A maiden voyage medal and brochure from the SS Imperator, a brass bell from RMS Aquitania, commemorative plaque, propellors, cards posted from sea, pen and ink drawings, a saloon chair, a cutaway rendering, souvenir cigar box, launch menu, Lalique water goblet, cigarette case, salvaged name plate, maritime replicas model, a telephone, a dry martini cocktail from the RMS Queen Mary, a gala dinner menu and the Hales Trophy blue ribboned card both from the SS Normandie and a Cunard magazine are among the 50 items representing technology, supreme luxury and fine cuisine. Ocean liners represented the ambitions of their nations in peace and war. Their design, interiors and fittings incorporated the finest contemporary technology and artistic features. In peace time they carried celebrities, holidaymakers, and emigrants, while in war they carried thousands of troops and then war brides seeking new lives. This is a story of peril, disaster and death, international pride and competition, glory and war, told through 50 objects each telling a fascinating story and showing how the functional sea voyage has evolved from the late 19th century to the huge cruise ship industry we have today. Glossy heavyweight bright white paper, 240pp in softback, approximately 100 colour images, many full page including a superb cutaway extract of the RMS Caronia on page 172.

Inserted into tissue paper pockets throughout this large spiral bound, magnetic fastening folder are facsimile ephemera such as the front page of The Daily Mirror 1924 with the headline 'The King As Driver of the Windsor Castle', a promotional picture of the Flying Scotsman and other famous steam trains, and dozens of postcards as we climb aboard this treasury. It covers the Early Pioneers, Steam Goes Public, Rain Hill Trials, Robert Stephenson and Co., Steam Abroad, Competition in the South, Railway Rivalry, Standardisation and Imported Technology, Grouping, World War Two, Nationalisation and BR Standard Locomotives, Steam In Decline, Famous Men In Steam, and Brunel The Heroic Engineer among the chapters. Lovely colour artworks, archive and colour photographs and clear text, but best of all is the fantastic poster and other iconic ephemera. Very collectable and an incredible price.

Including panoramic gatefolds, this sumptuously illustrated book sweeps through a century of military aviation covering the milestones and key technological developments. It features the designs and manufacturers who produced the early biplanes, helicopters, VTOL and swing-wing aircraft, heavy bombers, giant transporters and stealth intruders. These machines played their part in two global wars, the Cold War and numerous other conflicts, and their stories thus offer a fascinating window on world history as well as relating how military minds sought to gain mastery of the skies. Pilots who took to the air on scouting missions began taking pot shots at each other. Bombs were dropped from the cockpit. From these rudimentary beginnings, the twin branches of military aviation were born - the fighter and the bomber. It was a division that presented designers with different problems. Fighters needed to be fast and agile, but for the bomber, payload capacity was vital. As sleek, metal monoplanes with more powerful engines replaced their wooden-framed predecessors, fighters were also able to carry a useful bomb load. With the arrival of jet propulsion, swept wings and guided missiles, fighter-bombers such as McDonnell's F-4 Phantom became the forerunner to the modern multi-role combat aircraft. By the 1980s, radar-defending stealth was the buzzword, shown off in Lockheed's Nighthawk Fighter and Northrop's B-2 Spirit Bomber. The F-22 Raptor added super cruise to the mix, but the future may lie in unmanned drones, examples of which are already equipped as weapons-delivery platforms. With spectacular colour photography, many in close up of the Westland Lynx iconic helicopter, the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the Avro Lancaster, the B-52 Mitchell, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the SR-71 Blackbird, Lockheed's C-5 Galaxy and as we reach the centre pages a spectacular triple gatefold, a skyborne F-15E Eagle flying over Nevada and on the reverse the cockpit and wings in very close up of the F-37C Lightning II with its reinforced landing gear. Gloriously illustrated and huge in size, 192 pages of stunning photographs and excellent extended captions, text, fact boxes and full specifications.
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Pull out and examine handwritten letters and race agendas, a replica of Ayrton Senna's baptism certificate, a keepsake formal photograph, autographed team stickers and 20 more special items and interactive memorabilia in this heavyweight slipcased box set. During his lifetime, Brazilian Formula 1 racing champion Ayrton Senna was widely recognised as a leader in his sport, a pioneer in driving technique, a hard racer and a compassionate man. Since his fatal crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, his remarkable career and humanitarian outlook have continued to inspire the world and the Ayrton Senna Institute, his most important legacy, has helped educate more than 7.8 million Brazilian children. Included in this package are badges shaped in a driver's helmet, an Eddie Jordan personal note, his Team McLaren badge photocard from 1988, a signed poster of the 1991 FIA Formula 1 World Championship, an access pass to the circuit as a VIP Guest in the 1984 Brazilian GP, his British competition licence from 1991 as an international racing driver, a Japanese cartoon advertisement in a long strip format, and all of the items are of very good quality and colour printing. The Senna family has opened its archives and shared photographs of private moments at home and at the racetrack. The assortment of treasured ephemera is included in 13 beautiful envelopes which readers can pull out and examine and the book's striking imagery forms a focal point with exclusive interviews with his teammates sharing personal anecdotes and favourite memories. A true collector's item, 192pp, slipcased, 22 x 3.9 x 31.2cm.

A nostalgic selection of colour images, most of which are previously unseen, featuring fighter, bomber, transport and training aircraft in British Military or Ministry service during the 1960s. The decade saw the heyday of many of Britain's iconic post-war aircraft such as the long-serving Hawker Hunter and the English Electric Canberra which spent its entire active career as a test aircraft principally with the A&AEE whose motif is displayed on the fin. VX181 last flew in June 1969 when it was flown to RAF Pershore, Worcestershire, for use in a ground training role. Both aircraft remained in frontline service with major air forces through the 50s and 60s. Derived from its fighter predecessors as an advanced trainer for the RAF, the de Havilland Vampire T.11 brought about a revolution in flying training and survived into service into the 1960s. Pictured is the XD542 'H' which served with the Central Gunnery School and then with the Fighter Weapons School serving at Leconfield Yorkshire then Driffield in 1957. Equally the Vickers Valetta was required to supplement then replace the ubiquitous Dakota within the RAF. Due to its principal role as a humble transport, it has been largely overlooked - until now. With a superb commentary, comprehensive captions accompany the photographs to explain the various types in full detail. Serial numbers, units and aircraft histories are all covered, and four-view artwork derived from specific photographs is also included and hundreds of colour photographs. 96 big glossy pages, softback.

The 320-mile railway between the Atlantic Ocean port of Pointe-Noir and Brazzaville in the Congo was built with forced local labour between 1921 and 1934 by the French company Batignolles when Equatorial Africa was still a French colony. The railroad had to traverse difficult terrain including the unstable Mayombe and the Bamba tunnel, and abuses and cruelty led to the deaths of an estimated 20,000 workers. The fact that this took place under the management of the French with their ideals of liberty is a theme of the book. The Europeans on the project perversely believed that malnutrition was part of the African way of life, and a belief in the superiority of the white races went without question, though this was not unchallenged at the time, as a contemporary cartoon shows in which the bodies of workers appear as railroad sleepers. For the railroad's defenders, the project was a measure of French expertise and benevolence, bringing new technology and infrastructure to west Africa. In fact, workers died from accidents and wounds, they were murdered at the hands of overseers, whose own brutalisation forms an interesting additional theme of the book, and they died of diseases such as dysentery and, very interestingly, what is now regarded as possibly an early manifestation of AIDS. Around twice as many Africans died on the Congo-Ocean railway as on the better-known atrocity of the Burma-Siam railway in World War II. African workers were conscripted at gunpoint, separated from their families. They hacked their way through dense tropical foliage, excavating by hand thousands of tonnes of earth in order to lay down track. They blasted their way through rock to construct tunnels and risked their lives building bridges over otherwise impassable rivers. Porters were needed to transport building materials and often two men were assigned to lugging a 200-pound load and other "crushing and unmanageable burdens". When a doctor tried to intervene on one occasion, he was callously told that the men were expendable. 368pp, eye opening photographic evidence in photos. Map.

A fact-packed illustrated encyclopaedia which charts the exceptional history, the machines and their manufacturers from the early days of J. I. Case Threshing Machine Company and its experimental gasoline tractor of 1892, to the JCB Fastrack, one of the numerous state-of-the-art machines now on the market. Huge sized, and comprehensive in scope, it is a complete history and directory of tractors from around the world covering all the great marques, designers and manufacturers from Agco Allis to Zetor. It also features vintage models restored to their former glory shown alongside their modern-day high-tech equivalents. With fascinating archive material, colour photography, informative text by a leading expert in the industry, specification boxes detailing engine capacity, power, transmission and weight. 650 colour photos, 256 very large glossy pages.

Written and presented by Sir Patrick Moore and with running time approximately 50 minutes in both colour and black and white, the DVD is entitled The Apollo Story. It features official NASA and Science Museum footage of the momentous Apollo 11 Moon landing. It was July 1969 and a little over eight years since the flights of Gagarin and Shepard, followed quickly by President Kennedy's challenge to put a man on the Moon before the end of the decade. It was only seven months since NASA made a bold decision to send Apollo 8 all the way to the Moon on the first manned flight of the massive Saturn V rocket. Now on the morning of 16th July, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins sit atop another Saturn V at Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center. The three-stage 363-foot rocket will use its 7.5 million pounds of thrust to propel them into space and into history. DVD film running time approximately 50 minutes. With large illustrated soft cover magazine enclosed.

Celebrating and commemorating 100 years of the RAF and with access to rare archives, Mike Lepine uses photographs and documents to bring the story of the people, aeroplanes and missions to life as never before. The box set includes the DVD Air Aces, a groundbreaking series that tells the story of the most heroic airborne combat missions in history. Using real vintage aircraft, the series films the impossible by recreating mid-air combat scenes and features Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers. The magazine looks at the men, women and aircraft at the heart of this great service. Fully illustrated with archive and colour photos and fact boxes for every aviation enthusiast. DVD running time 50 minutes. Magazine and DVD box set.

Press out the 157 pieces from the three laser-cut FSC certified wooded sheets. No glue or tools are required as their pieces are included to build this 3D Batmobile from the Batman and Batman Returns films. The book is packed with amazing facts about the creation of this version of the Batmobile with stunning behind-the-scenes images showing how the legendary ride was built for the big screen. Complete with detailed blueprints showing the inner workings and action shots like the Batmobile speeding away from an explosion undamaged. Once your kit is ready you can apply matte black acrylic paint or customise it with the Joker's graffiti as demonstrated on page 30 of the book with paint blots and handprints to make your replica model your own. Suit ages 12 to adult, special import. Finished model measures 7 x 1.57 x 2.85" and decorating materials are not included. CE safety approved.