True stories of discovery Books

162 products


  • Kohlhammer Maximilian I.: Herrscher Und Mensch Einer

    2 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    2 in stock

    £26.10

  • Andrew Fernando Holmes

    University of Toronto Press Andrew Fernando Holmes

    Book SynopsisThis is the first comprehensive study of the life and work of Andrew Fernando Holmes, famous for his work on congenital heart disease.Trade Review"As the best history books do, this one carries bracing reminders on every page of just how much the world has changed." -- Ian McGillis * McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Alumni & Friends *"Vaudry’s mastery of the historiography of medicine, science, and religion of the late-18th and mid-19th centuries results in a lucid, all-embracing, and satisfying assessment of Holmes’s life and varied lasting contributions." -- J. T. H. Connor, Memorial University * American Review of Canadian Studies *“This book offers a useful addition to our understanding of the early years of Canadian medicine and medical schools, one which avoids the too-often triumphalist approaches that lionize great men and treat the success of McGill (and other subsequent institutions) as somehow inevitable.” -- David Wright, McGill University * Bulletin of the History of Medicine *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Anniversary 1. From Cadiz to Lower Canada: Holmes’s Atlantic World 2. “Well and Sufficiently Taught” 3. The Origins of McGill Medicine 4. Family and Religious Life 5. “The Wonders of Creation” 6. McGill and the Politics of Medicine 7. The Practice of Medicine Conclusion Bibliography

    £49.30

  • Mahlers Forgotten Conductor

    University of Toronto Press Mahlers Forgotten Conductor

    Book SynopsisThis book explores musician Heinz Unger's negotiation of his German Jewish identity throughout his life, beginning with his time in Germany, extending through his exile in 1933, and continuing on to his time in Canada following the Second World War.Trade Review"This is a worthy tribute to a long-forgotten conductor and devoted Mahlerite, whose evangelistic zeal did much to promulgate the composer's music. This in-depth coverage of Unger's life fills a void and, hopefully, paves the way for some trawling of the archives and release of some of the artist's live performances." -- Stephen Greenbank * MusicWeb International *"It is exciting to learn about Unger’s eventful, unjustly forgotten life and archive, buoyed by Tesler-Mabé’s passion for reconstructing the conductor’s story." -- Judah M. Cohen * Canadian Jewish Studies Vol. 31 *"A useful contribution to Jewish studies, this monograph is a microhistory, a contextual biography of German conductor Heinz Unger." -- M.N.H. Cheng, Colgate University * CHOICE *“The engrossing prose and honest narrative about a life that included many disappointments will fetch a broad audience as well as contribute rich material to musicologists who, finally, re envision their field as more than a series of great men. It is to our peril when historians skip over a stratum of musical life that was often ignored in the press.” -- Karen Painter, University of Minnesota * German Studies Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. A Thoroughly German Youth, Early Trips to the Soviet Union, and an Unfortunate Exile (1895–1933) 2. European Exodus: USSR, England, Spain, and the World (1933–1954) 3. Early Life in Canada and a Return to Germany (1937–1956) 4. A Jewish Renaissance: Life in Canada, the Israel Philharmonic, and the Mahler Centenary (1956–1961) 5. The Final Years and a Farewell to the World (1961–1965) Conclusion Bibliography Appendix: Known Concerts and Performances by Heinz Unger

    £46.75

  • Medieval Travel and Travelers

    University of Toronto Press Medieval Travel and Travelers

    Book SynopsisDrawing on medieval sources from western Europe, the Byzantine Empire, and the Muslim world, this book will fascinate anyone interested in the history of travel and aspects of cultural interaction with the other.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Chapter One: Mapping Out Journeys 1. Maps a. T-O World Map b. Osma Beatus World Map c. Sawley (or Henry of Mainz) World Map d. Al-Idrisi World Map e. Carte pisane 2. Woodcuts of Cities (Parens [Poreč ], Corfu, Modon [Methoni]) 3. Woodcuts of People a. “Exotic” People (Saracens [Muslims], Jews, Greeks, Syrians, Ethiopians, Turks) b. Monsters 4. Cosmas Indikopleustes, The Christian Topography of Cosmas 5. Einsiedeln Itinerary 6. Einhard, The Translation and Miracles of Marcellinus and Peter 7. Paris Conversations 8. Richer of St-Rémi, Histories 9. Jordanus of Severac, Mirabilia descripta 10. Book of the Knowledge of All Kingdoms, Lands, and Lordships That Are in the World Chapter Two: Religious Journeys 11. Travel Prayers in the Gregorian Sacramentary 12. The Vision of Adamnán 13. Life of Anskar 14. The Western European Monk Bernard’s Journey to Jerusalem 15. Al-Tabari, The Prophet Ascends to the Seventh Heaven 16. The Seafarer 17. The Russian Primary Chronicle 18. Life of Saint Christopher 19. Benedict the Pole, Narrative 20. Pascal de Vitoria, Letter 21. The Book of Margery Kempe Chapter Three: Business Journeys 22. Ibn Khurraddadhbih, Book of Routes and Realms 23. The Reports of Ohthere and Wulfstan 24. Letters from Jewish Merchants in the Cairo Geniza 25. Marco Polo, Travels 26. Francesco Balducci Pegolotti, Merchant Handbook 27. Afanasy Nikitin, Voyage beyond Three Seas Chapter Four: Diplomatic Journeys 28. Ibn Fadlan, Mission to the Volga 29. Liudprand of Cremona, Retribution and Embassy 30. Rabban Sauma, Travelogue 31. Ghiyyath al-Din Naqqash, A Persian Embassy to China 32. Abd-al-Razzaq Samarqandi, Narrative of the Journey Chapter Five: Journeys of Discovery and Adventure 33. Saga of the Greenlanders 34. Nasir-i Khusraw, Book of Travels 35. Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary 36. Ibn Jubayr, Travels 37. Ibn Battuta, Rihla 38. Petrarch, Ascent of Mt. Ventoux 39. Pero Tafur, Voyages and Adventures 40. Jörg von Ehingen, Diary Sources Index of Topics

    £73.95

  • In Pursuit

    University Press of New England In Pursuit

    4 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe true story of the Washington, DC, snipers, by the cop who took them down

    4 in stock

    £18.05

  • Going Back for Our Future II: Carrying Forward

    Information Age Publishing Going Back for Our Future II: Carrying Forward

    Book SynopsisWho were the pioneers in science education, and what motivated them to do what they did?" This book is the second volume of an attempt to capture and record some of the answers to these questions—either from the pioneers themselves or from those persons who worked most closely with them. As with the first volume, we have attempted to include as many pioneers as possible, but we know that there are still many that are not included in this or the previous volume. As we have posed questions, rummaged through files and oft?neglected books, and probed the memories of many individuals, we have come to realize our list of true pioneers is ever growing.As we consider our list of pioneers, we know that there are names on the list that most of us readily recognize. We also fully realize that there are names of whom few of us have heard—yet who were significant in their roles as mentors or idea development and teaching. We continue to be impressed with our science education “family tree” ever branching out to more individuals and connections. The stories in this volume continue to demonstrate how vital this network was in supporting the individual pioneers during their journey in difficult times and continues to be for those of us today in our own enterprise.

    £44.96

  • Going Back for Our Future II: Carrying Forward

    Information Age Publishing Going Back for Our Future II: Carrying Forward

    Book SynopsisWho were the pioneers in science education, and what motivated them to do what they did?" This book is the second volume of an attempt to capture and record some of the answers to these questions—either from the pioneers themselves or from those persons who worked most closely with them. As with the first volume, we have attempted to include as many pioneers as possible, but we know that there are still many that are not included in this or the previous volume. As we have posed questions, rummaged through files and oft?neglected books, and probed the memories of many individuals, we have come to realize our list of true pioneers is ever growing.As we consider our list of pioneers, we know that there are names on the list that most of us readily recognize. We also fully realize that there are names of whom few of us have heard—yet who were significant in their roles as mentors or idea development and teaching. We continue to be impressed with our science education “family tree” ever branching out to more individuals and connections. The stories in this volume continue to demonstrate how vital this network was in supporting the individual pioneers during their journey in difficult times and continues to be for those of us today in our own enterprise.

    £82.80

  • Editorial Anagrama Maniac

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £22.07

  • Principal de Los Libros Homicidio

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £28.18

  • Principal de Los Libros Esquina

    1 in stock

    Book Synopsis

    1 in stock

    £26.27

  • Cambridge University Press Conspiracy on Cato Street

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Cato Street Conspiracy was the most sensational of all plots aimed at the British state since the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. This book tells this dramatic but neglected story with cinematic vividness, episodic range, and a tragic denouement that undermines our romantic fantasies about Regency England.Trade Review'In his gripping new book, Vic Gatrell rescues the Cato Street conspirators from “the enormous condescension of posterity”, and reconstructs in enthralling detail the world of low taverns, debtors' prisons and radical extremism from which they came. This is a brilliantly written masterpiece that triumphantly succeeds in restoring humanity and dignity to its subjects.' Richard J. Evans, author of The Pursuit of Power: Europe, 1815–1914'Conspiracy on Cato Street explores in gripping detail the plot of February 1820 to assassinate the whole cabinet and start a revolution the year after the Peterloo massacre. Gatrell sympathises as much as possible with the desperation the doomed plotters felt that drove them to such a decision. The plot was the most murderous for over two centuries - since the gunpowder plot - and here finds its perfect historian.' Andrew Roberts, Books of the Year, BBC History Magazine'A finely researched account' Best 50 Books of 2022, Daily Telegraph'Enriched by Gatrell's observation that “the inequalities and deprivations that moved the conspirators, and the privileged interests and powers that contained them, still operate,” this is a fine-grained study of political extremism in action.' Publishers Weekly'Gatrell's intense study of the men's lives - and what brought them to believe that violently overthrowing the government could solve their problems - is forensic and vivid in its detail.' Stephen Bates, BBC History Magazine'This is micro-history at its richest and its most penetrating. More than giving us a social history in a few lives, Gatrell has told us a human story with the depth of a novel.' D. H. Robinson, The Critic'an engrossing study.' Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times'a panoramic and thrilling study of an overlooked part of British history.' Catherine Ostler, Daily Telegraph'Gatrell asks all the right questions of his subject, and his answers are sound and illuminating.' David Keymer, Library Journal [starred review]'Terrific … the richest account of the Cato Street conspiracy ever written.' Marcus Nevitt, The Spectator'Gatrell writes passionately as a radical historian championing the underdog and castigating inequality.' William Anthony Hay, The Wall Street Journal'… (a) gripping account.' History Today'There is no better guide to metropolitan high and low life than Gatrell … [In] an enthralling classic of London history, [he] eschews what he sees as the stifling pieties of labour history in favour of individual character and lived detail, professing a Dickensian empathy for the 'muddled attitudes, slogans and resentments' of ordinary Londoners … Cato Street is underdog history at its purest.' Robert Poole, Times Literary Supplement'Vic Gatrell tells this sorry story with zest and sympathy … Conspiracy on Cato Street follows the trail of his Hanging Tree (1994), City of Laughter (2006) and The First Bohemians (2013) in its capturing of Regency London in all its gaiety, violence, sexual sprawl and, above all, searing poverty. His trigger finger trembles with passion as he takes aim at the romantic curricles-and-crinolines view of the period … Gatrell says at the beginning of his salutary and often startling account that 'a book of this kind cannot help speaking to the present.' Ferdinand Mount, London Review of Books'Vic Gatrell is that rarest of people; an academic historian steeped in the archives who can write the most beautiful prose. Conspiracy on Cato Street brings his trademark erudition and style to bear … [in this] wonderful book.' Jason McElligott, Irish TimesTable of ContentsPart I. The simple tale: 1. The Cato Street conspiracy: what happened; 2. Arrests and reactions; Part II. Taking its measure: 3. Interpreting the conspiracy; 4. What they were up against; 5. What they believed; 6. Fantasy, myth, and song; 7. Rebellion's habitats; Part III. Thistlewood: his story: 8. A terrorist in the making: 1774-1816; 9. The Spa Fields insurrection: 1816-17; 10. Thistlewood unhinged: 1818-19; 11. Peterloo in London: 1819-20; 12. Edwards the spy: 1819-20; Part IV. Ordinary Britons: 13. Conspirators and others; 14. Wives, marriages, children; 15. Men of colour: Wedderburn and Davidson; Part V. Executions: 16. Trials and verdicts; 17. May Day at Newgate; 18. Epilogue: Géricault goes to Cato Street; Historiographical note; The trial reports.

    15 in stock

    £23.75

  • Cambridge University Press Conspiracy on Cato Street

    15 in stock

    Book SynopsisThe Cato Street Conspiracy was the most sensational of all plots aimed at the British state since the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. This book tells this dramatic but neglected story with cinematic vividness, episodic range, and a tragic denouement that undermines our romantic fantasies about Regency England.Trade Review'In his gripping new book, Vic Gatrell rescues the Cato Street conspirators from “the enormous condescension of posterity”, and reconstructs in enthralling detail the world of low taverns, debtors' prisons and radical extremism from which they came. This is a brilliantly written masterpiece that triumphantly succeeds in restoring humanity and dignity to its subjects.' Richard J. Evans, author of The Pursuit of Power: Europe, 1815–1914'Conspiracy on Cato Street explores in gripping detail the plot of February 1820 to assassinate the whole cabinet and start a revolution the year after the Peterloo massacre. Gatrell sympathises as much as possible with the desperation the doomed plotters felt that drove them to such a decision. The plot was the most murderous for over two centuries - since the gunpowder plot - and here finds its perfect historian.' Andrew Roberts, Books of the Year, BBC History Magazine'A finely researched account' Best 50 Books of 2022, Daily Telegraph'Enriched by Gatrell's observation that “the inequalities and deprivations that moved the conspirators, and the privileged interests and powers that contained them, still operate,” this is a fine-grained study of political extremism in action.' Publishers Weekly'Gatrell's intense study of the men's lives - and what brought them to believe that violently overthrowing the government could solve their problems - is forensic and vivid in its detail.' Stephen Bates, BBC History Magazine'This is micro-history at its richest and its most penetrating. More than giving us a social history in a few lives, Gatrell has told us a human story with the depth of a novel.' D. H. Robinson, The Critic'an engrossing study.' Kathryn Hughes, Sunday Times'a panoramic and thrilling study of an overlooked part of British history.' Catherine Ostler, Daily Telegraph'Gatrell asks all the right questions of his subject, and his answers are sound and illuminating.' David Keymer, Library Journal [starred review]'Terrific … the richest account of the Cato Street conspiracy ever written.' Marcus Nevitt, The Spectator'Gatrell writes passionately as a radical historian championing the underdog and castigating inequality.' William Anthony Hay, The Wall Street Journal'… (a) gripping account.' History Today'There is no better guide to metropolitan high and low life than Gatrell … [In] an enthralling classic of London history, [he] eschews what he sees as the stifling pieties of labour history in favour of individual character and lived detail, professing a Dickensian empathy for the 'muddled attitudes, slogans and resentments' of ordinary Londoners … Cato Street is underdog history at its purest.' Robert Poole, Times Literary Supplement'Vic Gatrell tells this sorry story with zest and sympathy … Conspiracy on Cato Street follows the trail of his Hanging Tree (1994), City of Laughter (2006) and The First Bohemians (2013) in its capturing of Regency London in all its gaiety, violence, sexual sprawl and, above all, searing poverty. His trigger finger trembles with passion as he takes aim at the romantic curricles-and-crinolines view of the period … Gatrell says at the beginning of his salutary and often startling account that 'a book of this kind cannot help speaking to the present.' Ferdinand Mount, London Review of Books'Vic Gatrell is that rarest of people; an academic historian steeped in the archives who can write the most beautiful prose. Conspiracy on Cato Street brings his trademark erudition and style to bear … [in this] wonderful book.' Jason McElligott, Irish TimesTable of ContentsPart I. The simple tale: 1. The Cato Street conspiracy: what happened; 2. Arrests and reactions; Part II. Taking its measure: 3. Interpreting the conspiracy; 4. What they were up against; 5. What they believed; 6. Fantasy, myth, and song; 7. Rebellion's habitats; Part III. Thistlewood: his story: 8. A terrorist in the making: 1774-1816; 9. The Spa Fields insurrection: 1816-17; 10. Thistlewood unhinged: 1818-19; 11. Peterloo in London: 1819-20; 12. Edwards the spy: 1819-20; Part IV. Ordinary Britons: 13. Conspirators and others; 14. Wives, marriages, children; 15. Men of colour: Wedderburn and Davidson; Part V. Executions: 16. Trials and verdicts; 17. May Day at Newgate; 18. Epilogue: Géricault goes to Cato Street; Historiographical note; The trial reports.

    15 in stock

    £13.49

  • The Sand Lady An Ocean City Maryland Tale

    Schiffer Publishing Ltd The Sand Lady An Ocean City Maryland Tale

    Book Synopsis

    £13.29

  • The Devils Teeth A True Story of Obsession and

    Henry Holt & Company Inc The Devils Teeth A True Story of Obsession and

    3 in stock

    Book SynopsisJournalist Susan Casey joins a strange band of surfer-scientists on a remote island off the California coast for some close encounters with the jaws of the world's most mysterious and fearsome predators in the New York Times bestseller, The Devil's Teeth: A True Story of Obsession and Survival Among America's Great White Sharks. Susan Casey was in her living room when she first saw the great white sharks of the Farallon Islands, their dark fins swirling around a small motorboat in a documentary. These sharks were the alphas among alphas, some longer than twenty feet, and there were too many to count; even more incredible, this congregation was taking place just twenty-seven miles off the coast of San Francisco.In a matter of months, Casey was being hoisted out of the early-winter swells on a crane, up a cliff face to the barren surface of Southeast Farallon Island-dubbed by sailors in the 1850s the devil''s teeth. There she joined Scot Anderson

    3 in stock

    £17.99

  • Arcadia Publishing Historic Texas Gyms

    Book Synopsis

    £18.69

  • The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing

    WW Norton & Co The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing

    10 in stock

    Book SynopsisIn 1898, an elderly widow, Anna Maria Druce, came to the British court with an astonishing request. She stood among the overflowing pews of St. Pauls Cathedral claiming that the merchant T. C. Druce, her late father-in-law, had in truth been a secret identity for none other than the deceased and enormously wealthy 5th Duke of Portland. Maintaining her composure amid growing agitation from the clutch of lawyers, journalists, and curious onlookers crowded into the church, Mrs. Druce claimed that Druce had been the duke's alter ego and that the duke had, in 1864, faked the death of his middle-class doppelgänger when he grew tired of the ruse. Mrs. Druce wanted the tomb unlocked and her father-in-law's coffin exhumed, adamant that it would lie empty, proving the falsehood and leaving her son to inherit the vast Portland estate. From that fateful afternoon, the lurid details of the Druce-Portland case spilled forth, seizing the attention of the British public for over a decade. As the Victoria era gave way to the Edwardian, the rise of sensationalist media blurred every fact into fiction, and family secrets and fluid identities pushed class anxieties to new heights. The 5th Duke of Portland had long been the victim of suspicion and scandalous rumors; an odd man with a fervent penchant for privacy, he lived his days in precisely coordinated isolation in the dilapidated Welbeck Abbey estate. He constructed elaborate underground passageways from one end of his home to the other and communicated with his household staff through letters. T.C. Druce was a similarly mysterious figure and had always remained startlingly evasive about his origins; on his arrival in London he claimed to have "sprung from the clouds." Drawing from revelations hidden within the Druce family tomb in the chilly confines of Highgate Cemetery, Piu Marie Eatwell recounts one of the most drawn-out sagas of the era in penetrating, gripping detail. From each thwarted investigation and wicked attempt to conceal evidence to the parade of peculiar figures announcing themselves as the rightful heir, Eatwell paints a portentous portrait of England at the dawn of the Edwardian age. Few tales—be they by Charles Dickens or Wilkie Collins, The Importance of Being Earnest or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—could surpass the bizarre and deliciously dark twists and turns of the Druce-Portland affair. A mesmerizing tour through the tangled hierarchies of Edwardian England, The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse illuminates the lies, deceit, and hypocrisy practiced by "genteel" society at the time—and their inevitably sordid consequences.Trade Review"A juicy narrative history packed with revelations about unsavory goings-on among the upper classes in late Victorian England." -- Kate Tuttle - Boston Globe"As the best books in this genre do, Eatwell's narrative expands to give us a broad view of the cultural and social circumstances existing in England in the late 19th and early 20th centuries…Her book is also a reminder that no matter what stories have captured popular tastes right now…nothing quite takes your breath away like a Novemberish tale that turns out to be real." -- Nick Owchar - Los Angeles Review of Books"A superb unraveling of a sensational mystery—and an absolutely gripping read." -- David King, best-selling author of Death in the City of Light"A lively account of the light shone on the lies, deceit and hypocrisy of Victorian society." -- Times (London)"A riveting true crime from yesteryear." -- Better Homes & Gardens"Fusing an excellent historical eye with an engaging narrative…Eatwell's history is equal parts bizarre and literary, presenting the emphasis without bias so that, until the very end, it’s unclear who’s telling the truth. This true crime story would be perfect fodder if Law & Order ever decides to launch a 19th-century spinoff." -- BUST"It’s Downton Abbey meets The Addams Family in Piu Marie Eatwell’s The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing Corpse, a delightfully offbeat history of a bizarre Edwardian legal case that became tabloid fodder and kept the British public spellbound for a decade…. Eatwell’s marvelous book reads like a Wilkie Collins gothic novel, but at times truth is stranger than fiction." -- Wilda Williams - Library Journal (Editor's Fall Picks)"Madness, guilt, eccentricity, subterfuge—Piu Marie Eatwell's study of the Druce case has it all: the eccentric dukes, liaisons below stairs, extraordinary claims in courts of chancery, exhumations, high-Victorian catacombs, famous detectives. Like all good whodunits, the story of the Duke of Portland and his fortune makes compelling reading." -- M. J. Trow, author of the Inspector Lestrade detective series"An eccentric duke, a mysterious claimant to the title, a long legal battle to open a grave in pursuit of a huge fortune—it's a thoroughly engrossing story, in the best traditions of Mr. Whicher." -- Nicholas Best, author of Five Days That Shocked the World

    10 in stock

    £20.89

  • The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing

    WW Norton & Co The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife, and the Missing

    Out of stock

    Book SynopsisAt the close of the Victorian era, as now, privacy was power. The extraordinarily wealthy 5th Duke of Portland had a mania for it, hiding in his carriage and building tunnels between buildings to avoid being seen. In 1897, an elderly widow asked the court to exhume the grave of her late father-in-law, T. C. Druce, under the suspicion that he’d led a double life as the 5th Duke. The eccentric duke, Anna Maria contended, had faked his death as Druce, and her son should inherit the Portland millions. Revealing a dark underbelly of Victorian society, Piu Marie Eatwell evokes an era when the rise of sensationalist media blurred every fact into fiction and when family secrets and fluid identities pushed class anxieties to new heights.Trade Review"A riveting true crime from yesteryear." -- Better Homes & Gardens"Too good a book to spoil." -- Daily Beast"A reminder that no matter what stories have captured popular tastes right now…nothing quite takes your breath away like a Novemberish tale that turns out to be real." -- Nick Owchar - Los Angeles Review of Books"A juicy narrative history packed with revelations about unsavory goings-on among the upper classes in late Victorian England." -- Kate Tuttle - Boston Globe"A superb unraveling of a sensational mystery—and an absolutely gripping read." -- David King, best-selling author of Death in the City of Light"A lively account of the light shone on the lies, deceit and hypocrisy of Victorian society." -- Times (London)

    Out of stock

    £12.34

  • 1 in stock

    £26.77

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