Churchill had supported George VI's brother during the abdication crisis, and the king had been on Chamberlain's side - in opposition to Churchill - during the period of appeasement; nevertheless the two men forged a productive alliance during the war years. This analysis of their relationship reveals how the flamboyant politician and the shy, cautious monarch had more in common than was first apparent, and how their co-operation provided stability in the nation's hour of need.

'When Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he was.' This slipcased set contains the four children's classics by AA Milne, all with their original line drawings by EH Shepard: Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six.

This introduction to British history begins with the geographical description of the island itself which, Roy Strong believes, has shaped the nation, its people and its politics. Invasions, migrations, civil wars, and two world wars have all been influenced by Britain’s uneasy relationship with mainland Europe, while a desire for self-sufficiency produced the empire and the Industrial Revolution. This new edition has been extended to cover the years from 1996 to the 2016 EU referendum.

Between the 1540s and the early 20th century, some 5,000 ships of the Royal Navy carried a carved figurehead. This study follows the development of a uniquely maritime art, exploring how the carvers interpreted the ships' names and incorporated symbolism into their work. Illustrated with photographs of the surviving figureheads, ship models, ship plans and original designs submitted to the Navy Board, the book also contains a comprehensive directory of every known figurehead where a design, or the carving itself, survives.

Against a backdrop of shattered monuments, neglected villas and ghostly backstreets, a daydreaming boy seeks refuge from family discord in the imagination. In this highly original memoir, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk interweaves his own life, and the lives of his glamorous, unhappy parents, with that of his home city. The result is a blend of family reminiscence, history, philosophy, literature, art criticism and urban myth. This edition contains a new introduction and more than 200 additional photographs.

It was as a poet that Samuel Beckett launched himself in the little reviews of 1930s Paris, and as a poet that he ended his career. This volume is the most complete edition to date of his poetry and verse translations, and the first critical edition. The contents establish a definitive text and canon for the poetry, including previously unpublished material, with extensive commentary and notes placing each poem in context and identifying resonances across Beckett's work as a whole.

Illustrated with over 200 reproductions, this study examines the life and career of Thomas Bush Hardy (1842-97), one of the most successful and prolific marine watercolourists of the 19th century.

In a career spanning almost seven decades, Sophia Loren has achieved recognition as one of the most beautiful and talented actresses of all time. Part one of this photographic tribute traces her life from childhood poverty in wartime Pozzouli, near Naples, to Academy Award-winner, singer and UN Goodwill Ambassador. In part two, her films are each introduced with a concise text and illustrated with film stills, posters and rarely seen photographs. Felt tip mark on lower trimmed edge.

In 1893 the aristocratic Alfred Monson was charged with the murder of Cecil Hambrough, a young army officer, on the Ardlamont estate in Scotland. The case captivated popular imagination, but few realized that the two expert witnesses, Joseph Bell and Henry Littlejohn, had been solving crimes together for 20 years. This book charts their adventures – exploits which inspired Conan Doyle to create Sherlock Holmes – and probes the mystery that would challenge even their genius for detection.

Guy Burgess, who passed classified material to Moscow in such quantities that much was never translated, remains the most enigmatic and least studied of the ‘Cambridge Spies’. This first full-scale biography is based on recently released secret files and on interviews with more than 100 people who knew Burgess personally. It offers new insights into his chaotic private life, his Foreign Office work and the fabled charm that won him personal access to Winston Churchill.

An ‘outbreak of talent’ was how Paul Nash described the group of students he taught at the Royal College of Art in 1924–5. Eric Ravilious, Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman and Enid Marx formed the core of a network of artists, friends and lovers influenced by Nash; this group biography explores their lives and relationships from the 1920s to Ravilious’s death in 1942; and, with reproductions of over 200 examples, it examines their painting and their work in commercial design and illustration.

The British offensive at Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, was launched at 3.30am on 31 July 1917. Led by Sir Douglas Haig, this ‘big push’ was to achieve a breakthrough, but it became a four-month-long stalemate of constant shelling, torrential rain, mud and filth. Parker chronicles the operation, describes the conditions on the battlefield and the increasingly industrialized warfare of tanks, gas and mines that added to the carnage; and he questions the necessity of the sacrifice.

The six daughters of the eccentric Lord Redesdale and his wife Sydney have inspired many books, but this group biography is widely considered to be the finest. It skilfully weaves together the dramatic, often outrageous lives of the sisters: the novelist Nancy; Diana, who married Oswald Mosley; Decca, the communist; the lesbian horsewoman Pamela; the socialite Deborah; and Unity, the doomed admirer of Adolf Hitler.

A government prosecutor is murdered, and a sinister note is left at the scene. DI Siobhan Clarke calls her old boss John Rebus out of retirement, setting in train a dark, explosive mystery that reunites Ian Rankin’s greatest characters.

One-pot dishes not only streamline your cooking (you save on washing-up, for a start) – they also help you to create innovative meals that are full of flavour. This collection features dozens of main dishes, for vegetarians as well as meat-eaters, from risottos and stir-frys to pasta bakes and casseroles, in addition to 12 soup recipes. Some are for everyday meals; others are for entertaining.

Aimed at young children, the independent magazine Okido was started to encourage an interest in science and creativity. This innovative Okido game set contains six board games that are simple and fun to play but also designed to help children with first maths, coordination and matching and sorting skills. The set contains a spinner and counters and the games include Space Race and The Rumble-fart Game. Age 4+

How do you say 'a bunch of muppets' in French? Is 'faire la bombe' as explosive as it sounds? With over 700 everyday expressions and their idiomatic English equivalents, this book offers an entertaining way to improve your language skills while discovering the origins of both languages' most curious phrases. You'll also learn when to beware of literal translation – and which phrases might land you in trouble.

In this book from the Blackboard reference series, Judy Parkinson, author of I Before E (Except After C), presents an A-Z of popular expressions, their meanings and origins. With quotations from sources and anecdotes, she explains the facts - and sometimes theories - behind every saying, including who Methuselah was, how and why people were 'sold down the river' and the Shakespearean source of 'It's all Greek to me'.

Ana Sampson has put together a delightful collection of verse by more than 80 poets, dating from the 13th century to the present day, whose work has proved enduringly popular in schools and stuck, more or less accurately, in our memories. She has also provided entertaining notes on the poets and arranged the poems by themes such as the natural world, battle and talking to gods.

Described by the Guardian as 'irresistible small books for very young children... The words are just as much fun as the pictures', Shirley Hughes's Nursery Collection introduces the alphabet, numbers and first concepts – of shapes and sizes, opposites, noises and colours – in everyday toddler activities with Katie, her little brother Olly and their mum and dad. The six books are ABC, 123, All Shapes and Sizes, Opposites, Noisy and Colours. Age 3+

The five teenagers in Anthony Horowitz's series of adventure novels discover that they are ancient magical gatekeepers, reincarnated and equipped with special powers to renew their age-old battle with the mysterious Chaos and the evil Old Ones. Involving occult practices and time travel, and played out across dimensions and around the world, the five-volume saga is an epic struggle between good and evil. Age 12+

This encouraging guide includes many tips for budding artists, such as how to look properly, simplify what you see but include key features, get the basic shapes correct, and understand how shading can transform your drawing. There are sections on depicting landscapes, animals, people and cartoons, and each is accompanied by step-by-step illustrations showing how to build up your drawings and create texture, while assignments enable you to measure your progress.

This illustrated collection contains a whole menagerie of animal hats to choose from, and each project is clearly laid out with an easy-to-follow pattern and concise instructions. The designs supplied can be easily adapted to create a unique hat for children or adults with the help of the techniques section at the back of the book.

Three children, Joe, Beth and Frannie, and their cousin Rick, live in a cottage deep in the country, near the Enchanted Wood where the Faraway Tree grows. High in the tree live the children’s friends Silky the fairy, Moon-Face and Saucepan Man, and at the top there is always a new magical land to explore. First published in 1943, this famous adventure story has new, colourful illustrations by Mark Beech and large print for young readers. Age 5+