BEST BEANS ON TOAST

(Taken from Express Meals by Liz Franklin, publishing on 2^nd August, £14.99 HB)

This family recipe makes a filling an fantastic quick dinner – it’s one of my youngest son’s favourite speedy meals.

INGREDIENTS:
800g/1lb 12oz tinned cannellini beans, drained and rinsed • 3 garlic cloves, crushed • 5 tbsp fruity extra virgin olive oil • 1 handful of parsley, leaves chopped • 8 slices of country-style bread • salt and freshly ground black pepper

TO SERVE: mixed leaf salad

1. Preheat the grill to high
2. Put the beans in a saucepan with the garlic and 3 tablespoons of the olive oil. Cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper.
3. In the meantime grill both sides of the bread until lightly toasted. Spoon a little of the oil over the toast and top with the beans. Drizzle the remaining oil over the beans and serve straightaway with a mixed leaf salad.

Osprey acquires Duncan Baird Publishers 
and Watkins Publishing

Osprey Group is delighted to announce the acquisition of the assets and publishing business of Duncan Baird Publishers incorporating Watkins Publishing. This is the first acquisition in Osprey’s enthusiast-focused growth strategy following a major refinancing in June 2011.

Duncan Baird Publishers (DBP) was founded in 1992 by Duncan Baird. It is the leading independent publisher of illustrated books in the fields of food, health and well-being, mind, body and spirit, culture, religion and faith. DBP acquired the Watkins imprint in 2004.

Watkins was established in 1893, becoming internationally famous as an esoteric retailer, and 
then subsequently a publisher, specialising in the spiritual traditions of the world, ancient wisdom, divination and philosophy. Watkins has published both Jung and Freud, and Geoffrey Watkins was known to be Churchill’s astrologer.

In 2011, Duncan Baird Publishers had a turnover of £5.5m and Osprey Group’s sales were £7m.

Osprey Group CEO, Rebecca Smart, commented: ‘We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Duncan Baird and Watkins into the group. Duncan has created a really strong business in the growing lifestyle and transformation publishing areas and has also worked on strengthening the Watkins name. We plan to continue this work energetically to make the company a vital destination for 
the important spiritual, self-help and wellbeing communities, and everyone seeking to transform 
their lives.’

Duncan Baird said: ‘I can’t think of a happier place for us to grow our publishing. I’m hugely proud 
of what my team has achieved over the years and there is tremendous potential for the DBP and Watkins imprints, both nationally and internationally. Osprey is the perfect home for us – its strength in understanding its readers and its innovative approach to digital development will add enormously to our ability to grow in the future. What an exciting milestone to mark the 20th birthday of DBP.’

The business will continue to be run from its London office, with Rebecca Smart and Osprey’s CFO, John Bowman, working alongside Duncan Baird.

ABOUT OSPREY GROUP
Osprey Group is a UK-based international publishing company focused on producing the best content for enthusiasts across a broad range of specialist areas including military history, heritage and nostalgia, transport history, crafts, antiques, science fiction and fantasy. Osprey Group publishes under four brands: Osprey Publishing, Shire, Old House and Angry Robot. A fifth brand, Strange Chemistry (Young Adult genre fiction), will launch in September 2012 and a crime fiction brand, Exhibit A, will follow in Spring 2013. What defines the company is not what it creates but for whom it creates. Osprey Group publishes books and content based on subject enthusiasms and passions, whether authoritative technical data on the military technology of World War II, a history of the Great Western Railway or an edgy genre novel set in near-future South Africa. Osprey is an independent, privately-owned company, backed by Alcuin Capital Partners LLP and Botts 
& Company Ltd.

ABOUT WATKINS PUBLISHING
Watkins Publishing Limited, a new and wholly owned subsidiary within Osprey Group, has acquired the assets and the publishing business of Duncan Baird Publishers Limited (“DBP”). Prior to today’s announcement, DBP owned the imprints of both Duncan Baird Publishers and Watkins Publishing. The Duncan Baird imprint produces highly designed illustrated books in its core specialisms of food, nutritional health, lifestyle and culture. Watkins publishes both illustrated and non-illustrated books in the areas of spiritual wisdom, self-help and personal development, as well as continuing its long tradition of publishing core esoteric and faith titles. Duncan Baird Publishers was advised by Marechale Capital.

Working in close communication with our authors over the next two months we will begin the process by removing DRM from our epublishing list, starting with our forthcoming titles and moving on to the backlist of titles already available.

DBP, and our authors, believe that our readers should be able to read their book in whatever format and on whatever hardware they choose, so we are taking steps to make sure that our ebooks are, as much as humanly possible, not platform specific.

‘It’s your book – you bought it! We believe in that so much, we are removing the DRM from our books. This allows you the freedom to enjoy our book on any reader, or on any platform, you choose.’
Duncan Baird, Chairman of DBP

About Duncan Baird Publishers

Our policy is to publish books that are illuminating and inspiring, or practical and helpful, from authors who are outstanding in their fields or have original and important things to say. We pride ourselves on our standards of design, production, artwork and photography, and editorial attention to fluency, clarity, accessibility and accuracy.

Duncan Baird Publishers is a leading UK independent publisher of high quality cookery, lifestyle, art & culture and nutritional health books with authors including Daniel Galmiche, Marilyn Glenville, Natalie Savona, Dr Sarah Brewer and Tara Fraser.

Watkins Publishing has a list featuring both illustrated and non-illustrated books in the Mind, Body, Spirit, Spiritual Wisdom, Self-Help and Inspiration, and Health & Well-being categories, as well as continuing its long and illustrious tradition of publishing seminal esoteric titles.

For more information contact Vicky Hartley, Marketing Director & Head of Digital, on 07792 879348 or email vicky@dbp.co.uk

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One in two people in the developed world will experience depression in their lifetime. Positive psychology is the scientific study of optimal functioning – what it takes to feel good, function well and flourish. This young branch of psychology has produced a number of evidence-based techniques, which have been scientifically proven to increase happiness and well-being. What is not so well known is that a delightful consequence of these interventions is that they also reduce the symptoms of depression.

Positive Psychology for Overcoming Depression is aimed at the millions suffering mild-to-moderate depression and those who want to protect themselves against persistent low moods. The book explains key strategies to help you overcome depression and reduce the chances of it recurring. As you practise the simple yet highly-effective exercises, you will find your mood lifts naturally, your confidence, resilience, positivity and strength grow and your outlook becomes more optimistic. These strategies come from the author’s professional practice as a positive psychologist and coach, her background as a journalist and as someone who has suffered from depression herself. Miriam Akhtar, MAPP, is one of the first qualified positive psychologists in practice in the UK and a former winner of the Medical Journalists Association Gold Award. Miriam’s professional interest in positive psychology began in the mid-nineties when she made a programme on the science of happiness for BBC Radio 4. She works now as a positive psychology coach, trainer and lecturer developing the next generation of positive psychologists. Miriam’s website is http://www.positivepsychologytraining.co.uk/

“Miriam Akhtar introduces a major breakthrough in the treatment of depression.” Dr Chris Johnstone, GP & Psychologist, featured on The Independent on Sunday’s Happy List 2010. The Happy List is a list of 100 people in the United Kingdom “who give back, volunteer, and who make Britain a better balanced, happier country.”

“My advice is to give this book a go. If I was going to buy one book on positive psychology to treat depression, I’d choose an author who’d been properly trained as a positive psychologist, who knows how to write in an engaging and accessible way, and who understands, first-hand, the challenges of depression. In short, I’d choose Miriam.” Dr Phil Hammond

“A wonderful set of ideas and techniques that can help reduce depression and build happiness. They’re simple, engaging, practical and – most importantly – they’re all based on evidence from the latest positive psychology research, so we know they really work.” Mark Williamson, Director of Action for Happiness

 “For many years I have recommended “Mind Over Mood,” to my clinical psychology trainees as the psychological treatment manual of choice. Miriam Akhtar has now written a very credible depression treatment manual, based on the principles of positive psychology. I am sure that this book will go on to become one of the few other classics in this field, along with Beck and Wolpert. Highly recommended!”

Dr Jerome Carson, Clinical Psychologist in Independent Practice, London

“The first to apply positive psychology solutions to depression, Miriam’s book is clear, engaging and enlightening. In fact it is so good that despite all my existing knowledge, I borrowed a few tips for myself! I love the summary tables and the first-aid kits – they really bring positive psychology to life.”Dr Ilona Boniwell, Principal Lecturer and Programme Leader for the first MSc in Applied Positive Psychology in Europe, UEL.

“This book is a joy. Miriam Akhtar clearly demonstrates that positive psychology is both practical and effective. The book will be a vital tool in our work supporting people in recovering their wellbeing.” Amanda Williamson. Founder and Director of Phew (Devon) CIC – Promoting Health and Emotional Wellbeing

If you have to make a tough relationship decision, renowned therapist Beverley Stone is on hand to help you evaluate your relationship, overcome your fears and get the your love life back on track

Whether you are on the verge of leaving your partner, find yourself getting increasingly unhappy or simply questioning if you are in the right relationship, this book will help you make one of the most difficult decisions of your life – staying in or leaving a relationship that just doesn’t feel right.

Chartered psychologist Beverley Stone helps you work step by step through the decision. She explains the life-sapping harm caused by failing to be decisive and helps you work through your fears and anxieties in order to make the best choice for yourself.

In six key life-changing steps, she offers everyone the chance to bring about positive change:_

• Becoming authentic
• Accepting anxiety as a positive experience
• Deciding to make your life a meaningful one
• Taking responsibility
• Being aware that you have a choice
• Living by your own values and standards

Beverley also explains that deciding to stay in a relationship means taking a decision to make it work, and she provides practical strategies for turning a bad relationship into a good one.

Stay or Leave? is an essential guide for everyone feeling unhappy and unfulfilled but unable to move forward.

Stay or Leave? is published by Watkins Publishing on 5th January 2012, available as a paperback and ebook from all good retailers

SUPPORTED BY EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH PRIORY MEMBERS, HISTORICAL SOURCESAND CLUES HIDDEN IN ARTWORK OF THE OLD MASTERS

A JOURNEY THROUGH HISTORY THAT REVEALS THE NATURE OF FUTURE CATACLYSM AND THE SECOND COMING

REVEALS THE SECRETS OF THE MYSTERIOUS ORGANISATION THRUST INTO THE LIMELIGHT BY DAN BROWN

Since the Priory of Sion was revealed to the world, they have remained silent… until now! In this revelatory new book, inside sources from the Priory of Sion give Robert Howells exclusive access to some of their best-kept secrets.

Inside the Priory of Sion proves the existence of an ‘underground stream’ of secret knowledge and wisdom, accessible only to adepts, that flows through history. Clues to this knowledge lie hidden in symbolism found in tombs, temples, churches, manuscripts and paintings by the Old Masters.

This book reveals that The Priory of Sion is releasing this information into the public domain not for its own purposes but to prepare the world for a catastrophe of global proportions. This apocalyptic event, foretold in the book of Revelation, culminates in a Second Coming – the emergence of a world saviour figure belonging to the bloodline of Christ. In making this knowledge public, the Priory faces great risks from those who do to want this sensational information to come to light. In the past, people who have sought to reveal the truth have faced persecution… and even death.

This book takes the reader into the heart of a mystery, on an adventure through secret societies, religious heresy, alternative history and the esoteric arts. It offers insider testimony of the existence of the Priory centuries before its public emergence in the 1950s, cements the Prioryʼs place in the spiritual history and future of Europe and reveals proof of the marriage of Jesus and Mary Magdalene

Robert Howells is a writer, researcher and investigator of esoteric and historic mysteries. Over the past twenty years he has built up an extensive knowledge and experience of secret societies. He was lead researcher for the documentary, Bloodline the Movie, where he acted as a mediator between the film and the Priory of Sion. Continuing his work with the Priory he combines their material with his own research for Inside the Priory of Sion.

For review copy requests and all media enquiries please contact Francesca Yarde-Buller on 020 7454 8528 or by email Francesca@dbp.co.uk

Available now – Trade Paperback – RRP £12.99

DISCOVER THE INSPIRATION BEHIND TODAY’S TWILIGHT AND TRUE BLOOD IN THIS GREAT INTRODUCTION TO THE EARLIEST VAMPIRE STORIES

A COLLECTION OF ESSENTIAL STORIES BY WRITERS INCLUDING BRAM STOKER, SHERIDAN LE FANU, E. F. BENSON AND ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE

• WISE AND DOWN-TO-EARTH ANSWERS TO 80 OF THE ETERNAL QUESTIONS WE ARE LIKELY TO PONDER AT MORE THOUGHTFUL MOMENTS ON LIFE’S JOURNEY

• INCLUDES MORE THAN 150 QUOTATIONS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF SOURCES, BOTH SECULAR AND SPIRITUAL

• WIDE-RANGING, CHALLENGING & STIMULATING QUESTIONS FOR THE MODERN DAY THINKER

Gerald Benedict, a philosopher trained in issues of knowledge and faith, offers us a wealth of ideas that prompt us to think more seriously and systematically about those universal questions – with the help of quotations from great thinkers and writers through the ages. As we read and engage with a stimulating text, our minds are opened to new ideas and our lives enriched.

 This book provides nimble, wise and perceptive responses to questions that have no absolute answers: instead, the author aims to stimulate thought and discussion that will lead to deeper understanding and further exploration. The same question will prompt different answers for different people.

 Dr Benedict’s masterly discussions, which are informal and not at all academic, draw on sacred texts, humanist writings and poetry from all over the world, all through the centuries, to illuminate the issues – leaving readers free to come to their own conclusions.

 Armed with this book you are equipped not only to reach your own informed conclusions about the big questions of life, but also to engage knowledgeably in the to-and-fro of debate with family and friends.

Gerald Benedict graduated in Divinity from the University of London, and has a postgraduate diploma from the School of Ecumenical Studies, University of Geneva, and a Ph.D. from the Open University. His main academic interest is comparative religious philosophy, and after teaching religious studies and philosophy in colleges and universities in Britain, he moved to France. He is the author of the Watkins Dictionary of Religious and Secular Faiths and a number of books about the Mayan civilisation, including The Mayan Prophecies: 2012 – the Message and the Vision and The Maya: 2012 – the end of the world or the dawn of enlightenment? He has won awards for a novel, several short stories, and a radio drama for the BBC World Service.

Hardback, £10.99, Available Now