How is life in a lab where people in the early twentieth century are making hugely significant biological discoveries?This fictionalized account opens in 1922 with the fourteen-year-old Len La Cour arriving at the John Innes Horticultural Institution, located in an outer London suburb. The institution is directed by Dr Bateson, a pioneer plant geneticist. He appoints Len as technician because he is the only candidate who can spell microscope. Many of the staff are women, owing to t...

Originally published in 1987, public rented housing in Britain had undergone many changes in the decade before, which had been accelerated by the policies of the Conservative government since 1979. With financial incentives and the ‘right to buy’, owner occupation was being vigorously promoted as the ‘normal’ tenure for the bulk of households, while the public sector was increasingly confined to those on low incomes. At the same time, a severe squeeze on capital and maintenance expenditure...

Rejecting the assumption that housing and cities are separate from nature, David Clapham advances a new research framework that integrates housing with the rest of the natural world. Demonstrating the wider context of human lives and the impact of housing on the non-human environment, the author considers the impact of current inhabitation practices on climate change and biodiversity.Showcasing the significant contribution that housing policy can make in mitigating environmental pr...

Chance events and well-intentioned conspiracies can bring people together in unlikely and sometimes comical liaisons. It is 1970, and diffident young mathematician Andrew Carter has just left the security and prestige of Cambridge to begin a junior lectureship at a university situated in northern England. There he runs into Toby Morton, an old school friend, who invites him to his family's country residence for his half-sister's fifteenth birthday-and to serve as a buffer between Toby and ...

John Haworth, despite innate shyness, has floated upward in a comfortable English home environment under the influence of much older sisters and their friends. After he begins a new school in the early fifties, the seven-year-old is looking lost when a classmate, Martin Holford, decides to take him under his wing. And so begins a long friendship.Ordinary rules of life apparently do not apply to the confident Martin except, perhaps, when he allows his mischievous humor excessive fre...

Tenant participation has grown substantially over the last decade, following government legislation, advice from professional bodies and development agencies, and promotion by all major political parties. On few housing issues is there such concensus. Yet, in practice, it is obvious that participation can mean very different things in different contexts. This book explains why this is the case, and examines the growth of participation in the context of changes in the role of local authorit...

Breaking the country-specific boundaries of traditional housing policy books, Remaking Housing Policy is the first introductory housing policy textbook designed to be used by students all around the world. Starting from first principles, readers are guided through the objectives behind government housing policy interventions, the tools and mechanisms deployed and the outcomes of the policy decisions.A range of international case studies from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Am...

For vulnerable older, disabled or homeless people who need accommodation and support, many different forms of housing have developed – whether hostels, group homes, extra-care housing or retirement villages. But do these settings effectively improve the well-being of those who live in them? This important book explores the impact of different forms of policy and practice on the lives of vulnerable people, arguing for a flexible policy approach that places people in control of their own liv...

There are approximately 50,000 small water supplies in the UK alone, and thousands more worldwide. Dealing with the idiosyncratic characteristics of small water supplies requires specialist knowledge, and this book provides invaluable guidance for professionals.Based on the extensive practical experience of the author, this book covers how small independent supplies differ from public water supplies, and outlines the health dangers they pose, along with detailed instruction in wate...

EPISODE 2 IN A MAJOR BBC DRAMA STARRING TIMOTHY SPALL, DAVID WALLIAMS AND JENNIFER SAUNDERSAn American family come to stay at Blandings, but Freddie’s attempts to sell them dog-food causes major embarrassment.Connie is desperate to make a good impression on her visiting old school nemesis, Veronica, and her rich American husband, Mr Schoonmaker.She enlists the services of snobbish secretary Mr Baxter to tidy up Blandings, in particular Clare...

The emergence of Britain as a fully fledged home-owning society at the end of the 20th century has major implications for how houses are used not just as a home but as an asset. The key debate in this important and timely book is whether social policy and people's homes should be so closely connected, especially when housing markets are so volatile. It will be essential reading for all students and practitioners of housing and those concerned with how social and public policy is being shap...

An extraordinary exploration of the ancestry of Britain through seven burial sites. By using new advances in genetics and taking us through important archaeological discoveries, Professor Alice Roberts helps us better understand life today.‘This is a terrific, timely and transporting book - taking us heart, body and mind beyond history, to the fascinating truth of the prehistoric past and the present’ Bettany HughesWe often think o...