When Bertie Wooster goes to Totleigh Towers to pour oil on the troubled waters of a lovers' breach between Madeline Bassett and Gussie Fink-Nottle, he isn’t expecting to see Aunt Dahlia there – nor to be instructed by her to steal some silver. But purloining the antique cow creamer from under the baleful nose of Sir Watkyn Bassett is the least of Bertie’s tasks. He has to restore true love to both Madeline and Gussie and to the Revd Stinker Pinker and Stiffy Byng – and confound the insane ambitions of would-be Dictator Roderick Spode and his Black Shorts. It’s a situation that only Jeeves can unravel…

Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that have shaped the past century. Weaving together the cracking of the Axis codes during WWII and the quest to establish a free South East Asian 'data haven' for digital information in the present, Cryptonomicon explores themes of power, information, secrecy and war in the twentieth century in a gripping and page-turning thriller.

Walking the streets of Moscow, indistinguishable from the rest of its population, are The Others. Possessors of supernatural powers and capable of entering the Twilight, a shadowy world that exists in parallel to our own, each owes allegiance either to The Dark or The Light. In The Day Watch, second book of the Night Watch trilogy, Alice, a young but powerful Dark Other, attends a planning meeting with her comrades in the Day Watch. The team is on a mission to apprehend an uninitiated Other, a practicing Dark witch who has so far eluded the bureaux responsible for finding and initiating unlicensed practitioners of magic. It seems a routine operation. But when they arrive, the Night Watch team has already made the arrest. A fierce battle ensues, during which Alice almost dies. Drained of her powers, she is sent to recuperate at a youth camp near the Black Sea. There she meets Igor; the chemistry between them is instant and irresistible. But then comes a shattering realisation: Igor is a Light Mage. Suddenly Alice remembers him as one of those involved in the battle that left her crippled. Now that they know, there is no alternative to a magical duel, a battle that neither of them wants to win…

Ten years after her death, Princess Diana remains a mystery. Was she “the people’s princess”, who electrified the world with her beauty and humanitarian missions? Or was she a manipulative, media-savvy neurotic who nearly brought down the monarchy? Tina Brown knew Diana personally, knows her world, understands its players, and has far-reaching insight into the royals and the Queen herself. In The Diana Chronicles, you will meet a formidable female cast and get to know the society they inhabit...as you never have before. Diana’s sexually charged mother, her subtly scheming grandmother, the stepmother she hated but eventually came to understand, and a terrifying trio of in-laws and relations: Fergie, the force of nature whose life was full of its own unacknowledged pathos; Princess Margaret, the fading glamour girl; the implacable Queen Mother and more formidable than all of them, her mother-in-law, the Queen, whose admiration Diana sought till the day she died. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate “other woman” into this combustible mix, and it’s no wonder that Diana felt the need to break out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.

«St Petersburg, 1899. Obsessive gambler Rubashov has played every game in town. Now on New Year's Eve, he finds himself on the brink of ruin, and decides to make a bid for the ultimate rush, the biggest gamble ever, to challenge the Devil to a poker game. The Devil accepts the invitation and unsurprisingly Rubashov loses. However, the price is not straight to hell as he expected (hell is full and has been for years), the punishment is immortality. Rubashov has great difficulty coming to terms with his ever-lasting life; he now sees no end to what is already a miserable existence. Unsuccessful suicide attempts lead him to take up Russian roulette, but before long the money is piling up and he has amassed a small fortune, enabling him to embark on a very different way of life... In this bizarre trip through Europe, Rubashov encounters some of the twentieth century's most notorious characters. Vallgren’s bizarre picaresque tale is destined to stand alongside «The Master and Margarita» as a genre classic, and for fans of «The Horrific Suffering of the Mind-reading Monster Hercules Barefoot»..., Rubashov’s adventures will be sheer delight.»

As every schoolboy knows, you can fit the whole of England on the Isle of White. Grotesque, visionary tycoon Sir Jack Pitman takes the saying literally and does exactly that. He constructs on the island 'The Project', a vast heritage centre containing everything 'English', from Big Ben to Stonehenge, from Manchester United to the white Cliffs of Dover. The project is monstrous, risky, and vastly successful. In fact, it gradually begins to rival 'Old' England and even threatens to supersede it... One of Barnes's finest and funniest novels, England, England calls into question the idea of replicas, truth vs. fiction, reality vs. art, nationhood, myth-making, and self-exploration.

Sophia Chrysanthis is only 16 when the German archaeologist Herr Obermann comes wooing: he wants a Greek bride who knows her Homer. Sophia passes his test, and soon she is tieing canvas sacking to her legs so that she can kneel on the hard ground in the trench, removing the earth methodically, identifying salient points, lifting out amphorae and bronze vessels without damaging them. 'Archaeology is not a science', Obermann says. 'It is an art'. Obermann is very good at the art of archaeology — perhaps too good at it. The amosphere at Troy is tense and mysterious. Sophia finds herself increasingly baffled by the past ... not only the remote past that Obermann is so keen to share with her in the form of his beloved epics of the Trojan wars, but also his own, recent past — a past that he has chosen to hide from her. But she, too, is very good at the art of archaeology ...

'In this book, chess is a teacher, and I aim to show it is a great one’. Garry Kasparov Here Grandmaster and World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov shares the powerful secrets of strategy he has learned from dominating the world’s most intellectually challenging game – lessons about mastering the strategic and emotional skills to navigate life’s toughest challenges and maximise success no matter how tough the competition. ‘Unfortunately, the number of ways to do something wrong always exceeds the number of ways to do it right’. Drawing on a wealth of revealing and instructive stories, not only from the most intense and decisive moments of his greatest games, but also from his wide-ranging and perceptive reading, Kasparov reveals the strategic ways of thinking that always give a player – in life as in chess – the edge. We learn about the great figures of the game, and how their contests have shaped chess history; from Capablanca and Alekhine to Bobby Fischer and Kasparov’s nemesis, Vladimir Kramnik. ‘It’s much better to be a little over-confident than the opposite. As Churchill wrote, “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. If we trust in our abilities they will repay us”. With a raconteur’s engaging charm, Garry Kasparov takes us inside a brilliant strategic mind. As Sun-Tzu distilled the secrets of the art of war and Machiavelli unveiled the lessons to be learned from courtly intrigue, Kasparov – a player whose record is likely never to be rivalled – reveals how and why the game of chess is a fitting and powerful teacher of how to be prepared for, and how to win in, even the most competitive situations. ‘I used to attack because it was the only thing I knew. Not I attack because I know it works best’.

«Everybody knows Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson’s best-loved character. But what do they know about Jacqueline herself? In this fascinating book, discover... ...how Jacky played with paper dolls like April in «Dustbin Baby». ...how she dealt with an unpredictable father like Prue in Love Lessons. ...how she sat entrance exams like Ruby in Double Act. But most of all how Jacky loved reading and writing stories. Losing herself in a new world was the best possible way she could think of spending her time. From the very first story she wrote, «Meet the Maggots», it was clear that this little girl had a very vivid imagination. But who would’ve guessed that she would grow up to be the mega-bestselling, award-winning Jacqueline Wilson! Jacqueline Wilson takes a look back at her own childhood in this captivating story of friendships, loneliness, books, toys, parents and much more. She explores her early years with the same warmth and lightness of touch that imbues her novels and covers such difficult issues as her parents' extra-marital affairs with delicacy. With photographs and new illustrations by Nick Sharratt, this book is a delight for all of Jacky's fans, and a treat for any new readers too.»

The beefy ‘Stilton’ Cheesewright has drawn Bertie Wooster as red-hot favourite in the Drones club annual darts tournament – which is lucky for Bertie because otherwise Stilton would have beaten him to a pulp and buttered the lawn with him. Stilton does not like men who he thinks are trifling with his fiancée’s affections. Meanwhile Bertie has committed a more heinous offence by growing a moustache, and Jeeves strongly disapproves – which is unfortunate, because Jeeves’s feudal spirit is desperately needed. Bertie’s Aunt Dahlia is trying to sell her magazine Milady’s Boudoir to the Trotter Empire and still keep her amazing chef Anatole out of Lady Trotter’s clutches. And Bertie? Bertie simply has to try to keep his moustache and survive to the end of the novel.

Jeeves is on holiday in Herne Bay, and while he’s away the world caves in on Bertie Wooster. For a start, he’s astonished to read in The Times of his engagement to the mercurial Bobbie Wickham. Then at Brinkley Court, his Aunt Dahlia’s establishment, he finds his awful former head master in attendance ready to award the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School. And finally the Brinkley butler turns out for reasons of his own to be Bertie’s nemesis in disguise, the brain surgeon Sir Roderick Glossop. With all occasions informing against him, Bertie has to hightail it to Herne Bay to liberate Jeeves from his shrimping net. And after that, the fun really starts.

Trapped in rural Steeple Bumpleigh, a man less stalwart than Bertie Wooster would probably give way at the knees. For among those present were Florence Craye, to whom Bertie had once been engaged and her new fiancé ‘Stilton’ Cheesewright, who sees Bertie as a snake in the grass. And that biggest blot on the landscape, Edwin the Boy Scout, who is busy doing acts of kindness out of sheer malevolence. All Bertie’s forebodings are fully justified. For in his efforts to oil the wheels of commerce, promote the course of true love and avoid the consequences of a vendetta, he becomes the prey of all and sundry. In fact only Jeeves can save him…

Sylvie and Carl have been friends since they were tiny children. They've always played together, eaten with each other's families, called each other boyfriend and girlfriend and deep down, Sylvie has always believed that they'd end up married to each other. They even have a magical fantasy world that belongs to them alone — and the glass hut where it's all created, at the bottom of Carl's garden. But as they become teenagers, things are starting to change. They each have different friends. Sylvie would still rather spend all her time with Carl. But Carl has a new friend, Paul, who is taking all his attention. And he seems much less happy to be called Sylvie's boyfriend. And in a game of spin the bottle, he avoids having to kiss her. Sylvie can tell his feelings have changed and that her plans for the future may be affected. But can she guess at the true reasons behind it all? A moving, compelling and delicately handled treatment of sexuality from the Children's Laureate.

Lady Constance Keeble, sister of Lord Emsworth of Blandings Castle, has both an imperious manner and a valuable diamond necklace. The precarious peace of Blandings is shattered when her necklace becomes the object of dark plottings, for within the castle lurk some well-connected jewel thieves – among them the Honourable Freddie Threepwood, Lord Emsworth’s younger son, who wants the reward money to set up a bookmaking business. Psmith, the elegant socialist, is also after it for his newly married chum Mike. And on patrol with the impossible task of bringing management to Blandings is the Efficient Baxter, whose strivings for order lead to a memorable encounter with the castle flowerpots. Will peace ever return to Blandings Castle...?

This remarkably ambitious book tells the story of the great social and political catastrophe that enveloped Europe between 1914 and 1945. In a period of almost continuous upheaval society was transformed by two world wars, the Russian Revolution, the Holocaust and the rise and fall of the Third Reich. Combining a powerful narrative with profound analysis, acclaimed historian Robert Gellately argues that these tragedies are inextricably linked and that to consider them as discrete events is to misunderstand their genesis and character. Central, of course, to the catastrophe were the dictators Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler and this book makes unprecedented use of recently opened Russian and German sources to explain how their pursuit of utopian — and dreadfully flawed — ideals led only to dystopian nightmare. In a groundbreaking work Robert Gellately makes clear that most comparative studies of the Soviet and Nazi dictatorships are undermined by neglecting the key importance of Lenins role. The author rejects the myth of the 'good' Lenin and demonstrates his centrality in the unfolding drama. The book provides a powerful social-historical account of all three dictatorships and carefully documents their similarities and differences. It traces the escalation of conflicts between Communism and Nazism and shows how the vicious rivalry between Stalin and Hitler led inescapably to a war of annihilation and genocide. The reverberations of this gargantuan struggle are felt everywhere to this day.

At Deverill Hall, an idyllic Tudor manor in the picture-perfect village of King's Deverill, impostors are in the air. The prime example is man-about-town Bertie Wooster, doing a good turn to Gussie Fink-Nottle by impersonating him while he enjoys fourteen days away from society after being caught taking an unscheduled dip in the fountains of Trafalgar Square. Bertie is of course one of nature’s gentlemen, but the stakes are high: if all is revealed, there’s a danger that Gussie’s simpering fiancée Madeline may turn her wide eyes on Bertie instead. It’s a brilliant plan – until Gussie himself turns up, imitating Bertram Wooster. After that, only the massive brain of Jeeves (himself in disguise) can set things right.

In the Angler’s Rest, drinking hot scotch and lemon, sits one of Wodehouse’s greatest raconteurs. Mr Mulliner, his vivid imagination lubricated by Miss Postlethwaite the barmaid, has fabulous stories to tell of the extraordinary behaviour of his far-flung family: In particular there’s Wilfred, inventor of Raven Gypsy face-cream and Snow of the Mountain Lotion, who lights on the formula for Buck-U-Uppo, a tonic given to elephants to enable them to face tigers with the necessary nonchalance. Its explosive effects on a shy young curate and then the higher clergy is gravely revealed. And there’s his cousin James, the detective-story writer, who has inherited a cottage more haunted than anything in his own imagination. And stuttering George the crossword whizz. And Isadore Zinzinheimer, head of the Bigger, Better & Brighter Motion Picture Company. Tall tales all – but among Wodehouse’s best.

‘I am greatly relieved that the universe is finally explainable. I was beginning to think it was me’. Thus begins ‘Strung Out’, Woody Allen’s hilarious application of the laws of the universe to daily life. Mere Anarchy, Woody Allen’s first new collection in over 25 years, features eighteen witty, wild and intelligent comic pieces – eight of which have never been in print before. Surreal, absurd, rich in verbal play, bitingly satirical and just plan daft in the mode we have grown to love from his finest films, this flight-of-fancy collection includes tales of a body double who, mistaken for the film’s star, is kidnapped by outlaws; a pretentious novelist forced to work on the novelisation of a Three Stooges film; a nanny secretly writing an expose of her Manhattan employers; crooks selling bespoke prayers on eBay; and how to react when you’re asked to finance a Broadway play about the invention and manufacture of the adjustable showerhead.

In the bar-parlour of the Angler’s Rest, Mr Mulliner tells his amazing tales, which hold the assembled company of Pints of Stout and Whiskies and Splash in the palm of his expressive hand. Here you can discover what happened to The Man Who Gave Up Smoking, share a frisson when the butler delivers Something Squishy on a silver salver (‘your serpent, Sir’, said the voice of Simmons) ­– and experience the dreadful Unpleasantness at Bludleigh Court. Throughout the Mulliner clan remains resourcefully in command in the most outlandish situations.

A private detective who can make the guilty confess simply by smiling at them. An artist so intimidated by his morally impeccable cat that he feels compelled to wear formal attire at dinner. A devotee of Proust whose life is turned upside down when he inadvertently subscribes to a correspondence course on How to Acquire Complete Self-Confidence and an Iron Will. These are just a few of the many members of the eccentric Mulliner clan whose lives and exploits are laid before the regulars of the Angler’s Rest by that doyen of raconteurs, Mr Mulliner, in a series of tall stories where lunacy and comic exuberance reign supreme.