John Hobday

Exploration has never been more popular and any idea that there is nowhere left to explore is instantly disproved by the contemporary explorers who are showcased here. Most of the accounts are written by the explorers themselves, and they all vividly describe challenging and extraordinary expeditions to some of the remotest parts of the world, in extremes of temperature and aridity, often alone and on the edge of danger. Some of these explorers are very experienced and are already celebrated worldwide, others are young and less well known and just starting to make their mark; all are driven by ambition, aspiration and passion.

Recently retired, Dr Sparrow reveals with refreshing candour and dark humour the most memorable experiences of his career as a rural GP.

From sewing back on a patient's chiselled finger on a call-out, and the emergency countryside delivery inspired by James Herriot, to suddenly remembering the body left in the back of a Volvo, and a small oversight that blew up the local crematorium, Dr Sparrow spares no blushes.

This famous book, the inspiration behind Kate Bush's 1985 hit song 'Cloudbusting', is the extraordinary account of life as friend, confidant and child of the brilliant but persecuted psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich. Peter, his son, shared with his father the revolutionary concept of a world where dream and reality are virtually indistinguishable, and the sense of mission which set him and his followers apart from the rest of the human race.

Here, Peter Reich writes vividly and movingly of the mysterious experiences he shared with his father: of flying saucers; the 'cloudbuster' rain-makers and the FDA narks; and of the final tragic realization of his father's death, which woke him up to the necessity of living out his life in an alien world.

Days after France fell in June 1940, Charles de Gaulle appointed André Dewavrin to create, from scratch, the Free French Intelligence Service.

Recruiting agents among the sailors, farmers, painters, housewives and children of Occupied France, he managed cells of spies across the country, and focused their attention on one goal: preparing for the Allied invasion of France, even at the risk of torture and death.

Using a wealth of material both published and unpublished, including interviews with Dewavrin and de Gaulle himself, Collier has produced an authentic record of one of the most remarkable episodes of the Second World War; a human story of a group of ordinary people whose faith paved the way for Eisenhower's great sweep across Europe. Perfect for readers of Antony Beevor and Max Hastings.

We regard gardens as our personal dominions, where we can create whatever worlds we desire. But they are also occupied by myriads of other organisms, all with their own lives to lead. The conflict between these two power bases, Richard Mabey suggests, is a microcosm of what is happening in the larger world.

Rooted in the daily dramas of his own Norfolk garden, Mabey offers a different scenario, where nature becomes an equal partner, a 'gardener' itself. Against a background of disordered seasons he watches his 'accidental' garden reorganising itself. Ants sow cowslip seeds in the parched grass. Moorhens take to nesting in trees. A spectacular self-seeded rose springs up in the gravel. The garden becomes a place of cultural and ecological fusion, and perhaps a metaphor for the troubled planet.

Bestselling author John Harris freshly investigates seven of the most gripping and intriguing voyages of the past 150 years. Bringing his unique skills as a novelist and sailor to reassess the fragmentary evidence, he aims to finally answer these enduring and terrifying mysteries.

He takes us: aboard Erebus and Terror on Sir John Franklin's disastrous Arctic expedition, last seen parting from their escort; aboard the Mary Celeste, crewed by a well-respected captain and an experienced crew, abandoned in the mid-Atlantic; aboard the battleship Maine, blown sky-high in Havana harbour; aboard the collier Cyclops, disappeared between Barbados and Virginia during the First World War; and aboard the Teignmouth Electron, winner-apparent of the round the world yacht race, sighted deserted and drifting…

This is life at sea at its most epic and frightening.

The Victoria Cross, awarded to the most courageous and determined servicemen, is the highest military decoration that can be bestowed. These first-hand accounts of soldiers, sailors and airmen describe the incredible events that earned these extraordinary men the VC in the last century. The stories depict exceptional acts of bravery in unimaginable situations, of men who would say they were just doing their duty.

Book 3 of the Hornblower series. On the day of his marriage to Maria, Hornblower is ordered to take the Hotspur and head for Brest. Putting aside thoughts of his new life as a husband, Hornblower must prove himself to be the most capable commander in the fleet, if he is to stop the French.  Book 3 of series.

1812 and the fate of Europe lies in the hands of newly appointed Commodore Hornblower. Horatio must halt the advance of Napoleon's empire into Sweden and Russia. But first he must battle the terrible Baltic weather of fog, snow and icebound waterways.  Book 9 of series.

On the first day of the Somme enlisted railwayman Jim Stringer lies trapped in a shell hole, smoking cigarette after cigarette under the bullets and the blazing sun. He calculates his chances of survival - even before they departed for France, a member of Jim's unit had been found dead. During the stand-off that follows, Jim and his comrades must operate by night the vitally important trains carrying munitions to the Front, through a ghostly landscape of shattered trees where high explosive and shrapnel shells rain down. Close co-operation and trust are vital. Yet proof piles up of an enemy within, and as a ferocious military policeman pursues his investigation into the original killing, the finger of accusation begins to point towards Jim himself . . .

Volume 2; PESTLENCE AND FLAME: Peter Ackroyd's work is his definitive account of the city of London. For him it is an organism with its own laws of growth and change, so this book is a biography rather than a history.

The words of the servicemen and women, who served their country in the wars of the 20th century have been forever preserved thanks to a team of volunteers and the West Sussex County Library Service. This volume contains edited interviews with local Sussex veterans who served in the Great War.

Martin Watts, a bookseller, is captured by Royalists. Jane Afton's brother Nat is taken too. They suffer inhumane treatment as prisoners-of-war. In Oxford Castle jailor William Smith tortures, beats, starves and deprives his helpless victims. Can Jane rescue her sick brother before he dies of neglect? Will Martin dare to escape? Quick Reads.

Through this original Terry Pratchett story (with intervening chapters from Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart) we discover how puny and insignificant individual lives are against a cosmic backdrop of creation and disaster. Yet, paradoxically, we see how the richness of a universe based on rules, has led to a complex world and at least one species that tried to get a grip of what was going on.

In the remote Kingdom of Castalia, the scholars of the Twenty Third century play the Glass Bead Game, a fusion of all human knowledge - of maths, music, philosophy, science, and art. Intrigued as a school boy, Joseph Knecht becomes consumed with mastering the game as an adult.

From their rigorous training in Georgia in 1942 to D-Day and victory, this is the remarkable story of Easy Company, who kept getting the tough assignments. They were responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden.

David McMullan looks back and traces the difficulties and triumphs of the Kent-based specialist car conversion company, from its earliest beginnings to its final sale on his retirement in 1987. His account is a warm and often touching story of grit, determination and tireless innovation, leading to their success in a hugely competitive global market.

Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery was perhaps the best-known, most highly respected and most controversial British general of World War II. He made an incalculable contribution to the Allied victory in Europe, and his leadership played a crucial role in transforming the British Army into a war-winning weapon.

Why do some societies flourish, while others fall? Will we go the same way, our skyscrapers one day standing derelict and overgrown like the temples at Angkor Wat? Jared Diamond explores the mysterious collapse of past civilizations - and what this means for our future.

A social history of Labradors, and how they have become the world’s most beloved dogs, by writer, presenter and long-time dog lover Ben Fogle, whose black Labrador, Inca, famously accompanied him on numerous journeys and adventures

A groundbreaking work of biography that raised the genre to the level of high art. Strachey's portraits of Cardinal Manning, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Arnold, and General Gordon changed perceptions of the Victorians for a whole generation.

Mostly set in the imaginary county of Barsetshire, this collection of stories depict the festive period with all Trollope's trademark zest, humour, and cheerfulness. They offer rich and psychologically acute portrayals of the middle class and gentry of Victorian England at Christmas time.

In 1943 the war effort was in danger of grinding to a halt because of a lack of coal. In answer Ernest Bevin, the Minister of Labour, compulsorily sent 20,000 18-year-olds, who'd expected to fight for their country, down the mines. The author paints a picture of the arduous life below ground for the Bevin Boys and the tightly-knit communities, which in some cases welcomed them but in others treated them with hostility.

Bob and Brian Tovey are poachers of the old stripe: a father and son who are continuing their ancestors' traditions, reluctant to surrender the old ways of sourcing food from nature. They explain the shoots, the once-legal techniques of lamping, ferreting and netting and, of course, how they outwit the keepers and escape with their quarry.

The distinguished military historian John Keegan unpicks the geography, leadership and strategic logic of the first modern war and takes us to the heart of the conflict. His captivating work promises to be the definitive history of the American Civil War.

Siddhartha Mukherjee, doctor, researcher and award-winning science writer, examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is a lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with, and perished from, for more than five thousand years.

The Piper Alpha oil platform, 110 miles northeast of Aberdeen, was once the world's single largest oil producer. On 6 July 1988, its final day, it was ablaze with 226 men onboard. Only sixty-one would survive. This is the moving and vivid tale of what happened on that fateful night inside the oil rig inferno.

Thomas George Thomas, was a Labour politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. During Thomas' term of office, the first broadcasting of Parliamentary proceedings brought him unprecedented public attention. In 1983 he retired and was created Viscount Tonypandy, one of the last creations of a hereditary peerage.

World War Terminus had left the Earth devastated. Through its ruins, bounty hunter Rick Deckard stalked. His assignment is to kill six Nexus-6 targets, for a huge reward. But in Deckard's world things are never that simple, and his assignment quickly turned into the threat of death for the hunter rather than the hunted ...

Throughout history plague has been the cause of many major catastrophes. In this Very Short Introduction, Paul Slack explores the impact plague has had on modern notions of public health and how it has shaped our history.

A comprehensive account of the air attacks against Birmingham from the early Zeppelin raids of World War 1 to the very last raid in April 1943. The main focus is the military aspect and the dominance of the German Air Force above the city during World War II which lasted until the Royal Air Force gradually gained ascendancy.

Every atom of our bodies has been part of a star. Our very own star, the Sun, is crucial to the development and sustainability of life on Earth. This Very Short Introduction presents a modern, authoritative examination of how stars live.

Christopher Somerville's account of the British countryside not only inspires us to don our boots and explore the 140,000 miles of footpaths across the British Isles, but also illustrates how, on long-distance walks, we can come to an understanding of ourselves and our fellow walkers.

As Captain Rodney Savage of the 13th Rifles, Bengal Native Infantry, celebrates the start of 1857 with his wife and friends in the isolated cantonment of Bhowani, news comes of a crisis that will have terrifying and widespread repercussions. As tension erupts, the British begin to wonder whether even their closest servents are trustworthy.

Roy Lancaster is a world-renowned plantsman and a Vice President of the RHS. This is the story of his adventures with plants - from learning the ropes as a young apprentice, to curatorship of the Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, and his dynamic freelance career.

Alex Dingwall-Main, garden design writer for 'The Times', left London with his wife and dog nine years ago for the Luberon region of the South of France. A landscape gardener of international renown, this is his account of gardening his way round Provence, and in particular, of attempting to restore the secret garden of M-nerbes.