Since the first tour to South Africa in 1910, to play for the British Lions remains the ultimate accolade for any Home Union rugby player. After an introduction by Willie John McBride, probably the greatest of all Lion's captains, Bill McLaren remembers the highlights of the great tours in recent years. Read More...

The showpieces of human civilisation are its great cities and here are 19 of the world's greatest. Read More...

The Cathedral of Chartres is, for almost every visitor, the greatest human artifact of the western world. It fills some of us with wonder and delight, others with awe and reverence. Read More...

Henry Root stands slightly outside the tradition of the English Man of Letters. He has made it his business to correspond with important people in all walks of life on the vital issues of our time...A cross-section of these letters is provided within this book. Read More...

The Louis Vuitton and Moet-Hennessy affair. A compelling story featuring a cast of characters straight out of a soap opera. It takes us inside the world of haute couture and luxury brands, and puts the spotlight on the ruthless - but often highly successful - business methods that came to dominate the 1980s. Read More...

Meet William Stern, the property magnate who became the world's largest personal bankrupt; the once super-successful Jim Slater who coined the phrase 'minus millionaire'; Spain's richest man who had his fortune taken away from him; France's most disagreeable businessman who once bragged 'I will never make a serious financial mistake', and did; the most eccentric Schlumpf brothers whose GBP60M collection of antique automobiles, including 123 vintage Buggatis, became the object of a government plot; and Eli Pinkas, the ever aloof Swiss businessman who defrauded 18 banks out of $300-$800M - all of it vanished since his apparent suicide. Read More...

Despite being one of the most popular games in the world, bridge is often thought to be a difficult game to learn. This is not true if it is learned from first principles, with an expert as the guide. Read More...

Through Russia and Siberian Tartary to the frontiers of China, the Frozen Sea and Kamtchatka. His simple idea - vindicated by experience at every point of his journey, at least in Siberia - was that one should travel as far as possible alone... Read More...

This treatise on bees and bee-keeping can hardly be faulted in its scientific accuracy. It is essentially the work of a poet continually glancing at analogies to the human condition... Read More...

Of the seven 'wonders remembered and revered from antiquity, only one survives, yet their memory alone still wields impressive power, inspiring artists, writers – even engineers who wished to emulate such feats. What would be the wonders we would select from our own culture to pass down to future generations? Read More...