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‘The definitive guide to London’s architecture’ INDEPENDENT

London has an unrivalled richness of architecture, from its squares and houses to its palaces and churches. This is the only guide to cover all of London’s building history, from its Roman foundation to the massive expansion of the nineteenth century which made London the largest city on earth.

A fascinating and hilarious expose of how a group of young opportunists, chancers and geniuses found instant fame and fortune by messing about on the web. And one man’s attempt to follow in their footsteps.

Having covered the first dot com boom, and founded a web-to-print publishing business during the second one, Paul counts many of the leading Internet entrepreneurs amongst his closest friends. These friendships mean he doesn’t just attend their product launches and press conferences and speak at their events, but also gets invited to their ultra-exclusive networking events, and gets drunk at their parties.

Paul has enjoyed this bizarre world of excess without having to live in it. To help the moguls celebrate raising millions of pounds of funding without having to face the wrath of the venture capitalists himself. But in 2006, Paul decided he didn’t want to be a spectator any more. He had been harbouring a great dot com project of his own and decided it was time to do something about it.

In HEAVENLY CONTRACTS we meet again the pompous and self-important Abbot who is hosting the annual St Francis of Assisi Swiss teams for monastic establishments. Hilarious encounters ensue against a team of monks from Southern Germany and some equally incomprehensible friars from Scotland. The show-down comes in a final match against their old rivals, the nuns of St Hilda’s.

Regular followers of David Bird’s work will know what to expect – a first-rate mixture of excellent bridge, entertaining characters and sparkling dialogue.

The world of bridge has winners and also-rans. What would you rather be? Winning might not be everything, but it is much better than finishing second or third, and way ahead of being out of place.

This book examines the attributes and skills you need to be on the winner’s dais more often, not only the personal qualities and psychological requirements, but also the methods you are using and the standard of card play required. TO WIN AT BRIDGE is a challenge full of tips and telling advice, which if followed will produce a positive lift to your game.

UNHOLY TRICKS by Terence Reese and David Bird is a further collection of bridge tales involving the eccentric monks of St Titus. In addition to their usual rubber bridge games – and they play for surprisingly high stakes at the monastery – the monks become involved in duplicate matches against nuns, visiting Italians and even the local police.

By the bestselling author of The Drowning People

Joan McAllistair is about to embark on the ‘Trip of a Lifetime’ with her daughter Eloise; a journey back to her childhood South Africa and the family homestead in the old Boer Republic of the Orange Free State. For Eloise, a successful hedge fund manager, the trip is partly a gift, partly a means of assuaging the guilt she feels at moving her mother from her own flat to an expensive care home.

Joan has not visited the country since she was twenty-two but the chance discovery of her grandmother’s journal transports her to the troubled times of the Anglo-Boer war. Eloise, in the meantime, has gambled her company’s entire fortune on a promise made by an old lover – a scientist whose life’s work has been stalled by a broken heart.

As their stories unravel and Joan is faced with the prospect of being surrounded by strangers who do not understand her, she takes increasing refuge in the landscape of her mind – in journeys to her own past. She also finds an unexpected friend in a lonely teenager who shares her fascination with history, in particular the haunting story of a young girl and boy who once lived in the home.

Moving between nineteenth-century England and South Africa, war-time Paris and London, The Lighted Rooms is a stunningly incisive and poignant novel about family, duty and the challenging world of the mind.

‘A captivating biography … This rollicking story is packed with anecdotes’ The Times

Francis I was inconstant, amorous, hot-headed and flawed. Yet he was also arguably the most significant king that France ever had. This is his story.

A contemporary of Henry VIII of England, Francis saw himself as the first Renaissance king, a man who was the exemplar of courtly and civilised behaviour throughout Europe. A courageous and heroic warrior, he was also a keen aesthete, an accomplished diplomat and an energetic ruler who turned his country into a force to be reckoned with.

Yet he was also capricious, vain and arrogant, taking hugely unnecessary risks, at least one of which nearly resulted in the end of his kingdom. His great feud with his nemesis Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, defined European diplomacy and sovereignty, but his notorious alliance with the great Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent threatened to destroy everything.

With access to never-before-seen private archives, Leonie Frieda’s comprehensive and sympathetic account explores the life of the most human of all Renaissance monarchs – and the most enigmatic.

Average players tend to focus on point count for their bidding decisions, but the expert recognises that the shape of the hand also plays a vital role. Knowing the implications of shape will help you find the best contract more often. The book not only reveals how to use hand patterns to winning effect, but also how to incorporate the ideas of shape in your bidding system.

The power of shape is not limited to the bidding. Successful play or defence is often linked to a knowledge of the pattern of the opponents’ hands. The second part of this book will show you how to discover and make use of this invaluable information.

Follow the recommendations in this exciting and original book and your partnership will be in great shape!

MIRACLES OF CARD PLAY led the way for the hugely entertaining series of stories about the bridge-playing monks of St Titus. It would be no exaggeration to say that this series of hilarious stories is without equal in world bridge and is a tribute to the bridge and writing skills of two very distinguished authors.

If you are a middling player and are keen to advance, this book will show you the way forward. David Bird has taken ten key areas in bidding and play and has applied his considerable skills as a player and critic to prove how results can be gained. The topics covered range from bidding the opponents’ suit and battling for the part-score to support doubles and redoubles, and splinter bids and fit jumps. The essential points to remember are summarised at the end of each chapter and there are problems to solve which will show how much you have taken on board.

Why wait any longer? Your opportunity to become a better player is here!

Here in one volume are Hugh Kelsey’s four outstanding books on squeeze play – SIMPLE SQUEEZES, STRIP-SQUEEZES, DOUBLE SQUEEZES and TRIPLE SQUEEZES. Each title is complete in itself and by the time the fourth book has been mastered, a formidable amount of knowledge will have been acquired. All aspiring players wanting to advance their game will find this treasury of squeeze play techniques, distilled from thousands of hands and the experience of a lifetime, an invaluable tool for achieving expert status.

The ability to execute an effective squeeze play lifts a player’s game to an exciting new level – and therefore all would-be improvers need to read this great book.

‘History in Quotations’ is an exciting and original work of historical reference. From the Iraq of ancient Babylon to the Iraq war of 2003 – taking in the histories of Europe, the Americas, Africa and Asia in a grand global sweep – it uses the innovative medium of some 9000 chronologically arranged quotations to tell the story of more than 5000 years of recorded history.

The quotations are presented in 90 chapters, each of which focuses on a key historical theme or period. Every quotation is accompanied by details of its source, and, where necessary, by an explanatory contextual gloss. Cross-references guide the user from one quotation to another, related by its subject or its author. A comprehensive index of speakers and subjects allows the user to locate quotations by individual speakers and on specific historical subjects quickly and without fuss.

Simultaneously a work of historical reference and an addictively browsable work of popular history, ‘History in Quotations’ gives the reader a front-row seat at the unfolding drama of 5000 years of recorded history. Here, expressed through a multitude of historical voices, are words that gave expression to new religious and political creeds; words that voiced the aspirations of the oppressed; words that set nation at war with nation; words that sealed the fates of millions: above all – words that have made history.

The life – and life behind the scenes – of one of Britain’s best-known chefs.

The Roux family is the most influential family associated with food in Britain. Through their various restaurants (Le Gavroche, Waterside Inn, Brasserie Roux) and catering services they have trained many of Britain’s top chefs.

Albert and Michel Sr brought French high cuisine to Britain in the sixties, much of the produce being brought twice weekly from France by Michel’s mother in the family car. Michel grew up in an environment of respect for fine food and ingredients, of never settling for second best, and of traditional French family excursions to find wild food. He tells the story of what it was like to grow up as part of this close-knit family.

He left school at 16 to start his first apprenticeship with Maitre Patissier Hellegourarche in Paris. He then worked with Alain Chapel at Mionnay before doing his mililtary service at the Elysee Palace cooking for Presidents Giscard d’Estaing and Francois Mitterand. After a stint cooking at the Mandarin Hotel in Hong Kong and catering in London, he took over the running of Le Gavroche in 1994.

For everyone who plays – or is interested in the international phenomenon that is the world of bridge

In RIGHT THROUGH THE PACK AGAIN, joint winner of the INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE PRESS ASSOCIATIONS’S 2009 BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD, each card tells the story of its importance in a particular deal and in so doing the book pays homage to the original concept in the bridge classic RIGHT THROUGH THE PACK.

The Old Master is in a coma and the cards attempt to bring him back to consciousness, to revive him with their tales of derring-do. Not only are the deals themselves entertaining, but they are instructive too. You can test yourself on the problems and then go to the solution later in the book and thus improve your own game.

A beautifully illustrated companion to the Royal family throughout history

Spanning ten dynasties of England’s monarchs, The Kings and Queens of England presents portraits and potted biographies of England’s monarchs. Spanning from the Normans through to the House of Windsor, this exquisite little book captures the personalities behind the crowns and records the landmarks, traditions and events of each reign.

A collection of truly brilliant short stories, each depicting the deeply personal experience of a universal or historical event. Momentous fiction from the best American writer of his generation.

A group of housewives smoke cigars and play cards whilst a tornado approaches a west Texas town. An Asian-American medic bicycles through the Vietnam countryside with her husband and son and returns to the spot where she once held dying soldiers. Or a young rockabilly aficionado prepares for a date in a Ukranian village close to Chenobyl. The words of Beatles songs sung in a Cambodian work camp.

Cullin’s ability is to miraculously create moments of true pathos which distill important human experience into a single hair-raising image. I can honestly say they are the best stories I have ever read, they are chillingly good and I have utter conviction that this is a great writer.

The Prince of Wales describes how he has created one of the great gardens of our time.

When The Prince of Wales bought Highgrove House in 1981 the surrounds consisted of a brown path which ran around the house, a lawn and a few thorn bushes. Twenty years later, he has transformed the land adjoining the house into several exquisite gardens which embody his gardening ideals and organic principles.

With help from some of Britain’s finest designers, including The Marchioness of Salisbury, Rosemary Verey, Miriam Rothschild and Sir Roy Strong, the Prince of Wales has created highly individual gardens which have now, with his own ideas, reached maturity.

The Prince of Wales describes the thinking behind each garden, the mistakes and the triumphs, and his plans for the future. Lavishly illustrated with photographs which capture both the scope and detail of each garden, this book will delight and inspire both gardeners and horticulturalists at every level.

Isy woke up one day in her late twenties to discover that the invisible deal she’d done with her best mates – that they’d prolong growing up for as long as possible – had all been in her head. Everyone around her is suddenly into mortgages, farmers’ markets and nappies, rather than the idea of running naked into the sea or getting hammered in Plymouth with eighty-year-old men. When her dearest friend advises her that the next guy Isy meets will be The Actual One, Isy decides to keep delaying the onset of adulthood – until a bet with her mother results in a mad scramble to find a boyfriend within a month.

From papier-mâché penguins to being stranded on a dual carriageway in nothing but a fur coat and trainers, THE ACTUAL ONE is an ode to the confusing wilderness of your late twenties, alongside a quest for a genuinely good relationship with a man who doesn’t use moisturiser.

Welcome to a world where every desire is visible, rising from the body as a plume of Smoke. A world where bodies speak to one another and infect each other with desire, anger, greed. It is 1909 and this world stands on a precipice – some celebrate this constant whisper of skin to skin, and some seek to silence it forever.

Enter Eleanor, a young woman with a strange power over Smoke and niece of the Lord Protector of England. Running from her uncle and home, she finds shelter in a New York theatre troupe.

Then Nil, a thief hiding behind a self-effacing name. He’s an orphan snatched from a jungle-home and suspects that a clue to his origins may lie hidden in the vaults of the mighty, newly-risen East India Company.

And finally Thomas, one of the three people to release Smoke into the world. On a clandestine mission to India, he hopes to uncover the origins of Smoke and lay to rest his doubts about what he helped to unleash.

In a story that crosses continents – from India to England’s Minetowns – these three seek to control the power of Smoke. As their destinies entwine, a cataclysmic confrontation looms: the Smoke will either bind them together or forever rend the world.

Welcome to a world where every desire is visible, rising from the body as a plume of Smoke. A world where bodies speak to one another and infect each other with desire, anger, greed. It is 1909 and this world stands on a precipice – some celebrate this constant whisper of skin to skin, and some seek to silence it forever.

Enter Eleanor, a young woman with a strange power over Smoke and niece of the Lord Protector of England. Running from her uncle and home, she finds shelter in a New York theatre troupe.

Then Nil, a thief hiding behind a self-effacing name. He’s an orphan snatched from a jungle-home and suspects that a clue to his origins may lie hidden in the vaults of the mighty, newly-risen East India Company.

And finally Thomas, one of the three people to release Smoke into the world. On a clandestine mission to India, he hopes to uncover the origins of Smoke and lay to rest his doubts about what he helped to unleash.

In a story that crosses continents – from India to England’s Minetowns – these three seek to control the power of Smoke. As their destinies entwine, a cataclysmic confrontation looms: the Smoke will either bind them together or forever rend the world.

Imagine a world in which every bad thought you had was made visible. Where anger, hatred and envy appeared as a thick, infectious smoke pouring from your body, leaving soot on your skin. A society controlled by an elite who have learned to master their darkest desires.

Thomas and Charlie are friends at a boarding school near Oxford, where the children of the rich and powerful are trained to be future leaders. Charlie is naturally good, but Thomas’s father was accused of a terrible crime, and Thomas fears that the same evil lies coiled inside him. Then, on a trip to London – a forbidden city shrouded in darkness – they learn all is not as it appears. So begins a quest to understand the truth about this world of smoke, soot and ash – and perhaps to change it.


‘Mesmerising and imaginative … a novel that tackles the most fundamental question of good versus evil’ Hannah Beckerman, Observer

‘Like an adult version of the Harry Potter books with a touch of Dickensian dystopia …a sheer delight‘ Maxim Jakubowski, Lovereading

‘A novel that stays in the imagination long after it is read‘ Adam Roberts, Guardian

What is it about bikes that leaves so many of us powerless to resist?

This entertaining guide charts the history of the bike from its origin as a cheap means of transport to its modern incarnations: a symbol of rebellion, a high-tech racing machine and the rich kid’s plaything. Richard Hammond, passionate biker and collector of bikes, looks at the machines that have propelled people across the world to work, to school – and occasionally to their doom.

With his trademark expertise and wit, Hammond examines bikers of every type, from the happy farmer trundling through fields on his Honda Cub to the Hells Angel terrorising towns on their hog.

It’s cold, wet and dangerous, so why do we do it?

Richard Hammond’s A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MOTORCYCLE attempts to explain what it is about bikes and biking that calls to some people, leaving them powerless to resist.

This entertaining guide charts the history of the bike from its origins as a cheap and modest means of transport for the masses to its modern incarnations: a terrifying symbol of rebellion and menace, a high-tech racing machine and the rich kid’s plaything. We look at the bikes that have propelled people across the world to work, to school and to their doom.

As for the bikers … Edwardian ladies did it, though not in large numbers. Young bucks desperate to prove their manhood did it, because it was the cheapest speed available. Hammond examines bikers of every type, from the happy farmer trundling through fields on their Honda Cub to the Hell’s Angel terrorising Californian towns on their hog.

Wittily written and lavishly illustrated, A SHORT HISTORY OF THE MOTORCYCLE is a thrilling ride for bikers and non-bikers alike.