Aimée Crocker was an heiress to gold & railroad fortunes & a daughter of Judge Edwin B. Crocker (1818-1875), legal counsel for the Central Pacific Railroad, Justice of the California Supreme Court in 1865 & founder of the Crocker Art Museum. Her father was a brother of Charles Crocker, one of the `big four` California railroad barons. Aimée had a tale or two to tell. Aside from lavish parties, husbands & lovers, she travelled widely in the Far East. She tells of escaping headhunters in Borneo, poisoning in Hong Kong, & avoided murder by servants in Shanghai. While away, she was christened Princess Palaikalani Bliss of Heaven by King David Kalakaua, the last king of Hawaii, & then Princess Galitzine when she wed her fifth & final husb&, Prince Mstislav Galitzine. And I`d Do It Again is her autobiography. ...

With the world at her feet & Californian railroad fortunes in her purse, Aimee had a tale or two to tell. Here, she boldly delivers her hilarious memoirs of escaping headhunters in Borneo, avoiding poisoning in Hong Kong & outwitting murder in Shanghai. Not remotely cowered by her skirmishes with sin, shame or vice, Aimee celebrates her quintet of unfortunate husbands including a Russian prince almost forty years her junior & King Kalakaua of Hawaii, emboldened by her forcefulness to hold sway over the faint of heart. Aimee was a woman of means, not always a lady & never what you might call `proper`. In this laugh-out-loud story of her life, she recounts her adventures with flair, invincibility & unapologetic gusto. ...

Who is Radio 4`s `fourteen-stone budgie`? How did Phyllis Willis & Mavis Davis make announcer Charlotte Green lose her cool? What does ` Ruth` really think about The Archers? When did Today stop having a keep-fit spot? & who was the Spam Fritter Man, & what became of him? This wonderful history-cum-guide answers these & many other questions about the irreplaceable world of Radio 4. It is an essential reading for every devotee. ...

Peter Jefferson presented the Shipping Forecast for over 40 years, & his familiar voice continues to be heard reading"ations on Radio 4`s ”"e/ Unquote”. This book is both an affectionate memoir & an account of the science behind the forecast: Peter explains how it came about, who collects all the information & what it`s like to read this bulletin. Even though the information in the forecast is now readily available in many formats, the Shipping Forecast is something of a must listen for fans gathered over the decades. For reasons not quite understood, it has become a much-loved part of the British cultural landscape with an avid following of listeners who find its poetry is the perfect cure for insomnia. ...

Along with the fine art of queuing & proper tea, talking about the weather is the essence of Britishness. We`re all a little bit obsessed by it. Will it snow this Christmas? Was this year really the warmest on record? & where on earth did `raining cats & dogs` come from? According to recent research, 94 per cent of British people admit to having discussed the weather in the past six hours, while 38 per cent say they have in the past 60 minutes. Since Records Began is an almanac, a miscellany, & a celebration of our most famous obsession. Including beautiful illustrations, maps & line drawings, Since Records Began is a perfect gift for 2017. Features include: The Lore of Weather
- myths, legends & old wives tales about the weather; Lost in Translation
- Colloquial names for weather around the country, from Custard Winds to Mizzle; Extreme Weather
- Bizarre events in the history of British Weather including red rain & a downpour of frogs & fish; plus tables showing record breaking sunshine, wind speed, rainfall, heat etc.


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And the Ass Saw the Angel
- Nick Cave`s classic Gothic novel, in its full & original form. Outcast, mute, a lone twin cut from
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” And the Land Lay Still” is the sweeping Scottish epic by James Robertson. ” And the Land Lay Still” is nothing less than the story of a nation. James Robertson`s breathtaking novel is a portrait of modern Scotland as seen through the eyes of natives & immigrants, journalists & politicians, drop-outs & spooks, all trying to make their way through a country in the throes of great & rapid change. It is a moving, sweeping story of family, friendship, struggle & hope
- epic in every sense. The winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year Award 2010, ” And the Land Lay Still” is a masterful insight into Scotland`s history in the twentieth century & a moving, beautifully written novel of intertwined stories. ” Toweringly ambitious, virtually flawlessly realized, a masterpiece &, without a doubt, my book of the year”. (” Daily Mail”). ”A jam-packed, dizzying piece of fiction”. (” Scotland on Sunday”). ” Gripping, vivid, beautifully realized”. (” The Times”). ” Engrossing”. (” Daily Telegraph”). ” Powerful & moving. A brilliant & multifaceted saga of Scottish life in the second half of the twentieth century”. (” Sunday Times”). ” Brilliant & thoughtful. Eminently readable, subtle & profound”. (” Independent on Sunday”). ” Bold, discursive & deep, Robertson`s sweeping history of life & politics in 20th-century Scotland should not be ignored”. (Ian Rankin, ” Observer Books of the Year”). James Robertson is the author of three previous novels: ” The Fanatic”, ” Joseph Knight” & ” The Testament of Gideon Mack”, which is available in Penguin. Joseph Knight was awarded the two major Scottish literary awards in 2003/4
- the Saltire Book of the Year & the Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year
- & The Testament of Gideon Mack was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, picked by Richard & Judy`s Book Club, & shortlisted for the Saltire Book of the Year award.


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So, then. You want a story & I will tell you one... Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah & his sister Pari live with their father & stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work & they struggle together through poverty & brutal winters. To Abdullah, Pari
- as beautiful & sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named
- is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their heads touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari & Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the h&. Crossing generations & continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight & compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us & shape our lives, the ways in which we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history & how we are often surprised by the people closest to us.

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So, then. You want a story & I will tell you one... Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah & his sister Pari live in the small village of Shadbagh. To Abdullah, Pari, as beautiful & sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named, is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their skulls touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari & Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the h&. ...

From the multi-award-winning author of A Monster Calls comes a haunting tale of power & obsession that turns the story of Moby Dick upside down. ” Call me Bathsheba.” The whales of Bathsheba`s pod live for the hunt. Led by the formidable Captain Alexandra, they fight a never-ending war against men. Then the whales attack a man ship, & instead of easy prey they find the trail of a myth, a monster, perhaps the devil himself... With their relentless Captain leading the chase, they embark on the final hunt, one that will forever change the worlds of whales & men. ...