ORDER HOTLINE: 020 74 74 24 74
history and literature, from Nero to Thomas Wainewright, and from the death of Socrates to Hamlet and Peter Pan. Have you ever wondered about the sources of cyanide, strychnine, Botox, ricin and sarin gas? Where do they come from and how could you detect something that can kill you in a matter of seconds? Here are their uses in medicine, cosmetics, war and terrorism in a rich miscellany. 239pp in paperback with line art. £8.99 NOW £4
74312 WATERMELONS: How Environmentalists are Killing the Planet
by James Delingpole If Global Warming is not real how come the ice caps are melting? Why would all these eminent scientists lie to us? What’s wrong with biofuels, wind farms, carbon taxes and sustainability? Delingpole has the answer to these questions, plus a host of others, and they are not the
ones that the environmentalists nor, for that matter, most politicians, would like you to hear. If you immerse yourself into this one with a mind clear of any preconceptions you will not only emerge very entertained and amused, but also wonder how on earth people can fall for the argument of the environmental doom-mongers. If, as is more likely, we balance the author’s refutations against the raft of evidence that says the world is on its way to hell in a overheated handcart, we are much more likely to question the waves of “facts” and “statistics”. What more could any self- respecting polemicist ask for? Great stuff in 314pp paperback.
£9.99 NOW £3.50 73784 LIFE OF PEE
by Sally Magnusson Urine looms large in our lives, though we usually prefer not to mention it. The sheer amount produced every day in Britain alone is a startling statistic, and whatever initial nose-wrinkling you may experience, this little book will quickly have you turning the pages with avid interest. Urine has proved effective in putting out fires, for
instance in the remote province of Sichuan in 2007, and in earlier times it had commercial uses, being a key component of woad for ancient Britons and of stained glass in the medieval period. In 1917 the avant-garde artist Marcel Duchamp exhibited his notorious urinal under the title “Fountain”, though it was inexplicably junked after the exhibition and had to be reconstituted in 1964. 208pp, decorations. £10.99 NOW £3
74127 HOW TO DESTROY THE UNIVERSE by Paul Parsons
Subtitled ‘And 34 Other Really Interesting Uses of Physics’ here are the 35 key physics ideas presented in a way that anyone can understand. Discover how to turn lead into gold, to travel to the centre of the Earth and how to use physics to predict the stock market. Find out how to make the loudest sound on Earth, build an atomic bomb, how to fit a power station in your pocket and how to be everywhere at once. 346pp. Paperback. £8.99 NOW £4
73550 EUREKA MAN: The Life and Legacy of Archimedes by Alan Hirschfeld
The ancient Greek Archimedes has gone down in history as the man who leapt out of the bath crying “Eureka!”, but in fact as an inventor, engineer and mathematician he was one of the greatest scientists of all time, and we know a surprising
amount about his work. The Roman author Cicero refers to his famous Cattle Puzzle, rediscovered in manuscript by the 18th century philosopher Gotthold Lessing, and the author gives the modern reader an intricately worked out solution to this classic mathematical conundrum. Many of Archimedes’ treatises and letters were lost in the sack of Syracuse in 212 B.C., when Archimedes himself was murdered by the invading Romans. Among them was the document known as the Archimedes Palimpsest, revealing Archimedes’ working methods, and the second half of the book is a reconstruction of its chequered and exciting history.
A fast-paced and thrilling mathematical
adventure story. 242pp, diagrams. £20 NOW £6
71932 MOST POWERFUL IDEA IN THE WORLD: A Story of Steam, Industry and Invention by William Rosen
Not just about the history of the Industrial Revolution and the steam engine, but also an account of how inventors first came to own and profit from their ideas, and how the act of invention itself springs forth from logic and imagination. The most famous engine of all, of course, was the Rocket. From the inventor Heron of Alexandria in AD 60 to James Watt in the early 19th century, whose ‘separate condenser’ was central to the development of steam power, here are characters like John Locke with his vision of ‘intellectual property’ and Edward Coke and his patents. 370 paperback pages, illus.
£14.99 NOW £4
73195 BIG QUESTIONS: Maths by Tony Crilly Ranging from the first known numbers, through people’s perception of statistics as ‘damn lies’ to the puzzle of whether we can create an unbreakable code, it tackles the 20 key questions that lie at the heart of maths and our understanding of the world. If you have ever wondered whether butterflies’ wings really cause hurricanes, if maths can predict the future, or why three dimensions are not enough, then you will be intrigued by the answers here although, be warned, they are not all cut and dried. 208 pages, elasticised bookmark, illus. £9.99 NOW £3.50
71903 FREAKONOMICS: A Rogue Economist
Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner The authors turn conventional economics on its head to explore the riddles of everyday life, from parenting to crime, sport to politics, health to traffic jams and fear to education. Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? Also on the menu are topics as freakish as how chips are more likely to kill you than is a terrorist attack. 320 pages in attractive slip case, revised and expanded edition. £30 NOW £4
72307 SUPERFREAKONOMICS: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitues
!
by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner Following the global success of the best-selling Freakonomics, here is another instalment of challenges to received wisdom, backed up by facts, figures and fascinating stories. The authors describe the Ultimatum and Dictator tests of self-interest versus altruism in which people make choices based on the distribution of cash, with results suggesting that we are not simply driven by pure greed. And finally - Budyko’s Blanket, designed to reverse global warming by pumping sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Will it work? 270pp, rough cut pages and remainder mark. $29.99 NOW £4
73745 FREAKONOMICS: Set of Two by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner Buy both and save even more. Set of two. ONLY £6
72301 RED MOON RISING by Matthew Brzezinski
At the height of the Cold War on 4th October 1957, the Soviet Union secretly launched Sputnik, Earth’s first ever artificial moon. Sputnik transformed science fiction into reality, passing over the stunned American continent once every 101 minutes and propelling the USSR from backward totalitarian state to cutting-edge superpower and pioneer of the Space Age. The US, desperate to catch up, trails the Soviets in the space race the following year, with a controversial space programme masterminded by former Nazi rocket scientists. The full story and its colourful characters. 322pp, photos. $17 NOW £3.50
72347 DEEP FUTURE: The Next 100,000
Years of Life on Earth by Curt Stager Professor Curt Stager has decided to take us well beyond what politicians consider “long-term climate change” - i.e. a few decades - and into what the next 100 millennia may hold. He predicts scenarios such as the ice-free, acidified Arctic being squabbled over as humans abandon the uninhabitable tropics and disappearing land, followed by their descendants retreating south again centuries later, as the seas refreeze. Later still, humans will be forced to burn whatever remains of our fossil fuels to survive a new Ice Age. 300pp. £20 NOW £4
72507 X-EVENTS: The Collapse of Everything by John Casti
Technologically dependent, globally interconnected, the modern industrialised world is a complex system that is as unstable as a pack of cards. When an X-event strikes - and scientists strongly believe it will - finance, communication, defence and travel will stop dead in their tracks. The flow of food, electricity, medicine and clean water will be disrupted. Just imagine if an electromagnetic pulse were to destroy all electronics, if there were a global pandemic, if the world oil supplies dried up. 326 arresting pages. £17.99 NOW £5
72762 EVERYBODY’S BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE: A Giant Compendium of Yesteryear’s Facts edited by Charles Ray
The nuggets of knowledge and intriguing illustrations herein were originally to be found in a two-volume 1930s encyclopaedia called Everybody’s Enquire Within and they still have the power to hold us spellbound. We now know what a singing mouse is, when it rains in the Sahara Desert and whether ice can burst bombs. 320 pages, 1,000 photos and diagrams, 8 colour gatefolds. £19.99 NOW £5
73150 THINKING IN NUMBERS by Daniel Tammet
A book to change the way you think about maths and in Tammet’s mind, literature, art and maths are united. He imagines a young Shakespeare’s first arithmetic lesson in the zero, a new idea in 16th century schools, or the calendar created for a Sultan by the poet and mathematician Omar Khayyam. Here are essays inspired by the snows of Quebec, sheep counting in Iceland and the debates of Ancient Greece to the pure possibilities advocated by Ricardo Nemirovsky and Francesca Ferrara. 229pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £5
73632 AFTER THE ICE: Life, Death and
Politics in the New Arctic by Alun Anderson This astonishing volume opens readers’ minds to the real economic, geopolitical and environmental developments taking place in that part of the world, which are leading to the emergence of a ‘new Arctic’. According to the author, what we are about to see is the fastest and biggest man-made change to planet Earth - ever. A 6,000,000 square mile dome of pure, white winter ice, 65 times the area of Britain, will soon melt away each summer, creating a new and unknown sea. Meanwhile, disputes rage as to who controls the region. Oil, gas and mineral companies are searching for the new Arctic’s wealth, while its older indigenous people continue their long fight for control of their circumpolar lands. The top predator, the polar bear, will most likely vanish, to be replaced by the killer whale. 298 pages, maps. £20 NOW £5.50
73292 RENAISSANCE GENIUS: Galileo Galilei and His Legacy to Modern Science by David Whitehouse
Published in 2009 in celebration of the 400th anniversary of his first observations of our solar system and the stars beyond it, this lavishly produced exploration of the life
and science of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) is a real treat for the eyes and the mind. Best known for perfecting the telescope lenses that enabled him to observe first our moon, then Jupiter and her moons, the peculiar appearance of Saturn, the phases of Venus and the phenomenon of sun spots, Galileo quickly found himself on a collision course with the Catholic Church once he realised the full implications of his observations. Less well known are his other accomplishments - the thermoscope, the geometric and military compass and his water-lifting machine. Accused of heresy and threatened with torture by the Inquisition, he was sentenced to spend his last years under house arrest. He was not officially pardoned until his opinions were accepted by the Catholic Church nearly 400 years later! Illustrations range from Renaissance oils to images from deep space collected by the modern descendants of Galileo’s invention. 256 7½” × 9½” pages. $24.95 NOW £6
SPORT
If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?
- Vince Lombardi 74187 THE LAST CHAMPION: The Life of Fred
Perry by Jon Henderson One of Hendo’s Sporting Heroes, the name of Fred Perry is still emblazoned on sporting leisurewear today. Here is a compelling portrait of a great sportsman. Wimbledon champion three times in the 1930s, Fred Perry was the finest tennis player Britain has ever produced - until Andy Murray. Less well
known is that Perry came from an unprivileged background and found himself an outsider in the sport that looked down on the achievement of the under- classes. Not afraid to ruffle a few establishment feathers, Perry discarded his hallowed amateur status in 1936 and turned professional. He compounded this perceived sin by taking out US citizenship when the Second World War broke out. He embraced his new country wholeheartedly from Hollywood to Florida, leading a scandalous private life, marrying four times and charming himself into the beds of numerous Hollywood starlets and beautiful models along the way. 294pp in paperback with many photos. £8.99 NOW £4
74188 THE LIMIT by Michael Cannell
Subtitled ‘Life and Death in Formula One’s Most Dangerous Era’ the book masterfully recreates the shocking, sad, tragic and very human story about men who willingly drove with the Grim Reaper. 10th September 1961, at the boomerang-shaped racetrack at Monza, in northern Italy, half a dozen teams are preparing for the Italian Grand Prix. It is the biggest
race anyone can remember. Phil Hill, the first American to break into the top ranks of European racing, and his Ferrari team mate Count Wolfgang von Trips, a German nobleman with a movie star manner, face one another in a race that will decide the winner of Formula One Drivers’ Championship. By the day’s end, one man will clinch that prize. The other will perish face down on the tracks. Cannell tells the thrilling story of two parallel lives that came together that afternoon. Here are their gruelling experiences in such deadly roads as the Mille Miglia and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Classical music loving Hill was a pathological worrier who vomited before races. Both men strove to attain the perfect balance of speed and control that drivers call ‘The Limit’. Here is an atmospheric recreation of a lost world of seductive glamour and ever-present danger. 318 very large pages, illus. £14.99 NOW £6
74103 PELE 10: What Makes a Great Player from the Master by Pele
Arantes do Nascimento No. 10, the most iconic position in football, the shirt that every player wants to wear, worn by the superstars that fans idolise. In his own book, the greatest ever
exponent of the No. 10’s art, Pelé, celebrates the most famous fellow practitioners through the decades, maestros like Cruyff, Maradona, Zidane and Puskás, unstoppable attackers such as Charlton, Gullit, Zico and Klinsmann, dashing forwards like Henry, Baggio, Garrincha and Rivaldo who captivated with their play. Plus lethal goal scorers such as Eusébio, Müller, Lineker and Greaves, and the less celebrated number 10s who have shone briefly but made a dramatic impact like Hurst, Rossi, Milla and Kempes. In archive black and white shots, some taken in the snow, many at full stretch and in full action, but mostly in full colour with each player in thrilling action and charismatic moments off the pitch, this is a big book about the beautiful game, 208pp, 10" square. £18.99 NOW £4
74340 FOR RICHER, FOR POORER: Confessions of a
Player by Victoria Coren “Finding myself opposite Martin Amis at a surreal celebrity poker table, I am wondering whether my brain has been affected by all this social gambling, enough to make me dream about
it...to my left sits Stephen Fry and the now celebrated playwright Patrick
Science 33
Marber…’ The daughter of the brilliant Alan Coren, Victoria has inherited her father’s trademark wit and quick thinking and is now a popular TV personality, thanks to this very English, funny and moving memoir. Miserable at an elegant day school for girls, Victoria finds an escape in the mysterious world of poker. 20 years later, she has won a million dollars and forgotten to have children. What price adventure? Here is the true story of happiness and heartbreak, smoke and mirrors, a memoir of friendship and belonging and it is full of the weirdness of England - people, attitudes, opinions and relationships. Here is a colourful and deeply flawed world around this disreputable game full of hilarious characters, amusing set pieces and insight with genuinely laugh-out-loud funny anecdotes and one-liners. 346pp in paperback.
£8.99 NOW £3 74317 LIVERPOOL
MISCELLANY by Leo Moynihan
Bill Shankly once famously said, ‘This city has two great teams, Liverpool and Liverpool Reserves.’ Dedicated to the 96 fans who lost their lives at Hillsborough on the 15th April 1989, Ian Rush in his foreword shares his fascination with facts and figures, memories and characters like Bob Paisley, Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen, memorable matches and
unforgettable goals. You’ll Never Walk Alone with these red legends - Waddle, John Barnes, the Hickson controversy, great gaffers like Roy Evans, quotable quotes, fact files, a peep inside the boot room, matches of the day, signing fees, international results, the Liverbird, the logo and the league records since 1892-93 season up to 2011-12 season. 166pp with line art. £9.99 NOW £4.50
74063 THE PLAYERS: 250 Men, Women and
Animals Who Created Modern Sport by Tim Harris
A must for every sports enthusiast or trivia collector, this fascinating book has 250 alphabetical chapters on people and animals who in the author’s view shaped the modern sporting scene. In the twenties Suzanne Lenglen was not only tennis’s first great female star but the first woman star in any sport who achieved world- wide recognition. Pele was the first soccer star of the TV age, while Joe Davis developed a new style of snooker playing that led ultimately to the game’s popularity as a small-screen sport. Ben Johnson is perhaps the fastest sprinter in history, and Enzo Ferrari transformed the Grand Prix first as a driver and then as an entrepreneur with the Ferrari marque. Other greats on the roll include Sir Alf Ramsey, Lester Piggott, Fred Perry, Max Mosley and Michael Davis, poetically described as the Leonardo da Vinci of rowing. 628pp, photos in colour. £20 NOW £8
TRANSPORT
There are only two emotions in a plane: boredom and terror.
- Orson Welles 74275 TIGER TANK:
Owners’ Workshop Manual by David Fletcher, David Willey and Mike Hayton In the familiar Haynes Handbook series and presented in huge 164 page hardback packed with colour photographs, diagrams, charts and artworks, here is the ultimate guide to the Panzer Kampfwagen VI Tiger I Ausf. E (SdKfz 181). The
German Tiger I was the most feared battle tank of World War Two and its invincibility lay in its main 8.8cm gun and heavy defensive armour. In the Haynes Manual format we are given a rare insight into acquiring, owning and operating one of these vehicles. The Tank Museum’s Tiger 131, the only Tiger I in the world that has been restored to full running order, is the manual’s centrepiece. Written by a team of experts, we cover its history from its birth, development and production in wartime to full details of the recent strip-down and rebuild. Plus vivid recollections from wartime German tank crewmen revealing what it was like to operate this giant 57 ton machine in combat. $28 NOW £8
74342 MORGANS TO
1997: A Collector’s Guide by Roger Bell
First published in 1997, this 2005 reprint makes us marvel at the design and beauty of this now classic car, from its three-wheeler
beginnings onwards. Here are Morgan milestones - who, what, when and where, photographs on the assembly line, stuck in the mud at trials, winning gold medals, and examples of these fine vehicles. Here is the Morgan Plus 8 in a smart metallic grey finish with highly polished alloy wheels, early and later dashboards, beautiful colour photographs of Morgans battling hard during a race at the Bentley Drivers’ Club, Silverstone 1993, a 1966 Plus 4 Plus, one of only 26 examples of the glass fibre-bodied coupé and the magnificent 2088cc Standard Vanguard engine in a Plus 4 of 1950. Packed with black and white and colour photos throughout, 128pp in large softback. £12.99 NOW £3.50
74310 UNDERGROUND OVERGROUND: A
Passenger’s History of the Tube by Andrew Martin
The London Underground (55% of which is actually overground) is the oldest, most eccentric and characterful metropolitan transport system in the world. Much loved
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36