Throughout its history, London has been two places: the daytime city of business & work the nighttime palace of dark desires, crime, & vagrancy. This place has attracted writers, lawyers, poets, & politicians who have all attempted to chart & control the nocturnal flows of the capital. In the medieval city, nightwalking was a punishable crime; by the Victorian era, Charles Dickens was forced to wander the streets by night in order to becalm his disturbed mind. Why has the city shrouded in darkness been such a compelling subject over the centuries? Before the age of the gas lamp, the city at night was a different place, home to the lost, the licentious, & the insomniac. In this brilliant work of literary investigation, Matthew Beaumont shines a light on the dark perambulations of poets, novelists, & thinkers from Shakespeare, to the ecstatic strolls of William Blake, the feverish urges of opium addict De Quincey, as well as the master nightwalker, Charles Dickens. ...

Charles Dickens describes in Night Walks his time as an insomniac, when he decided to cure himself by walking through London in the small hours, & discovered homelessness, drunkenness & vice on the streets. This collection of essays shows Dickens as one of the greatest visionaries of the city in all its variety & cruelty. This is part of Penguin`s ” Great Ideas” range, which selects books that have a had a noticeable impact on the world around us. ...

Poor Zebra just wants to go to sleep! But with tap dancing tigers in tuxedos & piano-playing porcupines in party hats hiding behind every flap, will Zebra ever find some peace & quiet? There`s plenty of peekaboo fun to be found in this hilarious lift-the-flap board book from award-winning Gareth Lucas (Peekaboo 123, Peekaboo A to Z, Peekaboo Opposites). Perfect for bedtimes that are full of bounce! ...

” Alice Hoffman can write about love like no-one else” Jodi Picoult Twig lives in a remote area of town with her mysterious brother & her mother, baker of irresistible apple pies. A new girl in town might just be Twig`s first true friend, & ally in vanquishing an ancient family curse. A spellbinding tale of modern folklore set in the Berkshires, where rumours of a winged beast draw in as much tourism as the town`s famed apple orchards. ...

Have you ever wondered what `our` birds get up to when they`re not pinching our peanuts, pilfering our pyracantha berries or nesting under the eaves of our homes? The One Show`s natural history star Mike Dilger tells us the answers in Nightingales in November. This brilliant almanac tells the very different personal & annual stories of twelve well-known birds we deign to call ` British`. Through a lyrical narrative, Nightingales in November showcases amazing avian facts gleaned over decades by birdwatchers, ringers, nest recorders & migration recorders. The perfect `dip-into` book, any enquiring naturalist will be able to find out such facts as where British-breeding swallows spend Christmas Day, when to look out for juvenile tawny owls, or when is the best date in the calendar to listen out for nightingales. By using a combination of cutting-edge satellite technology & millions of ringing records, Nightingales in November reveals the mysteries of migration, tracking the regular movements of, for example, cuckoos for the eight months they`re not in the UK, or divulging why not all robins are the `stay-at-home` territorial types we once imagined. Illustrated throughout by Darren Woodhead, the birds featured include a rich mix of resident birds, summer visitors, winter visitors & passage migrants. Nightingales in November is a great read for anyone with a fondness for British birds. ...

Nights at the Alexandra by William Trevor
- a classic early novel by one of the world`s greatest writers. A brief encounter in
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Is Sophie Fevvers, toast of Europe`s capitals, part swan...or all fake? Courted by the Prince of Wales & painted by Toulouse-Lautrec, she is an aerialiste extraordinaire & star of Colonel Kearney`s circus. She is also part woman, part swan. Jack Walser, an American journalist, is on a quest to discover the truth behind her identity. Dazzled by his love for her, & desperate for the scoop of a lifetime, Walser has no choice but to join the circus on its magical tour through turn-of-the-nineteenth-century London, St Petersburg & Siberia. ...

The European city was transformed when public lighting was introduced in the last century & night life was made possible for the first time. This is an investigation of the various aspects of Paris, Berlin, London & their inhabitants at night between 1840 & 1930. It deals with topical issues such as crime in the city, urban improvement & the predicament of women. By day the author sifted through countless police & church archives, city records & first-hand accounts; by night he explored the highways & byways of the three great cities. ...

Chris Yates, one of Britain`s most insightful & lyrical writers, raises his gaze from his beloved rivers & ponds & takes us on a mesmerizing tour of the British countryside. ” Last November, the sudden appearance of a hundred wintering ravens in a wood in Cranborne Chase, where I have lived for twenty-five years without seeing more than a few solitary specimens, reminded me that there is always something ready to flame up again in the landscape, just when it seemed the fire had gone out.” In Nightwalk we accompany Chris Yates on the most magical of journeys into the very heart of the British countryside. His acute observation of the natural world & ability to transcend it exquisitely sets Chris apart from his contemporaries. Time slows down for a deeper intimacy with nature, & through Chris`s writing we hear every rustle of a leaf, every call of a bird. He widens the power of our imagination, heightening our senses & revealing beauty in the smallest details. ...

In Nightwalking Matthew Beaumont recounts an alternative history of London-populated by the poor, the mad, the lost, the vagrant & the noctambulant. He shines a light on the shadowy perambulations of poets, novelists & thinkers: Chaucer & Shakespeare; William Blake & his ecstatic peregrinations & the feverish ramblings of opium addict Thomas De Quincey; &, among the lamp-lit literary throng, the supreme nightwalker Charles Dickens. We discover how the nocturnal city has inspired some & served as a balm or narcotic to others. ...