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As seen on TVThe bicycle is one of mankind's greatest inventions - and the most popular form of transport in history. Robert Penn has ridden one most days of his adult life. In his late 20s, he pedalled 40,000 kilometres around the world. Yet, like cyclists everywhere, the utilitarian bikes he currently owns don't even hint at this devotion. Robert needs a new bike, a bespoke machine that reflects how he feels when he's riding it - like an ordinary man touching the gods. It's All About the Bike is the story of a journey to design and build a dream bike. En route, Robert explores the culture, science and history of the bicycle. From Stoke-on-Trent, where an artisan hand builds his frame, to California, home of the mountain bike, where Robert tracks down the perfect wheels, via Portland, Milan and Coventry, birthplace of the modern bicycle, this is the narrative of our love affair with cycling. It's a tale of perfect components - parts that set the standard in reliability, craftsmanship and beauty. It tells how the bicycle has changed the course of human history, from the invention of the 'people's nag' to its role in the emancipation of women, and from the engineering marvel of the tangent-spoked wheel to the enduring allure of the Tour de France. It's the story of why we ride, and why this simple machine remains central to life today.

British intellectual life between the wars stood at the heart of modernity. The combination of a liberal, uncensored society and a large educated audience for new ideas made Britain a laboratory for novel ways to understand the world. The Morbid Age opens a window onto this creative but anxious era, the golden age of the public intellectual and scientist: Arnold Toynbee, Aldous and Julian Huxley, H. G. Wells, Marie Stopes and a host of others. Yet, as Richard Overy argues, a striking characteristic of so many of the ideas that emerged from this new age - from eugenics to Freud's unconscious, to modern ideas of pacifism and world government - was the fear that the West was facing a possibly terminal crisis of civilization. The modern era promised progress of a kind, but it was overshadowed by a growing fear of decay and death, an end to the civilized world and the arrival of a new Dark Age - even though the country had suffered no occupation, no civil war and none of the bitter ideological rivalries of inter-war Europe, and had an economy that survived better than most. The Morbid Age explores how this strange paradox came about. Ultimately, Overy shows, the coming of war was almost welcomed as a way to resolve the contradictions and anxieties of this period, a war in which it was believed civilization would be either saved or utterly destroyed.

When she started to clock up the years in earnest, everyone tried not to mention it. But now Virginia Ironside is actually sixty-five she can't see what all the fuss was about. It's great to be old.Growing ancient is not a loss but a gain. You're more confident, and if your memory's going, at least you forget the bad times, like all those ghastly men you slept with in the other sixties. And isn't now the time to take lots of drugs, and not just the ones prescribed by the doctor (which are, now you're old, completely free)?There's nothing more fun than comparing your various ailments with other oldies ('I take so many fish oils I'm thinking of joining an aquarium'), curtain-twitching, complaining or (Virginia's preference) just mooching about.From Grandchildren ('The reward for not killing your children'), and Being a Bore ('You're in your anecdotage, so nobody can complain') to Sex ('I don't know about you, but I've had enough sex to last me a lifetime'), Virginia Ironside tackles all the issues that face today's elegant and distinguished oldies with optimism and enthusiasm - and makes you want to cheer!

At the end of the Cold War, we found ourselves living in a world with one superpower, the United States. Now, at the start of the twenty-first century, Parag Khanna argues powerfully that the moment of American supremacy is over, brought about by the increasing influence of what he terms the Second World: Eastern Europe, Central Asia, South America, the Middle East and East Asia. Travelling from Azerbaijan to Venezuela, China's hinterlands to Gaddafi's Libya, Parag Khanna explores these countries and their global significance. For as the three superpowers - the US, the EU and China - compete for influence in the Second World, citizens of these countries can already feel the these imperial forces exerting their influence and affecting the global balance of power. In a bold and provocative style, The Second World makes clear what's at stake, for whoever dominates the Second World will lead the twenty-first century - or become a part of the Second World itself.

HO-HO-HOW can Nicholas save Christmas?Nicholas's dad has lost his job just before Christmas! This means no money for yucky cake (hurray) or for PRESENTS (boooooo). But then the ding dong merrily doorbell rings and an old friend has the answer . . . Can a certain someone's famous bottom come to the rescue?WHAM BAM MEGA BEGA! BLOOP-BLOOP-BLOOP! WHIZZING!

'An enthralling account of the murky shadow-world of Elizabethan espionage' Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves'Alford has brought a dash of le Carr to the 16th century' The TimesElizabeth I's reign is known as a golden age, yet to much of Europe she was a 'Jezebel' and heretic who had to be destroyed. The Watchers is a thrilling portrayal of the secret state that sought to protect the Queen; a shadow world of spies, codebreakers, agent provocateurs and confidence-men who would stop at nothing to defend the realm.'Absorbing and closely documented ... Alford vividly evokes this murky world of codes, ciphers, invisible ink, intercepted letters, aliases, disguises, forgeries and instructions to burn after reading ... flowing narrative and crisp judments ... engrossing' Guardian

What caused the Russian Revolution?Did it succeed or fail?Do we still live with its consequences?Orlando Figes teaches history at Birkbeck, University of London and is the author of many acclaimed books on Russian history, including A People's Tragedy, which The Times Literary Supplement named as one of the '100 most influential books since the war', Natasha's Dance, The Whisperers, Crimea and Just Send Me Word. The Financial Times called him 'the greatest storyteller of modern Russian historians.'

Moonie and Mei Ling are looked after by their grandmother, an indomitable matriarch, ruthless manager of 'The Double Happiness' restaurant and fount of endless titbits of Chinese mythology. Feared and renowned in the neighbourhood - and stubbornly attached to the giant meat cleaver she keeps in her handbag - eccentric Grandma Wong weaves a magical world of surreal stories and ancient wisdom around her two wayward granddaughters. However, the girls' lives are also being drawn forward by the inexorable pace of assimilation and the ever-beckoning American dream, and as fascinated as they might be by Buddhist philosophy, they are also cool, hip American girls with straight-A grades and scores to settle - with the neighbourhood boys who tease them and with the unforgiving media, which tells them that they should look like Barbie dolls and not like Chinese girls.

India Knight and Neris Thomas's top top ten bestseller Neris and India's Idiot Proof Diet is a hilariously honest account of a low-carb diet that actually works. Ever wanted a diet book by and for real people - you know, people who actually have a life? Congratulations! You've just picked it up.We lost ten stone in a year - and if we can do it, then just by following our tips you can do it too. There's never been a diet book like this - for women, by women, with simple advice that is not hard to follow (plus jokes). And read our new chapter on keeping up the good work.'Amazingly frank...the honesty of their confessions exceeds anything previously published' Evening Standard'A compulsive read with good advice, whether you want to lose five pounds or five stone. It addresses the emotional issues of eating. Completely delicious and simple-to-make recipes' Mail on Sunday 'Crammed with real dieters' hilarious motivation-boosting tips and anecdotes' CosmopolitanIndia Knight is the author of four novels: My Life on a Plate, Don't You Want Me, Comfort and Joy and Mutton. Her non-fiction books include The Shops, the bestselling diet book Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet, the accompanying bestselling cookbook Neris and India's Idiot-Proof Diet Cookbook and The Thrift Book. India is a columnist for the Sunday Times and lives in London with her three children.Follow India on Twitter @indiaknight or on her blog at http://indiaknight.tumblr.com. Neris Thomas is a film producer and artist, she lives in London and is married with one daughter.

The pieces here span reflections on personal and collective identity, on home and family, on literature, language and politics, and on Achebe's lifelong attempt to reclaim the definition of 'Africa' for its own authorship. For the first thirty years of his life, before Nigeria's independence in 1960, Achebe was officially defined as a 'British Protected Person'. In The Education of a British-Protected Child he gives us a vivid, ironic and delicately nuanced portrait of growing up in colonial Nigeria and inhabiting its 'middle ground', interrogating both his happy memories of reading English adventure stories in secondary school and also the harsher truths of colonial rule.

By night, Brian Johnson sings in the biggest rock 'n' roll band on the planet.But by day, AC/DC's charismatic, flat-capped frontman gets to indulge his passion for all things automotive.Cars and rock 'n'roll, they were made for each other.Car racer, car collector and all-round car enthusiast, Johnson is an incurable, certifiable petrolhead who can't remember a time when four wheels didn't feature as large in his life as music.Starting, as a young boy growing up in Tyneside, with an old steering wheel and his imagination, a lifelong passion took root early.And through cramped teenage fumbles in an old mini and clapped-out, hygienically challenged tour vans, to chauffeur-driven, leather-trimmed limos and a sideline as a successful racing driver, it's been there ever since.By turns, surprising, joyful, poignant and usually laugh-out-loud funny, Rockers and Rollers is the story of man with an insatiable appetite for life and a glimpse into the extraordinary world of AC/DC, set soon to overtake the Beatles as the biggest selling-band in history.Packed with hair-raising anecdotes and revealing a God-given talent for comic writing on every page, Brian Johnson has written the most unique, entertaining autobiography of the year.And essential reading for car nuts and rock fans.Well that'll be most of us then ...

In the current financial crisis Keynes has been taken out of his cupboard, dusted down, consulted, cited, invoked and appealed to about why events have taken the course they have and how a rescue operation can be effected. Why have we gone back so emphatically to the ideas of an economist who died fifty years ago?There are three main ideas of Keynes's worth thinking about now. The first is that the future is unknowable, and therefore that economic storms, especially those originating in the financial system, are not random shocks which impinge on smoothly-adjusting markets, but part of the normal working of the market system. The second idea is that economies wounded by these 'shocks' can, if left to themselves, stay in a depressed condition for a long time. That is why governments need to have and use fiscal ammunition to prevent a slide from financial crisis to economic depression. The third concerns what he termed 'organicism': societies are communities not, as he put it, 'branches of the multiplication table'. This limited his support for the pursuit of efficiency at all costs. The ideas of John Maynard Keynes have never been more timely.

BATPANTS the orang-utan is completely, wildly HAIRY. She loves swinging through trees, and apple crumble and roast chicken. But most of all she loves her family, the Loveharts, and all their madcap adventures.Mrs Lovehart is a stuntwoman and so the whole family is off to watch her in action in her latest film. But someone on set has an eeeevil plan and things could turn nasty - will it be Batpants to the rescue?

FANTASTI-BUBBLY-CRUMBO!When the Lovehart family receive a MEGA-MASSIVE delivery, there's only one thing it can be. An elephant of course! A gentle giant named Fudge has come to live with them - he can be a friend for their pet orang-utan, Batpants. But then Fudge mysteriously vanishes . . . he's been elephant-napped, for a ransom of TWO MILLION pounds!Who can save twinkle-toes Fudge? Never fear - Batpants is on the trail!Hoo hooo hooooo ha ha ha ha ha!

Pyjamas are just pyjamas. Right? Not when they're COSMIC PYJAMAS!Something STRANGE has happened to Rosie and her brothers! Rosie's new pyjamas have led them to a dangerous discovery . . .Doctor Starkly-Bonkers has invented the DOOMBUSTER and history is all muddled up - and now the machine has been STOLEN! Can Rosie and the boys beat the Pharaohs and dinosaurs and will rice pudding REALLY stop the Vikings?

So go on, ask me. 'Dear, dear Tuffy. Why was your Christmas so horrible?'Well. I couldn't climb the tree.I couldn't touch the dangly decorations.And Ellie made me part of her sing-along Christmas performance.Horrible, horrible, horrible!But I showed them. I was Tuffy the Acting Cat, superstar. How was I supposed to know things would get so . . . messy?

Egil's Saga tells the story of the long and brutal life of tenth-century warrior-poet and farmer Egil Skallagrimsson: a morally ambiguous character who was at once the composer of intricately beautiful poetry, and a physical grotesque capable of staggering brutality. The saga recounts Egil's progression from youthful savagery to mature wisdom as he struggles to avenge his father's exile from Norway, defend his honour against the Norwegian King Erik Bloodaxe, and fight for the English King Athelstan in his battles against Scotland. Exploring issues as diverse as the question of loyalty, the power of poetry, and the relationship between two brothers who love the same woman, Egil's Saga is a fascinating depiction of a deeply human character.

Waiter, there's a sky in my pie!Roger McGough has cooked up a delicious feast of poems. This spicy collection contains only the finest ingredients - wit, sparkle and thought-provoking insight from a very superior source. Get ready to have your tastebuds tickled!Warning: some poems will make you choke with laughter, some need to be chewed very carefully.

George Mikes says, 'the English have no soul; they have the understatement instead.' But they do have a sense of humour - they provide it by buying over three hundred thousand copies of a book that took them quietly and completely apart, a book that really took the Mikes out of them.

Her crippled legs cured, Pollyanna takes her glad heart to cheer new friends in Boston before travelling to Europe with Aunt Polly and Dr chilton. But growing up brings sorrows as well as joys, and when she returns after six years, with Dr Chilton dead and Aunt Polly fallen on hard times, even Pollyanna has trouble maintaining her usual cheerful outlook.

THE FAT LADIES CLUB met at antenatal classes and became firm friends. This book is the result of their shared experiences of first-time pregnancy. Nothing is left out, so be prepared to read about their emotions, hormones and bodily changes - some humorous, some horrendous - as the ladies get ready for motherhood. Forget the textbook theory and settle down for what amounts to an eavesdrop into their girly chats. Did they get stretch marks - how many, where and what were they like? What happened to their sex lives? Did 'it' feel the same afterwards? When did they first feel like a mum? Other books give you the factual stuff but this alternative guide to the real ins and outs of pregnancy gives advice which all women will learn from.

When Rupert's parents go to Great Uncle Perry's funeral, Rupert spends the day with his Great Aunt Ada, along with his unruly puppy, Roly. Great Aunt Ada is determined to teach Rupert some manners. Rupert thinks the day is going to be awful until hemeets Gordon, a very rude parrot. Gorden is even worse than Great Aunt Ada, and he bosses Rupert and Roly so much that they tidy the whole house. They are relieved to get back home, but they do remember their manners!

From the MAN BOOKER PRIZE- and WOMEN'S PRIZE-SHORTLISTED author of Swing Time, White Teeth and On Beauty'A pleasure from the first page to the last' Evening Standard'A glorious concoction by our most beguiling and original prose-wizard' Independent on Sunday 'Full of humour, the search for love and the fear of death... A touching, thoughtful, deeply felt rite-of-passage novel' Sunday Telegraph The Autograph Man follows one Alex-Li Tandem: a twenty-something Chinese-Jewish autograph dealer turned on by sex, drugs and organised religion. From London to New York, love to death, fathers to sons, Alex tries to discover how a piece of paper can bring him closer to his heart's desire. Exposing our misconceptions about our idols - about ourselves - Zadie Smith delivers a brilliant, unforgettable tale about who we are and what we really want to be.

Young Smith was a pickpocket - a very accomplished one. But one day his pick-pocketing was to lead him into a sinister and dangerous web of murder, intrigue and betrayal.

A dramatic contemporary thriller focussing on the blind passion of an obsessive dream. STORMCHILD is the story of a quest, of a man's search for his missing daughter - and to prove his daughter's innocence from involvement in her mother's murder. And he is no ordinary man - for he is famous as a world-class yachtsman, but the strength of the storms he has to face at sea are nothing compared to the violence of the political campaigners who hold his daughter.

A world of puppy adventure from the author of the Magic Kitten series, which has sold over a million copies!Never in Madison's wildest dreams had she imagined having a magic puppy for a friend!So when Storm, a tiny beagle puppy with a fluffy white muzzle, magically appears Madison feels like the most special girl in the whole world! Who better to help her discover an amazing surprise at the bottom of the garden!

A world of puppy adventure from the author of the Magic Kitten series, which has sold over a million copies!Never in Lola's wildest dreams had she imagined having a magic puppy for a friend!So when Storm, a fluffy black and white shih-tzu puppy, suddenly appears, Lola's lonely school days come into a whole magical class of their own!

The late great Dubliner, Ronnie Drew, was six months into writing his biography when he was diagnosed with cancer. He had produced warm, witty and insightful material that made it clear that he was a wonderful writer as well as a great singer and storyteller. With the encouragement of his wife Deirdre and his family, he continued to think about the book and conducted a number of interviews to keep things ticking over until he was well enough to resume work on it. But sadly, much as he wanted to, Ronnie did not get to finish his story.However, with the whole-hearted co-operation of his daughter and son, Cliodhna and Phelim, it has been possible to put together Ronnie's work on his memoir along with his other writings, interviews with Cliodhna and Phelim, a wealth of photographs and other material from the family archive, and contributions from close friends, to create a book that is a wonderful portrait of, and a fitting and loving tribute to, the man Bono called 'the king of Ireland'.

Eileen Chang is one of the great writers of twentieth-century China, where she enjoys a passionate following both on the mainland and in Taiwan. At the heart of Chang's achievement is her short fiction tales of love, longing, and the shifting and endlessly treacherous shoals of family life. Written when she was still in her twenties, these extraordinary stories combine an unsettled, probing, utterly contemporary sensibility, keenly alert to sexual politics and psychological ambiguity, with an intense lyricism that echoes the classics of Chinese literature. Love in a Fallen City, the first collection in English of this dazzling body of work, introduces readers to the stark and glamorous vision of a modern master.

King of Prussia, German Emperor, war leader and defeated exile, Kaiser Wilhelm II was one of the most important - and most controversial - figures in the history of twentieth-century Europe. But how much power did he really have?The acclaimed historian Christopher Clark follows Kaiser Wilhelm's political career from his youth at the Hohenzollern court through the turbulent decades of the Wilhelmine era into global war and the collapse of Germany in 1918, to his last days. He asks: what was his true role in the events that led to the outbreak of the First World War? What was the nature and extent of his control? What were his political goals and his success in achieving them? How did he project authority and exercise influence? How did the people view him?Through original research, Clark presents a fresh new interpretation of this contentious figure, focusing on how his forty-year reign from 1888 to 1918 affected Germany, and the rest of Europe, for years to come.