Search results for ""author sam"

When the magnificent volume first appeared in 1966, it was celebrated for its extraordinary beauty. Now, more than thirty years since its first publication, it is made available once again. Illustrating one of the great art treasures of the world, The Hours of Catherine of Cleves is a fiteenth century illuminated manuscript containing a series of some of the most beautiful illustrations of the bible ever made. Many of the great scenes form the Old Testament and many more from the New Testament are included, besides the Stations of the Cross and portraits of the saints. The work of an unidentified Dutch master painter, the manuscript was made for Catherine of Cleves on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of Guelders. All the 157 surviving miniatures are reproduced to actual size and in exquisite colour with gold, together with three samples of pages containing the Latin prayers. Page after page reveals the elaborate program and rich illumination of the original. The progression from beginning to end shows an artist increasing in skill, relying in his earlier work on tradition and later emerging as an independent artist of bold, clear colours, dynamic brushwork and lively imagination. He stands as one of the supreme painters of fifteenth century Northern Europe. Each page is accompanied by a descriptive and explanatory commentary by John Plummer. His introduction discusses the development of the Book of Hours as a liturgical form in general, and the history of the Cleves Hours specifically, and describes the place it holds in the history of Northern Painting.

Read more less

The catastrophic runaway wildfires advancing through North America and other parts of the world are not unprecedented. Fires loomed large once human activity began to warm the climate in the 1820s, leading to an aggressive firefighting strategy that has left many of the continent’s forests too old and vulnerable to the fires that many tree species need to regenerate.Dark Days at Noon provides a broad history of wildfire in North America, from before European contact to the present, in the hopes that we may learn from how we managed fire in the past, and apply those lessons in the future. As people continue to move into forested landscapes to work, play, live, and ignite fires – intentionally or unintentionally – fire has begun to take its toll, burning entire towns, knocking out utilities, closing roads, and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. Fire management in North America requires attention and cooperation from both sides of the border, and many of the most significant fires have taken place at the boundary line. Despite a clear lack of urgency among political leaders, Edward Struzik argues that wildfire science needs to guide the future of fire management, and that those same leaders need to shape public perception accordingly.By explaining how society’s misguided response to fire has led to our current situation, Dark Days at Noon warns of what may happen in the future if we do not learn to live with fire as the continent’s Indigenous Peoples once did.

Read more less

The Celtic seasonal wheel is based on eight festivals - Winter Solstice, Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lughnasadh, Autumn Equinox and Samhain. Together, these lead us through the cycle of the year, aligning our awareness with the seasonal pattern of the earth beneath our feet. In this book on the solstices, equinoxes and other festivals within the sacred cycle, Danu Forest reveals the secrets of each festival in turn and skilfully revives ancient traditions, encouraging us to reconnect with nature, and ourselves, with a host of practical ideas and rituals. Decorate your home with beautiful seasonal crafts and altars to manifest sacred space. Make gifts to give to friends, cast spells for creativity, fertility and blessing, and use the abundance of nature in recipes that can be enjoyed as part of your seasonal celebrations or for self-healing and empowerment. Meditate on the changing heavens throughout the year with Celtic star lore. Deepen your experience of the turning seasons, from the rest and renewal of winter through the revels of spring and summer to the soul or spirit nights of autumn with magical guided visualizations. This cycle of conscious celebration helps us, year on year, to align with nature's rhythms with greater wonder and insight. Based on sound extensive research, as well as many years of practical experience through both personal practice and teaching, the book will act as a guide for weaving a new, more soulful way of living into readers' everyday existence.

Read more less

Who will be brave enough to make friends with the boy named Queen? Sara Cassidy’s acclaimed novel, A Boy Named Queen, is now available in paperback! Evelyn is both aghast and fascinated when a new boy comes to grade five and tells everyone his name is Queen. Queen wears shiny gym shorts and wants to organize a chess/environment club. His father plays weird loud music and has tattoos. How will the class react? How will Evelyn? Evelyn is an only child with a strict routine and an even stricter mother. And yet in her quiet way she notices things. She notices the way bullies don’t seem to faze Queen. The way he seems to live by his own rules. When it turns out that they take the same route home from school, Evelyn and Queen become friends, even if she finds Queen irritating at times. Why doesn’t he just shut up and stop attracting so much attention to himself. Yet Queen is the most interesting person she has ever met. So when she receives a last-minute invitation to his birthday party, she knows she must somehow persuade her mother to let her go, even if Queen’s world upends everything her mother considers appropriate. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.3 Describe in depth a character, setting, or event in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., a character's thoughts, words, or actions).

Read more less

One of the grim comedies of the twentieth century was that miserable victims of communist regimes would climb walls, swim rivers, dodge bullets, and find other desperate ways to achieve liberty in the West at the same time that progressive intellectuals would sentimentally proclaim that these very regimes were the wave of the future. A similar tragicomedy is playing out in our century: as the victims of despotism and backwardness from Third World nations pour into Western states, academics and intellectuals present Western life as a nightmare of inequality and oppression. In The Servile Mind: How Democracy Erodes the Moral Life, Kenneth Minogue explores the intelligentsia's love affair with social perfection and reveals how that idealistic dream is destroying exactly what has made the inventive Western world irresistible to the peoples of foreign lands. The Servile Mind looks at how Western morality has evolved into mere "politico-moral" posturing about admired ethical causes--from solving world poverty and creating peace to curing climate change. Today, merely making the correct noises and parading one's essential decency by having the correct opinions has become a substitute for individual moral responsibility. Instead, Minogue argues, we ask that our governments carry the burden of solving our social--and especially moral--problems for us. The irony is that the more we allow the state to determine our moral order, the more we need to be told how to behave and what to think. Such is the servile mind.

Read more less

Women are not to blame for their lack of advancement at work. Failure to lean in and greater responsibility for childcare don’t fully explain why women are not reaching the top levels of many corporations. The truth is, many senior male executives are reluctant to have a one-on-one meeting with a junior woman at work. They’re afraid that an offhand remark will be misinterpreted as sexual harassment or that their friendliness will be mistaken for romantic interest. As a result, many male executives stick with other men, especially when it comes to dinners, drinks, late-night meetings, or business trips. When it’s time for promotions or pay raises, these same executives are more likely to show preference to the employees with whom they feel most comfortable—other men. In Sex and the Office, Kim Elsesser delves into how issues as varied as workplace romance, spousal jealousy, organizational sexual harassment policies, and communication differences create barriers between the sexes at work. Since senior management is still largely dominated by men, these barriers—which Elsesser labels “the sex partition”—often leave female employees without the influential friends and mentors critical for career success. Fortunately, all hope is not lost. Elsesser offers practical advice on how to break down the sex partition and reveals the best strategies for networking with the opposite sex. Sex and the Office is sure to spark new dialogue on the sources of the gender gap as well as its solutions.

Read more less

Digitally repair damaged prints, correct color shifts, and even colorize black and white images. This thoroughly revised book will show you how to retouch and restore photos using the most up-to-date version of GIMP and it's latest tools and features.Basic knowledge of GIMP is helpful, but the first chapter provides an overview of the free, open source image editing program. You'll then see how GIMP is a worthy alternative to Adobe Photoshop. You'll also work with step-by-step tutorials to duplicate the results using the same practice images used in the lessons. Because it is cross-platform friendly you can turn “unfixable” photos into digital art on Windows, macOS, and Linux enhancing your learning experience. Beginning Photo Retouching and Restoration Using GIMP provides insight into the powerful program's wide set of features for just about any type of retouching or restoration work.What You'll Learn Acquire the best scans and digitize large photographs Adjust contrast and exposure to make dull images “pop” Remove cracks, creases, tears, and blemishes Retouch portraits and replace backgrounds Preserve your newly restored and printed photographs, and properly store originals Who This Book Is ForAnyone interested in retouching or restoring photos, whether they are family archivists genealogists, photographers, designers, or students―particularly those requiring a powerful program, but don’t want or need to use Adobe’s subscription-based service to access Photoshop.

Read more less

Daniel Dumile Qeqe (1929–2005), ‘Baas Dan’, ‘DDQ’. He was the Port Elizabeth leader whose struggles and triumphs crisscrossed the entire gamut of political, civic, entrepreneurial, sports and recreational liberation activism in the Eastern Cape. Siwisa tells the story of Qeqe’s life and times and at the same time has written a social and political biography of Port Elizabeth – a people’s history of Port Elizabeth. As much as Qeqe was a local legend, his achievements had national repercussions and, indeed, continue to this day. Central to the transformation of sports towards non-racialism, Qeqe paved the way for the mainstreaming and liberation of black rugby and cricket players in South Africa. He co-engineered the birth of the KwaZakhele Rugby Union (Kwaru), a pioneering non-racial rugby union that was more of a political and social movement. Kwaru was a vehicle for political dialogues and banned meetings, providing resources for political campaigns and orchestrations for moving activists into exile. This story is an attempt at understanding a man of contradictions. In one breath, he was generous and kind to a fault. And yet he was the indlovu, an imposing authoritarian elephant, decisively brutal and aggressive. Then there was Qeqe, the man whose actions were not in keeping with the struggle. This story narrates his role in ‘collaborationist’ civic institutions and in courting reactionary homeland structures, yet through all that he was the signal actor in the emancipation of rugby in South Africa.

Read more less

Puzzled by Welsh place names - but want to know what they mean and how to say them? Look no further. This is an exciting full colour pocket guide, "Understanding Welsh Place Names: What They Mean and How to Say Them", from outdoor specialists Northern Eye Books. This innovative yet carefully thought out guide means non-Welsh speakers can now easily translate and understand place names all over Wales - on the map, on road signs, and out in the countryside. Written by native Welsh speaker, Gwili Gog, the book contains not only a comprehensive gazetteer of place names arranged county by modern county - with an authoritative explanation of what each name means - but also a potted history of the Welsh language, a quick look at pronunciation, and a photographic exploration of place names in the landscape, as well as key words accompanied by phonetic explanations of how to pronounce them. But perhaps the most notable element of this book is its themed approach to the ideas and beliefs that lie at the heart of the Welsh language.Separate illustrated text boxes on each double page spread explore more than thirty central topics such as Hills and Mountains; Ancient Animals; Colours in the Countryside; Fords, Ferries and Bridges; Holy Wells; Inns and Taverns; and Funny Place Names. Armed with this insider knowledge, visitors will discover there's a whole unexplored new dimension to the Welsh landscape. In fact, for readers, Wales will never be quite the same again.

Read more less

A giant high-top sneaker embellished with golden scissors floats in a polka dot sky along with the surprising motto, "Run With Scissors." Hooked rug maker Jill Cooper explains, "The older I get, the more I don't follow 'the rules.' This rug was a way to share my belief that you must take every chance you can to enjoy all the beauty of life." Taking chances with hooked rugs -- those cozy accessories of hearth and home -- is just what members of Vermont's Green Mountain Rug Hooking Guild do best. They tackle unconventional subjects, delight in using unheard of fibers, and love the challenge of designing their own contemporary work. At the same time, they are experts on "traditional" rugs and can replicate hooked pieces from the 1800s with uncanny precision. The guild's annual exhibit in 2006 featured more than 900 wonderful rugs, of which half are presented here and half in the companion volume. Feast your eyes on winners of the coveted Viewers' Choice Awards, rugs in Oriental designs, florals, abstracts, animals, architectural designs, and delicate miniature rugs smaller than a credit card. Rugs by one of the show's three honorees, Pat Merikallio, are featured here, as are rugs made by children, rugs illustrating "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and over 100 pieces depicting the theme "Strong Women." This book is a delightful, inspiring look at what can be accomplished with the versatile and exciting medium of hooked rugs.

Read more less

Immerse yourself in the captivating world of traditional Japanese tattooing with this exquisite and comprehensive volume. Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo delves into the elusive and rich tapestry of the art, tracing its roots to the indomitable samurai spirit Bushido. The profound essence of this revered subculture is unraveled through a mesmerizing collection of imagery and interpersonal dynamics. Drawing from the firsthand experiences of Takahiro Kitamura, who served both as a devoted client and apprentice to the legendary Japanese tattoo master Horiyoshi III, the text exudes eloquence and authenticity. Kitamura's intimate insights provide an unprecedented glimpse into the hidden intricacies of this veiled realm. Complemented by over 200 stunning photographs by Jai Tanju, the book showcases the breathtaking tattoo artistry of Horiyoshi III. Each image masterfully captures the essence of the artist's talent, evoking a profound appreciation for the depth and complexity of the art form. Furthermore, Bushido: Legacies of the Japanese Tattoo presents five exclusive and unpublished prints by Horiyoshi III, akin to the acclaimed collection in his previous work, 100 Demons of Horiyoshi III. These extraordinary prints serve as an alluring treasure for collectors and enthusiasts alike. This book is an enthralling journey into the heart of tattoo culture, appealing to both the seasoned aficionado and those with a burgeoning interest in the art. Whether you seek to understand the philosophical underpinnings of Japanese tattooing or merely admire the sheer beauty of this ancient tradition, this exceptional work is certain to captivate and inspire.

Read more less

In Romans 10:9, Paul writes that, 'If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.' It is thus one of the church's earliest confessions: that Jesus is Lord. Yet what does it mean for us in 21st Century America? Ages ago, the language of lordship made sense. But in the Twenty-First Century, Americans emphasize personal freedom, self reliance, and equal rights for all. The idea that we have obedience to anyone beyond ourselves with a government that is 'of, by, and for the people' seems foreign to us. Confessing Christ in the Twenty-First Century, written for the layperson and for those who lead and teach them, challenges the readers to think about how their confession is the basis for claiming not only a relationship to a savior, but a way of living in the world—a politics—that is countercultural in the literal sense of that term. At the same time, it comforts them by reminding that the Lord they proclaim is one who opens up a way of living in genuine freedom and equality with others. Douglas probes essential issues in philosophy, theology, worship, ethics, and politics in a way that offers understanding and a comprehensive view, even as it stimulates readers to explore the meaning of their faith in vigorous conversation. This is a perfect book for pastors, leaders of adult education, and laypeople who want to deepen their faith by probing its real and practical implications.

Read more less

Book 2 of the After series—newly revised and expanded, Anna Todd's After fanfiction racked up one billion reads online and captivated readers across the globe. Experience the internet's most talked-about book for yourself from the writer Cosmopolitan called “the biggest literary phenomenon of her generation.” Tessa has everything to lose. Hardin has nothing to lose...except her. AFTER WE COLLIDED...Life will never be the same. #HESSA After a tumultuous beginning to their relationship, Tessa and Hardin were on the path to making things work. Tessa knew Hardin could be cruel, but when a bombshell revelation is dropped about the origins of their relationship—and Hardin’s mysterious past—Tessa is beside herself. Hardin will always be...Hardin. But is he really the deep, thoughtful guy Tessa fell madly in love with despite his angry exterior—or has he been a stranger all along? She wishes she could walk away. It’s just not that easy. Not with the memory of passionate nights spent in his arms. His electric touch. His hungry kisses. Still, Tessa’s not sure she can endure one more broken promise. She put so much on hold for Hardin—school, friends, her mom, a relationship with a guy who really loved her, and now possibly even a promising new career. She needs to move forward with her life. Hardin knows he made a mistake, possibly the biggest one of his life. He’s not going down without a fight. But can he change? Will he change...for love?

Read more less

Finding Inner Peace is for those who want to live in consciousness to become the best version of themselves and who are looking for some extra motivation and understanding. These aesthetically illustrated inspiration cards have been created to help you to understand that it doesn't matter what your past is or what point in life you are at - you can always look ahead and take your life in your hands. The cards are for all those who want to live in full consciousness to become the best version of themselves and who are looking for some extra motivation and input during their journey. Does your heart beat so much for the ocean and the beach - but at the same time you are quite attracted to the desert? You can be in love with the bitter sweet melancholy of the setting sun and with embracing the dark, and yet live for the endless opportunities a new morning offers and the light to awaken your soul. You are pure light. No matter how many times you've been walking through the dark, your soul will always remember if you just open your heart and listen. The more you feed your mind with positive thoughts, the more you treat your soul and body well, the more you find your way back to the true self you really are. The more you become the best version possible of yourself.

Read more less

"From a historical point of point, the book is fascinating... From a literary point of view, it’s eloquent ... If you’re a Bordeaux wine collector with deep pockets and a large cellar, it’s invaluable." —Tamlyn Currin, Jancis Robinson "Associations and societies such as the Bordeaux Club are the very acme of civilization. Botticelli and Bach were engaged in the eternal quest for truth and beauty in painting and music, and the Bordeaux Club did the same for viniculture." — Andrew Roberts "For lovers of claret - indeed, all wine - this can only be described as a drool-inducing book." — World of Fine Wine The story of 12 friends who gathered to share and celebrate the extraordinary wines of Bordeaux. Like-minded in their love of wine, they differed wildly (often alarmingly!) in their personal wealth, life and circumstances – their opinions, always voiced, had the power to ignite anger and divide friendships just as easily as they bound them together. Neil McKendrick, member and minute-taker for 57 of the Club’s 70 extraordinary years, weaves the tale of this convivial group with the rigour of a Cambridge academic (he is ex-Master of Gonville and Caius) and the humour of a born raconteur. Alongside the likes of Hugh Johnson, Steven Spurrier and Michael Broadbent, he celebrates the beauty of top-class Bordeaux and the splendour of each setting – from glorious country park to rickety Dickensian boardroom – in which these men were lucky enough to dine, serving up memories of vintages the like of which we will never see again.

Read more less

A people person is someone who brings out the best in themselves and others. Is this you? Being a human in today’s world isn’t always easy. In the constant whirlwind of our demanding lives it’s all too common to lose sight of the bigger picture, to lose our connection to others and, most of all, to lose ourselves. It can leave us exhausted, overwhelmed and questioning whether this is as good as it gets. But there is another way. It’s a kind, brave and brilliant way which energises and empowers you to bring out the best in yourself, others and make the world a better place. Using a unique and exciting blend of proven psychology, the latest neuroscience, traditional wisdoms, and bang-up-to-date leadership best practice, Lara Cullen redefines what it means to be a people person in today’s disconnected world and shows how three simple ways of being can release you to: Be happier and more successful doing what you love Reduce stress, boost wellbeing and build resilience Lead and inspire with authenticity and impact Grow in confidence and self-acceptance Create healthy boundaries for improved relationships Find more meaning and purpose in life and work Make no mistake, this isn’t a book about social skills or how to work a room. This is a smart and powerful framework for living, working and leading that equips and inspires you to truly be yourself, at your best and to help others do the same. The world is waiting. Are you ready?

Read more less

A woman’s cryptic dying words in a Venetian hospice lead Guido Brunetti to uncover a threat to the entire region in Donna Leon’s haunting twenty-ninth Brunetti novel.When Dottoressa Donato calls the Questura to report that a dying patient at the hospice Fatebenefratelli wants to speak to the police, Commissario Guido Brunetti and his colleague, Claudia Griffoni, waste no time in responding.‘They killed him. It was bad money. I told him no’, Benedetta Toso gasps the words about her recently-deceased husband, Vittorio Fadalto. Even though he is not sure she can hear him Brunetti softly promises he and Griffoni will look into what initially appears to be a private family tragedy. They discover that Fadalto worked in the field collecting samples of contamination for a company that measures the cleanliness of Venice’s water supply and that he had died in a mysterious motorcycle accident. Distracted briefly by Vice Questore Patta’s obsession with youth crime in Venice, Brunetti is bolstered once more by the remarkable research skills of Patta’s secretary, Signora Elettra Zorzi. Piecing together the tangled threads, in time Brunetti comes to realize the perilous meaning in the woman’s accusation and the threat it reveals to the health of the entire region. But justice in this case proves to be ambiguous, as Brunetti is reminded it can be when, seeking solace, he reads Aeschylus’s classic play The Eumenides. As she has done so often through her memorable characters and storytelling skill, Donna Leon once again engages our sensibilities as to the differences between guilt and responsibility.

Read more less

If you are like many teen girls, you may feel pressure to be “nice,” rather than assert your opinions. You may even fear being called “bossy” or “pushy” when speaking your mind or offering a different point of view. But if you have ever stopped yourself from expressing your opinion, you know how bad it can feel afterward. Don’t let yourself fall into that same trap over and over. Your thoughts and feelings matter just as much as everyone else—you just need to find your voice.Using techniques based in proven-effective dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), this book will show you how to have positive interactions with others, deal with difficult emotions that can arise from bullying or dealing with “mean girls,” and easy-to-use strategies that will boost your self-esteem and confidence. You’ll also discover tons of assertive communication skills you can use every day, including how to speak up when you are upset; asking for what you want in a clear, assertive manner; and coping when intense emotions threaten to take over and sabotage your relationships.In the age of social media and texting, strong communication skills are needed more than ever. This book will not only give you the tools needed to speak up in everyday or difficult situations, but it will also provide powerful advice for effectively communicating in the digital world.

Read more less

Outside his native France, the view of Serge Gainsbourg was once of a one-hit wonder lothario. This has been slowly replaced by an awareness of how talented and innovative a songwriter he was. Gainsbourg was an eclectic, protean figure; a Dadaist, poète maudit, Pop-Artist, libertine and anti-hero. An icon and iconoclast. His masterpiece is arguably Histoire de Melody Nelson, an album suite combining many of his signature themes; sex, taboo, provocation, humour, exoticism and ultimately tragedy. Composed and arranged with the great Jean-Claude Vannier, its score of lush cinematic strings and proto-hip hop beats, combined with Serge's spoken-word poetry, has become remarkably influential across a vast musical spectrum; inspiring soundtracks, indie groups and electronic artists. In recent years, the album's reputation has grown from cult status to that of a modern classic with the likes of Beck, Portishead, Mike Patton, Air and Pulp paying tribute. How did the son of Jewish Russian immigrants, hounded during the Nazi Occupation, rise to such notoriety and acclaim, being celebrated by President François Mitterand as "our Baudelaire, our Apollinaire"? How did the early chanson singer evolve into a musical visionary incorporating samples, breakbeats and dub into his music, decades ahead of the curve? And what are the roots and legacy of a concept album about a Rolls Royce, a red-haired Lolita muse, otherworldly mansions, plane crashes and Cargo Cults?

Read more less

Featuring a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Despite decades of research and evidence, there is still extreme scepticism that businesses can combine a more humane style of management with superior shareholder returns, or that busy managers can be guided effectively by both their heads and their hearts. Vlatka Hlupic has spent 20 years investigating this paradox, developing an insightful critique of why such strong evidence has had limited impact and providing an alternative, practical approach that any employer can implement in order to overcome the unique challenges faced by their organizations. A clear correlation exists between companies that do well and companies that are good – that is to say, organizations that promote goodwill internally and externally, and work proactively with stakeholders, employees, society and customers to achieve those goals. A 'bad' company, on the other hand, may do well but its success is unlikely to be sustainable. Humane Capital explores the steps that businesses need to take in order to become a ‘good’ organization that can achieve long-term results. Supported by insights from interviews with 58 leading thinkers and practitioners in the field, Humane Capital argues for a radical reassessment of current business models. Using stories of managers from both the private and public sectors who have been effective in making the transition, Hlupic shows how successful leaders have moved their organizations from controlled and orderly to enthusiastic and collaborative – and shows how current leaders and managers can do the same.

Read more less

THRILLERS THAT RACE FROM THE VERY FIRST PAGE . . . 'Felix Francis' novels gallop along splendidly' Jilly Cooper ‘From winning post to top of the bestseller lists’ Sunday Times Miles Pussett is a former steeplechase jockey. Now he gets his adrenaline rush from riding down the Cresta Run, a three-quarter-mile Swiss ice chute, head first, reaching speeds of up to eighty miles per hour. Finding himself in St Moritz during the same weekend as White Turf, when high-class horseracing takes place on the frozen lake, he gets talked into helping out with the horses. It is against his better judgement. Seven years before, Miles left horseracing behind and swore he would never return. When he discovers something suspicious is going on in the races, something that may have a profound impact on his future life, Miles begins a search for answers. But someone is adamant to stop him - and they'll go to any lengths to do it . . . Praise for Felix Francis's novels ‘As usual with a Francis, once I opened the book, I didn’t want to put it down… Felix’s resolution is darker and more shocking than his father would ever have contemplated, but reflects grittier times and changing tastes in fiction’ Country Life ‘He has become his own man as a purveyor of murder mysteries' The Racing Post 'The Francis flair is clear for all to see' Daily Mail 'From winning post to top of the bestseller list, time after time' Sunday Times 'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life 'A tremendous read' Woman's Own

Read more less

Nick Bollettieri’s Tennis Handbook, Second Edition, is the most comprehensive guide to learning and teaching tennis from the sport’s most successful coach. Nick Bollettieri’s training and development system is recognized around the world. He has developed or coached the game’s elite players, including Andre Agassi, Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Jelena Janković, Jim Courier, Boris Becker, Martina Hingis, Marcelo Ríos, Monica Seles, Kei Nishikori, Petra Kvitová, and Sabine Lisicki. Now, Bollettieri provides the same instruction on skills and tactics that has made his IMG Academy a destination for aspiring players from around the world. From serves and returns to volleys and lobs, every shot in the game is covered to give you the most dynamic offensive arsenal. You’ll learn key strategic points that will help you identify your opponents’ tendencies and attack their weaknesses. Featuring 55 drills for singles and doubles play, the most effective conditioning exercises and programs for all styles of play, and the latest on equipment, technology, and mental training, NickBollettieri’s Tennis Handbook offers a one-of-a-kind opportunity to train with a true master teacher and apply to your game the system that has helped produce some of the sport’s greatest players. With the accompanying video-on-demand content, you’ll have access to enhanced demonstrations of the most critical individual techniques such as forehand, backhand, volley, serve, and return. It’s a must-have for dedicated players and coaches alike.

Read more less

The game-changing approach to success that will transform the way you master new skills and generate creative ideas. Learn how to work like top performers and use reverse engineering to unlock your full potential. ‘An eye-opening, fast-paced read that will transform the way you approach your next project’ – Shawn Achor For generations, we've been taught there are two ways to succeed - either from talent or through practice. In Decoding Greatness, award-winning social psychologist Ron Friedman illuminates a powerful third path – one that has quietly launched icons in a wide range of fields, from artists, writers, and chefs, to athletes, inventors and entrepreneurs: reverse engineering. To reverse engineer is to decode what works for others and learn how to apply those same methods and strategies to develop your own unique ideas and projects. Exploring what lies behind the success of top performers – from Agatha Christie to Andy Warhol, Barack Obama to Serena Williams, and many more – you will learn from the best. Combined with ground-breaking research on pattern recognition, skill acquisition, motivation, performance and creativity, this book is a practical guide to achieving success within any field. Decoding Greatness provides a new way of thinking and working, and through unforgettable stories and strategies, you will learn how to improve your skills and spark break-through ideas. And once you have learned this formula, you can apply it to anything.

Read more less

Alex Toussaint is known for his grueling workouts where he promises “to kick your ass” - yet thousands keep coming back for more. Why? Because he might be the most motivational teacher out there right now. His mantra is “Feel good, Look Good, Do Better.” He expects more from you, and from himself. Yet so much of what he talks about is NOT about the bike. Alex’s enthusiasm for life is infectious - “You woke up today!” “Breathe in confidence, exhale doubt.” Because Alex knows what it is like to be overlooked and undervalued, to be the underdog. He knows what it’s like to not expect the best from yourself. The child of Haitian immigrants who sacrificed so much to give him an education, he knows what it is like to be one of the few Black kids growing up in East Hampton. After a turbulent adolescence that saw him being sent to military school, Toussaint dropped out of college and was mopping floors at a gym. A few years later, he's one of the most iconic cycling instructors on Peloton, helping thousands of users along their fitness journeys through his inspirational workouts. Finally, Alex gets off the bike to help readers activate their own greatness in every aspect of their lives. Part self-help, part memoir, Activate Your Greatness details Toussaint’s mental and physical practices, on and off the bike, that have influenced his daily habits, fueled his motivation, and that have ultimately contributed to his astronomical success - and shows readers how they can do the same.

Read more less

An easy-to-follow guide to introductory physics, from the Big Bang to relativity All science, technology, engineering, and math majors in college and university require some familiarity with physics. Other career paths, like medicine, are also only open to students who understand this fundamental science. But don’t worry if you find physics to be intimidating or confusing. You just need the right guide! In Physics I For Dummies, you’ll find a roadmap to physics success that walks you through every major topic in introductory physics, including motion, energy, waves, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, relativity, and more. You’ll learn the basic principles and math formulas of physics through clear and straightforward examples and instruction, and without unnecessary jargon or complicated theory. In this book, you’ll also find: Up-to-date examples and explanations appearing alongside the latest discoveries and research in physics, discussed at a level appropriate for beginning students All the info found in an intro physics course, arranged in an intuitive sequence that will give first-year students a head start in their high school or college physics class The latest teaching techniques to ensure that you remember and retain what you read and practice in the book Physics I For Dummies is proof that physics can fun, accessible, challenging, and rewarding, all at the same time! Whether you’re a high school or undergraduate student looking for a leg-up on basic physics concepts or you’re just interested in how our universe works, this book will help you understand the thermodynamic, electromagnetic, relativistic, and everything in between.

Read more less

Coward. It's a grave insult, likely to provoke anger, shame, even violence. But what exactly is cowardice? When terrorists are called cowards, does it mean the same as when the term is applied to soldiers? And what, if anything, does cowardice have to do with the rest of us? Bringing together sources from court-martial cases to literary and film classics such as Dante's Inferno, The Red Badge of Courage, and The Thin Red Line, Cowardice recounts the great harm that both cowards and the fear of seeming cowardly have done, and traces the idea of cowardice's power to its evolutionary roots. But Chris Walsh also shows that this power has faded, most dramatically on the battlefield. Misconduct that earlier might have been punished as cowardice has more recently often been treated medically, as an adverse reaction to trauma, and Walsh explores a parallel therapeutic shift that reaches beyond war, into the realms of politics, crime, philosophy, religion, and love. Yet, as Walsh indicates, the therapeutic has not altogether triumphed--contempt for cowardice endures, and he argues that such contempt can be a good thing. Courage attracts much more of our attention, but rigorously understanding cowardice may be more morally useful, for it requires us to think critically about our duties and our fears, and it helps us to act ethically when fear and duty conflict. Richly illustrated and filled with fascinating stories and insights, Cowardice is the first sustained analysis of a neglected but profound and pervasive feature of human experience.

Read more less

During the seventeenth century, Holland created the world's most dynamic colonial empire, outcompeting the British and capturing Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Yet, in the Sino-Dutch War - Europe's first war with China - the Dutch met their match in a colorful Chinese warlord named Koxinga. Part samurai, part pirate, he led his generals to victory over the Dutch and captured one of their largest and richest colonies - Taiwan. How did he do it? Examining the strengths and weaknesses of European and Chinese military techniques during the period, Lost Colony provides a balanced new perspective on long-held assumptions about Western power, Chinese might, and the nature of war. It has traditionally been asserted that Europeans of the era possessed more advanced science, technology, and political structures than their Eastern counterparts, but historians have recently contested this view, arguing that many parts of Asia developed on pace with Europe until 1800. While Lost Colony shows that the Dutch did indeed possess a technological edge thanks to the Renaissance fort and the broadside sailing ship, that edge was neutralized by the formidable Chinese military leadership. Thanks to a rich heritage of ancient war wisdom, Koxinga and his generals outfoxed the Dutch at every turn. Exploring a period when the military balance between Europe and China was closer than at any other point in modern history, Lost Colony reassesses an important chapter in world history and offers valuable and surprising lessons for contemporary times.

Read more less

In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Albert Camus declared that a writer's duty is twofold: "the refusal to lie about what one knows and the resistance against oppression." These twin obsessions help explain something of Camus' remarkable character, which is the overarching subject of this sympathetic and lively book. Through an exploration of themes that preoccupied Camus--absurdity, silence, revolt, fidelity, and moderation--Robert Zaretsky portrays a moralist who refused to be fooled by the nobler names we assign to our actions, and who pushed himself, and those about him, to challenge the status quo.Though we do not face the same dangers that threatened Europe when Camus wrote The Myth of Sisyphus and The Stranger, we confront other alarms. Herein lies Camus' abiding significance. Reading his work, we become more thoughtful observers of our own lives. For Camus, rebellion is an eternal human condition, a timeless struggle against injustice that makes life worth living. But rebellion is also bounded by self-imposed constraints--it is a noble if impossible ideal. Such a contradiction suggests that if there is no reason for hope, there is also no occasion for despair--a sentiment perhaps better suited for the ancient tragedians than modern political theorists but one whose wisdom abides. Yet we must not venerate suffering, Camus cautions: the world's beauty demands our attention no less than life's train of injustices. That recognition permits him to declare: "It was the middle of winter, I finally realized that, within me, summer was inextinguishable."

Read more less

Kim Harrison returns to her beloved Hollows series with the official prequel. This will introduce fans and readers to a whole new side of Rachel Morgan's world as they've never seen it before!Can science save us when all else fails?Trisk and her hated rival, Kalamack, have the same goal: save their species from extinction.Death comes in the guise of hope when a genetically modified tomato created to feed the world combines with the government's new tactical virus, giving it an unexpected host and a mode of transport. Plague takes the world, giving the paranormal species an uncomfortable choice to stay hidden and allow humanity to die, or to show themselves in a bid to save them.Under accusations of scientific misconduct, Trisk and Kal flee across a plague torn United States to convince leaders of the major paranormal species to save their supposedly weaker kin, but not everyone thinks humanity should be saved.Kal surreptitiously works against her as Trisk fights the prejudices of two societies to prove that not only does humanity have something to offer, but that long-accepted beliefs against women, dark magic, and humanity itself can turn to understanding; that when people are at their worst that the best show their true strength, and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found.An unmissable story for fans of the Hollows series - discover Rachel Morgan's world as you've never seen it before . . .

Read more less

De-mystify dating once and for all! Dr. Henry Cloud addresses common dating issues and presents a "how to" guide for getting to know yourself and your date, so you can find (and keep) the love of your life.Let's face it--dating isn't always fun. But starting today, you can begin a journey that will bring fun and interesting people into your life, broaden your experience of others and yourself, and lead you toward that date of all dates--a date worth keeping.This book is for YOU if . . . You want to get more dates or better dates. You wonder where "the good ones" are. You keep repeating the same old cycle in your dating life and want to change it. You wonder why people who aren't as nice as you get all the dates. You're attracted to the wrong kind, while the right kind lack the "chemistry." You're waiting for God to bring you the right person--and you've been waiting an awfully long time. You wonder what it is about you that fails to attract dates. With over ten years of experience personally coaching singles on dating, Dr. Henry Cloud shares his proven, very doable, step-by-step approach to overcoming your sticking points and getting all the dates you could want.The results speak for themselves. Filled with true-life examples you'll identify with instantly, How to Get a Date Worth Keeping will prove its worth to you many times over in the exciting months ahead.

Read more less

'A manual for the 21st-century citizen... accessible, refreshingly critical, relevant and urgent' - Financial Times 'Fascinating and deeply disturbing' - Yuval Noah Harari, Guardian Books of the Year In this New York Times bestseller, Cathy O'Neil, one of the first champions of algorithmic accountability, sounds an alarm on the mathematical models that pervade modern life -- and threaten to rip apart our social fabric.We live in the age of the algorithm. Increasingly, the decisions that affect our lives - where we go to school, whether we get a loan, how much we pay for insurance - are being made not by humans, but by mathematical models. In theory, this should lead to greater fairness: everyone is judged according to the same rules, and bias is eliminated. And yet, as Cathy O'Neil reveals in this urgent and necessary book, the opposite is true. The models being used today are opaque, unregulated, and incontestable, even when they're wrong. Most troubling, they reinforce discrimination. Tracing the arc of a person's life, O'Neil exposes the black box models that shape our future, both as individuals and as a society. These "weapons of math destruction" score teachers and students, sort CVs, grant or deny loans, evaluate workers, target voters, and monitor our health. O'Neil calls on modellers to take more responsibility for their algorithms and on policy makers to regulate their use. But in the end, it's up to us to become more savvy about the models that govern our lives. This important book empowers us to ask the tough questions, uncover the truth, and demand change.

Read more less

‘Nastily good fun’ Metro SET TO BECOME A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING ELIZABETH MOSS Shirley Jackson meets Ottessa Moshfegh meets My Sister the Serial Killer in a brilliantly unsettling and darkly funny debut novel full of suspense and paranoia George March’s latest novel is a smash hit. None could be prouder than Mrs. March, his dutiful wife, who revels in his accolades and relishes the lifestyle and status his success brings. A creature of routine and decorum, Mrs. March lives an exquisitely controlled existence on the Upper East Side. Every morning begins the same way, with a visit to her favourite patisserie to buy a loaf ofolive bread, but her latest trip proves to be her last when she suffers an indignity from which she may never recover: an assumption by the shopkeeper that the protagonist in George March’s new book –a pathetic sex worker, more a figure of derision than desire – is based on Mrs. March. One casual remark robs Mrs. March not only of her beloved olive bread but of the belief that she knew everything about her husband – and herself – sending her on an increasingly paranoid journey, onethat starts within the pages of a book but may very well uncover both a killer and the long-buried secrets of Mrs. March’s past. A razor-sharp exploration of the fragility of identity and the smothering weight of expectations, Mrs. March heralds the arrival of a wicked and wonderful new voice.

Read more less

An audacious, compassionate state-of-the-nation novel about four strangers whose lives collide with far-reaching consequences. Beatrice Kizza, a woman in flight from a homeland that condemned her for daring to love, flees to London. There, she shields her sorrow from the indifference of her adopted city, and navigates a night-time world of shift-work and bedsits. Howard Pink is a self-made millionaire who has risen from Petticoat Lane to the mansions of Kensington on a tide of determination and bluster. Yet self-doubt still snaps at his heels and his life is shadowed by the terrible loss that has shaken him to his foundations. Carol Hetherington, recently widowed, is living the quiet life in Wandsworth with her cat and The Jeremy Kyle Show for company. As she tries to come to terms with the absence her husband has left on the other side of the bed, she frets over her daughter's prospects and wonders if she'll ever be happy again. Esme Reade is a young journalist learning to muck-rake and doorstep in pursuit of the elusive scoop, even as she longs to find some greater meaning and leave her imprint on the world. Four strangers, each inhabitants of the same city, where the gulf between those who have too much and those who will never have enough is impossibly vast. But when the glass that separates Howard's and Beatrice's worlds is shattered by an inexcusable act, they discover that the capital has connected them in ways they could never have imagined.

Read more less

David Satter arrived in the Soviet Union in June, 1976 as the correspondent of the Financial Times of London and entered a country that was a giant theater of the absurd. After 1982, he was banned from the Soviet Union but allowed back in 1990, and finally expelled in 2013 on the grounds that the secret police regarded his presence as undesirable. From 1976 to the present, he saw four different Russias, which differed from each other radically while remaining essentially the same. From 1976 to 1982, the Soviet Union was at the height of its world power and its people were in thrall to an absurd ideology. With the advent of Gorbachevs perestroika, the Soviet population was liberated from the ideology and the state hurtled to its inevitable collapse. When independent Russia emerged from the wreckage, the failure to replace the missing ideology with genuine moral values led to Russias complete criminalization. The articles in this unique collection are a chronicle of Russia from the day David Satter arrived in the Soviet Union until the present. Emigres from the states of the former Soviet Union often despair of their inability to convey the true character of their experiences to the West. Penetrating the veil of Russian mystification requires effort and the ability to understand that seeing is not always believing. The Russians have created an entire false world for our benefit. This collection reflects David Satters 40-year attempt to see them as they are.

Read more less

In 1908 Hermann Minkowski gave the four-dimensional(spacetime) formulationof special relativity[1]. In fact,HenriPoincare[ ' 2] rst noticedin1906that the Lorentz transformations had a geometric interpretation as rotations in a four-dimensional space with time as the fourth dimension. However it was Minkowski, who succe- fully decoded the profound message about the dimensionality of the world hidden in the relativity postulate, which re ects the experimental fact that natural laws are the same in all inertial reference frames. Unlike Poincare, ' Minkowski did not regardspacetime - the uni cation of space and time - as a convenientmathematical space, but insisted that this absolute four-dimensional world, as Minkowski called it, represents physical phenomena and the world more adequately than the relativity postulate: "the word relativity-postulate...seems to me very feeble. Since the pos- late comes to mean that only the four-dimensional world in space and time is given by the phenomena...I prefer to call it the postulate of the absolute world"[3]. The impact of Minkowski's ideas on the twentieth century physics has been so immense that one cannot imagine modern physics without the notion of spacetime. It would hardly be an exaggeration to say that spacetime has been the greatest discoveryinphysicsofall times. Theonlyotherdiscoverythatcomesclosetospa- time is Einstein's general relativity, which revealed that gravity is a manifestation of the curvature of spacetime. But it was the discovery of spacetime, which paved the way for this deep understanding of what gravity really is. Einstein saw the link betweenthegeometryofspacetimeandgravitationonlyafterheovercamehis initial hostile attitude toward the notion of spacetime.

Read more less

Michael Kenneth Moore was probably New Zealand’s last working-class Prime Minister and while the book is inevitably political, it is also a remarkable New Zealand story about an ordinary kiwi achieving extraordinary things. This book is based on conversations held with Mike Moore over the past 12 months and reflections on his life and career involving people who were part of it. The chapters focus on key moments in his life – growing up partially crippled in poverty in rural Northland, moving to Auckland and becoming a trade unionist and New Zealand’s youngest MP, losing his seat and fighting the Labour Party to get another one only to be diagnosed with cancer, helping make David Lange Prime Minister and beating Muldoon, the turmoil of the fourth Labour Government including becoming Prime Minister for only 59 days, taking Labour to within two seats of Government and being cruelling deposed as leader by Helen Clark in 1993, the years in wilderness when he came close to setting up a new party and not participating in a coup against Clark, his audacious campaign to become Director General of the World Trade Organisation, becoming New Zealand’s Ambassador to the US and the stroke that cut it short, and his hopes for the future. In a country that celebrates sporting success Moore’s story is also heroic because he has the same traits of smarts, hard work and determination to achieve at the highest levels – despite numerous setbacks – that all New Zealanders admire in the successful.

Read more less

Eason Favourite Book of the Year 2022 ‘she is no small town, and this is no small story . . .’ BASED ON THE POPULAR DUBLIN HISTORY PODCAST A companion to the hugely successful podcast of the same name by Donal Fallon, THREE CASTLES BURNING is an enjoyable wander through some of Dublin's less obvious but more interesting streets and roads such as Henrietta Street, Watling Street, Fownes Street and Kildare Road. On the Dublin streets we walk every day, there are hidden reminders of the lesser-known heroes and events that have contributed to the evolving story of our capital. The city’s motto, ‘the obedience of the citizens produces a happy city’, may feel outdated and loaded today but the three burning castles of its ancient coat of arms have come to represent the indomitable spirit, creativity and vision that define this big town. Inspired by the No. 1 podcast, Three Castles Burning: A History of Dublin in Twelve Streets champions the activists, workers, architects, poets, migrants, artists and merchants who have made and remade the city we know and love by going beneath the many layers of twelve key streets where they lived and worked. Because, in the city Joyce called the ‘Hibernian Metropolis’, the disobedience of its citizens is the cornerstone of its past, present and future. This combination of social, cultural, industrial and commercial, and political history, through the prism of the places where revolutions great and small were sparked, offers the reader a fresh and unexpected take on Ireland's capital city.

Read more less

For a few short years in the 1970s, the unique music of Focus entertained the world. Build around the prodigious instrumental talents of Dutch masters Jan Akkerman (guitar) and Thijs Van Leer (keyboards and flute), the band produced three classic hit albums in quick succession, and scored two worldwide hits with 'Sylvia' and 'Hocus Pocus'. The latter piece is as ubiquitous as tunes from the 70s get, distinctive for Akkerman's famous riff and Van Leer's once-heard-never forgotten yodeling. Musical and personal tensions between the two lead to a split in 1976, the band limping on until 1978. However, the 1970s also saw seven solo albums each from these two hugely talented musicians, with Akkerman moving into jazzier territory while Van Leer had huge success with his Introspection series of light, classical flute-based albums. Stephen Lambe's enlightening book guides the reader through the band's early history year by year, dealing with all eight Focus albums song by song, while also giving the same treatment to Akkerman and Van Leer's lesser know solo work between 1970 and 1979. It makes for both an important potted history of the band and an insight into the tensions which lead to such a creative - if short lived - peak, but also acts as an essential guide to the astonishing music the two men made while at the peak of their powers.

Read more less

A maverick in the history of photography, lshiuchi Miyako burst onto the photography scene in Tokyo in the mid-1970s, at a time when men dominated the field in Japan. Working prodigiously over the last forty years, she has created an impressive oeuvre and quietly influenced generations of photographers born in the postwar era. Recipient of the prestigious Hasselblad Award in 2014, lshiuchi ranks as one of the most significant photographers working in Japan today. Spurred by her contentious relationship with her hometown, Yokosuka - site of an important American naval base since 1945 - lshiuchi chose that city as her first serious photographic subject. Grainy, moody, and deeply personal, these early projects established her career. This choice of subject also defined the beginning of lshiuchi's extended exploration of American occupation and the shadows it cast over postwar Japan. lshiuchi has since addressed the theme of occupation both indirectly - through her photographs of scars, skin, and other markers of time on the human body - and, more explicitly, with her Images of garments and accessories once owned by victims of the atomic blast in Hiroshima. Essays featured in this volume reveal the past as the wellspring of lshiuchi's work and the present moment as her principal subject. Ishiuchi Miyako: Postwar Shadows - which includes a selection of more than 100 works - is published on the occasion of an exhibition by the same name, on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Center, Los Angeles, from October 5, 2015 to February 21, 2016.

Read more less

'Invigorating ... engaging ... thrilling' Samantha Ellis, GUARDIAN'An astonishing tour-de-force . . . Juliet has found the biographer she deserves' Marion TurnerA cultural, historical, and literary exploration of the birth, death, and legacy of the ultimate romantic heroine - Shakespeare's Juliet CapuletJuliet Capulet is the heartbeat of the world's most famous love story. She is an enduring romantic icon. And she is a captivating, brilliant, passionate teenage girl who is read and interpreted afresh by each new generation.Searching for Juliet takes us from the Renaissance origin stories behind William Shakespeare's child bride to the boy actor who inspired her creation onstage. From enslaved people in the Caribbean to Italian fascists in Verona, and real-life lovers in Afghanistan. From the Victorian stage to 1960s cinema, Baz Luhrmann, and beyond.Sophie Duncan draws on rich cultural and historical sources and new research to explore the legacy and reach of Romeo and Juliet far beyond the literary sphere. With warmth, wit, and insight, she shows us why Juliet is for now, for ever, for everyone.'Deeply researched and wryly written, Searching for Juliet makes us think again about a character and a story we thought we knew' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst'Original, stylish, and compelling . . . It's a marvellous book, and one that delivers a powerfully inspiring message to the young Juliets of our own troubled times' Miranda Seymour'A powerful, witty, and provocative exploration of sex and gender, youth and age, love and death' Anna Beer

Read more less

In AD 453 Attila, with a huge force composed of Huns, allies and vassals drawn from his already-vast empire, was rampaging westward across Gaul (essentially modern France), then still nominally part of the Western Roman Empire. Laying siege to Orleans, he was only a few days march from extending his empire from the Eurasian steppe to the Atlantic. He was brought to battle on the Cataluanian Plain and defeated by a coalition hastily assembled and led by Aetius. Who was this man that saved Western Europe from the Hunnic yoke? While Attila is a household name, his nemesis remains relatively obscure. Aetius is one of the major figures in the history of the Late Roman Empire and his actions helped maintain the integrity of the West in the declining years of the Empire. During the course of his life he was a hostage, first with Alaric and the Goths, and then with Rugila, King of the Huns. His stay with these two peoples helped to give him an unparalleled insight into the minds and military techniques of these barbarians which he was to use in later years to halt the depredations of the Huns. That this saviour of Rome was himself half Scythian is indicative of the complexity of the late Roman world. Ian Hughes assesses his fascinating career and campaigns with the same accessible narrative and analysis he brought to bear on Belisarius and Stilicho. This is a long-overdue biography of a major, yet neglected, player in the Late Classical world.

Read more less

For many years the Holts have provided tourers to the battlefields with excellent mapping for the Ypres Salient and the Somme. This map of the Verdun/Meuse area fills one of the many gaps in the coverage of the Western Front. This map of the Verdun battlefield is in the same style, using a colour coded system to distinguish the different types of features. It includes some 300 locations of memorials, cemeteries, significant remnants of the battle terrain, remaining fortifications, trenches, the destroyed villages and other vestiges of the war. On the reverse there is a cut out and enlarged section of the Verdun battlefield in particular - the most visited part of the area, which provides greater detail. This section includes the Ossuary at Douamont, Forts Douamont, Vaux and Souville and many more features. The front line at key stages of the battle in 1916 is clearly indicated GPS references are given for the more signifiant sites. Roads and major tracks are shown, with restrictions in access as known at the date of publication. The map extends from the eastern fringes of the Argonne Forest to the west and encompasses the whole of the 1916 Verdun battlefield to the east. This means that several places of interest to the student of the American army's offensive in late 1918 are shown. The map is tri-lingual - in English, French and German - so far as is practicable given the constraints of space. The map is of a manageable size, both in a vehicle and when being used outside.

Read more less

Up until three years ago I was confident that I had experienced true Spanish cooking bringing together the many flavours of the Mediterranean - and its health benefits too. I had holidayed many times in this incredible country and sampled many traditional dishes and there are numerous lovely Spanish restaurants emerging all over the UK now too. Moving to Spain in 2015 made me quickly realise that I had not even scratched the surface and that the types of foods the Spanish eat, when they eat, their cooking methods and their use of herbs, spices, oils and locally produced foods was so incredibly different to anything I had tasted or experienced before. My quest to learn as much as I could during my time in Spain about their food and culture resulted in me working in a wide range of incredible restaurants, some Michelin Star with award winning chefs and others only the locals would know where the grandmother is still cooking her famous recipes in what was her original house 60 years earlier. Some in the city, some by the beach and others hidden in the mountains. Collaborating with many of the restaurants in which I worked, I have now brought to you Authentic Spanish Cooking which shares the recipes of restaurant quality food that you can easily recreate in your own home using traditional ingredients and methods. With each restaurant we have provided their most popular dishes including a starter, main course and dessert.

Read more less

Frome at War 1939-1945 is a comprehensive account of this Somerset market town's experience of the conflict, covering in detail life on the Home Front set against the background of the wider theatres of war. The narrative of that global struggle is given with a focus on the ordeals endured by the people of Frome, as they cheered their men and women fighters off to war, welcomed hundreds of evacuated men, women and children to the town, and contributed their part to the fight against Hitler and the Nazi threat. Rare insights into the life of the town are included, along with seldom told stories from the footnotes of history; from Frome's part within the secret underground resistance movement and the national fight for women's equality, to the gradual influx of American GIs and Field-Marshall Montgomery's stay in the aftermath of Dunkirk. The book incorporates memoirs and memories, along with in depth research from official records and newspaper accounts, which allow the reader to see the war not only from ordinary people's perceptive, but the military experiences of Frome's heroic men and women - and in many cases their tragic sacrifices - as well. More controversial aspects are also touched on, including injustice, espionage, racism and politics, to give a full and fascinating picture of a town facing profound trials of endurance and courage, but at the same time revealing the characteristics that have sustained Frome throughout its illustrious and turbulent history.

Read more less

There is a part of human nature compelled to test our own limits. But what happens when this part comes to define us?When journalist Jenny Valentish wrote Woman of Substances, a book about addiction, she noticed that people who treated drug-taking like an Olympic sport would often hurl themselves into a pursuit like marathon running upon giving up. What stayed constant was the need to push their boundaries.Everything Harder Than Everyone Else follows people doing the things that most couldn’t, wouldn’t or shouldn’t. By delving into their extreme behaviour, there’s a lot that us mere mortals can learn about the human condition.There’s the neuroscientist violating his brain to override his disgust response. The athlete using childhood adversity as grist for the mill. The wrestler turning restlessness into curated ultraviolence. The architect hanging from hooks in her flesh, to better get out of her head. The performance artist seeking erasure by torturing his body. The BDSM dom helping people flirt with death to feel more alive. The bare-knuckle boxer whose gnarliest opponent is her ego. The dancer who could not separate her identity from her practice until at death’s door. The bodybuilder exacting order on a life that was once chaotic. And the porn star-turned-fighter for whom sex and violence are two sides of the same coin.Their insights lead Jenny on a compulsive, sometimes reckless journey of immersion journalism.

Read more less

'This series is a must-read for anyone who loves the sea, or islands, or joyous, intricate story-telling.' ANN CLEEVESIt's the dark nights in the run up to Christmas, and sailing sleuth Cass Lynch's first night on dry land is disturbed by strange noises outside her isolated cottage. Tiny footprints in the moonlit snow trail from her front door before mysteriously disappearing. Soon Cass learns others were visited by the same tiny feet in the night.It looks like ingenious local teenagers playing tricks - but what happens when festive games turn deadly?Cass soon finds out as a schoolboy disappears, leaving only a trail of footprints into the middle of a snowy field. She's determined to investigate, but uncovering the truth will also put her in danger . . .Nail-biting and unputdownable, A Shetland Winter Mystery is the latest instalment in the much-loved Shetland Sailing Mystery series by Marsali Taylor. Perfect for fans of Ann Cleeves, Elly Griffiths and J M Dalgliesh.Readers LOVE the Shetland Sailing Mysteries:'Definitely the best of the Cass Lynch series yet!' 5* Reader Review'The beautiful descriptions of Shetland life, traditions, it's landscape and even language bring everything to life.' 5* Reader Review'This series gets better and better' 5* Reader Review'A beautifully written story, with descriptions so vivid you can smell the sea and beautiful countryside.' 5* Reader Review'The perfect lockdown read for anyone who longs to be back on the sea.' 5* Reader Review

Read more less

When a three-year old girl is reported missing, DCI Andy Gilchrist is assigned the case. But Gilchrist soon suspects that the child's mother - Andrea Davis - may be responsible for her daughter's disappearance, or worse, her murder. The case becomes politically sensitive when Gilchrist learns that Andrea is the daughter of Dougal Davis, a former MSP who was forced to resign from Scottish Parliament after being accused of physically abusing his third wife. Now a powerful businessman, Davis demands Gilchrist's removal from the case when his investigation seems to be stalling. But then the case turns on its head when Gilchrist learns that a paedophile, recently released from prison, now lives in the same area as the missing child. The paedophile is interrogated but hours later his body is found on the beach with evidence of blunt force trauma to the head, and Gilchrist launches a murder investigation. As pressure relentlessly mounts on Gilchrist, he begins to unravel a dark family secret, a secret he believes will solve the fate of the missing child.Praise for T.F. Muir:'Rebus did it for Edinburgh. Laidlaw did it for Glasgow. Gilchrist might just be the bloke to put St Andrews on the crime fiction map.' Daily Record'A truly gripping read, with all the makings of a classic series.' Mick Herron'Gripping and grisly, with plenty of twists and turns that race along with black humour.' Craig Robertson'Gilchrist is intriguing, bleak and vulnerable... if I were living in St Andrews I'd sleep with the lights on.' Anna Smith

Read more less

Between the two world wars there was a golden era of industrial design when the benefits of streamlining were realised, allowing for reduced wind resistance, faster transportation and a more efficient economy. The Art Deco-influenced style was also a huge public relations exercise in the glamour-obsessed 1920s and 1930s. Its most obvious manifestations were on the railways, with beautiful streamlined locomotives in daring colour schemes on prestigious named expresses, especially in Europe and North America. They included the Fliegender Hamburger diesel train in Germany, the American Mercury trains and of course Sir Nigel Gresley’s A4 Class, on which the streamlined casing and internal streamlining allowed Mallard to break the world speed record. The idea of streamlining made even more sense in the air, where the great airships were crossing the Atlantic, and aircraft like the Douglas DC3 cut through the air more easily than anything that came before. Meanwhile, on the world’s roads, buses and cars lost their perpendicular looks and marques like Cord and Bugatti led the way with increasingly aerodynamic, wind-tunnel-tested profiles. Designers like Raymond Loewy, as well as designing streamlined locomotives, began to apply the same style to products for which wind resistance was irrelevant, such as buildings, refrigerators and even pencil sharpeners. This book tells the story of the streamline era – its designers, its successes and failures, its inspiration and its legacy.

Read more less