Ballet Shoes (Puffin Modern Classics)

Noel Streatfeild

Pauline, Petrova and Posy Fossil are sisters - with a difference. All three were adopted as babies by Great Uncle Matthew, an eccentric and rich explorer who then disappeared, leaving them in the care of his niece Sylvia. The girls grow up in comfort until their money begins to run out and nobody can fi...

The Beauty and the Terror: An Alternative History of the Italian Renaissance

Catherine Fletcher

The Italian Renaissance shaped western culture - but it was far stranger and darker than many of us realise. We revere Leonardo for his art but few now appreciate his ingenious designs for weaponry. We know the Mona Lisa for her smile but not that she was married to a slave-trader. We visit Florence to ...