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'Extraordinary' ANNE APPLEBAUM
'Thrilling . . . a record of an infatuation' TELEGRAPH
'The book of a lifetime' ELIF SHAFAK
'The North Pole proves to be the perfect subject for him' MICHAEL PALIN
'Heart-catching . . . fabulous' OBSERVER
'A beautiful book' ALAIN DE BOTTON

The epic adventure story of the North Pole - its transcendent beauty and dangerous appeal - from Norwegian explorer Erling Kagge who travelled there in 1990

Foot-stepping alongside Erling Kagge, we hear the story of the North Pole as never told before. From Herodotus, who first wondered what the northernmost point of our planet might be like, to the intrepid early cartographers who mapped our world, and the legendary expeditions led by Fridtjof Nansen and Robert Peary - the first polar explorer global celebrities - who were in the grip of a dangerous obsession to get to the North Pole first.

What emerges is a new history of the world, spanning thousands of years, as seen from the 'silver-shining vacantness' of the North Pole. Blending memories from Kagge's own 1990 trip with this gripping history, The North Pole is an adventure story, a book about difficult fathers and difficult sons, and an inspiring record of what it means to keep putting one foot in front of the other in the face of adversity.

'As an explorer Erling Kagge is world class; as a writer he is equally gifted' RANULPH FIENNES

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The extraordinary stories of the fearless women who set their sights on the sea in an all-male world, paving the way for the female sailing superstars of today.

Gender issues are stark at sea. Historically a ship's crew is all male, and although vessels are referred to as 'she', women's contributions to sailing have been largely ignored, if not actively opposed. Today's sailing legends such as Tracy Edwards and Ellen MacArthur compete with men on equal terms, but they stand on the shoulders of many women before them, who had to challenge preconceptions, prejudice and even the law in their wish to sail.

Spanning the 19th century to today, Julia Jones dives into the lives of an array of incredible and unconventional women: we meet single-handed sailors, wealthy explorers, long-suffering wives and penniless chancers with a thirst for adventure. Each had to face down barriers of official exclusion, family-imposed restriction, social disapproval and often a resulting lack of self-belief.

In the 21st-century, British women wear Admiral's uniforms and break global yachting records, yet their journey to professional sailing remains challenging, and the public face of sailing remains mostly male - evident in the lack of female Commodores in prestigious yacht clubs. Even as sailing becomes more accessible, the remarkable contributions within these stories are a precious source of inspiration to all women facing their own challenges today.

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\"Inspirational\" - The Daily Mail

\"Sarah Sands has written about stillness with an eloquence that fizzes with vitality and wit. This wonderful book charts a journey to some of the most beautiful and tranquil places on earth, and introduces us to people whose inner peace is a balm for our troubled times. I loved every page of it.\" - Nicholas Hytner

Suffering from information overload, unable to sleep, Sarah Sands, former editor of the BBC's Today programme, has tried many different strategies to de-stress... only to reject them because, as she says, all too often they threaten to become an exercise in self-absorption.

Inspired by the ruins of an ancient Cistercian abbey at the bottom of her Norfolk garden, she begins to research the lives of the monks who once resided there, and realises how much we may have to learn from monasticism.

Renouncing the world, monks and nuns have acquired a hidden knowledge of how to live: they labour, they learn and they acquire 'the interior silence'. This book is a quest for that hidden knowledge - a pilgrimage to ten monasteries round the world.

From a Coptic desert community in Egypt to a retreat in the Japanese mountains, we follow Sands as she identifies the common characteristics of monastic life and the wisdoms to be learned from them; and as she discovers, behind the cloistered walls, a clarity of mind and an unexpected capacity for solitude which enable her, after years of insomnia, to experience that elusive, dreamless sleep.

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Being An Oak

by Laurent Tillon & Jessica Moore (translator)