In January 1918 the Imperialist newspaper made the startling claim that Britain was losing the war because the German secret service was blackmailing 47,000 sexual deviants in the British establishment. This account reveals how the ensuing libel trial drew Oscar Wildes friends into a posthumous battle for his reputation, and illuminates a twilight world of MPs and dancing girls, drug clubs in London and transvestites in the trenches.

Wilde's Last Stand

History

Philip Hoare

Military

Portico

Here is an irresistible assortment of 100 maddening mindbenders and curious conundrums, old and new. These brilliant brainteasers range from the neatly lateral to the downright perplexing. From chopping the chocolate to crossing the moat, mystifying matchsticks and a teasing typewriter, Mindbenders and Brainteasers provides many hours of mind-stretching enjoyment for even the most agile brains.

Mindbenders and Brainteasers: Where Maths Meets Creative Thinking

Humor & Entertainment

Eastaway, Rob

Wells, David

Puzzles & Games

Why do weather forecasters get it wrong? What are the best tactics for playing "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and "The Weakest Link"? And what is the link between a tin of baked beans and a men's urinal? These and many other questions are answered in this book. It is for anyone wanting to remind themselves - or discover for the first time - that maths is relevant to almost everything we do. Dating, cooking, travelling by car, gambling and ranking sportsmen all have links with intriguing mathematical problems that are explained in this book. It reveals the secrets behind some of the best con tricks and the hidden workings of the taxi meter, and explains how epidemics start and stop.

How Long Is a Piece of String?: More Hidden Mathematics of Everyday Life

Reference

Winner Takes All: A Life of Sorts

Michael Winner, the legendary film director, writer and food critic, is a colourful figure who has led a remarkable life. He has a reputation for being outspoken, and, true to form, in his autobiography he tells it like it is with sharp and insightful observations. 'Winner Takes All' begins with his unconventional childhood as a Jewish boy attending a Quaker boarding school and introduces his eccentric mother, who was a compulsive gambler. Michael Winner gained his first taste of fame, when aged fourteen, he met the stars for a showbusiness column in twenty London local papers. At Cambridge he edited the student newspaper and became a local celebrity. The author is a natural raconteur and his anecdotes from the film industry are compelling. He recounts his early life with relish and provides fascinating accounts of his experiences directing some of the world’s most famous actors and actresses, including Charles Bronson, Sophia Loren, Joan Collins, Orson Welles, Marlon Brando and Anthony Hopkins. Many of them became close friends.As a food critic, Michael Winner is famous for shooting from the hip. Love him or loathe him, he is constantly in the public eye. His esure TV commercials – which produced a national catchphrase ‘Calm down dear!’ – have been an advertising industry phenomenon. What may come as a surprise to the reader is the gentle side that he reveals in his autobiography. He speaks with candour about his private life; he admits his fear of relationships with women and confides the heartbreaking story of the love of his life, a famous female star.

Biographies & Memoirs

Winner, Michael

Arts & Literature

The story of the 'Forgotten Army' – the British 14th, commanded by the brilliant but unorthodox General WJ 'Bill' Slim that took on the Japanese entrenched in Burma in 1944 – has been recorded. But Slim's bloody and fraught victory on the mainland would not have been possible without the springboard provided by a remarkable assortment of army and navy men in small boats, landing craft and even frogman suits who stole along the rivers and onto the islands along the eastern coast of Burma to open the way for a turning point as vital al El Alamein in the Western Desert or D-Day on the Normandy beaches.The missions that these men carried out were often as colourfully named as their own names; 'Operation Drakula', 'The Chung War', Operations 'Turret' and 'Screwdriver', and in this thoroughly researched and accessible analysis, Peter Haining details the Japanese response to these insidious assaults. He tells how Lietenant-General Sakurai instituted his own missions in which his men were told to show no mercy and take no prisoners.Battling against the hated Japanese, as well as some of the deadliest insects, animals and diseases known to man, in the thick, dense jungle of the Arakan, units of the Royal Marines and Royal Navy were helped by a motley collection of roving seamen in what makes for a story of heroism, extreme danger and occasional unforced errors. The book is largely based on personal stories by the men who served, and also draws on documents and information from naval and army records.

The Banzai Hunters: The Forgotten Armada of Little Ships that Defeated the Japanese, 1944-5

Haining, Peter`

Historical

By Jack Rosenthal: An Autobiography in Six Acts

Jack Rosenthal had always resisted writing an autobiography, until he hit on an original way of writing it that excited him—it would be as a screenplay, with himself as the central character, and the supporting cast drawn from the many wonderful and eccentric people who touched, shaped, and shared that life. What a prospect, coming from the author of such memorable classics as Bar Mitzvah Boy, The Evacuees, London's Burning, The Knowledge, and P'tang Yang, Kipperbang, a writer who uniquely won three successive BAFTA Awards. The story moves from Manchester in the 30s—via school, evacuation, university, the Navy, the early days of Granada TV, marriage and life with Maureen Lipman, fatherhood, writing the famous plays, and working with Streisand—to Muswell Hill in the 90s. Sharp, funny, evocative, teeming with memorable stories and characters this is an autobiography like no other.

Literature & Fiction

Rosenthal, Jack

Dramas & Plays

The legendary band leader and jazz trumpeter, broadcaster and humorist looks back at his extraordinarily rich and varied life and the many colourful characters he has known and played with - from Duke Ellington to Louis Armstrong. He also recalls his early life as the son of a famous housemaster at Eton, where he was educated. During the war, he served in the Grenadier Guards and, on demobilisation, studied for two years at Camberwell Arts School. In 1949, he joined the "Daily Mail" as cartoonist, wrote the story-line for Trog's "Flook" cartoon, and also signed a recording contract with EMI. He had the first British jazz record to get into the Top Twenty in 1956 with 'Bad Penny Blues'. The book will appeal to his large cult following, both from his regular live appearances with his band, as the irrepressible chairman of BBC Radio 4's popular nonsense quiz 'I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue' and as the presenter of "The Best of Jazz" since 1967.

It Just Occurred to Me . . .: The Reminiscences & Thoughts of Chairman Humph

LYTTELTON, HUMPHREY

Staying Sane: 99 Ways to Stop Yourself Going Mad When You Become a Mother

Miller, Kathy

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Phil "The Power" Taylor. Eric "The Crafty Cockney" Bristow. Andy "The Viking" Fordham. To this great hall of fame, add another name: Justin Irwin. Or, to give him his darts moniker: Justin "The Bachelor of Darts" Irwin". Justin Irwin used to have another moniker - that of the Director of England at the children's charity, Childline. However, in December 2004, he suddenly resigned, giving up his well-paid job in order to...play darts. His aim was simple: to qualify for the World Darts Championship in one year's time in December 2005. As a child, Justin had wanted to become a sportsman. But as the sportsman got younger, Justin just got older, until he realised that in his mid-thirties he was old enough to be Wayne Rooney's father. So, professional footballer was out the window. However, he remembered that in 1987 he once hit treble 20 - darts nirvana! So, why couldn't he do that again, just on a more regular basis? And so began his journey. From playing with friends, he graduated to pub teams, moving on to Open Tournaments in Essex and Hampshire. From backroom bars to the glamour of the Novotel in Southampton, he learnt the difference between a "Bull-up" and "Bullseye". Between a "Double-in" and "Double Trouble". Justin immersed himself completely in the darts community, getting to know the players, the players' wives and entourages, the strange rules and language as well as earning himself the sobriquet of "The Bachelor of Darts" (so christened because he was the only darts player with a Degree...). Until finally, he found himself playing to qualify for the Darts World Championship in December 2005.

Murder on the Darts Board

Justin Irwin

Do you still find yourself referring to Zaire or Czechoslovakia, or wondering whether it should be Moldavia or Moldova, Burma or Myanmar? Dozens of countries, cities, and counties have changed their identity over the years. Some of the names we remember from our schooldays or from news headlines just a few years ago are now gone. For example, what did happen to Tanganyika? The fascinating stories behind the place names include Affpiddle, Biafra, British Heligoland, Ceylon, Flintshire, Friendly Isles, Islands of Samson and the Ducks, Leningrad, Little Britain, Macedonia, Muscat, Pleasant Island, Stalingrad, Tanganyika, West Britain, Yugoslavia, and Zaire. From the major political movements (the Leningrads and Stalingrads of the Socialist Soviet Republic) to enticing destinations (Pleasant Islands, the Friendly Isles), Whatever Happened to Tanganyika? reveals how the atlas of yesteryear became the maps of today.

Whatever Happened to Tanganyika?: The Place Names That History Left Behind

Campbell, Harry

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