Trafalgar

TRAFALGAR
by John Terraine
superbly illustrated book describing one of the most famous battles of all time, which shattered Napoleon's dream of invading the England.
Amplifying the details of the battle is a lengthy selection of contemporary eye witness accounts specially compiled for this book which paint a fresh picture of the maritime engagements of the Napoleonic wars.
This story is not just of the morning and afternoon in which Nelson and Colling wood smashed the combined fleets of France and Spain but also that of a complex campaign of which Trafalgar was the climax.
It shows the protagonists were not admirals Villeneuve and Nelson but Napoleon and the British naval tradition

Battle of the Britain

BATTLE OF BRITAIN ILLUSTRATED
by Paul Jacobs and Robert Lightsey
“The battle of France is over. The battle of Britain is about to begin” - Churchill,
from his 'Finest hour' speech on 18th June 1940.
Below was a fire storm where once was London and in front were hundreds of Hitler's bombers and their fighter escorts bent on the destruction of Britain.
This is the dramatic chronicle of the events from 10th July to 31st October 1940, The Battle of Britain, when this was what confronted the young under trained pilots and crews of the RAF every day.
The product of the efforts of the two former RAF officers, an artist cum engineer and a pilot cum program manager, the book provides a unique amount of the most important battle of the history.
140 original art works in oil, ink and graphite depicting important moments, military perspectives on tactics and technology, illustrated time lines and technical drawings. A product of years of love, devotion, work and study.

Carpets for the home

CARPETS FOR THE HOME
by Amicia de Moubray and David Black
A buyer's guide filled with artistic designs that is the ultimate window gazer's “How other people live?” hand book of interiors featuring: ancient, modern, oriental and western floor textiles and also wall hangings.
Different carpets help create the individual mod and style of a home, from rustic French farm house to spartan Manhattan loft.
Contemporary designers include Christopher Farr and Christine Vanderhurd, while oriental designs can be sought from modern companies such as Woven Legends.
This luxurious hand book gives plenty of advice for choosing and purchasing a carpet, care and repair, a glossary of terms, an international source directory of recommended dealers, a list of world wide and private collections

WARMLY INSCRIBED

Warmly inscribed:
The New England forager and other book tales;
by Lawrence and Nancy Gold stone,
Perfect bed time reader for all. Written by a husband and wife team. Both books collecting enthusiasts. This is a charming account of a personal tour of the Library of congress, where you will find more than 115 million volumes to be read. Like wise: the Folger library and the Beinecke, which is the Yale University's Rare Book and manuscripts library.
They recount the tale of the New England forger and discover just how valuable certain antiquated titles can be, such as $250 for a 1974 wall calendar, on which Michael Ondaatje used it for his family's routine appointments.

collections in museums etc.

COLLECTIONS IN MUSEUMS, GALLERIES AND HISTORIC HOUSES
edited by Victoria Rowland
third edition 2004 of this splendid and definitive guide to the greatest treasures of the British and Irish museums, art galleries and the historic houses.
The collections featured are a recommendation of places to visit with an insight into the culture and history or cultural history, together with an indication of guided or private tours available, disabled access, gift shops, cafés and refreshments, restaurants and car parking, plus information on web sites, e mail addresses, opening times, admission, charges, and location.
Covering over 1600 collections on public display, with clear headings and lovely color photos. Organized by geographical area.

Medieval life and leisure

MEDIEVAL LIFE AND LEISURE
In the Devonshire hunting Tapestries
by Linda Woolley
Focusing on the four exceptional fifteenth century Devonshire hunting tapestries that are housed in the Victoria and Albert museum ; the only such tapestries to have survived.
These scenes depict a lost chivalric world in rich and fascinating detail from the late middle ages while hunting with the falcon or hounds was common place among the nobility of the Europe, providing rise to the saying 'The sport of Kings'. The tapestries were owned by the duke of Devonshire once upon a time, and they vividly record falcony, hunting for otter, boa, bear and deer; as well as the ransacking of a swan's nest for its eggs.
They also contemporary scholars much about human behavior of that time, what type of clothing had been worn, and other customs of those days.

Old Crown Derby China works

OLD CROWN DERBY CHINA WORKS
The King Street factory
1849- 1935
by Robin Black wood and Cheryl Head
In the year of 1849 Sampson Hancock and five other partners established the 'King street works', which saved the production of Crown Derby china. When he died during the year of 1895, he had over seen the resurgence of the Crown Derby's prestige and popularity, and employed some of the best china painters, and he left behind a legacy of exquisite pottery, notably the Japanese, which are marvels of beauty and colors. They consisted of the deep Mazarin blue, red, green , and gold; which have made
Derby china famous all over the world.
Beginning with the history, the authors bring back 'King Street' to life again, linking the makers marks on the base of the china to the employees them selves, giving us their lives, families and the back grounds.
It is delightful to read the biography of a painter, potter or gilder; see the photographs of their work and then read the subsequent description of the piece, who owned it and where it ended up.
If you are not a collector already, you will get the itching to scour antique markets for lost pieces. Check the bases for a very rare mark: a black zeppelin under a gilded crescent moon.
During an air raid in 1916 one kiln was at a crucial stage in firing The staff left it as long as possible before extinguishing the fire. The following morning they removed what they presumed would be a ruined batch, only to find out that it has been fired perfectly.
So as to commemorate the event , the zeppelin mark was put on each piece.

Bone yard

BONE YARD
by Paul Johnston
It is 2020, the Edinburgh is the perfect city, an oppressive, crime free, independent city state. Previously presided over by the council of city guardians, there is now a new wave of ultra keen young guardians in charge, known as the iron boy scouts, who have tightened things up even more, leading to an under current of tension so electric, you can almost taste the ozone. The one activity they have yet to clamp down on entirely is the annual celebration of Hogmanay, and on new year's eve 2021, the Edinburgh tradition of getting absolutely slaughtered takes on a literal meaning for one poor soul.
The subversive PI Quintilian Dalrymple and side kick Davie are given the case, as the victim's nearest and dearest do not wants the guardians involved.
Dripping with satire and wit, this is a gruesome, powerful, fast paced thriller.

Grave secrets

GRAVE SECRETS
A novel
by Kathy Reich
for those who have not read the award winning Dr. Tempe Brennan stories, be warned that the author herself is a forensic anthropologist and well versed in the horrors of post mortem examinations. Gory details are her metier so her gripping murder mysteries are not for the faint hearted.
Whether digging a disintegrated corpse out of the nauseating gunge of a septic tank, extracting DNA from foetal bones or fighting off serial killers in Kung Fu style, this delectable, dauntless detective keeps her cool.
This particular series of murders is linked to ethnic cleansing in Guatemala.

Autograph man

AUTOGRAPH MAN
by Zadie smith
Through London and then New York, searching for the only autograph that has ever mattered to him, Alex Li Tandem follows a paper trail through the mystical lure of kabbalah and Zen, past collectors, con men and interfering rabbis. His business is selling autographs, collecting them and occasionally faking them, all for a little piece of fame.

Mask of the night

MASK OF THE NIGHT
by Mary Ryan
When her father is killed in a freak accident, Jenny finds herself with only her grandfather and a portrait of her mother with which to face the new century .
She is alone at Klashane but soon discovers an old mask in the attic and with it a sinister stranger who visits her at night.
Sixty years later when Dee visits her at Klashane home she finds herself fascinated by the big ruined house down the Boreen and the mad man who haunts its grounds. In its ruins she discovers a carnival mask, a gold ring and a faded leather diary telling of the long dead lives. The passion and danger that she discovers through these finds links her not only jenny but to Klashanes past generations and across the seas and time from Venice to London to county cork

Avenger

AVENGER
by Frederick Forsyth
another block buster from the master thriller writer, his best in decades. Pure gold, says so , Publishers weekly.
Calvin Dexter is a fairly successful lawyer in New jersey but no ordinary man. Ricky Colenso volunteers a s an aid worker in Bosnia for the summer before college and disappears after a few weeks for good. There is a little hope for his family and the killer has also vanished. Can Cal Dexter uncover the truth of this seemingly straight forward case before the CIA find a way to stop that truth being known? To prevent Dexter, the avenger, who is a threat to the world peace. Forsyth at his conspiring and plot twisting best.

Optimist's daughter

OPTIMIST'S DAUGHTER
by Eudora Welty
Welty won the Pulitzer prize of 1973 for this story about Laurel McKelva Hand who is in her forties and became a war widow. Years ago, she left the south but returns to New Orleans to be with her father as he under goes surgery for a little disturbance in his eye sight. Events lead her to spend time in her Mississippi child hood home with her step mother, a self absorbed younger woman, and comes to an under standing of the past, her parents, her marriage, and her self.

Phantom museum

PHANTOM MUSEUM
by Hildi Hawkins and Danielle Olsen
Henry well come collected thousands of strange objects for his medical museum, and today they are stored in the vaults of a a west London store room. This extra ordinary and exciting anthology of short stories is inspired by objects from the collection. A stunning story: Body art: by A.S. Byatt, tells of Daisy Whimple, a cynical hippy type girl whose bungled abortion later leads her to attempt to bring brightness into the ward by decorating it. There she meets Dr. Beckett and becomes pregnant again by him. Will she have the baby and if she does, what will happen?
Five other stories are included as well as photos of a selection of those strange objects.

Sylvia and Ted

SYLVIA AND TED
by Emma Tennant
Through imaginative fiction Emma Tennant vividly evokes the social and literary circles in which Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes traveled. From the scarlet lipstick and head band Sylvia wore the night they first met, to the yards of red corduroy curtains left unfinished at her death, Emma Tennant constructs a ballad from unforgettable images that tap into our very nerve endings.
As Sylvia and Ted struggles to create both life and art, their duet becomes a duel, creating a powerful vortex of sensation and passion that draws every one into its path including Sylvia's darkly beautiful rival, Assia Wevil. These three talented yet tortured people deserve their place in the 20th century's most famous literary love affairs. This intensely poetic book breathe life into their characters

Orphan lamb

ORPHAN LAMB
by Ann Purser
Peggy Palmer at the post office stores watched as young Mandy and Robert Bates, newly married, run into tragedy and struggle. She sees the impact on the village when Nancy Bridget, blonde and leggy, arrives at the hall to take charge in the latest in the long line of Standings, and listens with amusement as Ivy, Ellen and Doris nick named 'the three witches of Ring ford', make their crabby comments on the village goings on. There is comedy, tragedy, joy and sorrow in this intimate community of a small English village.

Spinster of this parish

Spinster of this parish
by Ann Purser
Round Ring ford, a small and idyllic village, is Ivy's territory and none of its inhabitants escape her vigil at the window of Victoria Villa.
Robert Bates and his girl friend from the town , Mandy Butler, Choir master, Gabriella Jones and her way ward daughter Octavia , the standings at the hall and the Jerk ins's in the council houses all come under her watchful eyes.
As the farming year progresses, the harvest supper and Christmas concert are followed by a funeral and a village wedding.
Ivy weaves her web of cunning, not realizing that she too is caught in its sticky threads.

Fifteen streets

FIFTEEN STREETS
by Catherine Cook son
When, John O'Brien fell in love with Mary Llewellyn, he knew there was a gulf between them that nothing could bridge. The gulf of the fifteen streets. Life in the fifteen streets was tough and it is a continual struggle for survival. Some families gave up and descended into a dismal state of constant poverty. Others like the O'Brien's fought grimly for a world they were only rarely allowed to glimpse.

As meat loves salt

AS MEAT LOVES SALT
by Maria McCann
An Economist: 'Book of the year'.
This remarkable first novel recreates Cromwellian England in a way that few readers will forget.
Torn in two by the vicious civil war , this is an England of extra ordinary, never before seen bloody violence.
Among the soldiers traveling across the ravaged country from one battle to the next is Jacob Cullen, a former servant who dreams of a new life after the war.
However living as the new model army was living did unexpected things to many men, and he finds him self drawn into an obsession with Ferris, a fellow fighter. At a time this type of thing is a hanging offense, the men dessert from Cromwell's army, even that too a similarly punishable act.
McCann's depiction of an England beset by war , the gore, terror, and horrors of the battle field and the harrowing tale of the men on the edge of madness are by turns compelling and shocking. We feel the blood, sweat and tears of the protagonists and the disturbing images she unveils will linger in the memory.
A wrenching thriller, which describes individuals' madness in a nation gone mad.

Bleak mid winter

BLEAK MIDWINTER, by Peter Millar, A Crackling thriller, Set in the Oxford back ground.
Rajiv Mahendra , trainee doctor at John Radcliffe hospital encounters a patient with symptoms which are horrifyingly familiar in India this disease known as the bubonic plague and the last time it occurred in a large scale in Europe, it wiped out one third of the entire population.Rajiv's friend , an American history student , Daniel Warren finds out about the patient and driven by morbid curiosity sneaks into the hospital so as to have look at the patient concerned. This had been discovered by a local news paper reporter from the local news paper. the reporter got wind of the story. Daniel wants her to be kept quiet, so Daniel reveals about the patient , that he had been working on a building site at a certain village which has been once called as Nether Ditch ford , where the entire population died of the same plague during the year 1349. could it be possible that there are plague bacterial spores which may have been roused from their dormant state?