Richard Turner

The Museum of Curiosity is BBC Radio 4's monumental comedy edifice, and the only one with gargoyles in the foyer. It allows nothing inside that doesn’t make you scratch your head, stroke your chin or, at the very least, go 'Hmm'. Fortunately, helping to fill its vacant plinths is a gathering of the world's most original minds. Among the guests bearing donations to the museum in these 25 episodes are Neil Gaiman, Sarah Millican, Clive James, Kate Adie, Sir Terry Pratchett, Ronni Ancona, Jon Ronson, Bettany Hughes, Ben Elton, Francesca Stavrakopoulou, Alain de Botton, Charlotte Uhlenbroek, Alistair Fothergill, Ruth Padel, Jonathan Miller, Lucie Green, Marcus du Sautoy, Sara Wheeler, Brian Eno, Shappi Khorsandi, John Hodgman, Chris Addison, Roger Law, Tim Minchin, Philip Pullman, Richard Wiseman, Victoria Finlay, Simon Singh, Jimmy Carr, Graham Linehan, Sarah Bakewell, Robin Ince, David Eagleman, Natalie Haynes, Brian Blessed, Alan Davies, Gareth Edwards, Martha Reeves, Harry Enfield, Helen Scales, Admiral Alan West & many more. In addition to all the episodes from the first four series, a previously unbroadcast pilot episode, The Professor of Curiosity, is also included. Running time: 12 hours approx.

When war comes after a century of peace, it is sudden and brutal. Taken by surprise Earth's far-flung colonies are in danger. The only son of an admiral, Second Lieutenant Michael Sheridan finds himself thrust into a desperate conflict that he and the untried soldiers under his command are not ready for. Fighting the enemy and the elements on a cold, hostile world, Sheridan must rely upon Staff Sergeant Cole, a veteran Marine, to help lead his green soldiers into battle. Focusing on the people struggling to survive the onslaught, First Strike is a novel that propels the reader to the furthest limits of space. From the ground to the stars, First Strike looks at the conflict through the eyes of those caught up in it. Fighting a ruthless and determined enemy, Sheridan soon learns the brutal lessons of war and that his enemy may not be what it appears to be.

In 1969, the Soviet Union lands a probe on the Moon to gather a soil sample. However, before the probe's return vehicle returns to Earth, the mission is hastily shut down and the return vehicle is programmed to burn up in Earth's atmosphere. In the present, Ryan Mitchell and his team of former special operations soldiers are hired to find the missing probe, which is believed to have come down on a barren, ice-covered island in the South Atlantic. However, someone else wants what is hidden away deep inside the return vehicle and will stop at nothing to get their hands on it. From the South Atlantic, to Russia, to Venezuela to a secret installation in the mountains of Albania, the race to discover the truth is on. This time, however, the fate of billions hangs in the balance.

1945 - with the Soviets preparing to invade Japan's northern islands, a top-secret military installation rushes to erase any sign that it ever existed. Only they aren't through enough and a secret from the past returns to threaten the present. Present day, a routine close protection assignment for former special operations soldier Ryan Mitchell and his team suddenly turns deadly. Drawn into a lethal game in which the balance of power in the world hangs in the balance, Mitchel races to stop shadowy forces and their murderous agenda before all is lost. From war-torn Japan, to Mongolia, to Texas the fight for survival is on.

In 1931, during its maiden voyage, the British Airship Goliath mysteriously disappears without a trace. Hidden deep inside is a secret that could change the world. Present day, in The Philippines, an attempted kidnapping draws historian Jennifer Marchand former soldier Ryan Mitchell into a deadly race to find the Goliath before a mysterious figure, with a murderous agenda, can obtain what he has beensearching for. From Alaska, to West Africa to Iceland the hunt for the truth is on.

Hawsmoor at Home should be covered in fingerprints and splashes of food, as it's a great hands-on book to use every day.' HESTON BLUMENTHAL'When we started out we had a simple plan - to open the best steak restaurant in London. We travelled the world searching for the perfect steak, but discovered that beef from traditional breeds, reared the old-fashioned way right here in Britain, and cooked simply over real charcoal, packed more flavour than anything we tried on our travels.'The critics have hailed Hawksmoor as one of the great restaurant openings of recent years. Their credo is simple: the best ingredients - dictionary-thick steaks from Longhorn cattle traditionally reared in North Yorkshire by multi-award-winners The Ginger Pig, dry-aged for at least thirty-five days, simply cooked on a real charcoal grill. Their cocktails, wines and desserts too have been applauded to the echo. Hawksmoor at Home is a practical cookbook which shows you how to buy and cook great steak and seafood and indeed much else (including how to cook both the 'best burger in Britain' and the 'best roast beef in Britain'); how to mix terrific cocktails and choose wine to accompany your meal. Above all Hawksmoor at Home entertains and informs in the inimitable 'Hawksmoor' way.'The only thing harder to find than a great piece of meat is a great book on meat. Hawksmoor at Home is most definitely the latter, best enjoyed with a bottle - several, actually - of good red wine.' Mark Schatzker, author of Steak

As he examines the changing views of Leonardo since the sixteenth century, A. Richard Turner both gives the reader a cultural history in brief of western Europe during this period and provides a context for examining Leonardo's relevance to our own ways of perceiving and interpreting the world.