A is for Arctic, B for Bering Sea, C for Clyde River – and Z for Zangeza Bay – all to be explored above the 60th parallel.

The world will end in December 2012 – if the proponents of the Mayan Calendar theory are correct. There is nothing new about End-time alarms: the ancient astrologers lived in a perpetual state of expectation, and over the last 2000 years there have been at least 50 major prophecies and panics. Even science contributes to the doomsday scenarios, such as the Y2K bug, the Hadron collider and global warming. In Apocalypse When? Ted Harrison asks why it is that we are so determined to forecast ...

In April 2014, Pope Francis will canonise two of his most influential predecessors, John Paul II and John XXIII. It is seen as a move towards uniting reformers and conservatives within the Catholic Church and – alongside Francis’s own radical reforms – marks the continuing move towards new hope and celebration within the Church. Tales of Three Popes is a beautiful testament to the lives of all three much-loved leaders. Cased and illustrated with delightful hand-drawn illustrations, it cont...

Elvis Aaron Presley is more popular today than ever, yet he died nearly forty years ago. His music is constantly remixed and re-released to a new generation of fans, and his image thrives in popular art and culture. Elvis’s Graceland home and Tupelo birthplace have become places of pilgrimage. His relics command astounding prices at auction. Around the world it is estimated that there are 200,000 Elvis impersonators paying tribute to their hero. Elvis is the subject of some truly astonishi...

Every nation has its own way of remembering those killed in conflict. Each November Remembrance follows a seemingly unchanging pattern. Millions of people wear poppies, and at war memorials around the world a period of silence is observed. Today young people are taught that through Remembrance we thank those who have given their lives to defend liberty and freedom. But when poppy wearing began after the First World War it had rather a different purpose. The flowers of Flanders Field were w...

The first volume in William Manchester's masterful, magnum opus account of Winston Churchill's life. The Last Lion: Visions of Glory follows the first fifty-eight years of Churchill's life--the years that mold him into the man who will become one of the most influential politicians of the twentieth century.In this, the first volume, Manchester follows Churchill from his birth to 1932, when he began to warn against the re-militarization of Germany. Born of a...

In The Making of Modern Britain, Andrew Marr paints a fascinating portrait of life in Britain during the first half of the twentieth century as the country recovered from the grand wreckage of the British Empire.Between the death of Queen Victoria and the end of the Second World War, the nation was shaken by war and peace. The two wars were the worst we had ever known and the episodes of peace among the most turbulent and surprising. As the political forum...

**A New York Times bestseller!A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of 2017A dual biography of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, who preserved democracy from the threats of authoritarianism, from the left and right alike.**Both George Orwell and Winston Churchill came close to death in the mid-1930's—Orwell shot in the neck in a trench line in the Spanish Civil War, and Churchill struck by a car in New York City. If they'd died then, history...

Jeremy Paxman's magnificent history of the First World War tells the entire story of the war in one gripping narrative from the point of view of the British people.***We may think we know about it, but what was life really like for the British people during the First World War?The well-known images - the pointing finger of Lord Kitchener; a Tommy buried in the mud of the Western Front; the memorial poppies of Remembrance Day - all reinforce the idea...

A collection of "exceptional works" from the British prime minister and Nobel Prize winner is "a superb volume of Churchill's writings and speeches" ( Washington Times).Winston Churchill knew the power of words. In speeches, books, and articles, he expressed his feelings and laid out his vision for the future. His wartime writings and speeches have fascinated generation after generation with their powerful narrative style and thoughtful reflection.Ma...

The acclaimed author of On Royalty explores the mysteries of English identity in this "witty, argumentative book bursting with good things" ( The Daily Telegraph).A Sunday Times Top Ten BestsellerBeing English used to be easy. As the dominant culture in a country that dominated an empire that dominated the world, they had little need to examine themselves and ask who they were. But something has happened over the past cent...

In this book you will find the best of that wit - ripe plums of humour taken from Churchill's parliamentary replies and ripostes, prepared addresses, asides and off-the-cuff remarks - all revealing a trenchant sharpness of mind, fine appreciation of humour and devastating sense of fun.