Bill Spence

THE GREAT EAST WINDOW OF YORK MINSTER AN ENGLISH MASTERPIEC, by Sarah Brown (Profile Books, £20)

MEDIEVAL WOMAN Village Life In The Middle Ages by Ann Baer (Michael O’Mara, £9.99)

Originally published in Paris in 1941, this novel, delightful to hold in the hands, is an amusing and rather tragic story of 37-year-old Pierre Niox, a dealer in antiquities who lives life at a frantic pace and known by his friends for holding the record time of two minutes 28 seconds for shaving himself.

Amanda Owen was brought up in Huddersfield going through the usual teenage crazes of the 1980s though privately she also indulged herself in James Herriot tales and other farming stories.

Have you ever heard of a four-footed bird? Can you really teach a dog to read? Where would you find a kangaroo crossed with a lion? Find out the answers in Great Victorian Discoveries.

WHEN Steven Spielberg was directing Jaws he had so many problems that he knew he was nearing his last chance of ever making another film, let alone becoming well known.

WHILE at university, the future looked promising for Ian, Lauren and Paul who were good friends sharing the same dreams, but 10 years on life is very different.

Twenty years ago, Ray Campbell was an idealistic, well-intentioned aid worker dedicated to improving life in Lubanda, a newly-independent country in Africa.

The use of media for the social side of life has grown apace.

In October 1889, the Barnum and Bailey Circus sailed for England from America. It comprised of 1,200 people, 330 horses and many other animals; it was known as the Greatest Show on Earth and it did not disappoint; this was the heyday of the circus.