A journalist for National Public Radio in the US, David Greene decides to travel thousands of kilometres from Moscow to Vladivostok on the iconic Trans-Siberian line. On the train & in the many Siberian outposts he stops as he meets a wide range of ordinary Russian people
- from a group of Beatles-singing babushkas to soldiers & struggling entrepreneurs
- with situations arising that are at times comical, awkward or poignant. Travelling in third class, he learns to adhere to the train`s unwritten social codes & to navigate the unfamiliar environment of Siberia, occasionally shadowed by security agents. Conjuring up other famous travellers to the regions such as Anton Chekhov, David Greene manages, through the events he describes & his reflections & conversations on the journey, to construct a complex, compassionate & astute portrait of Putin`s Russia far away from the glamour & prestige of Moscow.

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Taking the trial of former Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, for alleged Mafia involvement as a starting point, Peter Robb uses history, painting, literature & food to shed some light on this beautiful island's notorious reputation. One of the great charms of Robb's book is his evident delight in southern Italy, particularly its food, which is recorded with such intensity of memory that one can almost taste it ...

Peter Robb`s journey into the dark heart of Sicily uses history, painting, literature & food to shed light on southern Italy`s legacy of political corruption & violent crime. Taking the trial of seven-times Prime Minister, Giulio Andreotti, for alleged Mafia involvement as its starting point, Midnight in Sicily combines a searching investigation with an exuberant, sensual appreciation of this beautiful & bewildering isl&. ...

St Petersburg, 1911: Inna Feldman has fled the pogroms of her native Kiev to take refuge with distant relatives in Russia's capital city. Welcomed into the flamboyant Leman family, she is apprenticed into their violin-making workshop. With her looks & talents, she feels instantly at home in their bohemian circle of friends. But revolution is in the air &, as society begins to fracture, she is forced to choose between her heart & her head. She loves her brooding cousin, Yasha, but he is wild, destructive & bent on revolution; Horace Wallich, the Englishman who works for Faberge, is older & promises security & respectability. As the revolution descends into anarchy & blood-letting, a commission to repair a priceless Stradivarius violin offers Inna a means of escape. But will man will she choose to take with her? & is it already too late? ...

Set in St Petersburg during the Russian Revolution, a sweeping novel of love & loss as one woman fights for her own personal survival
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Genteel society ladies who compare notes on their husbands` suicides. A hilariously foul-mouthed black drag queen. A voodoo priestess who works her roots in the graveyard at midnight. A morose inventor who owns a bottle of poison powerful enough to kill everyone in town. A prominent antiques dealer who hangs a Nazi flag from his window to disrupt the shooting of a movie. & a redneck gigolo whose conquests describe him as a `walking streak of sex`. These are some of the real residents of Savannah, Georgia, a city whose eccentric mores are unerringly observed
- & whose dirty linen is gleefully aired
- in this utterly irresistible book. At once a true-crime murder story & a hugely entertaining & deliciously perverse travelogue, Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil is as bracing & intoxicating as half-a-dozen mint juleps.

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Born at the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India`s independence, Saleem Sinai is a special child. However, this coincidence of birth has consequences he is not prepared for: telepathic powers connect him with 1, 000 other `midnight`s children` all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts. Inextricably linked to his nation, Saleem`s story is a whirlwind of disasters & triumphs that mirrors the course of modern India at its most impossible & glorious. ...

“ Midnight’s Children” is another standout work from Salman Rushdie, that although isn’t nearly of the infamy or fame (delete where applicable) as “ The Satanic Verses”, is very much just as superb. Born at the stroke of midnight at the exact moment of India’s independence, Saleem Sinai is a special child. However, this coincidence of birth has consequences he is not prepared for: telepathic powers connect him with 1, 000 other ‘midnight’s children’ all of whom are endowed with unusual gifts. Inextricably linked to his nation, Saleem’s story is a whirlwind of disasters & triumphs that mirrors the course of modern India at its most impossible & glorious. ...

An epic narrative history that compares & contrasts the fortunes of all the countries that make up South Asia. If British India had not been partitioned in 1947, its population would today be the world`s largest. At c 1.5 billion, Midnight`s Descendants (the offspring of those affected by `the midnight hour` Partition) already outnumber Europeans & Chinese; & they are growing faster than either. They comprise all the peoples of what is now called ` South Asia` (the preferred term for the partitioned subcontinent of modern India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, plus Nepal & Sri Lanka). ` Midnight`s Descendants` is the first history of the region as a whole. Correlating & contrasting the fortunes of all the constituent nations over the last six decades affords unique insights into what is hailed as one of the world`s most dynamic regions. John Keay is an expert on the region & the book will be the first account to incorporate the rich story of South Asia`s transnational, or `diasporic`, peoples
- from the overlooked narratives of the subcontinent to the rise of India as a global force, ` Midnight`s Descendants` will be expansive & tumultuous in the great tradition of India`s narrative epics.
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An epic narrative history that compares & contrasts the fortunes of all the countries that make up South Asia. If British India had not been partitioned in 1947, its population would today be the world`s largest. At c 1.5 billion, Midnight`s Descendants (the offspring of those affected by `the midnight hour` Partition) already outnumber Europeans & Chinese; & they are growing faster than either. They comprise all the peoples of what is now called ` South Asia` (the preferred term for the partitioned subcontinent of modern India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, plus Nepal & Sri Lanka). ` Midnight`s Descendants` is the first history of the region as a whole. Correlating & contrasting the fortunes of all the constituent nations over the last six decades affords unique insights into what is hailed as one of the world`s most dynamic regions. John Keay is an expert on the region & the book will be the first account to incorporate the rich story of South Asia`s transnational, or `diasporic`, peoples
- from the overlooked narratives of the subcontinent to the rise of India as a global force, ` Midnight`s Descendants` will be expansive & tumultuous in the great tradition of India`s narrative epics.
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