Paddy Ashdown’s autobiography was hailed as one of the most readable and exciting political life stories ever written of all precisely because it was so very much more. This is the autobiography of an old-fashioned Man of Action, an adventurer, to be compared more readily to Fitzroy Maclean than David Steel. Ashdown’s years as MP for Yeovil and leader of the Liberal Democrats pale alongside his time as a Royal Marine Commando, in the Special Boat squadron, as a spy, on military service in Northern Ireland and Indonesia, and then subsequently perhaps his finest and most heroic role, as the UN’s High representative in war-torn Bosnia.

As one reviewer remarked: This must be the first political memoir to offer advice on the best way to execute a jungle ambush and on how to treat an open wound using red ants. Ashdown’s appeal which explains this books’s hardback bestseller status is that he transcends party political allegiances, and is seen as a genuinely honest and decent man unafraid to take on the hardest challenges. About the Author Paddy Ashdown was the founding leader of the Liberal Democrats from 1988 to 1998.

From 2002 to 2006 he was the United Nations High Representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He currently sits in the House of Lords.

Help your child learn about football with the new edition of this fact-packed guide, giant wallchart, interactive clip-art CD and dedicated website. From why gloves make a goalkeepers job easier, to why heading a ball in the 1870s could be deadly; they’ll become a footie afficianado with this premier guide to the world’s favourite sport, it’s history, tactics, teams, superstars and supporters. They’ll discover more about football by downloading 100s of sporty images from the clip-art CD.

Then use the giant pull-out wallchart to decorate their room. Great for projects or just for fun, ensure your child learns everything they need to know about football. It comes with a dedicated website.

Violetta and Feste have come to London to rescue the holy relics taken from the church in Illyria by the evil Malvolio. Their journey has been long and their adventures many, but it is not until they meet the playwright William Shakespeare that they get to tell the entire story from beginning to end! But where will this remarkable tale ultimately lead Violetta and her companion? And will they manage to save themselves, and the relics from the very evil intentions of Malvolio?

Combining history, natural history, folklore, food, and armchair travel, The Field Guide to Fields is a celebration of these rural treasures, painting a vivid picture of their unique histories and many facets. From the terraced paddies of Asia to the meadows of Europe, and from the paddocks of Australia to the wide-open prairies of the Great Plains, fields are an integral part of the modern landscape. In their myriad forms, they are the most familiar and well-tended part of the countryside — and have been for millennia.They are places in which we work and play, tranquil spaces to be explored or simply admired from afar.

The Field Guide to Fields is a celebration of these rural treasures, painting a vivid picture of their unique histories and many different facets. The text combines many aspects, including history, natural history, folklore, food, and armchair travel. It also includes practical feature spreads on subjects such as collecting and drying wild herbs, as well as identification guides to help you spot different types of flora and fauna.

Beautifully presented in cloth binding, and illustrated throughout with a combination of photographs and specially commissioned linocut-style artwork, The Field Guide to Fields is a pleasure both to own and to read. CONTENTS: / What is a field? / Field Forebears / Shaping the Landscape / Brave new World / Flora / Fauna / Tools & Technology / Nature’s Bounty / Field Folklore / ID Guides

With more than 20 million visitors each year, the Lake District retains its fascination for people from all over Britain and abroad. Ian Thompson, who grew up in nearby Barrow-in-Furness and went fell-walking from an early age, is well-equipped to reveal the area’s allure. He tells how it was the chance combination of a fascination with the Alps and the outbreak of the Napoleonic wars that provided the spark for a national obsession.

And in brief elegant chapters he shows how Wordsworth, Coleridge, Southey and De Quincey transformed the perception of the region from one of ‘horrid mountains’ to ‘vales of peace’. Later the work of J. M.

W. Turner, John Ruskin, Beatrix Potter, Arthur Ransome and Alfred Wainwright, the great populariser of fell-walking, all in their different ways contributed to making the region what it is today. Crammed with fascinating detail and illustrated with Thompson’s own superb colour photography and more than 80 other colour illustrations, “The English Lakes” is sheer delight.