'I was saying things in songs that female singers didn't really say back then. I wasn't submissive or begging him to come back, I was kicking his ass, kicking him out, kicking my own ass too. My Blondie character was an inflatable doll with a dark, provocative, aggressive side. I was playing it up, yet I was very serious.' Brave, beautiful and born to be punk, Debbie Harry is a musician, actor, activist and the iconic face of New York City cool. As the front-woman of Blondie, she and the band forged a new sound that brought together the worlds of rock, punk, disco, reggae and hip-hop to create some of the most beloved pop songs of all time. As a muse, she collaborated with some of the boldest artists of the past four decades. In a mix of visceral, soulful storytelling and stunning visuals that include never-before-seen photographs, bespoke illustrations and fan art installations, the book upends the standard music memoir. With all the grit, grime and glory recounted in intimate detail, the book recreates the downtown scene of 1970s New York City, where Blondie played alongside the Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Following her path from glorious commercial success to heroin addiction, the near death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy, and Blondie's break-up as a band, to Debbie Harry's multifaceted acting career in more than 30 films, a stunning solo career and a triumphant return of her band, and her tireless advocacy for the environment and LGBTQ rights, here is a cinematic story of a woman who made her own path. Her interest in bees and small anecdotes such as her trip to the cigar shop show small insights into her personality in this chatty and friendly book. 360pp, paperback, packed with illustrations including colour plates and images of this extraordinarily beautiful woman.

In the middle of the pandemic, one family moved from their comfortable modern house on a smart estate in Oldham, Manchester to a centuries-old farmhouse, surrounded by nothing but fields as far as the eye could see. So how did they end up on this 120 acre working farm in the Peak District? Kelvin Fletcher is a much-loved British actor who lifted the coveted trophy on Strictly Come Dancing in 2019 and his childhood sweetheart, now wife, Liz is a Voice Over artist and actor. With their two children they have appeared in BBC One's Kelvin?s Big Farming Adventure. Here in their own words is their remarkable story. In pyjamas and wellies, they chase pigs back into the pen and through the mayhem of kids and muddy troughs they begin a new life in the countryside. After just eight months, they had 40 sheep, three pigs and three alpacas waiting for their breakfast, and by the end of this book, a new baby was to make three kiddes, or would that be four with twins? And not forgetting Ginger the dog. 325 pages, colour photos.

To search for van Gogh means to retrace his actual physical path to the mental states that inspired his art. It means to take our understanding of art and geography and apply at what we know of Vincent's feelings and musings on life, art, books and authors, or found in the vast collection of letters 820 in all, 658 of which were addressed to his brother Theo, dating between 1872 and 1890. For months two talented photographers retraced van Gogh's path on foot, or by train, following him from Holland to England, and on to Belgium and France. They wanted to use the magic of photography to re-create what Vincent had imagined on canvas, and in this special book, the two are set by side-by-side. One of the photographers died in 2015, and today it would no longer be possible to photograph these places as they did for the book. "I have a larger picture of the village church and effect in which the building appears to be violet-hued against the sky of simple, deep blue colour, pure cobalt. The stained-glass windows appear as ultramarine blotches. The roof is violet, and partly orange in the foreground, some green plants in bloom and sand with the pink flow of sunshine in it." These are van Gogh's own words of his church at Auvers; his painting is reproduced and on the facing page in a colour photograph of the church on a sunny day. Enjoy his visions of the moon and the stars and the nebula, his chair, bed and nightstand, the Bridge of the Englishman, self portraits of the artist as a young man, the Rue de la Gallette and windmills, a room with a view of Paris in the heart of Montmartre, prostitutes and brothels and houses and people and of course, chrome yellow and sunflower orange. Art historian Gloria Fossi examines van Gogh's personal and artistic journey, combining a deep knowledge of place and art with what is known of his feelings in an art volume the like of which we have never seen before. 240 very large pages with colour, reproductions, colour photos, maps, and archive images.
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Pursued by a very charming man during her divorce, mother of three Chrissy Handy entered into a three year relationship with a man purporting to be named Alexander de Rothschild. It turned out he was a serial fraudster and she was duped into selling her family home and backing him in a dream to create a new life for themselves in Switzerland with the children. Then after one night when she was persuaded by him to have unprotected sex, she fell pregnant. Giving birth without him there, she endured a series of lies and deceptions with Alexander saying he is called away on business in Geneva. Funding the academic life that she believed he was pursuing and his business interests, she handed over tens of thousands of pounds and eventually sold her house and took on a rented accommodation, seeing him only when it suited him and for short periods of time. With her tiny baby and with three children under eight years old, Chrissy had by the end of three and a half years handed over more than £500,000 to this 'international financier', the seemingly wealthy smooth-talking Alexander Marc D'Ariken de Rothschild-Hatton. And then he vanished, along with her money. After months of detective work she finally tracks him down in the USA, but the reality of his true identity is much darker than she could ever have imagined. He was finally brought to justice on charges of rape and indecent assault with a minor. Chrissy's story is heart-breaking, but she is a survivor and sadly one of many victims of this convicted fraudster. 262pp, paperback.

With detailed itineraries, fast facts, photos and maps, no airport screening or long waits, take the luxury of the train on these 30 memorable train trips from every inhabited continent with travel writer Tim Richards. His curated selection covers the full range of rail options from the humble commuter train to long-distance night trains with sleeper berths and dining cars, and all journeys are blessed with great scenery. We travel the Glacier Express from San Moritz to Zermatt, the Caledonian Sleeper from London to Glasgow, through Belgrade and Montenegro, Venice and Istanbul, Budapest and Oslo, Cape Town and over to Asia on the Trans-Siberian railway, and trains in Japan, India, Bangkok and Vietnam. In Australia, the USA and Canada, South America and Mexico to more unusual and eclectic choices like the Welsh Highland Railway from Porthmadog to Caernarfon, the Settle to Carlisle railway, the Grand Canyon railway, or to Hong Kong, Beijing in China and the Hanoi to Beijing night train. Famous luxury trains such as the Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (see page 21) and Rovos Rail's Pride of Africa (see page 45), pull a lot of focus with their storied pasts, beautiful interiors, spectacular food, impressive routes and dizzyingly expensive fares. However not every train journey worth taking has a high price tag. The author also outlines his guide to suburban trains, tourist railways, long distance and sleeper trains and rail cruises, gives tips for riding trains like booking. Plus a map of the world pointing out all 30 journeys and coloured maps throughout the text and full page glamorous colour photographs. 182 page quality softback. 21.8 x 24.6cm.
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A spellbinding collection of literature, lore, art, recipes and projects in a fanciful anthology to delight unicorn lovers. Unicorns embrace the magic of the forest, living as they do among wild mushrooms and toadstools near sparkling waterfalls. Their ghostly silhouettes can be seen ambling amid patches of lacey ferns and wild orchids, and gently brushing against pungent wild ginger. The horn of a unicorn is a great treasure because of its rarity and powerful properties. It can detect poison, and if dipped in poisoned food or drink, it will neutralise the toxin. Make a lavender horn and a jewelled unicorn coronet, and in the food section unicorn tears of milky oats and mimosa flowers and bright pink icing. Discover unicorns in poetry, heraldry, the lady and the unicorn as muse in dozens of beautiful mediaeval artworks and tapestries here reproduced in full-page colour images, unicorns on Noah's Ark and in the Bible, in antiquity, arts and culture, and unicorn movie stars. Plus forest bathing, making holographic lip balm, enchantress body nectar, stars in her mane hair mist and other beautifying potions to enchant a unicorn. There are unicorn inspired make-up ideas for the traditional, dark or otherworldly unicorns in the fashion and beauty section, unicorn of the stars and Pegasus and their narwhal cousins. With gold edged pages, tipped in illustration on the front, a heavyweight, pale pink beautifully bound hardback of 232 page with satin pagemarker. Supersensual and magical imagery and colour photos.
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Sub-titled 'Eating at Home: From Long Lazy Lunches to Fast Family Fixes', from casual Friday night dinners to brunch with friends, light lunches and garden feasts to celebratory gatherings and the classic Sunday lunch, all bases are covered here. Matt Tebbutt is never short of a fast meal idea or a menu for guests that will impress. Rustle up fabulous outdoor and barbecue dishes plus indulgent family feasts with his 100 inspiring recipes all beautifully photographed. Make the humble potato more interesting by being crispy on the outside and soft in the middle, using butter, goose or duck fat or even thin strips of lardon or pork fat, a drizzle of olive oil and chopped chives and seasoning. There is a Five-Spice Roast Goose, a Roast Rib of Beef with Yorkshire Pudding, Onion Gravy and Chive and Black Pepper Butter, French Onion Soup with Gruyère and Ham Croutons, Chicken, Ham Hock and Jerusalem Artichoke Pithivier which is essentially a puff-pastry pie and a real showstopper, Grilled Veg with Crispy Egg and Almond and Yoghurt Dressing, Roasted Red Mullet with Basil and Sun-Dried Tomato and Chilli Toast with a strong distinctive flavour and an interesting texture which stands up well to punchy herbs. Or try a very healthy looking Toasted Quinoa Salad and Piri-Piri dressing to ruin the reputation that quinoa has for being a bit dull! Plus Coconut Bread and Raspberry Cream, Spiced Lamb Flatbread, Spicy Crisp-Fried Cauliflower, Seared Tuna with Ginger and Soy Dressing, Portuguese Chicken, Coriander and Garlic Soup, and we could go on. Full page colour photos, 224pp, 20 x 25.4cm.

A fascinating insight into the golden age of 1970s and 80s rock 'n' roll told through the eyes of music legend Bernie Marsden and most notably his role in establishing one of the world's most famous rock bands of all time - Whitesnake. Touring with AC/DC, befriending The Beatles, writing one of the world's most iconic rock songs, this is the story of a young boy from a small town who dreamt one day of playing the guitar for a living and ended up a rock legend. Bernie's astonishing career in the industry includes tours in Cold War Germany and Franco's Spain to meeting and befriending George Harrison and touring Europe with AC/DC. It's a story of hard graft, of life on the road, and meeting and playing with your heroes, of writing the multi-million selling hit 'Here I Go Again' and, at the age of 30, Bernie leaving Whitesnake due to serious conflict with his management. This is something he explores in this memoir for the very first time. Packed with stories and encounters with the likes of Ringo Starr, Elton John, Cozy Powell, Ozzy Osbourne, B.B. King and Jon Lord, we drift back to a time and a place we won't ever get back again. The glorious David Coverdale writes in 2019 in his Introduction, 'Bernie quite boldly suggested himself for the band I was putting together after Deep Purple. He immediately established himself by playing and singing great, and bringing his excellent sense of derisive humour to the mix, which was a huge part of early Whitesnake... and our choruses inspired the creation of the Almighty Whitesnake Choir - ah, sweet memories. Bernie was truly an invaluable band-mate, friend, musician and co-composer of many of my favourite Whitesnake songs, particularly 'Walking in the Shadow of the Blues' and 'Here I Go Again'.' 274 page paperback with many colour and archive photos.

Sub-titled 'The Last Heroines of Britain's Greatest Generation', and with a foreword by Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the book tells the stories of 10 of the last surviving female members of Britain's greatest generation. Whether flying Spitfires to the front line, code breaking at Bletchley Park, plotting the Battle of the Atlantic, or working with Churchill, each of these women made crucial contributions to the conflict overseas, and helped to buttress the home front. Centenarian Christian Lamb, who served as a plotter in the Battle of the Atlantic, agrees that amid the horror and tragedy of the conflict, there were positive outcomes for her sex. Women were spared a great deal of burden she explains, and there was a certain amount of freedom to be had. Catherine Drummond, now aged 99, had volunteered as a wireless operator. Some of the ten women came from backgrounds of grinding poverty, while others enjoyed gilded childhoods before joining the war effort. Joy Hunter, now aged 95, had served as a secretary in Winston Churchill in the subterranean Cabinet War Rooms beneath Whitehall. 102-year-old Jaye Edwards had an airfield in Yorkshire as the base from which she worked as a pilot delivering Spitfires to the front line. The range of military roles that women were permitted to perform expanded as the war dragged on. And the war was in some ways a great level between classes as women of all social backgrounds were drafted in to help. The book opens with a story of Margaret Turner born 18th of May 1923, who, at the age of 16 when the war broke out, volunteered as a nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment and witnessed a lot in just the first 12 months. With a reporter's eye for detail, Lucy Fisher artfully weaves together interviews and wartime diaries and letters in a vivid oral history. 318 pages in paperback with 16 pages of colour and archive photographs of the women as youngsters and at the age they were interviewed.

Here is a practical guide to drawing and painting surfaces on canvas and paper to textiles and woods because every surface you draw on impacts everything in your artwork, from its texture and brightness to its colour and durability. Learn the basics of working on canvas, paper, panels, textiles, wood, metal, glass, stone and silk plus useful tips and techniques for preparing your supports and protecting your finished artwork. Paper comes in a variety of formats - pads and books, rolls and loose sheets and in types such as newsprint which is thin and inexpensive for creating loose sketches, kraft paper made of wood pulp and very strong, drawing paper varying in weight and colour, handmade paper, mould-made paper, Bristol board of multiple layers up to 4-ply and illustration board mounted to a hard core surface, marker paper or watercolour paper for fluid washes and available in three textures - hot-pressed, cold-pressed and rough - for you to choose depending on your painting style and the visual effects you want to achieve. Packed with visual examples, step-by-step tutorials and demonstrations to maximise your results in a variety of media. Vibrant colour illustrations and photographs, 112 page large softback.