Jane Austen is one of the most extensively read writers in English literature, renowned around the world for her much-loved romantic novels. Little is often known about this brilliant author, yet in this absorbing collection of stories and trivia readers will find answers to the amazing and extraordinary aspects of Austen's life, work and legacy. From her development as a world-class author from unassuming origins and the secrets of her own life and loves, through insights into her novels and their characters along with the changing reception to them over the years, to intriguing stories behind the screen and stage adaptations of her works and her continued legacy, there is something for every enthusiast to relish. This authoritative and absorbing book is published to coincide with the 200th Anniversary of Austen's death in 2017.

William Armstrong was a brilliant and charismatic figure of the 19th Century - a self-made man whose achievements are now being more widely recognised. Inventor, scientist, engineer, and an early advocator of renewable energy, he built a pioneering house in Northumberland in the North East of England called Cragside, the first house in the world to be lit by hydroelectricity. Armstrong's industrial powerhouse Elswick Works on the Tyne employed over 25,000 people in its heyday manufacturing hydraulic cranes, warships and armaments. He was a visionary who was loved, and hated, and feared in equal measure. While he brought great fame and fortune to his native Newcastle upon Tyne, and to his country as a whole, he was condemned in some quarters as 'a merchant of death' for his manufacturing of weapons of war.

Blue and white is one of the most soothing and adaptable colour schemes, and with so many variations you can use it to transform your home. Blue & White At Home presents 15 unique homes that illustrate the endless possibilities of this timeless palette, which can be fresh and crisp, bold and saturated, dark and moody or timeworn and faded. In the first section, Vintage, author Henrietta Heald explores a Victorian house furnished with antique textiles, a prairie-style ranch in California and a light-filled cottage on Long Island. She then considers Coastal style, drawing inspiration from a whitewashed cabin in Spain and a spectacular modern beach house in South Africa. The third part of the book, Rustic, features an 18th-century English farmhouse, a Scandinavian summer retreat and a country house with over 400 years of history. Throughout the book, Henrietta also highlights particular themes, from walls and floors to fabrics and furniture, and explores ways to bring personality into your living space using collected ceramics, vintage pieces and foraged finds in every shade of blue and white.