With her trademark gold effect borders and touches, the exquisite full page colour paintings of Isabelle Brent decorate these 20 classic tales by the famous German storytellers, the Brothers Grimm. They have been retold for a younger audience perhaps ages 12 and up by folklorist Neil Philip for the enjoyment of children today. The collection includes The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, The Musicians of Bremen, The Golden Goose, Snow White and lesser-known tales like Clever Elsie, The Miller's Boy and the Cat, The Three Lazy Bones, The Gold Children, Manyfurs and The Golden Key. Big glamorous bright white pages, each one decorated with golden border, colour illus.
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Improve your powers of observation, memory, deduction and reasoning using the tricks and techniques of the world's most famous detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the last few years, that uptight, cold, sexless sleuth who inhabited the grimy streets of London, Sherlock Holmes, has become cool in the form of Robert Downey Jnr and Benedict Cumberbatch. In his own words: 'You know a conjurer gets no credit when once he has explained his trick and if I show you too much of my method of working, you will come to the conclusion that I am a very ordinary individual after all.' But of course he wasn't and our book gives a light-hearted and comprehensive exploration of the psyche, mental gymnastics and investigative techniques of the world's greatest consulting detective. Each section includes evidence from the original stories of Sherlock Holmes's mental processes, along with all sorts of information, advice and tips on how you can more closely resemble him. A liberal spattering of quizzes and exercises should serve to keep you on your toes as you go along. Do you have the personality and agile mind needed? Be alert to the world around you, read between the lines, think laterally, choose your friends wisely, accept good fortune, keep focussed, improve your deduction skills, obtain data, read the signs, master disguise, break the code, sift information and take a walk down memory lane. Complete with answers to all 19 quizzes. Topics also include mind palaces, non-verbal lies, lie detection, intuition, concentration, listening, alertness, relaxation, logic, speed reading, people watching and much more. 192pp, line art.

Springfield's most outspoken and overlooked middle child Lisa Simpson declares that the Geeks have inherited the earth. What does it matter that you don't run with the popular crowd or aren't part of a clique? Your tech savvy drives all social media. You're the smartest person in the room, and it's time to fulfil your dork destiny! Join little yellow haired Lisa from the popular Simpsons cartoon and TV show by creator Matt Groening and celebrate your inner geekdom - maths, playing in a band, going to the theatre, computer, gamer or sci-fi geek. There are quizzes, a field guide which opens out as a little book, accessories, emergency box, discovering your jazz name using the nickname generator - first name starts with this letter, middle name starts with the second word as you spin the dial - Smoky Queen etc. A Geek's Guide to Yoga sees the Thinker preparing the mind for work ahead and the Downward Dog becomes the Isosceles Triangle and the Headstand becomes the Brain Rush which keeps the good ideas coming; the Full Moon is of course Bart pulling down his pants! Gatefold pages explain the history since Eve, 21st century technology with wedgie-proof underwear, and Lisa tries out new styles like superhero and goth girl, artist and tree hugger. Her bookshelf is brilliant. Her tasty treats like apple pi and cow chilli are hilarious, and see the doll named Malibu Stacy sold in tiny folding pamphlets for all her different looks (like Barbie) - alternative comix collector, PhD, feminist Stacy etc. A nerdy girl's guide to boys, comic strips galore and a real letter from the desk of Lisa Simpson inserted in a wallet near the back page and finally Action Vegetarian swapping cards inserted inside the back cover. A companion to 92073 Grampa Simpson's Guide to Aging. Colour illus.
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A glamorous British Library publication sub-titled 'Parlour Plays for Drawing-Room Performance', this tasteful literary publication includes a dialogue between Catherine Morland and Isabella Thorpe from Northanger Abbey, the settlement question duologue between Mr and Mrs John Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, the reading of Jane Fairfax's letter duologue between Miss Bates and Emma from Emma, a strawberry picnic duologue between Mrs Elton and Mr Knightley from Emma, three loves duologues between Emma and Harriet and Emma and Mr Knightley from Emma, the proposal of Mr Collins exchange between Mrs Bennet, Elizabeth and Mr Collins from Pride and Prejudice and from the same classic novel Lady Catherine's visit duologue between Lady Catherine and Elizabeth Bennet. Read alone, aloud, in company or in front of an audience, for each playlet there is a suggestion of costumes like Mr Collins in black with a high choker and cravat tied in front, Elizabeth in pale primrose dress, the lapels of the bodice and the hem of the skirt embroidered in gold and white, clear muslin chemisette, wrapped undersleeves of the same. Pretty line art, the author was a progressive actor and director who died in 1930. A beautiful reprint, 138pp.

Rain, glorious rain! Here are the outdoor swimmers at Windermere, fields of daffodils with their heads bowing and speckled with raindrops, a stranded wooden sailboat, tourists under umbrellas in beautiful Kendal, Bowness-on-Windermere queueing for boats, a canoe paddling down a flooded road, an image of the day Derwentwater and Bassenthwaite almost became one with the fields inbetween flooded, benches left festooned with debris and leaves after catching the full force of a flood, a beautiful rainbow over Blelham Tarne, a flooded Stone Circle, rain-washed Martindale with a lady watercolour artist capturing the scene, cyclists making tracks along muddy paths and mud, mud, glorious mud at sheepdog trials and festivals. Lots of outdoor activities like sailing, picnics, camping, fishing, hiking, boating, all slightly soggy under the Lake District's vast rolling skies. A colour (!) photography book with a sense of humour and a difference, one for all Brits who just love our weather.

'I decided that BBC External Services at Bush House was the place for my long-term career. I got a job as Producer, Current Affairs and Overseas Talks and Features, and began my full-time established, pensionable BBC career in the autumn of 1962. The next three and a bit years were intense as events like the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962 threatened the very world we lived in... Annie and I clung together in the bathroom of our house in Pimlico listening horror-struck to the President. [Jack Kennedy]. During the night, woken by the noise of traffic on the Embankment, I was convinced it was the start of the London population's exodus to avoid nuclear extinction.' Over almost 60 years, John Tusa has fought for and sometimes against the major arts and political institutions in the country. 'The BBC sections are totally enthralling and horrifying in equal measure' says Graham Sheffield formerly of the British Council. A distinguished journalist, broadcaster and leader of arts organisations, Tusa has stood up publicly for the independence of the BBC, the need for public funding of the arts, and for the integrity of universities. His recollections of a hilarious and petty-minded few months as head of a Cambridge college will be read as a case study in the absurdities of academic life. Born in Czechoslovakia in 1936, John became main presenter with Peter Snow of BBC2's Newsnight from its foundation in 1980. From 1986-92 he was Managing Director of BBC World Service and from 1995 to 2007 Managing Director at the Barbican Centre, at the time rejected and maligned, he led its recovery into the major cultural centre that it is today. From the battles to create Newsnight to six years defending the BBC World Service from political interference, Tusa's account is etched with candour. His record of two years of internecine warfare at the top of the BBC under the Chairman 'Dukey' Hussey will go down as a major contribution to BBC history. The sub-title of his book is 'Getting It Right, Getting It Wrong in Life, the Arts and Broadcasting' and Tusa recalls why he has been called a 'bastard', 'antichrist', and a 'contaminant' for his many campaigns. Why? Because he made a noise. 392pp, many illus, paperback.

The experimental poet E. E. Cummings grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a family dominated by an overbearing father, "the Reverend", a man in whom social liberalism fought unsuccessfully with repressive authoritarianism. The domestic situation was not much lightened by Cummings's mother, who strongly believed in cold baths, though this may have stood her son in good stead when, as a volunteer ambulance driver in the Great War, he was incarcerated in a French prison in 1917. The young Cummings was sensitive and a good artist, attending nearby Harvard university, where his dyslexia may have contributed to the development of an experimental poetic style. Through the undergraduate literary magazine Monthly he met the novelist Dos Passos who became a lifelong friend. An exhibition of paintings by avant-garde artists such as Gauguin, Kandinsky, Rousseau, Picabia and Munch introduced Cummings to Modernism, and in 1913 he was transfixed by Duchamps's "Nude Descending a Staircase", a pioneering Cubist work. After an unhappy relationship with his girlfriend Doris Bryan, Cummings fell under the spell of his friend Scofield Thayer's wife Elaine. Cummings wrote a poem for their marriage, and years later he was to have an affair with Elaine, eventually marrying her himself. In 1917 he sailed for France to volunteer for the ambulance service and soon became part of the Paris bohemian scene, attending the premiere of Satie's iconic ballet Parade, designed by Cocteau, costumed by Picasso, and performed by Diaghilev's Ballets Russes. Cummings now fell in love with the prostitute Marie Louise, and although he was reluctant to have sex with her, his drawings of Marie Louise show an uninhibited fascination with her way of life. Finally he left for the Front, where his unexplained though short-lived prison sentence might possibly have been a stitch-up by censors tampering with letters home. 335pp.

The newly updated edition. In 2017, a routine network TV investigation led to a story only whispered about - one of Hollywood's most powerful producers was a predator, protected by fear, wealth and a conspiracy of silence. As Ronan Farrow drew closer to the truth, shadowy operatives from high-priced lawyers to elite war-hardened spies mounted a secret campaign of intimidation, threatening his career, following his every move, and weaponizing his account of abuse in his own family. This is the untold story of surveillance and intimidation deployed by wealthy and connected men to threaten journalists, evade accountability, and silence victims of abuse, and it is the story of the women who risked everything to expose the truth and spark a global #MeToo movement. 'A few days later, Harvey Weinstein was in Los Angeles, meeting with operatives from Black Cube.? The sexual harassment story was proving to be a challenge. One actress after another backed out, often after involving prominent publicists. 457pp, paperback.

The English Civil War between King Charles I and Parliament during the 1640s caused some of the most tumultuous years in British history as society found itself 'by the sword divided' and neighbours disagreed on politics, religion and the economy. This stunning book looks at the conflict by taking apart the history of London at the time. Discover how a rift began to grow between King Charles I and parliament in January 1642 when the monarch made two constitutional errors, firstly invading the Commons, and then Guildhall, in search of five members of parliament, and secondly by leaving London entirely, abandoning the government as a result. Learn about the monumental Militia Ordinance, passed on 5 March 1642 to give parliament the power to appoint military commanders without the king's approval. While the ordinance itself asserted its purpose was to protect the king and kingdom's safety, it is thought of as one of the first steps that led to war in August that year. The book includes fantastic black and white photos of parts of London today to help readers visualise the history. The site of the Haberdashers' Hall in Gresham Street appears via a shot of the City of London plaque, a photographic reference to the book's detail that the Worshipful Company of Haberdashers purchased 150 muskets for the parliamentarian cause in 1643. There is a photo of a section of the old Roman Wall, with enhancements, which formed the inner ring of defence for the City of London during the war. Busts are also pictured, including likenesses of King Charles I and Oliver Cromwell who rose from military commander during the civil wars to the country's Lord Protector. Paperback, black and white images, thorough endnotes, 140pp.

Sub-titled 'The Radical Science and Restless Politics of J. B. S. Haldane', J. B. S. grew up in Edinburgh into a family of important landowners who led strict, spare lives, obedient to their Calvinist virtue, but aristocrats all the same. The family lived for much of the year near Gleneagles where Robert had bought a farmhouse and to achieve a manorial look dressed it up with a turret. J. B. S.'s life was rich and strange, from his boyhood apprenticeship to his scientist father who first instilled in him a devotion to the scientific method, to his time in the trenches during WW1 where he wrote his first scientific paper, to his numerous experiments on himself including inhaling dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and drinking hydrochloric acid, to his clandestine research for the British Admiralty during WW2. Haldane is best remembered as a geneticist who revolutionised our understanding of evolution, but his peers hailed him as a polymath. One student called him 'the last man who might know all there was to be known.' Haldane foresaw invitro fertilisation, peak oil, and the hydrogen fuel cell, and his contributions ranged over physiology, genetics, evolutionary biology, mathematics and biostatistics. He was also a staunch Communist, which led him to Spain during its Civil War and sparked suspicions that he was spying for the Soviets. He wrote copiously on science and politics in newspapers and magazines, and gave speeches in town halls and on the radio, all of which made him, in his day, as famous in Britain as Einstein. It is the duty of scientists to think politically Haldane believed and sought not simply to tell his readers what to think, but to show them how to think. Although he hated to be bothered by correspondence, he had letters piled up around his various offices over the years - in Cambridge in the 1920s, in University College London until the 1950s, in Calcutta and Bhubaneswar thereafter, but he always tried to reply and never shrank from exalting the scientific method, even in casual correspondence - 'Science advances by successive improvements in former theories.' 383pp, illus., 2020 US first edition.