It's the 1970s and cracks are starting to appear in the alliance between China and its Communist cohort Albania. When an Albanian steps on the foot of a Chinese diplomat the tension cranks up - couriers between Tirana and Beijing carry annotated x-rays of the foot back and forth.

Twenty-three-year-old Zhuang arrives in London to spend a year learning English. Struggling to find her way in the city, and through the puzzles of tense, verb and adverb; she falls for an older Englishman and begins to realise that the landscape of love is an even trickier terrain.

In September 1947, long before mass tourism and with no knowledge of Spanish, the author and William Caskey left for a six-month tour of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. This title offers an account of that journey, during which he bumped into a handful of old acquaintances on a brand-new continent.

Once upon a time, opium was easily available over chemist's counter. The secret of happiness, about which philosophers have disputed for so many ages, could be bought for a penny, and carried in waistcoat pocket. Paradise! So thought, the author, but he soon discovered that 'nobody will laugh long who deals much with opium'.

In 1831 Nat Turner awaits death in a Virginia jail cell. He is a slave, a preacher, and the leader of the only effective slave revolt in the history of 'that peculiar institution'. This novel is Turner's confession, made to his jailers under the duress of his God. It encompasses the betrayals, cruelties and humiliations that made up slavery.

Provides the starting points for 66 conversations to be had with a partner, friend, stranger or simply with ourselves. This book includes short discussions on happiness, vanity, infidelity, education and more, that can help you get to know those with whom you share your life.

Dick and Dorothea - also known as The Ds - arrive in Norfolk all ready to learn how to sail. They couldn't hope for a better teacher than Tom Dudgeon. But Tom is in a spot of trouble. After seeing the beastly Margoletta moored clean across the nests of his beloved coots, Tom set the motorcruiser adrift.