books

Bomber like a startled stallion: How the Lancaster was more than just an aircraft

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Bomber like a startled stallion: How the Lancaster was more than just an aircraft and stood for ‘a symbol of British freedom’ and ‘a monument to those who gave their lives in the war’ John Nichol describes visiting RAF Museum, Hendon, in company of Ron Needle Ron Needle, 93, was a former rear gunner in … Read more

A dark, rich history of coffee (with a bitter after-taste): The bean that took over the world 

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HISTORY   Coffeeland : A History By Augustine Sedgewick (Allen Lane £25, 448 pp)   Have you ever scanned the blizzard of drinks on offer at your nearest Costa and thought, ‘I just want a cup of coffee’? If so, then maybe this book — more than 350 pages of dense political history of the erogenous little … Read more

My father’s swear words were ‘Laura’ and ‘Ashley’: SHELLEY KLEIN shares her childhood home

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MEMOIR   The See -Through House By Shelley Klein (Chatto £16.99, 288pp)    From the outside it might not look like much: one of those weird, modern, flat-roofed, single-storey, ‘architect-designed’ houses with plate-glass windows. But for Shelley Klein and her father Bernat Klein, High Sunderland in the Scottish Borders meant everything. In this remarkable, moving tribute to … Read more

Welsh doctors were desperate to deliver the first baby on the NHS in tribute to founder

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BOOK OF THE WEEK   Hold On Edna! By Aneira Thomas (Mirror Books £12.99, 304pp) Three minutes before midnight on the night of July 4, 1948, a doctor stood over the hospital bed of Edna May Rees as she prepared to deliver her seventh child. Her contractions had built steadily over the Welsh summer evening and … Read more

WHAT BOOK would children’s author David McKee take to a desert island? 

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WHAT BOOK would children’s author David McKee take to a desert island? David McKee is currently reading The Big Art Book by Phaidon or a biography  He said he would probably take Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings on a desert island Children’s author said he didn’t have many books growing up by had storytellers By Daily … Read more

His latest book’s banned in Russia… but Jeffrey Archer still says St Petersburg’s a real thriller

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There’s only one downside to visiting St Petersburg. You quickly realise you’ll have to return again and again if you want to see everything. I’ve visited the Russian city six times over the past 30 years and still feel I’ve only scraped the surface. The Winter Palace is second only to Versailles in architecture and … Read more

Sweet shop that inspired Roald Dahl’s books including Matilda and The Twits is now an Airbnb

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Holidaymakers are in for a scrumdiddlyumptious treat as children’s author Roald Dahl’s boyhood sweet shop is now an Airbnb. Mrs Pratchett’s sweet shop was the inspiration behind his much-loved books including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Twits and Matilda. It is also thought to be the location where Dahl put a dead mouse in … Read more

Fearne Cotton and daughter Honey, 4, leave out recipe books for their neighbours 

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Fearne Cotton cuts a casual figure in plaid trousers as she and daughter Honey, 4, leave out recipe books for their neighbours By Connie Rusk For Mailonline Published: 15:27 BST, 19 May 2020 | Updated: 15:45 BST, 19 May 2020 She is a keen cook and has even released her own vegan cookbook.   And Fearne … Read more

Shell  stung by £1.8bn hit to the books as its forced to write down the values of some assets

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Oil giant Shell stung by £1.8bn hit to the books as it’s forced to write down the value of some assets Shell also trimmed back its forecast for quarterly oil production Oil and gas companies have had to write down the value of US shale assets  Shares in the oil firm  fell 1 per cent following the news … Read more