In this book Steven Parissien examines the impact, development and significance of the automobile over its turbulent and colourful 130-year history. He tells the story of the auto, and of its creators, from its earliest appearance in the 1880s - as little more than a powered quadricycle - via the early pioneer carmakers, the advances of the interwar era, the 'Golden Age' of the 1950s and the iconic years of the 1960s to the decades of doubt and uncertainty following the oil crisis of 1973, which culminated in the global mergers of the 1990s and the bailouts of the early twenty-first century.This is not just a story of horsepower and performance. The Life of the Automobile is a tale of people: of intuitive carmakers such as Benz, Agnelli, Royce and Citroën; of exceptionally gifted designers such as Issigonis, Lefebvre, Michelotti and Bangle; and of visionary industrialists such as Ford, Tata and Porsche.Above all, The Life of the Automobile demonstrates how the epic story of the car mirrors the history of the modern era, from the brave hopes and soaring ambitions of the early twentieth century to the cynicism and ecological concerns of a century later. Dr Steven Parissien is an internationally-renowned author who has written extensively on architectural and cultural history. He is the director of Compton Verney museum and gallery in Warwickshire and a Visiting Fellow at the Universities of Oxford and Warwick. Views: 11
A miracle energy source, Lumite, has been discovered on the moon. Aggie is the violet-eyed poster girl for the mining company, persuaded to campaign for a hopeful new future. But a chance meeting with one of the prisoner-miners, the darkly attractive Danny, changes her mind about everything she knows about her world... Views: 11
All three books in the best-selling series. 'Witty, wonderful' stories of fairy-tale romance. A perfect escape from the everyday.Fairchild: Sophy, Lord Fairchild's illegitimate daughter, didn't expect to fall from her horse while running away—or for her rescuer to be quite so good-looking. When he mistakes her for her legitimate sister, she can't resist playing along.Incognita: Jilted and faced with returning to the battlefields of Spain, Captain Alistair Beaumaris thinks his life can't get any worse. Then he mistakes a perfectly respectable widow for a female of a much more interesting variety and discovers he was wrong—on both counts.Courting Scandal: Laura Edwards took the the stage to fund her brother's medical career. Now he's established, he wants her to turn respectable, landing her in the country, hiding in plain sight from one of her biggest admirers who just might have recognized her... Views: 11
At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. To take on the physical, emotional, and financial challenges of motherhood without a perfect soul mate/husband would be absurd, kind of like not bothering to use a condom during a one-night stand with an adorable but jobless guy ten years her junior. Pols spends the ensuing weeks despairing over everything, from the financial nightmare of single motherhood to the end of her hopes for a traditional life. Not the least of her worries is finding the right way to drop the bombshell on loved ones, including her five siblings and eighty-four-year-old father, who has a German temper and an Irish Catholic attitude toward babies out of wedlock. Yet faced with the frightening, lonely truth that this might be her only chance at motherhood, she plunges ahead with the pregnancy and an Odd Couple version of a co-parenting relationship that looks like one more... Views: 11
Before there was Homer the Blind Wonder Cat, there was Scarlett—the adorable, maddeningly aloof, gray rescue tabby . . . Every cat lover remembers the very first feline they fell in love with. For celebrated cat writer Gwen Cooper, that first love is Scarlett—a pint-sized rescue kitten with a king-sized personality. A natural-born troublemaker and wary at first after life on the streets, Scarlett is quick to win hearts with her kittenish mischief, but slow to open her own heart to the woman who saved her. Yet as the months go by, and bonds of trust are painstakingly forged link by link, Gwen begins to realize that the love you have to earn just may be the love that means the most. Poignant, tender, and laugh-out-loud funny, "I Choo-Choo-Choose You!" is the first in the Curl Up with a Cat Tale series of true short stories from Gwen Cooper—bestselling author of the smash hit Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline... Views: 11
Dr. Mark Sloan and his son, Steve, are getting some sun and surf on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. But their vacation is interrupted when a local restaurant owner falls victim to a shark attack. Rather than return home, father and son elect to hang around and enjoy what's left of their holiday. Then Mark makes a startling discovery on the beach: a mixture of corn syrup and red dye... also known as movie blood. An examination of the body reveals that the victim was already dead-- murdered in fact--before becoming shark food. Now Mark and Steve must help police capture a predator more deadly than anything swimming in the ocean... Views: 11
Tiffany has plans. She has her life mapped out and wants to make something of herself. Working in the bar is just a temporary job while she's on vacation. When she meets Joshua Lyle her whole world tilts on its axis. He's the hottest guy she's ever met. Sparks fly between them. But he's so full of himself. She doesn't want to go there, for several good reasons. He's the road to ruin.... Views: 11
What would you do, if you had the chance to revisit all your decisions, to fix all your mistakes?Celebrity chef, Jessie McCormick is incredibly late. Driving his Hummer to the opening of his latest restaurant seemed like a much better idea than flying, but incomprehensible directions and a dodgy shortcut throws him instead into the driveway of a rickety old house. Hopeful of finding the house occupied – and its inhabitants capable of directing him to Brisbane – he heads inside.Voices lead him into the attic, and there he finds no direction – and every direction. The attic is an endless line of doors and ladders, each taking Jessie down a different path of his life. In one, he is a celebrity chef, fêted by the world. In another, his mother is still alive. In a third, his beloved sister is dead. But in all of them is a small, dusty town and a small, dusty restaurant, run by a woman named Tara. As Jessie races to find his way back to... Views: 11
Emma knows that Sophie is dying for the chance to "dance a pas de deux"with her big crush, Trey. Twin sisters know everything about each other. So when Emma secretly hooks up with Trey herself, Sophie feels twice as betrayed.While Sophie might be upset, she's not angry enough to send her sister death threats. Even so, when menacing notes reach Emma, Sophie's the top suspect. Will Sophie clear her name and save her twin? Or will one of the Dario Quincy Academy's dark secrets destroy them both? Views: 11
