Following the popular Chronicles of Old Paris, in The Golden Moments of Paris, John Baxter has uncovered more fascinating true stories about the characters that gave Paris its character in the years between World War I & World War II. Explore more about one of the world`s most beautiful & loved cities in twenty-six fact-filled, humorous, & dramatic stories about the famed Annees Folles--the Crazy Years at the turn of the 20th century in Paris. Learn about Gertrude Stein & her famous writers` salon, Salvador Dali & the Surrealists, the birth of Chanel No. 5, & the antics of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, & the lost generation. Then see what these areas look like today by following along on the guided walking tours of Paris`s historic neighborhoods & the cafes, clubs, & brothels that were home to the intellectuals, artists, & Bohemians, illustrated with color photographs & period maps. If you enjoyed Woody Allen`s film Midnight in Paris, you`ll love this book. ...

On a bleak winter night in 1997, a British Columbia timber scout named Grant Hadwin committed an act of shocking violence: he destroyed the legendary Golden Spruce of the Queen Charlotte Islands. With its rich colours, towering height & luminous needles, the tree was a scientific marvel, beloved by the local Haida people who believed it sacred. The Golden Spruce tells the story of the sadness which pushed Hadwin to such a desperate act of destruction
- a bizarre environmental protest which acts as a metaphor for the challenge the world faces today. But it also raises the question of what then happened to Hadwin, who disappeared under suspicious circumstances & remains missing to this day. Part thrilling mystery, part haunting depiction of the ancient beauty of the coastal wilderness, & part dramatic chronicle of the historical collision of Europeans & the native Haida, The Golden Spruce is a timely portrait of man’s troubled relationship with a vanishing world.
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In the Golden Step: A Walk Through the Heart of Crete, the famous walking correspondent Christopher Somerville undertakes a gruelling hike from the east to the west of Crete, relying entirely on a rather dodgy map, a compass & a walking stick -&, of course, on the famed hospitality of the Cretans. For Christopher Somerville this was a kind of pilgrimage, a journey unlike any he had undertaken in 20 years of travel writing. It was an expedition where he traded the usual comforts & certainties for a real physical & mental challenge, with no mobile phone or any other technological aids. The only plan for his journey was to begin in the east at Easter & finish at Whitsun in the extreme west, at the Monastery of the Golden Step
- whose gold step, legend says, can only be seen by those who have purged themselves into purity. During his 300-mile walk, he tackled four mountain ranges, high slopes & the numerous gorges of the west. Speaking only basic Greek & trying to follow a poorly way-marked path, Somerville had to rely on his own instincts when climbing mountain passes & crossing high plateaus, where villages are scarce & each night's accommodation was uncertain. He saw a Crete not many tourists encounter.
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In the Golden Step: A Walk Through the Heart of Crete, the famous walking correspondent Christopher Somerville undertakes a gruelling hike from the east to the west of Crete, relying entirely on a rather dodgy map, a compass & a walking stick -&, of course, on the famed hospitality of the Cretans. For Christopher Somerville this was a kind of pilgrimage, a journey unlike any he had undertaken in 20 years of travel writing. It was an expedition where he traded the usual comforts & certainties for a real physical & mental challenge, with no mobile phone or any other technological aids. The only plan for his journey was to begin in the east at Easter & finish at Whitsun in the extreme west, at the Monastery of the Golden Step
- whose gold step, legend says, can only be seen by those who have purged themselves into purity. During his 300-mile walk, he tackled four mountain ranges, high slopes & the numerous gorges of the west. Speaking only basic Greek & trying to follow a poorly way-marked path, Somerville had to rely on his own instincts when climbing mountain passes & crossing high plateaus, where villages are scarce & each night`s accommodation was uncertain. He saw a Crete not many tourists encounter.
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Heinrich Schliemann created his own myth
- the poor uneducated boy who became a millionaire & spent his fortune on excavating the
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Controversial & provocative, revised & updated, this edition of Lawrence James` acclaimed biography penetrates & overturns the mythology which surrounds T. E. Lawrence, yet remains dispassionate & generous in spirit throughout. It presents a fascinating study of one of the twentieth century`s most remarkable figures. ` The best study of Lawrence of Arabia` SUNDAY TIMES ...

Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother & a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone & rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, & down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich & the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated & in love
- & his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America & a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters & thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph
- a sweeping story of loss & obsession, of survival & self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity & fate.

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014. Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother & a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone & rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, & down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich & the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated & in love
- & his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America & a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters & thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph
- a sweeping story of loss & obsession, of survival & self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity & fate.

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A story about finding friendship when you`re lonely
- & hope when all you feel is fear. Twelve-year-old Matthew is trapped in his
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One snowy night in New York City, a successful but solitary goldsmith reflects on his life, & his unreliable memories intertwine & collide. Returning to the village where he grew up, he hopes with some trepidation that he will encounter Celia, 'the Black Widow', a beautiful & mysterious friend of his mother with whom he had a short & passionate affair when he was a teenager, before she rejected him. But instead he meets a young woman who opens doors onto a strange world, & takes him back in time. The Goldsmith's Secret is a remarkable story with a magical twist, of a love trapped between two parallel times, set Spain in the fifties, seventies, & in the last year of the twentieth century. In beautifully economical language, & with a structure as intricate & refined as a bevelled jewel, The Goldsmith's Secret is filled with intense nostalgia, memories & desires. Elia Barcelo has come to be known across Europe as a truly original voice, & her books as poetic works of great subtlety. ...