Search results for ""Shelter""

"I'll search you out, put my lips to your tender ear, and tell you...I'll tell you the real story--I swear I will."--from Little One by Toge Sankichi Three Japanese authors of note--Hara Tamiki, Ota Yoko, and Toge Sankichi--survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima only to shoulder an appalling burden: bearing witness to ultimate horror. Between 1945 and 1952, in prose and in poetry, they published the premier first-person accounts of the atomic holocaust. Forty-five years have passed since August 6, 1945, yet this volume contains the first complete English translation of Hara's Summer Flowers, the first English translation of Ota's City of Corpses, and a new translation of Toge's Poems of the Atomic Bomb. No reader will emerge unchanged from reading these works. Different from each other in their politics, their writing, and their styles of life and death, Hara, Ota, and Toge were alike in feeling compelled to set down in writing what they experienced. Within forty-eight hours of August 6, before fleeing the city for shelter in the hills west of Hiroshima, Hara jotted down this note: "Miraculously unhurt; must be Heaven's will that I survive and report what happened." Ota recorded her own remarks to her half-sister as they walked down a street littered with corpses: "I'm looking with two sets of eyesthe eyes of a human being and the eyes of a writer." And the memorable words of Toge quoted above come from a poem addressed to a child whose father was killed in the South Pacific and whose mother died on August 6th--who would tell of that day? The works of these three authors convey as much of the "real story" as can be put into words.

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** WINNER OF THE 2022 WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE **THE TIMES' THRILLER OF THE MONTH'A heart-pounding survival thriller set in the starkly beautiful far north of Norway. Gripping and adrenalin-fuelled, yet also written with a tenderness that warms even the most chilling of chases.' LUCY CLARKE, author of The CastawaysErik Amdahl and his spirited daughter, Sofia, have embarked on a long-promised cross-country ski trip deep into Norway's arctic circle. For Erik, it's the chance to bond properly with his remaining daughter following a tragic accident. For Sofia, it's the proof she needs that her father does care.Then, far from home in this snowbound wilderness, with night falling and the mercury plummeting, an accident sends them in search of help - and shelter. Nearby is the home of a couple - members of Norway's indigenous Sami people - who they've met before, and who welcome them in. Erik is relieved.He believes the worst is over. He thinks that Sofia is now safe. He could not be more wrong.Because he and Sofia are not the old couple's only visitors that night - and soon he and his daughter will be running for their lives . . .And beneath the swirling light show of the Northern Lights, a desperate fight ensues - of man against man, of man against nature - a fight for survival that plays out across the snow and ice.A story of endurance and of the desperate, instinctive will to survive, of a father's love for his child, of knowing when to let go - and of a daughter's determination to prove herself worthy of that love, Where Blood Runs Cold is a pulse-racing thriller from a master storyteller.'A terrific winter chiller . . . utterly gripping.' AMY McCULLOCH, author of Breathless

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The brand-new escapist summer novel from Sunday Times bestseller Jenny Colgan. Fall in love with a new cast of characters and get swept away in a breath-taking romance you'll want to read again and again . . .'A glorious, breathtaking, tender romance. I loved every moment of the ride' SOPHIE KINSELLA'[A] blast of feelgood fiction [...] it makes me want to head for the Highlands' THE TIMES'You'll be racing through the pages' INDEPENDENT'Another Colgan classic for the beach bag' WOMEN'S WEEKLY___________________________________Born into a family of successful pilots, Morag is used to flying high. But when a tragic accident above the clouds grounds her, could the future she'd always imagined be suddenly out of reach?When she receives a call telling her that her beloved grandfather has been taken ill, Morag leaves her fast-paced life in London to return home to the tranquil Scottish Highlands. With her grandfather out of action, Morag has no choice but to take over flying the local route in his rickety old plane, ferrying locals across the beautiful islands of the archipelago.But as the weather takes a dramatic turn, Morag is forced to crash-land on a remote island and suddenly finds herself far from civilisation and all alone. Then she discovers Gregor, the gruff and reclusive ornithologist taking care of the island for the season. Though the pair don't see eye to eye, Morag is forced to seek shelter at his cabin and it seems the pair are stuck together until help arrives. However long that may be . . .As she awaits rescue, might Morag discover that a remote Scottish island, cut off from real-life, is exactly the place she needs to be? Don't miss Jenny's new festive treat, Midnight at the Christmas Bookshop, available to pre-order now!

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You’re a backpacker or a hunter lost in the woods after sundown; what do you do? Your car flips over on an empty highway; how will you survive until morning? If you were left alone in the middle of the wilderness, would you be able to make it? While current technology, such as cell phones and GPS, is helpful, when you are lost in the wilderness the best things you can rely on are your own skills. Badass Survival Secrets will introduce you to everything that you need to survive when the unexpected happens. In this book you’ll learn basic survival skills such as:• How to build a fire• How to find clean water• How to find food that is safe to eat• How to build a shelter• Basic navigation• And many more useful skills!From the forest, to the tundra, and everywhere in between, Badass Survival Secrets contains all that you need to become a badass survivalist expert.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, is proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.In addition to books on popular team sports, we also publish books for a wide variety of athletes and sports enthusiasts, including books on running, cycling, horseback riding, swimming, tennis, martial arts, golf, camping, hiking, aviation, boating, and so much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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In this provocative and timely book, Luis Eladio Torres challenges a common assumption: that education is the "first priority" for families, including those who are raising their children in low-income, high-need communities. Instead, he argues that these families must confront daunting challenges in five other areas—food, shelter, safety, health, and access to technology—before they can focus on their children's education.To make his case, Torres draws on his experience as the award-winning principal of an elementary school in the Bronx and as a leader in New York City's community schools network. A community school focuses on educating the whole child, supporting families, and extending its reach into the larger community—both by tapping into resources the community can offer and by providing a range of social and health services to that community.The Six Priorities: How to Find the Resources Your School Community Needs demonstrates how leaders in challenging education environments can improve their schools through a "community-matching process" that consists of four steps:1. Identifying the gaps between what is available and what is necessary for a school and its community to function well2. Specifying needs, including prioritizing and distinguishing needs from wants.3. Telling your story, as a way to gain support for the effort to close the gap and address the needs. 4. Establishing strategic partnerships with individuals, organizations, and agencies that can provide resources and expertise.To help you implement the process in your own school, this insightful guide includes a downloadable community-matching worksheet. The goals of this process are clear: to reduce the shocking inequities between impoverished communities and their wealthier counterparts; to help disadvantaged students succeed; and, ultimately, to steer them toward productive lives beyond the classroom. The need has never been greater.

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205 Group RAF provided the only mobile force of heavy night bombers in the Mediterranean theatre in the Second World War. It operated mainly from bases in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Italy, with occasional excursions to Malta, Greece and Iraq, attacking tactical and strategic targets according to the demands of the wider war in the theatre. The force was relatively small when compared with the numbers of aircraft available to Bomber Command in the Western European theatre, and it carried on using the venerable Vickers Wellington long after this aircraft had been relegated to the training role in the United Kingdom. Like their UK-based counterparts the night bombers were intended to operate in a strategic role, bombing targets away from the immediate battlefront. However, the demands of the war in the Middle East and Mediterranean soon diverted the bombers from their strategic role and saw them operating much closer to the front line in support of the hard pressed ground forces. The bomber squadrons in North Africa usually operated from Advanced Landing Grounds scraped out of the bare desert, with only a few tents for shelter. In Italy they did have more or less permanent bases, but they still lived in tents (if they were lucky) often surrounded by a sea of mud. There were no pubs, often no beer, and the only contact with their families were the eagerly awaited letters from home. Also the squadrons in England did not have Rommel continually knocking on their door. Thus, the operations of the night bombers in the Middle East and Mediterranean were often governed by the general progress of the war in the theatre. The ebb and flow of the land battles not only determined the activities of the night bombers, but also determined their location. This book tells their story.

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New creative nonfiction by some of Michigan’s most well-known and highly acclaimed authors.Elemental: A Collection of Michigan Creative Nonfiction comes to us from twenty-three of Michigan’s most well-known essayists. A celebration of the elements, this collection is both the storm and the shelter. In her introduction, editor Anne-Marie Oomen recalls the ""ritual dousing"" of her storytelling group's bonfire: ""wind, earth, fire, water, all of it simultaneous in that one gesture. . . . In that moment we are bound together with these elements and with this place, the circle around the fire on the shores of a Great Lake closes, complete.""The essays approach Michigan at the atomic level. This is a place where weather patterns and ecology matter. Farmers, miners, shippers, and loggers have built (or lost) their livelihoodon Michigan’s nature—what could and could not be made out of our elements. From freshwater lakes that have shaped the ground beneath our feet to the industrial ebb and flow of iron ore and wind power-ours is a state of survival and transformation. In the first section of the book, ""Earth,"" Jerry Dennis remembers working construction in northern Michigan. ""Water"" includes a piece from Jessica Mesman, who writes of the appearance of snow in different iterations throughout her life. The section ""Wind"" houses essays about the ungraspable nature of death from Toi Dericotte and Keith Taylor. ""Fire"" includes pieces Mardi Jo Link, who recollects the unfortunate series of circumstances surrounding one of her family members.Elemental's strength lies in its ability to learn from the past in the hope of defining a wiser future. A lot of literature can make this claim, but not all of it comes together so organically. Fans of nonfiction that reads as beautifully as fiction will love this collection.

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The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, are the world's targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015 income poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter while promoting gender equality, education, health and environmental sustainability. These bold goals can be met in all parts of the world if nations follow through on their commitments to work together to meet them. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals offers the prospect of a more secure, just, and prosperous world for all. The UN Millennium Project was commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to develop a practical plan of action to meet the Millennium Development Goals. As an independent advisory body directed by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, the UN Millennium Project submitted its recommendations to the UN Secretary General in January 2005. The core of the UN Millennium Project's work has been carried out by 10 thematic Task Forces comprising more than 250 experts from around the world, including scientists, development practitioners, parliamentarians, policymakers, and representatives from civil society, UN agencies, the World Bank, the IMF, and the private sector. This report lays out the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project Task Force 5 Working Group on Access to Essential Medicine. The Working Group recommends increasing the availability, affordability, and appropriate use of medicines in developing countries. This will require new incentives for research; better procurement, supply and distribution; strengthened primary health systems; pro-poor planning and budgeting; close collaboration with communities; and large increases in funding and the number of health workers. These bold yet practical approaches will ensure that substantially more people living in developing countries will have access to essential medicines by 2015.

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By early April 1914, Colorado Governor Elias Ammons thought the violence in his state’s strike-bound southern coal district had eased enough that he could begin withdrawing the Colorado National Guard, deployed six months earlier as military occupiers. But Ammons misread the signals, and on April 20, 1914, a full-scale battle erupted between the remaining militiamen and armed strikers living in a tent colony at the small railroad town of Ludlow. Eight men were killed in the fighting, which culminated in the burning of the colony. The next day, the bodies of two women and eleven children were found suffocated in a below-ground shelter. The “Ludlow Massacre,” as it quickly became known, launched a national call-to-arms for union supporters to join a ten-day guerrilla war along more than two hundred miles of the eastern Rockies. The convulsion of arson and violence killed more than thirty people and didn’t end until President Woodrow Wilson sent in the U.S. Army. Overall at least seventy-five men, women, and children were killed in seven months, likely the nation’s deadliest labor struggle.In Blood Passion, journalist Scott Martelle explores this little-noted tale of political corruption and repression and immigrants’ struggles against dominant social codes of race, ethnicity, and class. More than a simple labor dispute, the events surrounding Ludlow embraced some of the most volatile social movements of the early twentieth century, pitting labor activists, socialists, and anarchists against the era’s powerful business class, including John D. Rockefeller, Jr., and helped give rise to the modern twins of corporate public relations and political “spin.” But at its heart, Blood Passion is the dramatic story of small lives merging into a movement for change and of the human struggle for freedom and dignity.

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Camping or backpacking in winter is appealing for many who enjoy the serenity of wilderness settings without the crowds and bustle of the summer season. But as rewarding as they can be, these outings require special preparation and a different set of skills than are necessary at other times of the year. Snowfall can quickly cover one's tracks and make orientation difficult. Hypothermia is insidious, and rapidly changing weather conditions can become treacherous, even life-threatening.In addition to those who are exploring the outdoors recreationally, there are also those who find themselves in unexpected winter survival situations. Each year, people become stranded in wilderness areas, and in most cases they are not equipped to face the challenge of spending an indefinite amount of time outside. Without sufficient gear or knowledge of how to improvise without it, injury or death is often the result. The development of some basic skills, however, can help avert such unfortunate outcomes.As the founder of the renowned nature awareness program Primitive Pursuits, Dave Hall has been practicing survival skills for more than twenty years and has amassed a comprehensive understanding of winter survival. By refining these skills, Dave has reached a point of understanding that is without peer. Through detailed explanations, illustrations, and personal anecdotes, Winter in the Wilderness imparts Dave's knowledge to readers, who will learn to meet their most basic needs: making fire, creating shelter, obtaining safe drinking water, navigating terrain, and procuring sustenance.Winter in the Wilderness is a handbook for those who want to explore cold-weather camping and those who might find themselves in need of this critical information during an unexpected winter's night out. Whether used for pleasure or for survival, Winter in the Wilderness emphasizes the benefits of enriching and deepening our connection with the outdoors.

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Ranging across the 4.6 billion year history of the planet, geology is the subject that encompasses almost all that we see around us, in one way or another, and also much that we cannot see, beneath our feet, and on other planets. The fruits of geology provide most of the materials that give us shelter, and most of the energy that drives our modern lives. Within the study of geology lie some of the clues to the extraordinary impact our species is going to play out on the planet, in centuries and millennia to come. In this Very Short Introduction Jan Zalasiewicz gives a brief introduction to the fascinating field of geology. Describing how the science developed from its early beginnings, he looks at some of the key discoveries that have transformed it, before delving into its various subfields, such as sedimentology, tectonics, and stratigraphy. Analysing the geological foundations of the Earth, Zalasiewicz explains the interlocking studies of tectonics, geophysics, and igneous and metamorphic petrology and geochemistry; and describes how rocks are dated by radiometric dating. Considering the role and importance of geology in the finding and exploitation of resources (including fracking), he also discusses its place in environmental issues, such as foundations for urban structures and sites for landfill, and in tackling issues associated with climate change. Zalasiewicz concludes by discussing the exciting future and frontiers of the field, such as the exploration of the geology of Mars. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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‘It was like heaven! It was like a palace, even without anything in it … We’d got this lovely, lovely house.’In 1980, there were well over 5 million council homes in Britain, housing around one third of the population. The right of all to adequate housing had been recognised in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, but, long before that, popular notions of what constituted a ‘moral economy’ had advanced the idea that everyone was entitled to adequate shelter.At its best, council housing has been at the vanguard of housing progress – an example to the private sector and a lifeline for working-class and vulnerable people. However, with the emergence of Thatcherism, the veneration of the free market and a desire to curtail public spending, council housing became seen as a problem, not a solution.We are now in the midst of a housing crisis, with 1.4 million fewer social homes at affordable rent than in 1980.In this highly illustrated survey, eminent social historian John Boughton, author of Municipal Dreams, examines the remarkable history of social housing in the UK. He presents 100 examples, from the almshouses of the 16th century to Goldsmith Street, the 2019 winner of the RIBA Stirling Prize. Through the various political, aesthetic and ideological changes, the well-being of community and environment demands that good housing for all must prevail.Features: 100 examples of social housing from all over the UK, illustrated with over 250 images including photographs and sketches. A complete history, dating from early charitable provision to ‘homes for heroes’, garden villages to new towns, multi-storey tower blocks and modernist developments to contemporary sustainable housing. Iconic estates, including: Alton East and West, Becontree, Dawson’s Heights, Donnybrook Quarter, Dunboyne Road and Park Hill. Projects from leading architects and practices, including: Peter Barber, Neave Brown, Karakusevic Carson, Kate Macintosh and Mikhail Riches.

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Permaculture is more than just the latest buzzword; it offers positive solutions for many of the environmental and social challenges confronting us. And nowhere are those remedies more needed and desired than in our cities. The Permaculture City provides a new way of thinking about urban living, with practical examples for creating abundant food, energy security, close-knit communities, local and meaningful livelihoods, and sustainable policies in our cities and towns. The same nature-based approach that works so beautifully for growing food—connecting the pieces of the landscape together in harmonious ways—applies perfectly to many of our other needs. Toby Hemenway, one of the leading practitioners and teachers of permaculture design, illuminates a new way forward through examples of edge-pushing innovations, along with a deeply holistic conceptual framework for our cities, towns, and suburbs. The Permaculture City begins in the garden but takes what we have learned there and applies it to a much broader range of human experience; we’re not just gardening plants but people, neighborhoods, and even cultures. Hemenway lays out how permaculture design can help towndwellers solve the challenges of meeting our needs for food, water, shelter, energy, community, and livelihood in sustainable, resilient ways. Readers will find new information on designing the urban home garden and strategies for gardening in community, rethinking our water and energy systems, learning the difference between a “job” and a “livelihood,” and the importance of placemaking and an empowered community. This important book documents the rise of a new sophistication, depth, and diversity in the approaches and thinking of permaculture designers and practitioners. Understanding nature can do more than improve how we grow, make, or consume things; it can also teach us how to cooperate, make decisions, and arrive at good solutions.

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In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones' infamous Altamont concert, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s. In the annals of rock history, the Altamont Speedway Free Festival on December 6, 1969, has long been seen as the distorted twin of Woodstock-the day that shattered the Sixties' promise of peace and love when a concertgoer was killed by a member of the Hells Angels, the notorious biker club acting as security. While most people know of the events from the film Gimme Shelter, the whole story has remained buried in varied accounts, rumor, and myth-until now. Altamont explores rock's darkest day, a fiasco that began well before the climactic death of Meredith Hunter and continued beyond that infamous December night. Joel Selvin probes every aspect of the show-from the Stones' hastily planned tour preceding the concert to the bad acid that swept through the audience to other deaths that also occurred that evening-to capture the full scope of the tragedy and its aftermath. He also provides an in-depth look at the Grateful Dead's role in the events leading to Altamont, examining the band's behind-the-scenes presence in both arranging the show and hiring the Hells Angels as security. The product of twenty years of exhaustive research and dozens of interviews with many key players, including medical staff, Hells Angels members, the stage crew, and the musicians who were there, and featuring sixteen pages of color photos, Altamont is the ultimate account of the final event in rock's formative and most turbulent decade.

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Nobel Laureate and two-time Booker prize-winning author of Disgrace and The Life and Times of Michael K, J. M. Coetzee reimagines Daniel DeFoe's classic novel Robinson Crusoe in Foe. In an act of breathtaking imagination, J.M Coetzee radically reinvents the story of Robinson Crusoe.In the early eighteenth century, Susan Barton finds herself adrift from a mutinous ship and cast ashore on a remote desert island. There she finds shelter with its only other inhabitants: a man named Cruso and his tongueless slave, Friday. In time, she builds a life for herself as Cruso's companion and, eventually, his lover. At last they are rescued by a passing ship, but only she and Friday survive the journey back to London.Determined to have her story told, she pursues the eminent man of letters Daniel Foe in the hope that he will relate truthfully her memories to the world. But with Cruso dead, Friday incapable of speech and Foe himself intent on reshaping her narrative, Barton struggles to maintain her grip on the past, only to fall victim to the seduction of storytelling itself.Treacherous, elegant and unexpectedly moving, Foe remains one of the most exquisitely composed of this pre-eminent author's works.'A small miracle of a book. . . of marvellous intricacy and overwhelming power' Washington Post'A superb novel' The New York TimesSouth African author J. M. Coetzee was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2003 and was the first author to win the Booker Prize twice for his novels Disgrace and The Life and Times of Michael K. His novel set during the South African apartheid, Age of Iron, winner of the Sunday Express Book of the Year award is also available in Penguin paperback.

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By the mercy of God I am a Christian, by my deeds a great sinner, by calling a homeless wanderer of the lowliest origins, roaming from place to place. Here, see my belongings: a bag of dry crusts on my back and the Holy Bible in my breast pocket; that's it.In 1884 there appeared in Russia a slim volume containing four short tales. They told of a pilgrim, a lone wanderer, led by his quiet curiosity and a deep spiritual longing to undertake a lifelong journey across the land. A folk hero, a figure familiar from the works of Tolstoy and Leskov, this gentle pilgrim and his simple story would soon travel the world - and would even, much later, traverse the pages of JD Salinger's Franny and Zooey as the 'small pea-green cloth-bound book' that Franny keeps close in her handbag. The pilgrim's ancient journey takes him from a city monastery through forests, fields and the steppes of Siberia. He walks by day and by night, through rains and summer months, finding food and shelter where he can. Along the way, he encounters priests and professors, convicts, nuns and beggars, a tipsy old man in a soldier's greatcoat, from whom he slowly gathers great stores of wisdom and experience. But at the heart of his journey is his time spent praying as he journeys on alone, discovering the peace and consolation that come of constant prayer and silent contemplation.Simple and sincere, The Way of a Pilgrim paints an enduring picture of a life of detachment through wandering and prayer. And, as the pilgrim makes his way through the wilds, he invites us to travel with him, along an ancient path into an immense, mystical landscape.

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These real-life stories of senior dogs who found forever homes through Old Friends Senior Dog Sanctuary will delight any young animal lover. TheHomecoming Tales of sweet, sassy, and sometimes hilarious old friends offer kids a unique reminder that no one is too old to give or receive love.Meet Mack, Dog Bowl contestant and social media star; Marco, a scary tough dog—until someone gave him a second chance; Shaq, a gentle giant who is learning to leave his fears behind; Prince, a laid back dude who doesn’t let being blind steal his sunshine; and JuneBug, a spunky sweetheart who just wants to cuddle and keep you safe from the vacuum cleaner. Each chapter in Homecoming Tales focuses on one canine companion from the Tennessee-based dog rescue, with fun facts about his or her breed, stories of silly antics, and the meaningful tale of how this canine companion found a forever family. This delightful middle grade book entertains, teaches, and inspires and will be a new favorite for fans of A Dog’s Purpose and the Puppy Tales series.In this lighthearted, easy-to-read nonfiction chapter book, you’ll find the true stories of how 15 dogs found a loving home line drawing illustrations of each featured dog and a full-color photo insert doggy stats, fun facts, and recipes for your own canine friend information on adopting and owning pets, caring for aging animals, ideas for helping a pet with special needs, and ways kids can get involved with their local animal shelter or rescue Homecoming Tales is a great gift for any eight to twelve-year-old who loves animals, enjoys volunteer work, or simply appreciates heartwarming stories. With information about care for older dogs, this educational book is also a helpful read for families who are interested in adopting a senior dog.

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The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, are the world's targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015 income poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter while promoting gender equality, education, health and environmental sustainability. These bold goals can be met in all parts of the world if nations follow through on their commitments to work together to meet them. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals offers the prospect of a more secure, just, and prosperous world for all. The UN Millennium Project was commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to develop a practical plan of action to meet the Millennium Development Goals. As an independent advisory body directed by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, the UN Millennium Project submitted its recommendations to the UN Secretary General in January 2005. The core of the UN Millennium Project's work has been carried out by 10 thematic Task Forces comprising more than 250 experts from around the world, including scientists, development practitioners, parliamentarians, policymakers, and representatives from civil society, UN agencies, the World Bank, the IMF, and the private sector. This report lays out the recommendations of the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Hunger in seven major categories: political action; national policy reforms; increased agricultural productivity for food insecure farmers; improved nutrition for the chronically hungry; productive safety nets for the acutely hungry; improved rural incomes and markets; and restoration and conservation of natural resources essential for food security. The task force strongly endorses the Secretary General's call for a 21st Century African Green Revolution. These bold yet practical approaches will enable countries in every region of the world to halve world hunger by 2015.

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'A MIRACULOUS NOVEL' MEGHA MAJUMDAR 'PLAYFUL AND PROFOUND . . . USING WRY HUMOUR TO DELIVER A DEAD SERIOUS MESSAGE' MELISSA FU'A BONKERS STORY THAT READS LIKE A FINE TEN-COURSE MEAL' GARY SHTEYNGARTA young cinephile leaves his rural village in India with big dreams, only to find himself trapped in menial jobs and forced to work off a debt he may never repay. In a small farming village in Punjab, India, a boy crouches over his brother's phone in a rapeseed field watching clips of Godard's Bande à part on YouTube. His name is Happy Singh Soni and when he's not sleeping among the cabbages and eating sugary rotis, Happy dreams of becoming an actor, one who plays the melancholy roles; the sad, pretty boys, rare in Indian cinema. He plans a clandestine journey to Europe, where he'll finally land a breakout role. After a nightmarish passage to Italy, Happy still manages to find relief in food and fantasy, even as he is forced into ever-worsening work conditions on a radish farm by the syndicate involved in smuggling him to Europe to pay off the supposed debt they claim he has accrued. While disillusionment amongst the farm workers rise, Happy will find the love - and tragedy - that his favourite films always promised. At turns funny and heart-breaking, sunny and tragic, Happy is a formally ambitious novel about the psychic fissures produced by the splintering of nations, and the lovely, generative, artful coping mechanisms created by generations of diasporic people. With this ingenious, daringly cinematic debut, Celina Baljeet Basra argues for the things that are basic to human survival: food, water, shelter, but also pleasure, romance, art, and the right to a vivid inner life.

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Bordering all but two of South America’s other nations and by far Latin America’s largest country, Brazil differs linguistically, historically, and culturally from Spanish America. Its indigenous peoples share the country with descendants of Portuguese conquerors and the Africans they imported to work as slaves, along with more recent immigrants from southern Europe, Japan, the Middle East, and elsewhere. Capturing the scope of this country’s rich diversity and distinction as no other book has done—with more than a hundred entries from a wealth of perspectives—The Brazil Reader offers a fascinating guide to Brazilian life, culture, and history. Complementing traditional views with fresh ones, The Brazil Reader’s historical selections range from early colonization to the present day, with sections on imperial and republican Brazil, the days of slavery, the Vargas years, and the more recent return to democracy. They include letters, photographs, interviews, legal documents, visual art, music, poetry, fiction, reminiscences, and scholarly analyses. They also include observations by ordinary residents, both urban and rural, as well as foreign visitors and experts on Brazil. Probing beneath the surface of Brazilian reality—past and present—The Reader looks at social behavior, women’s lives, architecture, literature, sexuality, popular culture, and strategies for coping with the travails of life in a country where the affluent live in walled compounds to separate themselves from the millions of Brazilians hard-pressed to find food and shelter. Contributing to a full geographic account—from the Amazon to the Northeast and the Central-South—of this country’s singular multiplicity, many pieces have been written expressly for this volume or were translated for it, having never previously been published in English. This second book in The Latin America Readers series will interest students, specialists, travelers for both business and leisure, and those desiring an in-depth introduction to Brazilian life and culture.

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Ever since its appearance in Europe five centuries ago, the rosary has been a widespread, highly visible devotion among Roman Catholics. Its popularity has persisted despite centuries of often seismic social upheaval, cultural change, and institutional reform. In form, the rosary consists of a ritually repeated sequence of prayers accompanied by meditations on episodes in the lives of Christ and Mary. As a devotional object of round beads strung on cord or wire, the rosary has changed very little since its introduction centuries ago. Today, the rosary can be found on virtually every continent, and in the hands of hard-line traditionalists as well as progressive Catholics. It is beloved by popes, professors, protesters, commuters on their way to work, children learning their “first prayers,” and homeless persons seeking shelter and safety. Why has this particular devotional object been so ubiquitous and resilient, especially in the face of Catholicism’s reinvention in the Early Modern, or “Counter-Reformation,” Era? Nathan D. Mitchell argues in lyric prose that to understand the rosary’s adaptability, it is essential to consider the changes Catholicism itself began to experience in the aftermath of the Reformation. Unlike many other scholars of this period, Mitchell argues that after the Reformation Catholicism actually became more innovative and diversified rather than retrenched and monolithic. This innovation was especially evident in the sometimes “subversive”; visual representations of sacred subjects, such as in the paintings of Caravaggio, and in new ways of perceiving the relation between Catholic devotion and the liturgy’s ritual symbols. The rosary was thus involved not only in how Catholics gave flesh to their faith, but in new ways of constructing their personal and collective identity. Ultimately, Mitchell employs the history of the rosary, and the concomitant devotion to the Virgin Mary with which it is associated, as a lens through which to better understand early modern Catholic history.

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In summer and fall 1941, as German armies advanced with shocking speed across the Soviet Union, the Soviet leadership embarked on a desperate attempt to safeguard the country's industrial and human resources. Their success helped determine the outcome of the war in Europe. To the Tashkent Station brilliantly reconstructs the evacuation of over sixteen million Soviet civilians in one of the most dramatic episodes of World War II.Rebecca Manley paints a vivid picture of this epic wartime saga: the chaos that erupted in towns large and small as German troops approached, the overcrowded trains that trundled eastward, and the desperate search for sustenance and shelter in Tashkent, one of the most sought-after sites of refuge in the rear. Her story ends in the shadow of victory, as evacuees journeyed back to their ruined cities and broken homes. Based on previously unexploited archival collections in Russia, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, To the Tashkent Station offers a novel look at a war that transformed the lives of several generations of Soviet citizens. The evacuation touched men, women, and children from all walks of life: writers as well as workers, scientists along with government officials, party bosses, and peasants. Manley weaves their harrowing stories into a probing analysis of how the Soviet Union responded to and was transformed by World War II.Over the course of the war, the Soviet state was challenged as never before. Popular loyalties were tested, social hierarchies were recast, and the multiethnic fabric of the country was subjected to new strains. Even as the evacuation saved countless Soviet Jews from almost certain death, it spawned a new and virulent wave of anti-Semitism. This magisterial work is the first in-depth study of this crucial but neglected episode in the history of twentieth-century population displacement, World War II, and the Soviet Union.

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New York Times BestsellerLeon Russell is an icon, but somehow is still an underappreciated artist. He is spoken of in tones reserved not just for the most talented musicians, but also for the most complex and fascinating. His career is like a roadmap of music history, often intersecting with rock royalty like Bob Dylan, the Stones, and the Beatles. He started in the Fifties as a teenager touring with Jerry Lee Lewis, going on to play piano on records by such giants as Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Phil Spector, and on hundreds of classic songs with major recording artists. Leon was Elton John's idol, and Elton inducted him into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Leon also gets credit for altering Willie Nelson's career, giving us the long-haired, pot-friendly Willie we all know and love today.In his prime, Leon filled stadiums on solo tours, and was an organizer/performer on both Joe Cocker's revolutionary Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh. Leon also founded Shelter Records in 1969 with producer Denny Cordell, discovering and releasing the debut albums of Tom Petty, the Gap Band, Phoebe Snow, and J.J. Cale. Leon always assembled wildly diverse bands and performances, fostering creative and free atmospheres for musicians to live and work together. He brazenly challenged musical and social barriers. However, Russell also struggled with his demons, including substance abuse, severe depression, and a crippling stage fright that wreaked havoc on his psyche over the long haul and at times seemed to will himself into obscurity. Now, acclaimed author and founding member of Buffalo Tom, Bill Janovitz shines the spotlight on one of the most important music makers of the twentieth century.

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This compelling book provides a rare glimpse into the heart of wartime China. Kathryn Meyer draws us into the perilous world of the Garden of Grand Vision, a ramshackle structure where a floating population of thousands found shelter from the freezing Siberian winter. They had come to the northern city of Harbin to find opportunity or to escape the turmoil of China in civil war. Instead they found despair. As the author vividly describes, corpses littered the halls waiting for the daily offal truck to cart the bodies away, vermin infested the walls, and relief came in the form of addiction. Yet the Garden also supported a vibrant informal economy. Rag pickers and thieves recycled everything from rat pelts to cigarette butts. Prostitutes entertained clients in the building’s halls and back alleys. These people lived at the very bottom of Chinese society, yet rumors that Chinese spies hid among the residents concerned the Japanese authorities. For this population lived in Manchukuo, the first Japanese conquest in what became the Second World War. Thus, three Japanese police officers were dispatched into the underworld of occupied China to investigate crime and vice in the Harbin slums while their military leaders dragged Japan deeper into the Pacific War. While following these policemen, the reader discovers a remarkable and unexpected view of World War II in East Asia. Instead of recounting battles and military strategy, this book explores the margins of a violent and entrepreneurial society, the struggles of an occupying police force to maintain order, and the underbelly of Japanese espionage. Drawing on the author’s years of rediscovering the historical trail in Manchuria and research based on top-secret Japanese military documents and Chinese memoirs, this book offers a unique and powerful social and cultural history of a forgotten world.

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This is an alphabet adventure! This fun story will help young children to learn the alphabet and new words. This is an apple, a bird and Cleo the cat are encountered by Dog one morning - read on as he spots eggs, a frog, a gate, a hill...and objects and ideas that begin with all the other letters as well. The letters are shown in a panel on the side of each page, in both upper- and lower-case versions, together with a picture of something that begins with that letter and the word spelled out, to aid learning. The book is built to last, with sturdy board pages that will stand up to repeated use. Dog is in the garden when his alphabet adventure begins. An apple falls on his head. Bump! A bird flies away. Cleo the cat says meow! Dog replies with a friendly woof! The bird lands again and sits on her eggs. Dog plays with Freddie the frog, chasing him over a gate and up a hill. Buzz! An insect stings Dog's nose, making him jump! He runs into the kitchen on his little legs. A meal will make him feel better! Dog's nose still hurts. An orange fish in a pond says, "Put your nose in the cold water." The ducks quack in agreement. Then it starts to rain.As the sky turns dark, Dog takes shelter under a tree. Soon, he sees a big red umbrella. His owner Vicky has come to find him...Finally, with a yawn, it is time for bed. Zzzzzzzz! Endearing pictures by the popular illustrator Emma Dodd make this book a wonderful aid to learning that small children will want to return to again and again.

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For readers new to The Dark Tower, The Wind Through the Keyhole is a stand-alone novel, and a wonderful introduction to the series. The Dark Tower is soon to be a major motion picture starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba, due in cinemas August 18, 2017.The No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller The Wind through the Keyhole is a perfect bridge between the fourth and fifth novels in Stephen King's epic masterpiece. A story within a story which features both the younger and older gunslinger, it is also a wonderful introduction to The Dark Tower series.As Roland Deschain, and his ka-tet leave the Emerald city, a ferocious storm halts their progress along the Path of the Beam. While they shelter from the starkblast, Roland tells a story about his younger days, when he was sent by his father to investigate evidence of a murderous shape-changer. At the scene of the crime he had tried to comfort a terrified young boy called Bill Streeter by reciting a story from The Magic Tales of the Eld that his mother used to read to him at bedtime, 'The Wind through the Keyhole'. 'A person's never too old for stories,' he said to Bill. 'Man and boy, girl and woman, we live for them.' And stories like these, they live for us.JOIN THE QUEST FOR THE DARK TOWER...THE DARK TOWER SERIES:THE DARK TOWER I: THE GUNSLINGER THE DARK TOWER II: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE THE DARK TOWER III: THE WASTE LANDS THE DARK TOWER IV: WIZARD AND GLASS THE DARK TOWER V: WOLVES OF THE CALLA THE DARK TOWER VI: SONG OF SUSANNAH THE DARK TOWER VII: THE DARK TOWERTHE WIND THROUGH THE KEYHOLE: A DARK TOWER NOVEL

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This new title from Bradt tells the inspiring and emotional story of Ishbel Holmes, also known as `World Bike Girl', a Scottish-Iranian woman who became a champion racing cyclist in spite of having been abandoned by her family, and who set off on the adventure of a lifetime despite her lack of experience, money or equipment. Ishbel Holmes was determined to cycle the world but her journey took a completely unexpected turn when, despite her initial instincts not to, she rescued a street dog in Turkey. Ishbel was lost and alone when she started on her epic trip, but in Lucy found a companionship never previously known. Between the two there formed a deep bond and their relationship was followed and supported by thousands of readers online, before becoming a media sensation overnight when Ishbel put out a plea for help to transport Lucy to an animal shelter three hundred miles away. This heart-rending tale is about more than just the relationship between a woman and her dog. It is a testimony to the human spirit, overcoming present-day challenges and churning up long-buried and painful memories from Ishbel's earlier life. It is also a tale of adventure, one person's determination to cross an unfamiliar country by bike and the unforgettable scenes that greet her on the Turkey-Syria border and into Syria itself. And it is a loving portrait of Lucy, the street dog that was determined not to let Ishbel go and whose dogged persistence helped to break down the barriers around her heart and in so doing change her life in ways she had never imagined. Ultimately, this is a tale of love and healing, a modern fable that touches the soul and reminds us all of the need to belong.

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'A MIRACULOUS NOVEL' MEGHA MAJUMDAR 'PLAYFUL AND PROFOUND . . . USING WRY HUMOUR TO DELIVER A DEAD SERIOUS MESSAGE' MELISSA FU'A BONKERS STORY THAT READS LIKE A FINE TEN-COURSE MEAL' GARY SHTEYNGARTA young cinephile leaves his rural village in India with big dreams, only to find himself trapped in menial jobs and forced to work off a debt he may never repay. In a small farming village in Punjab, India, a boy crouches over his brother's phone in a rapeseed field watching clips of Godard's Bande à part on YouTube. His name is Happy Singh Soni and when he's not sleeping among the cabbages and eating sugary rotis, Happy dreams of becoming an actor, one who plays the melancholy roles; the sad, pretty boys, rare in Indian cinema. He plans a clandestine journey to Europe, where he'll finally land a breakout role. After a nightmarish passage to Italy, Happy still manages to find relief in food and fantasy, even as he is forced into ever-worsening work conditions on a radish farm by the syndicate involved in smuggling him to Europe to pay off the supposed debt they claim he has accrued. While disillusionment amongst the farm workers rise, Happy will find the love - and tragedy - that his favourite films always promised. At turns funny and heart-breaking, sunny and tragic, Happy is a formally ambitious novel about the psychic fissures produced by the splintering of nations, and the lovely, generative, artful coping mechanisms created by generations of diasporic people. With this ingenious, daringly cinematic debut, Celina Baljeet Basra argues for the things that are basic to human survival: food, water, shelter, but also pleasure, romance, art, and the right to a vivid inner life.

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Watch a thousand years unfold in the life of one magnificent tree! A thousand years ago, a tiny acorn fell to the ground. As the years pass, it grows . . . and GROWS into an enormous oak tree! As the centuries sweep by, children play games around the tree. Families dance about it. A fleeing king even hides inside its hollow trunk! The tree gives food and shelter to a host of animals, from squirrels and badgers to birds and beetles. After a thousand years, the ancient tree finally falls in a storm - but a new acorn sprouts, and the cycle of life begins all over again. The tree's magical life story is brought to life in Julia Donaldson's rich, dramatic rhyme. Victoria Sandøy's gorgeous, atmospheric illustrations perfectly capture the changing seasons, and the people and wildlife that pass by Children will love spotting all the creatures in the pictures, and seeing the games children play around the tree This is a book that encourages us all to look more closely at nature, and to appreciate the wonder of our ancient trees. The final pages of the book contain extra fascinating facts about oak trees and the animals that depend on them. Praise for The Christmas Pine, also by Julia Donaldson and Victoria Sandøy: "Magical . . . as well as paying tribute to tradition, the gentle rhythmic verse and stunning pictures illuminate the two other things close to Julia's heart: the power of children and song" Good Housekeeping Julia Donaldson is the author of many of the best-loved children's books ever written. She has been awarded a CBE for services to literature, and is the most celebrated children's writer in Britain today. Many of Julia Donaldson's beloved picture books have been made into award-winning animated films which are regularly shown on the BBC at Christmas.

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Crazy entertaining, first rate storytellingmade me laugh and touched my heart, too. Suzanne Brockmann, New York Times bestselling author, for Curves for DaysFor readers of Lucy Score and Sarah Adams comes a charming small town romance between a hard working heroine with a sexy alter-ego and the new cinnamon roll math teacher looking to spice up his vanilla life.Everyone may know your name, but do they know the real you?Andi Salazar''s hard work at the local women''s shelter makes a big difference in her small town, but at the end of a long day, Andi can''t wait to blow off some steam as her sexy, voluptuous bombshell singer persona. Andi burns down the stage with her fiery spirit, catching the eyes of Galway High''s popular new math teacher, Kevin Mahoney.After his ex dubbed him as too vanilla, Kevin''s on a mission to find the real version of himself. One look at Andi and he nearly bursts into flame. After colliding in the hallway, their chemistry leads to a hot, sweet hookup that leaves him wanting more. But when their work brings them together again, Andi and Kevin can''t stay apart for long. Kevin is the first man Andi feels like she can trust, and conversation with Andi makes Kevin truly enjoy opening up to her.Although friendship may be safer, romance could be everything and more, especially when an unexpected variable changes their lives in the best way possible.More praise for Curves for Days:Incredibly fun and a great one for summer. CulturessReaders will love the banterand cheer them on as they slowly build their relationship. Library Journal STARRED ReviewBody positivity combines with heartfelt romance to make this a winner. Publishers Weekly STARRED Review

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Main Description: This issue opens with the story of Melania and her real estate-magnate husband, who decide to divest themselves of their entire wealth. These early Christians, who sold off their many estates and freed eight thousand slaves, were only exceptional in the amount they gave away. Jesus, after all, had advised a rich man, “Go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor.” And he emphatically warned that you cannot serve two masters: you cannot serve God and money. What does that mean for Christians today, in a society and economy premised on the accumulation of capital? How can we resist and subvert the power of money? On this theme: - Clare Coffey looks at how multilevel marketing commodifies friendship. - Sharon Rose Christner describes what happens when a Vatican palace becomes a homeless shelter. - Alastair Roberts writes in praise of Mary of Bethany’s extravagant love. - A photojournalist asks what’s left of the Cuban Revolution seventy years after it began. - Jack Bell revisits William Cobbett’s spirited defense of the vanishing British commons. - Maria Weiss finds pain and friendship in the forced community of a leper colony. - Maureen Swinger reveals the joys and pitfalls of owning twenty-two cars (collectively). - Robert Lockridge describes what he’s learned running a pay-as-you-can café. Also in the issue: - The winning poems in the 2023 Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award contest - An excerpt from Eugene Vodolazkin’s new novel, A History of the Island - Reviews of Kerri ní Dochartaigh’s Thin Places, Lydia Millet’s Dinosaurs, and Jennifer Banks’s Natality - Readings on Christianity and money from Eberhard Arnold, Peter Riedemann, Nicolai Berdyaev, Basil of Caesarea, Maria Skobtsova, C. S. Lewis, and Dorothy Day Plough Quarterly features stories, ideas, and culture for people eager to apply their faith to the challenges we face. Each issue includes in-depth articles, interviews, poetry, book reviews, and art.

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The 1968 US men’s Olympic track and field team won 12 gold medals and set six world records at the Mexico City Games, one of the most dominant performances in Olympic history. The team featured such legends as Tommie Smith, Bob Beamon, Al Oerter, and Dick Fosbury. Fifty years later, the team is mostly remembered for embodying the tumultuous social and racial climate of 1968. The Black Power protest of Tommie Smith and John Carlos on the victory stand in Mexico City remains one of the most enduring images of the 1960s. Less known is the role that a 400-meter track carved out of the Eldorado National Forest above Lake Tahoe played in molding that juggernaut. To acclimate US athletes for the 7,300-foot elevation of Mexico City, the US Olympic Committee held a two-month training camp and final Olympic selection meet for the ages at Echo Summit near the California-Nevada border. Never has a sporting event of such consequence been held in such an ethereal setting. On a track in which hundreds of trees were left standing on the infield to minimize the environmental impact, four world records fell—more than have been set at any US meet since (including the 1984 and 1996 Olympics). But the road to Echo Summit was tortuous—the Vietnam War was raging, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy were assassinated, and a group of athletes based out of San Jose State had been threatening to boycott the Mexico City Games to protest racial injustice. Informed by dozens of interviews by longtime sports journalist and track enthusiast Bob Burns, this is the story of how in one of the most divisive years in American history, a California mountaintop provided an incomparable group of Americans shelter from the storm.

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The Millennium Development Goals, adopted at the UN Millennium Summit in 2000, are the world's targets for dramatically reducing extreme poverty in its many dimensions by 2015 income poverty, hunger, disease, exclusion, lack of infrastructure and shelter while promoting gender equality, education, health and environmental sustainability. These bold goals can be met in all parts of the world if nations follow through on their commitments to work together to meet them. Achieving the Millennium Development Goals offers the prospect of a more secure, just, and prosperous world for all. The UN Millennium Project was commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to develop a practical plan of action to meet the Millennium Development Goals. As an independent advisory body directed by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, the UN Millennium Project submitted its recommendations to the UN Secretary General in January 2005. The core of the UN Millennium Project's work has been carried out by 10 thematic Task Forces comprising more than 250 experts from around the world, including scientists, development practitioners, parliamentarians, policymakers, and representatives from civil society, UN agencies, the World Bank, the IMF, and the private sector. In this report the UN Millennium Project Task Force on Water and Sanitation outlines the bold yet practical actions that are needed to increase access to water and sanitation. The report underscores the need to focus on the global sanitation crisis, which contributes to the death of 3900 children each day, improve domestic water supply, and invest in integrated development and management of water resources, all of which are necessary for countries to reduce poverty and hunger, improve health, advance gender equality and ensure environmental sustainability. Implementing the recommendations of this report will allow all countries to halve the proportion of people without access to safe water and sanitation by 2015.

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Until 1971, female victims of domestic violence were expected to 'kiss and make up' with their husbands, hide their black eyes and bruises, and bear the shame that somehow their partners' brutality was their fault. Chiswick Women's Aid was Europe's first ever refuge for what were then called 'battered women', and Jenny Smith was one of the first females who bravely made their way to this much-needed safe house. Desperate, and in fear for her life and the welfare of her two small children, Jenny had fled her dangerously schizophrenic partner, carrying only a few possessions. In the Chiswick shelter, founded by famous women's rights campaigner Erin Pizzey, Jenny found other women in the same position, all with harrowing, extraordinary stories to tell. Amenities were basic, but the respect, kindness and humanity of the community would help to give Jenny a new lease of life and strength. When the safe house came under threat of closure, she lobbied parliament and drove across Europe in a convoy of women in camper vans to raise awareness of their plight. Jenny's story is a slice of social history that begins in a Derbyshire mining village in the 1950s and takes the reader to inner city of Hackney in the 1960s, and Jenny's heart-breaking journey to the refuge. The house was the subject of a famous documentary, Scream Quietly or the Neighbours Will Hear, which, when first broadcast in 1974, sent shockwaves through the UK. Jenny was one of the first women to break a taboo by speaking publicly about domestic abuse. With the new start afforded her by the refuge, Jenny went on to find love, have another child and work as a foster carer.

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Ever since its appearance in Europe five centuries ago, the rosary has been a widespread, highly visible devotion among Roman Catholics. Its popularity has persisted despite centuries of often seismic social upheaval, cultural change, and institutional reform. In form, the rosary consists of a ritually repeated sequence of prayers accompanied by meditations on episodes in the lives of Christ and Mary. As a devotional object of round beads strung on cord or wire, the rosary has changed very little since its introduction centuries ago. Today, the rosary can be found on virtually every continent, and in the hands of hard-line traditionalists as well as progressive Catholics. It is beloved by popes, professors, protesters, commuters on their way to work, children learning their “first prayers,” and homeless persons seeking shelter and safety. Why has this particular devotional object been so ubiquitous and resilient, especially in the face of Catholicism’s reinvention in the Early Modern, or “Counter-Reformation,” Era? Nathan D. Mitchell argues in lyric prose that to understand the rosary’s adaptability, it is essential to consider the changes Catholicism itself began to experience in the aftermath of the Reformation. Unlike many other scholars of this period, Mitchell argues that after the Reformation Catholicism actually became more innovative and diversified rather than retrenched and monolithic. This innovation was especially evident in the sometimes “subversive”; visual representations of sacred subjects, such as in the paintings of Caravaggio, and in new ways of perceiving the relation between Catholic devotion and the liturgy’s ritual symbols. The rosary was thus involved not only in how Catholics gave flesh to their faith, but in new ways of constructing their personal and collective identity. Ultimately, Mitchell employs the history of the rosary, and the concomitant devotion to the Virgin Mary with which it is associated, as a lens through which to better understand early modern Catholic history.

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"We are in the midst of a dramatic shift in sensibility, and 'cultural' history is the rubric under which a massive doubting and refiguring of our most cherished historical assumptions is being conducted. Many historians are coming to suspect that the idea of culture has the power to restore order to the study of the past. Whatever its potency as an organizing theme, there is no doubt about the power of the term 'culture' to evoke and stand for the depth of the re-examination not taking place. At a time of deep intellectual disarray, 'culture' offers a provisional, nominalist version of coherence: whatever the fragmentation of knowledge, however centrifugal the spinning of the scholarly wheel, 'culture'—which (even etymologically) conveys a sense of safe nurture, warm growth, budding or ever-present wholeness—will shelter us. The PC buttons on historians' chests today stand not for 'politically correct' but 'positively cultural.'—from the Introduction More and more scholars are turning to cultural history in order to make sense of the American past. This volume brings together nine original essays by some leading practitioners in the field. The essays aim to exhibit the promise of a cultural approach to understanding the range of American experiences from the seventeenth century to the present. Expanding on the editors' pathbreaking The Culture of Consumption, the contributors to this volume argue for a cultural history that attends closely to language and textuality without losing sight of broad configurations of power that social and political history at its best has always stressed. The authors here freshly examine crucial topics in both private and public life. Taken together, the essays shed new light on the power of culture in the lives of Americans past and present.

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Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future is the first book to fully explore your “Handprint” – how you can create sustainability in your life and in the world. Your Handprint is limited only by yourimagination. The good you do can be greater than your Footprint. It is time to put more energy into your Handprint!The smart beauty of the Handprint is that it can be self-perpetuating. Take planting a tree as an example. You put a seedling into the ground, water it, and then leave it alone. That tree will then grow itself and pull carbon dioxide from the air and create oxygen for us to breathe for as long as it lives. And, seeds from that tree create more trees.Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future draws our attention to proven strategies across the spectrum. We make a difference with intelligent clothing and investments. We can promote environmental justice and sustainable development. We can teach environmental literacy and eat earth-friendly foods. Handprint Thinking applies to shelter (eco-remodeling and LEED buildings), motion (electric cars and living without a car), and earth-friendly energy.We create Collective Handprints whenever we set aside a park, recover a toxic waste site, revive a river, or ban plastic bags. Spending our money intentionally sets the stage for a Circular Economy. We are finding creative ways to make the Paris Climate Change Agreement work. Our Environmental Handprints: Recover the Land, Reverse Global Warming, Reclaim the Future makes the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals personal. The final chapters show how you can become a hero in your own story – while creating twelve Collective Future Handprints.

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'One of the best Stephen King novels not written by the master himself' - New York Times*******************The dark net is an online shadowland for criminals to operate anonymously, but when a demonic force begins to hack the minds of its users there is nowhere left to hide.Twelve-year-old HANNAH has been fitted with a high-tech prosthetic that restores her sight, but can't understand why she can now see shadows surrounding certain people.LELA, an emotionally shut-off, technophobic journalist stumbles onto a story nobody wants her to uncover. A story someone will kill to keep hidden.A former evangelist, MIKE, suffers demons - figurative and literal - and keeps an arsenal of weapons stored in the basement of the homeless shelter he runs.And DEREK is a hacker who believes himself a soldier, part of a cyber army dedicated to changing the world for the better.With the virus spreading throughout the net and an ancient evil threatening to break lose on the real world, it falls to these strangers to stop the rising darkness. THE DARK NET is a cracked-mirror version of the digital nightmare we already live in, a timely and wildly imaginative techno-thriller about the evil that lurks in real and virtual spaces, and the power of a united few to fight back.****************Praise for THE DARK NET'THE DARK NET is a megawatt defibrillator to the reader's heart' - Dean Koontz'An impressive, propulsive narrative velocity at work here' - Metro'THE DARK NET kicked my ass with its deft mash-up of both blackhat hacker culture and black magic. A fast, fantastic, throat-punch of a read' - Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of Blackbirds and Zer0es

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Does modern economic theory violate some basic, fundamental laws of physics? That is the question that award-winning environmental and energy writer Nathanial Gronewold sets out to answer in Anthill Economics. Gronewold points out that the modern school of economics is missing a significant piece of the puzzle: energy. And not just oil, or natural gas or wind power, but rather the fundamental importance of energy in transforming matter into food, shelter, and material possessions. Ecologists have been using the principles of biophysics –population density, energy return on investment, and habitation patterns –to study ecosystems for centuries. But what if those same principles hold the key to the global human economy? After all, at its core, the global economy is simply humanity’s ecosystem.Anthill Economics puts forth an innovative and cross-disciplinary approach, asserting that biophysical laws are just as fundamental to the global economy as they are to zoology and entomology. The rollercoaster-like rise and fall of caribou population on a remote island can teach us about resource allocation and global inequality. The behavior of squirrels gathering nuts is a lesson in economic energy return on investment and wage stagnation. Could human traffic patterns mimic the daily pulse of ants in the forests marching in and out of their own central business districts? And, will global warming change these patterns for humans and insects alike? This clearly written book full of illuminating ecological analogies gives readers an informed and entertaining introduction to the cutting-edge field of biophysical economics –also known as thermoeconomics –that seeks to provide a more complete understanding of the global economy. The result is a radical new way of looking at the world and how the laws of physics and nature can be used to more precisely understand human demographics, population patterns, and economics.

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'Historical fiction of a high order' The Times Barely half of the Bomber Command's aircrews survive a full tour, but wireless operator Billy Angell has beaten the odds and completed his 30th – and final – mission. Now, Billy is due two-weeks leave, a posting to a training squadron and a six-month exemption from active duty. Except that MI5 need an airman to drop into Nazi-occupied France. MI5 are interested in Hélène Lafosse, a Frenchwoman keeping unusual company in her small family château in the depths of the Touraine. Hélène has begun an affair with a senior Abwehr intelligence officer, who, in return, has turned a blind eye to the succession of Jews, refugees, resistance fighters and downed Allied airmen to whom she offers shelter. MI5 believe they can exploit this relationship and plant a false lead about the anticipated allied invasion of northern France. It falls to Billy, playing a downed airman, to find Hélène, to win her confidence and to plant a lie that will only make sense to her German lover. But this time, Billy isn't flying at 20,000 feet and he won't be able to escape the incendiary consequences of his actions. Aurore is part of the SPOILS OF WAR Collection, a thrilling, beguiling blend of fact and fiction born of some of the most tragic, suspenseful, and action-packed events of World War II. From the mind of highly acclaimed thriller author GRAHAM HURLEY, this blockbuster non-chronological collection allows the reader to explore Hurley's masterful storytelling in any order, with compelling recurring characters whose fragmented lives mirror the war that shattered the globe. 'Hurley's capable and understated characterization makes his lead's story plausible and engaging' Publishers Weekly

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This title includes fantastic ideas for making things, growing plants and flowers and attracting wildlife, with 60 practical projects and 175 photographs. It offers over 60 fun, child-friendly projects for gardening, with ideas for cultivating flowers, growing fruit and vegetables, making crafty projects and attracting insects, birds and animals. It contains an introduction with all the gardening basics includes advice on safety, equipment, understanding plants and a guide to commonly used gardening terms. It helps you grow a hyacinth in a glass, have tomatoes tumbling down the wall, spell your name in flowers, shape a den out of bamboo and make a mini-beast shelter. Every project features an at-a-glance 'you will need' list, growing times and a star rating guide to show you how easy or hard it is. Each idea has simple step-by-step instructions and there are over 175 fantastic colour photographs showing you what to do. A list of popular plants shows how to grow and use the plants in the book and many others, including where they like to live and how they like to be treated. Growing plants and making things for the garden is endless fun. This book is bursting with planting and gardening ideas to suit children from the ages of 5 to 12. It offers an introduction that arms the reader with all they need to know about plants, soil and tools. Then, over 60 step-by-step projects have ideas for doing things indoors, growing fruit, vegetables and flowers, making crafty bits and pieces for the garden and encouraging wildlife to visit. Whatever the weather, here are masses of ways to keep you occupied in and out of the garden, with fun activities for all children, from tiddlers to safari explorers.

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_______________ Shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year _______________ In difficult times, what children really need is hope. And in that spirit, bestselling author Katherine Rundell emailed some of the children's writers and artists whose work she loved most: 'I asked them to write something very short, fiction or non-fiction, or draw something that would make the children reading it feel like possibility-ists: something that would make them laugh or wonder or snort or smile. The response was magnificent, which shouldn’t have surprised me, because children’s writers and illustrators are professional hunters of hope … I hope that the imagination can be a place of shelter for children and that The Book of Hopes might be useful in that, even if only a little.' This collection, packed with short stories, poems and pictures from the very best children’s authors and illustrators, aims to provide just that. Within its pages you'll find animal friends from insects to elephants, high-flying grandmas, a homesick sprite, the tooth fairy, and even extra-terrestrial life. There are 133 contributions from authors and illustrators, including Anthony Horowitz, Axel Scheffler, Catherine Johnson, Jacqueline Wilson, Katherine Rundell, Lauren Child, Michael Morpurgo and Onjali Q. Raúf. A donation from the sale of each book will go to NHS Charities Together, in gratitude for the incredible efforts of all those who worked in hospitals over the quarantine period. _______________ 'An anthology on the theme of hope … it includes a rich range of images, poetry, stories and non-fiction' - Sunday Times, 'Stories to charm on endless days' Proceeds from this book will be donated to NHS Charities Together. In respect of UK sales, this will be £2.10 and in respect of sales in other territories this will be 16% of net receipts (at least 62p). NHS Charities Together is a charity registered in England and Wales (registered charity no. 1186569).

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From the author of The History of the World in 100 Animals, a BBC Radio Four Book of the Week, comes an inspirational new book that looks at the 100 plants that have had the greatest impact on humanity, stunningly illustrated throughout. As humans, we hold the planet in the palms of ours hands. But we still consume the energy of the sun in the form of food. The sun is available for consumption because of plants. Plants make food from the sun by the process of photosynthesis; nothing else in the world can do this. We eat plants, or we do so at second hand, by eating the eaters of plants. Plants give us food. Plants take in carbon dioxide and push out oxygen: they give us the air we breathe, direct the rain that falls and moderate the climate. Plants also give us shelter, beauty, comfort, meaning, buildings, boats, containers, musical instruments, medicines and religious symbols. We use flowers for love, we use flowers for death. The fossils of plants power our industries and our transport. Across history we have used plants to store knowledge, to kill, to fuel wars, to change our state of consciousness, to indicate our status. The first gun was a plant, we got fire from plants, we have enslaved people for the sake of plants. We humans like to see ourselves as a species that has risen above the animal kingdom, doing what we will with the world. But we couldn’t live for a day without plants. Our past is all about plants, our present is all tied up with plants; and without plants there is no future. From the mighty oak to algae, from cotton to coca here are a hundred reasons why.

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Praise for How I Became a Quant "Led by two top-notch quants, Richard R. Lindsey and Barry Schachter, How I Became a Quant details the quirky world of quantitative analysis through stories told by some of today's most successful quants. For anyone who might have thought otherwise, there are engaging personalities behind all that number crunching!" --Ira Kawaller, Kawaller & Co. and the Kawaller Fund "A fun and fascinating read. This book tells the story of how academics, physicists, mathematicians, and other scientists became professional investors managing billions." --David A. Krell, President and CEO, International Securities Exchange "How I Became a Quant should be must reading for all students with a quantitative aptitude. It provides fascinating examples of the dynamic career opportunities potentially open to anyone with the skills and passion for quantitative analysis." --Roy D. Henriksson, Chief Investment Officer, Advanced Portfolio Management "Quants"--those who design and implement mathematical models for the pricing of derivatives, assessment of risk, or prediction of market movements--are the backbone of today's investment industry. As the greater volatility of current financial markets has driven investors to seek shelter from increasing uncertainty, the quant revolution has given people the opportunity to avoid unwanted financial risk by literally trading it away, or more specifically, paying someone else to take on the unwanted risk. How I Became a Quant reveals the faces behind the quant revolution, offering you?the?chance to learn firsthand what it's like to be a?quant today. In this fascinating collection of Wall Street war stories, more than two dozen quants detail their roots, roles, and contributions, explaining what they do and how they do it, as well as outlining the sometimes unexpected paths they have followed from the halls of academia to the front lines of an investment revolution.

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‘This book’s power lies in its depiction of civilians trying to lead ordinary lives during the horror of war . . . It is shattering stuff, but Rothmann is tender towards his characters and this book is as memorable as his last.’ - The Times, ‘Historical Fiction Book of the Month’As the Second World War enters its final stages, millions in Germany are forced from their homes by bombing, compelled to seek shelter in the countryside where there are barely the resources to feed them.Twelve-year-old Luisa, her mother, and her older sister Billie have escaped the devastation of the city for the relative safety of a dairy farm. But even here the power struggles of the war play out: the family depend on the goodwill of Luisa’s brother-in-law, an SS officer, who in expectation of payment turns his attention away from his wife and towards Billie. Luisa immerses herself in books, but even she notices the Allied bombers flying east above them, the gauntness of the prisoners at the camp nearby, the disappearance of fresh-faced boys from the milk shed – hastily shipped off to a war that’s already lost.Living on the farm teaches Luisa about life and death, but it’s man’s capacity for violence that provides the ultimate lesson, that robs her of her innocent ignorance. When, at a birthday celebration, her worst fears are realized, Luisa collapses under the weight of the inexplicable.Ralf Rothmann’s previous novel, To Die in Spring, described the horror of war and the damage done on the battlefield. The God of that Summer tells the devastating story of civilians caught up in the chaos of defeat, of events that might lead a twelve-year-old child to justifiably say: ‘I have experienced everything.’

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'It is immediately clear why her books stand out from the crowd. Chilling and compelling plots, brilliant characterisation . . . Addictive from start to finish' RACHEL ABBOTTA detective hiding dark secrets, Kim Stone will stop at nothing to protect the innocent. In the darkness of a cold December morning, Detective Kim Stone steps through the doors of Halesowen Police Station. She's about to meet her team for the first time. The victim of her next case is about to meet his killer... When the body of a young man is found beheaded and staked to the ground in a secluded woodland area of the Clent Hills, Kim and her new squad rush to the crime scene. Searching the victim's home, Kim finds a little girl's bedroom and a hidden laptop, but where is the child? And why does the man's own sister seem relieved that he's dead? As Kim begins to unearth the shocking truth about the victim, a disturbing resemblance is spotted with the recent murder of a man found beneath the staircase of Redland Hall with multiple stab wounds. Both these men had dark secrets and Kim discovers a link to a women's shelter. As a child of the care system herself, Kim knows all too well what it means to be vulnerable. Could the shelter be the key to cracking this case? With the killer about to strike again, Kim is in deep water with a rookie squad. Inexperienced Stacey is showing signs of brilliance but struggling to hold her nerve and, while D.S. Bryant is reliable and calm, D.S. Dawson is a liability. With his home life in pieces, his volatile behaviour is already fracturing her fragile new team. Can Kim bring Dawson in line and pull her crew together in time to catch the killer before another life is taken? This time, one of her own could be in terrible danger . . .Discover where it all began for Kim and her team. An absolutely heart-stopping mystery thriller that will keep you glued to the pages, reading late into the night. Perfect for new readers to the million-copy bestselling series, and fans of Val McDemid, Mark Billingham and Karin Slaughter.Read what everyone is saying about First Blood and the Detective Kim Stone series: 'A great introduction to the best crime series on the shelves right now . . . I loved this book from cover to cover . . . A brilliant read which will have people turning the pages at a feverish rate' Nigel Adams Bookworm, five stars'I cannot begin to tell you how god damn good it is. First Blood is so bloody brilliant and so gripping . . . Totally blown my mind...Without a doubt one of my best reads this year leaving me with a book hangover' Baker's Not So Secret Blog, five stars'Superb!!! I love Kim - always have, always will!! . . . Breath-taking, heart-pounding, exciting and thrilling!!! I completely and utterly recommend reading not just this book, but the whole series!! Fab, fab, fab, fab, fab' Stardust Book Reviews, five stars'There is a smile on my face and goosebumps on my arms. Rarely have I been so satisfied with a novel . . . Breath-taking . . . A masterpiece, the star at the top of your Christmas tree . . . Get going with the series if you haven't already' Chocolate 'n' Waffles, five stars'Oh my life. This is the book that all Kim Stone fans have been waiting for and they didn't even know it . . . A dark and deadly case, high on thrills, intrigue, mystery and tension, perfectly pitched on pace and featuring the dry humour and banter we know and love . . . Top stuff - Loved it' Jen Med's Book Reviews, five stars

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‘This book's power lies in its depiction of civilians trying to lead ordinary lives during the horror of war . . . It is shattering stuff, but Rothmann is tender towards his characters and this book is as memorable as his last.’ The Times, ‘Historical Fiction Book of the Month’As the Second World War enters its final stages, millions in Germany are forced from their homes by bombing, compelled to seek shelter in the countryside where there are barely the resources to feed them.Twelve-year-old Luisa, her mother, and her older sister Billie have escaped the devastation of the city for the relative safety of a dairy farm. But even here the power struggles of the war play out: the family depend on the goodwill of Luisa’s brother-in-law, an SS officer, who in expectation of payment turns his attention away from his wife and towards Billie. Luisa immerses herself in books, but even she notices the Allied bombers flying east above them, the gauntness of the prisoners at the camp nearby, the disappearance of fresh-faced boys from the milk shed – hastily shipped off to a war that’s already lost.Living on the farm teaches Luisa about life and death, but it’s man’s capacity for violence that provides the ultimate lesson, that robs her of her innocent ignorance. When, at a birthday celebration, her worst fears are realized, Luisa collapses under the weight of the inexplicable.Ralf Rothmann’s previous novel, To Die in Spring, described the horror of war and the damage done on the battlefield. The God of that Summer tells the devastating story of civilians caught up in the chaos of defeat, of events that might lead a twelve-year-old child to justifiably say: ‘I have experienced everything.’

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In recent years, major new archaeological discoveries have redefined the development of towns and cities in the Japanese archipelago. The uncovering of the plans of major port towns such as Sakai, Kusado Sengen and Ichijōdani, and the revealing of early phases in the development of cities such as Kamakura and Hakata provide an important new resource in understanding the cultural and economic processes which shaped medieval Japan. This fully illustrated book provides a sampler of these findings for a western audience. The new discoveries from Japan are set in context of medieval archaeology beyond Japan by accompanying essays from leading European specialists. The global significance of Japanese medieval archaeology is assessed through comparing the development of towns in Japan and northern Europe. The medieval period in Japan and northwest Europe saw urban growth with towns not only providing centres of administration but also fostering economic development. The pressures which led to such growth, however, be they political or social, were universal in character. following basic requirements of food, shelter, security and spiritual nourishment, towns provided commercial infrastructures, transport and storage facilities, and the setting for trade, craft specialists and art. Chapters include ‘The archaeology of medieval towns in Japan and europe: an introduction’ (Brian Ayers and Simon Kaner); ‘Permanent urban frameworks (‘armature’) and economic networks in northern France c.700 – c.1000’ (Henri Galinié); ‘Medieval urbanism and culture in the cities of the Baltic: with a comparison between Lübeck, Germany, and Sakai, Japan’ (Manfred Gläser); ‘The development of Hakata as a medieval port town’ (Ōba Kōji); ‘The establishment and transformation of Japan’s medieval capital, Kamakura’ (Oka Yōichirō); ‘Ichijōdani: the archaeology of a Japanese medieval castle town’ (Ono Masatoshi); ‘Japanese medieval trading towns: Sakai and Tosaminato’ (Richard Pearson); and ‘Medieval ceramic production in the aegean, 1100 – 1600 AD: some considerations in an east-west perspective’ (Joanita Vroom).

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