War and Peace (Paperback)

A Collection of Classic Poetry and Prose

Kate Agnew

Kate Agnew Michael Morpurgo

'My subject is War, and the pity of War', wrote First World War poet Wilfred Owen, yet for Rupert Brooke war was a matter of pride, not pity. Sometimes war might even be a vehicle for humour. Whether it's battle hymn or lament, silent reverie or marching song, all aspects of war and peace are to be found in this anthology of classic poetry and prose.

Michael Morpurgo, the Children's Laureate, has published over 95 titles. His books have been translated into over twenty languages, many have been adapted for the theatre and five have been made into films. In 1999 he was awarded an MBE for services to youth. His books have won the Whitbread Award, the Smarties Book Prize, the Children's Book Award and the Cercle D'Or Prix Sorciere (France), and several have been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal. Kate Agnew has chaired the Booksellers Association Children's Group and has served as a judge for the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Award. She was a contributor to the Cambridge Guide to Children's Books, co-wrote Children at War with Geoff Fox and has recently edited a series of short story collections for Egmont. In 1999 she won a special British Book Award for her contribution to the National Year of Reading.

Life and Death (Paperback)

A Collection of Classic Poetry and Prose

Kate Agnew

Kate Agnew Philip Pullman

Includes poems by Matthew Arnold, William Cowper, Byron, Donne, Robert Frost and Keats, as well as extracts from Wuthering Heights, The Divine Comedy and The Pilgrim's Progress.

Philip Pullman has won many awards for his children's books, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Award, the Smarties Prize, and, most recently, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award for The Amber Spyglass. The acclaimed fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials has been published in more than twenty languages and came second in the recent BBC Big Read Top 100 poll. He was awarded the CBE in 2004. Kate Agnew has chaired the Booksellers Association Children s Group and has served as a judge for the Smarties Prize and the Whitbread Award. She was a contributor to the Cambridge Guide to Children's Books, co-wrote Children at War with Geoff Fox and has recently edited a series of short story collections for Egmont. In 1999 she won a special British Book Award for her contribution to the National Year of Reading.

365 (Hardback)

Your Date With History

Bruce Carrick

W.B. Marsh

Whether it is major political events like the USA’s annexation of Texas (1 March) or incredible discoveries like that of Tutankhamun’s tomb (26 November), every event in history happened – of course – on one of 365 days. Pore through history day-by-day with 365 and become engrossed in this lovingly constructed wealth of historical anecdotes. 365: Your Date with History is a fantastically browsable historical encyclopaedia, mapping the highs and lows of human existence day-by-day throughout the year. Each day is accompanied by historical facts and sometimes brief, often more lengthy, stories from a dizzying array of subjects. Written accessibly and with plenty of personality, 365 will be a have-around-the-house favourite for years.

W.B. Marsh was born in New York, and now lives in London. On his birthday – 26 October – the legendary ‘Gunfight at the OK Corral’ took place at Tombstone, Arizona, in 1881.
Bruce Carrick has worked in book publishing for many years in New York and London. On his birthday in 1897 Marcel Proust had a duel with fellow writer Jean Lorrain.

Dear Mr Morpingo (Paperback)

Inside the World of Michael Morpurgo

Geoff Fox

Mark Foreman

Children's Laureate, prize-winning author and originator of 'Farms for City Children', Michael Morpurgo has written over 90 books. He is a recipient of the Whitbread Children's Book Award, the Smarties Prize and the Children's Book Award. This book looks at the world of Michael Morpurgo, his childhood, how he began to write, and the people, the stories and the landscapes that have influenced his work. It examines the books themselves, drawing together common themes and encouraging the reader to read further for themselves. It also includes a section on the development of a book, answering some of those questions that Michael is frequently asked, 'where do you get your ideas from?' or 'how long does it take to produce a book?' There is even a previously unpublished story – a real treat from the pen of the Children's Laureate.

Geoff Fox taught first in schools and then at Exeter University, where he was in the School of Education for some 30 years. He has written widely about children's books including numerous reviews and articles for the Times Educational Supplement and Books for Keeps. He continues to edit Children's Literature in Education and also spends time telling stories in schools and helping to run a local Arts Centre.

Sex, Botany and Empire (Icon Science) (Paperback)

The Story of Carl Linnaeus and Joseph Banks

Patricia Fara

When the imperial explorer James Cook returned from his first voyage to Australia, scandal writers mercilessly satirised the amorous exploits of his botanist, Joseph Banks. Was the pursuit of scientific truth really what drove Enlightenment science? Patricia Fara reveals the existence, barely concealed under Banks' and Linnaeus' camouflage of noble Enlightenment, of the altogether more seedy drives to conquer, subdue and deflower in the name of the British Imperial state.

Patricia Fara is a Fellow of Clare College at the University of Cambridge, where she teaches history of science. Previous books include Newton: The Making of Genius (Macmillan, 2001) and An Entertainment for Angels (Icon, 2001).

Dear All (Hardback)

A Collection of Round Robins

Andrew Duffy

Caroline Duffy Oliver Pugh

Beyond Coincidence (Paperback)

Brian King

Martin Plimmer

Now with almost 250 incredible stories, this unputdownable exploration of coincidence and what they all mean. Is the phenomena of coincidence, something that touches everyone, a little bit of magic or simply all about maths?

A New Science of Life (eBook)

Rupert Sheldrake

**The fully revised edition of Rupert Sheldrake's controversial science classic, from the author of the bestselling Dogs That Know When Their Owners are Coming Home, celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2021!**

After chemists crystallised a new chemical for the first time, it became easier and easier to crystallise in laboratories all over the world. After rats at Harvard first escaped from a new kind of water maze, successive generations learned quicker and quicker. Then rats in Melbourne, Australia learned yet faster. Rats with no trained ancestors shared in this improvement.

Rupert Sheldrake sees these processes as examples of morphic resonance. Past forms and activities of organisms, he argues, influence organisms in the present through direct connections across time and space.Individual plants and animals both draw upon and contribute to the collective memory of their species.

Sheldrake, now Director of the Perrott-Warwick Project supported by Trinity College, Cambridge, reinterprets the regularities of nature as being more like habits than immutable laws. Described as 'the best candidate for burning there has been for many years' by Nature on first publication, this updated edition will raise hackles and inspire curiosity in equal measure.

Dr Rupert Sheldrakeis a biologist and author of more than 80 scientific papers and ten books, including the bestselling Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home. He was a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge and a Research Fellow of the Royal Society. He haswritten for numerous newspapers including the Guardian, where he had a regular monthly column, and for a variety of magazines,including New Scientist and the Spectator.

Shakespearean Afterlives (Paperback)

Ten Characters with a Life of Their Own

John O'Connor

Each chapter offers a cultural biography of ten of Shakespeares most famous characters. John O'Connor provides an original perspective, examining their role in the play, their history in performance and their intriguingly kaleidoscopic life in the popular consciousness.

After Blair (Hardback)

Conservatism Beyond Thatcher

Kieron O'Hara

O'Hara argues that the time has come for a renaissance of a type of conservative thought-with modifications fit for the 21st century.

The Intellectual (Hardback)

The Positive Power of Negative Thinking...

Steve Fuller

Get inside the complex world of the intellectual with Steve Fuller's brilliant and original exploration of this rare and exotic life form.