The best bridges are both functional and beautiful, with the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco one of the most celebrated, closely followed by the Roman Pont du Gard in France, Brunel's Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, and the Humber crossing so much admired by Philip Larkin and pictured here against a spectacular sunset. Functionality can itself be beautiful, and Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, completed in 1859, is "a masterpiece in pure, raw, and beautiful function", with the top arch of the truss restrained by the lower inverted arch and exerting no outward thrust. The scale and audacity of bridges can create a sense of identity and place. The Zhaozhou Bridge in China by Li Chun dates from the 7th century AD and is the world's oldest open-spandrel arched bridge in stone, with the Taotie motif on the keystones giving it a heroic, almost mystical significance. The Charles Bridge in Prague, built in the 15th century with 16 arches, connected Europe to the east, a bridge between two worlds both literally and metaphorically, and built on a palindromic and astronomical principle that also involve the Kabbalah and Jewish golem. The author covers different materials and methods of construction, from the timber spans of the 17th century Japanese Kintaikwo Bridge to the cantilevered steel of the Forth Bridge in the 1880s. Other bridges discussed and illustrated with impressive photography include the 12th century bridge at Avignon, which stood at the centre of one of Christianity's bloodiest crusades as the Cathars were declared blasphemous revolutionaries. The bridge of Khaju in Isfahan dates from 1650 as part of Shah Abbas's vision of a paradise on earth, with the stunning Mosque of the Imam in the background. The vaults below are shady refuges in warm-coloured stone. Railway bridges include Gateshead's Millennium Bridge, Newcastle's High Level Bridge and the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. A superb book, combining technological detail with impressive aesthetics. 384pp, 7 x10", colour photos.
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Filled with hilarious illustrations from the bestselling illustrator of Oi Frog! we set sail on a swashbuckling adventure. When Alphonso hears about a trawler boat on its way into harbour carrying a record-breaking catch, he hatches a plan. It's brave! It's bold! And it involves lots of cats! Licking his lips, off shot Alphonso swift as an arrow through alleys and gardens and streets dark and narrow. He told every cat to prepare for a treat: 'Follow me and you'll get all the fish you can eat!' A little while later, two terrified dogs turned tail at the sight of a great gang of mogs? 'Great cod fish!' Yelled Captain Craddock with quivering lip, 'we're being attacked by a ghost pirate ship!' Yo-ho-ho and a carton of cream! The characterful faces of the feasting moggies on the beach scene is a delight to behold, a real artwork in itself. Very large size softback, all in colour.

An innovative dictionary designed especially for anyone starting to learn French. Which side of the dictionary would you need to look up and translate le vélo? The French-English side comes first and you look there to find the meaning of a French word. The second part is English-French which is the side you need for translating into French. At the side of every page you will see either a blue or a black tab and for each entry examples of phrases to show how to use the word in translation. For example 'my car has a flat tyre'. Completely modernised to include all IT vocabulary, there is also a super section French In Action including a map of France, relationships and feelings, at home, in town, jobs and hobbies, describing someone, keeping fit and healthy, email, texting, dates, festivals, time and numbers etc. Lovely clear layout with coloured headers and free online study pack. 608pp, sturdy softback.

The publishing house of John Murray was founded in Fleet Street in 1768 and remained a family business for over seven generations. Published in its 250th year to celebrate this remarkable achievement, this book is a collection of some of the best letters from hundreds of thousands held in the John Murray Archive and elsewhere, intended to entertain and inspire, and never intended for publication. They reveal not only the story of some of the most interesting and influential books of all time, but also the remarkable friendships and occasional animosities between author and publisher, readers, editors, printers and illustrators. Correspondents include Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, Lord Byron, John Betjeman, David Livingstone, Freya Stark, Patrick Leigh Fermor, even Queen Victoria plus Walter Scott, Caroline Lamb, James Hogg, William Wordsworth, Thomas Carlyle, Mary Somerville 'The queen of science', George Bernard Shaw Man and Superman, and 'I've been bribed to go on RTE' from Dervla Murphy. 'One letter describes the excitement when Paddy Leigh Fermor tracked down Lord Byron's slippers in Missolonghi and sent back a tracing of them for my father to check against Byron's boots in our collection.' By 2006, the 'dynasty' of the Murrays consisted of over 500,000 manuscript letters as well as manuscripts of many of their authors? works. It was the largest private publishing archive in the world covering writers, explorers, scientists, politicians, and archaeologists. A super book to dip into time and again, 298pp, illus.

Professor Stefan Buczacki is one of the world's most renowned botanists having written around 60 books including several standard works of reference. He spent 12 unbroken years as panellist and chairman on BBC Radio Four's Gardener?s Question Time. Join him as he uncovers the wild animals and plants that thrive among the headstones from the graveyard beetle to the mighty yew as he reveals the natural secrets to be found in God's Acre. From the earliest Pagan sites to modern urban cemeteries, burial grounds have always enjoyed a sacred, protected status in the history of society. Consequently, they have become tranquil oases in which wildlife can flourish - a microcosm of the natural habitat long since disappeared from the surrounding area. Buczacki explores the history of churchyards and the landscape as well as what can be done to conserve them for future generations. He looks at plants and fungi, lichens, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, birds and small creatures and shows how deeply churchyards are rooted in British history and literature. We can all look with fresh eyes and be better informed whether or not you are spiritually and religiously motivated. Chapter one opens aptly with Thomas Gray's 1751 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. Includes beautiful coloured line art of creatures like frogs, bats, moles, crows and badgers to contemporary photographs, full page colour. 2018 first edition, satin pagemarker.

Beautifully illustrated by the award-winning illustrator of The Gruffalo and with a hand cloth strap to attach to a highchair, car seat or buggy, make your way around the jungle and name all the different animals with this bright and colourful board book. Lots of chances to make lots of animal noises together! Ages 1-3, 9.5 x 12.5cm. CE Safety approved. Boxed.

Python Terry Jones is a longstanding friend of Bibliophile's. His near neighbour, the illustrator and brilliant animator Terry Gilliam, has the deadpan Minnesota farm boy take on Monty Python's Flying Circus and way beyond. Compared to Max Ernst by our other friend, the late great George Melly, Terry Gilliam writes candidly about his life as a director, screenwriter, animator, actor and member of Monty Python. His films Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995) and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) has ranked him among the top film directors. We can turn with him on the windmills of his mind as we see preparatory sketches for a cinematic adaptation of Don Quixote, end of shoot drawings from his films, the day when his hand was chopped down through the tendons whilst gardening at home, happy memories of Time Bandits and even happier days on filming The Life of Brian on location in Tunisia, within easy reach of Franco Zeffirelli's old sets for Jesus of Nazareth ("of which we made liberal use"). He had been out promoting The Holy Grail in LA with Eric Idle when they first met George Harrison and together they formed Handmade Films. Read about the real Fawlty Towers and Devon's rudest host, his escape-from-success trips camping in Greece and sketches of John Cleese as a vulture, David Frost as an Angel, his relationships with other filmmakers and actors but most of all his visions. Studded with film stills, sketches, colour artworks, nonsense collages, behind-the-scenes Python photos and even his own US Army dog tags, this is an album full of memories, the most visual autobiography you will ever see. 297pp, 8" x 10", colour.

Spangly silver jacket on a book with no less than 1,000 fun activities and 500 colour stickers to use in the book or wherever you want. From pirate puzzles to dino drawings, funny farm animals and exciting emotes, colour the scene and finish the volcano, find and circle the parrots that look exactly like the images, colour in the food on the shelves, collect all of the jewels and avoid the pesky parrots as you climb the rigging for a race, draw lines to match the answers to the jokes and find words in the wordsearch up and down and across. The letters of the alphabet, phrases like good vibes, shh?, top secret, and dozens of animal, pirates and dinosaurs are among the fantastic array of little stickers. Fill your book and have tons of fun as you learn. The final scene is Time For Bed and spot the six differences in the Dino Disco. Hours of entertainment for little 'uns ages 5-12. Softback.

A real life fur cop hunts for the lost cat Mystic Mog, barks up the wrong tree, and tells many waggy tales of cat-astrophe and Sherlock Bones but manages to stay pawsitive in his search for lost pets. That's enough of the puns! Tom Watkins is a former police officer turned true-life pet detective and here is his story of 20 years of missing pets, their owners and adventures as Tom's team of pet investigators zip up their high visibility jackets and comb the local area village by village on their limited manpower and resources. One is the case of the Shetland sheepdog Spencer, missing for 12 hours. Tom?s team of eight set to work. From recording the owner's voice and luring cats from their hiding places, to organising a fly-over and a Crimewatch-style reconstruction of the dog-snatching of Toby the terrier, where an unsuspecting young man who came to the rescue hands over little Toby through the car window of a dog thief. Tom and his team will do whatever it takes to get the nation's pets home, safe and sound to their agonisingly worried owners. 279pp, colour photos.

Join your favourite Star Wars characters for some mind-bending mazes, over 50 new jokes and Yoda's mind-bending puzzles. Fly the Falcon through an asteroid field, find Luke Skywalker on Ahch-to, rescue Princess Leia from the Death Star and many more. Not electronic, creative and cool! Use your Jedi wisdom to solve Master Yoda's 60 mind-bending crosswords, mazes and logic problems to word games with three levels of difficulty. Trademark Lucas Film paperbacks., perfect for Star Wars fans aged six and up with new illustrations, 96pp, mono illus. Set of three.