"From the classic novel by Mary Shelley. Victor Frankenstein is a brilliant student of natural sciences. Traumatised by his mother's death, he attempts to create life, but flees in horror from the monster he has made. Within months, his family and friends start to die mysterious and violent deaths... The Usborne English Readers series is a new range of graded readers in simplified English for younger learners. They include activities, glossaries and a full audio recording of the text in both British English and American English."

There’s something sucking the life out of audiences everywhere, transforming them from the very people who can change your business into the disengaged masses. It’s called The Boredom … and your job is to slay it!

Whether you’re a seasoned public speaker, or getting ready for your first company presentation, this candid and practical guide by renowned global speaker and presentation coach Richard Mulholland will give you key insights into:

• Grabbing and keeping an audience’s attention
• Structuring talks that command fees and change companies
• Dispelling the myths around public speaking that are getting in the way of that standing ovation
• Speaking like a true leader

It’s time to fight back. It’s time to save the world ... one bored audience at a time.

For over 40 years, Aardman has entertained and charmed the world, creating memorable stories and timeless animated characters that have gone on to become household names - including Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Morph. But how did two teenagers experimenting with animation on an old kitchen table go on to create a world-class studio that conquered Hollywood? This is an intimate, revealing and funny behind-the-scenes story of Aardman, told in their own words by co-founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton and featuring Nick Park. The colourful account follows Peter and David's extraordinary journey from their humble beginnings as penniless students, teaching themselves the craft of animation, and recounts the key moments that defined their careers and shaped Aardman into the British success story it is today. THIS STORY INCLUDES: KEY MOMENTS THAT SHAPED AARDMAN - their first professional commissions, developing iconic TV commercials, creating the most-played music video of all time and delivering a pitch to Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg. HOLLYWOOD GLAMOUR - What's it like to work with big stars like Mel Gibson, Hugh Grant and Eddie Redmayne, and what goes on behind the scenes at the Oscars (R)? HIGHS AND LOWS - Winning awards and recognition worldwide for their work, and dealing with the heartbreak of shutting down a production. INSIGHTS into how two men who freely admit they are not at all business-minded managed to build a multi-million pound business. CONTRIBUTIONS from Eddie Redmayne, Timothy Spall, Tom Hiddleston and Hugh Grant. Foreword by Matt Groening.

A stunning collection of essays and memoir from twice Booker Prize winner and international bestseller Hilary Mantel, author of the Wolf Hall Trilogy In 1987, when Hilary Mantel was first published in the London Review of Books, she wrote to the editor, Karl Miller, 'I have no critical training whatsoever, so I am forced to be more brisk and breezy than scholarly.' This collection of twenty reviews, essays and pieces of memoir from the next three decades, tells the story of what happened next. Her subjects range far and wide: Robespierre and Danton, the Hite report, Saudi Arabia where she lived for four years in the 1980s, the Bulger case, John Osborne, the Virgin Mary as well as the pop icon Madonna, a brilliant examination of Helen Duncan, Britain's last witch. There are essays about Jane Boleyn, Charles Brandon, Christopher Marlowe and Margaret Pole, which display the astonishing insight into the Tudor mind we are familiar with from the bestselling Wolf Hall Trilogy. Her famous lecture, 'Royal Bodies', which caused a media frenzy, explores the place of royal women in society and our imagination. Here too are some of her LRB diaries, including her first meeting with her stepfather and a confrontation with a circus strongman. Constantly illuminating, always penetrating and often very funny, interleaved with letters and other ephemera gathered from the archive, Mantel Pieces is an irresistible selection from one of our greatest living writers.

From the 1960s to the present day, the men behind some of Carlisle United's most memorable moments relive the days and nights they made their mark - and open up on their Brunton Park careers. This book celebrates promotion heroes, cup winners, giantkillers, relegation saviours, history makers... and scorers of the strange, stunning and spectacular. From Murray to Murphy, Halpin to Hawley, Rafferty to Reeves, Wake to Winstanley, Poskett to Pericard, Bridges to Branthwaite and Grainger to Glass, these are goals that inspired Carlisle United supporters - told by the stars who scored them. Each sale of this book will benefit the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust's Covid-19 appeal.

In early 1976 while working underground as a blaster on ERPM gold mine in Boksburg, Greg Latter was called up for a three-month army camp in Angola, and there was no getting out of it. The truth is, he was actually keen to go. South Africa was at war with the Cubans and he was overcome by a peculiar sense of patriotism. This story is about those three months, told from the day he received his call-up telegram to the day after he got back.

There is nothing gung-ho in the pages of this book. It’s mainly about the cock-ups, of which there were countless, the major one involving Greg himself. Greg has the distinction of being the only soldier in the Transvaal Horse Artillery who saw action in Angola. He shot up one of the SADF’s own vehicles after being ordered to do so by Signalman Podolski, who was in charge of the radio that rainy night. Greg was court-martialled and found not guilty, although thereafter he was taken off guard duty in case of a repeat cock-up. Which suited him no end, of course.

This book is also about the little things, like the kak food; the warm ice cream and hot beers that were so kindly delivered to the middle of nowhere by helicopter; and the butcher who came up with the great idea of finding a waterhole so they could shoot a cow to have some fresh meat. It’s also about the Portuguese refugees Greg encountered, families fleeing from God knows what, lounge suites strapped to the roofs of their cars. It’s about a man coming of age and realising he never needed to go down into the darkness again. The day after he got back from that camp, Greg went down the mine shaft but came straight back out again, signed last shift, and started to live.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Curated and edited by Adam Kay (author of multi-million bestseller This is Going to Hurt), Dear NHS features 100 household names telling their personal stories of the health service. Contributors include: Paul McCartney, Emilia Clarke, Peter Kay, Stephen Fry, Dawn French, Sir Trevor McDonald, Graham Norton, Sir Michael Palin, Naomie Harris, Ricky Gervais, Sir David Jason, Dame Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley, Miranda Hart, Dermot O'Leary, Jamie Oliver, Ed Sheeran, David Tennant, Dame Julie Walters, Emma Watson, Malala Yousafzai and many, many more. All profits from this book will go to NHS Charities Together to fund vital research and projects, and The Lullaby Trust which supports parents bereaved of babies and young children. Other writers include Chris O'Dowd, Johnny Vegas, Jack Whitehall, Chris Evans, Lorraine Kelly, Lee Mack, Jonathan Ross, Konnie Huq, Greg James, Frank Skinner, Louis Theroux, KT Tunstall, Sandi Toksvig and Kevin Bridges. The NHS is our single greatest achievement as a country. No matter who you are, no matter what your health needs are, and no matter how much money you have, the NHS is there for you. In Dear NHS, 100 inspirational people come together to share their stories of how the national health service has been there for them, and changed their lives in the process. By turns deeply moving, hilarious, hopeful and impassioned, these stories together become a love letter to the NHS and the 1.4 million people who go above and beyond the call of duty every single day - selflessly, generously, putting others before themselves, never more so than now. They are all heroes, and this book is our way of saying thank you. Contributors include: Dolly Alderton, Monica Ali, Kate Atkinson, Pam Ayres, David Baddiel, Johanna Basford, Mary Beard, William Boyd, Frankie Boyle, Jo Brand, Kevin Bridges, Alex Brooker, Charlie Brooker, Rob Brydon, Bill Bryson, Kathy Burke, Peter Capaldi, Jimmy Carr, Candice Carty-Williams, Lauren Child, Lee Child, Bridget Christie, Emilia Clarke, Rev Richard Coles, Daisy May Cooper, Jilly Cooper, Fearne Cotton, Juno Dawson, Kit de Waal, Victoria Derbyshire, Reni Eddo-Lodge, Chris Evans, Anne Fine, Martin Freeman, Dawn French, Stephen Fry, Mark Gatiss, Ricky Gervais, Professor Green, Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson, Mark Haddon, Matt Haig, The Hairy Bikers, Naomie Harris, Miranda Hart, Victoria Hislop, Nick Hornby, Sali Hughes, Konnie Huq, Marina Hyde, E L James, Greg James, Sir David Jason, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Jackie Kay, Peter Kay, Lorraine Kelly, Marian Keyes, Shappi Khorsandi, Nish Kumar, Stewart Lee, Joanna Lumley, Lee Mack, Emily Maitlis, Andrew Marr, Catherine Mayer, Alexander McCall Smith, Paul McCartney, Sir Trevor McDonald, Caitlin Moran, Kate Mosse, Jojo Moyes, David Nicholls, John Niven, Graham Norton, Chris O'Dowd, Dermot O'Leary, Jamie Oliver, Sir Michael Palin, Maxine Peake, Sue Perkins, Katie Piper, Ian Rankin, Jonathan Ross, Ed Sheeran, Paul Sinha, Frank Skinner, Matthew Syed, Kate Tempest, David Tennant, Louis Theroux, Dame Emma Thompson, Sandi Toksvig, Stanley Tucci, KT Tunstall, Johnny Vegas, Danny Wallace, Dame Julie Walters, Phil Wang, Emma Watson, Mark Watson, Robert Webb, Irvine Welsh, Jack Whitehall, Josh Widdicombe, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Greg Wise, Malala Yousafzai, Benjamin Zephaniah. A minimum of GBP3.09 from the sale of each book will be paid to NHS Charities Together and GBP0.16 will be paid to The Lullaby Trust.

Travel back in time and share the experience of everyday thoughts and great moments in history in this fascinating compilation of diaries through the ages. Great Diaries traces the history of the diary from ancient times to the present day, bringing together more than 80 historical and literary diaries, artists' sketchbooks, explorers' journals, and scientists' notebooks. Discover what it was like to build a pyramid, sail the seas with Magellan, travel into the heart of Africa, or serve on the Western Front. Find out how writers and artists planned their masterpieces, and how scientists developed their groundbreaking theories. Great Diaries takes you into the pages of the world's greatest diaries and notebooks, including those of Samuel Pepys, Charles Darwin, Henry-David Thoreau, the Goncourt brothers, Virginia Woolf, and Anne Frank, and shows you what they looked like. Stunning images of the original notebooks and manuscripts are complemented by key extracts and close-ups of important details. Feature boxes provide additional biographical information and set the works in their cultural and historical context. Essential reading for everyone who is passionate about history and literature, Great Diaries provides an intimate insight into the lives and thoughts of some of the most interesting people of the last 2,000 years.

Maak ‘n toespraak. Ontydig en dikwels sonder waarskuwing word mens gevra om “iets te se”. Waar begin jy? Selfs ervare sprekers vrees soms openbare optrede, hetsy dit ‘n leerling, onderwyser, predikant, advokaat, politikus of sakeman is; hetsy die geleentheid ‘n huwelik, herdenking of voorlegging is. Iemand moet dit skryf en lewer. Hierdie boek is die ideale bron vir die skrywer en spreker. Dit bied antwoorde op vrae en raad vir enige geleentheid.

'I am one of few Jewish survivors of World War Two, but one of many Jewish people to fight the Nazi regime. My story illustrates what happened to thousands of Jews and non-Jews alike... the sheer luck that saved some of us and the atrocities that led to the deaths of so many, as a tribute to all those who suffered and died.'

Selma van de Perre was seventeen when World War Two began. Until then, being Jewish in the Netherlands had been of no consequence. But by 1941 this simple fact had become a matter of life or death. Several times, Selma avoided being rounded up by the Nazis. Then, in an act of defiance, she joined the Resistance movement, using the pseudonym Margareta van der Kuit. For two years 'Marga' risked it all. Using a fake ID, and passing as Aryan she travelled around the country delivering newsletters, sharing information, keeping up morale - doing, as she later explained, what 'had to be done'.

In July 1944 her luck ran out. She was transported to Ravensbrück women's concentration camp as a political prisoner. Unlike her parents and sister - who, she would later discover, died in other camps - she survived by using her alias, pretending to be someone else. It was only after the war ended that she was allowed to reclaim her identity and dared to say once again: My name is Selma.

Now, at ninety-eight, Selma remains a force of nature. Full of hope and courage, this is her story in her own words.

As a musician, an actor, a muse, an icon, the breadth of Debbie Harry’s impact on our culture has been matched by her almost Sphinx-like reticence about her inner life. Through it all – while being acclaimed as one of the most beautiful women in the world, prized by a galaxy of leading photographers and fashion designers, beloved by legions of fans for her relentless, high-octane performances, selling 50 million albums or being painted by Andy Warhol – Debbie Harry has infused her perennial Blondie persona with a heady mix of raw sexuality and sophisticated punk cool.

In Face It, Debbie Harry invites us into the complexity of who she is and how her life and career have played out over the last seven decades. Upending the standard music memoir, with a cutting-edge style keeping with the distinctive qualities of her multi-disciplined artistry, Face It includes a thoughtful introduction by Chris Stein, rare personal photos, original illustrations, fan artwork installations and more.

Peppered with colourful characters, Face It features everyone from bands Blondie came up with on the 1970s music scene – The Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, Iggy Pop and David Bowie – to artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marina Abramović and H.R. Giger of Alien fame. It explores her successful acting career (she has starred in over 30 film roles, including David Cronenberg’s Videodrome and John Waters’s Hairspray), her weekends with William S. Burroughs and her attempted abduction by serial killer Ted Bundy. Ranging from the hardscrabble grit and grime of the early New York City years to times of glorious commercial success, interrupted by a plunge into heroin addiction, the near-death of partner Chris Stein, a heart-wrenching bankruptcy and Blondie’s break-up as a band, an amazing solo career and then a stunning return with Blondie, this is a cinematic story of an artist who has always set her own path.

Inspirational, entertaining, shocking, humorous and eye-opening, Face It is a memoir as dynamic as its subject.

Winner of the Daily Telegraph Rugby Book of the Year 2020 The Sunday Times bestselling rugby book of the year 2020 A Best Book of the Year - Daily Mail, Sunday Times, The Times Brilliant, honest, combative - Eddie Jones is a true legend of world rugby and remains an enigmatic figure in the game. In My Life and Rugby he tells his story for the first time, including the full inside account of England's 2019 World Cup campaign. He describes his experience growing up in a tough working-class area of Sydney, where he first played rugby, and how he learnt from the extreme highs and lows of his own playing career - the numerous successes but also the painful disappointment of never playing for Australia. He tells how he then embarked on a coaching career that has seen him become one of the most experienced and decorated coaches in Rugby Union, spanning four World Cups and three finals. His successes have included masterminding England's spectacular victory over New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup and engineering the sport's most stunning upset when Japan beat South Africa in 2015. My Life and Rugby is the story of one of the most compelling and singular figures in rugby. Told with unflinching honesty, this is the ultimate book for all fans of the sport. Written with Donald McRae, twice winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year award and three-time Sports Feature Writer of the Year, My Life and Rugby is the story of one of the most compelling and singular figures in rugby. Told with unflinching honesty, this is the ultimate rugby book for all fans of the sport.

'If anyone knows how to be happy and old, it's Hunter. Read a page before breakfast and two at night, preferably with food'- Michael Palin. 'As long as I'm alive, I'll be with her, and she'll be with me.' Hunter Davies on Margaret Forster. Happy Old Me is a moving yet uplifting account of one year in Hunter Davies' life, navigating bereavement and finding hope in the future. On 8th February 2016, Margaret Forster lost her life to cancer of the spine. The days that followed for her husband, Hunter Davies, were carried out on autopilot: arrangements to be made, family and friends to be contacted. But how do you cope after you have lost your loved one? How do you carry on? As Hunter navigates what it means to be alone again after 55 years of marriage, coping with bereavement and being elderly (he still doesn't believe he is), he shares his wisdom and lessons he has learnt living alone again. Revealing his emotional journey over the course of one year, as well as the often ignored practical implications of becoming widowed, he learns that, ultimately, bricks and mortar may change but the memories will remain. Part memoir, part self-help, Happy Old Me is a fitting, heart-felt tribute to the love of his life and a surprisingly amusing and informative book about an age, and stage in life, which we might all reach someday. The third book in Hunter Davies' much-loved memoir series, which includes The Co-Op's Got Bananas and A Life in the Day. Praise for Hunter Davies:- 'He recalls his childhood growing up in Scotland and Cumbria in the Forties and Fifties, capturing gritty working-class life with humour and charm and painting a vivid picture of that period of social history' Press Association 'What sets this book apart, though, is its avoidance of cliche and its determination to reveal everything that might be revealed.' Daily Mail 'Eighty-year-old Davies takes a delightfully irreverent approach to his account of his youth and his days as a rookie journalist. Food was rationed, clothes were utilitarian and life could be rough, but there was fun to be had from friendships, films, skiffle and girls' Sunday Express 'Davies is a wonderful companion, leading readers down memory lane with great chumminess that will really resonate with those of a certain age. This book deserves a place on the shelf beside Alan Johnson's This Boy.' Express 'Ken Loach might have turned all this into a powerful social film, but the avuncular Davies sprinkles in so many cheery anecdotes that the book bounces along enjoyably' Sunday Times

\"It\'s almost upon us \" yelled a frantic voice as the ship neared the iceberg. \"God\'s Will be done, \" prayed Mother Marie. If God wanted her to drown in the icy Atlantic Ocean before ever reaching Canada, His Holy Will be done. Yet perhaps . . . This book tells what happened next, plus the many other adventures that met the Sisters who brought the Holy Catholic Faith to Canada. 152 Pp. PB. Impr. 18 Illus.

Igbo, also known as ibo, is one of the major languages of Nigeria. This guide contains an introduction to basic grammar, two-way dictionary, and helpful phrases arranged in 34 sections, each of which deals with aspects of everyday life. Also includes cultural information and a brief history of the Igbo people.

This Tilted World Is Where I Live gathers one hundred poems by Henry Taylor, drawing on over fifty years of published work by this witty, adept, and vital literary voice. Seventy-five poems appear from his previous books, spanning from The Horse Show at Midnight (1966) through The Flying Change (1985), which won the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, to his latest volume, Crooked Run (2006). The book opens with twenty-five recent poems collected for the first time. From the beginning, Taylor has worked in both traditional and more open forms, avoiding rigid allegiance to either mode as he has responded to the world around him, from the horse farm in Virginia where he grew up, to the deserts around Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he and his wife Mooshe have lived for the past several years. In tones and moods ranging between grief and explosive hilarity, these poems confront a consistent set of themes. Taylor has long been drawn to considerations of what we mean by loving one another, how violence can intrude without warning into innocent lives, and how the things we have always seen can change with the passage of time. Gwendolyn Brooks once wrote that he ""is a truly important poet. Familiar and strange."" This Tilted World Is Where I Live offers an invaluable encapsulation of Taylor's knack for crafting poems that are not only fun but also instructive in the art of paying attention- of which he is a master.