Addresses a question that has remained unanswered since the end of World War II: is Britain a European country? Rewriting the inside history of Britain and the European Union, each phase of the history in this book is built around the role of a single character, starting with Churchill and concluding with Tony Blair. The narrative is also built around the careers of Ernest Bevin, Harold Macmillan, Edward Heath, Roy Jenkins and Margaret Thatcher.

Gardening and growing has never been so popular, nor has the awareness of why we need to do it been so acute. When Hazel Southam took on an overgrown and neglected strip of ground in a local council allotment, she had nothing more than beginner’s enthusiasm and fond memories of her late father’s passion for growing. In This Blessed Plot she relates with humour, wry observation and poignancy the story of her first year as an allotment holder. With Hazel, we feel the sheer effort of clearing the ground of debris and patiently nourishing the exhausted soil, the camaraderie and unexpected kindness of strangers, the pleasures of mending and making do, the miracle of seeds sprouting, and the problem of what do to with so much lettuce. This Blessed Plot speaks to the zeitgeist that is gardening and mental and emotional health. But it goes further and reflects gently on spiritual health too, on friendship, generosity, wellbeing, and our mutual dependence on creation and each other. Amusing, perceptive and wise, This Blessed Plot is for anyone who has an interest in gardening.

With his characteristic enthusiasm and erudition, Peter Ackroyd follows his acclaimed London: A Biography with an inspired look into the heart and the history of the English imagination. To tell the story of its evolution, Ackroyd ranges across literature and painting, philosophy and science, architecture and music, from Anglo-Saxon times to the twentieth-century. Considering what is most English about artists as diverse as Chaucer, William Hogarth, Benjamin Britten and Viriginia Woolf, Ackroyd identifies a host of sometimes contradictory elements: pragmatism and whimsy, blood and gore, a passion for the past, a delight in eccentricity, and much more. A brilliant, engaging and often surprising narrative, Albion reveals the manifold nature of English genius.

"Three girls who have lost their way are brought together by a mysterious young man"--

A high-stakes quest for the Ark of the Covenant. An assassin out to stop them. And a man named Caleb, whose supernatural powers may be the only thing that can save them. In this explosive sequel to Blessed Child, Jewish soldier-turned-archaeologist Rebecca Soloman leads a team deep into the Ethiopian desert to find the one man who may know the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Such a discovery would bring hope back to her people. Her search brings excitement and danger—including unexpected love and a discovery far more powerful than even the holy artifact. Meanwhile, Islamic fundamentalists dispatch Ismael, their most accomplished assassin, to pursue Rebecca and the man she’s searching for. These men fear that the Ark’s discovery will compel Israel to rebuild Solomon’s temple—on the very site of their holy mosque in Jerusalem. But the man they seek is no ordinary man. His name is Caleb, and he too is on a mission—to find again the love he embraced as a child and to share that love with the world. Book two in the Caleb duology: Blessed Child A Man Called Blessed Book length: approximately 100,000 words