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Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Once upon a time in Botswana in Africa there was a little girl who would later grow up to be a famous detective: Precious Ramotswe of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. Having already cracked the case of the missing cakes at school, she now has a new mystery to solve. Precious Ramotswe has two new friends at school and they have the funniest and most resourceful pet you can imagine. But they are upset that their family's most valuable possession, their cow, has gone missing. Precious has a plan to find the missing animal but she needs the help of another in her search. Will she succeed and what obstacles will she face on her path? Find out as Alexander McCall Smith tells the story of Precious and the Mystery of Meerkat Hill. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. After joining the the Lovat Scouts at the outbreak of the Second World War Donald Angus Gillies is sent on a mission to the Alps, where he meets Francoise, a young French Canadian SOE agent. The pair immediately form a close bond, but when Francoise is injured and captured, DA realizes his feelings for her are much, much stronger. After desperate attempts to find her, he has given up all hope. But a posting to Canada leads to some remarkable news, not just about Francoise but also about his own family. Reunited once more, Donald Angus and Francoise plan to live together in his beloved Ardnish, but have one further mission to complete first a mission more dangerous than anything they have ever faced before . . . The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Imagine you're on a train. Think about all the other people on the train with you, what their lives are or have been, and the different experiences you've all had. But there is one more thing that you undoubtedly all share: you have all been in love at one time or another. In this surprising and poignant story, four strangers meet on a journey from Edinburgh to London. Each has a tale of love and of railways: for Mark, a brief encounter on a railway platform leads to an impulsive and possibly dangerous decision; Kay recounts the long journey back to her childhood home in Australia and the love that was there; David remembers a teenage friendship that faded into love; and Michael makes a discovery that art and people may not be what they seem to be at first glance. These are very different experiences, but throughout them all runs a deep current of love. And loving others, as one of the characters observes, is the good thing we do in our lives. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. This is the intimate and revealing autobiography of the late Margaret Rhodes, the first cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and the niece of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother. Margaret was born into the Scottish aristocracy, into a now almost vanished world of privilege. Royalty often came to stay and her house was run in the style of Downton Abbey. In the Second World War years she 'lodged' at Buckingham Palace while she worked for MI5. She was a bridesmaid at the wedding of her cousin, Princess Elizabeth to Prince Philip. Three years later the King and Queen attended her own wedding; Princess Margaret was a bridesmaid. In 1990 she was appointed as a Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen Mother, acting also as her companion, which she describes in touching detail. In the early months of 2002, she spent as much time as possible with her ailing aunt, and was at her bedside when she died at Easter that year. The next morning she went to Queen Elizabeth's bedroom to pray, and in farewell dropped her a final curtsey. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Is there anything funny about German professors? This novel features the endless mishaps of the inimitable Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Shortlisted for the Sports Book Awards Football Book of the Year Unknown in Scotland upon his arrival and unheralded in the English game, Ange Postecoglou revelled in his status as an outside agitator. He transformed a Celtic team in turmoil into serial winners, sweeping up five trophies over the course of two spectacular seasons. His appointment by Tottenham Hotspur made him the first Australian manager to take charge of a Premier League club and he had immediate success there. Revolution charts the dramatic story of Postecoglous instant impact on British football and explores his life and times in the sport, through the eyes of those who know him best. Examining the traits that set him apart from his peers, Revolution provides an insight into the making of a man and the unique football philosophy that has reinvigorated teams and transformed playing styles at a succession of clubs across the globe. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Katie Scott (illustratore). Journey through the imagined islands of history. Gathered in this book are over twenty islands that have decidedly human origins, whether they are the products of imagination, deception or simply human error. They are phantoms, fakes and legends: an archipelago of ex-isles and forgotten lands. From the well-known story of Atlantis to more obscure tales from around the globe, from the islands of pure fiction to others whose existence are still in question, Malachy has created an atlas of fairytale and wonder. Beautifully illustrated throughout with original full-colour maps. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. This is an hilarious collection of email exchanges starring the anti-hero of spam, Bob Servant, now republished with previously unreleased material. Spam is the plague of the electronic age, comprising 90% of all emails sent and conning over GBP150m a year from British victims. Into this wave of corruption steps the brave figure of Bob Servant - a former window cleaner and cheeseburger magnate with a love of wine, women and song as well as a keen sense of fair play. This wickedly funny and original book features the anarchic exchanges between Bob and the hapless spam merchants. As they offer Bob lost African millions, Russian brides and get-rich-quick scams he responds by generously offering some outlandish schemes of his own. The spammers may have breached his firewall, but they have met their match as Bob Servant rises heroically to the challenge, and sows confusion in his wake. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. You cant change your past. You can only use the experiences you live through to make your future better, wiser. Anna and her best friend George meet every week to remember, to sigh, to laugh, to reminisce about their moments of glory, guilt and mischief and share their sorrows over a glass or three of wine. The things theyve done still make them blush. Anna wanted to be a poet a famous poet. George left home in a childish rage and years later returned with her baby. When Anna is asked to look after the boy across the road for a few hours each week, she isnt sure. She doesnt really do children. But she takes the job on and, gradually, a childs view of her world shows her a different place. George remembers a flat she stayed in when she ran away from home. It had the kitchen of all kitchens and, oh, how shed love to see it again. Anna sets out to see if it still exists and discovers a cookbook full of recipes, intimates notes and drawings from Georges life. Does all this mark an ending or the beginning of something new and marvellous for Anna and George? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. June 1940.German troops pour across France. As the Nazi invasion rolls towards Paris, the veteran soldier and adventurer Richard Hannay is called back into service. In the French capital an individual code named 'Roland' has disappeared and is assumed to be in the hands of Nazi agents. Only he knows the secret of the Thirty-One Kings, a secret upon which the whole future of Europe depends. Hannay is dispatched to Paris to find Roland before the Germans overrun the city. On a hazardous journey across the battlefields of France Hannay is joined by old friends and new allies as he confronts a ruthless foe who will stop at nothing to destroy him. The lights are going out across Paris and time is running out for the world as both sides battle for the secret of the Thirty-One Kings. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. For over 130 years the British & Irish Lions have stood out as a symbol of the ethics, values and romance at the heart of rugby union. To represent the Lions is the pinnacle for every international player in Britain and Ireland, and the dream of tens of thousands of avid fans who fol-low them. A Lions tour, undertaken every four years to the southern hemisphere, is more than a series of rugby matches played out on foreign fields; it is an epic crusade where the chosen few face a succession of mental and physical chal-lenges on their way to the Test arena, where they do battle with the superpowers of the world game. Behind the Lionssees seven esteemed rugby writers delve to the very heart of what it means to be a Lion, using diaries and letters from those who pioneered the concept, to interviews with a vast array of players who have followed in their footsteps. In so doing they have uncovered the passion, pride and honour experienced when taking up the unique challenge of a Lions tour. This is a tale of heart-break and ecstasy, humour and poignancy that is at once inspirational, moving and utterly compelling. And it is the only story worth hearing: the players' own. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. All proceeds from the book will go to the One City charity, which fights social exclusion in the city. Edinburgh's Lord Provost Lesley Hinds said: 'This book project is exactly what One City is all about. The idea of three successful Edinburgh authors, with very different perspectives, getting together to raise awareness and money by using their talent and creativity, is really exciting.'. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Selected as one of the 100 best novels in English in The Guardian Recently returned from South Africa, adventurer Richard Hannay is bored with life, but after a chance encounter with an American who informs him of an assassination plot and is then promptly murdered in Hannays London flat, he becomes the obvious suspect and is forced to go on the run. He heads north to his native Scotland, fleeing the police and his enemies. Hannay must keep his wits about him if he is to warn the government before all is too late. This classic spy thriller sold a million copies before Buchan died in 1940, has been adapted countless times for film, television and the stage, and features the most exciting chase in the history of fiction. With an introduction by Stuart Kelly. This edition is authorised by the John Buchan Society. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. This book is an intimate, fond and funny memoir of one of the greatest novelists of the last century. This colourful, personal, anecdotal, indiscreet and admiring memoir charts the course of Muriel Sparks life revealing her as she really was. Once, she commented sitting over a glass of chianti at the kitchen table, that she was upset that the academic whom she had appointed her official biographer did not appear to think that she had ever cracked a joke in her life. Alan Taylor here sets the record straight about this and many other things. With sources ranging from notebooks kept from his very first encounter with Muriel and the hundreds of letters they exchanged over the years, this is an invaluable portrait of one of Edinburghs premiere novelists. The book was published to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Muriels birth in 2018. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Well before Precious Ramotswe founded her Number One Ladies' Detective Agency, as an eight-year-old girl she was already solving mysteries. Here, in this delightful, enchanting tale for children, we find out just who has been stealing her schoolfriends' snacks and how the young Precious became the crafty and intuitive private investigator we all know and love! The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. 'An incredible testament to one mans determination' The Sunday Herald Calum MacLeod had lived on the northern point of Raasay since his birth in 1911. He tended the Rona lighthouse at the very tip of his little archipelago, until semi-automation in 1967 reduced his responsibilities. 'So what he decided to do', says his last neighbour, Donald MacLeod, 'was to build a road out of Arnish in his months off. With a road he hoped new generations of people would return to Arnish and all the north end of Raasay'. And so, at the age of 56, Calum MacLeod, the last man left in northern Raasay, set about single-handedly constructing the 'impossible' road. It would become a romantic, quixotic venture, a kind of sculpture; an obsessive work of art so perfect in every gradient, culvert and supporting wall that its creation occupied almost twenty years of his life. In Calum's Road Roger Hutchinson recounts the extraordinary story of this remarkable man's devotion to his visionary project. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. The story of a cyclist who took on the world and rewrote the record books. Graeme's story starts with his tough upbringing in Ayrshire, where he found his escape by taking to the roads. He tells the story of how he became a world record breaker, and of his battle with depression. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Longlisted for the Crime Writers Association Gold Dagger Award ON THE ROAD TO DISCOVERY, EVEN THE DEAD HAVE SECRETS. High up on a mountain road in the Balkans, former Olympic cyclist Heather Bishop races her journalist boyfriend Ryan. But when he suddenly disappears during the ride, suspicion falls on her. Local police inspector Simo Subotic already has his hands full investigating two mutilated bodies that have washed up on the banks of the River Drina. Something is telling him that these two cases are connected but nothing could prepare him for what is to come. Only together can Simo and Heather hope to uncover the truth in time. Their search not only exposes the darkness of Ryans past but exhumes dangerous secrets of a region still reeling from the trauma of war. Are some secrets so devastating that they should remain buried? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Fine. IT TAKES A LOT TO GET UNDER THE SKIN OF CORNELIUS FATTY OLEARY, .literally. The heroically proportioned Fatty OLeary can normally take life as it comes. Right at home in easy-going Fayetteville, Arkansas, he is happily married to his childhood sweetheart Betty and likes nothing better than chewing the fat with his good friends Tubby ORourke and Porky Flanagan. But when Fatty and Betty head off to Ireland on a trip of a lifetime, they find that they have left their comfort zone far behind. Calamity and mayhem ensue as one mishap after another befalls the beleaguered couple. Can Fattys broad shoulders take the strain or will he suffer one indignity too many? Will he get his just deserts or just dessert?.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. WINNER OF THE SALTIRE SOCIETY HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR Next morning at about 6 oclock my mother wakened us to say there had been a shipwreck and bodies were being washed ashore. My fatherhad gone with others to look for survivors . I dont think any survivors came in at Port Ellen but bodies did. The loss of two British ships crammed with American soldiers bound for the trenches of the First World War brought the devastation of war directly to the shores of the Scottish island of Islay. The sinking of the troopship Tuscania by a German U-Boat on 5 February 1918 was the first major loss of US troops in in the war. Eight months after the people of Islay had buried more than 200 Tuscania dead, the armed merchant cruiser Otranto collided with another troopship during a terrible storm. Despite a valiant rescue attempt by HMS Mounsay, the Otranto drifted towards Islay, hit a reef, throwing 600 men into the water. Just 19 survived; the rest were drowned or crushed by the wreckage. Based on the harrowing personal recollection of survivors and rescuers, newspaper reports and original research, Les Wilson tells the story of these terrible events, painting a vivid picture which also pays tribute to the astonishing bravery of the islanders, who risked their lives pulling men from the sea, caring for survivors and burying the dead. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Angus MacLellan was regarded throughout his own lifetime as one of Scotland's finest traditional Gaelic storytellers. Reminiscences of his life were first recorded - on tape in Gaelic - in the early years of the 1960s and later transcribed and translated by John Lorne Campbell into this English-language biography. Born in 1869 into a poverty-stricken crofting community on South Uist, Angus MacLellan spent his childhood and his youth with his family before travelling from the island to find work first in the militia and then on the farms of the mainland. His travels came to an end when he returned to assist and eventually to succeed, his parents on their croft on South Uist in 1896. Angus MacLellan's memory for detail and his gift for telling should bring to the reader a vivid picture of a harsh lifestyle encompassing two centuries of dramatic change. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Midwinter, a freezing night in Leith, near Edinburghs red light district. A policewomans flashlight stabs the darkness in a snow-covered cemetery. The circle of light stops on a colourless, dead face. It is the body of a prostitute, the first to die at the hands of a serial murderer. But it takes more than one death to keep working girls off the streets. Detective Sergeant Alice Rice joins them as they ply their trade in back lanes and waste grounds, searching for evidence from the girls themselves. She soon finds that is dangerous for any woman to get too close to a killer who has nothing to lose. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Focusing on North Mull - north of Glen More, but excluding Craignure, Torosay and Brolas - this book is an anthology of the tales and traditions of Mull in the words of those who tell them. The writing covers belief and superstitions, pastimes, work, health and cures, tales and proverbs. The subjects are taken from a wide range of sources and periods, from Martin Martin in the 17th century to writing which dates from the end of World War II, a time which saw much change in Gaelic society as a whole. The material covers traditions and accounts of a very practical and often harsh existence, variations on tales which are more obscure as well as those that are well known. The book is a celebration of a people that are often excluded from the standard historical accounts of the clans and Highlands, but who have endured much and safeguarded an important heritage. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. 'If it was me, if I was the murderer, Alice thought, where I go? What would I do? The job he had set himself was unfinished, he must be aware that his luck could not go on forever. It was a sumple calculation; at best a lifetime in prison, at worst he'd be killed by the police whilst attempting to complete his self-appointed task.' Introducing Alice Rice, Edinburgh detective. Smart and capable, but battling disillusionment and loneliness, she races against time and an implacable killer to solve a series of grisly murders among Edinburgh's professional elite in the well-to-do New Town. 'There is not a dull page from start to finish' Alexander McCall Smith 'this is a really accomplished debut: atmospheric, detailed, and hitting every requirement for a satisfying crime novel' Waterstones 'The New Rebus' Sunday Express. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. This title tells the story of Oban and the Hebrides in World War II from the author's private photograph collection of this period. Included are first-hand accounts from military and civilians of U-boat attacks, convoy attacks, gathering, training and repairs and the preparation for D-day. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. IT TAKES A LOT TO GET UNDER THE SKIN OF CORNELIUS FATTY OLEARY, .literally. The heroically proportioned Fatty OLeary can normally take life as it comes. Right at home in easy-going Fayetteville, Arkansas, he is happily married to his childhood sweetheart Betty and likes nothing better than chewing the fat with his good friends Tubby ORourke and Porky Flanagan. But when Fatty and Betty head off to Ireland on a trip of a lifetime, they find that they have left their comfort zone far behind. Calamity and mayhem ensue as one mishap after another befalls the beleaguered couple. Can Fattys broad shoulders take the strain or will he suffer one indignity too many? Will he get his just deserts or just dessert? The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. From the ages of 5 to 15, Jess Smith lived with her parents, sisters and a mongrel dog in an old, blue Bedford bus. They travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, and much of England too, stopping here and there until they were moved on by the local authorities or driven by their own instinctive need to travel. By campfires, under the unchanging stars they brewed up tea, telling stories and singing songs late into the night. "Jessie's Journey" describes what it was like to be one of the last of the traditional travelling folk. It is not an idyllic tale, but despite the threat of bigoted abuse and scattered schooling, humour and laughter run throughout a childhood teeming with unforgettable characters and incidents. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. After distinguished service in the First World War, Richard Hannay settles into peaceful domesticity with his wife Mary and their young son. However, news comes to him of three kidnappings. With no more than a few tantalisingly cryptic lines of verse as clues, he is soon on the trail of Dominick Medina a charismatic polymath but a man utterly and consumedly wicked. As Hannay uncovers an international plot to twist innocent minds through hypnotism and blackmail, it appears that he has met his match in one of Buchans most memorable villains. With an introduction by Christopher Hitchens. This edition is authorised by the John Buchan Society. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. Margaret Bryce has been having a hard time since dying in 2014. In a place beyond, we join Margaret as she revisits her life, from her Aberdeen prefab childhood to the birth of her twin girls, through Thatchers Britain, the Piper Alpha oil rig disaster, Australias Black Summer bushfires, the death of Princess Diana and the COVID pandemic. But something isnt quite right. Margaret is trying to remember, but also fighting to forget. A Country of Eternal Light will take you on a journey like no other. It is an utterly original, bitingly funny and poignant novel about life, death, what we choose to remember - and what wed do anything to forget. A Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month Shortlisted for the Readings New Australian Fiction Prize Shortlisted for the Age Fiction Book of the Year. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.

Paperback. Condizione: Very Good. In 1925, John Buchan published his second most famous novel, John Macnab; three high-flying men a barrister, a cabinet minister and a banker are suffering from boredom. They concoct a plan to cure it. They inform three Scottish estates that they will poach from each two stags and a salmon in a given time. They sign collectively as John Macnab and await the responses. This novel is a light interlude within the Leithen Stories series an evocative look at the hunting, shooting and fishing lifestyle in Highland Scotland. With an introduction by Andrew Greig. This edition is authorised by the John Buchan Society. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.