Book reviews from Virtualb

Country Tales for Christmas

by Bryant, Mark (editor)

Selection of seasonal short stories from Hardy, H E Bates, D H Lawrence, Anthony Trollope, Stella Gibbons, E F Benson, Virginia Woolf, Elizabeth Gaskell, M R James, Mary Russell Mitford, Sir Walter Scott and many others, all with a Christmas theme.

Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race

by Scott, David; Leonov, Alexei

Growing up on either side of the Iron Curtain, Alexei Leonov and David Scott shared the same dream - to become a pilot. Excelling at flying, they became elite fighter pilots, and were chosen by their countries' burgeoning space race programmes to be part of the greatest technological race ever - to land a man on the moon. Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov became the first man to walk in space. It was a feat that won him a place in history, but almost cost him his life. A year later, in 1966, astronauts David Scott and Neil Armstrong were seconds away from dying as their spacecraft, Gemini 8, spun violently out of control across space. Two Sides of the Moon is their dual autobiography

England, England

by Barnes, Julian

Sharp-edged satirical novel. Visionary tycoon Sir Jack Pitman builds replicas of all the major tourist attractions on the Isle of Wight, from Stonehenge to Manchester United. The project is monstrous, risky and vastly successful - indeed it gradually begins to rival "Old" England, and threatens to supersede it.

Stilled Tongues: From Soapbox to Soundbite

by Coleman, Stephen

The House of Commons in 1656 resolved to bore a hole through the tongue of James Nayler to curb his free speech. This is an historical look at the struggle for the right to open debate, looking at whether in the age of spin-doctors and soundbites, freedom of speech is currently more under threat.