Search results for ""Author Parks"

Paul Gemignani is one of the titans of the modern musical theater industry. Serving as musical director for more than forty Broadway productions since 1971, his collaborations with Stephen Sondheim, Andrew Lloyd Webber, John Kander, Fred Ebb, Hal Prince, Michael Bennett, and Alan Menken have led to countless accolades for his collaborators, but due to the near invisible position of the musical director in the Broadway industry, Gemignani's story is often overlooked. GEMIGNANI seeks to not only bring the reader into the orchestra pit to learn Gemignani's story, but also to educate the reader about the crucial role a music director plays in bringing some of the most iconic musicals in Broadway history to life.Born into a second-generation Italian American family during the aftershocks of the Great Depression, Gemignani worked his way up from playing percussion in USO bands to conducting before Leonard Bernstein, all before becoming a pivotal player in the team that brought some of the most successful musicals of the late twentieth century to the stage. Sweeney Todd, Evita, Merrily We Roll Along, Sunday in the Park with George, and Into the Woods would be quite different without his key contributions, and many of the sonic markers we now associate with the postmodern musical theater can be traced to Gemignani's careful curiosity to expand the bounds of what was possible.

Read more less

Introducing Britain's finest examples of brutalist architecture. Brutalist architecture is more popular now than it has ever been. Imposing and dramatic, with monolithic concrete exteriors, it forms an enduring part of our post-war urban landscape. This beautifully photographed book is an authoritative survey of the finest British examples from the very late 1950s to the 1970s, from leading architectural writer Elain Harwood, following on from her acclaimed books on art deco and mid-century architecture. It features iconic public buildings like London’s National Theatre, imposing housing such as the Trellick Tower in West London and Park Hill in Sheffield, great educational institutions including the University of Sussex, and places of worship such as Liverpool’s glorious Metropolitan Cathedral, along with some lesser-known buildings such as Arlington House on Margate’s sea front. Headed up with an introduction that places British brutalism within the context of global events and contemporary world architecture, the huge range of buildings is arranged into Private Houses and Flats, Public Housing, Educational Buildings, Public Buildings, Shops, Markets and Town Centres, Culture and Sport, Places of Worship, Offices and Industry and Transport, and there is a chapter on the atmospheric brutalist sculptures and murals that dot our cities. If you’re part of the increasingly large ranks of brutalism fans, or interested in late 20th-century architecture and society in general, Brutalist Britain is the book for you.

Read more less

A ground-breaking approach to history where YOU choose the fate of WWII - perfect for readers of Bletchley Park Brainteasers and The GCHQ Puzzle Book.''An original and exciting approach . . . Buckley is one of our very finest historians.' JAMES HOLLAND________________________TAKE THE HOTSEATAssume the role of real Generals, Leaders, Soldiers and Intelligence Officers in the Allied Forces during WWII, including Winston Churchill and President Eisenhower.EXAMINE THE INTELLIGENCEExplore eight key moments of the war with real contemporaneous intelligence: Britain's Darkest Hour, 1940; The War in North Africa; Stalin's War on the Eastern Front; The Pacific Battle of Midway; The Dresden Bomber Offensive; Casablanca; Arnhem and Operation Market Garden; The Bomb and Hiroshima.CONSIDER THE SCENARIO & MAKE YOUR DECISIONFrom battlefields to war cabinets, each tactical and strategic decision you make leads to a different outcome.Will you follow the path of the past - or shape a new history?________________________'Wonderfully original . . . putting readers at the heart of the decision-making process and allowing them, literally, to change the course of history. This is counterfactual history at its best.' SAUL DAVID'A reminder that history is a never ending now, a relentless and endless present that comes without the luxury of hindsight.' AL MURRAY'An original and exciting approach . . . Buckley is one of our very finest historians. The Armchair General adds enormously to our understanding of the conflicts.' JAMES HOLLAND'A unique, enjoyable approach to evaluating military decision-making.' HISTORY OF WAR

Read more less

'Ryan and Ray go from strength to strength, and this, their third outing, is the best yet. Simon Mason has created crime fiction's most entertaining double act in decades' Mick HerronOxford, city of rich and poor, where the homeless camp out in the shadows of the gorgeous buildings and monuments. A city of lost things - and buried crimes. At three o'clock in the morning, Emergency Services receives a call. 'This is Zara Fanshawe. Always lost and never found.' An hour later, the wayward celebrity's Rolls Royce Phantom is found abandoned in dingy Becket Street. The paparazzi go wild. For some reason, news of Zara's disappearance prompts homeless woman Lena Wójcik to search the camps, nervously, for the bad-tempered vagrant known as 'Waitrose', a familiar sight in Oxford pushing his trolley of possessions. But he's nowhere to be found either. Who will lead the investigation and cope with the media frenzy? Suave, prize-winning, Oxford-educated DI Ray Wilkins is passed over in favour of his partner, gobby, trailer-park educated DI Ryan Wilkins (no relation). You wouldn't think Ray would be happy. He isn't. You wouldn't think Ryan would be any good at national press presentations. He isn't. And when legendary cop Chester Lynch takes a shine to Ray - and takes against Ryan - things are only going to get even messier.

Read more less

'Joe Thomas brilliantly recaptures an ugly episode in our recent past. Lest we forget . . .' Val McDermid'A timely, powerful and gorgeously readable novel that represents everything that is good and important about the crime fiction genre' Irish Times1978: The National Front is gaining ground in Hackney. To counter their influence, anti-fascist groups launch the Carnival Against Racism in Victoria Park. Observing the event is Detective Constable Patrick Noble, charged with investigating racist attacks in the area and running Spycops in both far-right and left wing groups. As Noble's superiors are drawn further into political meddling, he's inveigled into a plot against the embattled Labour government as the Winter of Discontent begins to bite.1983: Under a disciplinary cloud after a Spycops op ended in tragedy, Noble is offered a reprieve by an old mentor. He is dispatched in the early hours to Stoke Newington police station, where a young black man has died in suspicious circumstances. This is Thatcher's Britain now, a new world that Noble unwittingly helped to usher in, where racial tensions are weaponised by those in power. His investigation will expose the dark heart of a nation at war with itself.'Gripping' The Times'Enthralling' Sunday Times'A propulsive crime novel' Guardian'One of our very best contemporary crime writers' David Peace

Read more less

London has been transformed in the last two or three decades since the 1990s. Large areas have been rebuilt and regenerated and exciting new buildings have reshaped London’s skyline. Many of the modern high-rise buildings have quickly become synonymous with London, with popular names that reflect their bold design – the Shard, the Gherkin, the Walkie-Talkie. Alongside these new office buildings and residential developments are other landmark buildings celebrating arts, sports and entertainment, such as Tate Modern, the O2 Arena built for the Millennium celebrations and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Large areas of East London and the Docklands have been redeveloped, as well as more everyday buildings throughout the capital, with new and rebuilt mainline and Underground railway stations, museums, sporting venues, urban spaces and housing. In this book photographer Mathew Browne celebrates this new face of London in a collection of stunning images which portray not just the new buildings that characterise modern London, often cheek by jowl with an older London, but also how today’s Londoners are changing and adapting their environment, turning old structures into new uses. For all those who are proud to live and work in London, as well as those visiting, this book is a must. Look through these photographs and you will quickly see why this ever-changing city never ceases to fascinate.

Read more less

Stephen had seemed enthusiastic about the walk, when Benny first invited him. He kept going on about how amazing it'd be, the two of them out in the wilderness - the landscape shots, the pubs, etc., etc.Benny didn't interrupt this stream of enthusiasm. They were in the car park of the Miners, and Benny was too busy concentrating on his own stream of piss. He didn't think about it at all until the next morning.When he remembered inviting Stephen, Benny laughed out loud - a single ha - then spent three minutes silent-screaming into his pillow.****Benny thought that it would be him and his dad doing the walk. Just him and his father, hiking through the Welsh countryside, like they used to.Only, when his dad got ill, it became obvious that this would never happen. So Benny was forced to consider other options.If Benny is honest, him and Stephen haven't been close since school, but once Benny had drunkenly blurted out the invitation, he couldn't take it back.Now Benny and Stephen are on the walk. A walk Benny has vowed to finish, no matter how hard it is. But as food runs low and money runs out, Stephen and Benny find themselves stranded on the edge of the world, far from home, where the possibility of return is becoming increasingly distant...

Read more less

Home-grown terrorists equipped by a foreign power are not a new phenomenon. During the Second World War, Hitler’s Germany made sustained efforts to inflict a terror campaign on the streets of Britain through the use of secret agents and agents provocateurs. The aim was to blow up military, industrial, transport and telecommunication targets, to lower morale among the civilian population and disrupt the war effort. Even before the outbreak of war, the Nazis provided the IRA with assistance for their plan to sabotage the British mainland. Prior to their planned invasion in the summer of 1940, the Nazis were also keen to recruit members of the Welsh and Scottish Nationalist Parties to engage in sabotaging British targets and, over the course of the war, infiltrated dozens of trained agents from countries including Norway, Denmark, Holland, France and Cuba. What happened to the myriad plots to blow up Britain? We know that intelligence obtained from decrypted enemy messages via Bletchley Park and double agents like ZIGZAG, SUMMER and TATE alerted MI5 to some of these spies’ arrivals, but what about the others? And how successful were MI5’s efforts to fake acts of sabotage and arrange media coverage to fool the enemy into thinking their agents were still at large and on task? In this book, Bernard O’Connor, a noted wartime espionage historian, tells the complete story of the successes and failures of the Nazi terror offensive on mainland Britain during 1938–1944.

Read more less

A Little Critter book featuring two classic stories--a fun way to teach children about the importance of having good manners!Mercer Mayer's Little Critter learns lessons about manners in these classic, humorous, and heartwarming stories. Featuring Just Say Please and I'm Sorry, this two-in-one picture book is an excellent way to teach little ones the difference between good and bad manners.Just Say PleaseLittle Critter and his classmates learn important lessons about good manners! Both parents and children alike will enjoy this amusing story--a great way to educate children about the importance of "please and thank you"! I'm SorryLittle Critter is having a very bad day! He used his brother's blanket as a cape, and he forgot his sister's jump rope at the park. But no matter what happens, he always remembers to apologize! A perfect way to remind little ones to say "I'm sorry!"More two-in-one books featuring Little Critter:It's Bedtime, Little Critter!Just Me and My Mom/Just Me and My DadJust Grandma, Grandpa, and MeJust Me and My BuddiesJust My Brother, Sister, and MeAll That I Can Be

Read more less

With each step you take, whether it’s outside your back door, at the edge of a nearby pond, or along a path in a national park, you may be setting down your foot in the same place that a dinosaur once did. Just imagine, dinosaurs roaming the same earth we live on today! What an amazing place our planet must have been during the time of those mighty creatures. There were enormous plant-eating dinosaurs, perhaps gathered in herds, grazing in a forest-surrounded meadow. And there were packs of small but fast and smart meat-eating dinosaurs that searched for an opportunity to attack their prey. And there was the ultimate predator in the Tyrannosaurus rex, causing other dinosaurs to flee wherever he went.The Fact Atlas series welcomes you to the world of dinosaurs, vanished now but for the efforts of scientists, museums, and your own imagination. With a little help from this fact-filled dinosaur book, the prehistoric world comes alive with dinosaurs big and small, scary and just plain fascinating. This book offers a history of dinosaurs that challenges young readers to question and research what these prehistoric creatures were really like and why. Illustrations accompany dino statistics to help kids build the closest possible understanding to what it was like when dinosaurs roamed the earth.

Read more less

The Hardy Boys meets Alex Rider in this start to a brand-new series starring everyone’s favorite inventor—Tom Swift!When your dad funds the Swift Academy of Science and Technology, you’re bound to have a bunch of tech at your disposal. So no one bats an eye when Tom and his best friend, Noah, test their new virtual reality drone before class. At the academy, once class starts and the drone is parked, their brainiac friends then launch into farfetched discussions about the curriculum. And when they watch a documentary about the FBI’s most wanted hackers from the eighties, they quickly start speculating that the academy custodian is one of them. At first, Tom dismisses the idea as another one of his friends’ conspiracy theories. But using their new drone, he spies the custodian acting suspiciously around school. As Tom and his friends search for evidence that the custodian is the missing hacker, the signs become impossible to ignore when Tom gets threatening messages that warn him away from investigating. And when someone releases a virus in the school servers, all bets are off as the adjoining servers at tech giant Swift Enterprises come under fire. Can Tom and his friends uncover the true culprit before it’s too late?

Read more less

Jane Austen wrote about the English gentry class in the late Georgian and Regency periods (1796–1816). Her novels follow her heroines’ quests for true love and fulfilment in English society during a period of great upheaval. But how accurate were Jane Austen’s depictions of life in England? Was marriage really the only ambition for women at that time? Were all men as dominant and powerful as Sir Thomas Bertram in Mansfield Park? Was London really as corrupt and immoral a place as that book suggested? What was it like to live in a society governed by strict codes of etiquette and conduct? Helen Amy draws on Austen’s life and works, traces her travels around the country and features places of significance to her whilst also examining English society’s apparent obsessions with fashion, entertainments, courtship and manners. Jane Austen’s England features chapters on London, Bath, Cheltenham, Winchester, Steventon, Chawton, Portsmouth, Southampton, Lyme Regis, Brighton and Worthing together with the grand country houses, such as Godmersham House, The Vyne and Stoneleigh Abbey, which inspired Austen’s fictional houses. Helen Amy opens a window onto this fascinating period of history, examining the places and culture of the times, with over 130 superb period illustrations and colour photographs.

Read more less

The Hawkins\Brown architectural firm in London, founded in 1988 by Roger Hawkins and Russell Brown, is one of the up-and-coming offices on the international architecture scene. The spectrum of the firm’s works ranges from residences and interior design by way of office buildings and various public buildings such as theaters and university buildings all the way to urban planning, such as designs for squares and subway stations. Hawkins\Brown strives to come to an optimal result in a process that integrates all of the players. Hawkins\Brown has received numerous awards for various projects, such as the RIBA Award for its Wysing Arts Centre (2008), the New Chemistry Building of the University of Oxford (2009), and the New Art Exchange art center in Nottingham (2009) and the BREEAM Award for Eltham Hill Technology College (2008). This book documents some twenty-five buildings from the past five years. The projects presented include the Tottenham Court Road Underground Station, one of the busiest Tube stations in London with a hundred thousand passengers daily (to be completed in 2011); the Stratford Regional Station in London, an access platform for one of the major sites for the Olympic Games (to be completed in 2010); Park Hill, the master plan for a neighborhood in Sheffield (to be completed in 2011), and the Dubai Arts Pavilion in the United Arab Emirates.

Read more less

Born four months apart, Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel both released their debut albums in the early 1970s, quickly becoming two of the most successful rock stars of their generation. While their critical receptions have been very different, surprising parallels emerge when we look at the arcs of their careers and the musical influences that have inspired them. Bridge and Tunnel Boys compares the life and work of Long Islander Joel and Asbury Park, New Jersey, native Springsteen, considering how each man forged a distinctive sound that derived from his unique position on the periphery of the Big Apple. Locating their music within a longer tradition of the New York metropolitan sound, dating back to the early 1900s, cultural historian Jim Cullen explores how each man drew from the city’s diverse racial and ethnic influences. His study explains how, despite frequently releasing songs that questioned the American dream, Springsteen and Joel were able to appeal to wide audiences during both the national uncertainty of the 1970s and the triumphalism of the Reagan era. By placing these two New York–area icons in a new context, Bridge and Tunnel Boys allows us to hear their most beloved songs with new appreciation.

Read more less

From a young backpacker, sleeping on a park bench in Japan, to becoming a senior leader of one of the biggest corporate giants in the world, Paul Dupuis has built a career through game-changing leadership - crafted through his own real-life experiences as an athlete, volunteer and CEO. The E5 is both familiar and fresh. It's a leadership model built in the spirit of 'standing on the shoulders of giants', learning from leaders like Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic who put 'empathy' and 'enable' at the core of his leadership approach. And Jack Welch with his 3E's, who then inspired Bob McDonald at P&G to craft his own version of the 5E's, to Jim Collins who shared his version of Level 5 Leadership in the book, 'Good to Great', with execution at the core. The E5 Movement is a call to action to all leaders, globally, to lead with impact. The five Es are: envision; express; excite; enable; execute. These five rules of leadership are both timeless and borderless. The real-life anecdotes, combined with the conversational tone of the book, make this an accessible and impactful read. Thought-provoking and practical, this book will inspire leaders to think about their own leadership, adopting the five Es on their mission to lead their teams to excellence - a true game changer. Pick your five and join the movement!

Read more less

'From that very first minute I sin 'im - strung up by his feet and howling - oh I certainly knew we had business all right.' A haunting play about loss and grief, set in the mists of Suffolk. Fishskin Trousers weaves together the haunting tales of three lost people from different eras, united by the common setting of the fishing village of Orford in Suffolk, its castle and its mysterious island, Orford Ness. From the twelfth century, Mab gives an eyewitness account of the legendary Wild Man of Orford, caught in the nets of fishermen... Eight hundred years later, at the height of the Cold War, Ben, a young Australian scientist, hears strange noises on the Ness as he tries to fix the island's radar system. While Mog, in 2003, is faced with a heartbreaking decision...

 Suffused by the landscape and traditional folk tales of East Anglia, their echoing voices and stories reveal how deeply and intimately their lives touch each other, though decades – and even centuries – separate them. Elizabeth Kuti's Fishskin Trousers premiered at the Finborough Theatre, London, in 2013, and was revived at Park Theatre, London, in October 2017. This volume also contains the short plays Enter A Gentleman and Time Spent on Trains.

Read more less

This guide describes 23 day routes, graded by a combination of distance, climb and overall gradient, all suitable for road bikes and illustrated by detailed maps and profiles. In addition a six-stage tour takes in all the highlights, including Grassington, Leyburn, Hawes, Kirkby Stephen, Ingleton and Settle. And for those who really want to test themselves, the route of the Stage 1 of the 2014 Tour de France, a 206km loop from Leeds to Harrogate, is also included, with an option to close the loop without adding many extra miles. Appendices include a route summary table to help you choose your route, lots of information about facilities for cyclists along the routes, taking bikes on public transport and basic bike maintenance. The Vuelta a Dales takes in the best dales, passes and viewpoints as it passes through Grassington, Leyburn, Hawes, Kirkby Stephen, Sedbergh, Ingleton and Settle. The Yorkshire Dales have always welcomed visitors who enjoy the views. For cyclists, the national park and the areas overlapping its boundaries provide a splendid mix of varied scenic landscapes, an extensive network of roads and peaceful lanes and many cycle-friendly cafés and tea shops. With almost every turn revealing yet another stunning view, the Dales are an ideal area to explore by bike.

Read more less

In 1977-78, Brian Viner was a season ticket-holder in the Gwladys Street End at Goodison Park, home to his beloved Everton. In front of him were the stars of the day: striker Bob Latchford, creative midfielder Duncan McKenzie and goalkeeping hero George Wood. There were no airs and graces then: Viner would regularly see Latchford in the local pub, and even once saw Wood mowing the field at his school, so asked him to come and join his classmates for a kickabout, which he did. It would never happen now. But as well as nostalgia for that period, Viner reveals how this was a time when so much was on the cusp of change: in football the first wave of foreign players would arrive the next season, with Ossie Ardiles and Arnold Muhren among them; on Merseyside, the era of punk would soon give way to Thatcherism; and even Viner himself, at 16, was on the verge of adulthood. But little of what happened next could ever have been predicted. Viner's investigation of that year in the 1970s, based on many interviews with the players of the time, not only reveals a vanished era, but also shows how football often fails to look after its own, as the life stories of what happened to the players afterwards shows, but how the spirit of the sport will always shine through.

Read more less

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the technology behind the pico-solar revolution and offers guidance on how to test and choose quality products. The book also discusses how pioneering companies and initiatives are overcoming challenges to reach scale in the marketplace, from innovative distribution strategies to reach customers in rural India and Tanzania, to product development in Cambodia, product assembly in Mozambique and the introduction of ‘pay as you go’ technology in Kenya.Pico-solar is a new category of solar electric system which has the potential to transform the lives of over 1.6 billion people who live without access to electricity. Pico-solar systems are smaller and more affordable than traditional solar systems and have the power to provide useful amounts of electricity to charge the increasing number of low power consuming appliances from mobile phones, e-readers and parking metres, to LED lights which have the power to light up millions of homes in the same way the mobile phone has connected and empowered communities across the planet.The book explains the important role pico-solar has in reducing reliance on fossil fuels while at the same time tackling world poverty and includes useful recommendations for entrepreneurs, charities and governments who want to participate in developing this exciting and rapidly expanding market.

Read more less

Diversity these days is a hallowed American value, widely shared and honored. That's a remarkable change from the Civil Rights era-but does this public commitment to diversity constitute a civil rights victory? What does diversity mean in contemporary America, and what are the effects of efforts to support it? Ellen Berrey digs deep into those questions in The Enigma of Diversity. Drawing on six years of fieldwork and historical sources dating back to the 1950s and making extensive use of three case studies from widely varying arenas - housing redevelopment in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, affirmative action in the University of Michigan's admissions program, and the workings of the human resources department at a Fortune 500 company -Berrey explores the complicated, contradictory, and even troubling meanings and uses of diversity as it is invoked by different groups for different, often symbolic ends. In each case, diversity affirms inclusiveness, especially in the most coveted jobs and colleges, yet it resists fundamental change in the practices and cultures that are the foundation of social inequality. Berrey shows how this has led racial progress itself to be reimagined, transformed from a legal fight for fundamental rights to a celebration of the competitive advantages afforded by cultural differences. Powerfully argued and surprising in its conclusions, The Enigma of Diversity reveals the true cost of the public embrace of diversity: the taming of demands for racial justice.

Read more less

Diversity these days is a hallowed American value, widely shared and honored. That's a remarkable change from the Civil Rights era-but does this public commitment to diversity constitute a civil rights victory? What does diversity mean in contemporary America, and what are the effects of efforts to support it? Ellen Berrey digs deep into those questions in The Enigma of Diversity. Drawing on six years of fieldwork and historical sources dating back to the 1950s and making extensive use of three case studies from widely varying arenas - housing redevelopment in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood, affirmative action in the University of Michigan's admissions program, and the workings of the human resources department at a Fortune 500 company - Berrey explores the complicated, contradictory, and even troubling meanings and uses of diversity as it is invoked by different groups for different, often symbolic ends. In each case, diversity affirms inclusiveness, especially in the most coveted jobs and colleges, yet it resists fundamental change in the practices and cultures that are the foundation of social inequality. Berrey shows how this has led racial progress itself to be reimagined, transformed from a legal fight for fundamental rights to a celebration of the competitive advantages afforded by cultural differences. Powerfully argued and surprising in its conclusions, The Enigma of Diversity reveals the true cost of the public embrace of diversity: the taming of demands for racial justice.

Read more less

Having played host to the A-list and beau monde from Atlanta to Park Avenue to Beverly Hills, Alex Hitz is a consummate entertainer and bon vivant who can really cook. Elegance, comfort, and wit (and always a little decadence) suffuse every detail of every delightful and delicious occasion. Defying diets and trends, Alex treats guests like family with rich, Southern-inspired food and the generous traditions of Southern hospitality. Conceived as full menus, each occasion offers recipes and tips for ultimate success, from his always-perfect-every-time Thanksgiving table and epic Boxing Day buffet to a bright Easter brunch and an intimate Valentine s Day supper. In addition to twelve expertly curated menus, Hitz provides can t-fail recipes for his essential dishes, classic recipes every confident cook should have in their back pocket, from perfect vinaigrettes and homemade mayonnaise to Bel-Air Onion Puffs, Risotto alla Milanese, To-Die-For Ale-Braised Brisket, and Caroline s Tipsy Ambrosia. Ever the raconteur, Hitz delivers common-sense rules for the art of the guest and what always or never to do as a thoughtful host, providing readers with the skills and confidence to establish their own signature style.

Read more less

This is the ultimate bible to Paris unknown. If you want to see Paris like it is in the movies, Nessy will show you the director’s cut. If you seek the unusual and the underground, she’ll take you down the rabbit hole and park you at the mad hatter’s doorstep. If you think you know Paris, let Nessy challenge you. This book will encourage the wanderer within. It is a true traveller's companion as much as a beautifully-designed collectable for your bookshelf. You are about to acquire this curious local's key to the city that will unlock a precious vault of addresses. Within the pages of this beautifully bound hardback, you will find... 20 Secret Restaurants; 70 Time Traveller’s Bars and Cafés; 50 Romantic Hideaways and Unique Date Ideas; 60 Unexpected Cultural Alternatives to major museums; 50 Movie-worthy Walks & Eye-opening Neighbourhood Discoveries; 35 Cabinets of Curiosity and Aladdin’s Caves; 50 Hip Parisian Hangouts; 50 Places to Inspire & Use Your Creativity; 35 Booklover Havens; 60 Local Food Gems; 40 Places Parisian Families actually take their Kids; 65 Urban Retreats; 30 Obscure/ Underground Adventures; 50 Budget-friendly life-savers; Endless good-to-know Paris tips.

Read more less

It seems bizarre that in a place as crowded, noisy and expensive as London there are still wasted unused spaces. The relentless drive for regeneration across Britain’s capital deceives us into thinking that every spare building and patch of ground is under development. But this vast metropolis of more than 10 million people hides many secrets and unexpected treasures from the city’s unique 2000-year history. In Abandoned London, read about the Abbey Mills Pumping Station, a facility created in 1858 to deal with ‘the Great Stink’, and now London’s Italian-Gothic cathedral of sewage; or the subterranean Finsbury Park underground reservoir, a space capable of holding five million gallons of water and today used as an occasional movie location; or the remnants of Highgate’s overground steam railway station, now a protected bat habitat; or the Clapham deep-level shelters, constructed in World War II and designed to provide protection for locals against aerial bombing raids; or the Haggerston public baths, part of an early 20th century building programme devised to improve London’s hygiene. These photographs of abandoned places capture a moment in time. Some of the buildings have since been demolished or refurbished, but many are still there, neglected and uncared for. These places have great value and a rich significance, offering us a glimpse of past worlds.

Read more less

Important insight into the work of a truly great songwriter.Updated to include the albums Western Stars and Letter To You and packed full of insightful stories from Springsteen's long career, Bruce Springsteen: The Stories Behind the Songs takes a detailed look at each and every one of his tracks, providing a unique look at this rock legend's method, as well as some of the many anecdotes and tales that are prolific in his long music history.The legend of Bruce Springsteen may well outlast rock 'n' roll itself. And for all the muscle and magic of his life-shaking concerts with the E Street Band, it comes down to the songs – music that helped define the best version of the United States for itself and the rest of the world; that bridged the gap between Bob Dylan and James Brown, between Phil Spector and Hank Williams; and that somehow managed to make New Jersey seem like a promised land. Deeply researched, laced with insight from decades of fandom and original reporting, this book is an exhaustive and unique look at the writing, recording and significance of Springsteen's singular catalog of songs – the first book to cover every officially released track, from hits to obscurities, from 1974's Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. to 2014's High Hopes.

Read more less

At its peak in January 1945, 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park, reading 4000 messages a day, decrypting German and Japanese communications and helping the Allies to victory. But while we know that Bletchley was the centre of Britain’s World War II code-breaking, how did its efforts actually change the course of the war? Enigma: How Breaking the Code Helped Win World War II tells the story of Bletchley’s role in defeating U-boats in the Atlantic, breaking the Japanese codes, helping the Allies to victory in North Africa, deciphering the German military intelligence code, learning of most German positions in western Europe before the Normandy Landings, defeating the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean, and helping sink the German battleship Scharnhorst off Norway. In tracing these events, the book also delves into the stories of major Bletchley characters, ‘boffins’ such as Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman, and ‘Debs’ such as Joan Clarke and Margaret Rock. An accessible work of military history that ranges across air, land and naval warfare, the book also touches on the story of early computer science. Illustrated with 120 black-&-white and colour photographs, artworks and maps, Enigma: How Breaking the Code Helped Win World War II is an authoritative and novel perspective on WWII history.

Read more less

*** THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER (January 2024) ***'The best mystery-procedural series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong' STEPHEN KING'"[O]ne of the finest police procedural writers around... [Standing in the Shadows] is as narratively rich and surprising as Robinson's best work' NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWLate November, 1980. Student Nick Hartley returns from a lecture to find his house full of police officers. As he discovers that his ex-girlfriend has been found murdered in a nearby park, and her new boyfriend is missing, he realises two things in quick succession: he is undoubtedly a suspect as he has no convincing alibi, and he has own suspicions as to what might have happened . . .Late November 2019. An dig near Scotch Corner unearths a skeleton that turns out to be far more recent than the Roman remains the archaeologist is looking for. Detective Superintendent Alan Banks and his team are called in and, as an investigation into the find begins, the past and the present meet with devastating consequences.'The master of the police procedural' MAIL ON SUNDAY'Robinson delivers an impeccably structured, engagingly spun performance... Robinson was a master of the police procedural and his thoughtful, nuanced work will endure' IRISH TIMES

Read more less

Is she following a path of redemption or an enemy’s revenge? A crime reporter’s traumatic past comes back to haunt her in a twisting novel of lies, betrayals, and killer secrets. Investigative crime journalist Signe Gates’s life became a nightmare the day she was kidnapped and drugged. After forty-eight missing hours, she woke to a blur of unsettling memories and a warning from her unknown abductors: tell anyone what happened and they’ll die. They’ve already proved they will deliver on that threat. For two years, Signe has been haunted by what she knows she did and terrified of what else could be buried in her memories. Then an informant tells her two men recently found dead in Yosemite are connected to her missing hours, and more answers await her in the park’s backwoods. But she must hurry. Desperate to know who targeted her and why, she has no choice but to embark on the dangerous journey. With a seasoned hiker acting as her guide, Signe ventures into the wilderness to solve a crime, get justice for the crimes committed against her, and overcome her demons. If only she could trust the man leading her into the backwoods… Because with each new suspicion, deliverance is starting to look more and more like a trap.

Read more less

Paul is a top business executive hoping to be the next CEO of Ascendant—a New York-based tech giant. He neglects everything—his family and himself—in the race to the top. His fast-paced life is interrupted when he travels to Glastonbury, England, to visit friends in a village rich in history and mysticism. Glastonbury represents a complete counterpoint to Paul’s elite corporate day job. It compares to an amusement park, with shops and venues catering to spiritual seekers ranging from would-be witches, goddesses and druids, and burned-out hippies. Like many seekers before him, he is attracted to the energy of a nearby hill—Tor—said to be the mythical Isle of Avalon. Paul meets a beautiful soul reader, Christine, who reads his soul and plants the seeds that turn his life upside down. When he returns to New York, his wife, Mary, is skeptical. Is Paul having a spiritual awakening or is he falling in love with an attractive charlatan? His journey both scares and intrigues her as she watches him struggle to navigate between the business and spiritual worlds. A series of synchronistic events draws Paul closer to Glastonbury and Christine, compelling him and a reluctant Mary to return, unaware that their lives will never be the same.

Read more less

Marcia Duncan, a young girl with learning difficulties, lives with her alcoholic mother in a small terrace house on a rundown council estate, manages to survive her non eventful life with a mixture of hilarity, ignorance and naivety. The only solace and comfort she has outside of her own little world is her best friend Molly, who, despite not being the idol Marcia perceives, takes her under her wing, protecting and guiding her through the highs and lows of growing up, moving forward from childlike activities in the park to the likes of disco's, alcohol and fashion. The day that Marcia was dragged by her mother to the doctors to find out that she was seven months pregnant changed her life forever. She genuinely had no idea how it happened, and after Molly explains the gory details, and Lily constantly bombards her with questions, the hunt for the father begins. The consequent birth of her daughter is a blessing in disguise, giving her motivation for life, bringing family bonds to the surface and eventually a level of independence and self-worth. However the journey is far from smooth, and the frequent times when Marcia's clumsiness and accident prone comical antics, hamper any kind of progress do not help in the least.

Read more less

Pathfinder(R) Lake District covering Coniston, Kewswick and Devoke Water. This selection offers interest, regional variety and balance of routes in the Lake District providing the best walks in the area. From an easy stroll through Buttermere to the much more challenging walks in Rosthwaite and Stonethwaite this volume contains something for everyone. Covering walks through the whole of the Lake District both popular and little know scenic routes including Bowfell, Wetherlan and the Langdale Valleys. -See walk locations by Looking Inside Inside: -28 great walks in the Lake District from 2 to 10 miles -Clear, large scale Ordnance Survey route maps -GPS reference for all Lake District waypoints -Where to park, good pubs and places of interest en route -All routes have been fully researched and written by expert outdoor writers -Beautiful photography of scenes from the walks Pathfinder(R) Guides are Britain's best loved walking guides. Made with durable covers, they are the perfect companion for countryside walks throughout Britain. Each title features circular walks with easy-to-follow route descriptions, large-scale Ordnance Survey route maps and GPS waypoints.With over 70 titles in the series, they offer essential information for walkers throughout the country.

Read more less

It's raining! Can Spot and Dad find some puddles to splash in?In this new lift-the-flap story, Spot and Dad head out into the rain on a search for lots of big puddles to splash about in. But whilst they are on their puddle hunt, Spot disappears! Where did he go? Toddlers will enjoy searching for Spot as they explore lots of different locations such as the woods, the farm, and the play park - as well as lots of different types of weather! This new story is full of the unexpected surprises and gentle humour that makes the original Where's Spot? a children's classic. An added early learning spread at the end of the book also teaches children key weather vocabulary from the story.With interactive flaps to train fine motor skills, and an adventure that sparks curiosity and imagination, Find Spot: The Rainy Day is perfect for early learning and play.Eric Hill's Where's Spot? was the first ever lift-the-flap book - and his ground-breaking innovation continues to delight and surprise readers with interactive fun. Spot has now been a trusted character in early learning for over 40 years, selling over 65 million books worldwide.Loved this? Try these:Where's Spot?Find Spot at NurseryFind Spot at the ZooFind Spot: A Sporty DayFind Spot at the LibraryFind Spot at the Hospital

Read more less

'And in that instant, he knows in his heart that today is a momentous day; come what may, he and Alice will meet again, and life will never be the same.'Alice is stuck in an internship she loathes and a body she is forever trying to change.Ben, also in his early twenties, is still trying to find his place in the world.By chance they meet one day in a London park.Day 1Ben spots Alice sitting on a bench and feels compelled to speak to her. To his surprise, their connection is instant. But before numbers are exchanged, Alice is whisked off by her demanding boss. 20 minutes laterAlone in her office toilets, Alice looks at herself in the mirror and desperately searches for the beauty Ben could see in her. Meanwhile, having misunderstood a parting remark, Ben is already planning a trip to Glasgow where he believes Alice lives, not realising that they actually live barely ten miles apart.Over the next 31 days, Alice and Ben will discover that even if they never manage to find each other again, they have sparked a change in each other that will last a lifetime. In 31 Days of Wonder, Tom Winter shows us the magic of chance encounters and how one brief moment on a Thursday afternoon can change the rest of your life.

Read more less

Encuadernación: RústicaLa retransmisión en directo de los atentados del 11-S contra el World Trade Center no hizo sino confirmar hasta qué punto vivíamos en un mundo condicionado por el imaginario cinematográfico. Lo visto en las pantallas aquel 11 de septiembre de 2001 había sido imaginado en numerosas ocasiones por el cine de Hollywood. Sin embargo, fue precisamente ese mismo cine, en otro tiempo tan visionario, el que reaccionó tarde y de manera vacilante ante unos atentados que cambiaron el mundo. La que no tardó en ponerse a la altura de las circunstancias fue la ficción televisiva norteamericana. Series como 24, The Shield, Turno de guardia, South Park, Los Soprano, C.S.I., El Ala Oeste de la Casa Blanca o The Wire se apresuraron a tomarle el pulso a la historia y no dudaron en hacer del 11S, directa, alegórica y hasta sincrónicamente, un motivo dramático más. La ficción televisiva made in USA, lejos de mirar hacia otro lado o asumir, sin más, las razones gubernamentales, se a

Read more less

El caso JT Leroy es uno de los grandes escándalos de nuestro tiempo,y posiblemente uno de los fraudes literarios más fascinantes de la historia. En enero de 2006, un periodista del New York Times descubrió que Jeremiah Terminator Leroy, el turbado escritor transexual criado en un parking de camiones y obligado a prostituirse por su madre drogadicta, no había existido nunca. Por lo tanto, la figura misteriosa y ambigua que de vez en cuando se dejaba ver en entrevistas y eventos ?siempre con la cara cubierta por unas grandes gafas de sol y una peluca rubia? era en realidad Savannah Knoop, una joven de aspecto andrógino que a los dieciocho años se había visto forzada a abandonar sus estudios y consagrarse al papel de figurante en una rocambolesca farsa urdida por su cuñada, Laura Albert, la verdadera autora de Sarah, El corazón es mentiroso y El final de Harold, novelas aclamadas por la flor y nata de la intelectualidad pop de la época.Publicada originalmente en 2008, Chica, chico, chi

Read more less

"This informative, colourful hardback takes a detailed look inside the rewilding process, giving a whistle-stop tour of reintroduction projects around the globe and telling inspiring stories of wildlife brought back from the brink." – BBC Wildlife Magazine"For seven- or eight-and-up, a down-to-earth guide with a clear and hopeful message: humans have damaged the natural world, but with care, time and resources, we can make amends." – The GuardianRewilding means returning animals or plants to places where they used to live. In this book, acclaimed conservation biologist and science communicator David A. Steen introduces children to the scientists determined to turn back the hands of time to create a greener future. Read about awe-inspiring rewilding projects, including:– The wolves that returned to Yellowstone National Park and dramatically improved the ecosystem– The beavers reintroduced to their old territories to build dams to stop them flooding– The Galápagos giant tortoises who beat the odds to survive extinction and return to their island homeThroughout the heartwarming true stories, beautifully illustrated by award-winning artist Chiara Fedele, children will learn how different species evolved to live side by side and will see what it takes to be a conservation scientist. They might even be inspired to become a wildlife activist themselves!By the end of the book kids will be left with a key message: it’s not too late to fix the planet.

Read more less

610 (County of Chester) Squadron was formed in February 1936 as a bomber squadron. With personnel recruited from the local area for the expanding Auxiliary Air Force, these `weekend fliers' were moulded into a cohesive fighting unit at Hooton Park, Cheshire. However, as the Second World War loomed, 610 Squadron transferred to Fighter Command, ultimately operating the iconic Supermarine Spitfire. Flying from Gravesend, 610 Squadron suffered seven pilots killed and one wounded whilst desperately protecting the Dunkirk evacuation. The Squadron then played a key role in the Battle of Britain, claiming a heavy toll on the Luftwaffe whilst operating from Biggin Hill and Hawkinge. After further tragic losses, 610's veterans moved to Acklington, Northumberland, to train replacement pilots. Despite the famous photographs of its men and aircraft during 1940, 610's valiant history remains largely unknown. This detailed book recounts their heroic story for the first time, combining the Operations Record Book with Combat Reports, pilots' Log Books, ground crew and relatives' testimonies, plus a rare interview with Wing Commander Brian Smith, a founding Squadron member who fought during 1940. Finally, this fascinating story is brought to life with many unpublished photographs from the Squadron's Association, to recognise 610 Squadron's brave sacrifice.

Read more less

This book is a detailed overview of the corporate and financial laws of Korea and analyzes current issues within those fields from both academic and practical perspectives, providing a unique tool for understanding Korean law in a business and financial context. The approach of the book is two-fold. On the one hand the book offers valuable insight into the fundamental principles of Korean business law, and landmark cases in the field. On the other hand there is extensive analysis of more recent developments and of current issues raised by recent court cases. The book combines coverage of Korean corporate law and Korean financial law and includes detailed examination of corporate law issues such as director liability, minority shareholder protection, and the dynamic practice area of mergers and acquisitions, and of financial law topics, including private equity, structured finance and foreign financial institutions. A rich and extensive resource with insight from leading scholars and practitioners, Korean Business Law will be of great benefit both to lawyers who have clients with business interests in Korea, and to scholars of international corporate law and governance. Contributors: B.S. Black, B.R. Cheffins, A.Z. Chen, J. Cho, H.J. Kang, T.D. Kang, H.-J. Kim, H. Kim, S.G. Kim, M. Klausner, K.H. Moon, H. Oh, S.-J. Park, A.C. Pritchard, H.-J. Rho, E.Y. Shin

Read more less

Now if I just remembered where I put that original TV play device--the universal remote control . . .Television is a global industry, a medium of representation, an architectural component of space, and a nearly universal frame of reference for viewers. Yet it is also an abstraction and an often misunderstood science whose critical influence on the development, history, and diffusion of new media has been both minimized and overlooked. How Television Invented New Media adjusts the picture of television culturally while providing a corrective history of new media studies itself.Personal computers, video game systems, even iPods and the Internet built upon and borrowed from television to become viable forms. The earliest personal computers, disguised as video games using TV sets as monitors, provided a case study for television's key role in the emergence of digital interactive devices. Sheila C. Murphy analyzes how specific technologies emerge and how representations, from South Park to Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, mine the history of television just as they converge with new methods of the making and circulation of images. Past and failed attempts to link television to computers and the Web also indicate how services like Hulu or Netflix On-Demand can give rise to a new era for entertainment and program viewing online. In these concrete ways, television's role in new and emerging media is solidified and finally recognized.

Read more less

'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.' The courageous pilots of the Royal Air Force who faced the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain, affectionately known as 'the Few', are rightly hailed as heroes. Recently, efforts have been made to recognise the thousands who supported RAF operations behind the scenes. And yet one group remains missing from the narrative: the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. The Women Behind the Few explores the Second World War from the perspective of the WAAFs working behind the scenes to collect and disseminate vital intelligence - intelligence that resulted in Allied victory. WAAFs worked within the Dowding System, the world's most sophisticated air defence network, as well as in the Y Service, intercepting German communications. Throughout the Blitz, they used radar to aid Fighter and Bomber Commands in protecting Britain's civilians. WAAFs also assisted with the Allied offensive bombing campaign and were behind the discovery of the terrifying German V-weapons. Their work was critical ahead of the Normandy landings and they were present in their hundreds at Bletchley Park. In this thrilling book, Sarah-Louise Miller brings the women of the force back to life, celebrating their wartime contribution to British military intelligence. Hidden behind the Few but vital to their success, WAAFs supplied the RAF with life-saving information. Here, for the first time, is their story.

Read more less

It all started with Nathanael Johnson’s decision to teach his daughter the name of every tree they passed on their walk to day care in San Francisco. This project turned into a quest to discover the secrets of the neighborhood’s flora and fauna, and yielded more than names and trivia: Johnson developed a relationship with his nonhuman neighbors.Johnson argues that learning to see the world afresh, like a child, shifts the way we think about nature: Instead of something distant and abstract, nature becomes real—all at once comical, annoying, and beautiful. This shift can add tremendous value to our lives, and it might just be the first step in saving the world.No matter where we live—city, country, oceanside, or mountains—there are wonders that we walk past every day. Unseen City widens the pinhole of our perspective by allowing us to view the world from the high-altitude eyes of a turkey vulture and the distinctly low-altitude eyes of a snail. The narrative allows us to eavesdrop on the comically frenetic life of a squirrel and peer deep into the past with a ginkgo biloba tree. Each of these organisms has something unique to tell us about our neighborhoods and, chapter by chapter, Unseen City takes us on a journey that is part nature lesson and part love letter to the world’s urban jungles. With the right perspective, a walk to the subway can be every bit as entrancing as a walk through a national park.

Read more less

The rise to power of one of Canada’s most progressive municipal movements in recent memory.When it was dreamed up in the early 2000s by a transportation bureaucrat with a quixotic dream of bringing tramways back to the streets of Montreal, few expected Projet Montréal to go anywhere. But a decade and a half later, the party was a grassroots powerhouse with an ambitious agenda that had taken power at city hall—after dumping its founder, barely surviving a divisive leadership campaign and earning the ire of motorists across Quebec.Projet Montréal aspired to transform Montreal into a green, human-scale city with few, if any equal in North America. Equal parts reportage, oral history and memoir, Saving the City chronicles what the party did right, where it failed, and where it’s headed. Written from the perspective of someone who worked for Projet Montréal’s administration for almost a decade, Daniel Sanger’s book draws on dozens of interviews with other actors in the party and on the municipal scene, past and present.A highly readable history of Montreal municipal politics over the past 30 years, Saving the City will also discuss issues of interest to city-dwellers across Canada. Are political parties at the municipal level a good thing? Is Montreal’s borough system a model for other big cities? What are the best ways to control urban car use? What is the optimum width for a sidewalk? The best kind of street tree? And why free parking is a terrible idea.

Read more less

A masterclass in espionage thriller fiction from the heir to John le Carre for fans of Mick Herron, Charles Cumming and David McCloskey. Meet disgraced MI5 agent Slim Parsons, a character who - like Lisbeth Salander - will sear your soulSlim Parsons is all but burned. Her last deep cover job for MI5 ended with a life-and-death struggle on a private jet that caused her to go on the run from both the deadly target and her angry bosses in the Security Service. They say that violence comes too easily to her; that she's bordering on delinquent and unsuitable for the roll of an MI5 operative.Yet she is recalled and asked to infiltrate a news website that's causing alarm in the highest circles. It is staffed by a group descended from wartime codebreakers operating from an unassuming office block near Bletchley Park. Operation Linesman looks like a come down, the curtain on a brilliant career in the shadows. However, she accepts the assignment on condition that the Security Service searches for her missing brother. Linesman turns out to be anything but simple. Her personal loss, her previous deep cover role, and a threat to MI5 itself from her original target come together in a three-way collision. And all the while she is watched by someone even deeper in the shadows than she is.

Read more less

Discover the history of one of the most exciting eras in the history of the United States and some of its most fascinating characters . . . the mountain men! They were the first white men to penetrate the continent, and they soon lost their identity, becoming something completely new and different. The popular legends of the mountain men were generated from a surprisingly short period in American history. From the first forays up the Missouri River in the early 1800s to the final Rendezvous at Horse Creek in 1840, fewer than forty years had passed. The legends were based on tales of incredible survival against the odds. Harsh winter conditions, dangerous terrain, and the constant threat of Indian encounters all challenged the mountain men. Some stories, like that of John Colter, who is thought to be the fist white man to have explored what is now Yellowstone National Park, were derided as being far-fetched. In order to survive, the mountain man had to be a superb marksman, a skilled horseman, and a trapper, and one who knew about nature and the seasons. As they sought ever more distant trapping grounds, the mountain men carved out a path that made the crossing of the American continent a reality rather than a dream. The demand for beaver fur has long since died out, but the tracks of the mountain men are still there to be seen. Through this detailed and comprehensively illustrated book, The Lives of Mountain Men brings us their stories!

Read more less

Danny’s parents yanked him from the art school that let him wear a kilt and listen to bands that no one’s heard of. Now he’s starting sophomore year at the public high school—the one with the gymnasium at the heart of the building and the glorified athletes who rule it all. The smart thing would be to blend in, but Danny has always been about making statements.Brady just wants to get out. Go to college, play football, maybe reach the NFL. He definitely wants to stop waiting for his deadbeat mother to come home, sleeping on park benches, and going to bed hungry. But first he has to lead the team to the championships. It all adds up to a lot of stress. So who can really blame him when he and the football team turn their aggressions on the new freak? Even the quarterback needs to blow off steam sometimes.Coach turns a blind eye to his players’ crimes—because this year, they’re going to State. But maybe if Coach had paid more attention they could’ve caught it before it all happened. Maybe it could’ve been avoided.Maybe. With quick cuts between a large cast of unforgettable characters, and razor-sharp plotting, Tom Leveen takes readers on a countdown to an inevitable, horrifying act. This gripping novel offers an intense, smart perspective on the tragic, toxic mindsets behind the celebrated American sport and the monsters it creates.

Read more less

A “well-written, engaging detective story” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) about a rogue who trades in rare birds and their eggs—and the wildlife detective determined to stop him.On May 3, 2010, an Irish national named Jeffrey Lendrum was apprehended at Britain’s Birmingham International Airport with a suspicious parcel strapped to his stomach. Inside were fourteen rare peregrine falcon eggs snatched from a remote cliffside in Wales. So begins a “vivid tale of obsession and international derring-do” (Publishers Weekly), following the parallel lives of a globe-trotting smuggler who spent two decades capturing endangered raptors worth millions of dollars as race champions—and Detective Andy McWilliam of the United Kingdom’s National Wildlife Crime Unit, who’s hell bent on protecting the world’s birds of prey. “Masterfully constructed” (The New York Times) and “entertaining and illuminating” (The Washington Post), The Falcon Thief will whisk you away from the volcanoes of Patagonia to Zimbabwe’s Matobo National Park, and from the frigid tundra near the Arctic Circle to luxurious aviaries in the deserts of Dubai, all in pursuit of a man who is reckless, arrogant, and gripped by a destructive compulsion to make the most beautiful creatures in nature his own. It’s a story that’s part true-crime narrative, part epic adventure—and wholly unputdownable until the very last page.

Read more less

In the summer of 1845, Frederick Douglass, the young runaway slave catapulted to fame by his incendiary autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, arrived in Liverpool for the start of a near-two-year tour of Britain and Ireland he always called one of the most transformative periods of his life. Laurence Fenton draws on a wide array of sources from both sides of the Atlantic and combines a unique insight into the early years of one of the great figures of the nineteenth-century world with rich profiles of the enormous personalities at the heart of the transatlantic anti-slavery movement. This vivid portrait of life in Victorian Britain is the first to fully explore the ‘liberating sojourn’ that ended with Douglass gaining his freedom – paid for by British supporters – before returning to America as a celebrity and icon of international standing. It also follows his later life, through the American Civil War and afterwards. Douglass has been described as ‘the most influential African American of the nineteenth century’. He spoke and wrote on behalf of a variety of reform causes: women’s rights, temperance, peace, land reform, free public education and the abolition of capital punishment. But he devoted most of his time, immense talent and boundless energy to ending slavery. On April 14, 1876, Douglass would deliver the keynote speech at the unveiling of the Emancipation Memorial in Washington’s Lincoln Park.

Read more less

It’s 1875, and Alva Webster has perfected her stiff upper lip after three years of being pilloried in the presses of two continents over fleeing her abusive husband. Now his sudden death allows her to return to New York to make a fresh start, restoring Liefdehuis, a dilapidated Hyde Park mansion, and hopefully her reputation at the same time. However, fresh starts aren’t as easy as they seem, as Alva discovers when stories of a haunting at Liefdehuis begin to reach her. But Alva doesn’t believe in ghosts. So when the eccentric and brilliant professor Samuel Moore appears and informs her that he can get to the bottom of the mystery that surrounds Liefdehuis, she turns him down flat. She doesn’t need any more complications in her life - especially not a handsome, convention-flouting, scandal-raising one like Sam. Unfortunately, though Alva is loath to admit it, Sam, a pioneer in electric lighting and a member of the nationally-adored Moore family of scientists, is the only one who can help. Together, the two delve into the tragic secrets wreathing Alva’s new home while Sam attempts to unlock Alva’s history - and her heart. Set during the Gilded Age in New York City, The Widow of Rose House is a gorgeous debut by Diana Biller, with a darkly Victorian Gothic flair and an intrepid and resilient American heroine guaranteed to delight readers.

Read more less