Stanfords Adult Book of the Month October 2016 Britain`s railways have been a vital part of national life for nearly 200 years. Transforming lives & landscapes, they have left their mark on everything from timekeeping to tourism. As a self-contained world governed by distinctive rules & traditions, the network also exerts a fascination all its own. From the classical grandeur of Newcastle station to the ceaseless traffic of Clapham Junction, from the mysteries of Brunel`s atmospheric railway to the lost routines of the great marshalling yards, Simon Bradley explores the world of Britain`s railways, the evolution of the trains, & the changing experiences of passengers & workers. The Victorians` private compartments, railway rugs & footwarmers have made way for air-conditioned carriages with airline-type seating, but the railways remain a giant & diverse anthology of structures from every period, & parts of the system are the oldest in the world. Using fresh research, keen observation & a wealth of cultural references, Bradley weaves from this network a remarkable story of technological achievement, of architecture & engineering, of shifting social classes & gender relations, of safety & crime, of tourism & the changing world of work. The Railways shows us that to travel through Britain by train is to journey through time as well as space. ...

The Rainborowes bridges two generations & two worlds, weaving together the lives of the Rainborowe clan as they struggle to forge a better life for themselves & a better future for humankind in the New World. Starting with William Rainborowe, a prominent merchant-mariner & shipmaster, & his equally formidable sons & daughters between 1630 & 1660, we follow their astonishing story through the Civil War, the Putney debates, & settling in America. The Rainborowes explains America & mourns England`s failed revolution. It spans oceans & ideologies & encompasses personal tragedies & triumphs, the death of kings & the birth of nations. Using rare printed material from the period & unpublished manuscripts from collections in Britain & America The Rainborowes recreates day-to-day life on both sides of the Atlantic during one of the most tumultuous periods in Western history. In their efforts to build a paradise on earth, the Rainborowes & their friends encounter pirates & witches, prophets & princes, Muslem militants & Mohican Indians. They build new societies. They are ordinary men & women, & they do an extraordinary thing. They change the world. ...

` So Ursula became the child of her father`s heart.` The Rainbow tells the story of three generations of the Brangwen family & their struggles with each other & themselves. Beautiful, strange & with a power all its own, The Rainbow redefined the English novel. This is a new series of twenty distinctive, unforgettable Penguin Classics in a beautiful new design & pocket-sized format, with coloured jackets echoing Penguin`s original covers. ...

Laura comes from a world similar to our own but for one difference: The Place. An unfathomable land filled with dreams of every kind & invisible to all but a select few: the Dreamhunters. Treated as celebrities, the Dreamhunters catch larger-than-life dreams & relay them to audiences in the magnificent dream palace, The Rainbow Opera. Now, 15 year-old Laura & her cousin Rose are going to find out whether they are part of this prestigious group. But nothing in their darkest nightmares can prepare them for what they are about to discover. For within the Place lies a horrific secret kept hidden by corrupt members of the Government. & when Laura`s father suddenly disappears, she realises that this secret has the power to destroy everyone she loves... ...

In 1980, following more than 20 years of torture & suffering as a political prisoner of the Communist Chinese government, Dr Tenzin Choedrak left Tibet to live in exile in India & returned to his duties as the Dalai Lama`s physician. Here, he tells of his disturbing experiences. ...

The Second World War was not fought by Britain alone. India produced the largest volunteer army in world history: over 2 million men. But, until now, there has never been a comprehensive account of India`s turbulent home front & the nexus between warfare & India`s society. In The Raj at War we hear the myriad voices of ordinary Indian people, from the first Indian to win the Victoria Cross to the three soldiers imprisoned as `traitors to the Raj` who returned to a hero`s welcome, from the nurses in Indian General Hospitals to labourers & their families in remote villages. Yasmin Khan presents the overlooked history of India at war, & shows how mobilisation for the war unleashed seismic processes of economic, cultural & social change
- decisively shaping the international war effort, the unravelling of the empire & India`s own political trajectory.
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From the foreword: ' Some years ago, I was asked by a member of a Rambling Club to which I belonged, what was the meaning of the word Lychgate. Not being able to give an explanation, I took the first opportunity of looking into the matter. From that day I have made it a duty & pleasure to keep a log of everything unusual discovered during my many wanderings. This little book is the result'. The Ward Lock & Co.'s Wayfarer's Guide is a treasure trove of countryside sights, lore & history. From understanding the relevance of standing stones in Wiltshire to looking out for hop pickers in Kent, from ancient crosses in Northumbria to archery in Edinburgh, & from bridges in Monmouthshire to country rhymes from around the British Isles, this little gem is a delightful collection of history, nature & a bygone age. Topics covered include barns, bench marks, bridges, churches, dew ponds, dovecots, haymaking, hopping, horse brasses, love spoons, market crosses, scarecrows, stiles, sundials, thatching, village greens, watermills, weathercocks, whipping posts & windmills. (A lychgate is the decorative entrance gate to churchyards. The word 'lych' is derived from the German word for corpse as it is traditionally under this gate that the coffin was rested before being brought into the church). ...

”A clarion call to all of us that we should not give up. Somewhere there is a voice in the wreckage.” (Michael Palin). Since ISIS occupied Raqqa in eastern Syria, it has become one of the most isolated & fear-ridden cities on earth. The sale of televisions has been banned, wearing trousers the wrong length is a punishable offence, & using a mobile phone is considered an unforgivable crime. No journalists are allowed in & the penalty for speaking yo the western media is death by beheading. Despite this, after several months of nervy & often interrupted conversations, the BBC was able to make contact with a small activist group, Al-Sharqiya 24. Finally, courageously, one of their members agreed to write a personal diary about his experiences. Having seen friends & relatives butchered, his community`s life shattered & the local economy ruined by these hate-fuelled extremists, Samer is fighting back in the only way he can: by telling the world what is happening to his beloved city. This is Samer`s story. ...

The first behind-the-scenes account of life with the ravens at Britain`s most famous national monument
- as seen in the Daily Mail.
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Larry Darrell is a young American in search of the absolute. The progress of this spiritual odyssey involves him with some of Maugham`s most brillant characters
- his fiancee Isabel, whose choice between love & wealth have lifelong repercussions, & Elliot Templeton, her uncle, a classic expatriate American snob. The most ambitious of Maugham`s novels, this is also one in which Maugham himself plays a considerable part as he wanders in & out of the story, to observe his characters struggling with their fates.
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