RESULTS IN BOOKS FOR ADULTS

A sweet, leisurely exploration of the life of Les Arques (population 159), a hilltop village in a remote corner of France, untouched by the modern era. It is a story of a dying village's struggle to survive, of a dead artist whose legacy begins its rebirth, and of chef Jacques Ratier and his wife, Noelle, whose bustling restaurant - the village's sole business - has helped ensure its future. The author set out to explore the inner workings of a French restaurant kitchen but ended up stumbling onto a wider, much richer world. Whether uncovering the darker secrets of making foie gras, hearing a chef confess his doubts about the Michelin star system, or absorbing the lore of the land around a farmhouse kitchen table after a boar hunt, Michael Sanders learned that life in Les Arques was anything but sleepy. Through the eyes of the author and his family, the reader enters this world, discovers its still vibrant traditions of food, cooking, and rural living, and comes to know the village's history, sharing along the way an American family's adventures as they find their way in a place that is sometimes lonely, often wondrous, and always fascinating.

This is the history of the African Association, the world's first geographical society - dedicated to the exploration of the interior of a continent known only through legend and vague report. Africa was once seen as an El Dorado - a gold-encrusted continent of hope and prosperity, where the ancient civilizations of the Phoenicians and the Egyptians might have survived intact. The African Association set itself the task of revealing the mysteries of the interior of Africa. Founded in 1788 by a group of London-based gentlemen, made famous by the amazing exploits of its adventurers, for 43 years it was engaged in a quest for geographical knowledge, personal glory, immense wealth and the fulfilment of national ambitions. There are two strands to the narrative. First there are the people who planned and paid for expeditions, the geographers, scholars, politicians, humantarian activists and sharp-eyed traders, the richest commoner in England and two former prime ministers among them. Theirs is a lively tale of tavern meetings, court lobbying and salon intrigue during one of the most dramatic periods of world history. Then there are the adventurers, a mixed group of ex-cons and social outcasts - British, French, Germans and Americans among them - who went to the magical continent in search of glory and the unknown. They included Mungo Park, whose account of his travels was a bestseller for more than a century, and Jean Louis Burckhardt, discoverer of Petra and Abu Simbel. Each of their journeys was extraordinary, packed with drama and excitement, made notable by geographical discoveries and, with very few exceptions, ending in death. This is an account of a unique period, characterized by the passion, ambition, courage and sheer sense of adventure of its participants.

Some go to Tibet seeking inspiration, others for adventure. The award-winning journalist, Claire Scobie, found both when she left her ordinary life in London and went to the Himalayas in search of a rare red lily. Her journey took her to Pemako, where few Westerners have set foot and where the myth of Shangri-la was born. It was here she became friends with Ani, an unusual Tibetan nun who was to change her life.Through seven journeys in Tibet, Claire chronicles a rapidly changing world-where monks talk on mobiles and Lhasa's sex industry thrives. But it is Ani, a penniless wanderer with a rich heart, who leaves an indelible impression. Together, in a culture where freedom of expression is forbidden, they risk arrest. And they forge an abiding friendship, based on intuition and deep respect. Evoking the luminous landscape of snow peaks and wild alpine gardens, Claire Scobie captures the paradoxes of contemporary Tibet, a land steeped in religion, struggling against oppression and galloping towards modernity.

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Vikram Seth travelled through Sinkiang and Tibet to Nepal: from Heaven Lake to the Himalayas. By breaking away from the reliable routes of organized travel, he transformed his journey into an unusual and intriguing exploration of one of the world's least known areas.

A few years ago, Owen Sheers stumbled upon a dusty book in his father's study by the extraordinary Arthur Cripps, part-time lyric poet and full-time unorthodox missionary, who served in Rhodesia for 50 years from 1902. Sheer's discovery prompts a quest into colonial Africa at the turn of the century, by way of war, a doomed love affair and friction with authorities. His personal journey into the contemporary heart of darkness that is Mugabe's Zimbabwe finds more than Cripps' legacy - Sheers finds a land characterized by terror and fear and blighted by the land reform policies that Cripps himself anticipated.

Much of the American West still remains a clean canvas - a land uncharted, a place where you can live as you please. Even today, New Mexico has all the characteristics of the old frontier, a place where many go to escape the confinements of the cities, to uncover the spirit of the desert and the Indians, or to settle amid the hybrid Spanish-Indian culture. For Henry Shukman, for whom this land has always had a mythical status, New Mexico was the last known residence of his ex-girlfriend. This book charts the odyssey of a young man chasing his dreams, his ghost and his true self.

Ted Simon is the author of the classic travel book Jupiter's Travels. It documents his four-year journey round the world by motorbike, travelling through Europe, Africa, South and North America, and Asia. A number one bestseller in the late 1970s, it is still regarded as one of the greatest motorcycle books - indeed, one of the greatest travel books - ever written. In 2001, at the age of 69, Ted Simon decided to retrace his journey, and Dreaming of Jupiter is the result. It took him two and a half years - during which time he revisited all the countries he had travelled through in the 1970s. He found much had changed, and he reflects upon the increased poverty, political upheavals, environmental issues and indeed the changes in himself. But ultimately, Dreaming of Jupiter is a hugely inspiring read with a positive message at its heart - that even at the age of 70 you can still set off on an adventure, and be surprised and excited by what life throws at you along the way.

Rowan Simons has lived (and played football) in China for over 20 years and Bamboo Goalposts is his amusing and insightful account of what it's like to live, work and play there. He presents and works with Beijing TV and runs his own media company, but his real passion is getting China to embrace the social and health benefits of amateur football. Which isn't easy in a country where for decades it was illegal for more than ten people to congregate for the purposes of a recreational sporting activity. Rowan built a football pitch and clubhouse and now heads Club Football whose growing membership has given him genuine hope that by the time the Beijing Olympics begin in 2008 he might be getting somewhere. No other book communicates more clearly, more humourously and more affectionately what contemporary China is like when viewed through Western eyes. Rowan speaks fluent Chinese and his love of the country and its people shines off every page. He has lived there for so long that he understands what it takes to get ahead, but at the same time he is still very much a down-to-earth English football fan who just wants to share his passion for the beautiful game. Bamboo Goalposts is a personal odyssey inspired by the selfless pioneers of amateur football who took the game around the world in centuries past, but somehow missed China.

This second volume of John Simpson's autobiography further documents his thirty-year career as the BBC World Affairs Editor. With tales of horrific journeys, hotels, and maverick drivers, he reflects on the pitfalls and pleasures of news reporting and the major political events he has witnessed.

Once an Arcadian suburb of grand houses, orchards and conservatories, Hackney declined into a zone of asylums, hospitals and dirty industry. Persistently revived, reinvented, betrayed, it has become a symbol of inner-city chaos, crime and poverty. Now, the Olympics, a final attempt to clamp down on a renegade spirit, seeks to complete the process: erasure disguised as 'progress'. In this 'documentary fiction', Sinclair meets a cast of the dispossessed, including writers, photographers, bomb-makers and market traders. Legends of tunnels, Hollow Earth theories and the notorious Mole Man are unearthed. He uncovers traces of those who passed through Hackney: Lenin and Stalin, novelists Joseph Conrad and Samuel Richardson, film-makers Orson Welles and Jean-Luc Godard, Tony Blair beginning his political career, even a Baader-Meinhof urban guerrilla on the run. And he tells his own story: of 40 years in one house in Hackney, of marriage, children, strange encounters, deaths.