When Gaby Bailleux released the Angel Worm into Australia`s prison system, allowing hundreds of asylum seekers to walk free, she also let the cat out of the bag. The Americans ran the prisons, like so many parts of her country, & so the doors of some 5000 American places of incarceration also opened. Both countries` secrets threatened to pour out. Was this a mistake, or had Gaby declared cyberwar on the US? Felix Moore
- known to himself as ` Australia`s last serving left wing journalist`
- has no doubt. Her act was part of the covert conflict between Australia & America. That conflict dates back to the largely forgotten Battle of Brisbane in 1943, stretches forward to America`s security interests in Pine Gap & commercial interests everywhere, & has as its most outrageous act the coup of 1975. Funded by his property-developer mate Woody Townes, Felix is going to write Gaby`s biography, to save her, & himself, & maybe his country. But how to get Gaby to co-operate? What role does her film-star mother have to play? & what, after all, does Woody really want?

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Ideally suited to everyday use, it comprises two matching, pocket-sized components: a 2018 diary & a blank notebook. Each cover is taken from a larger piece of specially commissioned artwork, so that there are subtly different versions of both the diary & the notebook. The diary is one week-to-view with a handy notes space at the end of each week. It features a colour section in the front & back with photos, useful info & extracts from New Internationalist books. The notebook is totally blank inside for versatility. Both components have a ribbon marker & elastic fastener. ...

Ideally suited to everyday use, it comprises two matching, pocket-sized components: a 2018 diary & a blank notebook. Each cover is taken from a larger piece of specially commissioned artwork, so that there are subtly different versions of both the diary & the notebook. The diary is one week-to-view with a handy notes space at the end of each week. It features a colour section in the front & back with photos, useful info & extracts from New Internationalist books. The notebook is totally blank inside for versatility. Both components have a ribbon marker & elastic fastener. ...

On a sweltering ocean-liner travelling from India to Europe a passenger tells his story: the tale of a doctor in the Dutch East Indies torn between his duty & the pull of his emotions; a tale of power & desire, pride & shame & a headlong flight into folly. This is one the most intense & incisive of the novellas which brought Stefan Zweig to worldwide fame. ...

An adventure story of real risk-taking & the heroic age of travel. Ten years ago, at the age of 53, Shelby Tucker set out to cross Burma on foot from China to India when land access to Burma was forbidden. Tucker had a rucksack, a diary & some inaccurate maps. He recruited a 6ft 4in Swede, Mats, whom he had met on the train to Beijing. Near the beginning of their walk through the jungle they encountered a group of naked boys bathing -- they realized too late that their Chinese Army uniforms were on the banks. With typical sangfroid, Tucker leapt in to join them, shouting incomprehensible English greetings! Before long they were in the hands of the Kachin Independence Army & managed to survive many near misses with the Burmese Army. Despite pain & constant danger, Tucker recorded each day the vivid beauty of the country, & the courtesy & hospitality of the Kachins (the most important of Burma`s hidden colonies, about whom very little has been written). Among Insurgents was Colin Thubron`s Book of the Year, The Guardian`s number 1 travel hardback & the Sunday Times` number 2. It recevied warm acclaim from Anthony Sattin (`packed with insights into tribal identity & the opium trade`), Robert Carver (`outstandingly well written in the insouciant Peter Fleming tradition`), Sara Wheeler (`a thrilling book`) & it must surely be shortlised for the Thomas Cook Award. ...

When ten Pakistani men walk into Kathleen Jamie`s small Scottish town on a peace march, in November 2001, she is thrown back to her own travels in Northern Pakistan & a book she wrote a decade earlier. ” Among Muslims” is the account of Jamie`s time travelling alone & living among the Shia & Ismaili Muslims in the Northern Areas
- the mountainous regions wedged between Afghanistan, India & China & one of the most volatile borderlands in the world. A bold, sympathetic & superbly written book, ” Among Muslims” delves into Jamie`s own Scottish upbringing to find links with the purdah-observing lifestyle of her Shia Muslim hosts. It is a privileged account from an acclaimed poet, who during her travels was often literally the only woman on the bus. ” Among Muslims” was originally published as ” The Golden Peak”. For this edition, Kathleen Jamie returned to Pakistan to write an Afterword & Preface.
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` It doesn`t matter. I have books, new books, & I can bear anything as long as there are books.` Fifteen-year-old Morwenna lives in Wales with her twin sister & a mother who spins dark magic for ill. One day, Mori & her mother fight a powerful, magical battle that kills her sister & leaves Mori crippled. Devastated, Mori flees to her long-lost father in Engl&. Adrift, outcast at boarding school, Mori retreats into the worlds she knows best: her magic & her books. She works a spell to meet kindred souls & continues to devour every fantasy & science fiction novel she can lay her hands on. But danger lurks... She knows her mother is looking for her & that when she finds her, there will be no escape. ...

Among the Believers is V. S. Naipaul's classic account of his journeys through Iran, Pakistan, Malaysia & Indonesia; 'the believers' are the Muslims he met on those journeys, young men & women battling to regain the original purity of their faith in the hope of restoring order to a chaotic world. It is a uniquely valuable insight into modern Islam, & the comforting simplifications of religious fanaticism. ...

The eyes of the world are on Iran, from nuclear issues to women`s rights to Iran`s perspective on Palestine. Yet a strictly political view does not allow for an accurate or complete outlook on this important & fascinating country. In ” Among the Iranians”, Greek-born author Sofia A Koutlaki shares the lessons she`s learned firsthand as a foreigner living in Tehran. Through memorable anecdotes & in-depth explanations of Iranian customs, Koutlaki presents a side of Iran that foreigners rarely see. The author`s insight challenges readers to dispel their previous notions & judgements to see Iran at its heart
- warm, inviting & rich with tradition. ” Among the Iranians” is also an indispensable practical guide, offering insight about Iranian dress, etiquette & even food.
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A powerfully toldmemoir of family, separation, & the things left unsaid, in the wake of the Second World War Raised by her grandparents i the USA, Inara Verzemnieks grew up among expatriates, scattering smuggled Latviansand over the coffins of the dead, singing folk songs about a land she hadnever visited. Her grandmother Livija`s stories recalled the remote village in Latvia left behind, where she & her sister, Ausma, were separated during the Second World War. They would not see each other again for more than fiftyyears. Coming to know Ausma & the trauma of her exile to Siberia under Stalin, Inara pieces together her grandmother`s survival throughthe years as a refugee, & her grandfather`s own troubling history as aconscript in the Nazi forces. As she interweaves two parts of the family storyin spellbinding, lyrical prose, she offers us a profound & cathartic accountof loss & survival, resilience & love. ...