The fourth book in the bestselling Fortunes of France series, in a brand new look.An uneasy peace reigns in France, but behind the scenes Catholics, Protestants and the agents of foreign powers are st
The classic pacifist novel by a major Polish writer, who was nominated for the Nobel Prize'Only the villages are asleep, the eternal reservoir of all kinds of soldiery, the inexhaustible source of phy
Montpellier in 1566 is one of the greatest seats of learning of the age, a cradle of Renaissance humanism. But even this proud city of philosophers is not safe from the menaces that endanger the peace
1572: Returning from his studies in Montpellier, Pierre de Siorac is ambushed by a jealous Périgord nobleman. A duel ensues, and Pierre must subsequently travel to Paris, to seek his pardon fro
The prizewinning debut mystery from one of Japan's best-loved crime writers.The K Apartments for Ladies are occupied by over a hundred unmarried women, once young and lively, now grown and old - and i
A book passionately defending balloon flight for human beings, celebrating the 175th anniversary of The London Library.The first balloon flight with passengers (a sheep, a duck, and a rooster) took pl
Bored with her mundane factory job, her nagging mother and her alcoholic father-in-law, Louise is captivated by a glamorous American couple who move to her industrial hometown in Northern France. The
A kind, blundering Czech engineer is pressured by the Nazi government to hand over his invention, which could be key to their military operations. He flees to Paris, hoping to sell his invention to th
The love of drinking was well-developed in the nineteenth-century Englishman. With chapters on port, claret, sherry, champagne, Burgundy, Madeira, wine cellars, glasses and butlers, Through a Glass Li
A maid who is unexpectedly left her wealthy employers' worldly possessions, when they flee the country after the Nazi occupation; a loyal bank clerk, who steals a Renaissance portrait of a Spanish nob
On a quiet mountain road near Barcelona, a woman steps out in front of a car. When the driver, a well-known artist, stops to some to her aid, he finds she is alive, but without any memory of who she i
The life of the painter Amedeo Modigliani (1884-1920) was chaotic and tragically brief. Consisting of a series of vignettes, mostly set in the painter's studio and peopled by his lover Jeanne Hébutern
What does eating out tell us about who we are? The deliciously cosmopolitan story of the restaurant from eighteenth-century Paris to El Bulli, now in paperback.The restaurant is where we go to celebra
A short yet fascinating account of Russia's most celebrated writer.In Robert Chandler's exquisite biography, literary giant Alexander Pushkin, lauded as the Russian Shakespeare, is examined as writer,
'Love does not need any comforting. It does not even need requiting. All it needs is itself.'Florence, 1502. Marshal Louis de La Trémouille's small army has stopped off en route to Naples, to buy obje
THE OLD WORLD IS CRUMBLINGOutside the gates of the magnificent Versailles palace, the city of Paris sits mired in squalor and crime. One night a body is found with ghastly mutilations that shock even
In the seventeenth century, a giant strides the border of the Cape Colony frontier. Coenraad de Buys is a legend, a polygamist, a swindler and a big talker; a rebel who fights with Xhosa chieftains ag
"It's long been assumed of the region where my grandmother was born... that at some point each year the dead will come home," Inara Verzemnieks writes in this exquisite story of war, exile and homecom
We'll create a machine. A peace machine that will put an end to all wars. As the twentieth century dawns the world stands on the brink of yet another bloody war. But what if conflict were not inevitab
