By Ian Thorp Archive Publishing 2011 Illustrations by Ian Thorp Review by Sylvia Minns Using the device of a time-traveller named ‘The Captain’, whose vessel resembles an 18th century sailing ship rather like HMS Victory, the author seeks to reveal how our planet has been observed and understood by human beings since they first appeared…
By Roger Lane Published by Frances Lincoln Limited The Gardens of Dorset is a portrait of thirty-seven of the best gardens in Dorset. There are delights and surprises aplenty, including a Roman temple in the suburbs of Bournemouth; a folly nestled within the fern garden of an ancestral manor; a classic cottage garden festooned with…
By Natasha Solomons Published by Sceptre Inspired by the author’s grandfather and an actual advice leaflet that was handed out to Jewish German refugees, ‘Mr Rosenblum’s List’ is an endearing book. Jack Rosenblum flees Berlin with his wife Sadie to arrive in England in 1937. Fifteen years later, Sadie is still dreaming about home but…
By Marilyn Allis Published by Tabella Publishing ISBN 978-0955808-89-0 A beautiful collection of studies capturing the coastline, countryside, buildings and people of Dorset. Dorset Artist, Marilyn Allis, has written this full colour teaching book to inspire you and fi re up the imagination. With 33 demonstrations and ideas, complete with step-by-step guidance on creating your…
By Della Galton Published by Accent Press Ltd 2008 ISBN 9781906373337 Review by Nancy Henshaw This book is fun and easy to read and the author clearly enjoyed writing it. At the same time it is tremendously informative and the underlying work and research is formidable. It is hard to imagine it becoming dated. Della…
By Louis de Bernières Published by Harvill Secker ISBN 978-1-846-55330-1 A Frenchman once pointed out to Louis de Bernieres that Britain was the most exotic country in Europe, adding that it was ‘an immense lunatic asylum’. Casting his mind back to the village in southern Surrey where he grew up in the sixties and seventies,…
By Nick Barratt Published by Preface Publishing ISBN 978-1-84809-149-8 On 15 April 1912, the largest, most expensive, most luxurious ship ever built sank beneath the icy waves of the northern Atlantic. Over 1500 people perished that night in what was to become one of the most examined tragedies of our time. Told in the words…
Published by Pulford Paperbacks ISBN No 978-0-9555022-0-0 Review by Della Galton This fast-paced fantasy novel, aimed at the teenage/adult fiction, market is unusually presented in eighty-four short chapters, fifty-eight of which are illustrated by the author. The black-and-white planet Aggracore is on the brink of destruction and about to be taken over by the evil,…
By Roger Guttridge Published by Amberley ISBN 978-1-84868-394-5 The first book to explore, in depth, the complete range of paranormal phenomena reported throughout Dorset. Published in a handy A-Z format, you will find accounts of well-known hauntings, as well as many previously undiscovered locations. As well as re-examining and updating some of the county’s best…
By Sonia Smith Published by Countryside Books ISBN 978-1-84674-164-7 Some of us might say we don’t believe in ghosts, but few of us are rash enough to say categorically that they don’t exist. Author Sonia Smith does not try to persuade either way, however, the sheer number of apparitions, phantoms, ghosts and spectres of which…