Peter Waine

Mike Walker

No treaties, no truces, this one is to the finish . . . When Jim Crawford, the flamboyant CEO of electronics company, Ayot plc launches a hostile bid for old-fashioned Byfield plc it at first appears just another example of market forces dictating the survival of the fittest, irrespective of the human cost. But it soon becomes apparent that Crawford has another motivation: an old score to settle with Byfield's Chairman, John Parker. When things get personal cool business sense is the first casualty. Ride the takeover roundabout and experience the thrill of success and the grim reality of the terrible financial and human cost when things go wrong. "Takeover" is both a gripping read and informative. Step by step, we are led through the drama of a contested bid - and see all the skills, action and emotion that lie behind the headlines. The story shows the human cost of the world of business - and the sacrifices that are made to reach and stay at the top. Winner takes all in the City - but it is not always clear who are the winners and who are really the losers. Peter Harris, Group Managing Director, Lex Service plc A gripping tale of intrigue and passions ' Sir Malcolm Bates, Chairman, Pearl Group plc "Takeover" is a racy novel written by authors who know the territory and work on boards. They have produced a page-turner which rings true. Business people will instantly recognise the characters, the tensions, the personal triumphs and tragedies.' Professor Bernard Taylor, Centre for Business Excellence, Henley Management College A book every businessperson should read.' John Cowling, Managing Director, Casio Electronics Co. Ltd The deadly countdown to completion of the takeover heightens the excitement and parallels real life all too closely. This is a book that is hard to put down.' Richard Holland, CEO, Boosey & Hawkes Group plc

Takeover

Literary Nonfiction. Poetry. A.E. HOUSMAN: A MAN OF LOST CONTENT will look at this enigmatic person, our greatest classicist who penned some of the loveliest poetry ever written. Despite the relative paucity of his poetic output--his collection, A Shropshire Lad, has never been out of print. He was offered the Poet Laureatship and the Order of Merit, but declined both. Housman could be kind and unkind, friendly and rude, gregarious and painfully silent, a recluse and a bon-viveur. He believed that life was dreadful and death welcome, but also that death ended one's enjoyment of cherry trees and of the English countryside; a gourmet who lived frugally, a traditionalist who loved to fly to France in the dangerous days of pioneering aviation. He lost his religious faith at 13 but he still acquired an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Bible which he used extensively in his poems. He never wished to be regarded as a war poet, but his verse lent solace to the bereaved in two world wars. Many of the most eminent contemporary composers attempted to put his poems to music and most failed. He was homosexual but almost certainly a repressed one. His emotional life was over by the time he was 30 and the subject of his affection was neither a homosexual nor even aware of the effect he had had on Housman. He failed his Finals but still became Professor of Latin at both University College, London and Kennedy Professor of Latin at Cambridge. Despite being regarded as our greatest classicist he devoted 27 years to translating a Latin poet of the third rank whom Housman himself summed up as "facile and frivolous." Regarded as an intellectual machine and with the tools afforded him by his mastery of great prose, Housman took up the challenge of textual criticism, rectifying in his mind the hitherto poor classical scholarship of his contemporaries and of those who preceded him. The author advocates a reason for these strange paradoxes, a theory not propounded before...

A.E. Housman: Finding a Path to Flourish

When Jim Crawford, the flamboyant Chairman of Electronics company, Ayot plc, launches a hostile bid for old-fashioned Byfield plc it is at first appears just another example of market forces dictating the survival of the fittest, irrespective of the human cost. But it soon becomes apparent that Crawford has another motivation: an old score to settle with Byfield's Chairman, John Parker. When things get personal cool business sense is the first business casualty. Takeover gives an exhilarating view of how business really works at board level and sounds a salutary warning to acquisition-hungry businesses: if you think acquisitions are an easy route to growth, think again. Takeover is essential reading for everybody interested in business and how the financial world works. Ride the takeover roundabout and experience the excitement of success and the grim reality of the terrible financial and human cost when things go wrong Treason doth prosper, what the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason. Sir John Harington, Epigrams, 1618

Oliver Hilliam

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England

The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) is one of the world's longest running environmental groups, marshalling the conservation movement in England since 1926. This book celebrates the achievements of the CPRE and associated groups in bequeathing to the present generation a countryside that is still a repository of beauty and tranquillity, despite 300 years of sustained development and population growth. 22 Ideas That Saved the English Countryside re-asserts the vision and durability of the CPRE's key arguments and those of historic partners including The National Trust, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the Ramblers' Association. public. This book contains contributions from leading thinkers, campaigners and high-profile supporters, including Julia Bradbury, Tony Robinson, John le Carre, Andrew Motion and Simon Jenkins, as well as archive images and beautiful colour photography of present day landscapes, which show what has been saved, what has been protected for ever, and, on occasion, what has been lost - often the most poignant images of all. The ideas include: Controlling Ribbon Development One of CPRE's earliest campaigns was to curtail urban sprawl alongside arterial roads. Through the coordination of public and political support, the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act of 1935 protected views of the countryside from the encroachments of suburbia. National Parks Wordsworth's 1810 description of the Lakes as a 'sort of national property' culminated in CPRE's long campaign for National Parks, which in turn was inspired by the world's first National Parks like Yellowstone in 1874. The Green and Pleasant Land According to historian David Cannadine, 'the English countryside was . . . the very embodiment of decency, Englishness, national character and national identity'. This theme has been expressed by authors from Shakespeare and Spencer through to Kenneth Grahame and George Orwell. As more of us live in cities, the English obsession with escaping to the countryside has grown. Urban Regeneration Every home built on a previously developed 'brownfield' site saves a piece of green field. The efficient renovation of derelict buildings and and land offer a new opportunity to create new urban housing to be set against unspoiled countryside. The creation of new public spaces and pedestrianised zones since the 1960s have made cities more pleasant places to live.

Peter Waine

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