In 1913, an orphan girl boards a steamship bound for Wuhu in South East China. Left in the hands of her soft-hearted but opium-addicted uncle she is delivered to The Hall of Eternal Splendour which, with its painted faces & troubling cries in the night, seems destined to break her spirit. & yet the girl survives & one day hope appears in the unlikely form of a customs inspector, a modest man resistant to the charms of the corrupt world that surrounds him but not to the innocent girl who stands before him. From the crowded rooms of a small-town brothel, heavy with the smoke of opium pipes & the breath of drunken merchants, to the Bohemian hedonism of Paris & the 1930s studios of Shanghai, Jennifer Epstein`s first novel, based on a true story, is an exquisite evocation of a fascinating time & place, with a breathtaking heroine at its heart. ...

“ The Painter of Signs” is R. K. Narayan’s bittersweet novel that is as fresh & charming today as it was when originally published in 1976. It tells the tale of Raman, a conscientious sign-painter, who is trying to lead a rational life; the novel is filled with busy neighborhood life & gossip, the alternating rhythms & sounds of the city from morning until night, & the pungent smells & tantalizing flavors of home cooking, as Narayan portrays everyday life in Malgudi. Wry, funny, & bittersweet, love gets in the way of progress when Raman meets the thrillingly independent Daisy, who wishes to bring birth control to the city of Malgudi. Narayan died aged 94 in 2001, & “ The Painter of Signs” is as good a place as any to delve into the wonderful worlds he created in those years. ...

From Istanbul`s palatial old embassies to its glorious Bosphorus summerhouses, from Ottoman Paris to Ankara`s Art Deco, from rainforest mansions to a mad mosque in the mountains... a diplomat`s wife reveals their secret histories. This book brings together essays by Patricia Daunt written over the past 25 years for Cornucopia Magazine. It concludes with her latest article, on the magnificent ruins of Aphrodisias, newly listed as a World Heritage Site but long one of her greatest loves. The images are by internationally renowned photographers, including Fritz von der Schulenburg, Simon Upton, Cemal Emden & Jean-Marie del Moral. Foreword by John Julius Norwich. ...

A luminous & bewitching debut novel that is perfect for fans of Angela Carter. Set in Victorian London, it follows the fortunes of Eve, the Lion-Faced Girl & Abel, the Flayed Man. A magical realism delight. Before Eve is born, her mother goes to the circus. She buys a penny twist of coloured sugar & settles down to watch the heart-stopping main attraction: a lion, billed as a monster from the savage heart of Africa. Mama swears she hears the lion sigh, just before it leaps...and nine months later when Eve is born, the story goes, she doesn't cry
- she meows & licks her paws. When Abel is pulled from the stinking Thames, the mudlarks are sure he is long dead. As they search his pockets to divvy up the treasure, his eyes crack open & he coughs up a stream of black water. But how has he survived a week in that thick stew of human waste? Cast out by Victorian society, Eve & Abel find succour from an unlikely source. They soar to fame as The Lion Faced Girl & The Flayed Man, star performers in Professor Josiah Arroner's Palace of Curiosities. & there begins a journey that will entwine their fates forever.
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At the heart of the Sultan`s vast but fragile empire stands the mysterious Palace of Dreams: the most secret & powerful Ministry ever invented. Its task is to scour every town, village & hamlet to collect the citizens` dreams, then to sift, sort & classify them, & ultimately to interpret them, in order to identify the ”master-dreams” that will provide the clues to the Empire`s destinies & those of its Monarch. An entire nation`s consciousness is thus tapped into & meticulously laid bare in the form of images & symbols of the dreaming mind. Kadare`s ” Palace of Dreams” stands as the symbol of the thought-police who have, through history, been the most effective instruments of oppression at the service of dictators. ...

The second book in Bernard Cornwell`s epic & bestselling series on the making of England & the fate of his great hero, Uhtred of Bebbanburg. BBC2`s major Autumn 2015 TV show THE LAST KINGDOM is based on the first two books in the series. When peace is torn apart by bloody Danish steel, Uhtred must fight to save a king who distrusts him. Skeptical of a treaty between the Vikings & Wessex, Uhtred takes his talent for mayhem to Cornwall, gaining treasure & a mysterious woman on the way. But when he is accused of massacring Christians, he finds lies can be as deadly as steel. Still, when pious King Alfred flees to a watery refuge, it is the pagan warrior he relies on. Now Uhtred must fight a battle which will shape history
- & confront the Viking with the banner of the white horse.. . Uhtred of Bebbanburg`s mind is as sharp as his sword. A thorn in the side of the priests & nobles who shape his fate, this Saxon raised by Vikings is torn between the life he loves & those he has sworn to serve.
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From the author of The Man from Berlin, shortlisted for the CWA Endeavour Historical Dagger. German intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt has just been reassigned to the Feldjaegerkorps
- a new branch of the military police with far-reaching powers. His position separates him from the friends & allies he has made in the last two years, including a circle of fellow dissenting Germans who formed a rough resistance cell against the Nazis. & he needs them now more than ever. While retreating through Yugoslavia with the rest of the army, Reinhardt witnesses a massacre of civilians by the dreaded Usta e
- only to discover there is more to the incident than anyone believes. When five mutilated bodies turn up, Reinhardt knows the stakes are growing more important
- & more dangerous. As his investigation begins to draw the attention of those in power, Reinhardt s friends & associates are made to suffer. But as he desperately tries to uncover the truth, his own past with the Usta e threatens his efforts. Because when it comes to death & betrayal, some people have long memories. & they remember Reinhardt all too well.


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Shortlisted for a 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. Authentic modern Middle Eastern home cooking
- 150 delicious, easy-to-follow
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The conflict between Palestine & Israel is one of the most highly publicized & bitter struggles in history. In this accessible & stimulating Very Short Introduction, Martin Bunton clearly explains the history of the problem, reducing it to its very essence
- a modern territorial contest between two nations & one geographical territory. Adopting a fresh & original approach, each section covers a twenty-year span, to highlight the historical complexity of the conflict throughout successive decades. Each chapter starts with an examination of the relationships among people & events that marked particular years as historical moments in the evolution of the conflict, including the 1897 Basle Congress; the 1917 Balfour Declaration & British occupation of Palestine; & the 1947 UN Partition Plan & the war for Palestine. Providing a clear & fair exploration of the main issues, Bunton explores not only the historical basis of the conflict, but also looks at how & why partition has been so difficult & how efforts to restore peace continue today.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable.
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The Palladian Way is the brainchild of Cotswold walker Guy Vowles. It was born out of a previous idea for a long distance walk between Oxford & Bath but was extended northwards to Buckingham where the author was educated nearby. The realization that there was a Palladian bridge at Prior Park outside Bath to match the one at Stowe suggested a suitable title & the discovery of many classical houses & large estates along the route has helped to make the trail more than just another long walk. The majority of this 200km (125m) trail passes through beautiful countryside & many interesting villages with a wealth of historical background so that walkers can discover parts of England they would not normally visit. THE MAKING OF A LONG DISTANCE TRAIL The inspiration for a new long distance walk can come from many sources. In my case it was a loan of a book. ” The Wayfarers Journal” is an elaborate production describing a number of routes which a small, rather quirky group of men who called themselves the ” Viators” (Latin for ”the travellers”) started walking in the 1950s. They researched their routes & kept records. Some 30 years later a chance meeting with a journalist one lunch time at a pub close to Hadrian`s Wall, led eventually to publication. Many of their walks or ”iters” had Roman connections & ITER XXXVI particularly interested me. The cover pages contain a map of a route ” South Cotswolds-Bath to Oxford 108 miles” but unfortunately there is no descriptive text. The book is out of print but I managed to acquire a copy & transposed the route on to modern OS maps. One January I set off to walk the first three days from Oxford. Their route was quite convoluted & I soon decided that I could plan something more interesting. I started the first walk over with a good friend with whom I had walked the length of Scotland & England a few years previously. We left Oxford via the tow path of the Oxford canal which we found to be rather unattractive with some of the houseboats described by my friend as ”sinking assets A”. He also enquired about the length of the intended new route which now fell short of the magic 100 mile mark. By coincidence, about the same time, I was talking to another friend about my old school, Stowe, & he commented that his own old school, Prior Park, also had a Palladian bridge in the grounds. This was an eye opener to me & set me thinking. Stowe is north of Oxford & a route via Woodstock & Blenheim would not only avoid the difficulties around Oxford but would also take the distance down to Prior Park & Bath to over the 100 mile distance. ...