Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Emma Kennedy

Emma Kennedy's hilarious memoir of wet and windy family trips, NOW ADAPTED FOR THE MAJOR BBC ONE SERIES THE KENNEDYS. 
 
For the 70s child, summer holidays didn't mean the joy of CentreParcs or the sophistication of a Tuscan villa. They meant being crammed into a car with Grandma and heading to the coast. With just a tent for a home and a bucket for the necessities, we would set off on new adventures each year stoically resolving to enjoy ourselves. 
 
For Emma Kennedy, and her mum and dad, disaster always came along for the ride no matter where they went. Whether it was being swept away by a force ten gale on the Welsh coast or suffering copious amounts of food poisoning on a brave trip to the south of France, family holidays always left them battered and bruised. 
 
But they never gave up. Emma's memoir, The Tent, The Bucket and Me, is a painfully funny reminder of just what it was like to spend your summer holidays cold, damp but with sand between your toes.

The Tent, the Bucket and Me

Stuart Maconie

A Northerner in exile, Stuart Maconie goes on a journey in search of the North, attempting to discover where the clichés end and the truth begins. He travels from Wigan Pier to Blackpool Tower and Newcastle's Bigg Market to the Lake District to find his own Northern Soul, encountering along the way an exotic cast of chippy Scousers, pie-eating woollybacks, topless Geordies, mad-for-it Mancs, Yorkshire nationalists and brothers in southern exile. 
 
The bestselling Pies and Prejudice is a hugely enjoyable journey around the north of England.

Pies and Prejudice

In search of the North

Shane Spall

Shane and Tim Spall are on the second leg of a very big adventure, taking their Dutch barge The Princess Matilda around the coast of Britain. 
 
From Matilda’s winter berth in Cardiff, Shane and Tim follow the Welsh coast, before ambitiously deciding to visit the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland. Along the way they cross Cardigan Bay in the company of a pod of dolphins, meet the king and queen of Piel Island, get lost in shipping lanes near Liverpool, successfully cross the notorious Irish Sea (twice!), accidentally sail through an army firing range, and experience the matchless beauty of Scotland’s Caledonian canal. Emerging into the North Sea at Inverness, they set a course down the east coast for London, back where their journey began. 
 
Tim and Shane aren’t the amateur sailors they once were, but things still don’t always go to plan. It’s not easy navigating our dangerous coastal waters, and crashing waves and strong tides can be terrifying. But it’s exhilarating too, and the realisation of a dream they have had for a very long time. 
 
It’s a slow journey, but a satisfying one, visiting fishing villages and ports, and exploring Britain’s windswept coast. Along the way they meet brave lifeboat crews, lockkeepers, fishermen and a whole host of people who make their living or their leisure on the water. The Princess Matilda Comes Home is a funny and warm hearted story about sharing a great adventure with someone you love.

The Princess Matilda Comes Home

Danny Wallace

Dave Gorman

'A magnificent tale of obsession and adventure' The Independent 
 
After a heavy night of tequila, flatmates Dave and Danny set off on what turns out to be a 24,000-mile journey to meet all the other Dave Gormans in the world. They visit Scotland, Israel, America, France and Ireland. They even hold a party in London where 50 Dave Gormans attend, including two women who have kindly changed their name via deed-poll. Silly, but engrossing, fascinating and addictive - and a touching, funny story of two friends who grow to share a mutual obsession. 
 
'A warm, funny, life-enhancing book' The Guardian 
 
The average Dave Gorman is 37, 5'6" and works in the financial sector. Our Dave Gorman is 29, is a Perrier Award-nominated comedian and writer. His TV work has earned him two BAFTAs for The Mrs Merton Show as well as his own BBC2 series. Danny Wallace is a writer, producer and award-winning journalist, whose work has appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines including The Guardian, The Independent and Melody Maker.

Are You Dave Gorman?

Danny Wallace is about to turn thirty and his life has become a cliché. Recently married and living in a smart new area of town, he's swapped pints down the pub for lattes and brunch. For the first time in his life, he's feeling, well ... grown-up. 
 
But something's not right. Something's missing. Until he finds an old address book containing just twelve names. His best mates as a kid. Where are they now? Who are they now? And how are they coping with being grown-up too? 
 
And so begins a journey from A-Z, tracking down and meeting his old gang. He travels from Berlin to Tokyo, from Sydney to LA. He even goes to Loughborough. He meets Fijian chiefs. German rappers. Some ninjas. And a carvery manager who's managed to solve time travel. But how will they respond to a man they haven't seen in twenty years, turning up and asking if they're coming out to play? 
 
Part-comedy, part-travelogue, part-memoir, Friends Like These is the story of what can happen when you track down your past, and of where the friendships you thought you'd outgrown can take you today...

Friends Like These

Christopher Winn

In this charming book bestselling author Christopher Winn turns his attention to the Irish people, taking us on a enthralling journey around their homeland, discovering en route the intriguing and surprising ways the places and their history contribute to the Irish character. As he travels across the Emerald Isle, he unearths the traditions, triumphs and disasters, foibles, quirks and customs that come together to make up the Irish people. 
 
From County Leitrim, the most sparsely populated county in the Republic of Ireland to County Louth, Ireland's smallest county, discover the site of the first play performed in the Irish language, sail the longest navigable inland waterway in Europe and watch the horse racing at Ireland's first all-weather racecourse. Illustrated throughout with enchanting pen and ink drawings and packed with interesting facts and entertaining stories, myths and legends, I Never Knew That About the Irish will entertain the whole family for hours on end.

I Never Knew That About the Irish

Matthew Fort

At the age of twenty-six Matthew Fort first visited the Italian island of Sicily. He and his brother arrived in 1973 expecting sun, sea and good food, but they were totally unprepared for the lifelong effect of this most extraordinary of Mediterranean islands. 
 
Thirty years later, older and a bit wiser - but no less greedy - Matthew finally returns. Travelling around the island on his scooter, Monica, he samples almond ice cream on the spectacular coast and intoxicating mouthfuls of sausage stew in olive groves, and goes fishing for anchovies beneath a star-scattered sky. 
 
Matthew is drawn once again to the intensity of life in Sicily, its dramatic landscape and traditions, and discovers how the island's vibrant food culture is intertwined with its often turbulent past.

Sweet Honey, Bitter Lemons

Travels in Sicily on a Vespa

Melinda Blanchard

Robert Blanchard

A Trip to the Beach is about the maddening, exhausting and exhilarating challenges Melinda and Robert Blanchard faced while trying to live the simple life after moving to Anguilla to start a restaurant - and the incredible joy when they somehow pulled it off.  As their cooking begins to draw 4-star reviews, the Blanchards and their kitchen staff - Clinton and Ozzie, the dancing sous-chefs; Shabby, the master lobster-wrangler; Bug, the dish-washing comedian - come together like a crack drill team.  Anyone who's ever dreamed of running away to start a new life on a sun-drenched island will find the Blanchards' seductive, funny tale of pandemonium and bliss unforgettable.

A Trip To The Beach

Don Shaw

Freddy, Phil and Don are three grumpy old men, travelling at various speeds in the slow lane of retirement, at a loss to understand the mad modern world around them. 
 
Their chosen method of escape from all this is a shared weekly hike in the Peak District, come gale, hail, snow or torrential rain. They pass the time bumping into colourful and eccentric locals, but their real passion is bickering among themselves. Not only about the right path to take, but also about where they're all going at the fag end of life. Phil likes to dash up hills trying to beat his personal best, while Freddy plots how to sabotage him - teasing him at leisure and asking deep and difficult questions. Stuck in the middle, Don's only ambition is to stop the squabbling getting out of hand long enough to find a nice pub for lunch. 
 
As warm as the wind is cold, as dry as the lashing rain is wet, The Hike is a hilarious tale of bum-warmers, crayfish-fanciers, East German Trabant enthusiasts, bodger philosophers, sticky ginger cake, gorgeous countryside and the subtle art of 'onedownmanship'.

The Hike

In this captivating book bestselling author Christopher Winn turns his attention to the Scottish people, taking us on an eye-opening journey around their homeland, discovering en route the intriguing and surprising ways the places and their history contribute to the Scottish character. As he travels through Scotland's Highlands and cities he unearths the traditions, triumphs and disasters, foibles, quirks and customs that come together to make up the Scottish people. 
 
 From the Scottish capital Edinburgh, birthplace of Henry Brougham who made the longest ever speech in the House of Commons, lasting over six hours, to Callander, birthplace of Helen Duncan, the last person in Britain to be imprisoned for witchcraft after correctly diving the sinking of HMS Hood, he accompanies us on a journey uncovering little-known facts, trivia and amusing anecdotes. Illustrated throughout with beguiling pen and ink drawings I Never Knew That About the Scottish is guaranteed to have you exclaiming: 'I never knew that!'

I Never Knew That About the Scottish

Caroline Taggart

Take a journey down winding lanes and Roman roads in this witty and informative guide to the meanings behind the names of England's towns and villages. From Celtic farmers to Norman conquerors, right up to the Industrial Revolution, deciphering our place names reveals how generations of our ancestors lived, worked, travelled and worshipped, and how their influence has shaped our landscape. 
 
From the most ancient sacred sites to towns that take their names from stories of giants and knights, learn how Roman garrisons became our great cities, and discover how a meeting of the roads could become a thriving market town. Region by region, Caroline Taggart uncovers hidden meanings to reveal a patchwork of tall tales and ancient legends that collectively tells the story of how we made England.

The Book of English Place Names

How Our Towns and Villages Got Their Names

Tony Hawks

'I hereby bet Tony Hawks the sum of One Hundred Pounds that he cannot hitchhike round the circumference of Ireland, with a fridge, within one calendar month' 
 
A foolhardy attempt to win a drunken bet led to Tony Hawks having one of the most unforgettable experiences of his life. Joined by his trusty travelling-companion-cum-domestic-appliance, he found himself in the midst of a remarkable, inspirational and, at times, downright silly adventure. 
 
In their month of madness, Tony and his fridge surfed together; entered a batchelor festival; and one of them had sex without the other knowing. The fridge got christened, and they even met the poorest king on Earth. 
 
An absurd story of an extraordinary adventure, Round Ireland with a Fridge follows the fearless pair as they battle towards Dublin and a breathtaking finale that is moving, uplifting, and a fitting conclusion to the whole ridiculous affair.

Round Ireland With A Fridge

Everyone talks about 'Middle England'. Sometimes they mean something bad, like a lynch mob of Daily Mail readers, and sometimes they mean something good, like a pint of ale in a sleepy Cotswold village in summer twilight. But just where and what is Middle England? Stuart Maconie didn't know either, so he packed his Thermos and sandwiches and set off to find out... 
 
Is Middle England about tradition and decency or closed minds and bigotry? Is it maypoles and evensong, or flooded market towns and binge drinkers in the park? And is Slough really as bad as Ricky Gervais and John Betjeman make out? From Shakespeare to JK Rowling, Vaughan Williams to Craig David, William Morris to B&amp;Q, Stuart Maconie leads the expedition, with plenty of stop-offs for tea and scones, to discover the truth.

Adventures on the High Teas

In Search of Middle England

Take the ultimate trip around Ireland 
 
Bestselling author Christopher Winn takes us on a fascinating journey around Ireland, to discover the tales buried deep in Irish history. 
 
Packed full of myths and legends, firsts, birthplaces, inventions and adventures, this fact book visits each of the four provinces - Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connaught - and unearths the hidden gems that each county in these provinces holds. 
 
Discover where people and ideas were born, where dreams were inspired and where the unforgettable figures of Ireland's past now slumber. You'll be able to visit the holy mountain, Croagh Patrick in Country Mayo, where St Patrick is said to have driven all the snakes in Ireland into the sea. At Lismore Castle in County Waterford you will uncover the bathroom dedicated to Fred Astaire, whose sister Adele was the hugely popular Chatelaine of Lismore in the 1930s and 40s. On the winter solstice you can bathe in the sunlight that fills the burial chamber at Newgrange, County Meath - the oldest solar observatory in the world. 
 
This irresistible compendium of facts and stories will give you a captivating insight into the Irish, and the ideas and events that have shaped the individual identity of every place you visit, and will have you exclaiming again and again: 'Well, I never knew that!'

I Never Knew That About Ireland

Suzannah Lipscomb

Join historian Suzannah Lipscomb as she reveals the hidden secrets of palaces, castles, theatres and abbeys to uncover the stories of Tudor England. From the famous palace at Hampton Court where dangerous court intrigue was rife, to less well-known houses, such as Anne Boleyn's childhood home at Hever Castle or Tutbury Castle where Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned, follow in the footsteps of the Tudors in the places that they knew. 
 
In the corridors of power and the courtyards of country houses we meet the passionate but tragic Kateryn Parr, Henry VIII's last wife, Lady Jane Grey the nine-day queen, and hear how Sir Walter Raleigh planned his trip to the New World. This lively and engaging book reveals the rich history of the Tudors and paints a vivid and captivating picture of what it would have been like to live in Tudor England.

A Visitor's Companion to Tudor England

In Hope and Glory Stuart Maconie goes in search of the days that shaped the Britain we live in today. Taking one event from each decade of the 20th century, he visits the places where history happened and still echoes down the years. Stuart goes to Orgreave and Windsor, Wembley and Wootton Bassett, assembling a unique cast of Britons from Sir Edmund Hillary to Sid Vicious along the way. 
 
It’s quite a trip, full of sex and violence and the occasional scone and jigsaw. From pop stars to politicians, Suffragettes to punks, this is a journey around Britain in search of who we are.

Hope and Glory

A People’s History of Modern Britain

Heidi Postlewait

Kenneth Cain

Andrew Thomson

What it’s really like on the frontline of humanitarian aid 
 
It's the early 1990s and three young people are looking to change their lives, and perhaps also the world. Attracted to the ambitious global peacekeeping work of the UN, Andrew, Ken and Heidi's paths cross in Cambodia, from where their fates are to become inextricably bound. Over the coming years, their stories interweave through countries such as Rwanda, Bosnia, Somalia and Haiti - war-torn, lawless places where the intervention of the UN is needed like nowhere else. Driven by idealism, the three struggle to do the best they can, caught up in an increasingly tangled web of bureaucracy and ineffectual leadership. As disillusionment sets in, they attempt to keep hold of their humanity through black humour, revelry and 'emergency sex'. 
 
Brutal and moving in equal measure, Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures) explores pressing global issues while never losing a sense of the personal. Deeply critical of the West's indifference to developing countries and the UN's repeated failure to intervene decisively, the book provoked massive controversy on its initial publication. Kofi Annan called for the book to be banned, and debate was sparked about the future direction of the UN. Brilliantly written and mordantly funny, it is a book that continues to make waves.

Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures)

True Stories from a War Zone

'Tim and I both understood we had done something really stupid. We had underestimated the danger involved in going out to sea. We had no radio, compass, life raft or flares. In other words, we were a couple of idiots.' 
 
This is the story of Shane and Timothy Spall and their Dutch barge The Princess Matilda. After a summer on the Thames they head out to sea with only a road atlas and a vast amount of ignorance - and it is absolutely terrifying! 
 
On their travels, memories are triggered of childhood trips to the seaside, but also of more recent times. A decade before, Tim had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and was given only days to live. Shocked at how life can pass you by they decided that when, and if, Tim got better, they would buy a boat. 
 
As Tim and Shane explore the coast from the Medway to Cornwall, eventually they start to wonder, could they make it out of England altogether? Could Matilda make it to ... Wales?! 
 
Taking over five years, The Voyages of The Princess Matilda is a minor epic, charting a very personal, moving and uplifting story of an everyday couple's adventure around their much loved homeland. 
 
** Winner of the British Travel Press's Narrative Travel Book of the Year Award **

The Voyages of the Princess Matilda

Hugo Tagholm

Sarah Brown

Gil McNeil

Whether it is memories of childhood holidays or exotic fantasies of faraway places, a sea and its coast forms the most evocative of landscapes. Combining elements of romance, danger and mystery, it provides the perfect inspiration for this unique collection. The finest writers from our water-bound nation, including Alexander McCall Smith, Ruth Rendell, Joanne Harris, Joseph O'Connor and Libby Purvis, give us their accounts of adventures and chance encounters, short stories and non-fiction pieces representing the many facets of the sea's power that will haunt and inspire. The collection also includes gripping accounts of real-life adventures on the ocean from such experienced sailors as Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Alan West and Tracy Edwards. 
 
A literary tribute to the last earthly frontier - the ocean.

Journey To The Sea

The plan was simple. Go to America. Buy a second-hand car. Drive coast-to-coast without giving any money to The Man™. What could possibly go wrong? 
 
Dismayed by the relentless onslaught of faceless American chains muscling in where local businesses had once thrived, Dave Gorman set off on the ultimate American road trip - in search of the true, independent heart of the U S of A. He would eat cherry pie from local diners, re-fuel at dusty gas stations and stock up on supplies from Mom and Pop's grocery store. At least that was the idea. But when did you last see an independent gas station? 
 
Gamely, Dave beds down in a Colorado trailer park, sleeps in an Oregon forest treehouse, and even spends Thanksgiving with a Mexican family in Kansas. But when his road trip mutates into an odyssey of near-epic proportions and he finds himself being threatened at gun point in Mississippi, Dave starts to worry about what's going to break down next. The car... or him?

America Unchained

Kyle MacDonald

Kyle MacDonald wanted his own house. The problem was he didn't have a job and he didn't have any money. Thinking back to his childhood he remembered the game he loved to play - Bigger and Better. It was a way of trading your old stuff to get bigger and better new stuff. Legend had it, some people managed to trade an old biro for a brand new car! This got Kyle thinking. If that kind of entrepreneurial spirit could turn tiny objects into big ones, then why not try trading up to a house? 
And then he saw it. One red paperclip, sitting on his desk, holding the pages of his CV together, ready to go out into the world and help him find the job that would eventually get him a house. 
But that didn't sound nearly as much fun as trading. So he wrote an internet advert hoping to trade one red paperclip and suddenly his inbox filled with responses: the trading had begun. 
Did he get the house? Well, you're about to find out! One thing's for sure, he did a lot of trades and met a lot of very interesting people. One small paperclip was the beginning of a great big adventure.

One Red Paperclip

The story of how one man changed his life one swap at a time

Michael Simkins

Michael Simkins is the ultimate Sunday cricketer - passionate, obsessive, technically inept, and hopelessly deluded. When an injury rules him out of an entire season, not only might it spell the end of his long career, he is faced more immediately with a summer aimlessly wandering garden centres and listening to The Archers. 
 
He decides instead to set off on an odyssey across the counties of England in search of that golden time in his youth when his passion for the game was first kindled. It's a journey that begins in May in light drizzle at the birthplace of cricket, takes in the burial site of his favourite ground (now a Marks &amp; Spencer) and even stops along the way to flirt with the love child of WG Grace and Kerry Katona that is Twenty20. It ends with the ultimate cricketing zenith - returning to the field of play to bowl an over to Freddie Flintoff in fading light in front of a capacity crowd. So can cricket still bring comfort and meaning to his life or is Old Father Time about to call for Michael's bails?

The Last Flannelled Fool

My small part in English cricket's demise and its large part in mine

It's 1989, and Emma and her best friend Dee head to the USA to make their fortune. But completely inept and virtually unemployable, they discover that they can't even get a job in McDonald's. 
 
Forced to travel from California to New York with only pennies in their pockets, they bounce from scrape to scrape, surviving on their wits and the kindness of strangers. Bad luck and misfortune throw everything their way - snakes, earthquakes, black magic and incontinent dogs. They even get kidnapped by a sex-crazed midget in a Ferrari. This never happened to Jack Kerouac. 
 
A startlingly honest and ridiculously funny book, I Left My Tent in San Francisco tells the miraculous story of how the hapless pair made it back alive to tell the disastrous tale.

I Left My Tent in San Francisco

Though happy enough with his lot, Michael Simkins has never truly shaken the nagging doubt - helpfully upheld by his partner Julia - that he somehow lacks worldly sophistication. While she spent her teenage years as a nanny on a boat moored at Cannes, his utter lack of travel experience (Weymouth, Cleethorpes and a day trip to Dieppe) still has the power to shock people into leaving dinner parties early. 
 
So as he hits middle-age, Michael takes up the challenge of broadening his horizons. He decides to improve himself in the same way English gentlemen lacking refined edges have for centuries: by learning from our more cultured French neighbours. Michael, an English provincial ingénue, sets off to discover just what the Gallic nation can teach him and the rest of us Anglo-Saxons about living the good life. Armed only with 50 Useful Phrases in French, he waits to see if his odyssey from La Manche to the Riviera will finally turn him from the scotch-egg eating spawn of Anne Widdecombe and John McCririck into the champagne-sipping love child of Serge Gainsbourg and Catherine Deneuve. Julia is saying a prayer for him at Lourdes.

Detour de France

An Englishman in Search of a Continental Education

The inspiration for the primetime ITV series on Great Britain, this is the ultimate journey around Scotland from bestselling author Christopher Winn. Travelling county by county, this irresistible miscellany unearths the enthralling stories, firsts, birthplaces, legends and inventions that shape the country's rich and majestic history. To uncover the spellbinding tales that lie hidden within Scotland's wild and romantic shores, to experience what inspired the country's powerful literature and towering castles, and to tread in the footsteps of her villains and victors, is to capture the spirit of this fascinating country and bring every place you visit to life. You will discover the story of the original 'sweetheart', John Balliol, whose embalmed heart is buried beside his devoted wife Devorgilla at Sweetheart Abbey in Kirkcudbrightshire. In Aberdeen you will find the only granite cathedral in the world. And you will hear the haunting echo of the Bear Gates of Traquair House in Peeblesshire were slammed shut when Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland in 1746 - legend has it that they will never be re-opened until a Stuart King once more sits on the throne. This beautifully illustrated treasure trove of interesting facts about the history of Scotland is the perfect gift, and will act as an eye-opening guide to this thrilling, alluring and ever-bewitching country.

I Never Knew That About Scotland

The Sunday Times Bestseller 
 
'A tribute and a rallying call' - Guardian 
 
Three and half weeks. Three hundred miles. I saw roaring arterial highway and silent lanes, candlelit cathedrals and angry men in bad pubs. The Britain of 1936 was a land of beef paste sandwiches and drill halls. Now we are nation of vaping and nail salons, pulled pork and salted caramel. 
 
In the autumn of 1936, some 200 men from the Tyneside town of Jarrow marched 300 miles to London in protest against the destruction of their towns and industries. Precisely 80 years on, Stuart Maconie, walks from north to south retracing the route of the emblematic Jarrow Crusade. 
 
 Travelling down the country’s spine, Maconie moves through a land that is, in some ways, very much the same as the England of the 30s with its political turbulence, austerity, north/south divide, food banks and of course, football mania. Yet in other ways, it is completely unrecognisable. 
 
 Maconie visits the great cities as well as the sleepy hamlets, quiet lanes and roaring motorways. He meets those with stories to tell and whose voices build a funny, complex and entertaining tale of Britain, then and now.

Long Road from Jarrow

A journey through Britain then and now

This wonderful book takes an affectionate, entertaining and perceptive look at the English people. Here are their traditions, foibles, quirks, customs, humour and achievements, triumphs and failures, peccadilloes and passions. Travel through England from coast to coast and learn how every county contributes in unique and different ways to the distinct English personality. Marvel at crooked black and white halls in Cheshire and soft golden stone cottages in Midland villages. Go cheese rolling in Gloucestershire, discover the origins of cricket in Hampshire, savour a hot pot in Lancashire and a pudding in Yorkshire. Gasp at the glories of stately homes and the families that create them, upstairs and down, enjoy a pint. Listen to the memories and tales of ordinary folk from every walk of life and find out from them what it means to be English. This irresistible book is packed with fascinating trivia and amusing stories that will entertain and inform for hours on end.

I Never Knew That About the English

Suzanna Clarke

When Suzanna Clarke and her husband bought a dilapidated house in the Moroccan town of Fez, their friends thought they were mad. Located in a maze of donkey-trod alleyways, the house - a traditional riad - was beautiful but in desperate need of repair. Walls were in danger of collapse, the plumbing non-existent. While neither Suzanna nor her husband spoke Arabic, and had only a smattering of French, they were determined to restore the building to its original splendour, using only traditional craftsmen and handmade materials. But they soon found that trying to do business in Fez was like being transported back several centuries in time and so began the remarkable experience that veered between frustration, hilarity and moments of pure exhilaration. 
 
But restoring the riad was only part of their immersion in the rich and colourful life of this ancient city. A House in Fez is a journey into Moroccan culture, revealing its day-to-day rhythms, its customs and festivals; its history, Islam, and Sufi rituals; the lore of djinns and spirits; the vibrant life-filled market places and the irresistible Moroccan cuisine. And above all, into the lives of the people - warm, friendly, and hospitable. 
 
Beautifully descriptive and infused with an extraordinary sense of place, this is a compelling account of one couple's adventures in ancient Morocco.

A House in Fez

Building a Life in the Ancient Heart of Morocco

Peter Gethers

There are only three things a cat needs for a fine life - good food, a comfortable bed, and universal praise and love. Luckily - after converting his human, Peter, from cat hater to cat lover - Norton has plenty of all three. And they're about to get better, as his Peter and girlfriend Janice decide to up sticks and spend a year in rural France. 
 
Norton in Provence is like - well - the cat who got the cream, whether he is hunting for mice in the rambling garden, hanging out with the local stray cats in the sun-drenched town square or being treated to delicacies in fine restaurants. And with Norton by his side, Peter finds that his Gallic neighbours welcome their new guests with open arms. 
 
Over the course of the year, Peter learns how to sit back, relax and enjoy the pleasures of a simple life. In A Cat Called Norton, the eponymous cat taught Peter how to love. Now, in For the Love of Norton, he teaches Peter what it is to truly live.

For the Love of Norton

The Cat who Taught his Human How to Live

'If you had to pick two things you wanted - if you had to - what would you pick?' 
 
I hesitated. This was a bigger question than usually got asked at these post-match debriefs. 'I suppose the honest answer would be,' I said, still accessing the last pieces of required data from a jumbled mind, 'meeting my soul mate, and finding an idyllic house abroad somewhere.' 
 
Inspired by breathtaking views and romantic dreams of finding love in the mountains, Tony Hawks impulsively buys a house in the French Pyrenees. Here, he plans to finally fulfil his childhood fantasy of mastering the piano, untroubled by the problems of the world. 
 
In reality, the chaotic story of Tony's hopelessly ill-conceived house purchase reads like the definitive guide to how not to buy a house in France. It finds him flirting with the removal business in a disastrous attempt to transport his piano to France in a dodgy white van; foolishly electing to build a swimming pool himself; and expanding his relationship repertoire when he starts co-habiting, not with an exquisite French beauty, but with a middle-aged builder from West London. 
 
As Tony and his friends haplessly attempt to fit into village life, they learn more about themselves and each other than they ever imagined.

A Piano In The Pyrenees

The Ups and Downs of an Englishman in the French Mountains

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