Breslau was a German city on the border of Czechoslovakia. It is now, since World War II, Wroclaw, in Poland. Marek Krajewski has written a quartet of novels which unfold the history of this exceptional city, standing on the faultline and crossroads of 20th-century Europe. Breslau 1933: the mutilated bodies of a young woman and her ladies' maid are found dead on a train. Scorpions writhe in their slashed stomach - a horrifying image that becomes crucial to the investigation. Inspector Eberhard Mock is called in to deal with the case, and is assigned an assistant, Herbert Anwaldt, an orphan. The investigation leads them deep into the city's dirty underbelly, where perverted aristocrats cavort with prostitutes, corrupt ministers torture confessions from lowly Jews and Freemasons guard their secrets with blackmail and daggers. As Mock and Anwaldt unravel a mystery of ritual killing that dates back to the time of the Crusades, the elderly Mock and the young, fatherless Anwaldt become close. But the dark, occult aspect of this most macabre of cases might prove too much for Anwaldt's sanity before a solution is secured.What makes Krajewski's story so uncommonly powerful is the stifling atmosphere he conjures of a city in the grip of the Gestapo.
Fitztroy Maclean was one of the real-life inspirations for super-spy James Bond. After adventures in Soviet Russia before the war, Maclean fought with the SAS in North Africa in 1942. There he specialised in hair-raising commando raids behind enemy lines, including the daring and outrageous kidnapping of the German Consul in Axis-controlled Iraq.
THE NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'The best deep dive into the diseases that plague us all today, and what to do to heal.' Jessie Inchauspe, The Glucose Goddess'A powerful vision for a brighter future - for both people and the planet.' Jay Shetty'A tour de force' Dr Mark HymanFix your metabolism to feel better today and prevent disease tomorrow. A bold new vision for optimizing our health now and for the future.What if depression, anxiety, infertility, insomnia, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer's, dementia, cancer and many other health conditions actually have the same root cause?Our ability to prevent and reverse these conditions - and feel incredible today - is under our control and simpler than we think. The key is our metabolic function - the most important and least understood factor in our overall health.As Dr Casey Means explains in this groundbreaking book, nearly every health problem we face can be explained by how well the cells in our body create and use energy. To live free from frustrating symptoms and life-threatening disease, we need our cells to be optimally powered so that they can create 'good energy', the essential fuel that impacts every aspect of our physical and mental wellbeing.If you are battling signals of 'bad energy' inside your body, it is often a warning sign that more life-threatening illness may emerge later in life. Weaving together cutting-edge research and personal stories, Good Energy offers an essential four-week plan and explains:The five biomarkers that determine your risk for a deadly diseaseSix lifelong food principles to implement whether you're carnivore or veganThe crucial links between sleep, circadian rhythm, and metabolismA framework for exercise focused on building simple movement into every dayHow cold and heat exposure helps build our body's resilienceSteps to navigate the medical system to get what you need for optimal healthGood Energy offers a new, cutting-edge understanding of the true cause of illness.It will help you optimize your ability to live well and stay well at every age.
Trade paperback. A proven program to build self-esteem, boost confidence and improve the sense of self-worth. More than just a fashion or diet book, this provides lasting results and tackles every type of confidence issue.
Barack Obama's success in becoming President-Elect of the United States means he will dramatically change the face that his country presents to the world. In this bestselling book Obama discusses the importance of empathy in politics, his hopes for a different America with different policies, and how the ideals of its democracy can be renewed. With intimacy and self-deprecating humour, Obama describes his experiences as a politician, about balancing his family life and his public vocation. His search for consensus and his respect for the democratic process inform every sentence. A senator and a lawyer, a professor and a father,a Christian and a sceptic, Barack Obama has written a book of transforming power that will inspire people the world over.
Biff is not like ordinary dogs. He doesn't do dog stuff like peeing on lampposts, scratching his fleas or drinking out of toilets. If you throw him a stick, he'll just look at you like you're crazy. No, Biff is no ordinary dog. Biff likes moonlight and music and walking on his tiptoes. You see, Biff doesn't think he's a dog, Biff thinks he's a ballerina, which is all very well ...But dogs don't do ballet - do they? The hilarious story of a small dog with a big personality and even bigger dreams!
The struggle for wealth and power that has surrounded oil for decades continues to shake the world economy, dictate the outcome of wars, and transform the destiny of men and nations. The Prize is as much a history of the twentieth century as of the oil industry itself. The canvas of this history is enormous -- from the drilling of the first well in Pennsylvania through two great world wars to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and Operation Desert Storm. The cast extends from wildcatters and rogues to oil tycoons, and from Winston Churchill and Ibn Saud to George Bush and Saddam Hussein. The definitive work on the subject of oil and a major contribution to understanding our century, The Prize is a book of extraordinary breadth, riveting excitement -- and great importance.
Philippa Gregory has long been one of the most assured practitioners of historical fiction, but her profile was raised even higher by the film of her novel The Other Boleyn Girl. Gregory admirers, however, were heard to remark of that movie: 'Not as good as the book!’ And if her new novel, the highly accomplished The Other Queen is ever afforded the Hollywood treatment, there will no doubt be a similar chorus. The reason for this dedication by her readers is not hard to fathom: assiduously researched historical facts are married to consummate storytelling skills – and the effortless ability to rescue historical figures from the dusty pages of the past.At the centre of this novel is Mary Queen of Scotland, forced to flee into England. Mary, a devout Catholic, is, of course, a living threat to the rule of her cousin Elisabeth, whose Protestant reign is uncertain. We’ve been here before, of course, in various books and films. But Philippa Gregory’s story this time has a different emphasis: Elizabeth’s chief advisor, Cecil, formulates a plan in which the destabilising Mary will live under guard with his faithful friend, Bess of Hardwick. Bess is a remarkable woman herself; someone who has forged her own destiny, and is now in her fourth marriage, to the distinguished Earl of Shrewsbury. But soon Bess and Mary find themselves plunged into very different personal crises – with Bess’s marriage under considerable strain.
Einstein is the great icon of our age: the kindly refugee from oppression whose wild halo of hair, twinkling eyes, engaging humanity and extraordinary brilliance made his face a symbol and his name a synonym for genius. He was a rebel and nonconformist from boyhood days. His character, creativity and imagination were related, and they drove both his life and his science. In this marvellously clear and accessible narrative, Walter Isaacson explains how his mind worked and the mysteries of the universe that he discovered. Einstein's success came from questioning conventional wisdom and marvelling at mysteries that struck others as mundane. This led him to embrace a worldview based on respect for free spirits and free individuals. All of which helped make Einstein into a rebel but with a reverence for the harmony of nature, one with just the right blend of imagination and wisdom to transform our understanding of the universe. This new biography, the first since all of Einstein's papers have become available, is the fullest picture yet of one of the key figures of the twentieth century.
