Gervase Phinn reveals his early experiences as a school inspector in ” The Other Side of the Dale”. As the newly appointed County Inspector of Schools in North Yorkshire, Gervase Phinn reveals in this warm & wonderfully humorous account, the experiences of his first year in the job
- & what an education it was! He quickly learns that he must slow his pace & appreciate the beautiful countryside
- ` Are tha`comin` in then, mester, or are tha` stoppin` out theer all day admirin` t`view?` He encounters some larger-than-life characters, from farmers & lords of the manor to teaching nuns & eccentric caretakers. &, best of all, he discovers the delightful & enchanting qualities of the Dales children, including the small boy, who, when told he`s not very talkative, answers: ` If I`ve got owt to say I says it, & if I`ve got owt to ask I asks it`. With his keen ear for the absurd & sharp eye for the ludicrous, Gervase Phinn`s stories in ” The Other Side of the Dale” will not fail to make you weep with laughter. ” Gervase Phinn`s memoirs have made him a hero in school staff-rooms”. (” Daily Telegraph”). Gervase Phinn is an author & educator from Rotherham who, after teaching for fourteen years in a variety of schools, moved to North Yorkshire to be a school inspector. He has written autobiographies, novels, plays, collections of poetry & stories, as well as a number of books about education. He holds five fellowships, honorary doctorates from Hull, Leicester & Sheffield Hallam universities, & is a patron of a number of children`s charities & organizations. He is married with four adult children. His books include ” The Other Side of the Dale”, ” Over Hill & Dale”, ” Head Over Heels in the Dales”, ” The Heart of the Dales”, ” Up & Down in the Dales” & ” Trouble at the Little Village School”.

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This is the story of 12 year-old Sade & her brother Femi who flee to Britain from Nigeria. Their father is a political journalist who refuses to stop criticising the military rulers in Nigeria. Their mother is killed & they are sent to London, with their father promising to follow. Abandoned at Victoria Station by the woman paid to bring them to England as her children, Sade & Femi find themselves alone in a new, often hostile, environment. Seen through the eyes of Sade, the novel explores what it means to be classified as `illegal` & the difficulties which come with being a refugee.WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL 2000 & the NESTLE SMARTIES SILVER AWARD 2000 `A marvellous read.. .that refuels the desire for justice & freedom`
- Jon Snow ` Beverley Naidoo breaks the rules, producing books for young people which recognize that they want to know about the real world`
- Guardian

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How far would you go to protect your family? Sophie Brinkmann was once an ordinary woman. A dedicated nurse, a grieving widow, a single mother to a beloved teenage son. & then she fell in love with a major crime lord. When he was left in a coma after a brutal attack by his rivals, it was Sophie who had to take control of his empire & negotiate with vengeful mobsters, cunning detectives & charismatic arms dealers. But now their rivals are closing in on them & Sophie is caught up in a game where the rules are constantly changing, where loyalty & friendship are meaningless. If she & her son are to get out of this alive, she has to find her inner strength
- & her inner darkness.
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To know a city is to become intimately intertwined with its nooks, crevices, secret passageways & dark places where its lifeblood flows & what city has more of those than Venice? In ” The Other Venice”, Predrag Matvejevic ventures past the infamous canals & cobblestone streets of the tourist`s Venice to find the heart of the historic Italian city. A lyrical re-imagining of the City of Romance, ” The Other Venice” utterly reconfigures the Venetian landscape, as Matvejevic follows both real & imaginary maps, contemporary & historical, to trace out the details of this sensuous city. He probes into what the ancient metropolis means to its people, the nation & global culture. But he also finds hints of life in the smallest & most mundane details bridges, rust-flecked boats, wall sculptures, rivers & piazzas scattered throughout the city. Each has a little-known story & with Matvejevic as our guide, he reveals the stories behind them all. The book carries readers to a Venice that has escaped the eyes of writers, artists & photographers through the centuries, & Matvejevic by turns plays a historian, cartographer, anthropologist & philologist as he unravels elusive artifacts of time past. Arresting black-&-white photographs by Sarah Quill accompany the text, offering a silent testament to Matvejevic`s pilgrimage. A fascinating & beautifully written guide, ” The Other Venice” reminds us that there is always another mystery to uncover in the city of water & stone. ...

150 years after Charles Darwin completed his epic voyage in ”HMS Beagle”, a research ship owned & operated by the UK`s Natural Environment Research Council & bearing the name of the famous scientist, began another global circumnavigation that would take her away from her home base for three & a half years. Unlike ”HMS Beagle”, the Royal Research Ship (RRS) ” Charles Darwin” would not be dedicated to the scientific endeavours of one man, but would support some 24 scientific teams studying topics as diverse as the causes of El Nino, deep sea currents in the Indian Ocean, & the speed with which the Indian sub-continent moved towards Asia. The author, who was personally involved in much of the planning & operation of this round-the-world voyage, has made every effort to explain the complexities of modern scientific research in terms the non-scientist can underst&, & to draw out some of the excitement today`s scientists experience when their research reveals some unexpected discovery. ...

Shortlisted for THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE 2017 ` The best popular account of the lives of otters written so far` Richard Shelton, Times Literary Supplement When Simon Cooper bought an abandoned water mill that straddles a small chalkstream in southern Engl&, little did he know that he would come to share the mill with a family of wild otters. Yet move in they did, allowing him to begin to observe them, soon immersing himself in their daily routines & movements. He developed an extraordinary close relationship with the family, which in turn gave him a unique insight into the life of these fascinating creatures. Cooper interweaves the personal story of the female otter, Kuschta, with the natural history of the otter in the British Isles, only recently brought back from the brink of extinction through tireless conservation efforts. Following in the footsteps of Henry Williamson`s classic 1920s tale Tarka the Otter, readers are taken on a journey through the calendar year, learning the most intimate detail of this most beautiful of British mammals. Cooper brings these beloved animals to life in all their wondrous complexity, revealing the previously hidden secrets of their lives in this beautifully told tale of the otter. ...

` An outstanding history.. .one of the best writers on the First World War` Simon Sebag Montefiore The Ottoman Endgame is the first, & definitive, single-volume history of the Ottoman empire`s decade-long war for survival. Beginning with Italy`s invasion of Ottoman Tripoli in September 1911, the opening salvo in what would soon spiral into a European conflict, the book concludes with the establishment of Turkish independence in the Treaty of Lausanne, 1923. This is the first time an author has woven the entire epic together from start to finish
- & it will cause many readers to fundamentally reevaluate their understanding of the conflict. The consequences, well into the 21st century, could not have been more momentous.
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Mainstream politics is stuck, torn between the redundant doctrines of Keynesianism & neoliberalism. Neither have much to offer a world facing environmental collapse, civic breakdown & a gathering crisis of permanent unemployment. This dismal, managerial politics fails to articulate a vision of a better world, driving people towards the anti-politics offered by Donald Trump & others. What is urgently needed is a positive, propositional vision that can re-engage people in politics. In Out of the Wreckage, Monbiot seeks out the best new ideas & streamlines them into a coherent, inspiring story that describes the present & shows the way to a better future. He explains how communities can be rebuilt, how economies can be recharged without destroying the living planet & how politics can once more inspire & thrill. By developing the new narrative we seek, this book helps to provide political movements with the focus & direction required to change the world. ...

` Beautifully written & superbly executed` Times ` This clever & moving Faustian tale is packed with fascinating historical detail` Express From the author of the bestselling The Time Traveller`s Guide to Restoration Britain, this is a stunningly high-concept historical novel that is both as daring as it is gripping, & perfect for fans of Conn Iggulden, SJ Parris & Kate Mosse. December 1348. With the country in the grip of the Black Death, brothers John & William fear that they will shortly die & go to Hell. But as the end draws near, they are given an unexpected choice: either to go home & spend their last six days in their familiar world, or to search for salvation across the forthcoming centuries
- living each one of their remaining days ninety-nine years after the last. John & William choose the future & find themselves in 1447, ignorant of almost everything going on around them. The year 1546 brings no more comfort, & 1645 challenges them still further. It is not just that technology is changing: things they have taken for granted all their lives prove to be short-lived. As they find themselves in stranger & stranger times, the reader travels with them, seeing the world through their eyes as it shifts through disease, progress, enlightenment & war. But their time is running out
- can they do something to redeem themselves before the six days are up? What readers are saying: ` Wow, what a book! I absolutely adored this. This was ambitious but done to perfection` Sara Marsden ` The Outcasts of Time is a tour de force, rich in spellbinding detail. Haunting & atmospheric, there is warmth & humour alongside fear & torment; all human life is here. As perfect a novel as any I`ve ever read` Ophelia`s Reads `A fascinating trip through seven centuries of history.. . The author has done well to traverse such a sweep of time.. . it`s a great read & I`d recommend it` Netgalley reviewer, 4 stars

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When you`re out & about enjoying the countryside the last thing you need is to lug around several different guides to wildlife, geology & meteorology. But there are plenty of things you`d like to look up if you could. How do you light a fire when all the wood is wet? Are those fox tracks or dog tracks? Is it going to rain? Generally there`s nothing you can do but hope for the best, or maybe phone a friend if you can get reception, & they`re in, & they know the answer... That`s where this comes in. It has the answers to more questions than you`d think could fit into such a handy volume. You`ll find out pretty much anything you need to know, from basic first aid to how to escape from quicksand; help with navigation; identifying constellations, seashells, burial mounds, & animal tracks; which wild food you can eat & how to recognise it; weather lore, such as which clouds indicate what kind of weather. This is the only book you really can`t do without when you`re out & about. So you can ditch that library of guidebooks & slip this in your pocket instead. ...