Mike Engleby has a secret... This is the story of Mike Engleby, a working-class boy who wins a place at an esteemed English university. But with the disappearance of Jennifer, the undergraduate Engleby admires from afar, the story turns into a mystery of gripping power. Sebastian Faulks`s new novel is a bolt from the blue, unlike anything he has ever written before: contemporary, demotic, heart-wrenching
- & funny, in the deepest shade of black.
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” Open this book with reverence. It is a hymn to England
- the old Engl&, the England of beach huts & Constable skies.” (Clive
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I took off my belt & moved between the seats to look. We were at the top of a big hill. Below were squares & diamonds of green & brown fields all the way to the sunset. Then I saw the house. It was more perfect than the one I had been dreaming about. A red cube in the middle of the l&, like someone threw a dice. I could not believe that I was going to live there. When Mirka gets a job in a country house in rural Engl&, she has no idea of the struggle she faces to make sense of a very English couple, & a way of life that is entirely alien to her. Richard & Sophie are chaotic, drunken, frequently outrageous but also warm, generous & kind to Mirka, despite their argumentative & turbulent marriage. Mirka is swiftly commandeered by Richard for his latest money-making enterprise, taxidermy, & soon surpasses him in skill. After a traumatic break two years ago with her family in Slovakia, Mirka finds to her surprise that she is happy at Fairmont Hall. But when she tells Sophie that she is gay, everything she values is put in danger & she must learn the hard way what she really believes in. English Animals is a funny, subversive, poignant & beautifully written novel about a doomed love affair, a certain kind of Englishness & prejudice. ...

The English canal network becomes increasingly popular & widely used each year. The main aim of this book is to explain how everything works
- from locks & lifts, to tunnels & towpaths. Stan Yorke, a life-long narrow boat enthusiast, explains in an easy-to-understand manner the story of the canals. In this he is ably assisted by his son Trevor's superb drawings & diagrams. The book is divided into three clear sections. The first describes the history of the canals, the second looks at their structures & features, & the third suggests special sites of interest around the country, which can be visited by foot or by boat.
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” English Canoe Classics” is an illustrated guide to some of the finest tours of northern England`s waterways, from the North Tyne in Northumbria to the Shropshire Union Canal in the West Midlands. Scenic lakes, placid canals & broad rivers, as they can only be seen from a canoe or kayak. Eddie & ` Wilf` have chosen the best inland touring routes. They are described in great detail & illustrated with numerous colour photos & maps. The selected routes are suitable for open canoes, sit-on-tops & touring kayaks. Many of them can be tackled as a single voyage or a series of day trips, with campsites en route. The journeys are all accessible but highly varied, taking place on lakes, sheltered coastline, rivers & canals. A wonderful book for planning voyages & inspiring dreams, or sharing your experiences with others. Eddie Palmer bought his first kayak over 50 years ago. It was a wood & canvas one in which he set out to paddle rivers in his part of middle England & Wales. Since then, he has kayaked & canoed extensively in the UK, Irel&, western & eastern Europe, the USA & Canada & southern Africa. His passion over the past few years has been for long-distance canoe-camping. After a competitive career in slalom & whitewater racing, he still paddles whitewater. Eddie is a Board Director of the SCA & is the co-author of Scottish Canoe Touring, author of Scottish Canoe Classics & co-author of Irish Canoe Classics (all published by Pesda Press). Nigel Wilford has been involved with canoeing for most of his adult life, paddling throughout the UK, mainland Europe, Canada, USA & New Zeal&. Born in northwest Leicestershire, his first canoe experience was on the gentle River Soar. Not long after, he moved to Yorkshire to attend university. The enjoyment he found while paddling the rivers of the northeast firmly established canoeing as his activity of choice. In 1991 he joined the British Canoe Union`s coaching service, helping others to improve their canoeing or to become better coaches. Nigel has held various roles within the BCU including Local Coaching Organiser & English Whitewater Safety Coordinator. He is a BCU Level 5 Coach & member of Team Pyranha. ...

A well-written contribution to the literature on the subject, & will interest both the historically minded tourist &, as a reference book, the scholar. WAR IN HISTORY A comprehensive & concise guide to all medieval English castles of which something can still be seen today, ranging from the massive keeps which still dominate the landscape to grassy earthworks & Border pele towers, & spanning the centuries from the Norman Conquest to the accession of the Tudors. English Castles contains over five hundred main entries in county order, each giving a brief history & description of the castle. A short introduction supplies the historical background to the explosion of castle-building in the middle ages, & there is a glossary covering all aspects of castles in some detail. Full Ordnance Survey map references. ...

A handy guide to England`s most dramatic castles & strongholds, many of which are open to visitors.

Includes::

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A handy guide to England`s most famous cathedrals & abbeys.

Includes:: an eight-page map section showing the

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The English cottage garden is an exquisite celebration of quintesentially English gardens, showing how they tread a fine line between aesthetics & utility, wildness & domestication. In medieval times cottages, far from picturesque, were vital to their cultivator's self sufficiency & were often surrounded by a yard mainly given over to livestock, but with a patch for vegetables & herbs. In the 17th century things began to change, the gentry started to build cottage-style houses & aided by their servants assumedd lives of mock-simplicity. Thus the English cottage garden has derived from 2 strands: the subsistence culture of the original cottagers nad the romantic notions of the gentrifiers. ...

Illuminating a mix of practicality & beauty, this volume is a visual anthology of the evolution of the cottage. It ranges from some of England's earliest dwellings, built without plans, to purpose-built railway & canal cottages, & to the follies of the 18th century. ...