Big heavyweight glamorous reference book with over 700 wonderful colour images, this is the purrfect reference book for cat lovers. Part one opens with a brief history of the cat from wild predator to domestic friend. There is advice on buying and choosing a cat, inoculations for kittens, providing a safe environment indoors and out and choosing all the necessary equipment, all about feeding and nutrition, grooming and training, healthcare, boarding and quarantine, breeding and showing, and all is supported with step-by-step demonstrations. The second and major part is a photographic encyclopaedia of all the main breeds from ever-popular Persians and Shorthairs, Burmese and Siamese to rarer breeds such as the Maine Coon cat, Ocicat and Ragdoll. There is information on important characteristics such as temperament, grooming needs and average size. Non-pedigree cats are also featured. Here are the dangers of climbing into a still-warm washing machine, cosy images of mother and kittens in front of an open fire, 12 week old kittens demanding three meals a day, a nursing queen providing the perfect diet, the art of communication with ears pricked and alert, understanding your cat's anatomy and coping with death. For each breed there are point colours and breed fact boxes in a beautiful big clear layout on these glossy white pages. 256 large pages, can?t recommend this highly enough.

One of the most beautiful and charming films ever made adapted from Raymond Briggs' bestselling book and nominated for an Oscar in 1982, it is the story of a boy whose snowman comes to life at midnight. The two embark on a series of magical adventures high in the sky. The 26 minute colour DVD film has extras: Snow Business Documentary - The Story of a Snowman, Storyboards, Animatic, Alternative Introduction by David Bowie and An Audio Narration by Mel Smith. Featuring the beautiful soundtrack made famous by Aled Jones. This special edition comes with a sticker sheet and bonus colouring in booklet. By Universal Pictures, PG rated.

For young and old alike, the DVD features 12 of the most popular card games and explains the rules and principles following a game through from beginning to end. Discover or refresh your memory on how to play Beggar My Neighbour, My Ship Sails, Go Fish, Cheat, Old Maid, Black Maria, Rummy, Gin Rummy, 500 Rummy, Whist, Knock Out Whist and Nap. The accompanying book examines the most popular card games in the world with large explanatory diagrams in black, white and red all over. The history makes clear that the first known reference to a card game comes from China in AD868 and that by the middle of the 15th century, Ming Dynasty players were using packs with four suits. The Saracens and Moors were playing an ancient game called Maib in the 14th century, and Egyptian decks with 52 cards survived from the same period, the suits traditionally swords, clubs, cups and coins, but the French introduced hearts, diamonds, clubs and spades. Beautifully packaged, first time discounted.

A moving memoir following the Glass siblings throughout the course of the 20th century exploring assimilation, identity and home, the book is the story and secrets of a 20th century Jewish family. After her grandmother died, Hadley Freeman travelled to her apartment to try and make sense of a woman she'd never really known. Sala Glass was a European expat in America, defiantly clinging to her French influences, famously reserved, fashionable to the end, yet to Hadley much of her life remained a mystery. Sala's experience of surviving one of the most tumultuous periods in modern history was never spoken about. Hadley found a shoebox filled with her grandmother's treasured belongings and started a decade-long quest to find out their haunting significance and dig deep into the extraordinary lives of Sala and her three brothers. The search takes Hadley from Picasso's archives in Paris to a secret room in a farmhouse in Auvergne to Long Island and to Auschwitz. Hadley brings to life Alex's past as a fashion couturier and friend of Dior and Chagall. Trusting and brave Jacques, a fierce patriot for his adopted country and the brilliant Henri who hid in occupied France - each of them made extraordinary bids for survival during WWII. Alongside her great-uncles' extraordinary acts of courage in Vichy France, Hadley discovers her grandmother's equally heroic but more private form of female self-sacrifice. At the same time the book is an acute examination of the roots, tropes and persistence of anti-Semitism. A brave and thrilling almost detective story. 448pp, illus. Family tree.

A Wolf Pack spy thriller by 'a master of spy fiction to rival le Carré' - David Young. War is coming to Europe. They must be ready. British spymaster Barnaby Allen begins recruiting a network of agents in Germany. With diplomatic relations quickly unravelling, this pack of spies soon comes into their own - the horse-loving German, the young American sports journalist, the mysterious Luftwaffe officer, the Japanese diplomat and the most unlikely one of all, the SS officer's wife. Despite constant danger and the ever-present threats of discovery and betrayal, Allen's network unearths top-secret plans for a new German fighter plane, and a truly devastating intelligence prize - an audacious Japanese plan to attack the United States. But can they prove it? The race is on. 374pp, paperback.

Sub-titled 'The True Story of a Young Nurse in Wartime London'. In 1938, 18 year old Phyllis Ellsworth packs her bags, says goodbye to her anxious parents, and sets off from her quiet seaside home for Hackney Hospital in London's bustling East End. There she is to fulfil her dream to train as a nurse. At first it is a whirlwind of hard work, new friends and plenty of mischief, but just ten months later Britain declares war on Germany and life at the hospital is transformed. Phyll's days become an endless cycle of air-raid sirens, injured servicemen, and civilians anxiously waiting for news of loved ones. When she falls for a handsome young soldier, Phyll's work provides the only distraction from worrying about his safety. A true story of coming of age in terrible times, the blossoming of first romance, a life-long love affair and a young woman whose eagerness to do good in the world brought her suddenly face to face with death and drama in all its many guises. Published in Phyll's 95th year she lived to record the events of 75 years earlier recalling names, places and key events vividly, and the experience of fear and the sheer courage of a generation we are now losing. 325pp, paperback.

The long-awaited prequel to Elizabeth Chadwick's bestselling and beloved first novel 'The Wild Hunt'. The Welsh Borders, 1069. When Ashdyke Manor is attacked, Lady Christen is forced to witness her husband's murder and the pillaging of her lands at the hands of brutal Norman invaders. It seems the pain is finally over when Miles Le Gallois, Lord of Milnham-on-Wye calls off the attack, but he has Christen's brother under armed guard and a deal to offer - her brother's freedom for her hand in marriage. Christen finds herself hastily married to the enemy side, with the bride's brother swearing vengeance on her new husband. Miles and Christen's precarious union invites enemies from all sides, and when Miles is summoned for a lengthy campaign by the King, Christen is left to watch his lands. In the midst of war, two enemies must somehow learn to trust one another if they are to survive. Packed with action, emotion, politics and passion, Elizabeth Chadwick is an excellent chronicler of royal intrigue and an author who makes history come gloriously alive. 290pp, map.

The epic story of history's most extraordinary evacuation, and one of the most famous episodes of the Second World War, this book is about the miracle on the beaches that saved a nation. In May 1940, British and Allied troops on mainland Europe were in a perilous situation - cut off and surrounded, they faced complete annihilation. It would be a devastating blow, handing Europe to the Nazis. But over a few frantic days the greatest evacuation in history managed to salvage hope, saving the army and hundreds of thousands of soldiers' lives. It was a pivotal and defining moment in the war, one Winston Churchill described as a 'miracle' in his 'We shall fight them on the beaches' speech. Best selling author John Harris describes in vivid detail how the evacuation developed on a day-by-day basis and destroys more than one myth associated with Dunkirk. Packed with authentic atmospheric and first-hand recollections, the desperate lifting of the weary British Expeditionary Force is seen in its tragic but spirited entirety, an epic of courage and confusion without parallel. First published in 1980 and here is facsimile reprint with quite large print. 267pp, paperback.

With novelistic flair, investigative journalist Simon Parkin shines a light on Operation Raspberry and these unsung heroines in this riveting true story of war at sea. Sub-titled 'The Secret Game that Revolutionised the War' here is a gripping narrative that shines fresh light on an important and little known facet of the war against the German U-boats. In his splendid new history of the war in the Atlantic, Parkin's book rips along at full sail and is full of personality and personalities. He celebrates the ingenuity of a British naval 'reject' and the accomplishments of the formerly faceless women never officially rewarded for their contribution to the Allied defeat of Germany. 1941 and the Battle of the Atlantic is a disaster. Thousands of supply ships ferrying vital food and fuel from North America to Britain are being torpedoed by German U-boats. Britain is only weeks away from starvation and with that, crushing defeat. In the first week of 1942 a group of unlikely heroes, a retired naval captain and a clutch of brilliant young women, gather to form a secret strategy unit. On the top floor of a bomb-bruised HQ in Liverpool, the Western Approaches Tactical Unit spends days and nights designing and playing war games in an effort to crack the U-boat tactics. As the U-boat wolf packs continue to prey upon the supply ships, the Wrens race against time to save Britain. With 16 pages of photos, index and notes, 307pp in paperback.

New 2021 glamorous hardback dedicated to a friend of ours in the publishing trade, Sheila Crowley. Top crime writers like Lee Child and Karin Slaughter have described the book as 'Hypnotically good' and 'Propulsive'. The atmosphere on board the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney is electric. Celebrities are rumoured to be among the passengers in Business Class, and the world is watching the landmark journey. Flight attendant Mina is trying to focus on the passengers instead of her troubled five year old daughter back at home or the cataclysmic problems in her marriage, but soon after the plane takes off, she receives a chilling anonymous note. Someone wants to make sure the plane never reaches its destination and they are demanding her cooperation - and they know exactly how to get it. It's 20 hours to landing. Anything can happen in 20 hours. You can save hundreds of lives or the one that matters most. 'Taking the locked room mystery to a new, white-knuckle extreme, this is electrifying.' 389pp.