Title search results
Showing 61 - 80 of 3160 items
Field Notes from the Edge
By Paul Evans. 2015
‘A profoundly satisfying read’ Financial TimesIn Field Notes from the Edge, the acclaimed writer of the Guardian's 'Country Diary', Paul…
Evans, takes us on a journey through the in-between spaces of Nature – such as strandlines, mudflats, cliff tops and caves – where one wilderness is on the verge of becoming another and all things are possible. Here, Evans searches out wildlife and plants to reveal a Nature that is inspiring yet intimidating; miraculous yet mundane; part sacred space, part wasteland. It is here that we tread the edge between a fear of Nature’s dangers and a love of Nature’s beauty.Combining a naturalist’s eye for observation with a poet’s ear for the lyrical, Field Notes from the Edge confirms Paul Evans's place among our leading nature writers today.An Englishman Aboard: Discovering France in a Rowing Boat
By Charles Timoney. 2013
From the author of Pardon My French and A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi, this is the charming and hilariously…
funny story of one man's attempt to travel the entire length of the Seine by boatWhen Charles shows his friends the rowing boat he has spent the last six months building, he little realises the adventures that lie ahead. Several glasses of champagne later (it is New Year's Eve), he finds himself betting he will travel the entire length of the Seine from source to the sea in the next year and discover the true France. But the reality proves somewhat more difficult than he had expected. As Charles sets sail into an unvarnished France on a variety of craft from steamers to police patrol boats to inflatables, he encounters truffle-thieving terriers and obsessive fishermen, grapples with strong rapids and stubborn cattle, and is nearly destroyed by a cheese so smelly it comes with its own health warning.This is the charming and often hilarious story of Charles's Quixotic quest - and the most unique guide to the true France that you will find.Reviews:'There are new year's resolutions and then there are those rash decisions that come after the last bottle has been drunk on the last night of the year. The journey down the Seine that Charles Timoney describes in his third book about France stemmed from the latter ... a charming story of life along the river ... that lingers in the mind' Sunday Times (Books of the Month)'A wonderful view of France as seen from the water, and through the eyes of a genuinely funny writer - I laughed out loud' Philip Marsden (author of The Levelling Sea)About the author:When Charles Timoney and his French wife were both made redundant in the same week, they decided to try living in France for a year or so. It proved much harder than expected. Charles's O level in French was little help when everyone around him consistently used a wide variety of impenetrable slang and persisted in the annoying habit of talking about things he had never heard of. But they stayed. Two decades and two thoroughly French children later, An Englishman Aboard is Charles's third book on his experience of France, the French people and the French language: Pardon My French: Unleash Your Inner Gaul, A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi: The Ideal Guide to Sounding, Acting and Shrugging Like the French and now An Englishman Aboard.Felix the Railway Cat
By Kate Moore. 2017
**THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER - AS SEEN ON THE ONE SHOW**It will make you laugh and it will make you…
cry: Felix The Railway Cat is the extraordinary tale of a close-knit community and its amazing bond with a very special cat. 'The global sensation' Daily Telegraph When Felix arrived at Yorkshire's Huddersfield Train Station as an eight-week-old kitten, no one knew just how important this little ball of fluff would become. Although she has a vital job to do as 'Senior Pest Controller', Felix is much more than just an employee of TransPennine Express. Felix changes lives in surprising ways. She is always ready to leap into action and save the day: from bringing a boy with autism out of his shell to providing comfort to a runaway child shivering on the platform one night. So when tragedy hits the team at Huddersfield, it is only Felix who can pull them back together. But a chance friendship with a commuter that she waits for her on the platform every morning finally gives Felix the recognition she deserves, catapulting her to international stardom . . . Royalties from the sale of this book will be donated to Prostate Cancer UK (registered charity 1005541, SC039332).Experiments on Reality
By Tim Robinson. 2019
Long recognized as perhaps the greatest non-fiction writer at work in Ireland, for his vast, polymathic accounts of nature and…
culture in the Aran Islands and Connemara, Tim Robinson is also an essayist of genius whose fascinations range across the globe. In Experiments on Reality, he shines the light of his intelligence on his own life, and on some of the most fascinating questions in science and culture. Robinson brings us to his boyhood in Yorkshire, National Service in Malaya in the 1950s, and his years as a visual artist in Istanbul, Vienna and London. He revisits some of the scenes of his researches for the maps he made of Aran and Connemara, places that continue to throw up remarkable stories and puzzles. And he performs astonishing literary thought-experiments, playing with the boundaries of the essay form, scientific inquiry, and storytelling. Experiments on Reality is a masterpiece from one of the great minds of our time.'One of the greatest of all landscape writers ... When the material world is brought forth for us so beautifully, with such rapt attention and illuminating insight, we are reminded of how lucky we are to be part of it' Fintan O'Toole, Irish TimesPRAISE FOR THE CONNEMARA TRILOGY:'One of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English' Robert MacFarlane, Spectator'Robinson is a marvel ... the supreme practitioner of geo-graphy, the writing of places' Fintan O'Toole, Observer Books of the Year'One of contemporary Ireland's finest literary stylists ... This is a book that does justice, in every sense of that phrase, to the frequently betrayed people whose stories it incarnates, and to their strange and beautiful corner of the world' Joseph O'Connor, Guardian'A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing and a miraculous, vivid and engrossing meditation on landscape and history and the sacred mood of places' Colm Tóibín, Irish Times Books of the Year'One of the finest of contemporary prose stylists' John Burnside, Irish Times'He is that rarest of phenomena, a scientist and an artist, and his method is to combine scientific rigour with artistic reverie in a seamless blend that both informs and delights.' John Banville, Guardian'Breathtaking ... the West of Ireland has found its ultimate laureate' Patricia Craig, TLS'Dazzling ... an indubitable classic' Giles Foden, Condé Nast TravellerDetour de France: An Englishman in Search of a Continental Education
By Michael Simkins. 2009
Though happy enough with his lot, Michael Simkins has never truly shaken the nagging doubt - helpfully upheld by his…
partner Julia - that he somehow lacks worldly sophistication. While she spent her teenage years as a nanny on a boat moored at Cannes, his utter lack of travel experience (Weymouth, Cleethorpes and a day trip to Dieppe) still has the power to shock people into leaving dinner parties early.So as he hits middle-age, Michael takes up the challenge of broadening his horizons. He decides to improve himself in the same way English gentlemen lacking refined edges have for centuries: by learning from our more cultured French neighbours. Michael, an English provincial ingénue, sets off to discover just what the Gallic nation can teach him and the rest of us Anglo-Saxons about living the good life. Armed only with 50 Useful Phrases in French, he waits to see if his odyssey from La Manche to the Riviera will finally turn him from the scotch-egg eating spawn of Anne Widdecombe and John McCririck into the champagne-sipping love child of Serge Gainsbourg and Catherine Deneuve. Julia is saying a prayer for him at Lourdes.D. H. Lawrence and Italy
By D. H. Lawrence. 1997
In these impressions of the Italian countryside, Lawrence transforms ordinary incidents into passages of intense beauty.Twilight in Italy is a…
vibrant account of Lawrence's stay among the people of Lake Garda, whose decaying lemon gardens bear witness to the twilight of a way of life centuries old. In Sea and Sardina, Lawrence brings to life the vigorous spontaneity of a society as yet untouched by the deadening effect of industrialization. And Etruscan Places is a beautiful and delicate work of literary art, the record of "a dying man drinking from the founts of a civilization dedicated to life."A Curious Guide to London
By Simon Leyland. 2014
From petticoat duels and lucky cats to the Stiffs Express, Lord Nelson's spare nose, the Piccadilly earthquake and the Great…
Beer Flood of 1814, A Curious Guide to London takes you on a captivating, wildly entertaining tour of the city you think you know, unearthing the capital's secrets and commemorating its rich, colourful and unusual history. Brimming with tales of London's forgotten past, its strangest traditions and its most eccentric inhabitants, this book celebrates the unique, the unusual and the unknown. Perfect for tourists, day-trippers, commuters and the millions of people who call London home, this alternative guidebook will make you look at the city in a whole new light.Cruickshank’s London: A Portrait of a City in 13 Walks
By Dan Cruickshank. 2019
'The perfect guide to the hidden history of London's streets.' BBC History MagazineIn Cruickshank's London, Britain's favourite architectural historian describes…
thirteen walks through one of the greatest cities on earth. From the mysterious Anglo-Saxon origins of Hampstead Heath, via Christopher Wren's magisterial City churches, to the industrial bustle of Victorian Bermondsey, each walk explores a crucial moment in our history - and reveals how it helped forge the modern city. Along the way, Cruickshank peppers the book with vivid photographs, sketches and maps, so you can immediately follow in his footsteps.Every street in London contains a story. This book invites you to hear them.___'An inspiringly illustrated guide to walks across London . . . It proves how much we can miss if we don't pay close attention to our surroundings.' Country Life'All power to Cruickshank and his intrepid and knowledgeable kind. We need them.' Times Literary SupplementComrades: A Lifetime of Friendships
By Rosita Boland. 2021
'I was fascinated, moved and entertained by every page. This is the kind of book the world needs right now'…
DONAL RYAN_______________'My dictionary's first two definitions of 'comrade' are:A close companion.An intimate associate or friend.The third one is:A fellow soldier.My friends have been all those things to me.'In this stunning essay collection, award-winning journalist Rosita Boland explores the many friendships that have shaped her life. Surprising and beautiful, she writes about the imaginary friends of early childhood, books that have provided companionship and joy, kindred spirits met while travelling, the friend she hoped might become something more, and also the friendships that become lost over time.Life-affirming, affecting and wise, Comrades is a powerful exploration of what it is to live, to connect, and to be human in this world._______________'An absorbing journey along life's tracks and trails.' THE SUNDAY TIMES IRELAND'A moving, beautiful and deeply felt meditation on friendship, loyalty and connectedness in a disconnected world' HILARY FANNINThe Cockney Rhyming Slang Dictionary
By Geoff Tibballs. 2018
The classic pocket guide to the language of London. This wonderful little guide to cockney rhyming slang contains over 1,700…
old and new rhymes translated from Cockney to English and English to Cockney, including:Custard and jelly - tellyHot cross bun - nunLemon tart - smartRock ’n’ roll - doleSticky toffee - coffee...and many more. Master the art of the Cockney rhyme and discover the Cockney origins of common British phrases.A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi: The Ideal Guide to Sounding, Acting and Shrugging Like the French
By Charles Timoney. 2009
Vocabulary alone isn't enough. To survive in the most sophisticated - and the most scathing - nation on Earth you…
will need to understand the many peculiarities of the (very peculiar) French culture. And for that you need A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi.If you want to fit in with the French you'll have to know how to deal with sardonic waiters; why French children hate Charlemagne; the etiquette of kissing, joke-telling and drinking songs, what to do with a bidet, the correct recipe for a salade nicoise and, of course, how to convey absolute, shattering indifference with a single syllable (Bof!).Charles Timoney, the author of Pardon My French, provides a practical, pleasurable guide to the charms of the Gallic people - from their daily routines to their peerless gesticulations, from their come-ons to their put-downs. Read on and put the oh la la back into your French vacances. Your inner gaul will thank you for it.Chasing the Ghost: My Search for all the Wild Flowers of Britain
By Peter Marren. 2018
**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN’S BEST BOOKS OF 2018**Join renowned naturalist Peter Marren on an exciting quest to see every species…
of wild plant native to Britain.The mysterious Ghost Orchid blooms in near darkness among rotting leaves on the forest floor. It blends into the background to the point of invisibility, yet glows, pale and ghostly. The ultimate grail of flower hunters, it has been spotted only once in the past twenty-five years. Its few flowers have a deathly pallor and are said to smell of over-ripe bananas. Peter Marren has been a devoted flower finder all his life. While the Ghost Orchid offers the toughest challenge of any wild plant, there were fifty more British species Peter had yet to see, having ticked off the first 1,400 rummaging in hedges, slipping down gullies and peering in peat bogs. But he set himself the goal of finding the remaining fifty in a single summer. As it turned out, the wettest summer in years. This expert and emotional journey takes Peter the length and the breadth of the British Isles, from the dripping ancient woods of the New Forest to the storm-lashed cliffs of Sutherland. He paddles in lakes, clambers up cliffs in mist and rain, and walks several hundred miles, but does he manage to find them all? Partly about plants, partly autobiography, Chasing the Ghost is also a reminder that to engage with wild flowers, all we need to do is look around us and enjoy what we see. Praise for Chasing the Ghost:‘Peter Marren is the unsung hero of Britain’s nature writers’ Stephen Moss, author of Dynasties‘Jolly, quixotic and ends with real poignancy’ Guardian ‘A poignant reminder to us all to engage with the wild flowers that grow around us’ i NewspaperCan-Cans, Cats and Cities of Ash
By Mark Twain. 2007
One of the great derisive monuments to the imbecilities of the tourist experience, Mark Twain's (1835-1910) account of his tour…
with a group of fellow Americans around the sights of Europe is both hilarious and touching, Twain's exasperation and dismay at the phoney and exploitative being matched by his excitement and pleasure in the genuinely beautiful.Great Journeys allows readers to travel both around the planet and back through the centuries – but also back into ideas and worlds frightening, ruthless and cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: Great civilisations, walls of ice, violent and implacable jungles, deserts and mountains, multitudes of birds and flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends and stories were treated as facts and in which so much was still to be discovered.Britons Through Negro Spectacles (Black Britain: Writing Back #10)
By Abc Merriman-Labor. 2022
'We shall therefore confine our walk to Central London where people meet on business during the day, and to West…
London where they meet for pleasure at night. If you will walk about the first City in the British Empire arm in arm with Merriman-Labor, you are sure to see Britons in merriment and at labour, by night and by day, in West and Central London.'In Britons Through Negro Spectacles Merriman-Labor takes us on a joyous, intoxicating tour of London at the turn of the 20th century.Slyly subverting the colonial gaze usually placed on Africa, he introduces us to the citizens, culture and customs of Britain with a mischievous glint in his eye.This incredible work of social commentary feels a century ahead of its time, and provides unique insights into the intersection between empire, race and community at this important moment in history.Selected by Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, this series rediscovers and celebrates pioneering books depicting black Britain that remap the nation.Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations
By Simon Jenkins. 2017
Discover the architectural gems that are Britain's 100 Best Railway Stations in this Sunday Times top 10 bestseller'This is a…
cracker . . . a beautiful book' Chris EvansIt is the scene for our hopeful beginnings and our intended ends, and the timeless experiences of coming and going, meeting, greeting and parting. It is an institution with its own rituals and priests, and a long-neglected aspect of Britain's architecture. And yet so little do we look at the railway station.Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, from Waterloo to Wemyss Bay, Betws-y-Coed to Beverley, to select his hundred best railway stations. Blending his usual insight and authority with his personal reflections and experiences - including his founding the Railway Heritage Trust - the foremost expert on our national heritage deftly reveals the history, geography, design and significance of each of these glories. Beautifully illustrated with colour photographs throughout, this joyous exploration of our social history shows the station's role in the national imagination; champions the engineers, architects and rival companies that made them possible; and tells the story behind the triumphs and follies of these very British creations. These are the marvellous, often undersung places that link our nation, celebrated like never before.'However spectacular the book's photographs, it's the author's prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages' The Times'An uplifting exploration of our social history' GuardianThe Book of London Place Names
By Caroline Taggart. 2012
Ever wondered if Cheapside really is cheap, what you do in Threadneedle Street, or who the knights of Knightsbridge were?Did…
you know that Piccadilly is actually an insult? And that Euston Road was built because there were too many cows on Oxford Street? Or that the River Fleet was covered over partly because of a drunken butcher? Take a trip down narrow lanes, through cobbled streets and crowded markets to discover the meanings behind the city’s place names. Meet forgotten residents whose names survive in the places where they lived, such as Sir George Downing of Downing Street, and uncover tales from London’s murky past that have shaped the modern city.From famous landmarks to forgotten rivers, grand thoroughfares to lost palaces, and ancient villages swallowed up as the city grew, Caroline Taggart explains the hidden meanings behind familiar places. If you have ever wanted to learn more about the history of London and discover the people, events and stories that shaped our capital city, then come on a journey that will show you London in a new light...The Book of English Place Names: How Our Towns and Villages Got Their Names
By Caroline Taggart. 2011
Take a journey down winding lanes and Roman roads in this witty and informative guide to the meanings behind the…
names of England's towns and villages. From Celtic farmers to Norman conquerors, right up to the Industrial Revolution, deciphering our place names reveals how generations of our ancestors lived, worked, travelled and worshipped, and how their influence has shaped our landscape.From the most ancient sacred sites to towns that take their names from stories of giants and knights, learn how Roman garrisons became our great cities, and discover how a meeting of the roads could become a thriving market town. Region by region, Caroline Taggart uncovers hidden meanings to reveal a patchwork of tall tales and ancient legends that collectively tells the story of how we made England.Bollocks to Alton Towers: Uncommonly British Days Out (Bollocks to Alton Towers #1)
By Alex Morris, Jason Hazeley, Joel Morris, Robin Halstead. 2005
The British Lawnmower Museum, Keith Harding's World of Mechanical Music and Mad Jack's Sugar Loaf. In a world of theme…
parks, interactive exhibits, over-priced merchandise and queues, don't worry, these are names to stir the soul. Reassuring evidence that there's still somewhere to turn in search of the small, fascinating, unique and, dammit, British.In a stumbling journey across the country in search of the best we have to offer our intrepid heroes discovered dinosaurs in South London, a cold war castle in Essex, grown men pretending to be warships in Scarborough, unexplained tunnels under Liverpool and a terraced house in Bedford being kept warm for Jesus's return. And along the way they met the people behind them all: enthusiasts, eccentrics and, you know, those who just sort of fell into looking after a vast collection of gnomes ...Makes you proud!Blue River, Black Sea
By Andrew Eames. 2009
The Danube is Europe's Amazon. It flows through more countries than any other river on Earth - from the Black…
Forest in Germany to Europe's farthest fringes, where it joins the Black Sea in Romania. Andrew Eames' journey along its length brings us face to face with the Continent's bloodiest history and its most pressing issues of race and identity.As he travels - by bicycle, horse, boat and on foot - Eames finds himself seeking a bed for the night with minor royalty, hitching a ride on a Serbian barge captained by a man called Attila and getting up close and personal with a bull in rural Romania. He meets would-be kings and walks with gypsies, and finally rows his way beyond the borders of Europe entirely...Black in Time: The Most Awesome Black Britons from Yesterday to Today
By Alison Hammond, E. L. Norry. 2022
Hiya! Alison Hammond here! I love getting to know all about different people and I'll tell you a secret .…
. . sometimes people we don't know much about are the most interesting of all! Which is really what this book is all about.Let me ask you a question: How many Black people can you name from our history? Mary Seacole? Ira Aldridge? George Bridgetower? Pablo Fanque? Walter Tull? Have you heard of these people?Yes? That's great! But if you haven't, don't worry, you're not alone, which is why I'm so excited to tell you all about them. Because the people in this book should be totally famous given the AMAZING things they've done! And we're not going to stop in the past, I'll introduce you to people making waves right here and now!From sportspeople to scientists, activists to musicians, politicians to writers, we're going to meet a whole bunch of AWESOME people who have helped shape the world we live in. So, are ready for you a journey Black in time?? Course you are, let's go!