After years of watching Kenyan athletes win the world’s biggest long-distance races, Runner’s World contributor Adharanand Finn set out to discover what it was that made them so fast – and to see if he could keep up. Packing up his family, he moved to Iten, Kenya, the running capital of the world, and started investigating. Was it running barefoot to school, the food, the altitude, or something else? At the end of his journey he put his research to the test by running his first marathon, across the Kenyan plains.

Marathons are no longer enough. Pain is to be relished, not avoided. Hallucinations are normal. Ultra running defies conventional logic. Yet this most brutal and challenging sport is now one of the fastest-growing in the world. Why is this? Is it an antidote to modern life, or a symptom of a modern illness? Adharanand Finn travelled to the heart of the sport to find out - and to see if he could become an ultra runner himself. His journey took him from the deserts of Oman to the snow-capped peaks of the Rockies, and on to his ultimate goal, the 105-mile Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. The Rise of the Ultra Runners is the electrifying, inspirational account of what he learned along the way. Through encounters with the sport's many colourful characters and his experiences of its soaring highs and crushing lows, Finn offers an unforgettable insight into what can be found at the boundaries of human endeavour.

Patrick French's India: A Portrait tells the story of how India emerged from a turbulent struggle for independence to become a vibrant democracy with one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. India is the biggest democracy on earth, a country of dynamic change, huge divisions and countless identities. Is there any way to discover the 'real' India? In this intimate biography of 1.2 billion people, Patrick French travels all over the country talking to everyone from political leaders to mafia dons, from chained quarry workers to self-made billionaire entrepreneurs, to tell the story of post-independence India as never before.

Take your seats for the entire history of Planet Earth, as we take a whistle-stop tour from the birth of Earth, to the age of bacteria, the era of dinosaurs… to the moment of people (blink and you'll miss it). Narrated by a friendly troop of insects and with mind-blowing, lively illustrations, this illustrated non-fiction book will entertain and educate, as we put on a show, the greatest show, the show of the evolution of life on Earth. From internationally bestselling creator, Mini Grey, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, this is her first non-fiction book and it's told with wit, humour and heart.

Have you ever looked up into the sky and wondered about space, astronomy and the universe? Perhaps you have. But you've probably never looked around you - at the sunglasses you wear or the selfies people take - and thought about space. The truth is, there is more of space on earth than you realize… Full of amazing facts about everyday innovations inspired by space travel and sections on the people who brought them to us, Space on Earth is an entertaining and fascinating look at space and the untold relationship with the planet we live on, helping children not only to feel the awe and wonder of the universe, but also to understand the reasons why space is relevant to us here on Earth.

It is the 29th century and the universe of the Human Hegemony is under threat. Invasion by the warlike Ousters looms, and the mysterious schemes of the secessionist AI TechnoCore bring chaos ever closer. On the eve of disaster, with the entire galaxy at war, seven pilgrims set fourth on a final voyage to the legendary Time Tombs on Hyperion, home to the Shrike, a lethal creature, part god and part killing machine, whose powers transcend the limits of time and space. The pilgrims have resolved to die before discovering anything less than the secrets of the universe itself.

Are you ready for an evolution revolution? Let Professor Robert Winston take you on a journey of discovery through evolutionary science and the way Charles Darwin's revolutionary theories changed the world. Explore lands of fire, meet curious creatures, and peer into the future as you follow Darwin on his epic voyage in search of the origins of species. Find out what the survival of the fittest means; and see how it applies in nature, from discovering how the elephant got its trunk to the ghost genes in your own body. See the main family trees of the living world, and join in the debate about whether humans actually evolved from apes. (Spoiler alert: we share a common ancestor.) Discover how previous thinkers believed life began and find out how theories developed after Darwin, with modern scientists revealing the secrets of genes and DNA and showing what lies in the future. All About Evolution looks at the origins of you, your friends, and every living thing on Earth!

The autobiography of the fastest man of all time and a superstar whose talent and charisma have made him one of the most famous people on the planet. Whether you know Athletics or not, and even whether you know sport or not, chances are you know Usain Bolt. The fastest man on the planet, not just now but ever, Usain has won the hearts of people everywhere with his mind-blowing performances and his infectious charisma - uniting supporters around the world. In this, his full autobiography, Usain tells his story in his own words: from humble beginnings in Jamaica, to international stardom at Beijing and on to the new heights of superstardom he has reached since lighting up London 2012. Full of the charm and charisma that has made him the most popular sporting figure of our time and a universal celebrity, this is a book that Usain's millions of fans will love.

Here we are at 4.6 billion years ago, and as we raise the curtain... the story of life is about to begin! (Yes, that's right - we're telling the story of the entire history of Planet Earth). Take your seats for the entire history of Planet Earth, as we take a whistle-stop tour from the birth of Earth, to the age of bacteria, the era of dinosaurs... to the moment of people (blink and you'll miss it). Narrated by a friendly troop of insects and with mind-blowing, lively illustrations, this illustrated non-fiction book will entertain and educate, as we put on a show, the greatest show, the show of the evolution of life on Earth. From internationally bestselling creator, Mini Grey, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, this is her first non-fiction book and it's told with wit, humour and heart.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning, Booker-longlisted, bestselling author returns to her beloved heroine Lucy Barton in a luminous novel about love, loss, and the family secrets that can erupt and bewilder us at any point in life Lucy Barton is a successful writer living in New York, navigating the second half of her life as a recent widow and parent to two adult daughters. A surprise encounter leads her to reconnect with William, her first husband - and longtime, on-again-off-again friend and confidante. Recalling their college years, the birth of their daughters, the painful dissolution of their marriage, and the lives they built with other people, Strout weaves a portrait, stunning in its subtlety, of a tender, complex, decades-long partnership. Oh William! captures the joy and sorrow of watching children grow up and start families of their own; of discovering family secrets, late in life, that alter everything we think we know about those closest to us; and the way people live and love, against all odds. At the heart of this story is the unforgettable, indomitable voice of Lucy Barton, who once again offers a profound, lasting reflection on the mystery of existence. 'This is the way of life,' Lucy says. 'The many things we do not know until it is too late.'

Long ago people told stories to explain how the universe began. The Cherokee people of North America believed that the Earth was an island on a big sea, and the sky was attached to it with ropes. They believed there was only a moon in the sky, with no stars to keep it company. What story did the Cherokee tell about how the Milky Way began? Based on a Native American folk tale by Jill Korey O'Sullivan.

There's a reason why Water for Elephants has sold millions of copies, spent years on the New York Times bestseller list and been a book group favourite. It's phenomenal storytelling... In Depression-era America, everyone's running away from something. Some people join the circus to escape. Jacob Jankowski hitches a ride on a freight train and in that instant his life changes. By morning, he's landed a job with the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. By nightfall, he's in love.

Are you ready for an evolution revolution? Let Professor Robert Winston take you on a journey of discovery through evolutionary science and the way Charles Darwin’s revolutionary theories changed the world. Explore lands of fire, meet curious creatures, and peer into the future as you follow Darwin on his epic voyage in search of the origins of species. Find out what the survival of the fittest means; and see how it applies in nature, from discovering how the elephant got its trunk to the ghost genes in your own body. See the main family trees of the living world, and join in the debate about whether humans actually evolved from apes. (Spoiler alert: we share a common ancestor.) Discover how previous thinkers believed life began and find out how theories developed after Darwin, with modern scientists revealing the secrets of genes and DNA and showing what lies in the future. All About Evolution looks at the origins of you, your friends, and every living thing on Earth!

Are you ready for an evolution revolution? Let Professor Robert Winston take you on a journey of discovery through evolutionary science and the way Charles Darwin’s revolutionary theories changed the world. Explore lands of fire, meet curious creatures, and peer into the future as you follow Darwin on his epic voyage in search of the origins of species. Find out what the survival of the fittest means; and see how it applies in nature, from discovering how the elephant got its trunk to the ghost genes in your own body. See the main family trees of the living world, and join in the debate about whether humans actually evolved from apes. (Spoiler alert: we share a common ancestor.) Discover how previous thinkers believed life began and find out how theories developed after Darwin, with modern scientists revealing the secrets of genes and DNA and showing what lies in the future. All About Evolution looks at the origins of you, your friends, and every living thing on Earth!

It's the night of the full Cold Moon - the month of December according to the lunar calendar. A young man is found dead in lower Manhattan, the first in a series of victims of a man calling himself the Watchmaker. This killer's obsession with time drives him to plan the murders with the precision of fine timepieces, and the victims die prolonged deaths while an eerie clock ticks away their last minutes on earth. Lincoln Rhyme, Amelia Sachs and the rest of the crew are approached to handle the case and stop the Watchmaker and his partner, Vincent Reynolds, a repulsive character with a special interest in the female victims of the killer. Amelia is not only Lincoln's eyes and ears at crime scenes on the Watchmaker case, but she's now running her own homicide investigation - her first case as lead detective. Her unwavering efforts in pursuing the killers of a businessman, who left behind a wife and son, sets into motion clockwork gears of its own, with consequences reaching to people and events that will endanger not only many lives but also Lincoln's and Amelia's future together.

The Foundation series is Isaac Asimov’s iconic masterpiece. Unfolding against the backdrop of a crumbling Galactic Empire, the story of Hari Seldon’s two Foundations is a lasting testament to an extraordinary imagination, one that shaped science fiction as we know it today. Faced with determining the fate of the galaxy, Golan Trevize hesitantly chose to hand over the rule of the galaxy to planet Gaia. Two mysteries now remain: who has erased the records of Earth – and why? Determined to ensure his choice was right, Golan sets off with Janov Pelorat and Bliss, to answer these questions once and for all. But nothing could prepare them for the secrets which await them on Earth. Secrets which predate history as they know it, and will change its significance forever…