Years have gone by since the events surrounding the death of Anne Boleyn. But her missing hand and all that it represents to the dark world of 16th-century Europe still draws the powerful to seek it out. Jean Rombaud — the French executioner of the first novel — has grown old, both in age and spirit. Wearied by the betrayal of a son and the scorn of a wife, he fights in the seemingly never-ending siege of Siena. Meanwhile, Gianni Rombaud has forsaken everything his ageing father stands for and now kills heathen for the Inquisition in Rome. Then he is summoned by Cardinal Carafa himself. His masters no longer merely want his dagger in the hearts of Jews, they want the hand of the dead queen... But only three people know where it is buried, and one of them is Gianni's father...

A remarkable historical and psychological study of the enigma of Adolf Hitler and his impact on the twentieth century — by the bestselling author of DEFYING HITLER. Sebastian Haffner examines Hitler's lifespan, his performance, his successes, errors, intellectual misconceptions, crimes and, last but not least, his great betrayal of his nation, the Western world and human civilisation. 'What makes Haffner's book different is that it is not one more biography but an analysis — a most penetrating analysis — of what Hitler was up to in his astonishing career' A.L. Rowse 'Mr Haffner... has exposed better, and more briefly, than anyone else the clockwork of that infernal machine' Gordon Brook-Shepherd, Sunday Telegraph.

A follow-up to the highly successful “Discworld Unseen University Quizbook”, “The Wyrdest Link” will present itself as qualifying tests for various levels of mastery in Ankh-Morpork City's Guilds and other organisations — from the dignified Thieves' Guild to illicit outfits like the feared Breccia (the trolls' Mafia) or the wholly reprehensive Elucidated Brethren of the Ebon Night (see “Guards! Guards!”). As before, the straight Discworld general knowledge inquisition — presented with offbeat twists and linking themes — will be varied with trick questions, outrageous bogglers, and the occasional near-impossible poser to suit all levels of Discworld fans.

The Unadulterated Cat is becoming an endangered species as more and more of us settle for those boring mass-produced cats the ad-men sell us — the pussies that purr into their gold-plated food bowls on the telly. But the Campaign for Real Cats sets out to change all that by helping us to recognise a true, unadulterated cat when we see one. For example: real cats have ears that look like they've been trimmed with pinking shears; real cats never wear flea collars... or appear on Christmas cards... or chase anything with a bell in it; real cats do eat quiche. And giblets. And butter. And anything else left on the table, if they think they can get away with it. Real cats can hear a fridge door opening two rooms away...

The powerful and bestselling memoir of a young Jewish pianist who survived the war in Warsaw against all odds. Made into a Bafta and Oscar-winning film.

A routine robbery goes horribly wrong with several workers shot in cold blood and the gunman's brother killed by the police. Three years pass and the victims and their relatives gather in the aftermath, still trying to come to terms with their grief. But gunman Frank Farrow has other ideas.

The Mass-Observation organisation was set up in 1937 with the aim of recording everyday life in Britain. Dorothy Sheridan has plundered its astonishingly rich archives to put together this anthology of women's experience in the Second World War. What was this experience? How far did it go to liberate women? Was it the opportunity that so many expected or was it simply six years of deprivation, hard work and pain? WARTIME WOMEN allows us to explore these questions through the writings of women living through the war years. The range of contributors is enormous, from a fish and chip shop worker in Birmingham to Irish immigrant munitions, factory workers, young women welders in Yorkshire and a seventeen-year-old schoolgirl in Essex. 'My horror of all this war business is qualified by an eagerness to be a unit of it. I feel as if I have been waiting for this all my life and I have just realised it' — A young woman writing in her diary in September, 1939.

A stinkbomb becomes a deadly weapon in Horrid Henry's longrunning war with Moody Margaret; he uses all his guile to win the school reading competition, only to find the longed-for prize is not what he expected; he goes for a sleepover and retreats in horror when he finds that other people's houses aren't always as nice as his own; and he has the joy of seeing Miss Battle-Axe ticked off by the Head when he knows it was all his fault. In short, another vintage Horrid Henry title!

The slaves are revolting... they've stolen Julius Casar's own galley. Seeking shelter in the little Gaulish village, they find it in crisis. Obelix has suffered diree effects from drinking the druid's magic potions on the sly. Can his friends get him cured by Absolutlifabulos, high priest of Atlantis? Enjoy all the thrills and spills of sea battles against the Roman navy!

Carefully researched and beautifully written, this book is a classic of military history. Alan Clark vividly narrates the course of the dramatic and brutal war between the German and Russians on the Eastern Front during the Second World War. From the invasion of Russia mounted on Midsummer's Day 1941 and the German Army's advance to the outskirts of Moscow, to the terrible turning point of Stalingrad and the eventual defeat of the Nazis at the Fall of Berlin after the hard years of fighting and advance by the Red Army, this is epic history narrated by a master.

Barbara and Allan Pease travelled the world collating the dramatic findings of new research on the brain, investigating evolutionary biology, analysing psychologists research, studying social change and annoying the locals. The result is WHY MEN DON'T LISTEN AND WOMEN CAN'T READ MAPS, the sometimes shocking, always illuminating, frequently hilarious look at where the battle line is drawn between the sexes, why it was drawn and how to cross it. Revealed: Why men really can't do more than one thing at a time Why women make such a mess of parallel parking Why men should never lie to women Why women talk so much and men so little WHAT MEN AND WOMEN REALLY WANT A must-read for everyone — you will learn as much about yourself and how to improve your relationships, as you will about the opposite sex.

«It began with a blinding light, a divine revelation from a mysterious intelligence that called itself Valis. And with that, the fabric of reality was ripped open and laid bare so that anything seemed possible, but nothing seemed quite right. Part science fiction, part theological detective story — in which God plays both the missing person and the perpetrator of the ultimate crime, «Valis» is both disorienting and eerily funny, and a joy to read.»

The discovery of another habitable world might spell salvation to the three bitterly competing power blocs of the resource-starved 21st century; but when their representatives arrive on Jem, with its multiple intelligent species, they discover instead the perfect situation into which to export their rivalries. Subtitled, with savage irony, 'The Making of a Utopia', Jem is one of Frederik Pohl's most powerful novels.

In this compelling biography, Christopher Sandford explores the full, inside story of Kurt Cobain. From the disruptive childhood which had such a crucial impact on Cobain's personality to the ambitious career musician who, as a friend said, 'lunged for success', and the worldwide breakthrough of Nirvana's Nevermind, Sandford also writes about Cobain's stormy marriage to Courtney Love, his heroin addiction, and how he became more and more of a recluse. Finally, he writes of the crisis when, in April 1994, Cobain turned a shotgun on himself and became a martyr for disaffected youth. The result is a saga of success and corruption which John Peel has called 'the ultimate rock and roll morality story'.

A chance meeting on the Fijian island of Taveuni is the trigger for a fascinating and mysterious novel that intertwines the stories of John Spooke, an English author who is grieving for his dead wife; Frank Andersen, a Norwegian evolutionary biologist estranged from his wife Vera; and an enigmatic Spanish couple, Ana and Jose, who are absorbed in their love for each other. Why does Ana bear such a close resemblance to the model for Goya's famous Maja paintings? What is the significance of the Joker as he steps out of his pack of cards? As the action moves from Fiji to Spain, from the present to the past, unfolding further stories within the stories, the novel reveals an astonishing richness and complexity. As bold and imaginative in its sweep as Sophie's World, it shows again that Jostein Gaarder's unique and special gift is to make us wonder at the awe-inspiring mystery of the universe.

Conan the Cimmerian: he rose from boy-thief and mercenary to become kingof Aquilonia. Neither supernatural fiends nor demonic sorcery could oppose the barbarian warrior as he wielded his mighty sword and dispatched his enemies to a bloody doom on the battlefields of the legendary Hyborian Age. Collected together for the first time anywhere in the world, in chronological order, are all Robert E. Howard's definitive stories of Conan, exactly as he wrote them, as fresh, atmospheric and vibrant today as when they were first published in the pulp magazines more than sixty years ago.

The druid Getafix is running short of rock oil — an essential ingredient in the magic potion, which gives the Gaulish villagers superhuman strength to fight Julius Caesar's Roman legions. But the Phoenician merchant Ekonomikrisis has forgotten the druid's order, and Asterix and Obelix set off to prospect for black gold in the Middle Eastern desert. Their mission is complicated by the Roman secret agent Dubbelosix and his amazing folding chariot, which is equipped with all the latest spy gadgets. Although they finally come home empty-handed, all is not lost — Getafix has discovered that beetroot juice works just as well in the potion...

The struggles and upheavals in Russia over the last few years seen from the top — Boris Yeltsin was the President of Russia for a decade. He overcame the coup of 1991, he developed good relationships with world leaders from Clinton to Helmut Kohl. What was the chemistry of his meetings with Jacques Chirac, Tony Blair and Ziang Zhao Min? How did he get on when the Queen visited Moscow, the first British monarch to step onto Russian soil since before World War I. Yeltsin gives his account of the revolution in Chechnya; he explains his feelings on the former Yugoslavia imbroglio and why Russia couldn't intervene effectively. Here is Yeltsin on his own often unreliable health, his quintuple bypass surgery, his depression and how he survived to retire on the eve of the new millennium. Yeltsin gives his views on a non Communist Russia, democracy, struggling economy, the mafia and his own determination to give the citizens of his country a better future than its glorious but authoritarian past.