From the fieriest of dragons, self-made millionaire Duncan Bannatyne's offers his top tips for entering the den:

Not the Ivor Baddiel biography
Ivor Baddiel started driving at the age of 4 months, before he could even walk. Or talk for that matter. He became the Formula 1 world champion when he was 7, a title he has retained every year to the present day, making him the better than best ever greatest driver of all time, ever. He is also the current 500cc motorbike world champion, Trucker of the Year, Mr. Milk Float and recently won the Tour De France on a pogo stick. Last week he joined the Labour party and is already being tipped to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister, a post he will probably hold forever.

Not the Jonny Zucker biography
Fed up with the near impossible challenge of finding parking spaces in English cities, Jonny Zucker designed and built his own 'Tiny' Car. Fast enough to get him from London to Carlisle in eight minutes, but small enough to fit into his jacket pocket, the Tiny Car has revolutionised his life. With a patent pending, the car can be parked anywhere in mainland Europe. Since he made the prototype, offers have come flooding in from around the world. Unfortunately these were all spam – offering him the chance to buy timeshares in Latvian coastal properties. He thinks that driving is 'good' but feels walking may be a tad more environmentally friendly.

“In The Tribes of Britain I wanted to tell one of the possible stories of the people of the British Isles and Ireland; emphasising our interaction with the rest of the world and combining the evidence of archeology, demography, history, climatology and biological sciences.

As climate change, immigration, birth rates, ageing and threats of bird flu continue to dominate our newspapers, I hope that The Tribes of Britain will help to put these issues into perspective. Our ancestors have been there before us.”

David Miles, Introduction to the paperback edition of The Tribes of Britain

“As I was growing up in Lincolnshire, I would often go past an ancient solitary tower standing within a farm in Temple Bruer. I learned that it was built by people called ‘the Templars’, but initially knew nothing more. Like most young boys, I was intrigued by castles and ruins – and the tower doubly so, because even at a young age I was aware that it was a mysterious place.

During the 1980s I started to visit prehistoric sites, taking a kind of trainspotterish approach, ticking off stone circles and burial chambers as we travelled the length and breadth of the country. But soon I began to supplement the stone circles with Templar sites and, with a growing interest in photography, started to record my travels. I spent as much time visiting the sites as I could, and soon had enough photos and local information to make the idea of writing a book a real possibility.

I am not a historian and have no particular ‘angle’ on the Templars, other than finding them endlessly fascinating. I do not wish to denigrate the work of others, whether orthodox, academic or speculative. Nor do I take sides in any controversy. If the Templars were indeed after the Ark of the Covenant, that pursuit should not detract from their achievements within medieval society and their place in military history. And conversely, that they were wealthy and became the elite of their day in various secular matters does not mean they were similarly ‘orthodox’ in spiritual practice.”

“When we started out as amateur style-dilemma solvers, we created a foolproof way of dressing for women based not on the latest trends, but on body shape. In our last television series we realised that to create a long-term change in attitude to dressing, we had to go even further – we had to understand WHY women find it difficult to change, and what we could do to help them.

Like it or not, the way you appear says something about you. This is the first impression that others receive. Sometimes it is the only one. Are your clothes giving out a positive message? Do you even know what they are saying? People cannot look inside your head to see the confident, warm, creative, sexy, adventurous woman hiding beneath that frumpy, tired, boring or just plain scary exterior.

Recognising yourself, or elements of yourself, is the first step in identifying possibilities for change. Now, we can hear you thinking: ‘Well that may be true for the women who appear on Trinny and Susannah’s TV show, but I’m not one of them’. Ho, ho, think again! The reason we can so readily recognise the issues we describe in this book is that, between the two of us, we have at some time in our lives manifested all of them ourselves.

You don’t have to have the physique of a super model to look great. Real style is the ability to reflect all the positive aspects of who you truly are through how you dress and present yourself. This book is not about how to dress like ‘Trinny and Susannah’, it is about dressing to express yourself. When your outside reflects your inside you feel at ease.

What Your Clothes Say About You is about recognising that we all communicate things about ourselves through how we dress. It will show you how to retune your appearance so that you can tell the world who you want to be. We will help you to give a positive message, which is still delivered in your own unique voice. We want you to feel attractive, happy and proud to be you. When you look different you will act different, and when you act different you will feel different.”

Trinny and Susannah

“These days there are more and more compelling reasons to get out on two wheels. For a start, cycling is an extremely healthy activity giving you a good cardiovascular workout without stressing your joints. Riding a bike is also a great way of losing weight and then keeping it off. It takes years off you too. Regular cyclists have been proven not only to live longer but to be both intellectually and physically more active further into old age.

But cycling offers you more than just health benefits. In many cities a bike is now the fastest way of getting around town. Ride to work and your new bike will pay for itself in no time and the bonus is you'll be getting fitter too. Instead of dragging yourself to the gym to work out on the treadmill, why not grab your bike and reinvigorate yourself with an hour's cycling around your city or out in the countryside; or encourage your children to have a more active lifestyle by planning fun days out by bike? Added to this there are numerous charity rides, races and club events just waiting for you to try them out. Cycling offers something for everyone. Whatever your age, the best reason for riding a bike is that it's just such a fantastically enjoyable thing to do – so long as it is done safely.”

From the introduction to The Bicycle Book

Neil Barrett has appeared on several programmes to discuss computer crime and is often asked to give expert comment and opinions for the national and the specialist media. Neil has also appeared in court as a computer expert in great variety of cases, ranging from paedophilia through murder to computer hacking, and provides expert advice to lawyers and to police forces throughout the UK.

The BBC Radio quiz Quote ... Unquote has been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom since 1976 and latterly also on BBC7. Devised and introduced by Nigel Rees, the programme has become something of an institution. Series 38 of the radio show – marking the 30th anniversary of Quote ... Unquote – will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4 from Monday 20 March.”

“The last 25 years have traced the changes wrought in China by its growing openness to the world. But 2004 signalled the start of something new; it served notice that the future may be involved less with how the world is changing China than how China is changing the world.”

For many years Gerard Benson toured with the famous Barrow Poets, performing poetry and music.

He is also one of Britain's best-loved children's poets, his work has been widely published and anthologised, and he has edited an outstanding anthology, This Poem Doesn't Rhyme, which won the Signal Poetry Award in 1991.

You can view and order individual Poems on the Underground posters from the Poetry Society: http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/education/under.htm

Willie's conduct as a writer, while always playful, somewhat belied his image of a chaotic and irregular life. He was respectful of deadlines, receptive to editorial suggestion and meticulously correct in matters of style and presentation. He warmed instantly to the suggestion that he should write a dictionary of Rogues, Villains And Eccentrics. He knuckled down to two years' research and writing, and delivered – bang on time – 300,000 words of the most elegant, informative and understatedly humorous prose. All were entranced by what one reviewer described as "a breathtaking triumph of misdirected scholarship".

Enraged by the absurdity of a culture dumbed down by the media, he was working, with Hermione Eyre, on a Dictionary of National Celebrity at the time of his death.

Richard Milbank, of Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Here is the ideal corrective to the hysterical hero-worship of sportsmen and women. The Big Book of More Sports Insults offers a spluttering Ali to Zola of abusive invective targeted at sporting icons.

John Ayto is the new editor of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable and this new edition, while respecting the book's 135-year-old tradition, offers a wealth of new materials. It features at least 1500 entirely new words and phrases including Blairism, bling, Brewer's droop and 'float someone's boat'; characters and places from film and literature include Gollum, Hogwarts and Indiana Jones.

“A bestselling barometer of popular culture since Victorian times.” Sunday Times

“Alexander Walker's contribution to the appreciation and understanding of British film was unique. He was passionate about film and that love affair with cinema was clear in everything he wrote.

He was much more than a film critic. He was a champion for quality cinema in this country. As a broadcaster, commentator and film historian he had no equal. The London film world and British cinema are a smaller and less colourful place without him.”

Anthony Minghella,
Film Director and Chairman of the British Film Institute

Roger Hudson has worked with many historians and researched, compiled and edited numerous history books and biographies of historical figures. In Hudson's English Hisitory you can share in his vast knowledge and enjoy fascinating quirky insights into eight hundred years of English history.

Matt Rendell discovered cycling late. It wasn’t until he moved to Italy to study that he first developed an interest in cycling and this interest has grown into a lifetime involvement with the sport. He describes A Significant Other as being about cycling and friendship.

Tom Smith founded the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers in 1953 and served as its General Secretary for 25 years. It now has more than 8,000 members world wide. On his death in 1995 he willed his cricketing 'bible' to the Association, who have ensured its continual updating ever since.

“Worst holiday experience: a weekend in Hunstanton, Norfolk, in November, having just stopped smoking.”

Cassell's Chronology of World History lists year by year and region by region not only pivotal historical and political events but also advances and achievements in the arts and sciences. Charting the rise and fall of civilizations and empires, as well as the arrival and impact of cultural and technological innovations, it guides the user through the myriad developments and upheavals that have shaped the history of the world.

Comprehensive, authoritative and entertaining in equal measure. In the spirit of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, there is material in abundance here to delight lovers of the arcane, the esoteric and the unexpected. Brewer's Dictionary of Irish Phrase and Fable is not only a source of information about, but also a vivid and affectionate celebration of the whole island of Ireland.

“The funniest book of the year, and quite possibly of all time.”
Francis Wheen, Mail on Sunday