THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'Superb, enthralling and necessarily terrifying . . .every step feels spring-loaded with tension... extraordinary.' The New York TimesThe story of Chernobyl is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. Adam Higginbotham has written a harrowing and compelling narrative which brings the 1986 disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it first-hand.Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, this book makes for a masterful non-fiction thriller. Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers not only its own citizens, but all of humanity. It is a story that has long remained in dispute, clouded from the beginning in secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation.Midnight In Chernobyl is an indelible portrait of history's worst nuclear disaster, of human resilience and ingenuity and the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will - lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats - remain not just vital but necessary. Now, Higginbotham brings us closer to the truth behind this colossal tragedy. 'Tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair .. . wonderful and chilling ...written with skill and passion.' The Observer'An invaluable contribution to history.' Serhii Plokhy, Evening StandardLONGLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE ONDAATJE PRIZE 2020
Amazon made its mark sending new books quickly in nice, smile-embossed boxes. But its founder, Jeff Bezos, wasnt content with being a bookseller. He wanted to revolutionise the way people shop. THE EVERYTHING STORE gives readers the first fly-on-the-wall narrative account of the worlds largest online retailer, and is the revealing, definitive biography of the company and its genius creator.
Across the millennia, philosophers have thought long and hard about happiness, and come up with all sorts of different definitions and ideas for how we might live a happier life. Here, Derren explores the history of happiness from classical times until today, when the self-help industry has attempted to claim happiness as its own. His aim is to reclaim happiness for us all, and enable us to appreciate the really good things in life for what they are.
In January 1991, eight members of the SAS regiment embarked upon a top secret mission that was to infiltrate them deep behind enemy lines. Under the command of Sergeant Andy McNab, they were to sever the underground communication link between Baghdad and north-west Iraq, and to seek and destroy mobile Scud launchers. Their call sign: BRAVO TWO ZERO. Each man laden with 15 stone of equipment, they patrolled 20km across flat desert to reach their objective. Within days, their location was compromised. After a fierce fire fight, they were forced to escape and evade on foot to the Syrian border. In the desperate action that followed, though stricken by hypothermia and other injuries, the patrol 'went ballistic'. Four men were captured. Three died. Only one escaped. For the survivors, however, the worst ordeals were to come. Delivered to Baghdad, they were tortured with a savagery for which not even their intensive SAS training had prepared them. "Bravo Two Zero" is a breathtaking account of Special Forces soldiering: a chronicle of superhuman courage, endurance and dark humour in the face of overwhelming odds.
Sylvia Beach was intimately acquainted with the expatriate and visiting writers of the Lost Generation, a label that she never accepted. Like moths of great promise, they were drawn to her well-lighted bookstore and warm hearth on the Left Bank. "Shakespeare and Company" evokes the zeitgeist of an era through its revealing glimpses of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson, Andre Gide, Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, D. H. Lawrence, and others already famous or soon to be. In his introduction to this new edition, James Laughlin recalls his friendship with Sylvia Beach. Like her bookstore, his publishing house, New Directions, is considered a cultural touchstone.
A shivering of worlds. Deep in the Chalk, something is stirring. The owls and the foxes can sense it, and Tiffany Aching feels it in her boots. An old enemy is gathering strength. This is a time of endings and beginnings, old friends and new, a blurring of edges and a shifting of power.
1564, Granada. Als die Mauren gegen die unterdrückerischen Christen aufbegehren, werden sie vernichtend geschlagen. Hernando, ein junger Araber mit christlichem Vater, wird von seinem Stiefvater für seine unreine Herkunft verachtet. Schließlich wird er von diesem in die Pferdeställe verbannt. Dort erkennt Hernando seine Begabung als Maultiertreiber. Als er schließlich im Dienste des maurischen Königs gegen die Christen kämpft, lernt er Fatima, die Liebe seines Lebens, kennen. Doch Fatima wird nicht die Seine werden. Snared between two cultures and two loves, one man is forced to choose ...§§1564, the Kingdom of Granada. After years of Christian oppression, the Moors take arms and daub the white houses of Sierra Nevada with the blood of their victims.§§Amidst the conflict is young Hernando, the son of an Arab woman and the Christian priest who raped her. He is despised and regularly beaten by his own step-father for his 'tainted' heritage. Fuelled with the love of the beautiful Fatima, Hernando hatches a plan to unite the two warring faiths - and the two halves of his identity ...
The final, thrilling instalment in this extraordinary series from bestselling authors Holly Black and Cassandra Clare.Facing up to what he is, Callum has battled chaos and evil across four years of magical training at the Magisterium, eventually defeating the armies of chaos in an epic battle. But the evil Callum faced has not given up just yet .
Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. On a fateful night in 2009, Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle met for dinner in Boulder, Colorado. Over the next eighteen months, Hamilton would tell Coyle his story, and his sport's story, in explosive detail, never sparing himself in the process. In a way, he became as obsessed with telling the truth as he had been with winning the Tour de France just a few years before. The truth would set Tyler free, but would also be the most damning indictment yet of teammates like Lance Armstrong. The result of this determination is The Secret Race, a book that pulls back the curtain and takes us into the secret world of professional cycling like never before. A world populated by unbelievably driven - and some flawed - characters. A world where the competition used every means to get an edge, and the options were stark. A world where it often felt like there was no choice.
Paul West kommt für einen Job von London nach Paris, aber vor allem, weil er herausfinden will, ob Paris wirklich die Hauptstadt der atemberaubenden Unterwäsche ist. Von Tag eins an fühlt er sich wie auf einem anderen Planeten, und ganz und gar nicht wie im Frankreich seiner Lieblingsfilme "Chocolat" oder "Die wunderbare Welt der Amélie". Statt dessen entdeckt er, daß Sozialwohnungen grundsätzlich der Pariser Bourgeoisie vorbehalten sind, Salat schneiden eine Todsünde ist, Betrug hingegen eine quantité negligéable. Daß bei der vielen Küsserei unter Franzosen ein Herpesvirus ganze Unternehmen lahmlegen kann. Und wie man unter der Verwendung eines Geheimcodes vom unfreundlichsten Kellner doch bedient wird. Merde, alors! Doch kurz bevor Paul endgültig verzweifelt, gibt eine bezaubernde Französin ihr Bestes, ihn per Intensivkurs in einen French Lover zu verwandeln.
In rural Devon, six-year-old Joanna Mason witnesses an appalling crime. Thirty years later the man convicted of the crime is released from prison. In Edinburgh, sixteen-year-old Reggie works as a nanny for a G.P. But Dr Hunter has gone missing and Reggie seems to be the only person who is worried. Across town, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe is also looking for a missing person, unaware that hurtling towards her is an old friend -- Jackson Brodie -- himself on a journey that becomes fatally interrupted.
Mattia und Alice werden in ihrer Kindheit beide durch schreckliche Ereignisse traumatisiert. Als sie sich Jahre später an ihrer Schule kennenlernen, scheint zwischen ihnen eine Anziehungskraft zu bestehen, die beiden hilft, ihre Außenseiterrolle in der Schule besser zu bewältigen. Doch die inneren Verletzungen können nicht verhindern, dass jeder von Ihnen weiterhin in seiner eigenen Welt lebt.
"You know you are in the hands of someone who can tell a story ...fantastic". (Zadie Smith). Pak Jun Do knows he is special. He knows he must be the son of the master of the orphanage, not some kid dumped by his parents - it was obvious from the way his father singled him out for beatings. He knows he is special when he is picked as a spy and kidnapper for his country, the glorious Democratic Republic of North Korea. He knows he must find his true love, Sun Moon, the greatest opera star who ever lived, before it's too late. He knows he's not like the other prisoners in the camp. He's going to get out soon. Definitely.
September 1919: Twenty-years-old Tristan Sadler takes a train from London to Norwich to deliver a clutch of letters to Marian Bancroft. Tristan fought alongside Marian's brother Will during the Great War. They trained together. They fought together. But in 1917, Will laid down his guns on the battlefield and declared himself a conscientious objector, an act which has brought shame and dishonour on the Bancroft family. The letters, however, are not the real reason for Tristan's visit. He holds a secret deep within him. One that he is desperate to unburden himself of to Marian, if he can only find the courage. Whatever happens, this meeting will change his life - forever.
The book everyone is talking about: how the French manage to raise well-behaved children, and have a life! Who hasn't noticed how well-behaved French children are, compared to our own? How come French babies sleep through the night? Why do French children happily eat what is put in front of them? How can French mothers chat to their friends while their children play quietly? Why are French mothers more likely to be seen in skinny jeans than tracksuit bottoms? "Fascintating...gripping...extremely funny...I loved it. It made me want to move to Paris' (India Knight, "Sunday Times"). "Her book should be dispensed on prescription". ("Spectator").
It is the Edinburgh Festival. People queuing for a lunchtime show witness a road-rage incident - an incident which changes the lives of everyone involved. Jackson Brodie, ex-army, ex-police, ex-private detective, is also an innocent bystander - until he becomes a suspect. With Case Histories, Kate Atkinson showed how brilliantly she could explore the crime genre and make it her own. In One Good Turn she takes her masterful plotting one step further. Like a set of Russian dolls each thread of the narrative reveals itself to be related to the last. Her Dickensian cast of characters are all looking for love or money and find it in surprising places. As ever with Atkinson what each one actually discovers is their true self. Unputdownable and triumphant, One Good Turn is a sharply intelligent read that is also percipient, funny, and totally satisfying.
Debut novel from a prize winning short story writer, the hardback receiving excellent reviews. A family is observed over the years by one of its members, moving in stark contrast from life in the trenches during the First World War, to the Coronation Year celebrations. "Frank, funny and sad" >Sunday Express
Nine year old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no-one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas. Bruno's friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process.
Lexi wakes up in a hospital bed after a car accident, thinking it's 2004 and she's a twenty-five-year old with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it's actually 2007 - she's twenty-eight, her teeth are straight, she's the boss of her department - and she's married! To a good-looking millionaire! How on earth did she land the dream life? She can't believe her luck - especially when she sees her stunning new home. She's sure she'll have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He's drawn up a 'manual of our marriage', which should help. But as she learns more about her new self, chinks start to appear in the perfect life. All her old colleagues hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up...and lands a new bombshell. What the **** happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?
When a new NASA satellite detects evidence of an astonishingly rare object buried deep in the Arctic ice, the floundering space agency proclaims a much-needed victory…a victory that has profound implications for U.S. space policy and the impending presidential election. With the Oval Office in the balance, the President dispatches White House Intelligence analyst Rachel Sexton to the Arctic to verify the authenticity of the find. Accompanied by a team of experts, including the charismatic academic Michael Tolland, Rachel uncovers the unthinkable — evidence of scientific trickery — a bold deception that threatens to plunge the world into controversy...
Natasha: I'm a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I'm definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won't be my story.
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'Beautifully written, brilliantly researched' Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of GRIT'The most interesting, immediately actionable book I've read in quite a while... If life is a series of moments, the Heath brothers have transformed how I plan to spend mine' Adam Grant, bestselling author of ORIGINALS and OPTION B, with Sheryl SandbergIn this latest New York Times bestseller by the authors of Switch and Made to Stick, Chip and Dan Heath explore why certain brief experiences can jolt, elevate and change us - and how we can learn to create such extraordinary moments in our own life and work.What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a doctor or nurse knew how to orchestrate moments that would bring more comfort to patients? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children? Many of the defining moments in our lives are the result of accident or luck - but why leave our most meaningful, memorable moments to chance when we can create them?In The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath explore the stories of people who have created standout moments, from the owners who transformed an utterly mediocre hotel into one of the best-loved properties in Los Angeles by conjuring moments of magic for guests, to the scrappy team that turned around one of the worst elementary schools in the country by embracing an intervention that lasts less than an hour.Filled with remarkable tales and practical insights, The Power of Moments proves we all have the power to transform ordinary experiences into unforgettable ones.
*The final collection of short stories from the incredible Sir Terry Pratchett!* Imagination is an amazing thing. It can take you to the top of the highest mountain, or down to the bottom of the deepest depths of the sea. This where it took Doggins on his Awfully Big Adventure: a quest full of magic and flying machines. (And the world's best joke - trust me, it's hilarious.) It took three young inventors to the moon (where they may or may not have left a bottle of lemonade) and a caveman on a trip to the dentist. You can join them on these adventures, and many more, in this incredible collection of stories . . . From the greatest imagination there ever was. Written for local newspapers when Terry Pratchett was a young lad, these never previously published stories are packed full of anarchic humour and wonderful wit. A must-have for Terry fans . . . and young readers looking for a fix of magic.
Meet Rebecca Bloomwood. She has a great flat, a fabulous wardrobe full of the season's must-haves, and a job telling other people how to manage their money. She spends her leisure time ...shopping. Retail therapy is the answer to all her problems. She knows she should stop, but she can't. She tries Cutting Back, she tries Making More Money. But neither seems to work. The letters from the bank are getting harder to ignore. Can Becky ever escape from this dreamworld, find true love, and regain the use of her credit card? "The Secret Dreamworld of a Shopaholic"...this is the perfect pick-me-up for when it's all hanging in the (bank) balance.
Odran Yates enters Clonliffe Seminary in 1972 after his mother informs him that he has a vocation to the priesthood. He goes in full of ambition and hope, dedicated to his studies and keen to make friends. Forty years later, Odran's devotion has been challenged by the revelations that have shattered the Irish people's faith in the church. He has seen friends stand trial, colleagues jailed, the lives of young parishioners destroyed and has become nervous of venturing out in public for fear of disapproving stares and insulting remarks. But when a family tragedy opens wounds from his past, he is forced to confront the demons that have raged within a once respected institution and recognise his own complicity in their propagation. It has taken John Boyne fifteen years and twelve novels to write about his home country of Ireland but he has done so now in his most powerful novel to date, a novel about blind dogma and moral courage, and about the dark places where the two can meet. At once courageous and intensely personal, A History of Loneliness confirms Boyne as one of the most searching chroniclers of his generation.
When journalist Dan McCrum followed a tip to investigate the hot new tech company challenging Silicon Valley, everything about Wirecard looked a little too good to be true: offices were sprouting up around the world, it was reporting runaway growth a
Magic takes many forms. The ancient Egyptians explained the night by suggesting that the goddess Nut swallowed the sun. The Vikings believed a rainbow was the gods' bridge to earth. These are magical, extraordinary tales. But there is another kind of magic, and it lies in the exhilaration of discovering the real answers to these questions. It is the magic of reality - science. Packed with inspiring explanations of space, time and evolution, laced with humour and clever thought experiments, "The Magic of Reality" explores a stunningly wide range of natural phenomena. What is stuff made of? How old is the universe? What causes tsunamis? Who was the first man, or woman? This is a page-turning, inspirational detective story that not only mines all the sciences for its clues but primes the reader to think like a scientist too. Richard Dawkins elucidates the wonders of the natural world to all ages with his inimitable clarity and exuberance in a text that will enlighten and inform for generations to come.
The true story of a friendship spanning religious divisions and four decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ideal for anyone who wants to understand the Middle East.
If he didn't get out of the city now, he was as good as dead. Cade has never met his uncle, the infamous 'descender' Nate Quarter, who years ago committed heresy by lowering himself over the cliff-face of the Edge. But Nate has returned, and the Academy of Flight are looking for revenge against all of his supporters - including Cade. So now he has to run. With no money and nowhere else to go, Cade's only option is to stow away aboard the Xanth Filatine - a mighty sky-ship bound for the city of Hive. But getting onto the ship is only the beginning of his troubles as he runs afoul of thieving goblins, brutal skymarshals, and the unpleasant-sounding threat of 'skyfiring'...Stewart and Riddell return to the world of the Edge Chronicles with the first in a brand new series of adventures starring Cade Quarter. Welcome to a world like no other. Welcome to the Edge.
Cade Quarter is building a new life for himself in the wild of the Farrow Ridges, miles away from civilization - and from the enemies who are seeking him. But when his new home is threatened by villainous mire-pearlers, Cade and his friends must find a way to defend the land they love. This is the second book of the Cade Saga, part of the Edge Chronicles.
*A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOKCLUB PICK*Discover the gripping new detective thriller from the Sunday Times bestselling author of the Logan McRae series'A dark, richly satisfying story that proves just how good a crime writer he is.' Daily Mail'Hard to put down' ***** Reader reviewTHE CLOCK IS TICKING TO CATCH A SERIAL KILLER...Detective Constable Angus MacVicar has just landed his dream job - transferred out of uniform and assigned to Oldcastle's biggest ongoing murder investigation: Operation Telegram, hunting the 'Fortnight Killer'.Every two weeks another couple is targeted. One victim is left at the scene, their corpse used as a twisted message board. The second body is never seen again.This should be the perfect chance for Angus to prove himself, but he's been lumbered with the forensic psychologist from hell. It's been twelve days since the Fortnight Killer last struck, and the investigation's running out of time.Angus's shiny new job might just be the death of him...Praise for In a Place of Darkness and Stuart MacBride:'Fast, hard, authentic - and different' Lee Child'A terrific writer' The Times'Dark and gripping. A riveting page-turner' Independent on Sunday'One of this country's finest crime writers.' Daily Mail'I didn't want it to end' ***** Reader review'Dark, disturbing, and brilliant' ***** Reader reviewStuart MacBride, Number 1 Sunday Times, November 2023
In a world ravaged by bankruptcy and unemployment, Cloud is the only company left worth working for. But what will it cost you? Amidst the wreckage of America, Cloud reigns supreme. Cloud brands itself not just as an online storefront, but as a glob
When Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris for a new life with his Aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy household at the top of the German mountains. But this is no ordinary time, for it is 1935 and the Second World War is fast approaching; and this is no ordinary house, for this is the Berghof, the home of Adolf Hitler. Quickly, Pierrot is taken under Hitler's wing, and is thrown into an increasingly dangerous new world: a world of terror, secrets and betrayal, from which he may never be able to escape. Autorid: John Boyne
