Search results for ""bloomsbury publishing""

This book explores the various issues raised by women’s fraught integration into the mainstream in film and television, whether it be off screen as filmmakers and film critics or on screen in film and TV series. Marianne Kac-Vergne and Julie Assouly consider the varied representations of women in films such as Jackie Brown (1997), Marie Antoinette (2006), It’s a Free World… (2007) and Wonder Woman (2017). They particularly look into the overlooked gendered aspects of voice-overs and the adverse tropes used to represent maternity in television series as well as the complex motif of the vagina dentata in contemporary film and television. The chapters analyze independent, art-house, Hollywood and TV productions often in transnational contexts, shedding light on how definitions of femininity are culturally specific yet cross national, class and racial lines. The contributors include renowned scholars such as Yvonne Tasker, Celestino Deleyto, David Roche and Nicole Cloarec, as well as emerging yet well-published film scholars.

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Miletus: one of the wealthiest and most important towns in ancient Greece. It was here, on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, in the 6th century BC, that the great traditions of Greek science and philosophy sparked into life, setting in motion a chain of knowledge that would change the world, forever. This is the extraordinary story of Greek science from its earliest beginnings through its development in classical Athens and Hellenistic Alexandria and its subsequent diffusion to the wider world. Most histories of Greek science end with the collapse of the Graeco-Roman world in late antiquity and the closing of all classical schools of 'pagan' philosophy in A.D. 529. But acclaimed historian John Freely here continues the story to tell of how the elements of Greek scientific and philosophical learning were adopted by the Islamic world and the transmission of Graeco-Islamic science to western Europe, as well as the preservation of Hellenic culture in Byzantium and its profound influence on the European renaissance and our modern world.

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Noël Carroll is one of the most prolific, widely-cited and distinguished philosophers of art, but how, specifically, has cinema impacted his thought? This book, one of the first in the acclaimed 'Film Thinks' series, argues that Carroll's background in both cinema and philosophy has been crucial to his overall theory of aesthetics. Often a controversial figure within film studies, as someone who has assertively contested the psychoanalytic, semiotic and Marxist cornerstones of the field, his allegiance to alternative philosophical traditions has similarly polarised his readership. Mario Slugan proposes that Carroll's defence of the notions of truth and objectivity provides a welcome antidote to 'anything goes' attitudes and postmodern scepticism towards art and popular culture, including film. Carroll's thinking has loosened the grip of continental philosophers on cinema studies - from Maurice Merleau-Ponty to Gilles Deleuze and Jacques Lacan - by turning to cognitive and analytical approaches. Slugan goes further to reveal that Carroll's methods of evaluation and interpretation in fact, usefully bridge gaps between these `opposing' sides, to look at artworks anew. Throughout, Slugan revisits and enriches Carroll's definitions of popular art, mass art, horror, humour and other topics and concludes by tracing their origins to this important thinker's relationship with the medium of cinema.

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Richard Norton-Taylor reveals the secrets of his forty-year career as a journalist covering the world of spies and their masters in Whitehall. Early in his career, Norton-Taylor successfully campaigned against official secrecy, gaining a reputation inside the Whitehall establishment and the outside world alike for his relentless determination to expose wrongdoing and incompetence. His special targets have always been the security and intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Defence, institutions that often hide behind the cloak of national security to protect themselves from embarrassment and being held to account. Encouraged by his trusted contacts in intelligence agencies and Whitehall departments, Norton-Taylor was among the first of the few journalists consistently to attack the planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 and subsequently covered for the Guardian the devastating evidence of every witness to the Chilcot inquiry. He also enjoyed unique access to a wide array of defence sources, giving him a rare insight into the disputes among top military commanders as they struggled to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with under-resourced and ill-equipped troops. Described by a former senior Intelligence official as a ‘long-term thorn in the side of the intelligence establishment’, and winner of numerous awards for his journalism, Norton-Taylor is one of the most respected defence and security journalists of his generation. Provocative, and rich in anecdotes, The State of Secrecy is an illuminating, critical and, at times, provocative account of the author’s experiences investigating the secret world.

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AIDS & Representation explores portraits and self-portraits made in response to the AIDS epidemic in America in the 1980s and 1990s. Addressing the work of artists including Mark Morrisroe, Robert Blanchon and Felix Gonzalez-Torres through the interrelated themes of sickness and mortality, desire and sexual identity, love and loss, Fiona Johnstone shows how the self-representational practices of artists with HIV and AIDS offered a richly imaginative response to the limitations of early AIDS imagery. Johnstone argues that the AIDS epidemic changed the very nature of visual representation and artistic practice, necessitating a radical new approach to conceptualising and visualising the human form. An extended epilogue considers the ongoing art historicization of the epidemic, re-contextualising the book’s themes in relation to contemporary photographic works. More than just a historical discussion of the art of the AIDS crisis, AIDS and Representation contributes to an emergent body of scholarship on the visual representation of illness. Expanding the established genre of the autopathography or illness narrative beyond the predominantly textual, this important contribution to art history and health humanities sensitively unpicks the entanglements between aesthetic form and the expression of lived experiences of critical and chronic ill health.

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Into the heart of one of the world's most alluring cities through the imaginations of over 50 writers and artists. "Barcelona is a fountain of courtesy, shelter of strangers...land of the valiant, avenger of the offended, reciprocator of firm friendship, a city unique in its location and beauty." Don Quixote City of outlandish cathedrals, eccentric parks, elegant plaças and atmospheric barrios, Barcelona is 'haunted by history', yet alive with the ghosts of those it has inspired, from Cervantes, Zafon and Montalban, Gaudi, Miro and Dali to Jean Genet, George Sand, Auden and Orwell. Perhaps more than any other Spanish city, Barcelona is synonymous with literature, art and creativity; it is the distilled essence of Catalonia - a region that has always marched to the beat of its own drum. Barcelona: A Literary Guide for Travellers takes the reader on a dynamic journey into the imaginations of over 50 iconic writers and the heart of one of the most alluring cities in the world.

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Art cinema occupies a space in the film landscape that is accorded a particular kind of value. From films that claim the status of harsh realism to others which embody aspects of the tradition of modernism or the poetic, art cinema encompasses a variety of work from across the globe. But how is art cinema positioned in the film marketplace, or by critics and in academic analysis? Exactly what kinds of cultural value are attributed to films of this type and how can this be explained? This book offers a unique analysis of how such processes work, including the broader cultural basis of the appeal of art cinema to particular audiences. Geoff King argues that there is no single definition of art cinema, but a number of distinct and recurrent tendencies are identified. At one end of the spectrum are films accorded the most ‘heavyweight’ status, offering the greatest challenges to viewers. Others mix aspects of art cinema with more accessible dimensions such as uses of popular genre frameworks and ‘exploitation’ elements involving explicit sex and violence. Including case studies of key figures such as Michael Haneke, Pedro Almodóvar and Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, this is a crucial contribution to understanding both art cinema itself and the discourses through which its value is established.

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With contributions from both Mozambican and non-Mozambican scholars of multi-disciplinary backgrounds and approaches, this book provides a range of new perspectives on how Mozambique has been characterized by profound changes in its rural communities and places. Despite the persistence of poverty in Mozambique, significant investments have been made in rural areas in extractive industry or agribusiness, resulting in both the transformation of these areas, and a new set of tensions and conflicts related to land tenure and population resettlement. Meanwhile, the Mozambican rural landscape is one dominated by smallholders whose livelihoods depend on both farming and non-farming activities, and who are often extremely vulnerable to shocks and pressure over resources. The emergence of new civil society organizations has led to clashes with in the interests of local political, administrative and economic powers, creating fresh social conflicts. Transformations of the Rural Spaces in Mozambique examines the process of transformation across a range of settings; from the impacts of large-scale industries and the transformation of agriculture, to relations between state and non-state actors and issues related to land.

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The Muslim Speaks reimagines Islam as a strategy for investigating the modern condition. Rather than imagining it as an issue external to a discrete West, Khurram Hussain constructs Islam as internal to the elaboration and expansion of the West. In doing so he reveals three discursive traps – that of ‘freedom’, ‘reason’ and ‘culture’ – that inhibit the availability of Islam as a feasible, critical interlocutor in Western deliberations about moral, intellectual and political concerns. Through close examination of this inhibition, Hussain posits that while Islamophobia is clearly a moral wrong, ‘depoliticization’ more accurately describes the problems associated with the lived experience of Muslims in the West and elsewhere. Weaving together his conclusions in the hope of a common world, Khurram Hussain boldy and quite radically deems that what Islam needs is not depoliticization, but infact repoliticization.

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‘China’, Napoleon once remarked, ‘is a sleeping lion. Let her sleep, for when she wakes she will shake the world.’ In 2014, President Xi Jinping triumphantly declared that the lion had awoken. From holding its ground in trade wars with the US, to presenting itself as a world leader in the fight against climate change, a newly confident China is flexing its economic muscles for strategic ends. With the Belt and Road initiative, billed as a new Silk Road for the 21st Century, China is set to extend its influence throughout Eurasia and across the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. But with the Chinese and US militaries also vying over the Pacific, does this newfound confidence put China on a collision course with the US? Combining a geopolitical overview with on-the-ground reportage from a dozen countries, this new edition of China’s Asian Dream engages with the most recent developments in the ongoing story of China’s ascendency, and offers new insights into what the rise of China means not only for Asia, but for the world.

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Thirty-two years ago Mr Li and Mrs Wu from Zhejiang abandoned their second baby daughter at a marketplace. Mrs Wang Maochen from Beijing has seven children, but six of them are illegal so they cannot go to school, they cannot take a job, go to the doctor, or marry, or even buy a train ticket. Zhao Min from Guangzhou first learned about the concept of a sibling at university, in her town there were no sisters or brothers. With the Chinese government now seeking to phase out its one child policy, Secrets and Siblings reveals the scale of its tragic consequences, showing how Chinese family and society has been forever changed. In doing so it also overturns many of our misconceptions about family life in China, bravely arguing that it is the state, rather than popular prejudice, that has hindered the adoption of girls within China. At once brutal and beautifully hopeful, Secrets and Siblings asks what the one child state and its children will do now that they are becoming adults.

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The Political Economy of Conflict and Violence against Women shows how political, economic, social and ideological processes intersect to shape conflict related gender-based violence against women. Through feminist interrogations of the politics of economies, struggles for political power and the gender order, this collection reveals how sexual orders and regimes are linked to spaces of production. Crucially it argues that these spaces are themselves firmly anchored in overlapping patriarchies which are sustained and reproduced during and after war through violence that is physical as well as structural. Through an analysis of legal regimes and structures of social arrangements, this book frames militarization as a political economic dynamic, developing a radical critique of liberal peace building and peace making that does not challenge patriarchy, or modes of production and accumulation.

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From the 16th century, the mines of Potosí, perched high in the Andes, bankrolled the Spanish empire. During those years immense wealth allowed the city to grow larger than London at the time and the mountain was quickly given the epithet Cerro Rico – the 'rich mountain'. But today, Potosí’s inhabitants are some of the poorest in South America while the mountain itself has been so greedily plundered that its summit is on the verge of collapsing. So many people have died in the mines that the Cerro Rico is now called the 'mountain that eats men’. In this captivating, moving tale of harrowing bravery and wistful beauty Ander Izagirre tells the story of the mountain and those who risk their lives in its shadow through the eyes of Alicia – a 14-year-old girl working in the dark, dangerous mines to support her family. Through her eyes we can come to know the story of postcolonial Bolivia.

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'Beautifully written, brilliantly insightful' Owen Jones Tony Blair and Noel Gallagher shaking hands at No. 10. Saatchi’s YBAs setting the international art world aflame. Geri Halliwell in a Union Jack dress. A time of vibrancy and optimism: when the country was united by the hope of a better and brighter future. So why, twenty years on, did that future never happen? Richard Power Sayeed takes a provocative look at this epochal year, arguing that the dark undercurrents of that time had a much more enduring legacy than the marketing gimmick of ‘Cool Britannia’. He reveals how the handling of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry ushered in a new type of racism. How the feminism-lite of 'Girl Power' made sexism stronger. And how the promises of New Labour left the country more fractured than ever. This lively, rich and evocative book explores why 1997 was a turning point for British culture and society - away from a fairer, brighter future and on the path to our current malaise.

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Virginity is of concern here, that is its utter messiness. At once valuable and detrimental, normative and deviant, undesirable and enviable. Virginity and its loss hold tremendous cultural significance. For many, female virginity is still a universally accepted condition, something that is somehow bound to the hymen, whereas male virginity is almost as elusive as the G-spot: we know it's there, it’s just we have a harder time finding it. Of course boys are virgins, queers are virgins, some people reclaim their virginities, and others reject virginity from the get go. So what if we agree to forget the hymen all together? Might we start to see the instability of terms like untouched, pure, or innocent? Might we question the act of sex, the very notion of relational sexuality? After all, for many people it is the sexual acts they don’t do, or don’t want to do, that carry the most abundant emotional clout. Virgin Envy is a collection of essays that look past the vestal virgins and beyond Joan of Arc. From medieval to present-day literature, the output of HBO, Bollywood, and the films of Abdellah Taïa or Derek Jarman to the virginity testing of politically active women in Tahrir Square, the writers here explore the concept of virginity in today’s world to show that ultimately virginity is a site around which our most basic beliefs about sexuality are confronted, and from which we can come to understand some of our most basic anxieties, paranoias, fears, and desires.

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Bubbemeises Noun. Yiddish; a grandmother's story, a tall story, an old wives' tale. Nick Cassenbaum invites you into the warmth of the Canning Town Schvitz, East London’s last authentic bath house. Amongst the steam and ritual Nick will take you on a journey to find the place he belongs. Bubble Schmeisis is full of intimate and personal true stories about identity, home and getting schmeised (washed) by old men.

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“It’s chaos out there. Not that I’m complaining. Lotta profit in chaos.” High above New York City, the super-rich wine and dine in sky-line restaurants dreaming of bigger and better cities. In a military bunker deep in the heart of an American wasteland, the poor compete for food and preferment in a programme with more than sinister ends. What happens when the rift between the haves and the have-nots becomes unassailable? Matthew Bulgo's new intellectual thriller American Nightmare dissects the battle lines that exist within the eponymous ‘American Dream’.

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A third collection of plays by South African writer, Gail Louw. Includes the plays The Ice Cream Boys, Being Brahms, A Life Twice Given, and Killing Faith.

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A new version, from award-winning poet Glyn Maxwell, of Robert Louis Stevenson's Gothic masterpiece. A decent man finds himself stalked and confronted by his own evil alter-ego.

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A fast-paced and emotionally gripping modern adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic gothic thriller, Carl Miller's Frankenstein places the primal struggle between creator and created in a provocative contemporary setting, exploring Artificial Intelligence, virtual reality, emotional learning and what it means to be post-human.

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Anyone can learn maps and battles. Geezer, I feel it! I live it! I’m giving everything to this beautiful, wild, absolutely pure British thing. Like, do you know what it took to get here, man? Stevie is a disillusioned academic who once wrote an unfashionable book on youth movements in Britain, now struggling to cope after a painful break-up. His misery is interrupted by Jimmy who lands unexpectedly on his doorstep beaming with excitement. Jimmy is 100% Mod: oversized military parka, fitted Italian suit, dessy boots, pork pie hat. The full package. Jimmy is seeking asylum in the UK. With just a few days before the substantive interview that’s going to decide his fate, the stakes are high. So he came up with a brilliant plan. A plan that’s going to work against all odds. It has to work. He can’t go back. And Stevie has an important part to play.

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This Is A Play About The Future (And Climate Change. Not Insomnia.) A woman walks onto the stage. She says she is from the future. She says that we have stopped dreaming. She says we can change everything. She says that she can help end all our dystopian nightmares. But we know plays don’t change the world. Right? Land Without Dreams is a hopeful, funny and courageous new show by experimental Copenhagen-based theatre company Fix&Foxy. Their previous works include radical versions of Pretty Woman, Twin Peaks, and Friends.

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A daring and unapologetic examination of religion, pop culture and Black representation. Who would you rather pray to? Beyoncé or white Jesus? Jamal grew up Catholic in a Caribbean household, but would rather light a candle and worship celebrities than white saints. Combining African diasporic ritual, music and storytelling, Idol is a spiritual journey that asks what happens when you don’t see yourself represented – featuring a host of celebrity appearances.

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Violet is starting to forget, but she's got a long life to remember before she does. There are rights to wrong and ends to tie up; a life well lived is never neat. Generations younger, Bertie is at the beginning with no idea what lies ahead. She's looking for something to point her in the right direction. A new play about human connection and inter-generational friendships, Violet quietly explores themes of mental health, dementia, and loneliness without forgetting the often funny and absurd moments of ordinary life.

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From across the room I saw the President, torchlight playing across his visage. And the violins began, and the low rumble of the timpani. I screamed. I ran. An old farmhouse upstate. Snow is falling. Mountains are falling. Something is breaking apart. You are formally invited to dinner with the 45th President of the United States. Anne Washburn (The Twilight Zone, Mr Burns) returns with a sinister and sensational new play, directed by Almeida Artistic Director Rupert Goold.

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'Once upon a time, there was a little girl who lived in a library...’ Deep in the bowels of a New York Public Library lies a dragon: the monstrous coal furnace that Sharon’s father, the live-in custodian, must feed every night. A moving examination of family secrets, forgiveness, and the power of language, Feeding the Dragon explores Sharon’s life growing up in the library and the fire she never allowed to fade.

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I was murdered once. True stories (and wild speculations) about the lives and deaths of homeless people, uncovered by the UK’s leading homelessness theatre company Cardboard Citizens. A Jamaican boxer known as The Entertainer, a Spanish stag party celebrating with human calligraphy, a woman who said it with flowers, a Pole not called Sam, Russian tourists, a Greek called Pericles. And death.

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Poet Bev Hemmings is in the eye of a storm after she publishes a poem that the world seems to believe is anti-Semitic. She’s convinced she’s innocent, but everyone else – including her PA, Tamsin – wants her to apologise. A press interview is planned to begin her public rehabilitation, but Bev’s dying father, erratic behaviour and tendency to drink make her public contrition a complex process. 
Checkpoint Chana examines the point where pro-Palestinian criticism of the government of Israel and anti-Semitism blur.

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Maybe turn down the opinionated dial? Hari and Max weren't satisfied with their first attempt at parenthood, so they're giving it a second go. Only this time they've got a 30-day money back guarantee and an easy-to-follow construction manual. They're certain, as long as they follow it step-by-step, he's going to be perfect. This might be a little more complicated than the bed but still, I'm sure its the kind of thing we can crack on our own. Instructions for Correct Assembly premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs on 7 April 2018, in a production directed by Hamish Pirie.

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Society is fuelled by anger; dissatisfaction shapes Twitter feeds, online petitions and protest marches. But is that enough to bring about change? Alejandra and Marcela are female anarchists, nervously planning to plant bombs in the middle of the night. They don’t want violence. They just want to be heard. Prison’s not much of a threat when most of your friends are inside. Then they meet José Miguel. He is from a different generation, a time when revolution was ripe and activism alive, and he's committed to change by any means possible.

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Rory Stewart, a thirty year old former British diplomat and soldier of distinction and accomplishment, is posted to serve as governor in a province of the newly liberated Iraq. His job is to help build a new civil society at peace with itself and its neighbours - an ambitious mission, admittedly, but outperforming Saddam should surely not prove too difficult…

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'My kids are asleep. I know this because a paper airplane has just smashed against my head & on the wing someone has written "we're asleep Dad". 'My kids have done their homework. I know this because according to them, this week their homework is to play 3 hours of Minecraft each night'. 'My kids are ready to go out. I know this because they've hidden all their clothes...' In recent times, we've celebrated 'unmumsy' mums, but what about desperate dads? We're Asleep, Dad is a collection of 100 laugh-out-loud tweets from a dad's perspective on the five main struggles of parenting: Bed Time, School, Food, Going Out and Weekends complete with quirky hand-drawn illustrations by Moose Allain. In this hilarious and stylish gift book, Simon Key perfectly captures all the ups and downs of what it's like to be a frazzled father on the front line.

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A brilliant, twisty psychological thriller. Perfect for fans of Friend Request, He Said/She Said and A Simple Favour. 'Unsettling, layered, bold, unpredictable, dark. EXCELLENT' Will Dean, author of Dark Pines. 'Grips like a vice... REMARKABLE' Crime Time. Everyone has secrets. Even those who seem to be perfect... On a rainy October evening, Cecilia Wilborg – loving wife, devoted mother, tennis club regular – is waiting for her kids to finish their swimming lesson. It's been a long day. She can almost taste the crisp, cold glass of Chablis she'll pour for herself once the girls are tucked up in bed. But what Cecilia doesn't know, is that this is the last time life will feel normal. Tonight she'll be asked to drop a little boy home, a simple favour that will threaten to expose her deepest, darkest secret... 'STUNNING... Intricate and twisted with dark secrets emerging at every turn' ALEXANDRA BURT, author of Sunday Times bestseller Little Girl Gone. 'Heartbreaking and HEAD-SPINNING' MARY TORJUSSEN, author of Gone Without a Trace.

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'A story with great heart, and wisdom, which shows the healing power of true friendship' Ele Fountain, author of Boy 87. Written with humour and heart, Sofa Surfer looks at what it means to be homeless. Malcolm Duffy's debut novel Me Mam. Me Dad. Me., about domestic violence, won the YA category of the Sheffield Children's Book Award 2019, the Redbridge Children's Book Award 2019, was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Prize 2019 and selected for World Book Night. 15-year-old Tyler's teenage angst turns to outright rebellion when his family leave London for a new life in Yorkshire. He's angry with his parents about the upheaval and furious at losing his home. With only the dog to confide in, Tyler has no idea that a chance meeting with a skinny girl called Spider will lead him into a world he never even knew existed. Spider is sofa surfing and Tyler finds himself spinning a tangled web of lies in his efforts to help her escape her world of fear and insecurity. Sofa Surfer shows how empathy and action can help those without a home to go to. As with his widely praised debut Me Mam. Me Dad. Me., Malcolm Duffy finds humour and heart even in dire situations. Relevant, warm and rewarding Sofa Surfer is about what happens when going home isn't an option.

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The healthy eating market continues to thrive, with authors like Joe Wicks seeing recordbreaking sales for accessible healthy eating books. In recent months, however, there has been a backlash against certain healthy lifestyle brands, particularly those without scientific qualifications who promote 'clean eating'. The Wellness Rebel explores the aftermath of this, looking at where balanced healthy eating will go next and how we can get back to evidence-based basics and enjoy eating well. With each chapter themed around a common healthy food misconception such as 'Alkaline', 'Raw' and 'Superfoods?', The Wellness Rebel explores the basics of nutrition in an accessible and entertaining way, with Pixie sharing her tips, tricks and tastiest recipes – including her much-loved Pixie Plates – for a truly healthy diet, with no detoxes, no elimination diets, no restrictions – and absolutely no BS.

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Dorries is the queen of the saga and she is back with a heart-wrenching, captivating new novel' Bookish Jottings. Liverpool, 1963. Mary Kate Malone is seventeen and bitterly unhappy that her father has married again after the death of her mother. On her last day at school, she decides to leave home in Tarabeg on the west coast of Ireland and head for Liverpool to find her mother's sister. But absolutely nothing goes to plan. Within hours of disembarking, she finds herself penniless and alone, with no place to stay and no idea how she will survive. Meanwhile, back in Ireland, where old sins cast long shadows, a long-buried secret is about to come to light and a day of reckoning, in the shape of a stranger from America, will set an unstoppable chain of events in motion. What readers are saying about the Tarabeg Series: 'A brilliant read, a wonderful story and I have already pre-orderd the next book' 'Great read! Nadine Dorries is a top author, love her books!' 'Did not want it to end!! Gripping, detailed... Really draws you in to the story

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'Best described as George R.R. Martin meets H.P. Lovecraft, The Glass Breaks is a fine example of British fantasy writing at its most entertaining' Guardian A MAN OF THE DAWN CLAW WILL BE THE ALWAYS KING. It will ever be so. They will always rule... but they will not always lead.Prince Oliver Dawn Claw, heir to the Kingdom of the Four Claws, is thrust into a world he doesn't understand as he waits for his father to die. Away from home, with few allies – and too many enemies – he faces a new and otherworldly threat from beneath the sea. Alliances break and masks fall, as the Dark Brethren reveal their true master. Meanwhile, Adeline Brand – called the Alpha Wolf – refuses to wait, and becomes the edge of the sword that swings back at the Dreaming God. Assembling allies and crushing resistance, she enters a fight she doesn't know if she can win, as the sea begins to rise. PRAISE FOR A.J. SMITH: 'An epic feat of world-building from one of British fantasy's most innovative voices' Bookseller 'British fantasy writing at its most entertaining' Guardian 'Interesting and enticing, deftly sidesteps fantasy cliché and thrusts you towards the next installment' SFX

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A rediscovered classic of Irish literature, this darkly comic tale tells of murder and its consequences. Set in a remote village in the northwest of Ireland, Roarty, a publican and former priest, kills his lecherous bartender and buries him in a bog. When Roarty begins to receive blackmail letters, matters quickly spiral out of his control. Alive with the loquacious brio of his pub's eccentric regulars, and full of the bleak beauty of the Donegal landscape, Patrick McGinley's rural gothic novel is a modern masterpiece.

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The Beast, imprisoned beneath the fortress-city of Elysium for a thousand years, has been loosed upon the world and is spreading like a plague through the north. Queen Raesinia Orboan and soldiers Marcus D'Ivoire and Winter Ihernglass face a betrayal they never could have foreseen: their general, Janus bet Vhalnich, has declared himself the rightful Emperor of Vordan. Chaos grips the city as officers and regiments are forced to declare for queen or emperor. As Raesinia struggles to keep her country under control, she risks becoming everything she has fought against, while Marcus must take the field against his old commander. And Winter knows that the demon she carries inside her might be the only thing standing between the Beast and the end of the world...

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Lauren St John's stunning Christmas classic is about forgotten children, the power of nature to heal us and a girl who will climb mountains in search for a place to call home. Nominated for the 2019 Carnegie Medal. Growing up in vibrant, crowded Nairobi, Makena has only one dream: to climb Mount Kenya like her hero, her mountain guide father. But when her beautiful world is shattered, she finds that in the city's dark places there are a thousand ways to fall, each more deadly than any crevasse. In a world of strangers, does she dare trust Snow, whose ballet dreams are haunted by a past she's still running from? And is the sparkling fox friend or foe? After a fresh start in the Scottish Highlands turns bad, Makena flees to the mountains. But will they betray her or be the making of her?

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A murderous game. The killer makes the rules. Death hangs on the roll of the dice. In murder investigations, it pays to keep things simple: motive, method, opportunity. But the case in front of Detective Fabian Risk is a nightmare. A killer who strikes out of nowhere. No apparent motive. No consistent method. Victims are tortured, strangled, burned, dismembered – each grisly killing carried out with savage precision, as if following the rules of a hellish game. Fear and chaos have spread through the seaside town of Helsingborg. While Fabian Risk hunts the killer, his life is falling apart: a son on the run from the law; a daughter gravely injured; a colleague with dark secrets of his own. But there's no turning back now. The game of death is on, and Fabian Risk must play to win. After all, there are many ways to die... This explosive thriller from Scandinavia's most inventive storyteller concludes the epic events of Motive X. Reviews for Stefan Ahnhem: 'Atmospheric and complicated... with great cop characters and some imaginatively grisly perps' Sunday Times (star pick) 'More gripping than Jo Nesbo, blacker than Stieg Larsson and more bleakly human than Henning Mankell' Tony Parsons 'Epic in scale and ambition' Daily Mail 'An intense journey, with an intricate plot... Ahnhem has mastered atmosphere, pacing and intrigue' Crime Review 'Masterly plotting, grisly murders and chilling suspense: Stefan Ahnhem keeps the threads of this complex, two-country narrative pulled tense' Better Reading

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He strikes at random. His motive unknown. No one is safe... Helsingborg police must solve the unsolveable. A wave of apparently random homicides is sweeping through their idyllic seaside town. The murders have no pattern, no order, no reason. The perpetrator is immune to psychological profiling; forensically untraceable; utterly invulnerable to modern police techniques. The body count is growing. But lead investigator Fabian Risk is distracted by his mission to expose a corrupt colleague, and his boss Astrid is spiralling back into addiction. As the hunt for the solution becoming ever more desperate, their tight-knit team begins to unravel... Motive X is both an explosive, multi-layered thriller and a fearless exploration of the darkest side of human nature. To enter Stefan Ahnhem's world, with its interwoven plotlines and sprawling cast of characters, is to put yourself in the hands of a master storyteller. The story continues in X Ways to Die, available May 2020. REVIEWS FOR STEFAN AHNHEM: 'Atmospheric and complicated [...] with great cop characters and some imaginatively grisly perps' Sunday Times (star pick). 'More gripping than Jo Nesbo, blacker than Stieg Larsson and more bleakly human than Henning Mankell' Tony Parsons. 'Epic in scale and ambition' Daily Mail. 'An intense journey, with an intricate plot... Ahnhem has mastered atmosphere, pacing and intrigue' Crime Review. 'Masterly plotting, grisly murders and chilling suspense: Stefan Ahnhem keeps the threads of this complex, two-country narrative pulled tense' Better Reading.

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If you've ever wanted to know exactly when the asparagus season starts, this book is for you. If you like the idea of foraging for elderflowers but aren't sure where to begin, you're in the right place. And if you're looking for fantastic recipes that make the most of Britain's seasonal ingredients every month of the year, it can definitely help you. This is the complete guide to seasonal living with fantastic recipes that make the most of Britain's seasonal ingredients every month of the year. Dive for scallops, fish for mackerel, and hunt for mushrooms – and learn how to cook them. Structured month by month, Well Seasoned features the finest and freshest natural ingredients that are available throughout the year and how to make the most of them. Perfect for anyone interested in living a holistic, seasonal life.

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Reading a story to another person creates a bond between two people. It is often assumed that reading aloud is only for children, but the practice was once a common pleasure for adults too. The time has come to rediscover it. This simple yet powerful action connects us with our friends, helps us centre ourselves in the present and lets us focus gently on what matters. To Read Aloud consists of 75 extracts of an average 1000 words each, from writers ranging from Cicero to Lewis Carroll to Robert Macfarlane (alongside less familiar names). It is arranged under ten thematic chapters: Love, Loss, Lightness, Pleasure, Work, Illness, Nature, Change, Chaos and Wonder. A literary toolbox for well-being, To Read Aloud invites you to to take just ten minutes off, sit down with somebody you care about and share a passage of writing.

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On 23 June 2016, against all forecasts, Britain voted to leave the EU. Drawing on his experiences at the heart of the campaign, Daniel Hannan dissects the result and our reaction. He outlines why Vote Leave won, exploring what people were voting for and what they weren’t. He looks at the immediate aftermath – how it differs from what people expected and what it says about where to go next. Brexit, Hannan points out, is a process – not an event – with three key areas of consideration: our relationship with the remaining 27 EU states; our relationship with the rest of the world; and, crucially, our consequent domestic reforms – there is no point to Brexit if we don’t now tackle the threats to democracy of corporatism and lobbying. What Next is Hannan’s blueprint for a successful Brexit. A Brexit that addresses the concerns of the 48 per cent who voted Remain as well as of the 52 per cent who voted Leave, a Brexit that revitalises British democracy, and a Brexit that will be mutually beneficial for both Britain and Europe.

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Set in the world of the Sword of Truth saga, a legendary battle may just destroy the ancient city of Ildakar. The sorceress Nicci, the wizard Nathan Rahl, and the young swordsman Bannon are under siege. Having liberated the legendary city of Ildakar from the despotic reign of the wizard's council, they now face the council's final act of vengeance: an ancient spell has been revoked and half a million hostile warriors released from fifteen centuries of stone-bound stasis. Surrounded, trapped inside the city walls, the companions must stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the newly-freed citizenry to repel an ancient foe sworn to the destruction of their city. But Nicci, the one-time Sister of Darkness, knows that there more at stake than just Ildakar. If she can't destroy the approaching army at the city gates, there is nothing to stop it sweeping into the Old World and laying waste to D'Hara itself.

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The change in our ancestors' behaviour was barely perceptible at first. Only a few clues in the archaeological record – sea shells, ochre and stone tools exchanged over long distances – hint at what was to come. Today, a network of interdependence and trade spans the planet – lifting most of our species out of the grinding poverty of the past. But for much of history this engine of human progress stalled, with societies rigged in the interests of small parasitic elites. From the Greeks and Romans in antiquity, to China, India and Europe in the Middle Ages, the history of the world can be written as the constant struggle between the productive and the parasitic. Progress Vs Parasites charts this struggle. States rise and empires fall as the balance between the two shifts. It is the idea of freedom, Carswell argues, that ultimately allows the productive to escape the parasitic – and thus decides whether a society flourishes or flounders. A robust defence of classical liberalism, Progress Vs Parasites shows that the greatest threat to human progress today – as it has been in every age – is the idea that human affairs need to be ordered by top down design.

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In the gloriously hot summer of 1936, a group of people meet at a country house party. Within three years, the country will be engulfed in war, but for now time stands still as they sip champagne on the lawn, engaging in casual flirtations and carefree conversation. Then a shocking death puts an end to their revelry, changing everything in an instant. For all of them, that summer house party will be a turning point. The mistakes made during that fateful weekend will change their lives for ever.

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