The Monster of Florence, which was shortlisted for the prestigious CWA Gold Dagger Award for Non Fiction in 2010, is a true account of brutal serial murder in idyllic Florence. After settling in Italy in 2000, Douglas Preston discovered that the olive grove in front of his family`s new home had been the scene of one of the most infamous double-murders in Italian history, committed by a serial killer who had never been found & was known only as the Monster of Florence. Preston, intrigued, met Italian journalist Mario Spezi, who had followed the case since the first murders in 1974, to learn more. This is the true story of their search for
- & identification of
- the man they believe committed the crimes, & their chilling interview with him. It`s also the story of how Preston & Spezi themselves became embroiled in the case. Like one of Preston`s bestselling thrillers, The Monster of Florence tells a gripping & harrowing story of murder, mutilation, suspicion & ruined lives
- & at the centre of it, two brave writers trying to uncover the truth at all costs. This latest edition

Includes:: an explosive afterword about the much-publicised murder of a British student, Meredith Kercher, & its connection to the monster case.




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The hard evidence amounted to a grainy photo published in a 1929 London newspaper. Sitting on a packing case, propped up with a large stick, was what purported to be the body of a giant ape -- the Mono Rey. It was said to have inhabited the dense jungles of northern Bolivia, around the Madidi river -- but the last person to explore the region, the redoubtable Major Percy Harrison Fawcett back in the 1920s, had since disappeared without a trace. For Simon Chapman, however, the jungle is the only place to be, & the denser & more remote the better. Which is why Chapman, along with two eccentric companions, took an all-too-collapsible canoe into the swamps & rainforests of Bolivia to find the mythical monster of the Madidi. By turns gripping, comic, & touching, & with a superb awareness of the natural world, The Monster of the Madidi marks the debut of an exceptional new travel writer. ...

A stunning, operatic, epic drama, like no other. Meet Hel, an ordinary teenager
- & goddess of the Underworld. Why is
...

The dazzling 28cm (11) Monte Carlo contemporary desk-size world globe will make a wonderful addition to your home or office. This globe offers both beauty & functionality. The earth globe has a stunning cobalt blue & silver metallic finish mounted in an elegant metallic silver semi-meridian & base. A unique locator brochure stored in the base directs you easily to more than 5, 000 locations on the globe. ...

In the mean streets of Victorian London lies the body of wealthy Mr Montgomery. When Inspector Denham makes him an offer he can`t refuse it`s up to Alfie & his gang to sift clues, shadow suspects & negotiate a sinister world of double-dealing & danger
- until the shocking truth is revealed.
...

Its November, 1891. The body of a young woman is discovered at a crossroads on Boulevard Montmartre. Barefoot & dressed in red, she has been strangled & her face disfigured. That same day a single red shoe is delivered to Victor Legris` Parisian bookshop. Suspecting more that just coincidence, the bookseller sleuth & his assistant Jojo are soon engaged in seeking out the identity of both victim & murderer. In this third investigation set in belle-epoque Paris, we are drawn with Victor into the city`s nightlife & the legendary Moulin Rouge immortalised by Toulouse-Lautrec, who features in the story. By the author of the best-selling Murder on the Eiffel Tower, this is the third in the award-winning series of Parisian murder mysteries which have collective sales in excess of 445, 000 copies. ...

The Monument area of the City of London in 1873 in a series of exceptionally detailed reproductions of old Ordnance Survey street plans for areas of larger cities which have undergone substantial redevelopment in the late 19th or the early 20th century, published in the Alan Godfrey Editions. The plans, printed in back & white, have been taken from the original Ordnance Survey mapping at 1:1, 056 & reproduced at 1:1, 760 – the equivalent of 36 inches (or one yard) to a mile. The maps provide an unrivalled, house-by-house picture of streets & individual buildings with inner courtyards, outbuildings, pavements, covered passages, etc. Many important institutions are named; within the National Galley on Trafalgar Square even the individual rooms (the map is from 1871, so no French Impressionists as yet!). On the reverse are historical notes about the area covered by the map, plus extracts from contemporary street directories. These maps provide a fascinating addition to Alan Godfrey’s huge series of some 2, 000 titles presenting reproductions of street plans at taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping at 1:2, 500 (25” to 1 mile) & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). ...

The Monumental Book of India is a limited edition volume of photography by Amit Pasricha documenting north India's architectural ...

From 1943 to 1951, 350 or so men & women from thirteen Allied nations served as the men & women of the Monuments, Fine Arts & Archives section (MFAA) of the Allied armed forces, the eyes, ears & hands of the first & most ambitious effort in history to preserve the world's cultural heritage in times of war. They were known simply as Monuments Men. But during the thick of the fighting in Europe, from D-Day to V-E Day, when Germany surrendered, there were only 65 Monuments Men in the forward operating area. Sixty-five men to cover thousands of square miles, save hundreds of damaged buildings & find millions of cultural items before the Nazis could destroy them forever. Monuments Men is the story of eight of these men in the forward operating theatre: America's top art conservator; an up-&-coming young museum curator; a sculptor; a straight-arrow architect; a gay New York cultural impresario; & an infantry private with no prior knowledge of or appreciation for art, but first-hand experience as a victim of the Nazi regime. They built their own treasure maps from scraps & hints: the diary of a Louvre curator who secretly tracked Nazi plunder through the Paris rail yards; records recovered from bombed out cathedrals & museums; overheard conversations; a tip from a dentist while getting a root canal. They started off moving in different directions, but ended up heading for the same place at the same time: the Alps near the German-Austrian border in the last two weeks of the war, where the great treasure caches of the Nazis were stored: the artwork of Paris, stolen mostly from Jewish collectors & dealers; masterworks from the museums of Naples & Florence; & the greatest prize of all, Hitler's personal hoard of masterpieces, looted from the most important art collections & museums in Europe & hidden deep within a working salt mine
- a mine the Nazis had every intention of destroying before it fell into Allied hands. How does the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History end? As is often the case, history is often more extraordinary than fiction.
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Now a major film starring George Cloooney, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville, Bob Balan, Jean Dujardin & Dimitri Leonidas. What if I told you that there was an epic story about World War II that has not been told, involving the most unlikely group of heroes? What if I told you there was a group of men on the front lines who didn`t carry machine guns or drive tanks; a new kind of soldier, one charged with saving, not destroying. From caves to castles in a thrilling race against time, these men risked their lives daily to save hundreds of thousands of the world`s greatest works of art. They were the Monuments Men, & This is their extraordinary true story. ” Remarkable”. (Washington Post). ” Engaging, inspiring”. (Publishers Weekly). ...