Truth is not an option...Beijing, sometime in the near future: a month has gone missing from official records. No one has any memory of it, and no one can care less. Except for a small circle of friends, who will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of the sinister cheerfulness and amnesia that has possessed the Chinese nation. When they kidnap a high-ranking official and force him to reveal all, what they learn - not only about their leaders, but also about their own people - stuns them to the core. It is a message that will rock the world...Terrifying methods of cunning, deception and terror are unveiled by the truth-seekers in this thriller-expose of the Communist Party's stranglehold on China today.

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they would navigate the girl-less sixth form together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they all swore to stay friends for life. Now Tony is in middle age. He's had a career and a single marriage, a calm divorce. He's certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer's letter is about to prove. The Sense of an Ending is the story of one man coming to terms with the mutable past. Laced with trademark precision, dexterity and insight, it is the work of one of the world's most distinguished writers.

In France, Julian Barnes is the only writer to have won both the Prix Medicis (for Flaubert's Parrot) and the Prix Femina (for Talking it Over). He was awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2004 and the David Cohen Prize for Literature in 2011.

Nine of us came here, but sometimes I wonder if time has changed us¡Xif we all still believe in our mission. How can I know? There are six of us left. We're hiding, blending in, avoiding contact with one another . . . but our Legacies are developing, and soon we'll be equipped to fight. Is John Number Four, and is his appearance the sign I've been waiting for? And what about Number Five and Six? Could one of them be the raven-haired girl with the stormy eyes from my dreams? The girl with powers that are beyond anything I could ever imagine? The girl who may be strong enough to bring the six of us together?

They caught Number One in Malaysia.
Number Two in England.
And Number Three in Kenya.
They tried to catch Number Four in Ohio¡Xand failed.
I am Number Seven. One of six still alive.
And I'm ready to fight.

Polaroids occupy a special place in the hearts of many photo enthusiasts who remember a time when "instant photography" meant one-of-a-kind prints that developed within minutes of clicking the shutter. What was once a crucial tool for photographers to test their shots before shooting on film has now become obsolete in the face of digital photography. Luckily for us, legendary photographer Helmut Newton saved his test Polaroids, allowing a privileged and rare chance to see the tests from a selection of his greatest shoots over a period of decades, including many from the TASCHEN titles SUMO, A Gun for Hire, and Work. Selected by his widow, June Newton, from over 300 photos featured at the 2011 exhibition "Helmut Newton Polaroids" at the Museum fˆ¢r Fotografie in Berlin, this collection captures the magic of Helmut Newton photo shoots as only Polaroids can.

Koto Bolofo was born in South Africa in 1959 and raised in Great Britain. Bolofo has photographed and made short films for magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ. He has created advertising campaigns for companies including Hermˆos, Louis Vuitton and Dom Pˆmrignon. Bolofo lives in the Vendˆme, France and his books with Steidl include Venus, I Spy with my Little Eye, Something beginning with S, Vroom!, La Maison and Grande Complications.

Koto Bolofo is the first photographer to have been granted unlimited access to the secret workshops of Hermˆos, the house famous for its leather goods, scarves and other beautiful objects. La Maison, itself an elaborate object comprising eleven volumes and the result of seven years' work, showcases Bolofo's painstaking documentation of the Hermˆos universe.

Throughout the 1990s a vast conflict was brewing. The storm broke on September 11th 2001. Since then much of the world has seen invasions, bombings, battles and riots. Hundreds of thousands of people have died.

Jason Burke, a first hand witness of many of the conflict's key moments, has written the definitive account of its course. At once investigation, reportage and contemporary history, it is based on hundreds of interviews with participants including desperate refugees and senior intelligence officials, ministers and foot-soldiers, active militants and their victims. Burke reveals the true nature of contemporary Islamic militancy and the inside story of the fight against it. He cuts through the myth and propaganda of all sides to reveal the reality behind well-known - and lesser known- episodes, and brings characters, voices and a sense of place to a gripping narrative.

The 9-11 Wars is an essential book for understanding the dangerous and unstable 21st century.Whether reporting on the riots in France or the attack on Mumbai, suicide bombers in Iraq or British troops fighting in Helmand, Jason Burke tells the story of a world which that changed forever when the hijacked planes flew out of the brilliant blue sky above Manhattan on September 11th 2001.

An investigation into the surprisingly deep correlation between mental illness and successful leadership, as seen through some of history's greatest politicians, generals, and businesspeople.

America is in trouble. We face four major challenges on which our future depends, and we are failing to meet them¡Xand if we delay any longer, soon it will be too late for us to pass along the American dream to future generations.

In That Used to Be Us, Thomas L. Friedman, one of our most influential columnists, and Michael Mandelbaum, one of our leading foreign policy thinkers, offer both a wake-up call and a call to collective action. They analyze the four challenges we face¡Xglobalization, the revolution in information technology, the nation¡¦s chronic deficits, and our pattern of excessive energy consumption¡Xand spell out what we need to do now to sustain the American dream and preserve American power in the world. They explain how the end of the Cold War blinded the nation to the need to address these issues seriously, and how China¡¦s educational successes, industrial might, and technological prowess remind us of the ways in which ¡§that used to be us.¡¨ They explain how the paralysis of our political system and the erosion of key American values have made it impossible for us to carry out the policies the country urgently needs.

And yet Friedman and Mandelbaum believe that the recovery of American greatness is within reach. They show how America¡¦s history, when properly understood, offers a five-part formula for prosperity that will enable us to cope successfully with the challenges we face. They offer vivid profiles of individuals who have not lost sight of the American habits of bold thought and dramatic action. They propose a clear way out of the trap into which the country has fallen, a way that includes the rediscovery of some of our most vital traditions and the creation of a new thirdparty movement to galvanize the country.

That Used to Be Us is both a searching exploration of the American condition today and a rousing manifesto for American renewal.

New edition of this annual bestseller of fascinating facts and figures about the world we live in. The 2012 edition of this perennial favourite has been completely updated, revised and expanded with many new features. Full of facts and figures about the world today - on subjects as diverse as geography, population and demographics, business, finance and the economy, transport, tourism and the environment, society, culture and crime - it is a mine of fascinating data that will both inform and entertain.

Review: "'Informative, entertaining and insightful... the fact-lovers Bible' (Reuters) 'A diamond on every page' (Business Life) 'Everything the armchair globetrotter needs to know about the world' (Daily Telegraph)"