Non Fiction

By the summer of 1943, the Third Reich's fate seemed sealed. The combined might of Britain and the Commonwealth nations, the United States and the Soviet Union had made a Germany victory impossible. All that remained to decide was how the Allies should complete their victory. Would strategic bombing decide the outcome or would ground and air forces working together play the more significant role? Greg Baughen follows the air and land battles in Italy, France and Germany between September 1943 and September 1944, as well as the equally bitter battles behind the scenes as army and air commanders debated and argued over how the war should be won. He charts the trials, tribulations, and successes of the bomber offensive and assesses whether, in the final analysis, it made any contribution to the success of Normandy landings. He explains how army air support went backwards after the successes of the Desert Air Force, and how this led to a failure to support the troops landing on the D-Day beaches in Normandy. He also describes the subsequent revival of tactical air support and how it went on to play a key role in the subsequent campaigns but questions whether Eisenhower, Montgomery or Tedder ever fully understood how to make best use of the massive aerial forces available to them. Drawing on archive documents and accounts written at the time, the author tackles some fundamental defence issues. Was RAF independence a benefit or a hindrance to the Allied cause? To what extent was the War Office to blame for shortcomings in army air support? Did Britain understand the way the methods for waging war were evolving in the twentieth century? He takes a look at how the Air Ministry was interpreting the lessons being learned during the war. Were the defence policies of the twenties and thirties still valid? Had they ever been valid? This, then, is the story of the decisions and actions that the RAF followed in the months leading up to D-Day and how air operations evolved in the subsequent campaign.

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On the outbreak of war in 1914, the Royal Navy found it required more small craft than it possessed to carry out minesweeping, anti-submarine patrols and coastal defence. This led to the formation of an auxiliary force of civilian vessels, including motor pleasure boats and yachts, relatively new types of craft powered by the internal combustion engine. The inclusion of these vessels came about when a group of motor boat owners suggested to the Admiralty that their vessels could play an important role in the defence of Britain. The result was the formation of the Royal Naval Motor Boat Reserve (RNMBR) in 1912. By mid-1915, the demands of naval duty had proved too much for these quirky craft. A meeting in the USA led to their replacement by American-designed Elco motor launches (MLs), of which 550 were purchased, and these Elco launches gave great service for the rest of the war, usually officered by RNVR personnel who won three Victoria Crosses. In addition to the Elcos, in 1915 some naval officers developed the hydroplaning coastal motor boats (CMBs), which served with equal distinction in the latter part of the war. Post-war, both types saw valuable service in the occupation of the Rhineland and in the Baltic campaign, where three more VCs were won. Other countries adopted similar craft. In Italy, the MAS torpedo motor craft achieved fame and success. And in France, MLs supplied by Britain, and by Elco, played their part. Germany too utilised small motor vessels, including the torpedo-armed Luftschiffmotorboote and Fernlenkboot remotely controlled designs. And when America entered the war, she built a fleet of so-called 'sub chasers', wooden-built and designed to counter U-boats along her East Coast. The Petrol Navy tells the stirring story of these motor-driven boats at war, of their development and operations and of the many colourful characters who were their captains and crew. It will acquaint historians and enthusiasts with an important and previously untold aspect of the naval war, and will engross those with a more general interest in the First World War.

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"Presidents are ranked wrong. In The Jazz Age President: Defending Warren G. Harding, Ryan Walters mounts a case that Harding deserves to move up—and supplies the evidence to make that case strong. -Amity Shlaes, bestselling author of CoolidgeHe's the butt of political jokes, frequently subjected to ridicule, and almost never absent a "Worst Presidents" list where he most often ends up at the bottom. Historians have labeled him the "Worst President Ever," "Dead Last," "Unfit," and "Incompetent," to name but a few. Many contemporaries were equally cruel. H. L. Mencken called him a "nitwit." To Alice Roosevelt Longworth, he was a "slob." Such is the current reputation of our 29th President, Warren Gamaliel Harding. In an interesting survey in 1982, which divided the scholarly respondents into "conservative" and "liberal" categories, both groups picked Harding as the worst President. But historian Ryan Walters shows that Harding, a humble man from Marion, Ohio, has been unfairly remembered. He quickly fixed an economy in depression and started the boom of the Roaring Twenties, healed a nation in the throes of social disruption, and reversed America’s interventionist foreign policy.

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A compelling exploration of the ways that humans have mapped the world throughout history Map, Exploring the World brings together more than 250 fascinating examples of maps from the birth of cartography to today's cutting-edge digital maps and reflects the many reasons people make maps - to find their way, to assert ownership, to encourage settlement, or to show political power. Carefully chosen by an international panel of experts and arranged to highlight thought-provoking contrasts and similarities, it features maps by the greatest names in cartography and lesser-known creators, as well as rare maps from indigenous cultures around the world.

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In November 1919, a year after the Great War, four Australian servicemen made a unique and epoch-making journey home. In the open cockpit of a twin-engine Vickers Vimy bi-plane, brothers Ross and Keith Smith and mechanics Wally Shiers and Jim completed the 18,000-kilometre flight from Britain to Australia. The 28-day journey, part of a competition sponsored by the Australian government, made the Smith brothers internationally famous and marked Australia's emergence into the air age. Ross Smith's fame would be short-lived: he would be killed in an air accident less than three years later on the eve of an attempt to make the first ever circumnavigation of the world by air.Born on a South Australian cattle station, Smith had a relatively privileged and cosmopolitan upbringing. He was, nonetheless, working in a warehouse in Adelaide in 1914, where he would have no doubt eked out a quiet and unremarkable life were it not for the war's outbreak. Enlisting in the light horse at 22 years of age, Smith survived arduous campaigns at Gallipoli and in the Sinai Desert before volunteering for the Australian Flying Corps. Smith's feats in the skies above Palestine during 1917-18 earned him a reputation as one of the great fighter pilots of the war. By the armistice he had received the Military Cross twice and the Distinguished Flying Cross three times; he was one of only three British Empire airmen to do so during the war. Smith's skill in the cockpit also saw him assigned the Middle East theatre's only twin-engine bomber during the war's final year, a machine he used to support T. E. Lawrence 'of Arabia's' campaign against the Turks in Jordan and, after the war, survey an air-route between Cairo and Calcutta.Anzac and Aviator is the story of this extraordinary Australian and the fascinating era in which he lived, one in which aviation emerged with bewildering speed to comprehensively transform both warfare and transportation. Born a decade before powered flight and going off to war on horseback, Smith finished the conflict in command of a bomber, the weapon that would come to symbolise the totality of warfare in the twentieth century.

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When Lizzie Pickering's young son Harry died in 2000, she set out on a journey to understand how she could survive her grief and learn to live with it. In When Grief Equals Love, she details the lessons she’s learned from her own experiences and those of others, who share their thoughts in this moving and tender book.Lizzie opens her diaries, written in the early years after Harry’s death, revealing her observations on the grief of his siblings and family, what helped and what hurt. Revisiting those diaries, she reflects on time passing, and what has changed for her and her family since.Lizzie looks at the myth of closure, survivor’s energy and cumulative grief – when life experiences pile up and become too much to bear. She includes interviews with bereaved friends, who share their own insights, and she provides a toolkit based on what has helped her and what she recommends to those she now helps with grief guidance.In most lives, unfortunately, grief and loss are inevitable. But living with grief can still be living. This book is for those going through grief and anyone who might need to support them. There are no easy answers, but nobody should have to cope alone.

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The Sunday Times bestselling author of How the World Thinks shares his twelve key principles for a more humane and balanced approach to thinking in this vital new book. -- Pay attention. As politics slides toward impulsivity, and outrage bests rationality, how can philosophy help us critically engage with real world problems? Question everything. Drawing on decades of work in philosophy including a huge range of interviews with contemporary philosophers, Julian Baggini sets out how philosophical thought can promote incisive thinking. Introducing everyday examples and contemporary political concerns - from climate change to implicit bias - How to Think Like a Philosopher is a revelatory exploration of the techniques, methods and principles that guide philosophy, and how they can be applied to our own lives. Seek clarity, not certainty. Covering canonical philosophers and focal movements, as well as introducing new voices in contemporary philosophy, this is both a short history of philosophy and an accessible, practical guide to good thinking. Through twelve key principles, Julian Baggini outlines a pathway to a more humane, balanced and rational approach to thinking, to politics, and to life.

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The legendary FBI criminal profiler and international bestselling author of Mindhunter and The Killer Across the Table returns with this timely, relevant book that goes to the heart of extremism and domestic terrorism, examining in-depth his chilling pursuit of, and eventual prison confrontation with Joseph Paul Franklin, a White Nationalist serial killer and one of the most disturbing psychopaths he has ever encountered.Worshippers stream out of an Midwestern synagogue after sabbath services, unaware that only a hundred yards away, an expert marksman and avowed racist, antisemite and member of the Ku Klux Klan, patiently awaits, his hunting rifle at the ready. The October 8, 1977 shooting was a forerunner to the tragedies and divisiveness that plague us today. John Douglas, the FBI’s pioneering, first full-time criminal profiler, hunted the shooter—a white supremacist named Joseph Paul Franklin, whose Nazi-inspired beliefs propelled a three-year reign of terror across the United States, targeting African Americans, Jews, and interracial couples. In addition, Franklin bombed the home of Jewish leader Morris Amitay, shot and paralyzed Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt, and seriously wounded civil rights leader Vernon Jordan. The fugitive supported his murderous spree robbing banks in five states, from Georgia to Ohio. Douglas and his writing partner Mark Olshaker return to this disturbing case that reached the highest levels of the Bureau, which was fearful Franklin would become a presidential assassin—and haunted him for years to come as the threat of copycat domestic terrorist killers increasingly became a reality. Detailing the dogged pursuit of Franklin that employed profiling, psychology and meticulous detective work, Douglas and Olshaker relate how the case was a make-or-break test for the still-experimental behavioral science unit and revealed a new type of, determined, mission-driven serial killer whose only motivation was hate.A riveting, cautionary tale rooted in history that continues to echo today, The Killer's Shadow is a terrifying and essential exploration of the criminal personality in the vile grip of extremism and what happens when rage-filled speech evolves into deadly action and hatred of the “other" is allowed full reign. The Killer's Shadow includes an 8-page color photo insert.

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1977/78: A Historic Season for Rangers FC and a Treble That Ended an Era tells the story of a historic season for Rangers FC on and off the pitch. Captain John Greig's 17-year playing career at Ibrox ended in treble glory, and he was later voted 'The Greatest Ranger' by the fans. With another great Rangers figure as manager, the late Jock Wallace, the team made a clean sweep of domestic honours, playing entertaining and attacking football. Greig would then make the leap from player to manager, with Wallace leaving the club just days after completing the treble. Season 1977/78 was the last before the modernisation of Ibrox stadium, and saw the start of another wonderful Rangers career with the arrival of mesmerising winger Davie Cooper. It also saw the emergence of a new force in Scottish football, with the challenge from an Aberdeen team that would grow even stronger in years to come. It is a season still fondly remembered by older Rangers fans. It truly marked the end of an era and the start of a new chapter.

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The influence of the People’s Republic of China on world affairs is increasingly keenly felt: in Asia, in Africa, in Latin America and in Europe and North America too. But what are the reasons for China’s rise and how can the West adapt? Advantage China explores these essential questions and the political, economic and cultural factors behind the answers. From the economic and demographic pressures of China’s domestic economy to the expanding economic influence of the Belt and Road Initiative, Jeremy Garlick looks beyond Western misperceptions of China’s rise to argue for new approaches to the international political order, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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‘A valuable exploration of the topic and a thought-provoking read.’ Financial Times An insider's look into how Generation Z's focus on ethics, climate change and purpose will change capitalism forever. In the next ten years there will be an unprecedented wealth transfer from the so-called ‘baby boomer’ generation to the young. Never before will so much money – in housing, land, stocks and cash – be shifted so suddenly from one generation to the next, and never before does the next generation feel so differently about the future of the planet and of capitalism. Ken Costa works with this new generation and shows how environmental concerns and anxiety about equality and diversity are more than mere slogans; instead they are driving the future of the markets. So many issues stem from the reality of the financial gap between age groups - from cancel culture and fears about wokeness, to generation rent, protest movements and re-evaluations of history around subjects such as empire. Costa also shows how we can build a more inclusive, purposeful capitalism, which shifts focus away from the individual and more towards collaboration, compassion and community. For readers of Rebecca Henderson’s Reimagining Capitalism, and Rutger Bregman’s Utopia for Realists, as well as business leaders and tech watchers, this is what the future of capitalism looks like, how our current systems may be upended, and above all how boomers must work with the invigorating and inspiring young, who see their mission not just to increase value for shareholders, but also to save the planet.

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A stylish collection of legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent’s maxims on fashion, craft, women and inspiration, presented in an attractive gift format. Founded by Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé in 1962, shortly after the young couturier left his post at the helm of Christian Dior, Yves Saint Laurent would soon become one of the most successful and influential haute couture houses in Paris. Introducing Le Smoking, the first tuxedo suit for women, in 1966, Saint Laurent also presented iconic art-inspired creations, from Mondrian dresses to precious Van Gogh embroidery and the famous Ballets Russes collection. The designer put the women who wore his clothes first (‘What’s most important in couture is the body we dress, the woman we dress, more so than the ideas we might have’) and was determined to change attitudes of the era (‘Fashion’s purpose was not only to make a woman look beautiful, but also to reassure them and to give them confidence’). He could be critical of the fashion industry (‘I adore clothes but I hate fashion’) and saw himself as a craftsman who perfectly understood his customer (‘I think there are three kinds of designers. The big ones, the real ones, and those who know how to strike a chord with a woman just by making a very simple dress, or a very simple suit’). Presented in a beautiful package and accessible format, The World According to Yves Saint Laurent is the perfect gift for fashion fans, capturing the essence of a true visionary.

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MILADY STANDARD NAIL TECHNOLOGY, 8th Edition, is the future nail technician���s guidebook to success. The new 2-book format includes Standard Foundations and Nail Technology packaged together for a complete curriculum. Standard Foundations focuses on introductory topics including science basics, infection control and the importance of soft/ business skills; while Nail Technology includes new and updated information on manicuring, pedicuring, gel nail enhancement, nail resin enhancements, and nail art. New procedural photography follows the highest standards in infection control and enhances step-by-step instructions. This edition also features new competency-based learning objectives to emphasize the importance of the concepts presented. This edition offers aspiring nail technicians the tools they need for a rewarding and successful career.

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A timely and up-to-date account of religion in Roman Britain. Two thousand years ago, the Romans sought to absorb into their Empire what they regarded as a remote, almost mythical island on the very edge of the known world – Britain. The expeditions of Julius Caesar and the Claudian invasion of AD 43, and the continuing Roman presence up to the 5th century AD, brought fundamental and lasting changes to the island. Not least among these was the introduction of a new pantheon of Classical deities and religious systems, along with a clutch of exotic Eastern cults including Christianity. But what of Britannia and her own home-grown deities? What cults and cosmologies did the Romans encounter, and how did they react to them? Under Roman rule, the old gods and their adherents were challenged, adopted, adapted, absorbed and reconfigured. In Britain no inscriptions predate the Roman period, apart from brief coin-legends, and the divine imagery that adorned temples in the Roman world was largely lacking. But with the Romans, religion becomes much more visible. In this fresh and innovative new account Miranda Aldhouse-Green balances literary, archaeological and iconographic evidence (and scrutinizes their shortcomings) to illuminate the complexity of religion and belief in Roman Britain, and the two-way traffic of cultural exchange and interplay between imported and indigenous cults. Despite the remoteness of this period, on the cusp between prehistory and history, many of the forces, tensions, ideologies and issues of identity at work are still relevant today, as Sacred Britannia skilfully reveals.

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A visual compendium of botanical sketches, many specially photographed, providing a revealing insight into the immediate responses of artists encountering the glories of the plant world. While highly finished drawings and paintings frequently feature in histories of botanical art, the preparatory sketches, first impressions and creative thoughts on paper behind them are rarely seen and have often remained hidden and locked away. Botanical Sketchbooks brings these personal and vividly spontaneous records gloriously back into the light. In a series of biographical portraits organized thematically into four sections, the book illuminates a range of intriguing characters, from many different countries and cultures, including Germany, France, Italy, America, Australia, Japan and China. Sketchbooks proper are joined by notebooks, journals, albums, loose pieces of paper, works on vellum, manuscripts, letters, herbarium sheets and marginalia – even one drawing on the back of an envelope. Turning the pages of this book will be an invitation to relive extraordinary experiences, imagine lost worlds, and be immersed in the endeavours, observations and motivations of the makers of such beautiful and enchanting art.

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Advance your proficiency with Outlook. And earn the credential that proves it! Demonstrate your expertise with Microsoft Outlook (Microsoft 365 Apps and Office 2019)! Designed to help you practice and prepare for Microsoft Office Specialist: Outlook Associate (Exam MO-400) certification, this official Study Guide delivers: In-depth preparation for each MOS objective Detailed procedures to help build the skills measured by the exam Hands-on tasks to practice what you’ve learned Ready-made practice files Sharpen the skills measured by these objectives: Manage Outlook Settings and Processes Manage Messages Manage Schedules Manage Contacts and Tasks About MOS: Associate Certification A Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS): Associate certification validates your hands-on experience and competency with an Office product at an associate level. It demonstrates that you can apply the product’s principal features correctly, can complete tasks independently, and are ready to enter the job market. See full details at: microsoft.com/learn Practice Files Available at: MicrosoftPressStore.com/MOSOutlook400/downloads

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With just a few simple block variations, this book will show you just how versatile a New York Beauty block can be. A compact but hardworking guide that will inspire you to use New York Beauty blocks in new, modern ways for endless possibilities, this must-have book features 13 stunning quilt designs using just three to four versatile New York Beauty blocks. With quilt projects that are smaller in size but which also use brighter colours and fewer batiks, this is a fresh, modern guide that quilters of any skill level will enjoy. This guide also includes opening overviews on tools and quilting basics, including foundation paper piecing, for a helpful refresher. Author Linda Hahn is the author of New York Beauties Electrified, Quilting with Stash or Cash, and Rock that Quilt Block.

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Filled with expressive sentiments and beautifully simple illustrations from award-winning artist and best-selling author Joanne Fink, This book offers healing comfort to all who are grieving and dealing with loss. Affirming and cathartic, this comforting book will help bring healing without sugarcoating the sadness of losing a pet. Everyone who has lost a pet--whether recently or years ago--will connect with the thoughtful sentiments and beautiful illustrations. This is a sweet sympathy gift of comfort for anyone who endures the journey of losing a four-legged friend.

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*As heard on Radio 4's Book of the Week*'A true, compassionate and honest account of what it is to work in our prisons.' Dr Gwen Adshead, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Devil You Know'A vivid, unsentimental insight into a world that needs to be seen . . . a powerful reminder of how far we are from rehabilitating our prisons.' The Observer'A superb, compelling book . . . powerful.' Daily Mail'This is a beautifully written account about hope and optimism, of humanity, realism, resilience and the complexity of people.' Professor David Wilson__________'The men I have worked with and the staff I've worked alongside over the last ten years in prison have taught me strength, compassion, courage, and fundamentally, the need to talk, the need to share and the need to tell these stories. These are the stories of lives lived, lost and taken, behind walls so high we can pretend they hide another world entirely. But at what cost?Few people leave prison unchanged. It's a place heavy with suffering, a place where you will find dangerous, vulnerable, and forgotten people. But for Alex South, it was a place where she also found hope.In this powerful and moving memoir, Alex attempts to make sense of her experiences in prison by confronting the harsh reality of life on the inside and examining them from different angles. In an overwhelmingly masculine environment, where strength and aggression are routinely on show, Alex's view is particularly important.Capturing the confusion and contradictions of prison, Alex presents a life that is often hidden from the public. Changing our perceptions, Behind These Doors shows the many devastating, but often inspiring, consequences prison can have.__________'I was completely gripped whilst reading it - it's such a powerful memoir and one that shines a light into a world most of the public rarely see.' Nikki Smith, author of The Beach Party

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This vivid narrative history tells the full story of the US Air Force’s involvement in the wars in the air over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war. This aerial war was dominated by the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America’s fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face of a formidable Soviet-inspired air defence system bristling with anti-aircraft guns and SAM missile sites. Beyond this, the US Air Force was intimately involved in secret air wars against Laos and Cambodia – one cannot speak of a war only in Vietnam regarding US Air Force operations. The war the Air Force fought was a war in Southeast Asia. Following on from the same author’s The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club, which told the story of the US Navy’s involvement in the Vietnam War, Downtown completes the picture. Featuring a wide range of personal accounts and previously untold stories, this fascinating history brings together the full story of the US Air Force’s struggle in the skies over Southeast Asia.

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“We are matter and long to be received by an Earth that conceived us, which accepts and reconstitutes us, its children, each of us, without exception, every one. The journey is long, and then we start homeward, fathomless as to what home might make of us.”—from The River You TouchWhen Chris Dombrowski burst onto the literary scene with Body of Water, the book was acclaimed as “a classic” (Jim Harrison) and its author compared with John McPhee. Dombrowski begins the highly anticipated The River You Touch with a question as timely as it is profound: “What does a meaningful, mindful, sustainable inhabitance on this small planet look like in the Anthropocene?”He answers this fundamental question of our time initially by listening lovingly to rivers and the land they pulse through in his adopted home of Montana. Transplants from the post-industrial Midwest, he and his partner, Mary, assemble a life based precariously on her income as a schoolteacher, his as a poet and fly-fishing guide. Before long, their first child arrives, followed soon after by two more, all “free beings in whom flourishes an essential kind of knowing […], whose capacity for wonder may be the beacon by which we see ourselves through this dark epoch.” And around the young family circles a community of friends—river-rafting guides and conservationists, climbers and wildlife biologists—who seek to cultivate a way of living in place that moves beyond the mythologized West of appropriation and extraction.Moving seamlessly from the quotidian—diapers, the mortgage, a threadbare bank account—to the metaphysical—time, memory, how to live a life of integrity—Dombrowski illuminates the experience of fatherhood with intimacy and grace. Spending time in wild places with their children, he learns that their youthful sense of wonder at the beauty and connectivity of the more-than-human world is not naivete to be shed, but rather wisdom most of us lose along the way—wisdom that is essential for the possibility of transformation.

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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring The Victorian period may have come to an end over 120 years ago, but the Victorians continue to be a vital presence in the modern world. Contemporary Britain is still in large part Victorian in its transport networks, sewage systems, streets, and houses. Victorian cultural legacies, especially in art, science, and literature, are still celebrated. The first to have to grapple with many of the challenges of modern urban society, we continue to look to the Victorians for inspiration and solace. And we are increasingly aware of the ways their global actions shaped, often for ill, the world around us. Much mythologised, inexhaustibly controversial, the Victorians are an inescapable reference point for understanding the modern histories not just of Britain and its empire, but of the world. In The Victorians: A Very Short Introduction Martin Hewitt offers a guide through the thickets of judgement and debate which have grown around the period and its people, to offer a historical overview of the Victorians and their legacies. He seeks to answer five crucial questions. Why have the Victorians continued occupy such a prominent place in the cultures of not just the anglophone world? How far does it make sense to think of a 64-year period arbitrarily given an identity by the longevity of the Queen as an identifiable historical period in a general sense? How justified are the value-laden versions of the Victorians which argue for the existence of a particular world view called 'Victorianism'? Beyond ideology, what was Victorian Britain actually like – and in particular, what was distinctive about it? Who were the Victorians – not just the eminent few, but the population as a whole? And finally, how far and with what results did the Victorians and their culture spread across the globe? In answering these questions, Hewitt cautions against some long-held orthodoxies, throws a light on some less well-known aspects of the period, and urges the importance of understanding the Victorians on their own terms if we are to effectively engage with their legacies. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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Accusatory, libellous, or just bizarre, Penning Poison unveils the history of anonymous letter-writing. 'er at number 14 is dirty Receiving an unexpected and unsigned note is a disconcerting experience. In Penning Poison, Emily Cockayne traces the stories of such letters to all corners of English society over the period 1760-1939. She uncovers scandal, deception, class enmity, personal tragedy, and great loneliness. Some messages were accusatory, some libellous, others bizarre. Technology, new postal networks, forensic techniques, and the emergence of professional police all influence the phenomenon of poison letter campaigns. This book puts the letters back into their local and psychology context, extending the work of detectives, to discover who may have written them and why. Emily Cockayne explores the reasons and motivations for the creation and delivery of these missives and the effect on recipients - with some blasé, others driven to madness. Small communities hit by letter campaigns became places of suspicion and paranoia. By examining the ways in which these letters spread anxiety in the past Penning Poison grapples with the question of how nasty messages can turn into an epidemic. The book recovers many lost stories about how we used to write to one another, finding that perhaps the anxieties of our internet age are not as new as we think.

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An important challenge to what currently masquerades as conventional wisdom regarding the teaching of writing.There seems to be widespread agreement that—when it comes to the writing skills of college students—we are in the midst of a crisis. In Why They Can't Write, John Warner, who taught writing at the college level for two decades, argues that the problem isn't caused by a lack of rigor, or smartphones, or some generational character defect. Instead, he asserts, we're teaching writing wrong. Warner blames this on decades of educational reform rooted in standardization, assessments, and accountability. We have done no more, Warner argues, than conditioned students to perform "writing-related simulations," which pass temporary muster but do little to help students develop their writing abilities. This style of teaching has made students passive and disengaged. Worse yet, it hasn't prepared them for writing in the college classroom. Rather than making choices and thinking critically, as writers must, undergraduates simply follow the rules—such as the five-paragraph essay—designed to help them pass these high-stakes assessments.In Why They Can't Write, Warner has crafted both a diagnosis for what ails us and a blueprint for fixing a broken system. Combining current knowledge of what works in teaching and learning with the most enduring philosophies of classical education, this book challenges readers to develop the skills, attitudes, knowledge, and habits of mind of strong writers.

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The MR PORTER Guide To A Better Day covers all aspects of a man’s daily life, from morning rituals, to flawless grooming to handy tips for taking the work out of your working and social life. Compiled by MR PORTER’s Editors and featuring wisdom from Messrs Tom Ford, Laird Hamilton and more, this volume is packed with expert advice, helpful illustrations and full-colour photography that explores the habits and routines of the world’s most stylish men. Of course, it’s also got the wardrobe side of things covered: between each chapter, a dedicated section on ‘How To Dress’ offers a deep dive into the ins and outs of contemporary menswear, offering rules and guidelines on what to wear and how to wear it, whether you’re heading out for a fancy dinner, or spending a weekend recovering from just such a thing. Drawing on MR PORTER’s unparalleled experience of dressing discerning gentlemen across the globe, it is the definitive volume that every man of taste should have on his bookshelf this season.

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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Democracy refers to both ideal and real forms of government. The concept of democracy means that those governed — the demos — have a say in government. But different conceptions of democracy have left many out. Naomi Zack provides here a fresh treatment of the history of this idea and its key conceptions. In the ancient world, direct and representative democracy in Athens and Rome privileged elites, as did democratic deliberative bodies in Africa, India, the Middle East, and China. Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero were sceptical of mob-rule dangers of democracy. The medieval and renaissance periods saw legislative checks on monarchy, notably the Magna Carta. The social contract theories of Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau matched political expectations that national government be based on consent, for the benefit of those governed. The American Revolution established a new sovereignty, based on British government tradition. By contrast, the French Revolution heralded universal humanitarian ideals. In the nineteenth century, Jeremy Bentham, John Stuart Mill, Immanuel Kant, and Karl Marx focused on the democratization of society. Mary Wollstonecraft had championed women's education and rights and Mill advocated further for that cause. Movements for the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage, and labour unionization were organized. World War II brought a reset in the twentieth century, with new democratic governments for many countries, including India and South Africa, and new ideals. Karl Popper, Hannah Arendt, and John Rawls emphasized orderly government transition, inclusion, and fairness. Equalitarian goals have concerned racial and ethnic minorities, as well as women. The twenty-first century has brought fresh challenges, including disasters and uninformed electorates. Democracy among nations is a future goal. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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In the midst of today's highly politicised debates on gender equality, one thing is clear: the fight for women's rights is unfinished business. This book, which accompanies a bold and forward-facing British Library exhibition, presents the history of women's rights in sixteen diverse and timely essays. Among the topics explored are biology, including the first female anatomical skeleton; women's right to sexual pleasure; women's Suffrage; the fight for equal education and employment through the Women's Liberation movement; and how this rich history works today as an engine to power future change. From personal diaries, banners and protest fashion to subversive literature, film, music and art, no topic is too taboo: Unfinished Business presents how women and their allies have fought for equality with passion, imagination, humour and tenacity.

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It was around Kengo Kuma’s tenth birthday that he came into contact with Kenzō Tange’s fishlike Yoyogi National Gymnasium, completed for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, and determined that he would become an architect. In the intervening five or so decades, he has become one of the world’s most fascinating and influential architects. Kuma is known throughout the world for his formally daring and materially expressive buildings, recognized for his inventive use of traditional materials, and his use of innovative materials in vernacular forms. He is perhaps less known for his work inside his native Japan, where he works actively towards the preservation of ancient building techniques and craft. A keen curiosity for all forms of building and a wealth of knowledge about the world acquired through expansive travels make Kuma a unique commentator on Tokyo’s dynamic architecture. Through twenty-five stories, this intimate little publication paints a picture of how a building inspired a boy to become an architect, how Japan’s national heritage helped form his thinking, and how his professional experience has made him one of the most successful architects of his generation. This book contains something for everyone: design acumen, insights into Japanese culture, a tour of Tokyo and the heartfelt commitment to producing buildings that have meaning and longevity.With 41 illustrations, 21 in colour

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The chambered tomb of Maeshowe sits in one of the richest and best preserved Neolithic landscapes in Europe. This was a place of stone circles, villages and burial monuments; a place where people lived, worshipped and honoured their dead. The surviving evidence tells us that about 5,000 years ago, Orkney was a thriving focus whose influence was felt many miles away. Aside from Maeshowe, visitors can discover Neolithic houses at Skara Brae and Barnhouse, dramatic stone-circled henges such as the Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar, and the astonishing ceremonial centre at Ness of Brodgar, still being uncovered by archaeologists. The importance of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney was marked in 1999 when some of its key monuments were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This book will help you to explore and understand the Site, and discover other related monuments in the area.

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The aesthetic of our contemporary environment, including everything from housing developments to furniture and websites, is partly the result of a school of art and design founded in Germany in 1919, the Bauhaus. While in operation for only fourteen years before being shut down by the Nazis in 1933, the school left an indelible mark on design as well as the practice of art education throughout the world. Placing the Bauhaus into its socio-historic context, Frank Whitford traces the ideas behind the school’s conception and describes its teaching methods. He examines the activities of the teachers, who included artists as eminent as Paul Klee, Josef Albers and Wassily Kandinsky, and the daily lives of the students. This remains the most accessible and highly illustrated introduction to perhaps the most significant design movement of the last hundred years.

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If you want to know your ichthyosaur from your iguanodon, and your belemnites from your brachiopods, strap in for this whirlwind tour of the highlights of palaeontology Life as we know it now has a long history, buried beneath the ground. Palaeontology is the science of fossilized animals and plants, using discoveries of ancient lifeforms to uncover secrets of the past. From giant dinosaurs, to ammonites, to the first ever humans, explore the greatest findings in palaeontology in this pocket-sized introduction. The Little Book of Palaeontology includes:- The key palaeontological discoveries over the past 400 years, including the dinosaur found complete with intricate scales, and the largest fossil ever uncovered- Profiles of influential palaeontologists such as Jack Horner, Dong Zhiming and Mary Anning- What we have learnt about the lives of ancient creatures and how they became extinct- The big questions about the prehistoric world that palaeontologists are trying to answer todayThis illuminating little book will introduce you to the key thinkers, themes and theories you need to know to understand how life evolved. Look through this window to the past and learn about our prehistoric ancestors and the creatures of a bygone age.

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Minimize risk and maximize profit as a commodities investor Investing in Commodities For Dummies gives you an in-depth look at how commodities stack up against other assets and advice on how to avoid investing pitfalls. This book shows you how to diversify beyond stocks and bonds by moving money into a market that’s widely viewed as a safe haven during times of turmoil on Wall Street. You can learn to trade gold, silver, heating oil, US cotton, and many of the other things we need and use every day. Check out this easy-to-follow Dummies guide for the basics on breaking into the market, common myths, and a range of trading and investing strategies. Get started investing in commodities with step-by-step instructions Diversify your portfolio, measure risk, and apply market analysis techniques to commodity markets Find useful information and expert tips so you can make informed decisions Learn tips for identifying good trades, selling at the right time, and evaluating your hunches Investing in Commodities For Dummies gives amateur investors—that’s you!—a comprehensive guide to trading, investing, and making money in the commodities arena.

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A controversial manifesto on the role of classical principles in architecture critically examined for relevance today. First published in 1959, The Golden City is a seminal, critical document that developed one of the earliest and most compelling arguments against the then-dominant hegemony of modernism by reawakening interest in the value of our country's built patrimony, particularly with respect to its notable classical architecture, classical sculpture, and ornament in the built environment. The book's argument remains valuable today. The Golden City can be credited with building the constituency for the preservation movement in the United States in general, and in New York City in particular. That constituency coalesced around Reed's powerful polemic, eventually contributing to the formulation in 1965 of New York City's groundbreaking Landmark Law, one of the most important milestones in the preservation movement in the United States.

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This is the fascinating true story behind one of the key reasons that RAF Fighter Command saw such success in the Second World War and emerged victorious from the Battle of Britain – the incredible training school that transformed young men from inexperienced pilots into some of the finest airmen in the world. From peacetime Armament Practice Camp, to fighter Operational Training Unit, to Central Gunnery School, this is the story of how, between 1926 and 1946, the RAF developed and implemented a world-beating training system. This allowed the RAF to have total faith in the men tasked with combatting the Nazi threat from the air, and School of Aces tells the astonishing story of the station through a wealth of individual stories – with famous names, drama, courage and pathos a-plenty – recalling how pilots, air gunners and ground crew came to be at RAF Sutton Bridge, what life was like for them there and what happened to them afterwards. Prior to and during the Battles of France and Britain, RAF Sutton Bridge played a vital role in the British success by creating, in a remarkably short time, an effective training programme for potential fighter pilots. It then turned out 494 Hurricane pilots with such rapidity that summer that no fewer than 390 graduates flew as part of that illustrious band of men known forever as 'The Few'.

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Snowflakes are swirling, carolers are singing and shoppers are crowding into shops...Christmas is coming! If you're like us, you'd love to recreate the holiday magic you remember from homes growing up, but don't have all day to spend in the kitchen.I'll be Home for Christmas Cookbook is filled with simple-to-make recipes for every festive occasion. For Christmas morning breakfast, serve Christmas Sausage Soufflé and Overnight Sticky Buns. After sledding or cutting down the tree, warm everyone up with mugs of Yellow Pea Soup. An open-house buffet with Ambrosia Cheese Dip and Grandma's Cocktail Nibbles is perfect for merrymaking with friends.Busy-day dinners are a snap with Granny's Baked Macaroni & Cheese or Mom's One-Pot Chicken Supper. Make the big day special with Nonna's Christmas Eve Spaghetti, Mama's Baked Brown Sugar Ham or Tangy Glazed Chicken. Ginger-Orange Cranberries and Corn & Broccoli Casserole round out a festive menu.What we all remember most about holidays with family is the desserts, right? Try favorites like Cranberry Cream Pie and Apple Spice Cake...yum! Cookies are a must, so we've rounded up Sugar Doodle Drops and Chocolate Gingerbread Men. They're so much fun to make and eat!You'll also find sweet memories of holidays gone by, plus clever tips for sharing Christmas with your kids, grandkids and those young at heart!

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This book shows how easy it is to make super cute mini macrame projects! Ranging from jewelry and home décor to ornaments, plant hangers, pouches, coasters, and so much more, learn how to use natural macramé cord to create tons of bohemian-inspired items. Featuring 20 unique and charming projects with step-by-step instructions and coordinating illustrations to walk you through the design from start to finish, this exciting and approachable guide is the perfect resource for anyone looking to learn how to macrame on a smaller scale. Author Stacy Malimban is the author of Knotting Bags and Belts and continues to share her charming expertise within the pages so you can add creative DIY touches to your life.

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A parent’s deeply moving love letter to a daughter who has always known exactly who she is.‘Stunning . . . Built like a thriller, moving, wise and illuminated on every page with love’ - Joanne Harris, author of ChocolatWhen Carolyn Hays’s child made clear to the family that they were all wrong, he was not a boy, but, in fact, a girl, the Hays shifted pronouns, adopted a nickname and encouraged her to dress as she felt comfortable.One ordinary day, a caseworker from the Department of Children and Families knocked on their door to investigate an anonymous complaint about the upbringing of their transgender child. It was this threat that instilled in them a deep-seated fear for their child’s safety in the Republican state they called home. And so they uprooted their lives to the more trans-accepting Northeast United States, though they were never far from the hate and fear resting at the nation’s core.Intimate and thought-provoking, A Letter to My Transgender Daughter is an ode to Hays’s brilliant, brave child, as well as a cathartic revisit of the pain of the past. It tells of the brutal truths of being trans, of the sacrificial nature of motherhood, and of the lengths a family will go to shield their youngest from the cruel realities of the world. Hays asks us all to love better, for children everywhere enduring injustice and prejudice just as they begin to understand themselves.A Letter to My Transgender Daughter is a celebration of difference, a plea for empathy, a hope for a better future, but moreover, it is a love letter to a child who has always known herself and is waiting for the rest of the world to catch up.Originally published as A Girlhood: A Letter to My Transgender Daughter

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Now with new Preface.'This humane, accessible and lucid work will enlighten any voter, and remind any would-be – or currently serving – politician of the pitfalls to avoid' – TLSAs the list of U-turns grows ever longer, the cost of living crisis intensifies and mortgage rates rise, we really need those in charge to get it right. In Why Governments Get It Wrong, Cambridge's Professor Dennis C. Grube gives a timely and incisive examination of the pitfalls, failures and successes of those in power around the world.We live in an era when we really need governments to be effective – the economy, our health and the future of the planet are at stake – but so often they can seem clueless, and their decisions leave us confused.With insight and wit, Grube explains how governments can improve their decision-making and, by examining fascinating case studies, he highlights the key factors that make for effective government.With the stakes higher than ever before, this original and important book is an essential read for any concerned citizen who wants to understand why governments make the wrong decisions and, crucially, what can be done about it.'Convincing' – David Lammy MP'A must-read' – Sebastian Payne, author of The Fall of Boris Johnson‘Highly original and very entertaining' – Gavin Esler, author of How Britain Ends'There is a real gap for this book' – Isabel Hardman, author of Why We Get the Wrong Politicians

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Mehboob Khan's 1957 epic family drama Mother India, starring movie legends Nargis, Sunil Dutt and Rajendra Kumar, is a cornerstone of Indian cinema. In her insightful study of this classic, Gayatri Chatterjee draws on new research in the Mehboob studio archive to outline the film's eventful production history, the ambitious vision of its director, and the performances of its stars. Rooted both in Hindu mythology and in the collective experience of a newly-independent nation-state on the brink of industrialisation and social change, this family melodrama inexorably towards tragedy and renewal. Chatterjee's careful analysis reflects the film's vibrancy and passion and illuminates its many aspects - performance styles, reception and reputation, mythological underpinnings, its relationship to India's post-Independence culture and politics, and its many references to the history of a country in transition. In her foreword to this new edition, the author reflects upon the film's impact at the time of its release, and its continuing resonance for audiences in many different countries around the world.

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Insight Guides Flexi Map PortoTravel made easy. Ask local experts.Designed for easy usage and durability, this map is all you need to explore Porto.This easy to use, full-colour, waterproof map is all you need to navigate Porto. It also includes dotted highlight sights such as the Sé and Serralves, as well as essential information on getting around.Features of this map to Porto: - Detailed cartography: produced to the highest cartographic standards, highlighting all the main tourist sights, places to visit and transport networks- Informative text: useful travel information, essential facts about the destination, recommendations for the best places to see and tips for getting around- Easy to use: lightweight and wipe-clean in a handy pocket-size format. Sights linked to the mapping by numbered markers- Laminated finish: durable, weatherproof and easier to fold than conventional paper maps- Main map covering Porto city centre- Secondary map to cover excursionsYou may also be interested in: Insight Guides Pocket Porto, Insight Guides PortugalAbout Insight Guides: Insight Guides is a pioneer of full-colour guide books, with almost 50 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides with user-friendly, modern design. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps, as well as phrase books, picture-packed eBooks and apps to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

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Business-wide innovation is the definitive way to grow. Yet, how to achieve this remains elusive for so many businesses. Learn how to make innovation happen. Most innovation books target start-ups or large corporates. The unique challenges of mid-sized businesses (MSBs) and strategic business units (SBUs)-the growth engine in most economies-are ignored. This authoritative, no-nonsense book will guide your business in its innovation journey from Point 'A' where it currently is, to Point 'B', the performance you want. It cuts through the clutter of innovation tools, to focus on the essential capabilities 'C' that drive growth. The book includes: * Clear phases and checklists for management actions, * Key tools with detailed guidance for practical use, * Managing stakeholder mindsets throughout the journey, and * 24 international case studies.

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The perfect guide for quilters seeking inspiration on how to creatively use quilt panels in their projects. Featuring 12 panel-focused quilts that combine pieced blocks and other elements with panels that result in updated design interest, this book offers a fresh perspective on using panels through the lens of patchwork. Approachable for quilters of all skill levels, this book will help you step up your panel quilts and make them more beautiful and exciting than ever before. The book also includes insightful overviews on basic patchwork instruction, guidance on selecting fabrics that enhance and pair perfectly with your panel (including pre-cut fabrics), and tips for selecting complementary quilting designs.

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Winston Churchill hated The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, and tried to have it banned when it was released in 1943. But Martin Scorsese, a champion of directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, considers it a masterpiece. It’s a film about desires repressed in favour of worthless and unsatisfying ideals. And it’s a film about how England dreamt of itself as a nation and how this dream disguised inadequacy and brutality in the clothes of honour. A. L. Kennedy, writing as a Scot, is fascinated by the nationalism which The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp explores. She finds human worth in the film and the pathos of stifled emotions and unfulfilled lives. ‘If he is unaware of his passions, ‘ she writes of Clive Candy, the film’s central figure, ‘this is because his pains have become habitual, a part of personality, and because he was never taught a language that could speak of emotions like pain.’. This edition includes a foreword by the author exploring the film's continuing relevance in an age of Brexit, when English and British national identity are deeply contested concepts.

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