A dazzling set which will baffle your friends and amaze your audience with spoon bending, psychic magic, detachable thumb, coin roll, super card-catcher, phone in a bottle, coin into can, water to ice, cups and balls and much more. A deluxe game box sub-titled 'The Most Marvellous Fantastical Wondrous Box of Magic Tricks' which contains dice, three small metal hoops, plastic cups and balls, packs of cards and more items plus a softback instruction book which lifts the lid on your new world of magic. Unlock the secrets of wonder and intrigue and sleight of hand with this box and book of magical tricks and illusions from the simple and subtle to complex and complicated for every level of expertise. Work your way through the step-by-step instructions to master each trick from card tricks to disappearing objects and illusions to sleights of hand. Boxed set with sticker which is removable.

John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946) is perhaps the foremost economic thinker of the 20th century. On economic theory, he ranks with Adam Smith and Karl Marx; and his impact on how economics was practiced, from the Great Depression to the 1970s, was unmatched. The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was first published in 1936. But its ideas had been forming for decades ? as a student at Cambridge, Keynes had written to a friend of his love for 'Free Trade and free thought'. Keynes's limpid style, concise prose, and vivid descriptions have helped to keep his ideas alive - as have the novelty and clarity, at times even the ambiguity, of his macroeconomic vision. He was troubled, above all, by high unemployment rates and large disparities in wealth and income. Only by curbing both, he thought, could individualism, ?the most powerful instrument to better the future', be safeguarded. The 21st century may yet prove him right. In The Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919), Keynes elegantly and acutely exposes the folly of imposing austerity on a defeated and struggling nation. 538 page paperback.

The acclaimed author of 'The Invention of Paris' leads us by the hand in this walk from Ivry to Saint-Denis, roughly following the meridian that divides Paris into east and west, and passing such familiar landmarks as the Luxembourg Gardens, the Pompidou Centre, the Gare du Nord and Montmartre, as well as little-known alleyways and arcades. Filled with historical anecdotes, geographical observations and literary references, Eric Hazan's walk guides us through an unknown Paris, showing us how, through planning and modernisation, the city's revolutionary past has been erased in order to enforce a reactionary future. But by walking and observation he shows us how we can regain our knowledge of the radical past of the city of Robespierre, the Commune, Sartre and the May-68 Uprising. The book begins and ends in a bookshop, the Envie de Lire, a place of 'browsing and discovery'. With lovely little hand drawn maps and dozens of photos throughout the text, 198pp in paperback.

The capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1900 Vienna consisted of some 15 nations and drew in many artists and intellectuals in a creative melting pot. In rapid succession Historicism, Art Nouveau and Expressionism developed as the dominant art styles and these emerged from typical Viennese themes. One of the first images in this sumptuous volume is of Gustav Klimt's Auditorium of the Opera House and Theatre followed by colour photographs of modern Viennese architecture, sepia postcards before this magnificent gallery of portraits by artists like Hans Makart of a beautiful female pianist and singer, a Caught Ball, idyllic family scenes with children, Leopold Carl Müller's Camel Market in Cairo, the sensuous Woman in Yellow by Max Kurzweil and his romantic A Walk in the Garden, the stunning gold iconography of Klimt, his Yearning for Happiness, poster art, Garden with Sunflowers, A Church in Cassone, his graphic Sitting Male nude and Two Girlfriends, self-portraits and nudes by Egon Schiele, nude male studies by Koloman Moser and much more architectural legacies photographed in colour, plus interiors and design, greetings cards, fashion and more. The turn of the 20th century was a fascinating period in Vienna, as Austria-Hungary's capital on the Danube became a leading centre of modernism, defined by styles of Art Nouveau, historicism and Expressionism, all with a touch of typical Viennese morbidity. Artists like Gustav Klimt, Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann dreamed of forging a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total artistic expression, in which not just design, architecture and crafts were combined, but also art and life itself. In this sumptuously illustrated album, art historian Janina Nentwig explores such major movements in Vienna as the Vienna Secession, themes of sex and Eros and death in painting, the construction of the Ring Road, ornamentation and architecture, and objects of everyday beauty from the Wiener Werkstätte. Oozing with hundreds of colour photos. 320 pages, softback, 21 x 24cm.
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Exquisitely curated and designed with hundreds of colour and other illustrations and artworks, we are invited to see Dr Sloane's curiosities and the beginnings of the British Museum, described by Virginia Woolf as 'One solid immense mound, very pale, very sleek in the rain', once a jumbled store in large damp chambers from which knowledge was organised to create an understanding of the world and of humanity's place within it. On 15th January 1759, following the passing of an Act of Parliament six years previously, a new museum opened its doors in a house in Bloomsbury. It held and displayed the collections of three men and their families - the physician and entrepreneur Sir Hans Sloane, who donated 71,000 books, dried plants, minerals and antiquities to the nation; the manuscript collection of the antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton, including the Lindisfarne Gospels and two copies of Magna Carta; and the 8,000 volume library of the politician and bibliophile Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford. James Hamilton recounts the remarkable 250 year history of the British Museum, a world renowned public institution whose collections of more than eight million objects and artifacts are explored in the cultural context in which the Museum came into being, its subsequent expansion and diversification, controversies and the legacies and influence nationally and globally. Colour illus. 208pp, pagemarker.

Quiet, dutiful and shy, Princess Mary born at Sandringham on 25th April 1897, and would grow to become one of the most respected senior members of the royal family. Anyone with an interest in the Great War will surely have heard of her, and of the brass box that carries her image and her Christmas Gift Fund of 1914. Aged just 17, Mary was engaged with the London Needlework Guild, a focus of activity with her mother. A combination of her interest and empathy undoubtedly led her to desire to develop her own gift for the Sailors and Soldiers of the Empire. The book is the remarkable story of the Princess's Christmas Gift, a simple appeal to the nation which began on 16th October 1914 in the Daily Mirror the Press Notice Announcement. The appeal was designed to provide a mark of recognition of the sacrifices being made by the armed forces and some way of providing comfort to them under challenging circumstances in that first Christmas in the First World War. The contents of the gifts varied depending on the town or village who had gathered sufficient funds for the 5,481 parcels that were sent out in time for Christmas Day. Subscribers rich and poor made their donations. For example the generous parcels from the people of Nottingham contained much of value to the average man on active service. They included the inevitable Christmas plum pudding, chocolate, woollen mittens, cigarettes, booklets of greetings, plain postcards, pencils, tins of Meloids, tins of peppermints, tablets of soap, caramels, tins of boric ointment, laces, tins of dubbin, tins of Vaseline and all together no fewer than 130,844 articles were packed and despatched 'as a token of appreciation of the services of those undertaking the hardships and risking the dangers of the great conflict.' Each gift was provided with a specially produced Christmas booklet that carried the message 'With most cordial Christmas Greetings from the people of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire' together with portraits of the King and Queen, the Prince of Wales, and Princess Mary. Set against the backdrop of the Christmas Truce of 1914, the book is the first time the full story of the Princess's gift has been told. It is lavishly illustrated with surviving artefacts, archive records, letters and newspaper reports and the full contents of the gift and its many variants, the design and manufacturer of the gift box, as well as the meaning of the gift to many of its recipients. It also covers gifts for the Indian Army, nurses and non-smokers and a look at those in the Colonies and also casualties of 1914. Glamorous first edition, 320 glossy pages packed with colour and archive images.

Sub-titled 'How Humans Have Loved, Hated and Misunderstood Other Species', why do we treat our dogs as people but prefer pigs as bacon? The book is a compelling search inside our moral selves and through masterful introspection Girling delves into our relationships, fascinations and follies with animals, tracking the origins of attitudes and unpacking contradictions, at the same time asking whether our interactions with other species holds the key to our own survival. 'In an age of extinction, this is essential reading.' Without animals there would be no us. We are fellow travellers on the same evolutionary journey. By charting the love-hate story of people and animals, from their first acquaintance in deep prehistory to the present and beyond, Girling in his dazzling prose tells the story of the cumulative influence of theologians, writers, artists, warriors, philosophers, farmers, activists and scientists across the centuries, now locking us into debates on farming, extinction, animal rights, pets, experiments and religion. Brimming with wisdom and insight, 408pp, illus.

Enjoy delicious and healthy Japanese food any time with this stylish and beautifully designed cookbook with full page colour photos from the author of the international bestseller Tokyo Cult Recipes. It features 100 authentic and simple recipes for home cooking covering ingredients, tools and confidence to make the staples of Japanese family cuisine such as udon (Spinach Udon with Mint), soba (Cold Soba with Bottarga or Karasumi), miso, onigiri and tofu. These are the building blocks for all the classical dishes from ramen and miso soup to Japanese curry, gyoza, okono miyaki and tonkatsu. Learn how to ferment soy as well as how to cook rice, vegetables and meat the Japanese way and discover modern takes on classics such as Charred Eggplant with Soya Sauce or Fried Chicken with Sweet Chilli Sauce. We also love the Red Bean Pancakes, Meat Bento with Chicken in Honey and Ginger, Roasted Lemongrass Chicken stuffed with Rice and Mushrooms, Hot Pot with Sardine Balls, Savoury Egg Custard, Oven Baked Sweet Potato and even Japanese candy made with agar and candied ginger and biscuits. 264 large pages, 21 x 26.6cm.

Now rare 2014 first edition, a 96 glossy paged colour tribute to artist Tessa Newcomb. The book explores her enchantment with Paris in words and paint portraying the city's flâneurs, chic ladies walking their no less elegantly coiffured dogs, expectant lovers, children playing on carousels in the Tuileries, dainty eaters of patisseries, stall holders selling mushrooms, haute cuisine of delicious artistry and simple little restaurants with Lapin à La Cocotte on the menu, mobile phone users outside cafés, butchers cleaning up and chess players sequestered under trees in the Luxembourg Gardens. These vignettes are layered with the flavour of Tessa's own eclectic reading of writers inspired by Paris including Verlaine, Colette, Jean Rhys and François Sagan. Approximately 100 oils and watercolour drawings are reproduced in this wonderfully intimate visual record of her wanderings in both historic and hidden parts of Paris. Colour.

Art Nouveau was a phenomenon with many faces. Between 1890 and 1910, artists developed a variety of styles from the plant-like forms of the Belgian-French Art Nouveau to the ornamentation of the Viennese Secession. For a fruitful period between the 1880s and WWI, European and North American culture deferred to nature. With a symphony of flowing lines and organic shapes, Art Nouveau influenced architecture, design, painting, graphic work, applied arts and illustration. Turning to vine tendrils, flowering buds, and bird feathers as ornamental reference, artists pursued not only a linear freedom but also liberation from the weight of artistic tradition and expectation. Highlights include beautiful Tiffany and Gallé vases, the Paris Métro, train stations, department stores, door handles, furniture, dining rooms, cartoons, posters, chairs, porcelainware, Macintosh's Art-Lovers House design, the work of Frank Lloyd Wright, Austrian glassware and more. Ther are exquisite multi-coloured glass domes, leaded glass windows like Grasset's Le Printemps, a double page colour spread of Maurice Denis' Palting Badminton with your ladies in white flowing dresses in woodlands to stylised functional and beautiful interiors and Aubrey Beardsley's Arthurian lithographs. This edition considers the style's wider artistic, economic, and political circumstances, as well as its particular flavour in such hubs as Vienna, Glasgow, Munich, Weimar, Brussels, Nancy, Barcelona, Darmstadt, Helsinki and Chicago. Outstanding proponents such as Victor Horta, Antoni Gaudí, Alphonse Mucha, Gustav Klimt, Maximilian Liebenwein, Walter Crane and Charles Rennie Mackintosh are featured in connection with the cities of their greatest activity plus unusual works by the Belgian symbolist painter Fernand Khnopff. Oozing with hundreds of colour photos. 264 pages, softback. 21 x 24cm.
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