A bestseller in France, this mystery from Chattam (The Soul of Evil) is unlikely to repeat that success in the U.S. After stumbling across a political coverup, Marion, a clerical employee at a Paris morgue, takes refuge in remote Mont-Saint-Michel. There, while inventorying some books, Marion discovers bound within the covers of Poe's Narrative of A. Gordon Pym the diary of an English detective, Jeremy Matheson, describing his probe into a series of sadistic child murders in 1928 Cairo. Marion becomes obsessed with the diary and in finding the solution to the old case. Strangely, the third-person diary selections include the thoughts of characters who could not have conveyed them to Matheson. This oddity will raise the suspicions of astute readers, who will be less than shocked by the twist ending. In that subgenre featuring a modern character who seeks the truth about a past crime through study of a secret document, this effort comes up short.

This charming board book from award-winning illustrator, Axel Scheffler is now available in a jigsaw book format. Children will love reading about Lizzy the Lamb, who enjoys skipping, playing with the geese and most of all, jumping as high as she can! Bright illustrations, rhyming text, five fantastic four-piece jigsaws and a fun activity on the final spread will make this a storytime and playtime favourite.

No one interested in the history of dress, from art historians to stage designers, from museum curators to teachers of fashion and costume, can function effectively without Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion series, published by Macmillan since 1964. Since her untimely death in 1998, admirers of her work have been waiting, with increasing impatience, for the promised volume devoted to the linen clothes of the Elizabethan and early Stuart periods, a companion to her previous volume on tailored clothes of the same era.Planned and partly prepared by Janet herself, and completed by Jenny Tiramani, Janet's last pupil, no other book exists that is dedicated to the linen clothes that covered the body from the skin outwards. It contains full colour portraits and photographs of details of garments in the explanatory section, as well as patterns for 86 items of linen clothing, which range from men's shirts and women's smocks, from superb ruffs and collars to boot hose and children's stomachers. Beautifully produced, it is an invaluable guide to both the history and the recreation of these wonderful garments.

From the private papers of Mark Twain and Mozart to those of Robert Browning and Nelson, Love Letters of Great Men collects together some of the most romantic letters in history. For some of these great men, love is a 'delicious poison' (William Congreve); for others, 'a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire, & books & music' (Charles Darwin). Love can scorch like the heat of the sun (Henry VIII), or penetrate the depths of one's heart like a cooling rain (Flaubert). Every shade of love is here, from the exquisite eloquence of Oscar Wilde and the simple devotion of Robert Browning, to the wonderfully modern misery of the Roman Pliny the Younger, losing himself in work to forget how much he misses his beloved wife, Calpurnia.Taken together, these Love Letters of Great Men show that perhaps men haven't changed so very much over the last 2,000 years; passion, jealousy, hope and longing are all represented here — as is the simple pleasure of sending a letter to, and receiving one from, the person you love most.

Up-to-date syllabus based on the C1 and C2 levels of the Council of Europe's framework. 26 units, including grammar and vocabulary. Systematic practice of all the grammar and vocabulary presented in a wide range of exercise types. Strong emphasis on revision and consolidation, with reviews and tests. Useful reference section including topic vocabulary, phrasal verbs, phrases, patterns and collocations, idioms and word formation.

An English lord requires one more chess piece to complete a set that would be worth a fortune. Another man, an accountant, realizes he's achieved nothing in his life — and sets out to make a fortune before he retires. And then there is the author's own favorite, In the Eye of the Beholder, about a star athlete who has a fateful run-in with a three-hundred-pound woman. Some of these twelve stories were inspired by the two years Jeffrey Archer spent in prison, including Don't Drink the Water, the tale of a company chairman who tries to poison his wife while on a trip to St. Petersburg--with unexpected consequences. Witty, suspenseful, sad, surprising, and unforgettable, Cat O'Nine Tales is Jeffrey Archer at his best.

Moomin has been swiftly making its way into the hearts of North Americans ever since Drawn & Quarterly began collecting the strip in 2006. It debuted in the London Evening News in 1954 and has become the fastest-selling D+Q series to date. Fifty years ago, Tove Jansson's observations of everyday life — whimsical but with biting undertones — easily caught the attention of an international audience and still resonate today. This third volume returns to Moominvalley, where its beloved inhabitants get tangled up in five new stories. Moomin falls in love with a damsel in distress, an unseasonably warm spell turns the valley into a tropical rain forest, and a flying saucer crashes into Moominmamma's garden. Moominpappa decides to live out his dream of occupying a lighthouse and writing a great seaside novel, only to discover that he hates the sea so close up and has no interest in writing about it, and a variety of curious clubs spring up in the valley. Moomin and Moominmamma do their level best to avoid the whole mess but, of course, get drawn into the muddle.

A riveting history of the daring politicians who challenged the disastrous policies of the British government on the eve of World War II On May 7, 1940, the House of Commons began perhaps the most crucial debate in British parliamentary history. On its outcome hung the future of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain's government and also of Britain — indeed, perhaps, the world. Troublesome Young Men is Lynne Olson's fascinating account of how a small group of rebellious Tory MPs defied the Chamberlain government's defeatist policies that aimed to appease Europe's tyrants and eventually forced the prime minister's resignation. Some historians dismiss the phony war that preceded this turning point — from September 1939, when Britain and France declared war on Germany, to May 1940, when Winston Churchill became prime minister — as a time of waiting and inaction, but Olson makes no such mistake, and describes in dramatic detail the public unrest that spread through Britain then, as people realized how poorly prepared the nation was to confront Hitler, how their basic civil liberties were being jeopardized, and also that there were intrepid politicians willing to risk political suicide to spearhead the opposition to Chamberlain — Harold Macmillan, Robert Boothby, Leo Amery, Ronald Cartland, and Lord Robert Cranborne among them. The political and personal dramas that played out in Parliament and in the nation as Britain faced the threat of fascism virtually on its own are extraordinary — and, in Olson's hands, downright inspiring.

An unlikely pair, seventeen-year-old Ming and twenty-four-year-old Yan meet and form an immediate bond. Ming, innocent and preoccupied, lives in her own world of books, music and imagination. Yan is, by contrast, beautiful, sexy, wild and manipulative. Their friendship is brief, almost accidental, but intense, and it changes Ming's world forever. Set in modern China, February Flowers captures a society torn between tradition and modernity, dogma and freedom. It is a meditation on friendship, family, love, loss and redemption, and how a background shapes a life. A first novel whose psychic terrain is the hinterland between girlhood and womanhood, lust and love, tradition and progress... Subtle and deftly paced, it's ultimately a story about sheer awakening — Observer. February Flowers enters the past as it was lived, in real-time and without the props of hindsight — Financial Times. An exquisitely beautiful book about that uncertain border between girlhood and womanhood, between passion and desire, a country only too familiar to all women — Sandra Cisneros.

Reveals the stories of the American soldiers who took and appeared in the digital snapshots from Abu Ghraib prison that shocked the world. This work provides an account of Iraq`s occupation from the inside-out — rendering vivid portraits of guards and prisoners ensnared in an appalling breakdown of command authority and moral order.

Dylan is the only boy living in the tiny Welsh town of Manod. His parents run the Snowdonia Oasis Auto Marvel garage — and when he's not trying to persuade his sisters to play football, Dylan is in charge of the petrol log. And that means he gets to keep track of everyone coming in and out of Manod — what car they drive, what they're called, even their favourite flavour of crisps. But when a mysterious convoy of lorries trundles up the misty mountainside towards an old, disused mine, even Dylan is confounded. Who are these people — and what have they got to hide? This story is inspired by a press cutting describing how, during WWII, the treasured contents of London's National Gallery were stored in Welsh slate mines. Once a month, a morale-boosting masterpiece would be unveiled in the village and then returned to London for viewing. This is a funny and touching exploration of how Art — its beauty and its value — touches the life of one little boy and his big family in a very small town.

A completely new version of the original million-copy bestseller, The South Beach Diet Supercharged truly super-charges weight loss thanks to the addition of a unique 3-phase exercise plan. The principles of the diet are essentially the same, but with the added exercise component, dieters will be able to burn more fat (including belly fat) faster on their way to permanent weight loss and better health. The unique interval training programme is designed to rev up your metabolism and perfectly complements the 3 phases of the diet. During interval training you switch between short bursts of high-intensity exercise and rest periods. The bottom line, you burn more fat and calories than you would in conventional exercises programmes in a fraction of the time.

Meet Ottoline and her hairy, helpful friend Mr Munroe. No secret is ever too scary for the two of them to discover together. Ottoline is off to the Alice B. Smith School for the Differently Gifted. She is rather worried that she doesn't have a special gift. Mr Munroe is worried about the ghost who is said to haunt the school halls at night. Does Ottoline discover how to be different and can they expose the spook?

With Tir`s most powerful protectors slain by treachery and the defenders scattered, it appears nothing can stand in the tyrant`s way. Until a new peril unexpectedly looms; a far more dangerous and deadly menace that threatens not merely the balance of power, but the entire human race.

Two of the most successful British novelists of the last fifty years, Kingsley and Martin Amis are both known for their savage wit and their indifference to causing controversy. In his critical biography, Neil Powell looks at the careers of these two very divisive, and hugely talented writers: how they were formed by their upbringings, developed as writers and in turn how they affected literature, and each other. He examines how success (which is the title one of Martin Amis' novels) affected their relationship, and themselves as writers (Kingsley: Martin's spending a year abroad for tax purposes. 29, he is. Little shit.). Through this we see what it has meant to be a man, and a writer, (and, most importantly, a comic writer) in Britain over the last sixty years, following Kinglsey from jazz-loving iconoclast to Thatcher-loving Tory and Martin from wild young man of letters to God knows what.

'We are, and always will be, wanderers who have lost their way...' A prolific novelist and acclaimed historian of the Middle East, Amin Maalouf had never before taken the time to trace his own ancestry. But on the sudden death of his father he decides to address this, and, given a trunk of letters and the opportunity to sort them, begins to find the keys to his past. Like many Levantine families, Maalouf's is ethnically and religiously diverse, and the figures he encounters are maverick, visionary, strong-willed, far-flung. Starting in the mountains of Lebanon, their story is yet one of exile: of brothers separated, of dramatic emigrations, and of revolutions espoused in the dying years of the Ottoman Empire and beyond. Taking Maalouf from Lebanon to Cuba, this memoir is a fascinating insight into the nature and fate of a nomadic family. Above all, it is a meditation on the profound extent to which blood ties can represent homeland, and to which curiosity, guilt, love and pride can echo through the generations. 'What do you get when one of the Arab world's greatest writers, a Prix-Goncourt-winning historical novelist, decides to write a memoir? A marvel' — Rabih Alameddine.

More than two decades ago Rowan Simons moved to China, and soon after he began working to expose the country to the social and health benefits of amateur soccer. As he soon learned, this was no easy task, especially in a country where it is illegal for more than 11 people to congregate for the purposes of a recreational sporting activity. In this humorous and affectionate account, Rowan recalls the various successes and failures of his efforts to encourage his adopted country to embrace the beautiful game, and depicts contemporary Chinese culture in a clear and engaging light. Despite various setbacks, Rowan managed to build a playing field and clubhouses, and currently runs Club Football, a steadily growing amateur league.

Учебник по страноведению Macmillan Guide to Country Studies знакомит учащихся с наиболее значительными событиями из истории, экономики...