British Life

'This little book is guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. I take it to bed and read it when I can't sleep. I read it while waiting for that the train that's always late. I read it while waiting for that boyfriend of mine who never turns up. It always brings a smile to my lips.' 'Lovely little book of witticisms, it had me chuckling out loud quite a few times. I'm going to keep my copy close at hand.'

After a bomb hits their London school in the winter of 1941 and their father is severely wounded in battle, the Bennetts start a new life in sleepy Dorset, England. It is the summer of 1942 and they are enjoying their summer vacation from school when someone starts letting a local pig escape his enclosure and wreak havoc in the village. The Bennett children and Kate, no strangers to adventure, along with Zorro their dog, decide to investigate. While looking into this petty crime they stumble across a much more sinister one which could have serious consequences for the war and their own ...

Waking up, she couldn't remember anything. Who she was. Who had taken her. How to escape. Detective Abigail Boone has been missing for four days when she is finally found, confused and broken. Suffering retrograde amnesia, she is a stranger to her despairing husband and bewildered son. Hopelessly lost in her own life, with no leads on her abduction, Boone's only instinct is to revisit the case she was investigating when she vanished: the baffling disappearance of a young woman, Sarah Still.

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II has seen huge changes in the lifestyle and expectations of peoples and nations. She has proved to be the constitutional monarch par excellence—while primarily a figurehead, she has guided the concept of monarchy through difficult times, both national and personal. And even when her family has been rocked by scandals, she has maintained a quiet dignity. In this informative yet entertaining audio-biography, Pearson Phillips reflects on her life and times.

Brains don't look like much, do they? A touch of slime here, some squishy grey stuff there. But in fact, your brain is more powerful than any supercomputer, and it is completely fascinating. Have you ever wondered why you're left-handed? Or why you have dreams? Or what causes pins and needles? I'll tell you what else: your brain is completely unique. That's right: no one else has a brain quite like yours. So if you want to learn how to make the most of your brain, this is the book for you.

In Jessie Greengrass' dazzlingly brilliant debut novel, our unnamed narrator recounts her progress to motherhood while remembering the death of her own mother 10 years before and the childhood summers she spent with her psychoanalyst grandmother. Woven among these personal recollections are significant events in medical history: Wilhelm Rontgen's discovery of the X-ray; Sigmund Freud's development of psychoanalysis and the work that he did with his daughter, Anna; and the origins of modern surgery and the anatomy of pregnant bodies.

In an era of increasing digital deception, Peter M. offers a timely guide to recognizing and countering the art of deception in everyday life. Drawing from espionage techniques, historical accounts, and cutting-edge psychology, How to Spot a Fraud like a British Spy provides listeners with invaluable insights into the world of deceit and the tools to navigate it. Whether it's discerning a lie in a conversation, detecting financial scams, or understanding the grander tactics of mass manipulation, this book equips its listeners with skills reminiscent of Britain's finest intelligence agents.

When Anjali finds out that Jack, her boyfriend of 10 years, has been cheating on her, it throws her world into chaos. Heartbroken, she fills the emptiness by embarking on a series of flings that her traditional Sri Lankan mother would (mostly) disapprove of. Yet she can no longer avoid her mother or Shanthi, her distant older sister. And so begins her real journey, one that will make Anjali confront a past she's been desperate to forget. But maybe the past can also be the bridge to her future....

The only audiobook on the market with all official material + 12 official style test. Now updated following General Election 2019 and leaving the EU on 31st January 2020. This may quite simply be the only audiobook you need to pass the test first time. Whether you are seeking British Citizenship or Settlement or even if you are just looking to revise your understanding of British history and society, this guide will give you all the knowledge you need.

At eighteen, your life is full of of what-ifs and why-nots. You have everything to look forward to – unless you’ve got the plague. From a young Elizabeth Tudor, the orphan facing deadly intrigue at court, to a teenage Richard Burton, the rugby-obsessed son of a Welsh miner, historian Alice Loxton explores Britain’s past through the lives of eighteen figures at this crucial age.

When war breaks out in September 1939, Laura, Andy and Tim Clark are evacuated to the countryside. The Colonel's comfortable home in Dorset is a huge contrast to their cramped terraced house in London, where their loving parents struggle to put the next meal on the table. Though unused to having children around, the Colonel proves to be a kind and generous, if gruff, guardian until a terrible turn of events means the kids must move on.

Taking us behind drawing room doors and into high society ballrooms, The Game of Hearts follows six leading ladies and their family, friends, and contemporaries as they move from matchmaking to matrimony and beyond. Candid insights into the competitive world of the marriage mart; real stories of rakish husbands and rich heiresses; and true tales of lost and long-lasting love, reveal not just Regency courtship customs, but truly captivating lives. Author Felicity Day pieces together a rich and intimate view of this most beloved period of British history.

Yousef is the golden child to his strict Pakistani parents, overshadowing his younger sister, Rehana. As he finishes his medical degree in London, Yousef’s life appears to be mapped out for him: become a doctor, marry a suitable girl of his parents’ choosing and, above all, make his family proud. Then Yousef meets Jess. A fellow medical student, Jess presents a complication to the plan. Suddenly, Yousef finds himself torn between two worlds – keeping each a secret from the other. Then, as graduation day looms, Yousef’s mother informs him that she’s started looking for his wife.

An immersive anthology of stories examining home and belonging, with an introduction from former Waterstones Children’s Book Prize category winner Sharna Jackson, Happy Here features stories and poems by 10 Black British authors exploring themes of family, friendship, laughter, magic and peril - in different genres and styles, but all about joy.

Among the creatures that find the food, water, and shelter they need in our gardens, birds are the ones we notice the most, partly because the majority are active in the daytime. Of course, they can be a welcome distraction for us, as they go about their lives and we briefly escape from ours. From the Robin to the Blackbird, Starling and Chaffinch, this illuminating publication helps you identify common garden birds and reveals fascinating facts about them.

Last spring, the otters' home flooded. Now the water is high again. Young otter Sedge believes he can save his holt from another flood - but he has to be brave enough travel downstream for help. Downriver, the beaver lodge is also at risk. Silken—who is too small and weak to do the work needed to strengthen the beavers' dam—feels something calling her up the river. As the two animals unknowingly swim towards each other, they are drawn to the spirit of Greenriver, who takes the form of a snow-white otter, Lady River. But will Lady River hear their plea for safety?

The young Walter Miller was a product of his time. Growing up Black in the Jim Crow American South, he was in trouble with the police before his 14th birthday. And, like so many young Black men, once he'd landed in the criminal justice system it was hard to find a way out. Soon enough, he was facing a 30-year prison sentence. But Walter was smarter than his jailers. He escaped prison and fled to New York with a hundred dollars in his pocket. He changed his name to Bobby Love and began again—living a crime-free life for nearly 40 years.

Born in 1955 to a poor family in Devon Thomas refused to conform. His fierce independence, recklessness and contrariness led not only to scrapes and self-inflicted dangers but to a life enriched by the love of women. Catrina Davies came to know him in his last years and has given his life and times in his own words, creating a rich, pungent language in a knowing, poetic and poignant voice. We learn of his accumulation of engines, tools and guns, the complexity of his connection to nature, the animals he loved and his desire to hunt them.

Anderson was a leading member of British intelligence for over three decades. She played key roles in both World Wars, worked in Bletchley Park and in the Middle East, and was among the top three female codebreakers in the world. She is famous in musicology circles as being the first to decipher the letters and diaries of Mozart and Beethoven. In 1961 Germany awarded her their highest honour, the Order of Merit First Class, completely ignorant of the fact that the interpretative skills they were honouring were the same utilised to defeat their military only a few years previously.

More than eight million people live in the sprawling metropolis that is London. This vast area is also home to a wide variety of wild animals, from birds and mammals to amphibians and insects. From renowned spectacles such as the Red Deer rut in Richmond Park to more everyday sights and sounds, such as Red Foxes patrolling our streets after dark, London offers a diverse range of potential wildlife encounters.