Books

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The World
€19.95
From the master storyteller and internationally bestselling author – the story of humanity from prehistory to the present day, told through the one thing all humans have in common: family. We begin with the footsteps of a family walking along a beach 950,000 years ago. From here, Montefiore takes us on an exhilarating epic journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, Bonapartes, Habsburgs and Zulus, Rothschilds, Rockefellers and Krupps, Churchills, Kennedys, Castros, Nehrus, Pahlavis and Kenyattas, Saudis, Kims and Assads.

A rich cast of complex characters form the beating heart of the story. Some are well-known leaders, from Alexander the Great, Attila, Ivan the Terrible and Genghis Khan to Hitler, Thatcher, Obama, Putin and Zelensky. Some are creative, from Socrates, Michelangelo and Shakespeare to Newton, Mozart, Balzac, Freud, Bowie and Tim Berners-Lee.

Others are lesser-known: Hongwu, who began life as a beggar and founded the Ming dynasty; Kamehameha, conqueror of Hawaii; Zenobia, Arab empress who defied Rome; King Henry of Haiti; Lady Murasaki, first female novelist; Sayyida al-Hurra, Moroccan pirate-queen. Here are not just conquerors and queens but prophets, charlatans, actors, gangsters, artists, scientists, doctors, tycoons, lovers, wives, husbands and children. This is world history on the most grand and intimate scale – spanning centuries, continents and cultures, and linking grand themes of war, migration, plague, religion, medicine and technology to the people at the centre of the human drama.

As spellbinding as fiction, The World captures the story of humankind in all its joy, sorrow, romance, ingenuity and cruelty in a ground-breaking, single narrative that will forever shift the boundaries of what history can achieve.

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Teller of the Unexpected
€13.50
Brand-new biography of Roald Dahl, re-evaluating the received narrative surrounding the life of the much-loved author and creator of numerous iconic literary characters – from one of our finest contemporary biographers. Roald Dahl was one of the world’s greatest storytellers.

He considered his vocation to be as bold and exciting as an explorer’s and, in his writing for children, he was able to tap into a child’s viewpoint throughout his life. He crafted tales that were exotic in scenario, frequently invested with a moral, and filled with vibrant characters that endure in the public imagination to the present day.

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Life After Capitalism
€26.95
Author of national bestseller Life After Google and generation-defining Wealth and Poverty, venture capitalist, futurist, and pioneering thinker extraordinaire George Gilder pinpoints how the clash of creativity with power at the heart of economic systems leads to global cognitive dissonance and argues that the creation of the novel taps capitalism’s infinite promise and is humanity’s only path of escape from stagnation and tyranny. Gilder once more rocks the archetypes of modern information theory and economics with a paradigm-shifting salvo of sheer brilliance. The capitalist era is over-get ready for life after capitalism.

For more than two hundred years, capitalism spread wealth around the globe, bringing unprecedented prosperity and progress, liberating human potential. But something has gone terribly wrong in the world economy. Creativity and faith in the future-capitalism’s crucial ingredients-seem to have run out.

The elites think they can maintain a nation’s wealth by printing money and investing it in favored industries. Their trust in bureaucratic experts, their cautionary paranoia, and their delusional belief that they can “control” everything from the spread of a virus to the weather, are sucking the life out of the economy. Ordinary people, their freedoms restricted, their prospects dim, are losing their faith in their institutions.

Such misguided corporatism and pride, confusion and despair, are the result of a deep misunderstanding of capitalism itself. The bestselling futurist and venture capitalist George Gilder explains why economics is not an incentive system to be manipulated but an information system to be freed. Material resources are essentially as plentiful as the atoms of the universe.

What drives economic growth in a free market is our limitless human ingenuity and creativity. Prophetic, inspiring, and paradigm-shifting, Life after Capitalism is a once-in-a-generation classic.

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The Trap
€14.95
Stranded on a dark road in the middle of the night, a young woman accepts a lift from a passing stranger. It’s the nightmare scenario that every girl is warned about, and she knows the dangers all too well – but what other choice does she have?

As they drive, she alternates between fear and relief – one moment thinking he is just a good man doing a good thing, the next convinced he’s a monster. But when he delivers her safely to her destination, she realizes her fears were unfounded.

And her heart sinks.

Because a monster is what she’s looking for.

She’ll try again tomorrow night. But will the man who took her sister take the bait?

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Just Another Missing Person
€17.50
OLIVIA. 22 years old. Last seen on CCTV, entering a dead-end alley.

And not coming back out again. Missing for one day and counting …

Julia is the detective heading up the case.

She knows what to expect.

A desperate family, a ticking clock, and long hours away from her children.

But Julia has no idea how close to home it’s going to get.
Because her family’s safety depends on one thing: Julia must NOT find out what happened to Olivia – and must frame somebody else for her murder …

What would you do?

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On the Night
€50.00
Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann – Musicians and Senior Ceili Band Winners 1951-2021

Philip Duffy is uniquely qualified to perform this invaluable task of chronicling the history of ceili bands. His own musical ability, his longstanding involvement in ceili bands, his vast experience of performance in Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann, and his deep understanding of the traditional music community at home and abroad all contribute to the depth and empathy of this book.

‘On the Night’ will be enjoyed by many different readers – the family member who wants to learn about their sibling or parent or relation who played with a band from the beginning; the local music enthusiast tracing the evolution of their favourite ceili band; the student of ethnomusicology intent on working out the origins and development of ceili music performance and competition; and the current ceili band members seeking to understand the heritage that has been handed down to them and who now play their own part in gifting this unique native art form on to the next generation.

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Wild Musings
€14.95
Wild Musings: A Celebration of the Natural World is a collection of essays reflecting on the wonder and complexity of our natural world and the dangers faces due to the activities of humankind. The essays vary between aspects of the world around us, such as butterflies and trees, how hibernation works, and how human behaviour is causing huge environmental damage. In her inimitable and engaging style Eanna Ni Lamhna brings us on a stroll through our natural world, celebrating its beauty and highlighting the importance of protecting it.

Touching on a range of topics, from biodiversity to becoming nature positive, her words and photographs inform and delight – and above all encourage us to step outside and muse wildly.

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LISTOGHIL A SEASONAL ALIGNMENT? (Revised 2023)
€10.00
Listoghil, the central monument and focal point of the Carrowmore passage tomb complex close to Sligo in north-west Ireland, has been ruined, excavated and eventually partially restored. However, the chamber is preserved in its original position. The author examines the hypothesis that Listoghil was deliberately aligned to mark seasonal transitions equivalent to astronomical cross-quarter days. The methods include a horizon survey, the isolation of directional features in the monument, and computer modelling of the monument and skyscape. Folklore and legends around seasonal transits, locally, in Ireland, and in many and varied (and independently arising) contexts at temperate latitudes of the world, are seen as information sources complementary to data gathering and observation.

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Abandon
€17.50
On Christmas Day in 1893, every man, woman, and child in a remote mining town disappeared, belongings forsaken, meals left to freeze in vacant cabins, and not a single bone found.Now, journalist Abigail Foster and her father, a historian, have set out unocver the truth. Exploring the area, they are joined by two backcountry guides: a psychic and a paranormal photographer.The long-abandoned town is, according to rumour, haunted.But Abigail and her companions are about to learn that the town’s ghosts are the least of their worries. Twenty miles from civilization, with a blizzard bearing down, they realize they are not alone.The ordeal that follows will test this small team past the breaking point as they battle the elements and human foes alike and discover that the town has secrets that still have the power to kill.

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The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England
€19.95
A man awakes in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Chased by a group from his own time, his sole hope for survival lies in regaining his missing memories, making allies among the locals, and perhaps even trusting in their superstitious boasts. His only help from the “real world” should have been a guidebook entitled The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit.
The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive?

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Bored of Lunch The Healthy Air Fryer Book
€18.95
Whether you’re an air fryer fanatic or new to these time- and money-saving appliances, hugely popular healthy-eating platform, Bored of Lunch, will revolutionise your cooking packed with recipes that are quick, healthy and completely delicious. Air fryers are becoming the go-to kitchen gadget for making super tasty fuss-free food. As a lower energy alternative to a conventional oven, air fryers are a cost efficient way to make all your favourite dishes and save on your household bill.

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The Bee Sting
€17.95
The Barnes family is in trouble. Dickie’s once-lucrative car business is going under – but rather than face the music, he’s spending his days in the woods, building an apocalypse-proof bunker with a renegade handyman. His wife Imelda is selling off her jewellery on eBay while their teenage daughter Cass, formerly top of her class, seems determined to binge-drink her way to her final exams.

And twelve-year-old PJ is putting the final touches to his grand plan to run away from home.

Where did it all go wrong? A patch of ice on the tarmac, a casual favour to a charming stranger, a bee caught beneath a bridal veil – can a single moment of bad luck change the direction of a life? And if the story has already been written – is there still time to find a happy ending?

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The Spanish Armada
€12.50
A dramatic blow-by-blow account of the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English fleet – a tale of daring and disaster on the high seas by one of our best narrative historians. After the accession of Elizabeth I in 1558, Protestant England was beset by the hostile Catholic powers of Europe – not least Spain. In October 1585 King Philip II of Spain declared his intention to destroy Protestant England and began preparing invasion plans, leading to an intense intelligence war between the two countries, culminating in the dramatic sea battles of 1588.

Robert Hutchinson’s tautly written book is the first to examine this battle for intelligence, and uses everything from contemporary eye-witness accounts to papers held by the national archives in Spain and the UK to recount the dramatic battle that raged up the English Channel. Contrary to popular theory, the Armada was not defeated by superior English forces – in fact, Elizabeth I’s parsimony meant that her ships had no munitions left by the time the Armada had fought its way up to the south coast of England. In reality it was a combination of inclement weather and bad luck that landed the killer blow on the Spanish forces, and of the 125 Spanish ships that set sail against England, only 60 limped home – the rest sunk or wrecked with barely a shot fired.

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Silverland charts Dervla Murphy’s extraordinary expedition through the snowscapes of Far Eastern Russia. No stranger to adventure, the intrepid septuagenarian’s mid-winter journey takes her beyond Siberia to the furthest corners of Russia – areas proximate to Japan, Mongolia and the Arctic Circle. Here she discovers a strange world of lynx and elks, indigenous tribes and shamanism, reindeer broth and taiga-berry pie.

She takes the coal-fuelled slow-train around regions hardly exposed to tourism and there she meets a host of colourful and generous characters. They invite this unconventional Irish Babushka into their homes where she enjoys fascinating fireside debate bolstered by steaming samovars of sweet tea. Just like its author, Silverland is insightful, warm and truly original.

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The New Wife
€16.95
When Finn Hensen gets a call from his sister Jess to say their father has died, neither is heartbroken. Their parents divorced many years ago, after which their father, Jimmy, continued to live a bohemian lifestyle in sun-soaked Mallorca.

Ownership of his beautiful but dilapidated farmhouse in the mountains now passes to Finn and his sister. The only problem is that Jimmy recently remarried and his new wife, Ruensa, is still living there.

The pair agree that Finn should go to Mallorca and tactfully take possession of their inheritance.

When he arrives, however, Finn is surprised to find that Finca Siquia has been completely transformed into a chic Mediterranean bolthole by Ruensa and her twenty-seven-year-old daughter, Roze. The Spanish police, meanwhile, are asking awkward questions about Jimmy’s death.

Are Ruensa and Roze the helpless victims of circumstance? Or will they stop at nothing to get Finca Siquia for themselves?

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48 Clues into the Disappearance of My Sister
€17.95
When a woman mysteriously vanishes from her small town home, her sister must tally up the clues to uncover the truth behind the mystery.

Beautiful sculptor Marguerite has disappeared from her small town in upstate New York. But was foul play involved? Did she merely get away for some fun? Or did she finally make the decision to leave behind her claustrophobic life of limited opportunities? Younger sister Gigi wonders if the flimsy silk Dior dress, so casually abandoned on the floor, is a clue to Marguerite’s vanishing. The police puzzle over the footprints made by her Ferragamo boots, which end abruptly close to her home.

Bit by bit, revelations about both women are uncovered, as Gigi, not so pretty as her sister, reveals her true feelings about the perfect, much-loved Marguerite. The fate of the missing beauty slowly and subtly comes to light In this suspenseful story about the complex relationship between two sisters.

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