All Books

Edited by his children, giles and victoria, chocolate and cuckoo clocks is an anthology of humorous writing from the former editor of punch and radio 4 national treasure alan coren, who died in october 2007. in a prolific forty-year career alan coren wrote for the times, observer, tatler, daily mail, mail on sunday, listener, punch and the new yorker, and published over 20 books including the sanity inspector, golfing for cats and the collected bulletins of idi amin (he turned down an invitation from amin to visit uganda saying, ‘i’ll probably end up as a sandwich’). even twenty years ago he estimated that he had published six million words, or ten copies of war and peace. coren was one of britain’s most prolific and now much-missed humourists, finding the comedy of life all around him and rendering it, hilariously and compellingly, in polished and witty prose which will be eagerly devoured by his loyal fanbase.

The new york times bestselling first book in a dark new series that reimagines the oz saga, from debut author danielle paige. i didn’t ask for any of this. i didn’t ask to be some kind of hero. but when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado—taking you with it—you have no choice but to go along, you know? sure, i’ve read the books. i’ve seen the movies. i know the song about the rainbow and the happy little blue birds. but i never expected oz to look like this. to be a place where good witches can’t be trusted, wicked witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. there’s still a road of yellow brick—but even that’s crumbling. what happened? dorothy. they say she found a way to come back to oz. they say she seized power and the power went to her head. and now no one is safe. my name is amy gumm—and i’m the other girl from kansas. i’ve been recruited by the revolutionary order of the wicked. i’ve been trained to fight. and i have a mission: remove the tin woodman’s heart. steal the scarecrow’s brain. take the lion’s courage. and—dorothy must die.

The wizards of unseen university in the ancient city of ankh-morpork must win a football match, without using magic, so they’re in the mood for trying everything else. as the match approaches, four lives are entangled and changed forever.

In this first part of the dark materials trilogy, lyra’s friend roger disappears. she and her daemon, pantalaimon, determine to find him. their quest leads them to the bleak splendour of the north where a team of scientists are conducting unspeakably horrible experiments.

‘it is no accident that we see green almost wherever we look. it is no accident that we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life; no accident that we are surrounded by millions of other species, eating, growing, rotting, swimming, walking, flying, burrowing, stalking, chasing, fleeing, outpacing, outwitting a we are surrounded by endless forms, most beautiful and most wonderful, and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random natural selection – the only game in town, the greatest show on earth.’ charles darwin’s masterpiece on the origin of species shook society to its core on publication in 1859. darwin was only too aware of the storm his theory of evolution would provoke. but he would surely have raised an incredulous eyebrow at the controversy still raging a century and a half later. evolution is accepted as scientific fact by all reputable scientists and indeed theologians, yet millions of people continue to question its veracity. in the greatest show on earth richard dawkins takes on creationists, including followers of ‘intelligent design’ and all those who question the fact of evolution through natural selection. in this brilliant tour de force he pulls together the incontrovertible evidence that underpins it. like a detective arriving on the scene of a crime, he sifts through fascinating layers of scientific facts and disciplines to build a cast-iron case: from the living examples of natural selection around us in birds and insects; the ‘time clocks’ of trees and radioactive dating that calibrate a timescale for evolution; the fossil record and the traces of our earliest ancestors; to confirmation from molecular biology and genetics. all of this, and much more, bears witness to the truth of evolution. the greatest show on earth comes at a critical time: systematic opposition to the truth of evolution is now flourishing as never before, especially in america. in britain and elsewhere in the world teachers witness insidious attempts to undermine the status of science in their classrooms. richard dawkins provides unequivocal evidence that boldly and comprehensively rebuts such nonsense. at the same time he shares with us his palpable love of the natural world and the essential role that science plays in its interpretation. written with elegance, wit and passion, it is hard-hitting, absorbing and totally convincing.