Michael Faraday and the Electrical Century (Hardback)

Iwan Rhys Morus

The only scientist to appear on the British twenty pound note, Michael Faraday is one of the most recognisable names in the history of science. Faraday's forte was electricity, a revolutionary force in nineteenth-century society. The electric telegraph made mass-communication possible; hopeful inventors during the 1840s looked forward to the day when everything would be done by electricity. By the end of the century, electricity really was in the process of transforming everyday life. What was Faraday's role in all this? How did his science come to have such an impact on the Victorians' (and ultimately on our) lives? Iwan Morus tells the story of his upbringing in scientific London and his apprenticeship at the Royal Institution with the flamboyant chemist, Sir Humphry Davy, against the backdrop of a vibrant scientific culture at the centre of an Empire near the peak of its power.

Iwan Morus lectures in the history of science, technology and medicine at Queen's University Belfast. He has written extensively on nineteenth-century electricity and popular culture and his popular history of nineteenth-century physics is due to be published by the University of Chicago Press in 2004.

The Unfair Sex (Hardback)

An Expose of the Human Male

Nina Farewell

Roy Doty

All is fair in love and war…and the two are more similar than you might think in this facsimile of a 1950s guide to the battle of the sexes. This timeless guide reveals the arsenal of devices, techniques and approaches a man deploys to get what he wants and details the countermeasures a woman can take to come out on top. Learn how to get all that you want without giving men the one thing that they want. Irreverent and witty, this enduring volume is essential reading for any woman who wants to protect her virtue – or appear to!

Nina Farewell is a pseudonym but the author has described herself as 'flawless from head to toe… my curves are intelligently distributed… I am elegant enough to intrigue the most vulgar of men, vulgar enough to enchant the most cultured… I am equally appreciated by truck drivers, salesmen, mesomorphs, endomorphs, ectomorphs, artists and playboys.'

50 Facts That Should Change the World (Paperback)

Jessica Williams

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).