James May

A Personal Motoring Disinfectant

Carbolics

Phil Dolling

James May's 20th Century

Reassembler

Notes from the Hard Shoulder

One Man's Quest for the Perfect Meal

Oh Cook!

Take a truly technicolour tour of one of the most remarkable construction projects of 2009 in all its architectural glory. British broadcaster, writer and toy 'nut-case' James May lived a childhood dream by designing, building and sleeping in a quite stunning full-size house inspired by and completely made from LEGO, one of the world's most favourite toys and a design icon in its own right. James May's Lego House provides a complete photographic record of this stunning creation which now proudly holds the Guinness World Record for the largest free-standing LEGO structure. However, this is not a simple recreation of a childhood vision of a house but is fully informed by the 'simple complexity' of LEGO's design philosophy centring around the basic 'eighter' brick. Indeed, 3.3 million LEGO elements were used exclusively to create the two-storey house and its incredible fittings that range from a washing machine, furniture, cat and mouse, bed and bedding and fully functioning shower and toilet.

James May's Lego House

60 easy recipes that any idiot can make

From the stars of Amazon Prime's THE GRAND TOUR, THE GRAND TOUR GUIDE TO THE WORLD is part travel companion, part factually dubious encyclopedia and part scrapbook of a travelling circus, all told through the juvenile, egotistical yet undeniably amusing voices of the three former stars of TOP GEAR.

The Grand Tour Guide to the World

What skills does one really need to be a modern man? After being given yet another pointless 'man manual' that told him 50 ways to tie a bow tie in under 30 seconds, James May was certain there was a need for another kind of book. This book, in fact. He reckons there are nine vital things that a chap should be able to do. Not stuff you can download from the Internet, but really important things. You never know when you might need to land an A330 Airbus, or deliver twins. And there may well be a moment when being able to play a bit of classical music on the piano is absolutely crucial to your success with women. How to Land an A330 Airbus offers readers the essential and hilarious guide to modern man skills. So read, learn, and be prepared - you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

And Other Vital Skills for the Modern Man

How to Land an A330 Airbus

'A typically Mayesque celebration of classic engineering ... May is extraordinarily good at explaining what a carburettor is or outlining how a governor works... It's charming, transfixing and surprisingly intimate...It might be the best thing he's ever done.' - Guardian [review of BBC4 TV series] 'Reassembly is merely a form of therapy; something that stimulates a part of my brain that is left wanting in my daily life. When I rebuild a bicycle, I re-order my head. So might you... I'm delighted that you will be holding in your hands a book about putting things back together. It's a subject that fascinates me but which I assumed was a lonely passion that I would take to the grave, unconsummated by the normal channels of human interaction. Welcome! You and I, we are not alone, and our screwdrivers are our flashing Excaliburs as we sally forth to make small parts of the fragmented world whole again.' As in his hit BBC4 TV series, as well as learning the history of the objects, we get a history of the component parts. As James rebuilds an engine, he explains the cylinders, what they are, how they came about and what they do.

The Reassembler

Han Asard

Nicholas Smirnoff

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a key vitamin to animals and plants. This book looks at all aspects of vitamin C; its chemical and biochemical properties, its role in various plants and animals and its effect on our health. Written by an international team of experts, together they represent much of the expertise on vitamin C throughout the world.

Its Functions and Biochemistry in Animals and Plants

Vitamin C

Published to tie in with the BBC TV series, this is James May's idiosyncratic look at the great inventions of our time. He explores the iconic themes of the 20th century, including flight, space travel, television, mechanised war, medicine, video games, skyscrapers, electronic music, and more.

May on Motors

The panda and the octopus met at an art competition. Of course they did. Because pandas are famed for their delicate drawing ability and an octopus is a dab hand with a brush or two (or four, or six...). But, not for the first time in his life, the slippery octopus (who was actually a septopus which meant he had only seven limbs) was about to get into trouble. The first in the series of stories each of which involves the coming together of two animals from completely diverse environments (the septopus had never seen a black and white bear before), Ocho and Bao Bao's Masterpiece tells of a newfound friendship which helps them to overcome disaster. It marries the flamboyance of a multi-tentacled sea creature with the patience and calm of China's greatest mammal. Written in rhyming couplets where sometimes an older one - brother, sister or parent - may need to explain a word or two and featuring beautiful, hand drawn illustrations (no PCs were involved in the creation of our images), we hope you love this Two Unlikely Friends tale even a fraction of the enjoyment we had bringing it to life. Please check out Presley and Allie's African Barbeque, the second book in the series. J&E

Two Unlikely Friends

Ocho and Bao Bao's Masterpiece

Oz Clarke

An inspiring introduction to French wine with a unique travel angle, tied in to a primetime 6-part BBC2 series, Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure brings us French wine made simple. Oz Clarke - award-winning writer, critic and committed Francophile - is one of the world's leading authorities on French wine. James May - overgrown boy racer , Top Gear presenter and journalist - knows nothing about wine and loathes what he calls 'wine ponces'. In Sideways style, they travel through the regions of France for 6 weeks. Oz teaches James about wine with the aim of turning him into a top sommelier, while the pair eat together, get drunk together and sometimes have to sleep together for a few nights under canvas. Divided by region, Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure cuts through the fear and snobbery that surround French wine, providing an informative, entertaining and accessible guide to the French regions and their wines. Beautifully illustrated with over 80 landscape photographs and location shots, it is full of useful information on wine-making, wine culture, regions and tips on how to seek out the best the French vineyards have to offer.

Oz and James's Big Wine Adventure

Publius Naso (Ovid)

D. Gardner

The Ars Amatoria is a Lehrgedicht, a didactic elegiac poem in three books, in which Ovid teaches the arts of love. Book I addresses men and teaches them how to seduce women. Book II, also geared toward men, teaches how to keep a lover. Book III addresses women and teaches seduction techniques. The first book opens with an invocation to Venus, in which Ovid establishes himself as a praeceptor amoris-a Teacher of Love.

Illustrated Edition

Ars Amatoria ( the Art of Love )

Loneliness and despair consumes Buddy after the mysterious disappearance of his sister Autumn on her first day of high school. How will he and his best friend Gus save her? There are supernatural elements and mysteries abound in this gripping adventure that leads two best friends on a journey into the unknown, as almost everyone they know forget about Autumn's very existence.

All He Saw Was Autumn

Our world has been transformed beyond recognition, particularly in the twentieth century, and so were our lives and our aspirations. Throughout JAMES MAY'S MAGNIFICENT MACHINES James May, co-presenter of The Grand Tour, explores the iconic themes of the past hundred years: flight, space travel, television, mechanized war, medicine, computers, electronic music, skyscrapers, electronic espionage and much more. But he also reveals the hidden story behind why some inventions like the Zeppelin, the hovercraft or the Theremin struggled to make their mark. He examines the tipping points - when technologies such as the car or the internet became unstoppable - and gets up close to the nuts and bolt of remarkable inventions. Packed with surprising statistics and intriguing facts, this is the ideal book for anyone who wants to know how stuff works and why some stuff didn't make it.

How men in sheds have changed our lives

James May's Magnificent Machines

For at least two decades now modern man has been on the brink of a crisis. Persuaded by both the post-feminist political landscape and his representation in the popular media to remodel himself as an endearingly hopeless halfwit, he now exists only as an object of pity. James and his happy band of brothers (plus a few women, but we try to edit them out) are engaged on a quest to lead maledom to a broad sunlit upland strewn with slim books of English verse and neatly stacked with correctly sharpened tools arranged in descending size order. From here they confront the mysteries of romance and fashion, the cult of men's cooking and the daunting underworld of hardcore DIY. Read it and remember that, as a chap, your first duty is to be dependable. And then you can have a pint.

The Book of Usefulness

James May's Man Lab

Top Gear presenter and columnist for the Daily Telegraph James May brings together another brilliant collection of his most controversial and humorous writing. From tales of motoring adventures through India, Russia and Iceland, to classic articles on essential subjects such as driving songs and haunted car parks, these gems from the number one car connoisseur will take readers on a motoring journey that will amuse and entertain in equal measure.

James May

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