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DI Jimmy Perez, created by bestselling British crime author Ann Cleeves, has featured in eight novels since 2006, investigating suspicious deaths in the close-knit communities of the Shetland islands. The award-winning series inspired the popular BBC drama Shetland. The seven titles included in this set are: Cold Earth (Read more...) Thin Air (Read more...) Dead Water (Read more...) Blue Lightning (Read more...) Red Bones (Read more...) White Nights (Read more...) Raven Black (Read more...)

Slightly off-mint

Off-mint.

Set in the early 19th century, Thackeray's satire of high society follows the fortunes of two young ladies from Miss Pinkerton's Academy: the ruthless social climber Becky and her sweet-tempered and less worldly friend Amelia. Macmillan Collector’s Library edition. Embossed linen covers and gilt-edged pages.

The adventures of d'Artagnan and his dare-devil companions, Athos, Aramis and Porthos, amid the intrigues of the French ancien régime, was a sensation when it first appeared in 1844 and has never lost its swashbuckling appeal. This abridged version is published in the Macmillan Collector’s Library. Gilt-edged pages and silk marker.

This collection of twenty-three short stories features the mischievous pixies Rag, Tag and Bobtail, the adventurous rabbits Flop and Whiskers, the quarrelsome tin soldier, the two good fairies and many more of master-storyteller Enid Blyton's best-loved characters. Age 5+

In this Jimmy Perez mystery, a group of university friends have travelled from London to Shetland for the wedding of Caroline and native Shetlander Lowrie; but after the traditional hamefarin’ celebration, one of the girls vanishes into the thin air of the northern summer dusk. Off-mint.

When a body is found in a military graveyard, Lennart Brix, Copenhagen’s Head of Homicide, knows that only one person can solve the case: the disgraced detective Sarah Lund. Based on the award-winning TV series.

A former Professor of Russian History at Oxford University and the author of several important works on Soviet history, Robert Service has been described by a fellow biographer of Stalin, Simon Sebag Montefiore, as ‘the founding maestro of Stalinist history’. This trilogy comprises a single-volume life of Lenin (2000), the critically acclaimed biography of Stalin (2004) and a genuinely revelatory study of Trotsky (2009). The three titles included in this set are: Trotsky (Read more...) Lenin (Read more...) Stalin (Read more...)

A pioneering flight from England to Australia in the 1920s earned Bill Lancaster and Jessie Miller international fame, but their lives unravelled a few years later when Lancaster was tried for murder. Their sensational story describes the financial and personal troubles that led to the death of Miller's lover and the desperate attempt by Lancaster to rebuild his reputation with a long-distance flight that resulted in disaster over the Sahara Desert.

A small town in Washington State by the name of Twin Peaks was once the scene of a number of homicides that remain unsolved… This top-secret FBI dossier contains all the relevant files on the events surrounding the murder of Laura Palmer, including Agent Dale Cooper’s reports, transcripts of witness statements, legal documents, press cuttings, and archival material on the assassination of JF Kennedy.

From ‘The Weak Spot’, in which William becomes the Junior Branch of the Society of Reformed Bolshevists (sic), to his part as an Ancient Briton in ‘The Dress Rehearsal’, it’s mayhem as usual in these 14 Just William stories. Age 9+

The distinguished historian of revolutionary Russia, Robert Service brings a profound understanding of the period and a forensic examination of official and personal records to this study of Nicholas II’s life and thought in the 16 months after the February 1917 Revolution and his abdication. The book examines the political environments of the Tsar’s places of detention, Irkutsk, Tobolsk and Ekaterinberg; his thinking on Russia and his own role; and the circumstances of the Romanov family’s execution in July 1918.

In telling the life story of Elizabeth II, Andrew Marr is concerned with the influences on her and 'why she does what she does'. The result is a study of the monarchy that chronicles the Queen's pivotal role at the centre of state, which is largely hidden from the public gaze, and makes a strong case for the institution itself. Marr presents a vivid account not only of Elizabeth II, but also of the country she has reigned over for six decades.

Red Westwood met Bryce through an online dating agency. There was an instant mutual attraction, and it blinded Red to the danger she was courting. In this Roy Grace thriller, the Detective Superintendent tackles a case of jealousy and obsession turned murderous.

Many Americans fought in the Spanish Civil War – on both sides. This book tells the stories not only of famous names like Hemingway, but also of a 19-year-old Kentucky woman, a Pennsylvania student, and the Texas oilman who fuelled Franco’s army.

After stints in regional theatre in Leeds, Birmingham and Bristol, Tony Robinson played small parts on television during the 1970s, including presenting Play Away, and began to make his name as a comedian in the early 1980s with the sketch show Who Dares Wins. The Blackadder star reads his engaging autobiography in this 12-CD set.

Emily Brontë’s story of Cathy, Heathcliff and their passionate but doomed love played out on the windswept Yorkshire moors, first appeared in 1847 and has lost none of its romance and power.

Deciphering cryptic messages, investigating mysterious events and solving crimes that have defeated Scotland Yard, Holmes is at his best in this collection of 15 stories, including 'The Red-Headed League' and 'The Speckled Band'.

This final complete novel by Fitzgerald is set in the 1920s and explores the world of moneyed Americans who took refuge from a rapidly changing America in an ex-pat enclave on the French Riviera.

Set in London and Paris during the French Revolution, Dickens’s historical novel deals with social injustice and the violence of mob rule through the story of Dr Manette, his daughter Lucie and the two men who love her, Carton and Darnay.

Jane Austen explores the psychology of romantic love as she tells the story of Mrs Dashwood and her daughters Elinor and Marianne – one full of good sense, the other prone to romantic notions.

Mr and Mrs Bennet have five daughters, no sons and a property entailed to a male cousin. At least one ‘good marriage’ is necessary, but with Elizabeth’s hasty judgements, Mr D’Arcy’s prideful demeanour and misunderstandings all round – can it ever be achieved?

Bram Stoker’s famous vampire story follows the adventures of Jonathan Harker, whose meeting with Count Dracula in Transylvania leads to carnage in England, as Jonathan's fiancée and her friend Lucy are pursued by the terrifying creature.

Evoking the luxurious lifestyle of Jazz Age New York, before and after the First World War, Fitzgerald’s novel tells of the pleasure-seeking life and doomed love of Anthony Patch and Gloria Gilbert.

Having made a wager in London, Phileas Fogg and his manservant Passepartout set off on a race to circumnavigate the globe in exactly 80 days. In pursuit is Detective Fix, convinced that Fogg is a bank robber.

Each picture book in this set takes a different theme – jungle animals, sleepy animals, baby animals – and features a simple rhyming storyline. Sound effects and animal noises at various points in the texts allow very young readers to participate in the narration. With large, bright, colourful illustrations throughout, each book culminates in a farewell spread, picturing all the animals in the story and the sounds they make. Age 2+

This fifth book in the Clifton Chronicles series opens with an IRA bomb exploding during MV Buckingham’s maiden voyage – with repercussions for Emma Clifton, chairman of Barrington Shipping. Meanwhile, Harry Clifton is campaigning to free a Russian dissident author. Jeffrey Archer’s cliffhanger is read here by Alex Jennings. Unabridged.

Although Bessie-Belle promises to grant Freddie his every wish, she can’t hear very well and his wishes come out wrong – but it is Freddie’s mumbling to blame, not Bessie-Belle’s magic. Age 3+

During the day, the bath puts out wings and three toys – frog, turtle and duck – fly around the world bringing water to animals in need, such as thirsty kangaroo or the bee whose flowers need a drink. Age 3+

As he sets off to conduct a journey through the universe, the astrophysicist Christophe Galfard aims to ‘not leave any readers behind’ and promises to use only one equation (E=mc²). In a widely acclaimed, non-scientists’ introduction to modern physics and cosmology, Galfard uses humour, storytelling and thought experiments to make concepts such as electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, general relativity and black holes intelligible to all of us.

Kenneth Grahame's tale of Mole, Ratty, Badger and Toad was first published in 1908 and has been a children's favourite ever since. This Collector’s Library edition includes the original illustrations by Arthur Rackham, hand coloured by Barbara Frith, and the introduction by AA Milne. This pocket-sized, hardback edition is bound in dark green linen, with gilt-edged pages, a silk marker and dust jacket.

Set in Rugby School in the 1830s, this seminal novel of life in an English public school follows the highly entertaining trials and tribulations of young Tom Brown. Collector’s Library.

In Stevenson’s famous tale, Dr Henry Jekyll develops an elixir that allows him to explore the hidden depths of his psyche and transfer evil traits to another personality. The result – the repulsive Edward Hyde – proves to be unstoppable. The novel is accompanied by four short and sinister stories: The Body-Snatchers, Markheim, Olalla and The Suicide Club.

With a preface by Sir Winston Churchill and a new introduction by the military historian John Terraine, this volume presents AP Herbert’s classic novel, first published in 1919 and based on the author’s experiences in Gallipoli and the trenches of the Western Front.

During Machiavelli’s lifetime, his fame rested on The Art of War rather than The Prince; although written with the situation in Florence in mind, his practical military treatise was influential throughout Europe. It promotes the concept of war as an extension of politics, and the necessity of a state army, trained, disciplined and deployed on the classical Roman model. The Art of War accompanies The Prince in this Collector’s Library edition.

Edited and with a substantial introduction by Marcus Clapham, this anthology is arranged alphabetically by poet and includes both obscure soldier-poets and the great writers of the war years such as Edward Thomas, Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Wilfred Owen. A final section provides brief biographical notes on the poets.

Oscar Wilde's only novel, published in 1890, is a chilling story of a man who retains his youth and good looks, but at a terrible, hidden price. Collector’s Library.

Elizabeth Gaskell's great Condition of England novel explores the myth and the reality of the north-south divide and, in Margaret Hale, introduces one of Victorian literature's most original heroines. Collector’s Library.

Set in the wild West Highlands soon after the Jacobite Risings, this famous adventure follows orphaned David Balfour as he is kidnapped, shipwrecked and on the run from the Redcoats. Kidnapped is presented here in a pocket-sized, hardback edition is from the Collectors Library, a series that presents classic works of literature, complete and unabridged, with either a short introduction or an afterword by a literary scholar. Bound in maroon linen, with gilt-edged pages, a silk marker and dust jacket.

The story of a young hobo and an escaped slave who set off to find freedom, journeying by raft down the Mississippi, started out as a sequel to Tom Sawyer, but quickly became accepted as Mark Twain’s masterpiece and one of the great works of American literature. First published in 1884.

Drawing on the Royal Archives and the archives at Glamis Castle, the Queen Mother's official biographer presents a selection of letters written by Elizabeth to her family, friends and a circle of acquaintance that included Winston Churchill, Benjamin Britten and Ted Hughes. Covering all phases of her life - as Elizabeth Bowes- Lyon, Duchess of York, Queen Consort and Queen Mother - the letters illuminate a personality described by her grandson, Prince Charles, as 'wise, loving, with an utterly irresistible mischievousness of spirit'. Off-mint.

The final effort of the Second World War against Japan is remembered as mainly an American affair, but the British fleet were there too and British airmen flying from carriers, mostly in leased American Corsair planes. This book recounts these last days of the Pacific War through the eyes of the Royal Navy pilots who flew hundreds of missions over Japan in the summer of 1945, in the face of the desperate Japanese kamikaze attacks.

Across the globe there are places without diplomatic recognition or UN membership that function semi-autonomously and largely go unnoticed, but are nonetheless considered countries by their inhabitants. Arranged by continent, this atlas introduces 50 such states and explains how they came into being. From well-known examples such as the Isle of Man to the more obscure breakaway Moldovan region of Transnistria, it presents maps and details of their size, political status, location, population and language.

As a child in a council flat in Epping, Jack Straw never imagined he would one day hold three great offices of state. In this candid memoir he charts his progress from student politics to Lord Chancellor. Without rancour or self-justification, he reveals the toll that public office takes on private life, discusses the fateful decision to go to war in Iraq, and offers first-hand insight into both the Blair government and the Bush administration. Off-mint.