Winner of the *1997 Booker Prize*, Arundhati Roy’s “ The God of Small Things” is set against a background of political turbulence in Kerala, Southern India, telling the story of twins Esthappen & Rahel. Amongst the vats of banana jam & heaps of peppercorns in their grandmother`s factory, armed only with the invincible innocence of children, they fashion a childhood for themselves in the shade of the wreck that is their family
- their lonely, lovely mother, Ammu (who loves by night the man her children love by day), their blind grandmother, Mammachi (who plays Handel on her violin), their beloved uncle Chacko (Rhodes scholar, pickle baron, radical Marxist, bottom-pincher), & their enemy, Baby Kochamma (ex-nun & incumbent grandaunt). When their English cousin, Sophie Mol, & her mother, Margaret Kochamma, arrive on a Christmas visit, Esthappen & Rahel learn that things can change in a day. That lives can twist into new, ugly shapes, even cease forever. “ The God of Small Things” certainly takes on the big themes: love; madness; hope; & infinite joy. The brilliantly plotted story uncoils with an agonizing sense of foreboding & inevitability; yet nothing prepares you for what lies at the heart of it.
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The green movement has got it very wrong. Nature no longer controls our planet -- it is humanity, `the god species`, that must save the environment we have inflicted unprecedented damage upon. & the tools we must use are the very technologies that environmentalist have told us for years will spell disaster: nuclear power, GM food & geo-engineering. In this blistering & urgent manifesto, Mark Lynas identifies a new future for the green movement & an entirely fresh agenda for how we will save the Earth, & ourselves. ...

This collection brings together the five 2017 shortlisted stories, along with eleven stories written at the Caine Prize Writers` Workshop, which took place in Tanzania in April 2017. Judges are drawn from different literary fields including eminent journalists, broadcasters & academics with expertise & a connection to literature in Africa. Five stories are selected for the shortlist by the judges, with one being selected as the winner on the day of the award on 3 July 2017. This year`s judes are: Nii Ayikwei Parkes, award winning author, poet & editor; 2007 Caine Prize winner, Monica Arac de Nyeko; author & Chair of the English Department at Georgetown University, Professor Ricardo Ortiz; Libyan author & human rights campaigner, Ghazi Gheblawi; & distinguished African literary scholar, Dr Ranka Primorac. ...

Tyrant, blackmailer, racketeer, murderer
- his influence reaches every level of American society. Meet Don Corleone, a friendly
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` The bloody victory of the Corleone Family was not complete, ` begins the final chapter of Mario Puzo`s ” The Godfather”, `until a year of delicate manoeuvring established Michael Corleone as the most powerful Family chief in the United States.` ” The Godfather: The Lost Years” takes place in the years 1955-65, but it is built upon the story of that `year of delicate political manoeuvring`
- & how, in winning the battle of that year, Michael Corleone set the stage to lose the war: the war to make the Family legitimate, the war to keep the Corleones supremely in power, the war to stay true to his father`s wishes, the war to give not just his Family but his family a safe & happy life. ” The Godfather: The Lost Years” is not just a sequel. A magnificent novel in its own right, by an acclaimed young American novelist, it traces the nexus of ambitious, audacious decisions that Michael Corleone implements, their ultimate failure, &, after the Family`s literal & figurative years in the wilderness (of Las Vegas), Michael`s literal, physical return to New York, & his attempts to regain control there.
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From the author of bestselling debut NED`S CIRCUS OF MARVELS... Roll up, roll up, & prepare to be AMAZED AGAIN by Ned & the marvellous, magical, monstrous flying circus! Ned & his family are trying to be ordinary except for the small fact that they AREN`T. AT ALL. Because on the run up to Christmas everything is ruined when all the world`s gold goes missing, along with its leading scientists. Which doesn`t really have anything to do with Ned... until it does. When an oily thief & his pet monster turn up at Ned`s door, Ned finds himself on the run again... & racing to find out what this new villain wants. Meanwhile, in the shadows, a machine with a mind of its own vies for power, & mysterious men in grey suits are watching the Circus of Marvels` every move. Together with his best friend Lucy, his clockwork mouse & his shadow, Ned must use his growing magical powers to try to uncover a secret that could end them all... ...

Into the insular town of 1930s Ferrara, a new doctor arrives. Fadigati is hopeful & modern, & more than anything wants to fit into his new home. But his fresh, appealing appearance soon crumbles when the townsfolk discover his homosexuality, & the young man he pays to be his lover humiliates him publicly. As anti-Semitism spreads across Italy, the Jewish narrator of the tale begins to feel pity for the ostracized doctor, as the fickle nature of a community changing under political forces becomes clear. ” The Gold-Rimmed Spectacles” is a gripping & tragic study of how lives can be destroyed by those we consider our neighbours. ...

Charles V, Emperor of Europe & the New World, is the central figure The Golden age, the second volume of Hugh Thomas’s superb ...

The Golden Age of Discovery is a photographic tribute to the adventures, dangers, hardships, & accomplishments of modern expeditions. In this golden age of exploration & discovery, our knowledge of this planet is being expanded as never before in human history. Discoveries like plate tectonics, desertification, the hole in the ozone layer, & the greenhouse effect have transformed our understanding of the earth & its climate. & from the mountain peaks to ocean floors, untrodden places are being explored for the very first time. It also

Includes:: profiles of noted explorers as well as features on the main fields of sporting exploration, & John Hemming's text is dramatically enhanced with 200 color photos & maps from around the world. John Hemming was Director of the Royal Geographic Society for more than two decades.

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The Golden Age of European Railways presents the history of Europe’s main railway routes during the late nineteenth & early twentieth century with interesting & informative text from a team of award-winning writers & acknowledged railway experts, lavishly illustrated by contemporary posters, postcards, paintings, maps, photos, etc, as well as present-day photos of restored rolling stock. Chapters are arranged by country or region, from the Settle to Carlisle route & the Jungfraujoch tunnel to that ultimate railway line, the Trans-Siberian, & cover specially selected lines in Great Britain, Irel&, Belgium, France, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Austria, Switzerl&, Pol&, Russia, Norway, Sweden & Finl&. The appendix contains further chapters on classic European locomotives, carriage design & railway museums. The presentation & the range of illustrations in this book are simply exceptional, from paintings like Claude Monet’s view of Gare Saint-Lazare & those wonderful advertising posters from the interwar period to numerous postcards of old, some long-gone stations, etc. The selection of maps from various publishers or national surveys is excellent. The book will appeal not only to railway enthusiasts but also to anyone interested in graphic design from that period or simply in the history of Europe. ...