One of the foremost achievements in Western literature, Homer`s ” Iliad” tells the story of the darkest episode in the Trojan War. At its centre is Achilles, the greatest warrior-champion of the Greeks, & his refusal to fight after being humiliated by his leader Agamemnon. But when the Trojan Hector kills Achilles` close friend Patroclus, he storms back into battle to take revenge
- although knowing this will ensure his own early death. Interwoven with this tragic sequence of events are powerfully moving descriptions of the ebb & flow of battle, of the domestic world inside Troy`s besieged city of Ilium, & of the conflicts between the Gods on Olympus as they argue over the fate of mortals.
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Neil Packer`s glorious illustrations & Gillian Cross`s brilliant retelling bring to life Homer`s Iliad, the greatest war story ever told. The team that produced the Odyssey in 2012 now tell the story of the ten year war that preceded Odysseus`s long journey home to Ithaca. This faithful retelling begins with Prince Paris`s abduction of Helen of Sparta, & goes on to the quarrel between Agamemnon & Achilles, & the great battles under the walls of Troy towards the end of the siege that result in the deaths of Patroclus, the Trojan hero Hector, & finally Achilles himself. Neil Packer`s pictures capture the beauty & remoteness of the setting, & bring a profound humanity to what has been called the finest literary achievement of Greek civilisation. ...

Gillian Cross`s brilliant retelling & Neil Packer`s glorious illustrations bring to life Homer`s Iliad, one of the greatest stories ever told. Gillian Cross`s brilliant retelling & Neil Packer`s glorious illustrations bring to life Homer`s Iliad, one of the greatest stories ever told. The team behind The Odyssey (2012) now tell the story of the Trojan War. Cross`s vivid adaptation begins with a beauty contest: the prize, a golden apple. In return for securing her victory, the goddess Aphrodite helps Prince Paris abduct Helen, wife to the king of Sparta. Enraged, the king & his Greek allies wage war on the Trojans. Nine years later, the fighting still rages on, but the Greeks are beginning to quarrel among themselves
- Achilles & Agamemnon`s petty argument has dire consequences for everyone caught in the crossfire. Neil Packer`s pictures capture the beauty & remoteness of the setting, & bring a profound humanity to one of the finest literary achievements of Greek civilisation.
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A stunning Penguin clothbound edition of Homer`s great epic, in E. V. Rieu`s classic translation. The Iliad is the first & ...

A puzzling phone call shatters a writer`s routine. An enigmatic female voice extends an invitation to take part in Documenta, the legendary contemporary art exhibition held every five years in Kassel, Germany. The writer`s mission will be to transform himself into a living art installation, by sitting down to write every morning in a Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of town. Once in Kassel, the writer is surprised to find himself overcome by good cheer. As he strolls through the city, spurred on by his spontaneous, quirky response to art, he begins to make sense of the wonders that surround him. ...

From the bestselling author of the phenomenally successful The Kashmir Shawl London 1885 As a turbulent & change-filled century draws to a close, there has never been a better time to alter your fortune. But for a beautiful young woman of limited means, Eliza`s choices appear to lie between the stifling domesticity of marriage or a downwards spiral to the streets
- no matter how determined she is to forge her own path. One night at a run-down theatre, she meets the charismatic Devil Wix
- showman, master of illusion, fickle friend. Drawn into his circle, Eliza becomes the catalyst of change for his colleagues
- a dwarf, an eccentric engineer, & an artist
- as well as Devil himself. & as Eliza embarks on a dangerous adventure, she must decide which path to choose, & how far she should go when she holds all their lives in her hands.



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For over forty years, John Julius Norwich has been sending out his Christmas Crackers
- a personal collection of quirky"es
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An artfully playful collection of unexpected & remarkable facts about animals, illustrated by Swedish artist Maja Safstrom. Did you know that an octopus has three hearts? Or that ostriches can`t walk backward? Or that a group of owls is called a parliament, or that they have three eyelidssea otters hold hands in their sleep, bees never sleep, & penguins laugh when they`re tickled! This charming compendium contains over 100 pages of fascinating facts about the animal kingdom illustrated with whimsical detail.A New York Times bestseller. ...

With just a little land & available water, you can raise a variety of domestic fowl, from friendly ducks & characterful geese to guineafowl, dainty quail, placid turkeys or even peafowl. Illustrated with the author's charming watercolour paintings, this book is packed with practical tips on keeping domestic fowl & selecting the right breed for your circumstances. Covering 65 domestic breeds of ducks, geese, guineafowl, quail, turkeys & peafowl, the book gives an insight into the individual personalities & attributes of each kind of bird. The breed profiles are written in engaging text & include the history & place of origin, colour combinations, differences between male & female birds, the appearance of hatchlings & the numbers of eggs to expect. As well as selecting an appropriate breed, you need to consider your neighbours, the kinds of bird you can & should keep, whether you want them for eggs or as pets, & whether you want to breed them. The book offers helpful advice on all these issues & also on housing, the provision of water, feeding & the noise & impact your birds will have, as well as preventing & treating common ailments. Whether you are starting out as a smallholder, are interested in raising a few ducks or geese in a suburban or rural setting, or are simply a devotee of domestic fowl there is plenty to captivate you in this book. ...

I am the luckiest man alive, because I get to live & work in the most beautiful place on earth: Matterdale in the English Lake District. When I was a child we didn`t really go anywhere, except a week in the Isle of Man when I was about ten years old, & I never left Britain until I was twenty. Even now, years later, the best bit of any travelling is coming home. Bringing us into the world of shepherd`s baking competitions, sheep shows & moments out on the fell watching the sheep run away home, James Rebanks interweaves thoughts & reflections on the art of shepherding with his photographs of the valley, people & animals that make up the daily life of the fells. A life lived by the three hundred surviving fell farming families, this is a book of photos & words filled with reverence & love. ...