Moderní

A story of passion and idealism, which describes a group of men and women in the Middle Ages whose destinies are fatefully linked with the building of a cathedral. In a country torn by civil war, two generations struggle to rise above their primitive circumstances and create something beautiful.

THE NO.1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY introduced the world to the one and only Precious Ramotswe - the engaging and sassy owner of Botswana's only detective agency. TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE, McCall Smith's second book, takes us further into this world as we follow Mama Ramotswe into more daring situations ...Among her cases this time are wayward wives, unscrupulous maids, and the challenge to resolve a mother's pain for her son who is long lost on the African plains. Indeed, Mma Ramotswe's own impending marriage to the most gentlemanly of men, Mr J.L.B. Matekoni, the promotion of Mma's secretary to the dizzy heights of Assistant Detective, and the arrival of new members to the Matekoni family, all brew up the most humorous and charmingly entertaining of tales. * TEARS OF THE GIRAFFE was select

In this fourth volume of the No. 1 Ladies´ Detective Agency series, the ever-pipular Precious Ramotswe - Botswana´s leading, and only. Female private detective - faces a new and unwanted problem: competition. "Ex-CID. Ex-New York. Ex-cellent" reads the sign outside the Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency. Cephas Buthelezi certainly talks the talk, Precious discovers, but would he have the wherewithal to deal with her current case - a man who has been attacked by ostrich rustlers, and is eager to reassess his life?

The hijacking of a jumbo jet off the Seychelles galvanizes anti-terrorist chief Peter Stride into the action for which he has spent a lifetime training. But even in the hail of bullets which follows, he knows this is the beginning of a nightmare.

A flamboyant Irish-American and an impeccable young Englishman pit their wits against the gross German commissioner from whose territory they make their living as game hunters and ivory poachers. The start of World War I raises their private skirmishing to violent vendetta, pursued on land and sea.

Like their father before them, the three sons of Hal Courtney are drawn inexorably to Africa. Fate decrees that they must all leave England forever to make their lives in the dark and unexplored continent. Gradually the three brothers are seduced by the allure of this magnificent land.

When Bill Masen wakes up blindfolded in hospital there is a bitter irony in his situation. Carefully removing his bandages, he realizes that he is the only person who can see: everyone else, doctors and patients alike, have been blinded by a meteor shower. Now, with civilization in chaos, the triffids - huge, venomous, large-rooted plants able to 'walk', feeding on human flesh - can have their day.

The Day of the Triffids, published in 1951, expresses many of the political concerns of its time: the Cold War, the fear of biological experimentation and the man-made apocalypse. However, with its terrifyingly believable insights into the genetic modification of plants, the book is more relevant today than ever before.

All three parts of The Lord of the Rings in one paperback, with brand new packaging and for the first time containing the definitive edition of the text and a revised and expanded index. Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of young and old alike. One hundred million copies of its many editions have been sold around the world, and occasional collectors' editions become prized and valuable items of publishing. Now, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its first publication, the text has been fully restored with almost 400 corrections -- with the full co-operation of Christopher Tolkien -- making it the definitive version of the text,