Benjamin Britten 1950 and 1960, 1947, 1956 and 1950 recordings include The Holy Sonnets of John Donne Op. 35 and folk songs like The Plough Boy, Six Dukes Went A-Fishin’, Long Time Ago, Simple Gifts and I Bought Me A Cat.


ONLY £5 72862 WAR FILE: The


Normandy Battles DVD by Pegasus Entertainment Narrated by Michael Leighton, the DVD also features an interview with the Rt. Hon. Viscount Montgomery of Alamein CBE. After the D-day landings in June 1944, the Allied troops found themselves up against stiff German defensive positions. As a result of the desperate fighting


which followed, the German army was pushed back towards Paris, and the tide of the war was finally flowing in favour of the Allies. Featuring the Allied air campaign and the Carpiquet airfield, this programme tells the story of the mighty battle for the town of Caen, and the shambles of ‘Operation Goodwood’, one of the great British disasters of WW2. Rare archive footage in black and white, informative maps and graphics in colour. 55 minute DVD. £9.99 NOW £4


72856 THE PANZER DVD by The War File The story of Adolf Hitler’s infamous Panzer Divisions. Battle tanks decided many battles during World War Two and some 25,000 were produced in Germany and some 250,000 by the Allies during the conflicts. The German Panzer Divisions became legendary and the crews still vividly remember their mechanical mounts, the sounds they produced, the smell of fuel and oil, the effects they had on the enemy and also the fact that the Panzer could become a steel coffin in one blazing moment. The six scene selections include The Tiger and the Panther, The Tiger Kings and the Panzers in Action. 58 minute DVD.


£9.99 NOW £4.50 72858 WAR FILE: RAF


Bomber Command DVD Bomber Command was responsible for carrying the war to Hitler’s Germany when Britain stood alone during the early years of the war. By 1942 losses had grown so heavy that the RAF adopted a policy of night bombing only. The staggeringly high casualties were borne with unwavering resolve by


the men who knew they had a job to do. This is the story of the air war over Germany from the British viewpoint featuring archive material from both British and German sources, new footage of surviving RAF bombers, illustrated maps and graphics and military analysis by Dr Robin Clifton of Warwick University. 50 minute DVD. £9.99 NOW £4


72857 U-BOAT 534 DVD by The War File, Seapower


‘Underwater, underhanded and damned un-English’ they might have been, but submarine development and deployment has long been an integral part of naval warfare. It has proved the ultimate method of improving the odds against a superior surface fleet. The attempts to create the perfect sub was a long and often tragic affair and this DVD tracks the evolution of underwater crafts from the early Turtle to the privileged look inside the salvaged U-boat 534 and beyond. We examine the living conditions and true bravery shown by all her crew and the special scene selections include the Self-Propelled Torpedo, The Holland Submarine and German U-boats. 50 minutes in colour and b/w. £9.99 NOW £4


72859 WAR FILE: Atlantic Convoys DVD by Cromwell Productions


After June 1940, German U-Boats began to operate in the Atlantic and appalling losses were inflicted on Allied merchant shipping. Arctic convoys were twice suspended in 1942 as German aircraft and submarines wrought havoc on the waves. The trip to the Russian port of Murmansk soon became known as the ‘death trip’ because so few ships returned. Featuring powerful filmed memories of veterans from both sides, here is an account of WW2’s most pitiless theatres of operations. The DVD features 3D graphics and animation to show the realities of submarine attack and the mechanics of a ship’s defences, together with an in-depth analysis from Dr Tim Bean of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Features radar technology. 50 minute DVD. £9.99 NOW £5


72860 WAR FILE: The Messerschmitt BF109


DVD by Pegasus Entertainment By the outbreak of WW2, the German Luftwaffe possessed more than 3500 frontline aircraft. Over one third of these were single engine fighters and for the next six years one of those fighters would become the flagship of the German fighter force - the Messerschmitt BF109. This legendary aircraft remained in operational service throughout the war, fighting on all fronts and in doing so was responsible for shooting down twice as many enemy aircraft as any other fighter plane in the annals of military history. Features the Daimler Benz BS109E, Hermann Goering changing tactics, night fighting, BF109 pilots and the Luftwaffe fuel crisis. 55 minute DVD.


£9.99 NOW £4.50


72861 U-BOAT WAR DVD by The War File German Navy’s U-boat fleet - the dreaded Wolf Pack stalked the Atlantic depths, bringing instant death to merchant men and warships alike. A decade of secret rebuilding had brought forth capital ships like the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen. Commanded by Admiral Karl Doenitz, the submarines laid waste to shipping, cutting supply lines and striking from within convoys where Allied escorts dare not use guns. On the 4th May 1945, Doenitz issued orders to cease hostilities. Six scene selections plus a stills gallery on 55 minute DVD.


£9.99 NOW £4.75


72866 HISTORY OF THE BUS DVD From the horse-drawn carriage to the modern bus, this 55 minute colour programme includes interactive menus, a slide show and five scene selections. The ubiquitous urban bus has been carrying passengers in British streets for over 160 years. In modern times it has been unrivalled since the demise of the electric tram. Our programme maps the history and the development of the bus in its social and economic context and takes a look at the major technological advances of the vehicles that are on the road today. £9.99 NOW £4.50


72852 THE HANOVERIANS 1714-1837 DVD


From the UK History Channel this 45 minute programme contains colour material and is one of the Kings and Queens of England series. From George I to the Accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, the Hanoverian period was fairly stable with five kings, one of whom, George III was to be the longest


reigning king in British history. It was also a period of great political reform which saw the election of Britain’s first Prime Minister, Robert Walpole and the introduction of Income Tax. It was a time that despite the loss of the American colonies the British Empire covered a third of the globe.


£9.99 NOW £3.75


72854 THE HISTORY FILE: Celtic Legend DVD


Focussing on Irish legend, Celtic warriors, the defeat of the Gaelic Rebellion, Boadicea’s death, the Cattle Raid of Cooley, here are atmospheric reconstructions in colour film, re-enactment of a mystical past and expert analysis plus informative maps and graphics in colour on this 60 minute DVD. The DVD tells the stories of some of the great figures


of Irish legend with the breathtaking beauty of the Irish countryside as its backdrop. Looks at the stories of St. Patrick, the Gallic Celts, Finn MacCumhaill and Cuchulainn.


£9.99 NOW £4.50 HOW TO...


72188 HOW GREEN ARE MY WELLIES? Small Steps and Giant Leaps to Green Living


with Style by Anna Shepard The author explores everything from avocado cleansers through guerrilla gardening to worm-racing in order to perfect her art. Whether growing vegetables, throwing a clothes-swap party, concocting natural potions, or


green speed-dating, she proves that being planet-friendly is surprisingly liberating and enriching. 384 pages with line drawings and Green Directory. £14.99 NOW £3.50


71887 THE COMPANION TO LOCAL HISTORY by Stephen Friar


With over 2,000 entries, it is the most comprehensive single-volume guide ever published. In an easy-to-use A-Z format, it answers many of the questions that arise in the course of local history research. There are obscure terms that crop up in old documents - shott, scutage, escheat - and longer entries on, for example, the dissolution of the monasteries, place-names, education and genealogy. A detailed system of cross-referencing leads to subsidiary entries exploring related topics or defining specialised terms. 506 paperback, illus and addresses of major organisations. £16.99 NOW £3.50


72086 HOW TO CLEAN ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING by Barty Phillips


Covering floors, surfaces and windows, stain removal, delicate fabrics, silver, furniture, pests and jewellery, it is an A-Z listing of everything you could wish to scrub, soak or sponge with sparkling results and not too much effort and without the need for expensive products. Wash paintwork, learn how to get rid of crayon, how to absorb dirt from fur and felt with bran or talcum powder, how to look after slate plus useful addresses and suppliers. 213pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £3


72104 VINEGAR: 100s of Household Uses


by Maria Costantino and Gina Steer Use vinegar to look after your nails and nail polish, as hair conditioner, to alleviate dandruff, to treat varicose veins, corns and calluses, for odour control, garden furniture and home exteriors, in gardening, to keep plaster wet a little longer, to spray on wallpaper before stripping it, to remove sticky hand marks on paint, to clean windows, shower curtains, freshen your vacuum flask, stop your colours running in the wash, treat ink spots and recipes and much more. Colour photos. 352 page softback. £9.99 NOW £4


72990 HELP THEM BEAT THE BOOZE by Edmund and Helen Tirbutt


Subtitled ‘How to Survive Life With a Problem Drinker’, this sensitive and accessible guide speaks directly to those who understand what it is like to know or love a problem drinker and who wants to help them recover. There are case studies throughout with advice based on in-depth research into alcohol addiction plus the authors’ personal experiences. It helps us understand addiction, how to communicate with the drinker, practical steps to help him and yourself recover, little-known new methods and how to protect children. 231pp in paperback.


£9.99 NOW £3.75


ORDER HOTLINE: 0207 474 2474 HUMOUR


73512 UNEXPECTED ITEM IN


THE BAGGING AREA by Chris Martin The modern world! Who needs it? Here is a book that will unleash your inner curmudgeon as the author accompanies you through the pitfalls and pratfalls of contemporary living: the stresses of the supermarket checkout, the curse of the loyalty card, the expense of the Kindle which is such an economical idea


until you leave it on the train. And dare we mention online passwords? No? Moving on, then, but still with the internet, your neighbours can (and do) ogle your whole house interior if you put it on the market, while on Facebook you get prominently tagged at that terrible office party the details of which are rather hazy in the memory. In France there are lawsuits hanging over Google Street View from people who have been captured for posterity in some dubious activity. Then there are the perils of contemporary travel, involving the so-called Quiet Carriage, the Automated Check-in with its incomprehensible instructions “worthy of The Da Vinci Code”, and if you actually make it into the Departure Lounge, the agonising choice between Big, Huge or Vast cartons of coffee. Choose the recipient of this gift carefully. 192pp, cartoons. £9.99 NOW £5


73387 THE CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM: A Miscellany


of Scandalous Gossip Bawdy Jokes, Peculiar Facts and Bad Behavior from the Ancient Greeks and Romans by Philip Matyszak Xenophon did it. Pliny did it. In fact many ancient writers did it - that is, they collected lively anecdotes and after-dinner jokes. Here, a writer and historian gathers


together his favourite incidents, wisecracks and curious facts, not from modern times but from ancient Greece and Rome. This collection includes humorous quips by the emperor Augustus and wry observations by the philosopher Socrates. There are stories of ghastly crimes, incredible journeys, and some bizarre military mishaps, together with dozens of lists covering unusual topics - such as Romans who lived to be 100, or odd deities like Sterculinus, the god of manure spreading. Many of the tales, such as a statue who was tried for murder, may seem strange to us but, in those days, they were normal enough. The mind boggles! 192 pages with 109 illustrations in b/w. $24.95 NOW £6


70514 WHY DO FARTS


SMELL LIKE ROTTEN EGGS? by Mitchell Symons


Ever wondered why we ‘knuckle down’ to tasks? Or why we can be said to be ‘happy as a clam’? Its acid green colour and cheeky illustrations ensure you are in for hours of fun facts and curious trivia - do lemmings really jump off cliffs? Why are enthusiasts called ‘buffs’? Why is Blackadder’s Baldrick known


as a dogsbody? 335 pages, packed with wacky facts and entertaining illus. £7.99 NOW £3


71490 HUMORISTS: From Hogarth to Noel Coward by Paul Johnson


The diverse cast of legendary raconteurs includes Charlie Chaplin, Nancy Mitford, Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Charles Dickens, Dr Johnson and many more. Humour is ungraspable. As W. C. Fields said: ‘We know what makes people laugh. We do not know why they laugh’. That is as true today as it was in 2900 BC in ancient Egypt, when a hieroglyph for ‘laughing’ was carved into a stone. This impressive selection includes darkest humour, broad satire, bawdy wit, biting sarcasm and much more. Have a good chuckle! 228 pages. £16.99 NOW £4


71444 BEST OF MAC 2000-2009: A Decade of Cartoons from the Daily Mail


by Stan McMurtry (Mac) edited by Mark Bryant Instead of publishing the usual


annual book, the Daily Mail, in its wisdom, decided to leave it to the author to pick his favourites from the past ten years. Considering that he is never truly happy with what he drew last week, never mind a whole decade’s worth, this was a gargantuan task. Rising oil prices, GM food protests, the credit crunch, financial irregularity, failing schools and hospitals, sex scandals and more! Try not to split your sides on the 128 hilarious pages.


£9.99 NOW £1.50 71445 BEST OF MAC: The


Political Years 2010 What a decade it was! Meteors rained down on Tony Blair’s Labour government from page one onwards as we see how little has changed. Captions plus explanations, one large cartoon


per page ending in May 2010. £9.99 NOW £1.50


72556 YOU DON’T KNOW SH*T: The Ultimate


Toilet Book by Doug Mayer, Val Stori et al The Romans didn’t give a poo - they sat cheerily alongside a dozen fellow citizens, each also mid- droppage. When medieval monks started pooing alone,


!


Humour 15


Annie’s Choice 73336 BON MOTS, WISECRACKS, AND


She loves to stroke the famous fat cat at the Algonquin Hotel!


GAGS edited by Robert E Drennan Sub-titled ‘The Wit of Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and the Algonquin Round Table’. The 1920s was a period remembered for its gaiety, lawlessness and prosperity. It was a time of relief, following ‘the war to end all wars’. Urbanity, sophistication, literacy and fashion replaced the old frontier spirit in America. In the face of the Prohibition of alcohol, speakeasies - selling illegal liquor - flourished. The owner of the Algonquin Hotel in New York installed a large round table for the apparent purpose of catering to a group of young, unknown literati, little thinking that it and they would become famous. The men and women who eventually made up the Vicious Circle, as they called it, embraced the Roaring Twenties for the fun-loving hell of it, setting the pace, telling the jokes, pulling the pranks and ignoring the future. They included such later luminaries as the writer and critic Dorothy Parker, the novelist and playwright Edna Ferber, theatrical stars Harpo Marx, Paul Robeson, Noël Coward and a host of other habitués. They were some of the sharpest minds of their day and their lunches were notorious for their rapid-fire banter, devastating put-downs and world-class word-play. Here are some of their finest quotes, in which readers cannot fail to delight. 176 softback pages illustrated in b/w with cast of characters and brief biographies.


$12.95 NOW £5


everything changed. This historical romp down the back alleys and sewers compares average number of pieces, weight, combined length, diameter, shape, odour, colour and sinking or floaters with types 1 to 7. Drawings and photos, 214pp.


£9.99 NOW £3.50


72643 THE BOOK OF THE DEAD: Lives of the Justly Famous and the


Undeservedly Obscure by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson


This is a book that is more keen on tapping into incredible connections and coincidences than building a closed system of classification. So, the authors have selected themes that focus on people who died virgins, who kept pet monkeys,


who lost limbs or whose corpses refused to stay put. From a cross-dressing, bear-baiting female gangster to the reason why Freud had a lifelong fear of trains, and from the one thing that really made Isaac Newton laugh to the inside story on how Catherine the Great really died, this sparkling non-biography will keep you riveted from beginning to end. 434 rough cut pages. $21.95 NOW £3.50


71897 CARTOONS AND CORONETS: The Genius of Osbert Lancaster


introduced and selected by James Knox In his heyday Osbert Lancaster was one of the foremost artistic personalities of his generation, renowned as a satirist, cartoonist, theatrical designer, dandy and wit. His work ranges from architectural satires, which introduced styles such as Stockbrokers’ Tudor to the critical canon, through acclaimed stage and costume designs for Covent Garden and Glyndebourne to visual parodies and jokes. His fine draughtsmanship, eye for detail and historical sense make his work truly exceptional. 224 softback pages 18.5cm x 24cm, illus in colour and b/w. £15 NOW £5


72078 THE ANTS ARE MY FRIENDS: A Celebration of Misheard Lyrics and Other


Linguistic Gaffes by Martin Toseland This delightful book is a celebration of those moments when words and phrases are unintentionally ‘transformationed’ into something weird and wonderful. Here are are misheard song lyrics, from which rich vein of accidental invention come such gems as ‘Deck the halls with bowels of holly’. 156 pages in paperback with line drawings. £6.99 NOW £2.50


72215 SCIENCE WITHOUT THE BORING BITS by Ian Crofton


Subtitled Cranks, Curiosities, Crazy Experiments and Wild Speculation. Here you can read all about Soviet attempts to create an ape-human hybrid. Here are recorded in side-splitting detail Sir John Hershel’s belief in the nutritional value of sawdust, the experiment showing that the soul weighs precisely 21 grams, and the French physician who injected himself with guinea-pig testicles. These are just a few of the many colourful and amazing stories contained within the covers of this chuckle-a- minute volume. 320 pages, illus. £12.99 NOW £4.50


72535 MRS HUDSON’S DIARIES: A View from the Landing at 221B


by Barry Cryer and Bob Cryer Here are the long-lost diaries of Mrs Hudson, almost unflappable landlady of Sherlock Holmes and his amanuensis Doctor Watson. Interspersed with her fascinating keepsakes - letters, recipes, calling cards and photos - these writings offer an affectionate and hilarious sketch of a remarkably enterprising Victorian female. Her humorous musings recall talking to the spirit world, dancing with government officials and nights at the music hall, not to mention mysterious visitors, disappearances, and the unexplained shouts and bangs that always seem to accompany the man she initially thinks is called Shylock! 187 pages, illus. £12.99 NOW £5


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