Why was the partridge in the pear tree? Who was Good King Wenceslas? And what are the pagan origins behind 'The Holly and the Ivy'? Discover the hidden stories behind our best-loved Christmas carols, from their earliest incarnations in the Middle Ages and their banning under the Puritans to the wassailing traditions of the nineteenth century and the carols that united soldiers on the Western Front during the First World War. This fascinating book charts the histor...

“Australian attempts to convert to renewables basically have no parallel. To make matters worse, not only do policy-makers want to shift to all renewables they want to throw away the fossil fuel back-up power sources. This has not happened anywhere and is madness.”In order to avoid a climate crisis, which never seems to arrive, activists and state governments are about to plunge us all into a very real power crisis. In ten years don't bother to try turning on the lights.Mar...

Did you know?Wales is the only nation in the United Kingdom not to be represented on the Union Jack.During the First World War, Cardiff was the largest coal port in the world.Guglielmo Marconi sent the first ever wireless communication over open sea – from Wales.The Little Book of Wales is an intriguing, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of places, people and history in Wales. Here we find out about the cou...

Follow Inigo (Ignatius of Loyola) from ambitious, hot-headed, street-fighting sensualist to his co-founding, (with a radical group of young friends), the Society of Jesus in the sixteenth century.In Moore’s bold, visceral, funny and poetic play, he asserts Loyola’s position as counter-cultural radical. But it is not only for those interested in Ignatius Loyola and the Jesuits. It is also a political allegory about those who fight for change against an implacable Establishment. With...

A funny and clever novel about art and reality and the way they imitate each other, from the author of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. With an introduction by Mark Lawson.Would-be novelist Fleur Talbot works for the snooty, irascible Sir Quentin Oliver at the Autobiographical Association, whose members are all at work on their memoirs. When her employer gets his hands on Fleur's novel-in-progress, mayhem ensues as its scenes begin coming true... Spark's ini...

On the morning after he has celebrated his 60th birthday party at a celebrity-filled party, Ned Marriott is in bed with his partner, Emma, when there's a knock on the door. Detectives from the London police force's 'Operation Millpond' have come to arrest him over an allegation of sexual assault.Ned is one of the country's best-known historians - teaching at a leading university, advising governments and making top-rating TV documentaries - but this 'historic' claim from someone the...

Sustainable Steel Buildings reviews steel and its potential as a sustainable building material and shows how steel can be used to deliver buildings and structures with a high level of sustainability. The book's main focus is on the advantages and disadvantages of steel and how those characteristics can be used under a range of international certification systems (DGNB, LEED, BREEAM, openhouse etc).

Enough is Enough revolves around actual events in May 1968. Harold Wilson knows the public thinks he's a slippery liar, the newspapers are out for his blood, and the party which once loved him is now plotting to remove him. Still, he has failed to spot at least two other conspiracies brewing. Bernard Storey, a journalist, stumbles on the rival plots and enters a world of lying and spying, back-stabbing and blackmail, malicious gossip and false intelligence.

Modular construction can dramatically improve efficiency in construction, through factory production of pre-engineered building units and their delivery to the site either as entire buildings or as substantial elements. The required technology and application are developing rapidly, but design is still in its infancy. Good design requires a knowledge of modular production, installation and interface issues and also an understanding of the economics and client-related benefits which influen...

Miles Black is fresh from a country newspaper and a failed engagement looking to break into big city journalist. But the only job he can get is on a weekly suburban giveaway, where journalists are regarded as biddable nuisances.Worse, the beautiful Anne from a rich family is decidedly unimpressed by a dirt-poor suburban journalist.

Isaac has never been what he seems.Rumor has it that gruff, brooding, and solitary man-of-mystery Isaac Sylvester is back in town, and the only thing folks in Green Valley know for certain is that this prodigal son’s motives are as elusive as he is. He’s been spotted loitering near the old Townsen farm, hanging around the Hill’s homestead, and glaring menacingly from the edges of The Donner Lodge’s parking lot. What this hometown-hero-turned-criminal wants, no one knows. N...

Steelwork offers the opportunity for architectural expression, as well as being structurally versatile and adaptable material. Good detailing is vital because it affects structural performance, costs, buildability and, perhaps most importantly, appearance. Whilst the choice of the structural form is often the province of the structural engineer, architects should have a broad appreciation of the factors leading to the selection of the structure and its details. Traditionally, most detailin...