ORDER HOTLINE: 020 74 74 24 74 HEALTH


They always say take an aspirin for a headache – who wants a headache?


- Tommy Cooper 74201 PLANT POWERED


DIET by Sharon Palmer What better than the new year to plan a 14 day diet to get you started with 75 plant based recipes to enjoy a lifelong eating plan to achieve optimal health? Whether you are vegan, vegetarian or a meat eater, you should eat more whole plants. Studies indicate that by eating whole, minimally processed plant foods, humans can gain protection against everyday illness, diabetes,


obesity, depression, mental decline, heart disease and even cancer. The most up-to-date findings in nutrition are explained with essential information on the healthiest plant foods - wholegrain, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and even herbs, spices, chocolate, coffee, tea and wine. There is advice for navigating the supermarket, kitchen, restaurant menus, on-the-go meals, exercise and more. All with complete nutritional data and weekly food guide tables, how to understand food labels, portions, how to use avocados as fat, fibre sense and much more. 412pp in paperback. £14.99 NOW £5


74299 MIDDLE AGE: A


Natural History by David Bainbridge


Why does time speed up as you get older? Do middle-aged people really become more conservative? Why are the anti-wrinkle creams failing to work? Is the male mid-life crisis just an excuse to buy a sports car? Have I come to the end of my productive life as a human being? What am I now for? By looking at


the latest research from the fields of anthropology, neuro-science, psychology and reproductive biology, he concludes that the answers are surprisingly encouraging. In clear prose, he explains the science behind the physical, mental and emotional changes men and women experience between the ages of forty and sixty, and reveals the evolutionary, and personal, benefits of middle age - a phenomenon unique to human beings, which helps to explain the extraordinary success of our species. An eye-opening 317 paperback pages with conclusion: The View from the Summit. £14.99 NOW £5


74271 HAND REFLEXOLOGY by Michael and Louise Keet Reflexology, like many Eastern therapies, is largely about energy and energy blockages, and balancing a system in ‘dis-ease’. Most people associate reflexology with the feet, but hand reflexology has certain advantages, especially if your feet are ticklish. You can treat yourself in public, and even ward off travel sickness. Reflex points on the hand


can be stimulated to clear energy flows around the body and to treat and prevent a variety of common ailments of the cardiovascular, nervous, respiratory, urinary, ear, nose and throat, digestive, circulatory and endocrine systems, together with the immune system and more. Discover all the basic techniques and closing moves in these 10 and 15 minute routines to suit everyone including children and the elderly. 128pp in large softback with colour diagrams and photos. £9.99 NOW £4


73284 HYPOCHONDRIAC’S HANDBOOK: For Treatment of Syndromes, Diseases, and Ailments that Probably Should Have Killed You By Now by Ian Landau


If you wake up covered in little red bumps, do not panic. It is probably Mud Wrestler’s Rash. Has your blood disappeared and are you convinced you are dead? It may be Cotard’s Syndrome. Do not worry if you have Carrot Addiction, it is quite common. At least you do not have to panic about getting enough vitamins. What a reassuring book to have at your fingertips. 198 paperback pages, coloured cartoons. £12.95 NOW £2.50


73521 CLEAN UP YOUR DIET: Change the Way You Eat by Max Tomlinson


Select a detox, digestion or energy-boosting programme that suits your lifestyle and follow the easy menu plans to create simple, delicious dishes. Then add optimum exercise, stretching, breathing, meditation and massage routines. This, the author assures us, will revolutionize your diet and your health. You will then be protecting yourself against low energy, burn-out, stress and disease. You will be in a condition to combat common conditions such as IBS, eczema, headaches, insomnia, PMS, hay fever, acne and asthma, because you will have moved away from processed, chemically laden food. 256 pages. £7.99 NOW £3.75


73532 SECRETS OF STAYING YOUNG: How to


Feel 30 Years Younger by Rosemary Conley


Rosemary’s body, she says, feels 35, although she will shortly be 65. She suggests easy-to-do exercise regimes that will keep you in great shape, no matter what your age. As a bonus, Rosemary provides tips on dressing to flatter your shape, facial exercises to counter the effects of ageing, advice on hair, make-up and how to take care of your skin. 220 paperback pages 23cm x 19cm with colour photos, web addresses, personal calorie allowances and BMR charts. £12.99 NOW £4.75


73791 PRO NAIL CARE: Salon Secrets of the Professionals by Leigh Toselli


Beautiful finger and toenails are a small luxury to give you a feeling of well-being. Following detailed instructions for healthy nailcare and a section on equipment and tools, the book continues with manicure and pedicure basics, including massage, traditional French white-tip manicure, and the American version with softer colours. Tips, wraps, acrylics and gels are covered, and the next chapter introduces a range of creative nail options, including marbling, abstract dots, foiling and polish-secure rhinestones. Coloured acrylics can be used for more permanent effects such as the embedding of leaves, pearls and beads. Concludes with a gallery of stunning effects. 254pp, spiral-bound, glossary, colour photos. $29.95 NOW £7


72154 AESTHETIC SURGERY edited by Angelika Taschen


No longer the preserve of rich celebrities, cosmetic surgery has seen a huge development in the 21st century as procedures become more sophisticated. For this big and comprehensive book, 40 cosmetic surgeons were interviewed and photographed at work. The first section of the book is a gallery of artworks, and the following chapters cover the history of aesthetic surgery, techniques of different operations and the work of major practitioners. The book is fully illustrated with colour photos, but be warned: not only are there many fascinating “before” and “after” studies, there are also quite a few dramamtic colour pictures taken “during”, including a sex change. 460pp, surgeons’ details and addresses. ONLY £10


72367 THE MIDWIFE’S HERE! by Linda Fairley


!


When 20 year old Linda had her first taste of midwifery at St Mary’s Maternity Hospital, Manchester, it was a place from a bygone era. Nurses in full skirts and starched caps hurried around steaming laundries and milk kitchens, Matron’s commands booming after them. 40 years and over 2000 babies later, here is the true story of Britain’s longest-serving midwife. Colour and b/w photos, 308pp in paperback. £6.99 NOW £2.25


72755 BACK PAIN BOOK by Mike Hage Back pain afflicts millions of people and is caused by the way we sit, stand, walk and go about our daily life. This big book illustrates 700 different physical movements which address the problem, with particular emphasis on relieving pain in the neck and lower back. The first section has breathing exercises and relief positions aimed to ease the lower back, with rotational additions to the standard bending and stretching. Getting out of bed, showering, commuting, housework, travel and choice of mattress are all areas needing advice. 240pp, line drawings. ONLY £5


72770 HOSPITAL BABYLON


by Imogen Edwards-Jones and Anonymous Subtitled ‘True Confessions from the Front Line of Accident and Emergency’, welcome to Hospital Babylon where patients get lost, the healthy get sick and spare kidneys get flown in from the Indian subcontinent. Meet the doctors who sleep with nurses, nurses who sleep with patients and patients who spit, scream, vomit and fight. There are doctors who pump up breasts, lips and steal Class A drugs from patients in cardiac arrest. Packed with shocking anonymous confessions. 318pp, paperback.


£12.99 NOW £2.75 72828 DANCE TO THE MUSICALS: The


Fun Way to Fitness by Arlene Phillips Dancing is not only wonderful for fitness and toning, because the combination of cardiovascular exercise and music also triggers the release of endorphins which makes you feel great at the same time. As adults, we have lost that ability and Arlene Phillips - of Strictly Come Dancing fame has set ten dance routines including: The Time Of My Life, We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia and Night Fever. Clear, easy-to-follow instructions, and step-by-step photography. 224 pages 26cm x 21.5cm, colour illus, PLUS FREE DVD with four routines to Hairspray, Grease, Fame, and Joseph. £18.99 NOW £4


72834 PILATES FOR WEIGHT LOSS by Lynne Robinson


Where Pilates excels is in its ability to build lean muscle tissue, enabling your body to be more efficient at burning calories. Health benefits include improved posture, circulation, less pain in joints and muscles, joint mobility and healing, bone density, stress relief, a better immune system, an enhanced sex life, improved balance and coordination and anti ageing benefits. Attack those love handles and define your waist and follow the 15 or 30 minute workouts. Colour photos. 160pp, large softback. £12.99 NOW £3.50


72835 SWIM FOR LIFE: Optimise Technique,


Fitness, Enjoyment by Greg Whyte A leading physiologist breaks down the four major strokes into step-by-step instructions and pictures, enabling you to perfect your style and increase your speed. You will also discover how goal-setting, and designing a swimming programme can keep you motivated, and there is even advice on expanding your swimming horizons to include open water. 144 softback pages 23.5cm x 19cm illustrated by colour photos. £12.99 NOW £2.50


73124 CANCER SURVIVOR’S COMPANION by Dr Frances Goodhart and Lucy Atkins The emotional fallout and psychological readjustment after cancer endures for years and impinges on many different facets of everyday personal and family life. This book is packed with simple and practical ways to tackle each issue such as worry and anxiety, depression and low moods, anger, self esteem and body image, relationships and sex, fatigue, sleep and relaxation. It is also invaluable if you are supporting a loved one, friend or colleague. Some of the case studies are quite heartbreaking. 278pp in paperback. An award-winning health book.


£9.99 NOW £4.50 HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY


To me, old age is always fifteen years older than I am.


- Bernard Mannes Baruch 74279 ALIX AND NICKY: The Passion of the


Last Tsar and Tsarina by Virginia Rounding There can be few characters in history who have divided opinion quite like Tsar Nicholas II and the Empress Alexandra. To some, they were the innocent victims of Bolshevik assassins, venerated as saints and martyrs. To others, they were the decadent harbingers of revolution and imperial collapse, blamed for many of the ills that befell the Russian people in the 20th century. But, whichever view readers take, they cannot but be moved by the love between husband and wife. Nicky wrote in his diary: ‘...the lord has rewarded me... with a happiness which I could never have imagined. He has given me Alix’. And she wrote: ‘Ever true and ever loving, faithful, pure and strong as death’. 24 years later, they were found together, with their family, butchered in a blood-spattered cellar in Ekaterinburg. Their lives had not been easy. Their adored only son was a haemophiliac, destined to be an invalid, and they were terrified that he would have an accident and bleed to death. The Empress, too, was constantly beleaguered by illness. Then there was the difficult relationship with the Siberian peasant Grigory Rasputin ‘the Wonder-Worker’ who believed that he was ‘predestined to do something great and beautiful for the Tsar and for Russia’ and who not only was entrusted with the ‘cure’ of their son, but who also influenced many of their decisions - whether for better or worse is debated here. This is one of the world’s great true love stories. 368 pages with rare archive b/w photos, notes, Romanov family tree and dramatis personae. £20 NOW £6


74239 MILLINER’S APPRENTICE: Girlhood in


Edwardian Yorkshire by Hazel Wheeler


Travel back in time to village life in rural Edwardian England, when patriotism was the norm, as was going to church on the Sabbath, and the village ‘bobby’, schoolteacher and doctor were looked up to and respected by one and all. This was


when children wore starched white pinafores and enjoyed such innocent pleasures as playing with the little windmills given to them by the rag-and bone man. In an evocative narrative of her mother’s idyllic childhood, the author recreates the life of a country constable’s family through story, anecdote and song and, together with these fascinating sketches of her mother and her family, she also describes the close-knit Yorkshire community in which they lived. This serves as a vital backdrop to the delightful tales which make this book so enthralling. 126 paperback pages choc-full of b/w archive photos. £12.99 NOW £4


74385 JANE AUSTEN by Marghanita Laski Jane Austen sprang from the upper middle class society of late 18th century southern England. Orthodox in morals and religion, generally Tory in politics, this was the milieu which she describes so memorably in her novels and which is vividly evoked in this book. Her environment provided her with material ideally suited to her talents: accurate observation of character, wit, dramatic intuition, and an ear for realistic dialogue. These gifts were already evident in the early and satirical novels, such as Northanger Abbey and Sense and Sensibility but they later found their perfect expression in the great books of her maturity: Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park, Emma and Persuasion, all lovingly examined here. 143 paperback pages 23cm x 18cm with 137 illustrations in b/w, map, family tree, chronology. ONLY £5


74301 MY FAMILY AND OTHER STRANGERS:


Adventures in Family History by Jeremy Hardy One of our most perceptive comedians wanted to get to the bottom of his grandmother’s dubious claims that the family descended from a certain 17th century architect and that his great-grandfather was a royal bodyguard. Other legends ranged from the great aunt who ran illegal hooch during Prohibition to


the wronged Victorian servant girl who bore an illegitimate Hardy, not to mention the family’s rightful claim to a large country estate. Wild stories aside, the author sets out to such diverse locations as the Croydon one-way system and the hostile waters around Malta in order to find vestiges of recognisable family traits and a sense of how he came to be. 305 paperback pages with b/w, sepia and colour photos and family tree. £11.99 NOW £4


74412 SIX WIVES OF HENRY


VIII by Antonia Fraser Henry VIII changed the course of history with his exorbitant sexual appetite and his possibly genuine belief in the Protestant Reformation. The six wives were all exceptional women in their own right. Katherine of Aragon knew him when he was young and maintained a genuine love for her long-term partner in spite of being


thrust aside for Anne Boleyn. Anne’s fierce Protestantism was allied with an aura of sexuality she could not control had she wished to, although most accusations against her were probably false. Jane Seymour achieved a permanent place in Henry’s volatile


Historical Biography 23


heart by dying quickly in childbirth. Humiliated by Henry for her ugliness, Anne of Cleves remained as a valued member of the court after the divorce. Katherine Howard was an independent young girl, coached by her relatives to attract Henry who was extremely happy with her. Catherine Parr was a woman of education, the author of several devotional works. Unites scholarship with readability. 589pp, paperback. Reproductions, some in colour. £9.99 NOW £5


74415 STALIN: The Court of the Red Tsar


by Simon Sebag Montefiore Critics raved about this blazingly truthful ‘chronicle of brutality and ruthlessness’, and it won the prestigious History Book of the Year award. In order to strike a balance between political narrative and personal biography, the author has travelled extensively, interviewing survivors, as well as mining newly opened archives,


documents, letters, telegrams, memoirs and diaries, to reveal in intimate detail the workings of a highly developed tyranny led by a charming, flirtatious, paranoid sociopath. Here is a portrait of a simple boy from Georgia, at once attractive and repulsive, who rose to rule the Empire of the Tsars. In this history of his court, the fear, betrayal, privilege, debauchery and family life are brought to life. A massive 720 paperback pages with b/w photos, family tree, maps and vast list of characters. £9.99 NOW £5


72756 THE BARD: Robert


Burns, A Biography by Robert Crawford Even a quarter of a millennium after his birth, the life and work of Robert Burns, Scotland’s greatest poet, continues to attract more and more interest. Inspired by the French and American Revolutions and moulded by the Scottish Enlightenment, he was in many senses the first of the great Romantics. Crawford employs a


poet’s insight and sense of human drama to show how the boy steeped in rural Scotland’s peasant song combined this with a supreme linguistic ability to become not only the world’s most popular love poet but also the controversial master poet of modern democracy. 466pp. £20 NOW £5


73088 THE FAIRY TALE OF MY LIFE: An Autobiography


by Hans Christian Andersen and Naomi Lewis The 19th century Danish poet and novelist is best known for his tragic and gruesome fairy tales. The Ugly Duckling, for instance, is a simple telling of Andersen’s history. In 1855, at age 50, he wrote his first official volume and, in 1863, he continued his life story. This highly revealing self-portrait depicts the poverty of his provincial childhood, his extensive journeys from Portugal to Turkey, his friendships and lively encounters with Kierkegaard, Dickens, Hugo, the Brothers Grimm, Balzac and Liszt. 569 paperback pages. £15.95 NOW £3.75


73204 NAPOLEON by Alan Forrest Exiled to St. Helena following his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon set about the task of ensuring that his place in history was as glorious as he could make it. The memoirs he wrote in his final exile were bestsellers and established a Napoleonic cult which in 1840 led to his body being ceremonially brought back to France for re- interment in Les Invalides. Embracing the ideals of Revolutionary France and translating them into a vast administrative machine, Napoleon codified the rights and obligations of citizenship, appointing four legal luminaries to draft comprehensive legislation abolishing the old feudal aristocracy and establishing principles of liberty. He created a carefully selected group of élite Catholic bishops, prepared the ground for his move from the title of First Consul to Emperor. By the time of Waterloo, Britain had generals of equal calibre and Napoleon’s war machine. 403pp, colour. £25 NOW £5.50


73213 CHARLES DICKENS AT HOME by Hilary Macaskill


Charles Dickens is already revered as a storyteller, social campaigner and chronicler of his times, but this interesting volume tracks the many places in which he lived, from his Portsmouth birthplace and childhood home in Chatham, to his last house back in Kent, at Gad’s Hill Place near Rochester. It also vividly describes his various domiciles in London as can be seen in Oliver Twist and A Tale of Two Cities. Includes locations that provided settings for his novels, like Nicholas Nickleby’s Yorkshire and the East Anglia of David Copperfield, which was Dickens’ most autobiographical novel. 144 pages 26cm x 25.5cm, colour and b/w illus, timeline. £25 NOW £9


73309 JAMES IV by Norman MacDougall James IV of Scotland (1473-1513), who ascended the Scottish throne in 1488, is the best-known of the medieval Scottish rulers. Highly regarded by his contemporaries, even the newly empowered Tudors, he combined the necessary qualities of a successful medieval monarch with a wide interest in arts and science. He married wisely, selecting as his bride Margaret Tudor, the daughter of the first Tudor monarch, Henry VII, which kept relations with England cordial and confirmed the Treaty of Perpetual Peace between the two nations in 1502. But by also forming an alliance with the French, he was in a tricky situation when his brother-in-law, Henry VIII, declared war on them. Unfortunately for James, he backed the wrong horse, declaring war on England and, while Henry was occupied in France in September 1513, chose to invade England, the Scots meeting the English army at Flodden in Northumbria on the 9th and being annihilated in one of the greatest military disasters of Scottish history. James himself was killed. When Elizabeth I died leaving no


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