Loulou de la Falaise is the first monograph to celebrate the life and work of the style icon and muse to Yves Saint Laurent who became the embodiment of French chic. Renowned for her bohemian chic, daring style as well as for her lightness, nonchalance, and humor, Loulou de la Falaise was not only an influential fashion icon but also a breath of fresh air to the world of Parisian haute couture. The Anglo-French beauty assisted the designer Halston and modeled briefly for Diana Vreeland’s Vogue before moving to Paris in 1972 to work alongside the iconic designer Yves Saint Laurent. A true original, her sense of color and fantasy and her attitude would energize the mythic house and fashion in general. For almost forty years, de la Falaise would forge her professional reputation designing extraordinary jewelry and accessories both for Yves Saint Laurent as well as for her own line. This elegant volume is a life in pictures, with over 400 images by legendary contemporary photographers, from Helmut Newton and Richard Avedon to Steven Meisel and Bettina Rheims, as well as an essay by Pierre Bergé and interviews with Loulou intimates such as Betty Catroux, Inès de la Fressange, Diane von Furstenberg, Christian Louboutin, Elsa Peretti, Paloma Picasso, André Leon Talley, and Oscar de la Renta. A celebrated style icon from the ’60s until her death, Loulou's appetite and flair for fashion continues to be an inspiration today.

No one interested in fashion, style, or the high-flying intrigues of café society will want to miss Christopher Petkanas’s exuberantly entertaining oral biography Loulou & Yves: The Untold Story of Loulou de La Falaise and the House of Saint Laurent. Dauntless, “in the bone” style made Loulou de La Falaise one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the “highest of haute bohemia,” a feckless adventuress in the art of living—and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without. Yves was the most influential designer of his times; possibly also the most neurasthenic. In an exquisitely intimate, sometimes painful personal and professional relationship, Loulou was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego and the virtuoso behind all the flamboyant accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL “look.” For thirty years, until his retirement in 2002, Yves relied on Loulou to inspire him, make him laugh and talk him off the ledge—the enchanted formula that brought him from one historic collection to the next. Yves’s many tributes shape Loulou’s memory, as if everything there was to know about this fugitive, Giacometti-like figure could be told by her clanking bronze cuffs, towering fur toques, the turquoise boulders on her fingers and her working friendship with the man who put women in pants. But another, darker story lifts the veil on Loulou, a classic “number two” with a contempt for convention, and exposes the underbelly of fashion at its highest level. Behind Yves’s encomiums are a pair of aristocrat parents—Loulou’s shiftless French father and menacingly chic English mother—who abandoned her to a childhood of foster care and sexual abuse; Loulou’s recurring desperation to leave Yves and go out on her own; and the grandiose myths surrounding her family. Loulou felt that her life had been kidnapped by the operatic workings of the House of Saint Laurent, and in her last years faced financial ruin. Loulou & Yves unspools an elusive fashion idol—nymphomaniacal, heedless and up to her bracelets in coke and Boizel champagne—at the core of what used to be called “le beau monde.”

From #1 New York Times bestselling author John Flanagan comes the story that brings the Ranger's Apprentice series full-circle and ushers in a brand new arc starring Maddie, the Royal Ranger! Will Treaty has come a long way from the small boy with dreams of knighthood. Life had other plans for him, and as an apprentice Ranger under Halt, he grew into a legend—the finest Ranger the kingdom has ever known. Yet Will is facing a tragic battle that has left him grim and alone. To add to his problems, the time has come to take on an apprentice of his own, and it’s the last person he ever would have expected: Princess Madelyn, the daughter of Princess Cassandra. Will has to win the trust and respect of his difficult new companion—a task that at times seems almost impossible. John Flanagan returns to conclude the series that has conquered millions of readers worldwide with this pulse-pounding adventure that brings one era to a close, ushers in the next, starting the series anew starring Maddie, the Royal Ranger. For fans of Tolkien, Redwall, Game of Thrones, and T.H. White, Ranger's Apprentice delivers fantasy-adventure thrills with real-world historical details. Praise for John Flanagan: “The last few years have seen the publication of many fantasies, but few have the appeal of this original story.” —Booklist, starred review, on The Ruins of Gorlan “Fans of the series will eagerly devour this one and wait impatiently for the next . . . A sure bet for fantasy fans.” —School Library Journal “Flanagan's deft character portrayals and well-paced story will engage readers, and the ending will leave them clamoring for the next volume.” —Booklist, on The Icebound Land

Originally published: Stroud: Sutton, 2004.

The hundreds of recipes in Maxime de la Falaise's delight-ful book triumphantly attest to the virtues of Anglo-Saxon gastronomy. Rich with the historical sense of taste, this book allows you to cook the rudiments of a medieval royal banquet, an Elizabethan nursery breakfast, or an eighteenth-century tavern lunch. The recipes are divided into five chronological sections, each preceded by an introduction recounting the fashions and the changes in the food and drink of the period; together they provide an overview of the evolution of English cookery. The earliest recipes, dating from the thirteenth century, are presented in their original language ("Take faire Mutton that hath ben roste . . .") as well as in a modern translation, and all measures and quantities have been updated throughout. Many of the dishes are quite simple to make; others are, quite literally, fit for a king. All together they constitute a delectable, sensual cele-bration of the development of English cuisine.

International bestselling author John Flanagan returns to world of Ranger's Apprentice in the fifth installment of the Royal Ranger series starring Maddie, Will Treaty's fearless young apprentice. After their plan to rescue the prince of Gallica has gone horribly wrong, Will Treaty and his apprentice, Maddie, are being held captive at the Chateau des Falaises in Gallica. The dangerous baron Lassigny is intent on keeping them—and the prince—no matter what. But Will and Maddie are determined to escape. If they ever want to return to their home, they’ll have to find ways to outwit the baron and get outside the locked tower. When friends from home endeavor to find their own way to help it seems escape is closer than ever. But the dirty tricks of the baron are no laughing matter. Facing dangerous threats, battles with knights, and a new and risky plot to save the prince—the odds are stacked against them. But the Rangers will use all the tools of their trade to save themselves and save the day. Internationally bestselling author of the Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband series, John Flanagan returns in the captivating next installment of the Royal Ranger series: The Royal Ranger: Escape from Falaise. Perfect for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, Brian Jacques's Redwall, and George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones!

Will and Maddie are imprisoned at Chateau des Falaises. Baron Lassigny is scheming to recruit them as spies for hire, but Maddie raises the stakes when she challenges Lassigny’s garrison commander to a duel on horseback. Will is horrified – especially when he realises the treacherous baron won't fight fair. If Maddie can survive the duel, they still need to escape the heavily guarded chateau and rescue the kidnapped prince they were sent to retrieve. It will take all their ingenuity, courage and determination to triumph this time – and to solve the mystery of who betrayed them.