A tour of the dominions of the dead: the final resting places of the great & the good, the notorious & the downright nasty throughout the British Isles. As well as taking the reader through well-known sights such as the Glasgow Necropolis, St Paul's Cathedral in London, & Highgate Cemetery (where Karl Marx, George Elliot, Ralph Richardson & Christina Rosetti are buried) this book also visits places known mostly by association with one person: East Coker in Somerset, where T.S. Eliot is buried, or Cholsey in Oxfordshire, last resting place of Agatha Christie. The guide also contains information on the history of burial practices: the resurrectionists, plague pits, the use of quicklime to dissolve unwanted bodies, & promiscuous burial plots where so many people were interred together that the level of the ground rose
- with disturbing consequences when heavy rain washed the topsoil away.
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Who`s that behind the tree? Lift the flaps to find all your favourite characters from the Gruffalo. A brand new title from the My First Gruffalo pre-school & baby range. A chunky board book with sturdy flaps
- perfect for small paws. Publishing alongside My First Gruffalo: Spot & Say, a first words board book with handy tabs.
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The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 appeared to usher in a remarkable new era of peace & co-operation with the West. This, we were told, was the end of history: now the entire world would embrace enlightenment values & liberal democracy. Reality has proved very different. Russia emerged from the 1990s battered & humiliated, a latter day Weimar Germany, its protests ignored as NATO expanded eastwards to take in Moscow`s former satellites. Vladimir Putin offered a new start when he took the place of the erratic Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin, but, determined to restore his country`s bruised pride, he has wrong footed the West with his incursions into Georgia, Ukraine & Syria. A cold war threatens to turn hot once again. In this provocative new work, based on exclusive interviews with key players either side of the new divide, Peter Conradi addresses the failures of understanding on both sides over the past twenty-five years & outlines how we can get relations back on track before it`s too late. ...

The collapse of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 appeared to usher in a remarkable new era of peace & co-operation with the West. This, we were told, was the end of history: now the entire world would embrace enlightenment values & liberal democracy. Reality has proved very different. Russia emerged from the 1990s battered & humiliated, a latter day Weimar Germany, its protests ignored as NATO expanded eastwards to take in Moscow`s former satellites. Vladimir Putin offered a new start when he took the place of the erratic Boris Yeltsin in the Kremlin, but, determined to restore his country`s bruised pride, he has wrong footed the West with his incursions into Georgia, Ukraine & Syria. A cold war threatens to turn hot once again. In this provocative new work, based on exclusive interviews with key players either side of the new divide, Peter Conradi addresses the failures of understanding on both sides over the past twenty-five years & outlines how we can get relations back on track before it`s too late. ...

In this work of historical speculation Terry Jones investigates the mystery surrounding the death of Geoffrey Chaucer over 600 years ago. A diplomat & brother-in-law to John of Gaunt
- one of the most powerful men in the kingdom
- Chaucer was celebrated as his country`s finest living poet, rhetorician & scholar: the pre-eminent intellectual of his time. & yet nothing is known of his death. In 1400 his name simply disappears from the record. We don`t know how he died, where or when; there is no official confirmtion of his death & no chronicle mentions it; no notice of his funeral or burial. He left no will & there`s nothing to tell us what happened to his estate. He didn`t even leave any manuscripts. How could this be? What if he was murdered? What if he & his writings had become politically inconvenient in the seismic social shift that occurred with the overthrow of the liberal Richard II by the reactionary, oppressive regime of Henry IV. Would the dogs of suppression, unleased by Archbishop Arundel, have been snapping at the heels of a dangerous poet? Terry Jones` hypothesis is the introduction to a reading of Chaucer`s writings as evidence that might be held against him, interwoven with a portrait of one of the most turbulent periods in English history, its politics & its personalities.

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At the end of the day, At the start of the night, When the earth is half dark, When the sky is half light, Who puts the animals to bed? A strong bedtime theme, a host of adorable animals & a fantastic read-aloud story combine to create the perfect book for snuggling up with. ...

` Outsourcing` -- when will the horror stories stop coming? Every year the government gives private companies like G4S, Serco, Capita & ATOS GBP80 billion of taxpayers` money to handle some of our most sensitive & important services
- but where is their transparency? Immigration is perhaps the most challenging & divisive issue of our time -- so why has our government abdicated responsibility? As privatisation looms over an NHS in crisis, how do we hold these companies to account? Now, White speaks to campaigners, Whitehall insiders
- & the companies themselves. Who Really Runs Britain? is a shocking compendium of what happens when outsourcing goes wrong
- & what we do now.


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A new book on the state of the world today -- from one of the most respected & revered political commentators alive Noam Chomsky: philosopher, political writer, fearless activist. No one has done more to question the hidden actors who govern our lives, calling the powers that be to account. Here he presents Who Rules the World?, his definitive account of those powers, how they work, & why we should be questioning them. From the dark history of the US & Cuba to China`s global rise, from torture memos to sanctions on Iran, this book investigates the defining issues of our times & exposes the hypocrisy at the heart of America`s policies & actions. The world`s political & financial elite are now operating almost totally unconstrained by the so-called democratic structure. With climate change & nuclear proliferation threatening our very survival, dissenting voices have never been more necessary. Fiercely outspoken & rigorously argued, Who Rules the World? is an indispensable guide to how things really are. ...

Internationally renowned political commentator Noam Chomsky examines America`s pursuit & exercise of power in a post 9/11 world Noam Chomsky is the world`s foremost intellectual activist. Over the last half century, no one has done more to question the great global powers who govern our lives, forensically scrutinizing policies & actions, calling our politicians, institutions & media to account. The culmination of years of work, Who Rules the World? is Chomsky`s definitive intellectual investigation into the major issues of our times. From the dark history of the US & Cuba to China`s global rise, from torture memos to sanctions on Iran, Chomsky explores how America`s talk of freedom & human rights is often at odds with its actions. Delving deep into the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, & Israel/ Palestine, he provides nuanced, surprising insights into the workings of modern-day imperial power. The world`s political & financial elite have become ever more insulated from democratic constraints on their actions. Chomsky shines a powerful light on this inconvenient truth. With climate change & nuclear proliferation threatening the survival of our civilization, the message has never been more pertinent or more urgent: the need for an engaged & active public to steer the world away from disaster grows ever greater. Fiercely outspoken & rigorously argued, Who Rules the World? is an indispensable guide to how things really are from the lone authoritative voice courageous & clear-sighted enough to tell us the truth. ...

If your funny older sister were the former deputy chief of staff to President Barack Obama, her behind-the-scenes political memoir would look something like this... Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade, & long before his run for president. From the then-senator`s early days in Congress to his years in the Oval Office, she made Hope & Change happen through blood, sweat, tears & lots of briefing binders. But for every historic occasion
- meeting the queen at Buckingham Palace, bursting in on secret climate talks, or nailing a campaign speech in a hailstorm
- there were dozens of less-than-perfect moments when it was up to Alyssa to save the day. Like the time she learned the hard way that there aren`t nearly enough bathrooms at the Vatican. Full of hilarious, never-before-told stories, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? is an intimate portrait of a president, a book about how to get stuff done, & the story of how one woman challenged, again & again, what a ` White House official` is supposed to look like. Here Alyssa shares the strategies that made her successful in politics & beyond, including the importance of confidence, the value of not being a jerk, & why ultimately everything comes down to hard work (and always carrying a spare tampon). Told in a smart, original voice & topped off with a couple of really good cat stories, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? is the brilliantly funny, frank & inspirational memoir from a savvy political star.

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