What is the difference between friendship & love? Or between neutrality & commitment? Gustav Perle grows up in a small town in `neutral` Switzerl&, where the horrors of the Second World War seem a distant echo. But Gustav`s father has mysteriously died, & his adored mother Emilie is strangely cold & indifferent to him. Gustav`s childhood is spent in lonely isolation, his only toy a tin train with painted passengers staring blankly from the carriage windows. As time goes on, an intense friendship with a boy of his own age, Anton Zwiebel, begins to define Gustav`s life. Jewish & mercurial, a talented pianist tortured by nerves when he has to play in public, Anton fails to understand how deeply & irrevocably his life & Gustav`s are entwined. Fierce, astringent, profoundly tender, Rose Tremain`s beautifully orchestrated novel asks the question, what does it do to a person, or to a country, to pursue an eternal quest for neutrality, & self-mastery, while all life`s hopes & passions continually press upon the borders & beat upon the gate. ...

Boost your digestive & immune system with these delicious probiotic recipes that will leave you feeling energized & alert.A healthier gut is the key to a healthier life, so banish those all-too-common symptoms of a bloated stomach & enjoy new levels of physical & mental vitality. From our mental health & mood to our skin, weight control & immunity, the bacteria that live in our stomach can affect more than we realize. These bacteria can become diminished through eating too much sugar, processed or artificial foods or lifestyle factors outside of our control such as taking antibiotics. The state of our gut is responsible for a lot & looking after it can prove beneficial in the long run. One way to repair your tummy is through introducing naturally fermented foods that contain high amounts of the friendly bacteria you may be missing. Creative chef, teacher & health-food expert Dunja Gulin presents over 60 tantalizing ways to introduce fermented foods to your everyday diet. Start the day with Banana & Blueberry Kefir Muffins or Comforting Cacao Oatmeal. Lunch & Dinner ideas include Probiotic Gazpacho & Egyptian Rice & Lentil Stew. You`ll find globally-inspired recipes in the Side Salads & Snacks section, from a Scandinavian Chanterelle Salad to Tender Spring Rolls with Fermented Onion. In the Breads & Pancakes section, Dunja presents delicious recipes for Red Lentil Dosas & Pesto Focaccia, among others. The Probiotic Drinks section

Includes:: health-boosting concoctions like Coconut Kefir Smoothie, while Something Sweet provides delightfully tempting recipes, such as Sweet Cinnamon & Yogurt Scones.

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By turns funny, heartwarming & occasionally sad, this memoir offers an American woman`s view of pastoral Scotland today. It is an account of the author`s marriage & her years spent at The Guynd, her husband`s ancestral estate. We follow her steep learning curve in dealing with a grand & crumbling mansion, an overgrown landscape, troublesome tenants, local aristocracy, Scottish rituals & a husband for whom change is anathema. A son & heir draws Belinda Rathbone into an intimate relationship with every tier of local society, while a visiting friend heightens the strain of the culture gap. Alternating between enchantment & despair, Rathbone digs into family & local history in an effort to understand her surroundings & free her husband from the grip of the past. Like a letter home from a strange l&, this tale of the journey through the wrought iron gates into the living past is both wry & poignant, both oddball & reflective of the ties that bind us. ...

It was a railway just waiting to be made. The capital, London, was in the east; Bristol, second city in the l&, 110 miles to the west or a sea journey of 672 miles. By the late 1820s, technology had enhanced to a state where the very latest form of transport, a steam railway, could make a far superior link than travel by canal, sea or road. This in-depth study of the Bristol to Bath line by the master of West Country railway history, Colin G. Maggs, covers the line`s conception, construction, opening & its dramatic effect on the district from the nineteenth century to the present day. It illustrates many aspects of the railway: the first English Pacific locomotive, GWR diesel railcars, gas-turbine locomotives & the pioneer HST, as well as damage & uses during the Second World War & the many accidents that occurred, including one that could have proven fatal to the author. The GWR Bristol to Bath Line is illustrated with maps & over 200 photographs showing every aspect of the line, which passes through sylvan scenes & industrial ugliness. This book also contains appendices giving financial & traffic information, along with descriptions of all stations. This fact-filled, authoritative study offers a rare insight into the development of an integral section of the British railway. ...

Sorely neglected by railway authors, the line between Bristol & Taunton was part of the Bristol & Exeter Railway. A fascinating line, it was built to serve a moribund coalfield & a grand harbour scheme which proved a dismal failure. The line had many interesting

Features: two short dock branches, one of which had a telescopic bridge; several industrial concerns with their own locomotives; vital wartime factories; the busy holiday & excursion traffic to Weston super Mare requiring a special station. Wind strength had its effect on the railway because on the horse-worked Weston super Mare branch, when an adverse wind blew, it was quicker to get out & walk. The line has had more than its fair share of accidents & mishaps. The B&ER favoured express tank locomotives, some magnificent specimens having 9-foot-diameter flangeless driving wheels. The human side is not ignored: there are details of navvies lives & deaths; of a spat between Brunel & his resident engineer & the daring robbery of a mail train. Colin G. Maggs, one of the country`s leading railway historians, covers all these details & more in this gripping & well-researched story illustrated with over 200 images.

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” The Ha Ha Bonk Book” by Janet & Allan Ahlberg is jam-packed with brilliant jokes! This ” Young Puffin” joke book is full of good jokes to tell your dad, mum, your baby brother, your teacher & anybody else you can think of, such as: What goes ha ha bonk? A man laughing his head off; What goes 99 bonk? A centipede with a wooden leg; What goes putt, putt, putt, putt, putt, putt, putt, putt? A bad golfer & lots more besides... Allan Ahlberg
- a former teacher, postman, plumber`s mate & gravedigger
- is in the super-league of children`s writers with sales exceeding 17 million & library borrowings of 13 million. In collaboration with his late wife, Janet, he has published many enduring titles, among them ” Each Peach Pear Plum”, ” Peepo!”, ” Burglar Bill” & ” The Jolly Postman”. In addition he has written novels, collections of stories, sets of easy-readers & joke books.

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In 1360 a deputation from Cambridge ventures to the Suffolk town of Clare in the hope that the wealthy Elizabeth de Burgh has left a legacy to Michaelhouse. Yet when they arrive they discover that the report of her death is false & that the college seems destined for bankruptcy. Determined to see if some of its well-heeled citizens can be persuaded to sponsor Michaelhouse, Matthew Bartholomew, Brother Michael & Master Langelee become enmeshed in the town`s politics. They quickly discover that a great many other people in Clare have recently met untimely deaths. These killings, combined with the arrogance Lady de Burgh has shown over the refurbishment of the church & the grotesque behaviour of some of her entourage, have created a dangerous restlessness in the town: an atmosphere intensified when yet more murders occur. One of the victims is a fellow traveller of the Michaelhouse contingent, & Matthew Bartholomew & Brother Michael feel honour-bound to identify his killer. It is a hunt which takes them deep into Clare`s murky foundations & which threatens their own survival as well as that of their beloved college. ...

This title presents a history of the Habsburg monarchy from the end of the Holy Roman Empire to the monarchy`s dissolution in 1918. The book offers an insight into the problems inherent in the attempt to give peace, stability & common loyalty to a heterogeneous population. ...

At just 17 the author went to live on her new husband`s hacienda deep in the Venezuelan Andes. There her husband (a bank robber & aristocrat) more or less leaves her to fend for herself. She lived for seven years among the people of the area, grew to love them & learned the names for seventeen different types of avocado pears! ...

When Max the Martian crash-lands on planet Earth, he befriends young Sam who promises to help him get back home. The pair set out on an exciting journey through secret underground tunnels to the Tower of London, to find the one special ingredient that will power the little Martian’s spaceship & return him home- diamonds! ...