Alexander Norman – författare

At a time and in a culture where science and technology have taken over from religious belief, when ethics are understood primarily in terms of aesthetic choice or legality, how are we to formulate moral principles to guide us in our daily lives? Though religion can certainly help in this, the Dalai Lama demonstrates that there are universal principles we can draw on which transcend the dilemma of belief or unbelief. And whilst many have been content to speak of spiritual matters as something mysterious or evanescent, the Dalai Lama explains his approach in terms that are as clear and concise as they are compelling. With wit, gentle good sense and with penetrating insight, the Dalai Lama shows how the truths that have stood the test of generations of practise can provide us with the tools to live happy, fulfilled and meaningful lives. In the process, it becomes apparent that he does not merely espouse the 'feelgood' religiosity some accuse him of. The reader is left admiring not just the wisdom of the author, but the wisdom of the culture he represents.

A nostalgic celebration of the golden age of aviation - and the iconic DH60 Moth in its centenary year'Vivid and entertaining' TLS'A wonderfully affecting, highly entertaining, at times elegiac account of a legendary aircraft' JOHN NICHOL'A joy... Alexander Norman brings to life a golden era in aviation history in such a vivid and entertaining way' ROWLAND WHITEThe most iconic of all light aircraft, the DH60 Moth was the brain-child of Geoffrey de Havilland, visionary son of an angry and disappointed Victorian clergyman. A successful designer of military aircraft, Geoffrey dreamed of doing for aircraft what Ford had done for cars. The emergence of his Moth in February 1925 marked the beginning of an important but neglected episode in British social history - the craze for flying which gripped a war-weary world for more than a decade. The most successful aircraft of its era, the Moth was the one in which people had the greatest adventures. And it was the Moth which showed that flying was safe, practical and, potentially, open to all. True, many early Mothists were uber-privileged. The Prince of Wales had one, as did his brother, the Duke of Gloucester. Beryl Markham, who had affairs with both, learned to fly in a Moth. But Laura Ingalls, who did 980 successive loops in hers, Aspy Engineer, the Indian schoolboy who won the Aga Khan Trophy in his and Amy Johnson, the typist from Hull who flew hers to Australia showed that, to be a pilot, you didn't need to be a superhero or super wealthy. Just a little mad, perhaps. Captain de Havilland's Moth brings to life a golden age in aviation and an astonishing cast of characters whose courage, determination and epic eccentricity is shown in the light of what it is actually like to fly these remarkable aeroplanes.

A nostalgic celebration of the golden age of aviation - and the iconic DH60 Moth in its centenary year'A wonderfully affecting, highly entertaining, at times elegiac account of a legendary aircraft' JOHN NICHOL 'A joy... Alexander Norman brings to life a golden era in aviation history in such a vivid and entertaining way' ROWLAND WHITE'Norman's thoroughly compelling history... delivers scrapes and soarings in equal, diverting measure' New StatesmanThe most iconic of all light aircraft, the DH60 Moth was the brain-child of Geoffrey de Havilland, visionary son of an angry and disappointed Victorian clergyman. A successful designer of military aircraft, Geoffrey dreamed of doing for aircraft what Ford had done for cars. The emergence of his Moth in February 1925 marked the beginning of an important but neglected episode in British social history - the craze for flying which gripped a war-weary world for more than a decade. The most successful aircraft of its era, the Moth was the one in which people had the greatest adventures. And it was the Moth which showed that flying was safe, practical and, potentially, open to all. True, many early Mothists were uber-privileged. The Prince of Wales had one, as did his brother, the Duke of Gloucester. Beryl Markham, who had affairs with both, learned to fly in a Moth. But Laura Ingalls, who did 980 successive loops in hers, Aspy Engineer, the Indian schoolboy who won the Aga Khan Trophy in his and Amy Johnson, the typist from Hull who flew hers to Australia showed that, to be a pilot, you didn't need to be a superhero or super wealthy. Just a little mad, perhaps. Captain de Havilland's Moth brings to life a golden age in aviation and an astonishing cast of characters whose courage, determination and epic eccentricity is shown in the light of what it is actually like to fly these remarkable aeroplanes.