'A thrilling, profound masterpiece' Nicholas Crane, author of Clear Waters Rising 'This is a travel book for our time, one that seeks fragments of hope among shards of war. Thoughtful, uplifting and hugely enjoyable' Sara Wheeler, author of Terra Incognita A breath-taking memoir of Tom Parfitt's remarkable 1,000 mile walk through Russia's Caucasus region in search of solace and understanding after witnessing the Beslan school siege. On 1 September 2004, Chechen and Ingush militants took more than a thousand people captive at a school in the Caucasus region of southern Russia. Working as a correspondent, Tom Parfitt witnessed the bloody climax in which 314 hostages died, more than half of them children. The experience left Tom emotionally shredded, struggling to find a way to return to his life in Moscow and put to rest the ghosts of the Beslan siege. Having long been fascinated by the mountainous North Caucasus, Tom turned to his love of walking as a source of both recuperation and discovery. In High Caucasus, he shares his remarkable thousand-mile quest in search of personal peace - and a greater understanding of the roots of violence in a region whose fate has tragic parallels with the Ukraine of today. Starting his journey in Sochi on the Black Sea and walking the mountain ranges to Derbent, the ancient fortress city on the Caspian, Tom traverses the political, religious and ethnic fault-lines of seven Russian republics, including Chechnya and Dagestan. Through bear-haunted forests, across high altitude pastures and over the shoulders of Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, he finds companionship and respite in the homes of proud, little-known peoples. Walking exerts a restorative power; it also provides a unique, ground-level view of a troubled yet exquisite corner of the world. High Caucasus is a stunning memoir of confronting trauma through connection with history, people and place.

A polish bear in World War II rose to the rank of colonel. Penguins can't taste fish. The ashes of the man who invented the pringles container are buried in one. Houseflies buzz in the key of F. 'hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia' is the fear of long words. These are just 0.1% of all the facts in this incredible tome! Written by seven authors and covering subjects as diverse as The Universe, Art and Literature, The Natural World and Movies, The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts for Curious Minds is the ultimate trivia book! Why not amaze family and friends with the reasons pandas do handstands, the sinister source of the term 'rule of thumb', or that the patent for the fire hydrant was destroyed... in a fire. Every entry is weird, wonderful, inspiring and quite brilliantly, true!

Everything you need to know about Britain's most iconic rural drama can be found in this beautifully designed and fact-filled book. Celebrating 50 years since the show's creation, this book is packed with history, engrossing features, long lost imagery, and plenty of behind-the-scenes detail. Each character, event, family and location is explored in exhaustive detail, with special features on Emmerdale legends, the show's villains, births, marriages, deaths, and celebrity cameos, bringing all the highlights together with interviews and insights from cast and crew members past and present. This book also includes gatefold section on key family trees, a specially commissioned map of Emmerdale and bespoke artworks for each location, making it a truly desirable package to read or give as a gift. 50 Years of Emmerdale is a stunning and engrossing book, which will delight every fan of this iconic show.