Written by a true Francophile who has come to know the people & understands their way of life, ”A Summer in Gascony” evokes the spirit, sights, smells & sounds of this still relatively unknown & unspoiled other South of France. ...

In 1864 the poet, essayist, & novelist Alexander Smith spent six weeks exploring the island of Skye, resulting in a book that is widely regarded as his masterpiece. Perceptive & insightful, this new edition provides Smith's detailed accounts of the islanders at work & play, their customs, folklore, & the incidental details of everyday living. Vivid & magnificent descriptions of island culture shape this classic memoir of 19th-century Skye. ...

This original & colourful guide to British summer wildlife experiences is packaged into daily suggestions for what, when, where & how to see the best of British summer wildlife. For both the experienced wildlife tourist & the novice, the suggestions criss-cross Engl&, Scotland & Wales, complete with inspiring itineraries, engaging descriptions, detailed directions & tips on how to find, identify & enjoy British animals, butterflies, birds & plants. Each entry gives an informative & inspiring suggestion focusing on one or two species, with full-colour photography & a helpful box covering Practicalities such as grid references, useful websites, access arrangements to specific sites, flexibility details such as flight periods for butterflies or flowering weeks for orchids, & alternative sites to make viewing possible if you don`t live near the suggested site but want to view the suggested species. From delicate orchids to gargantuan basking sharks, from seabird skyscrapers to ostentatious otters, this is the only guide of its type to offer full details of how to get the most out of British summer wildlife watching. ...

Rico has been banished to society has neither a roof over his head nor a steady income on which to depend. When a friend & fellow clochard dies of exposure after a night spent in the Paris metro, Rico decides to flee the northern cold for his beloved south, for Marseilles & the Mediterranean. From the celebrated author of the Marseilles trilogy, this is both an affecting on-the-road novel & a tender exploration of love heal & to destroy. ...