A short science fiction story about the first deep-space mission to find a planet suitable for colonization. The explorers are hoping to be the ones to make First Contact but are disappointed when they realize they have missed their chance by a blink of the cosmic eye. They discover proof that they are not alone but their discovery will haunt them as they struggle to solve the mystery of the enigmatic artifact they find. Written in the style of the 'hard science fiction' of the Golden Age,...

The story of three Italian sisters; Raefella, Rosanna and Fiammetta, living under Mussolini in 1938 and the men who fell in love with them: Steve, an American playboy; Kurt, a German musician; Hamilton Johns, an English painter. Set in Florence at the beginning of the World War II, this is the last novel by Noel Barber, whose novels include TANAMERA, A FAREWELL TO FRANCE and A WOMAN OF CAIRO. 'The European war, particularly the bombing of art-filled Cassino, isevoked with good perio...

Billions of citizens around the world are frustrated with their governments. Why is this? And what can we do about it? In this groundbreaking book Michael Barber draws on his wealth of international experience advising political leaders, to show how those in power can make good on their promises.'Refreshingly ruthless ... has an uplifting brio to it' Economist'Michael Barber is a source of inspiration and wisdom' Andrew Adonis, New Statesman'Excell...

Opulence. Invasion. Terror. And forbidden passion in 1930s Singapore.'They were the golden days, when Singapore was as rich as its climate was steamy, its future as assured as it was busy. And those days were made even better when, as was inevitable, I fell in love with the Chinese beauty of Julie Soong and, against all unwritten canons of Singapore life, we became lovers.'

Sonia Riccardi, impetuous and sensual, is a woman no man could resist. And Larry Astell, heir to a champagne fortune, knows their passion is the most important part of his life. Until war places in jeopardy all they held dear - love, family and country.From the Left Bank of the 1930s to Nazi-occupied Paris, A FAREWELL TO FRANCE is a magnificent epic, played out against the tumultuous background of the time: a decadent French government, the life of a foreign correspondent, the gran...

'Excellent . . . reveals that high accomplishment has a signature pattern that reoccurs from sport to politics to business to government' Matthew SyedThere is no secret formula for success, especially when tackling a new challenge. But what if there were a pattern you could follow? A way of mapping the route and navigating the obstacles that arise?Michael Barber has spent many years advising governments, businesses and major sporting teams around the world ...

The Engineer’s Sketch-Book of Mechanical Movements, Devices, Appliances, Contrivances and Details Employed in the Design and Construction of Machinery for Every Purpose is a comprehensive and invaluable reference work for engineers, inventors, students, and anyone interested in the art and science of mechanical design. Authored by Thomas Walter Barber, this classic volume presents a vast collection of over 2,000 detailed illustrations and concise descriptions of mechanical movements and de...

Son and daughter of diplomats in Cairo, the gentle Serena Pasha and Mark Holt are good-looking and privileged, growing up in a magical world of champagne breakfasts and midnight picnics at the pyramids. Their lives entwined since childhood, they grow ever closer as adults. Yet Serena's hand has been promised not to Mark, but to his brother, Greg.However, as the Second World War speeds closer to Cairo, a terrible accident gives these young lovers a second chance - and with this chan...

A TIMELESS CHRISTMAS SKY ORIGINAL FILM, STARRING MARK GATISS, SIMON CALLOW AND TAMSIN GREIG'Charming, magical and life-affirming, Antonia Barber's clever and moving tale has become a much-loved favourite. The Wheel of Time spins - and off we go into an unforgettable adventure!' MARK GATISS'When you come to the house, you will hear strange tales. They will tell you in the village that it is haunted, but you must not be afraid. When the t...

'A splendid, exciting book' Daily Mirror'The story of the first all-out struggle in Asia between Communism and the West, vividly told in an exciting and engrossing book' Sunday ExpressOnly three short years after the end of the Japanese occupation, war came again to Malaya. The Chinese-backed guerrillas called it the War of the Running Dogs - their contemptuous term for those in Malaya who remained loyal to the British. Th...

EXTERMINATORS?OF?THE?YEAR?ZERO focuses on the dictator Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge regime of revolutionary human erasure in Cambodia †an implosive, volatile genocide exacted within Pol Pot's own country, and pursued with relentless, obsessional determination. At the end of his four years of dictatorial power, Pol Pot left behind a unique legacy †Cambodia, on its liberation from his reign of terror, comprised zones of immense killing fields and wastelands, with towering pyramids of huma...

**'Extraordinary ... a privileged boardroom-table view of the gilded age of tech-utopianism' Sunday TimesThe real story behind the mercurial Masayoshi Son, one of the world's most consequential investors, who has three times lost and made tens of billions of dollars**Japan’s Masayoshi Son has made and lost several fortunes, investing or controlling assets worth $1 trillion in the past two decades through his media-tech giant, SoftBank. He bankrolled Alibaba, China’...