US food giant Kraft bought Cadbury in 2010, Dutch group AkzoNobel acquired ICI in 2007, and that's just the beginning. The truth is that hundreds of billions of pounds' worth of British businesses have been sold off abroad in recent years. But what does this takeover bonanza mean for our future economic health? The author examines this question.

From award-winning English novelist Jonathan C oe comes a fable for all ages about a broken mirror that shows us how it is our imaginations that really shape our lives.

Los Angeles - Fritz Brown, ex-alcoholic private eye with a stained past, makes do with car repossessions and classical music. Then he is offered a case by Freddy Fat Dog Baker, an eccentric golf caddy whose sister has made off with a much older man.

When several valuable antiquarian books go missing from a prestigious library in the heart of Venice, Commissario Brunetti is immediately called to the scene. The staff suspect an American researcher has stolen them, but for Brunetti something doesn't quite add up.

Over seven centuries London has changed dramatically - from walled medieval settlement to bustling modern metropolis. This title tells the story of crime and punishment in the city, -from the killing of infamous 'questmonger' Roger Legett during the Peasants' Revolt of 1381 through to the hanging of Styllou Christofi in 1954.

It is the year 1152, and a beautiful woman rides through France, fleeing her crown, her two young daughters and a shattered marriage. Her husband, Louis of France has been more monk than monarch, and certainly not a lover. Now Eleanor of Aquitaine has one sole purpose.