From the author of Pardon My French & A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi, this is the charming & hilariously funny story of one man`s attempt to travel the entire length of the Seine by boat. When Charles shows his friends the rowing boat he has spent the last six months building, he little realises the adventures that lie ahead. Several glasses of champagne later (it is New Year`s Eve), he finds himself betting he will travel the entire length of the Seine from source to the sea in the next year & discover the true France. But the reality proves somewhat more difficult than he had expected. As Charles sets sail into an unvarnished France on a variety of craft from steamers to police patrol boats to inflatables, he encounters truffle-thieving terriers & obsessive fishermen, grapples with strong rapids & stubborn cattle, & is nearly destroyed by a cheese so smelly it comes with its own health warning. This is the charming & often hilarious story of Charles` Quixotic quest
- & the most unique guide to the true France that you will find. Reviews: ” There are new year`s resolutions & then there are those rash decisions that come after the last bottle has been drunk on the last night of the year. The journey down the Seine that Charles Timoney describes in his third book about France stemmed from the latter.. .a charming story of life along the river.. .that lingers in the mind”. (Sunday Times (Books of the Month)). ”A wonderful view of France as seen from the water, & through the eyes of a genuinely funny writer
- I laughed out loud”. (Philip Marsden (author of The Levelling Sea)). About the author: When Charles Timoney & his French wife were both made redundant in the same week, they decided to try living in France for a year or so. It proved much harder than expected. Charles` O level in French was little help when everyone around him consistently used a wide variety of impenetrable slang & persisted in the annoying habit of talking about things he had never heard of. But they stayed. Two decades & two thoroughly French children later, An Englishman Aboard is Charles` third book on his experience of France, the French people & the French language: Pardon My French: Unleash Your Inner Gaul, A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi: The Ideal Guide to Sounding, Acting & Shrugging Like the French & now An Englishman Aboard.

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After the romantic encounter in the Loire Valley bathroom at the end of An Englishman a la Campagne, Michael Sadler dumps the University of Swindon & returns to France intent on winning the heart of Lou Charpin, his belle francaise. Easier said than done. How do you love a la francaise? Are they better at it than us? Sadler watches the late-night movie
- an erotic encounter between a luscious cleaning lady & a Parisian dermatologist
- & takes copious notes. After the Latin lover is it now the moment for the rosbif Romeo? In An Englishman Amoureux, the third Installment of Sadler’s warm & wonderful memoirs of life in France, all is revealed. ‘ Michael Sadler is a fine example of that rare breed of Englishman, someone who can be very funny about living in France’- Michael Palin.

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From the outbreak of war in September 1939 all the way to the smouldering ruins of Berlin in 1945, via Palestine, Tobruk, El Alamein, D-Day, Nijmegen & the crossing of the Rhine, An Englishman at War is a unique first-person account of the Second World War. The Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, Stanley Christopher`s regiment, went to war as amateurs, equipped with courage but very little else, & ended up one of the most experienced, highly trained & most valued armoured units in the British Army. Their journey through the war, learning through mistakes & tragedy as well as from a determined desire to improve, can, in many ways, be seen to reflect the experience of the British Army as a whole. From Alamein onwards, the Sherwood Rangers were in the vanguard of almost every action in which they took part, & over the course of the conflict, they amassed an astonishing thirty battle honours. Christopherson himself was to rise from a junior subaltern to become the commanding officer of the regiment soon after the D-Day landings. He took part in all thirty battle honours, & collected a Distinguished Service Order, two Military Crosses & an American Silver Star, as well as being Mentioned in Despatches four times. His is an extraordinary story. ...

Murder, cocaine, street mugging, bombs & aggressive Amazonian Indians combined with exotic beach resorts & colourful characters make David Wood's book on Colombia an interesting & adventurous look at the most dangerous & alluring country in Latin America. David portrays the capital Bogota as a mixture of colourful street people merging with a vibrant culture. The author's travels in Colombia bring him into contact with many different characters & he outlines the problems experienced in a city characterized by the great contrast of wealth & poverty & the influence of the cocaine business. From detailed personal accounts of incidents such as street muggings, a bomb explosion in central Bogota & the blowing up of an aircraft by the drug cartels which results in the death of his business partner, David draws us into the heart of this compelling country. The author gives clear descriptions of life in places like the Sierra Nevada Mountains where he climbs to the lost city of the Tairona Indians & experiences the culture of the Indian tribes. He also considers the history & culture of cities like Cartagena with its colonial heritage. The book portrays Colombia as a land of great contrasts, beauty & vibrancy contrasted with excessive violence, poverty & crime. The result is a shocking & intimate reflection of life in Colombia today. ...

Anthony Whitelands, an English art historian, is invited to Madrid to value the collection of a Spanish duke. At a welcome ...

Peter Mayle, author of A YEAR IN PROVENCE, writes in his Preface to this charming travel memoir: ` Michael Sadler was born in Lewes, a small town in the south of Engl&. This was a geographical accident. He should have emerged from the womb in Paris, looking anxiously about him for a suitable place to have lunch.` He may not have been born there, but Michael Sadler eventually found his spiritual home. AN ENGLISHMAN IN PARIS is his delightful account of his first year in the French capital, describing with alternate affection & bemusement such continental confusions as the etiquette of flower-buying, the role of cricket in French foreplay, & the dangers `black butter` presents not just to one`s cholesterol levels but also to dry-cleaning bills. Beautifully observed & very funny, AN ENGLISHMAN IN PARIS will delight armchair travellers & Francophiles alike. ...

The Parisien now wants to be a paysan, but it`s easier said than done.. . How do you plant leeks in cement-hard French soil, impress Gallic neighbours with your non-existent gardening credentials & survive a seven-hour celebratory communion lunch (followed by dinner)? What skills are required to cope with suicidal French mice (souricide?), resist the advances of an attractive but desperate lady cheese-maker during an English lesson, buy wine from Mr Grump the grower, & -- last but not least -- stoop so low as to snap up the plastic trophy in the annual garden competition? AN ENGLISHMAN A LA CAMPAGNE is a wonderfully warm & witty follow-up to the author`s account of his first year living in Paris. Now broadening his affectionate embrace to include the myriad facets of the French countryside, Sadler makes you laugh, makes you think, & makes you love the place.. .even Donges, which won first prize in his competition for the grottiest village in France. ...

Even as a toddler, Martin Gurdon was obsessed with cars. Before he could read or write he could distinguish a vehicle passing in the street from the purr of its engine. His first car-not strictly legally-was as a fifteen-year-old, parked round the corner from his boarding school, & driven up to London when bunking off. At one time or another he has owned or driven most of the truly dreadful, but often bizarrely loved cars that were produced by British Leyland Corporation, the conglomeration that cemented the death of the indigenous British car industry. Amongst them a succession of Morris Marinas, often kept running by cannibalized wrecks found in junk yards. But he always hankered after that thing of beauty his father once owned, a 1950s Bristol 401. Perhaps only naturally, his ambition was always to become a motoring journalist, despite it seeming questionable anyone would be insane enough to offer him a job. He`s never actually owned a Reliant Robin, but he has almost been killed by one... ...

Some cases aren`t as cold as you`d think Kurt Wallander`s life looks like it has taken a turn for the better when his offer on a new house is accepted, only for him to uncover something unexpected in the garden
- the skeleton of a middle-aged woman. As police officers comb the property, Wallander attempts to get his new life back on course by finding the woman`s killer with the aid of his daughter, Linda. But when another discovery is made in the garden, Wallander is forced to delve further back into the area`s past. A treat for fans & new readers alike, this is a never before published Kurt Wallander novella.
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Some cases aren`t as cold as you`d think Kurt Wallander`s life looks like it has taken a turn for the better when his offer on a new house is accepted, only for him to uncover something unexpected in the garden
- the skeleton of a middle-aged woman. As police officers comb the property, Wallander attempts to get his new life back on course by finding the woman`s killer with the aid of his daughter, Linda. But when another discovery is made in the garden, Wallander is forced to delve further back into the area`s past. A treat for fans & new readers alike, this is a never before published Kurt Wallander novella.
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