Bryan Talbots most recent book Alice in Sunderland" was hailed by the " Guardian" as one of the ten best graphic novels ever & acclaimed by critics all over the world. Before that at the start of his career he created the first ever steampunk graphic novel " The Adventures of Luther Arkwright". In " Grandville" Talbot brings us another steampunk masterpiece. Inspired by the work of the nineteenth-century French illustrator Gerard who worked under the pseudonym Grandville & frequently drew anthropomorphic animal characters it tells the story of detective Inspector Le Brock of Scotland Yard as he stalks a gang of murderers through the heart of Belle Epoque Paris. In this alternative reality France is the major world power & its capital is thronged with steam-driven hansom cabs automatons & flying machines. The characters are mostly animals though there is an underclass of humans often referred to as dough faces who resemble the clear-line characters of Herges " Tintin" books. Visually stunning " Grandville" is a fantastical & audacious rollercoaster ride that will add to Talbots reputation as one of the best graphic novelists in the world." ...

The Badger is back! At Toad Hall lair of multibillionaire. Baron Aristotle Krapaud a cabal of industrialists & fat cats plot the violent overthrow of the French state by the intervention of horribly beweaponed automaton soldiers. Meanwhile the brutal murder of a famous Parisian artist mysteriously stabbed to death in his locked & guarded studio is subject to the investigations of the tenacious Detective Inspector Le Brock of Scotland Yard placing him & his faithful adjunct Detective Sergeant Roderick Ratzi in pursuit of the mysterious masked assassin stalking the cut-throat commercial world of the Grandville art scene. Bete Noire signals the welcome return to anthropomorphic steampunk detective fiction of master storyteller & graphic novel pioneer Bryan Talbot" with the third st&-alone volume of the Eisner & Hugo Award nominated " Grandville" series. As the body count mounts & events spiral exponentially out of control aided by his brilliant deductive abilities & innate ferocity Le Brock battles against outrageous odds in this funny high octane thriller an adventure shot through with both high art & comic book references a glorious illegitimate offspring of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle & Ian Fleming
- with animals! Follow the Badger!"
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The Badger is back! Set three weeks after the finale of Grandville Grandville Mon Amour pits Detective Inspector Archie Le Brock of Scotland Yard against an old adversary & ruthless urban guerrilla Edward Mad Dog Mastock
- a psychotic serial killer whose shocking escape from his execution by guillotine at the Tower of London begins this fast-paced Hitchcockian steampunk thriller. Le Brock still racked by remorse for his failure to prevent the death of the Divine Sarah & working outside the law after resigning his post following a blazing row with his superior officer embarks on a quest to redeem himself by tracking down Mastock & bringing to an end his horrific murder spree. Aided by his adjunct & old friend Detective Roderick Ratzi he follows the trail of carnage to Paris. Otherwise known as Grandville its the largest city in a world dominated by France a city used to violence following the years of terrorist bombings by the extreme fanatic wing of the British resistance during the occupation the notorious Angry Brigade of which Mastock was the sadistic leading light. With his customary tenacity Le Brock stalks his prey through a world populated by anthropomorphic animals an underclass of humans & automaton robots where advanced steam technology powers everything from hansom cabs to iron flying machines. Its a trail that leads to the demimonde of Parisian prostitution & an atrocity perpetrated twenty-three years ago. With a range of new & fascinating characters & a mix of Holmesian deduction knowing humour & edge of the seat action Grandville Mon Amour continues the vein of high-octane adventure begun in the first volume. Can even Le Brock escape the past or do heroes have feet of clay? Follow the badger!
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It is not as widely known as it should be that Britain has the most varied geology of any country in the world. This book is a celebration in words & pictures of what its mountains are made from & how they got there. This in turn determines what theyre like to climb scramble on or walk over. Why is Skiddaw slate so slippery? How do tors form? Why is gritstone so difficult? Why is Lakeland so picturesque & the granite lands so grim & forbidding? Geology is destiny whether its the rubbishy nature of gullies & screes the sculpting of valleys by ice or the landslip weirdness of Quiraing on the Isle of Skye. British mountains contain many interesting & different ingredients: gneiss & granite & gabbro; limestone & sandstone; schist & slate; the product & the debris of tectonic shifts volcanoes earthquakes & glaciers over many millennia. This book explains all this to the layman from an expert but personal perspective & will add immeasurably to the fun & satisfaction to be gained from any day in the hills. ...

Get away from here before youre completely bewitched & enslaved... Dorothy Carrington was told while sitting in a fishermans cafe at the magically quiet midday hour. But enslaved she was. Granite Island" much more than a travel book grew out of years spent in Corsica & is an incomparably vivid & delightful portrait. For the first time Corsica is brought to light as a vital element in Europe: a highly individualistic island culture whose people have nurtured their love of freedom & political justice as well as their pride hospitality & poetry." ...

Grannyhood is often approached with dread by the soon-to-be granny but The Grannies Book" gives reason to embrace & celebrate this wonderful role. Devoted to grandmothers in every shape & form " The Grannies Book"
Includes:: tips & suggestions for maintaining ones best gran status; famous grannies from history literature & folklore; checklists of things expected of a granny; ideas for things to do with grandchildren; & secrets that all grandmothers should know. Decorated with lovely black-&-white illustrations throughout this is a beautiful special gift for every wonderful & much-loved granny."
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This is a wickedly funny tale about the granny from Hell by the creator of Alex Rider". Twelve-year-old Joe Warden isnt happy. He has rich uncaring parents & is virtually a prisoner in the huge family mansion Thattlebee Hall. Worst of all though is his granny. Not only is she physically repulsive shes horribly mean. She has the look in her eye of a predatory crocodile & Joe starts to suspect that she has unpleasant designs on him. But what are they & how can he foil them?" ...

The final book in the Agnes Browne trilogy At forty-seven years of age Agnes now thirteen years happily widowed enters the 1980s with a fruit stall in Moore Street a French lover & six children five of them in their twenties. Becoming a grandmother is a terrible shock to her system especially as Agnes suffers every one of her daughter-in-law's labour pains! & as the family expands so do the problems -one son's inevitable brush with the law the heartbreak of emigration. But Agnes Browne is nothing if not a fighter & she squares her shoulders offers up a quick one to her departed pal Marion & sets about getting things back on an even keel
- or as even as things ever get in the Brown household! The same quick-fire dialogue hilarious humour & great characterisation as in Brendan's bestselling THE MAMMY filmed as AGNES BROWNE by Angelica Huston & the BAFTA-nominated TV series Mrs Browne's Boys.
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More than just a how to guide Granny Chic" offers inspiration to keen crafters hoping to breathe new life into vintage fabrics & second-hand objects. From handmade notebooks to lace lampshades & pinnies made from tea towels each of the craft recipes brings the granny chic look to life whilst allowing you to give them your own personal twist. This selection of 20 projects

Includes:: spruced-up coathangers a dingle dangle door screen a patched & pieced lampshade & a crocheted tea cosy. In addition to the projects " Granny Chic" offers advice on the granny chic lifestyle from befriending your local fabric shop to creating a handmade home. Packed full of ideas it will have you rustling in your vintage fabric to find your inner granny chic crafting soul."

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From the author of HEARTBEAT JEWELS & THE GHOST a novel set in 1902 featuring a motherless young girl who arrives in Russia & becomes a great ballerina who is welcomed into the heart of the Imperial family. However war revolution & illness upset her life & force her to make a heartbreaking choice. ...