The West Indian Pavilion

Buildings of Empire takes the reader on an exciting journey through thirteen territories of the British Empire. From Dublin Castle to the glass and steel of Sir Norman Foster's Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank skyscraper, these buildings capture the essence of the imperial experience, painting an intimate portrait of the biggest empire the world has ever seen: the people who made it and the people who resisted it, as well as the legacy of the imperial project throughout the world. Ashley Jackson visits classic examples of the buildings that the British governed from, the forts they (often brutally) imposed their rule from, the railway stations they travelled from, the banks they traded from, the educational establishments they spread their values from, as well as the grand colonial hotels they stayed in, the sporting clubs and botanical gardens where they took their leisure, and the monumental exhibition spaces in which they celebrated the achievements of settlement and imperial endeavour. The history of these buildings does not end with the empire that built them. Their story in the aftermath of empire highlights the continuing legacy of many of the structures and institutions the British left behind, as well as the sometimes unexpected role that these former symbols of alien rule have played in the establishment of new national identities in the years since independence.

This sweeping epic set in 19th-century India begins in the foothills of the towering Himalayas and follows a young Indian-born orphan as he's raised in England and later returns to India where he falls in love with an Indian princess and struggles with cultural divides. The Far Pavilions is itself a Himalayan achievement, a book we hate to see come to an end. It is a passionate, triumphant story that excites us, fills us with joy, move us to tears, satisfies us deeply, and helps us remember just what it is we want most from a novel. M.M. Kaye's masterwork is a vast, rich and vibrant tapestry of love and war that ranks with the greatest panoramic sagas of modern fiction, moving the famed literary critic Edmond Fuller to write: "Were Miss Kaye to produce no other book, The Far Pavilions might stand as a lasting accomplishment in a single work comparable to Margaret Mitchell's achievement in Gone With the Wind."

'The definitive telling of the life of a West Indian hero' Sir Clive Lloyd The brilliant all-rounder Frank Worrell had to wait until 1960 to become the first permanent Black captain of the West Indies cricket team, denied for a decade by the elitism, insularity and racism of Caribbean cricket’s rulers. When his chance finally came, Worrell transformed a talented but unfocused team into the most exciting side in the world and led his men into unforgettable series against Australia and England. Worrell was universally admired as one of cricket’s great captains when he was knighted in 1964, but three years later, he was dead aged just forty-two. Not merely an extraordinarily talented and record-breaking sportsman, he served the University of the West Indies after his retirement – along with the cricket team and the political federation, one of the three truly unifying elements across a fractious and diverse region. This biography, by the author of the acclaimed Fire in Babylon and with a foreword by Sir Clive Lloyd, is the definitive telling of Frank Worrell's life and legacy. It reveals how an upbringing in Barbados, cricketing adventures around the world and a determination not to be cowed by the powers that ran island cricket, shaped a great West Indian cricketer into a great West Indian, who changed the game forever.