` Captivating.. . There`s a breadth of humanity in An Unsafe Haven which is very moving. I loved the sense of Lebanon & of what is unique & precious about the Arab world` Helen Dunmore Set in contemporary Beirut, a rich, illuminating & deeply moving novel about a group of friends whose lives are shaped & affected daily by the war in Syria. Imagine trying to live a normal life in a world which changes daily & where nothing is certain.. . Hannah has deep roots in Beirut, the city of her birth & of her family. Her American husb&, Peter, has certainty only in her. They thought that they were used to the upheavals in Lebanon, but as the war in neighbouring Syria enters its fifth year, the region`s increasingly fragile state begins to impact on their lives in wholly different ways. An incident in a busy street brings them into direct contact with a Syrian refugee & her son. As they work to reunite Fatima with her family, her story forces Hannah to face the crisis of the expanding refugee camps, & to question the very future of her homel&. And when their close friend Anas, an artist, arrives to open his exhibition, shocking news from his home in Damascus raises uncomfortable questions about his loyalty to his family & his country. Heartrending & beautifully written, An Unsafe Haven is a universal story of people whose lives are tested & transformed, as they wrestle with the anguish of war, displacement & loss, but also with the vital need for hope. ...

` Captivating.. . There`s a breadth of humanity in An Unsafe Haven which is very moving. I loved the sense of Lebanon & of what is unique & precious about the Arab world` Helen Dunmore Nada Awar Jarrar paints an intimate portrait of modern-day Beirut where everyone has a story to tell... Journalist Hannah is deeply rooted in the city of her birth, reporting first-hand on growing unrest in the region. Her American husband Peter is uncertain about their future in Lebanon & increasingly worried for his friend Anas, a Syrian artist estranged from his wife & children. Maysoun, an immigrant from Iraq, works with refugees, secretly dreaming of a more tranquil life in the West.A chance encounter in a busy street with a young refugee & his mother draws the four characters into a startling chain of events that will both test & alter each of them irrevocably. An Unsafe Haven is a vital & beautiful novel about facing up to the future in a world where conflict & loss have become the fabric of everyday life. ...

Meet Cordelia Gray: twenty-two, tough, intelligent & now sole inheritor of the Pryde Detective Agency. Her first assignment finds her hired by Sir Ronald Callender to investigate the death of his son Mark, a young Cambridge student found hanged in mysterious circumstances. Cordelia is required to delve into the hidden secrets of the Callender family & soon realizes it is not a case of suicide, & that the truth is entirely more sinister. PD James is the bestselling author of Death Comes To Pemberley, Children of Men & The Murder Room. Her first Cordelia Gray novel An Unsuitable Job For a Woman is a brilliant work of crime fiction packed with secrets & suspense. This novel has been adapted for television twice, the second adaptation in 1997 starred Helen Baxendale as Cordelia Gray. ...

Mireille Duval Jameson is living a fairy tale. The strong-willed youngest daughter of one of Haiti`s richest sons, she has an adoring husb&, a precocious infant son, by all appearances a perfect life. The fairy tale ends one day when Mireille is kidnapped in broad daylight by a gang of heavily armed men, in front of her father`s Port au Prince estate. Held captive by a man who calls himself The Commander, Mireille waits for her father to pay her ransom. As it becomes clear her father intends to resist the kidnappers, Mireille must endure the torments of a man who resents everything she represents. An Untamed State is a novel of privilege in the face of crushing poverty, & of the lawless anger that corrupt governments produce. It is the story of a wilful woman attempting to find her way back to the person she once was, & of how redemption is found in the most unexpected of places. An Untamed State establishes Roxane Gay as a writer of prodigious, arresting talent. ...

A partisan fighting with the Red Army in Germany comes across a gr&, abandoned house, seemingly untouched by the devastation sweeping the country. Exhausted, he falls asleep in the living room, but wakes to find a German patrol marching up the garden path. His only hope is to pose as the house`s owner, but how will he keep up the pretence when the real owner returns? Dazzling, dark & scorchingly violent, with the breakneck pace of a thriller, this timeless classic is a vivid depiction of what happens when the mask of decency is cast aside in the savagery of war. ...

Many of us were put off history by the dry & dreary way it was taught at school. Back then ` The Origins of the Industrial Revolution` somehow seemed less compelling than the chance to test the bold claim on Timothy Johnson`s ` Shatterproof` ruler. But here at last is a chance to have a good laugh & learn all that stuff you feel you really ought to know by now... In this ” Horrible History for Grown Ups” you can read how Anglo-Saxon liberals struggled to be positive about immigration; ` Look I think we have to try & respect the religious customs of our new Viking friends
- oi, he`s nicked my bloody ox!` Discover how England`s peculiar class system was established by some snobby French nobles whose posh descendents still have wine cellars & second homes in the Dordogne today. And explore the complex socio-economic reasons why Britain`s kings were the first in Europe to be brought to heel; (because the Stuarts were such a useless bunch of untalented, incompetent, arrogant, upper-class thickoes that Parliament didn`t have much choice.)A book about then that is also incisive & illuminating about now, ”2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge”, is a hilarious, informative & cantankerous journey through Britain` fascinating & bizarre history. As entertaining as a witch burning, & a lot more laughs.
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This fully illustrated history is divided geographically according to the sequence of succeeding Thai kingdoms. Each section follows a historical chronology, covering accounts of major events during each reign, with an assessment of the character of individual kings & their particular achievements, together with those of other major players. This record of events is blended with descriptive passages about monuments surviving today that are relevant to & help illuminate the history. Political development is thus paralleled by Thailand`s cultural development, especially in relation to the religious & royal architecture. Thailand`s historical progression has been complex, & although the foundations of national identity
- religion & monarchy in particular
- were established in the earliest days of statehood dating back to the 13th century, it is only in comparatively recent times that all elements
- social, political, cultural & linguistic
- have cohered into what is recognizable today as Thai & Thail&. By linking the text to existing landmarks the history provides both an enjoyable read in its own right & a fascinating guide to the monuments & buildings that visitors can see on their travels around the country.



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In Vietnamese, ”AN” means ”TO EAT, ” a happy coincidence, since the An family has built an award-winning restaurant empire-- including the renowned celebrity favorite Crustacean Beverly Hills--that has been toasted by leading food press, including Bon Appetit, Gourmet, In Style & the Food Network. Helene An, executive chef & matriarch of the House of An, is hailed as the ”mother of fusion” & was inducted into the Smithsonian Institute for her signature style that brings together Vietnamese, French, & California- fresh influences. Now her daughter Jacqueline tells the family story & shares her mother`s delicious & previously ”secret” recipes, including ” Mama`s” Beef Pho, Drunken Crab, & Oven-Roasted Lemongrass Chicken. Helene`s transformation from pampered ”princess” in French Colonial Vietnam, to refugee then restaurateur, & her journey from Indochina`s lush fields to family kitchen gardens in California are beautifully chronicled throughout the book. The result is a fascinating peek at a lost world, & the evolution of an extraordinary cuisine. The 100 recipes in An: To Eat feature clean flavors, simple techniques, & unique twists that could only have come from Helene`s personal story. ...

Topographic survey of Portugal at 1:50, 000 from the Instituto Geográfico do Exército, the country’s military survey organisation. The maps have contours at 20m intervals & in addition to the standard features shown on topographic mapping at this scale also indicate various types of terrain or vegetation (s&, terraces, rocks, woodlands, vineyards, etc). Each sheet covers an area of 32 x 20km (20 x 12.5 miles approx). The maps have a 1-km UTM grid plus latitude & longitude coordinates for the map corners. Map legend & a glossary of terms used on the maps include English.EDITION DATES: most titles in this series date from 1990s or later. To see all the titles in this series please click on the series link. ...

Topographic survey of Portugal at 1:50, 000 from the Instituto Geográfico Português, the country’s civilian survey organisation. The maps have contours at 25m intervals & in addition to the standard features shown on topographic mapping at this scale also indicate various types of vegetation (vineyards, olive groves, etc). Each sheet covers an area of 32 x 20km (20 x 12.5miles approx). The maps have latitude & longitude margin ticks at 1’ intervals & UTM coordinates for the map corners – each sheet also shows conversion details from BBLx (Bessel-Bonnie system, Datum Lisbon) to UTM. Map legend is in Portuguese only.EDITION DATES: most titles in this series have now been updated in the 1990s or later. To see all the titles in this series please click on the series link. ...