Giles Whittell

Documents the stories of three men at the center of a legendary first prisoner exchange between the Soviet Union and America, describing the chance events that contributed to their captures and rescues and their indirect contributions to triggering the arms race.

A True Story of the Cold War

Bridge of Spies

**The Financial Times' Travel Book of the Year 2018** How many snowflakes does it take to build a snowman? Where is the snowiest place on Earth? When will the last snowflake fall? Snow has a lot in common with religion. It comes from heaven. It changes everything. It creates an alternative reality and brings on irrational behaviour in humans. But unlike most religions, snow has never had a bible, until now. Giles Whittell, a passionate snow enthusiast, takes the reader on a quest through centuries and continents to reveal the wonders of snow. Along the way he uncovers the mysteries of snow crystal morphology, why avalanches happen, how snow saved a British prime minister's life, and the terrifying truth about the opening ceremony of the 1960 winter Olympics. The Secret Life of Snowis the next best thing to a white Christmas, an anthropology and travelogue for everyone from ski addicts to the millions of people who have never even seen it.

The Science and the Stories Behind Nature's Greatest Wonder

The Secret Life of Snow

The story of the unsung heroines who flew the newest, fastest, aeroplanes in World War II - mostly in southern England where the RAF was desperately short of pilots.

Spitfire Women of World War II

Offers historical and cultural information and practical travel tips for Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, and includes additional information for traveling the Karakoram Highway into China

Central Asia

Following nearly a century of Soviet rule, Central Asia, surrounded by Russia, Iran and China, and sealed off by mountain ranges, is comparatively little-known in the West. When the USSR broke up in 1991 the five republics which had been artificially created by the Russians - Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kirghizstan and Kazakhstan - were released and emerged as autonomous entities. They are now accessible to the independent tourist.

Blowing Hot and Cold Through Central Asia

Extreme Continental

Brimming with interesting facts and surprising anecdotes, this scientific and cultural history opens our eyes to the wonders of one of nature’s most delicate, delightful, and deadly phenomena: SNOW! Perfect for fans of The Hidden Life of Trees and Rain. Go on an extraordinary journey across centuries and continents to experience the wonders of snow; from the prehistoric humans that trekked and even skied across it tens of thousands of years ago to the multi-billion-dollar industry behind our moving, making, and playing with snow. Blending accessible writing with fascinating science, Giles Whittell explores how snow dictates where we live, provides us with drinking water, and has influenced countless works of art and more. Whittell also uncovers compelling mysteries of this miraculous substance, such as why avalanches happen, how snow saved a British prime minister’s life, where the legend of the yeti comes from, and the terrifying truth behind the opening ceremony of the 1960 winter Olympics. Filled with in-depth research and whip-smart prose, Snow is an eye-opening and charming book that illuminates one of the most magnificent wonders of nature.

A Scientific and Cultural Exploration

Snow

FROM THE AUTHOR OF BRIDGE OF SPIES: A dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War Two In the darkest months of the Second World War, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook "the greatest raid of all", turning an old destroyer into a live bomb and using it to ram the gates of a Nazi stronghold. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded -- more than in any similar operation. Drawing on official documents, interviews, unknown accounts and the astonished reactions of French civilians and German forces, The Greatest Raid recreates in cinematic detail the hours in which the "Charioteers" fought and died, from Lt Gerard Brett, the curator at the V & A, to "Bertie" Burtinshaw, who went into battle humming There'll Always be an England, and from Lt Stuart Chant, who set the fuses with 90 seconds to escape, to the epic solo reconnaissance of the legendary Times journalist Capt Micky Burn. Unearthing the untold human stories of Operation Chariot, Bridge of Spies author Giles Whittell reveals it to be a fundamentally misconceived raid whose impact and legacy was secured by astonishing bravery.

Giles Whittell

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