Search results for ""UNKNOWN""

Enter classic literature’s famed science fiction story, and make choices to survive Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea in this Choose Your Path adventure. A sea monster is terrorizing the ocean, and you have been chosen to stop it! You are Pierre Aronnax, a mild-mannered scientist thrust into an extraordinary situation. Your mission takes a strange twist when the sea monster turns out to be a submarine. You are taken aboard and held captive by Captain Nemo, but is he a friend or a foe? He takes you on fantastical adventures and shows you parts of the world you never knew existed. Yet every moment, your life is at risk. You must use your knowledge and Nemo’s technology to survive such perils as deadly whirlpools, enemy ships, and giant sea spiders. Adapted by acclaimed author Deb Mercier with chapter illustrations by Margaret Amy Salter, Can You Survive 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? turns the classic science fiction novel by Jules Verne into a Choose Your Path book for kids. The survival story puts readers in control of the action. Do you have what it takes to escape from the strange captain? Or will the ocean and its unknown dangers lead to your doom? Step into this adventure, and choose your path. But choose wisely, or else! Book Features Interactive adventure that challenges readers to survive the story Familiar characters on an action-packed journey BONUS: hands-on educational activity for families and classrooms Interactive books for kids are more popular than ever. Create your own adventure with the Interactive Classic Literature book series for boys and girls. You’re the main character. You make the choices. Can you survive?

Read more less

Said to have come from the Benedictine abbey church of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany, this statue by Tilman Riemenschneider (c. 1460 - 1531), dated to c. 1495, depicts the church father Saint Jerome as he removes a thorn from the paw of a lion, a legendary account of the saint's kindness. Following the common iconography of the scene, Jerome is dressed in the traditional robes of a Roman cardinal, with the cowl draped over his tonsured head and the broad-brimmed hat on his right leg. Traces of polychromy and gilding suggest that it was once brightly coloured. Drill holes in the hat further indicate that cords and tassels of fabric, typical of a cardinal's hat, would once have decorated the sculpture. Whether the statue was originally commissioned for an altar in a private chapel or for its artistic value remains unknown. Its alleged provenance from a church in Erfurt and Jerome's popularity as a patron saint of humanists and scholars make either scenario likely. Alabaster was prized for its lustre and capacity for fine details from the fourteenth to the sixteenth century. The gleaming stone was used for altarpieces and small sculptures, as well as the tombs of wealthy princes. The book unites alabaster works from the medieval collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art and selected masterpieces of alabaster sculpture from North American museums and the Louvre in Paris, which allow insight into the production of alabaster sculptures in this period. It is striking that these works are of such a particularly exquisite quality that this material was used especially for high-ranking commissions, such as the tomb of Duke Philip the Bold of Burgundy in Champmol near Dijon. The book is accompanied by several essays that examine the subject of alabaster sculpture from different perspectives.

Read more less

From breakout debut author Chelsea Ichaso comes Little Creeping Things, a compulsively readable YA suspense novel with a narrator who can't be trusted, perfect for fans of Natasha Preston. She never meant to hurt anyone…When she was a child, Cassidy Pratt accidentally started a fire that killed her neighbor. At least, that's what she's been told. She can't remember anything from that day. She's pretty sure she didn't mean to do it. She's a victim too. But her town's bullies, particularly the cruel and beautiful Melody Davenport, have never let her live it down. In Melody's eyes, Cassidy is a murderer and always will be.And then Melody goes missing, and Cassidy thinks she may have information about what happened. She knows she should go to the cops, but…she recently joked about how much she'd like to get rid of Melody. She even planned out the perfect way to do it. And then she gets a chilling text from an unknown number: I'm so glad we're in this together.Now it's up to Cassidy to figure out what's really going on, before the truth behind Melody's disappearance sets the whole town ablaze.Perfect for fans of: Detective stories for teens Teen thrillers Karen McManus and Natasha PrestonPraise for Little Creeping Things: A Junior Library Guild Selection! "Chelsea Ichaso has without a doubt written the breakout thriller of the year."—Dana Mele, author of People Like Us "Ichaso's debut is a riveting whodunnit... a psychological thriller worthy of mystery aficionados."—School Library Journal "Guaranteed to keep young readers guessing until the final pages...will satisfy the appetites of all manner of mystery fans."—Booklist"[A] genre-solid whodunit and keeps readers guessing until the very last page."—Publishers Weekly

Read more less

Set in a wild and immaculate landscape threatened by industry and environmental degradation, a compassionate and gripping exploration of one of the world’s most baffling mysteries—the existence of the Sasquatch On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears. According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods. For centuries people have reported encounters with the Sasquatch—a species of hairy bipedal man-apes said to inhabit the deepest recesses of this pristine wilderness. Driven by his own childhood obsession with the creatures, John Zada decides to seek out the diverse inhabitants of this rugged and far-flung coast, where nearly everyone has a story to tell, from a scientist who dedicated his life to researching the Sasquatch, to members of the area’s First Nations, to a former grizzly bear hunter-turned-nature tour guide. With each tale, Zada discovers that his search for the Sasquatch is a quest for something infinitely more complex, cutting across questions of human perception, scientific inquiry, indigenous traditions, the environment, and the power and desire of the human imagination to believe in—or reject—something largely unseen. Teeming with gorgeous nature writing and a driving narrative that takes us through the forests and into the valleys of a remote and seldom visited region, In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond sheds light on what our decades-long pursuit of the Sasquatch can tell us about ourselves and invites us to welcome wonder for the unknown back into our lives.

Read more less

From an acclaimed historian, the full and authoritative story of one of the most iconic disasters in American history, told through the vivid memories of those who experienced it Between October 8–10, 1871, much of the city of Chicago was destroyed by one of the most legendary urban fires in history. Incorporated as a city in 1837, Chicago had grown at a breathtaking pace in barely three decades, from just over 4,000 in 1840 to greater than 330,000 at the time of the fire. Built hastily, the city was largely made of wood. Once it began in the barn of Catherine and Patrick O'Leary, the Fire quickly grew out of control, twice jumping branches of the Chicago River on its relentless northeastward path through the city's three divisions. Close to one of every three Chicago residents was left homeless and more were instantly unemployed, though the death toll was miraculously low. Remarkably, no carefully researched popular history of the Great Chicago Fire has been written until now, despite it being one of the most cataclysmic disasters in US history. Building the story around memorable characters, both known to history and unknown, including the likes of General Philip Sheridan and Robert Todd Lincoln, eminent Chicago historian Carl Smith chronicles the city's rapid growth and place in America's post-Civil War expansion. The dramatic story of the fire—revealing human nature in all its guises—became one of equally remarkable renewal, as Chicago quickly rose back up from the ashes thanks to local determination and the world's generosity and faith in Chicago's future. As we approach the fire's 150th anniversary, Carl Smith's compelling narrative at last gives this epic event its full and proper place in our national chronicle.

Read more less

At the age of six, Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) wanted to be a cook. At the age of seven, he wanted to be Napoleon. “Since then,” he later said, “my ambition has steadily grown, and my megalomania with it. Now I want only to be Salvador Dalí, I have no greater wish.” Throughout his life, Dalí was out to become Dalí: that is, one of the most significant artists and eccentrics of the 20th century. This weighty volume is the most complete study of Dalí’s painted works ever published. After years of research, Robert Descharnes and Gilles Néret located painted works by the master that had been inaccessible for years—so many, in fact, that almost half the featured illustrations appear in public for the first time in this book. More than a catalogue raisonné, this book contextualizes Dalí’s oeuvre and its meanings by examining contemporary documents, from writings and drawings to material from other facets of his work, including ballet, cinema, fashion, advertising, and objets d’art. The study is divided into two parts: the first examines Dalí’s beginnings as an unknown artist. We witness how the young Dalí deployed all the isms—Impressionism, Pointillism, Cubism, Fauvism, Purism and Futurism—with playful mastery, and how he would borrow from prevailing trends before ridiculing and abandoning them. The second part unveils the conclusions of Dalí’s lifelong inquiries, as well as the great legacy he left in works such as Tuna Fishing (1966/67) or Hallucinogenic Toreador (1970). It includes previously unpublished homages to Velázquez or Michelangelo, painted to the same end as the variations on past masters done by his contemporary, Picasso. We discover how, motivated by the desire to tease out the secrets of great works and become a Velázquez of the mid-20th century, Dalí became Dalí.

Read more less

In the mid-1970s in the United States as feminism gained huge momentum, three American photographers Eve Arnold, Abigail Heyman and Susan Meiselas published books of a new kind. Combining testimonies and images, they offer very original documentaries of women at work, their daily routines and their private lives. The trio brought their own style and experimented with the book format while showing women in a new light through photography. Their work sidestepped clichés to create alternative representations.This catalogue reveals their unusual approach to their works. The first, Growing Up Female by Abigail Heyman, published in 1974, is a kind of feminist personal diary. The photographer casts a lucid eye at her own life and questions the imprisonment of women in stereotype roles. The second, The Unretouched Woman, published by Eve Arnold in 1976, shows unknown women and celebrities in unexpected moments of their daily lives. The photos were deliberately not retouched or staged and, through them, the photographer offers a heteroclite and nuanced vision of women far from the glamour of glossy magazines. The third, Carnival Strippers, published in the same year by Susan Meiselas, is the fruit of three years of investigation into fairground striptease sideshows in the north-east of the United States. Through the performers’ long testimonies, the book gives a voice to its silent subjects, depicting their work, their dreams and their ambitions.The images provide an original perspective of female bodies, revealing their invisible make-up artistry and the staging involved behind their public appearances. In doing so it reveals a surprising, previously unseen glimpse into their sometimes prosaic, sometimes harsh private lives. It also reveals the social conventions and norms defining the status of women in society, within couples or within the domestic space to reveal working women, striving for independence and freedom.

Read more less

This volume is the publication and analysis of the tomb of pharaoh Seneb-Kay (ca. 1650-1600 BCE), and a cemetery of associated tombs at Abydos, all attributable to a group of kings of Egypt's Second Intermediate Period. The tomb of Seneb-Kay has provided the first known king's tomb of pharaonic Egypt that included decorated imagery in the burial chamber. That evidence, presented in full-color and discussed in detail in the volume, allows us to identify this previously unknown ruler along with a group of seven similar tombs that can be attributed to an Upper Egyptian Dynasty that survived for approximately half a century during a period of pronounced territorial fragmentation in the Nile Valley. The book examines the architecture and artifacts associated with these tombs as well as presents an osteological analysis of the bodies of Seneb-Kay and the other anonymous individuals buried at South Abydos. Seneb-Kay's skeletonized mummy was recovered inside his tomb and provides a rare opportunity to examine the body of a king of this era. He is the earliest substantially preserved body of an Egyptian king to survive in the archaeological record, and the first known Egyptian pharaoh whose skeletal remains show that he died in battle. The analysis of his death in a military encounter, along with insights from the other skeletal remains indicates a line of kings whose rise to power was associated with their social background as members of the military elite. The book examines the wider implications of these bodies in terms of the pronounced militarization of society in the Second Intermediate Period. Seneb-Kay's tomb has also provided extensive evidence, through its use of reused blocks bearing decoration, of earlier elite and royal monuments at Abydos. The combination of evidence provides a new archaeological and historical window into the political situation that defined Egypt's Second Intermediate Period.

Read more less

An examination of the engagement of the general public with archaeology worldwide. Across the world public archaeology, the way in which it is understood as well as the way it is practised or delivered, has many facets. In some countries it is not only unknown, but is actively discouraged; in many other places it has been embraced fully and is considered normal practice, whether this appears in the form of so-called "community archaeology", active school and college programmes, (re)thinking the strategies of museums, or as simply encouraging on-site visits and demonstrations during archaeological fieldwork. However, in a difficult economic climate public archaeology is often adversely affected; funding cuts can mean changes in priorities for heritage organisations and local and national governments, and even to the loss of entire projects. This volume examines the various facets of public archaeology practice globally, and the factors which are currently affecting it, together with the question of how different publics and communities engage with their archaeological heritage. With case studies from across the globe, ranging from Canada to Turkmenistan and from Ireland to Argentina, it presents a contemporarysnapshot of public participation in archaeology, covering both successful initiatives and the threats posed to such opportunities by local, regional and global changes. Particular strands addressed are international models; archaeology and education; archaeology and tourism; and site management and conservation. Joanne Lea is an educator with the Trillium Lakelands District School Board in Ontario, Canada. Suzie Thomas is University Lecturer inMuseology at the University of Helsinki. Contributors: Shatha Abu-Khafajah, Crystal B. Alegria, Arwa Badran, Michael Brody, Blanca A. Camargo, Joëlle Clark, Mike Corbishley, Jolene Debert, Gaigysyz Jorayev, Thomas Kador, Sophie Lampe, Joanne Lea, Lilia L. Lizama Aranda, Cathy MacDonald, Natalia Mazzia, Alicia Ebbitt McGill, Jeanne M. Moe, Theano Moussouri, Aino Nissinaho, Alejandra Pupio, Virginia Salerno, Dinç Saraç, Tuija-Liisa Soininen, Suzie Thomas.

Read more less

They will have justice. They will show their power. They will not burn.'Three women's fight for survival in a time of madness' Kiran Millwood Hargrave, author of The MerciesNorway, 1662. A dangerous time to be a woman, when even dancing can lead to accusations of witchcraft. After recently widowed Zigri's affair with the local merchant is discovered, she is sent to the fortress at Vardø to be tried as a witch.Zigri's daughter Ingeborg sets off into the wilderness to try to bring her mother back home. Accompanying her on this quest is Maren - herself the daughter of a witch - whose wild nature and unconquerable spirit gives Ingeborg the courage to venture into the unknown, and to risk all she has to save her family.Also captive in the fortress is Anna Rhodius, once the King of Denmark's mistress, who has been sent in disgrace to the island of Vardø. What will she do - and who will she betray - to return to her privileged life at court?These Witches of Vardø are stronger than even the King. In an age weighted against them, they refuse to be victims. They will have their justice. All they need do is show their power.'An intricately woven, timeless novel about prejudice, misogyny, freedom and the power and strength we can find within' - Christy Lefteri, author of The Beekeeper of Aleppo'A passionate indictment of the patriarchy ... a vibrant exaltation of the resilience of women ... Anya Bergman summons a historic witch trial with breathtaking detail and immediacy' Hannah Kent, author of Burial Rites'Brilliant and powerful. Haunting and beautifully written. A complex and gripping novel reclaiming and retelling the stories of the women accused of witchcraft in Norway. Hugely atmospheric. Read it!' - Liz Hyder, author of The Gifts

Read more less

Striking photography and incisive texts document and reflect on the fascinating and uniquely Punjabi art form of sculptural water tanks.In the late 1970s, a unique local art form emerged in the villages of Doaba, a rural region of India’s Punjab state. Villagers who had moved elsewhere but retained close ties to the region began constructing elaborate multi-storey homes of brick or marble, topped with sculptural watertanks, sometimes called “showpieces.” Though almost unknown outside of India, in certain areas of the Punjab today homes like these dominate the landscape. The painted cement-and-rebar embellishments are usually individually commissioned, and take various forms including planes, animals, soccer balls, and weightlifters; in all cases, their intent is to announce and honor a family or individual’s presence in and connection to the region. Combined with the intricately decorated houses on which they perch, these works represent a merging of art, architecture, and everyday life that transcends conventional design norms to tell a diasporic story in a form that is unique to Punjab.Mumbai-based photographer Rajesh Vora visited 150 villages over several years to photograph hundreds of these works. In 2022, his photos were exhibited at the Surrey Art Gallery in British Columbia, Canada, a major center of the Punjabi diaspora. In addition to over 140 of Vora’s photographs, this volume offers texts by Rahul Mehrotra, who observes the hybrid and evolving conceptions of home that these vernacular forms express; Vora and Keith Wallace, the exhibition’s curator, who discuss the origins of the works and their travels in the region; Sajdeep Soomal, who locates the sculptures’ “dreams of technological modernity” on a trajectory flowing from the region’s agricultural past through to its independence from British colonization; and Satwinder Kaur Bains, who reflects on the nuanced and complex evocations that these photos tease from her own experience of migration.

Read more less

***Shortlisted for the 2023 STANFORD TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR******A Financial Times Travel Book of the Year 2022***"Enchanting" Independent"Fatland distinguishes herself from the stereotypes" Guardian "Fatland is a sensitive and insightful chronicler of quotidian lives and a compelling narrator" Observer"Erika Fatland ascends to new heights with her fascinating journey" Wanderlust"An engaging snapshot of the current residents of this high-altitude battleground . . . Fatland is a lovely writer with a sympathetic eye for the absurd" Financial TimesAn ambitious and magnificent new travelogue by internationally bestselling, prizewinning writer Erika Fatland.The Himalayas meander for more than two thousand kilometres through many different countries, from Pakistan to Myanmar via Nepal, India, Tibet and Bhutan, where the world religions of Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are interspersed with ancient shamanic beliefs. Countless languages and vastly different cultures exist in these isolated mountain valleys. Modernity and tradition collide, while the great powers fight for influence.We have read about climbers and adventurers on their way up Mount Everest, and about travellers on a spiritual quest to remote Buddhist monasteries. Here, however, the focus is on the communities of these Himalayan valleys, those who live and work in this extraordinary region. As Erika Fatland introduces us to the people she meets along her journey, and in particular the women, she takes us on a vivid and dizzying expedition at altitude through incredible landscapes and dramatic, unknown histories. Skilfully weaving together the politics, geography, astrology, theology and ecology of this vast region, she also explores some of the most volatile human conflicts of our times.With her unique gift for listening, and for storytelling, she has become one of the most exciting travel writers of her generation.Translated from the Norwegian by Kari Dickson

Read more less

Most people don’t expect wood to flavor their food beyond the barbecue, if at all, and gastronomists rarely discuss the significance that wood has on ultimate taste. But trees and wood have a far greater influence over our plate and palate than you might think. So what does wood taste of? And how has it been used in cooking, distilling, fermenting, and even perfume creation to produce a unique flavor and smell? To find out the answers to these questions, food communications expert Artur Cisar-Erlach embarked on a global journey to understand how trees infuse the world’s most delectable dishes with the flavor of their wood. His flavor hunt extended into a three-year exploration covering everything from pizza, whisky, cheese, tea, and perfume to quinine, wine, maple syrup, blue yogurt, and more. From wooden barrels used to age scotch in Austria to wood-burning pizza ovens of Naples to traditional Canadian maple syrup producers, The Flavor of Wood explores how wood infuses some of our best-loved foods through its smoke, sap, roots, and bark. As his quest spans continents and cultures, Cisar-Erlach introduces readers to a colorful cast of characters including Modenese balsamic vinegar producers, Piedmontese truffle hunters, South Tyrolean winemakers, and wild mountain pine chefs. Discovering that wood flavors beverages as well, the author encounters Austrian whisky distillers, Bavarian brewers, avant-garde central London tea merchants, and Indian tea exporters. A world trip brimming with fascinating encounters, unexpected turns, beautiful landscapes, scientific discoveries, and historic connections, The Flavor of Wood is the story of a passionate flavor hunter, and offers readers unparalleled access to some of the world’s highest quality cuisine and unknown tree flavors.

Read more less

The definitive catalogue of an unparalleled collection of Indian jewelry and luxury objects made at the height of the Mughal empire and the Deccan sultanates. This is the definitive catalogue of an unparalleled collection of Indian jewelry and jewelled luxury objects made at the height of the Mughal empire and Deccan sultanates in the 16th and 17th centuries. The collection, widely regarded as one of the finest in the world, was assembled by Sheikh Nasser and Sheikha Hussa al-Sabah for The al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, and reveals the beauty, sophistication and diversity of Indian jewelled arts. The Indian subcontinent is naturally rich in gems. From ancient times master jewellers developed a wide array of unique techniques and made it home to the most sophisticated jewels on earth. Exotic birds and animals, flowers, trees and mythological scenes rendered in precious gemstones, gold and enamel demonstrate these artists’ prodigious imagination and skill. They produced not only an unmatched range of jewelry to adorn the body but also ritual and household items of astonishing refinement and luxury, as well as extravagantly large engraved gemstones to serve as symbols of their princely patrons’ royal power – including a spinel of nearly 250 carats believed to be the legendary Timur Ruby. This volume includes not only the finest and most valuable pieces in the collection – some familiar to connoisseurs, others published here for the first time – but also many previously unknown types that extend our understanding of artistic output in the region. With specially commissioned photography giving unprecedented new views of more than 300 jewelled objects, this is a publication of historic importance and beauty, for all lovers of jewelry, the arts of India and of the Islamic world.

Read more less

Desire, virtue, courtesans (also known as sing-song girls), and the denizens of Shanghai's pleasure quarters are just some of the elements that constitute Han Bangqing's extraordinary novel of late imperial China. Han's richly textured, panoramic view of late-nineteenth-century Shanghai follows a range of characters from beautiful sing-song girls to lower-class prostitutes and from men in positions of social authority to criminals and ambitious young men recently arrived from the country. Considered one of the greatest works of Chinese fiction, The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai is now available for the first time in English. Neither sentimental nor sensationalistic in its portrayal of courtesans and their male patrons, Han's work inquires into the moral and psychological consequences of desire. Han, himself a frequent habitue of Shanghai brothels, reveals a world populated by lonely souls who seek consolation amid the pleasures and decadence of Shanghai's demimonde. He describes the romantic games played by sing-song girls to lure men, as well as the tragic consequences faced by those who unexpectedly fall in love with their customers. Han also tells the stories of male patrons who find themselves emotionally trapped between desire and their sense of propriety. First published in 1892, and made into a film by Hou Hsiao-hsien in 1998, The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai is recognized as a pioneering work of Chinese fiction in its use of psychological realism and its infusion of modernist sensibilities into the traditional genre of courtesan fiction. The novel's stature has grown with the recent discovery of Eileen Chang's previously unknown translation, which was unearthed among her papers at the University of Southern California. Chang, who lived in Shanghai until 1956 when she moved to California and began to write in English, is one of the most acclaimed Chinese writers of the twentieth century.

Read more less

Romana is lost to the Time War, though Leela and Narvin still fight to survive. A resistance, caught between Rassilon's fury and the Dalek Emperor's mania, have a desperate plan to stop the conflict. Everything ends, and for some on Gallifrey, the Time War will soon be over. 4.1 Deception by Lisa Mullin. As the resistance scatters, Leela and an unknown ally embark on a rescue. But there are traps for the unwary inside the Vortex. Meanwhile on Gallifrey, Livia and Mantus are at odds, seeking to protect themselves as Rassilon's grip tightens. 4.2 Dissolution by Lou Morgan. With young Ray in tow, Narvin looks for respite in an ancient bolthole and turns to an old mentor for help. But a Dalek has been hunting him through space and time, and it will not give up his trial so easily. 4.3 Beyond by David Llewellyn. Romana met her fate on Unity, but Braxiatel isn't ready to give up on her. In a forbidden realm, he offers one last hope to escape the chaos of a universe at war. First, they must enter the Beyond and confront the ghosts and monsters within... 4.4 Homecoming by Matt Fitton. Rassilon receives an ultimatum from an envoy of the Dalek Emperor while Leela and Narvin return with a dangerous strategy to end the Time War. All roads lead to Gallifrey. For some, this is where the fight will end. CAST: Lalla Ward (Romana), Louise Jameson (Leela), Richard Armitage (Rassilon), Seán Carlsen (Narvin), George Asprey (Ravenous), Omar Austin (Rayo), Pippa Bennett-Warner (Livia), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks), Samuel Clemens (Mantus), Miles Richardson (Braxiatel), Anna Carteret (The Apothecary), Susie Emmett (Zara), Steven Flynn (Filius), Samuel Gosrani (Eris), Debbie Korley (Castine). Other parts played by members of the cast.

Read more less

In DEAD SKY, Tami Hoag - the Sunday Times bestselling author of A THIN DARK LINE - returns with book three in the gripping Kovac & Liska detective series as they investigate a shocking family murder.It was a crime so brutal it changed the lives of even the most hardened homicide police officers. The Haas family murders left a scar on the community nothing can erase, but convicting the alleged killer, Karl Dahl, is a start. Only Judge Carey Moore seems to be standing in the way. Her ruling that Dahl's prior criminal record is inadmissible as evidence against him raises a public outcry - and puts the judge in grave danger.When an unknown assailant attacks Carey Moore in a parking garage, Detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska are called in to investigate and keep the judge from further harm. Then Karl Dahl escapes custody, and the judge is kidnapped from her home even as the police sit outside watching her house. With no time to spare, the detectives are pulled down a strange dark trail of smoke and mirrors, where no one is who they seem, and everyone is guilty of something.Watch out for the next title in the Kovac and Liska crime thriller seriesAs Detectives Sam Kovac and Nikki Liska stand over the brutally disfigured remains of an adolescent girl in the early hours of New Year's Day, they suspect they've stumbled across the ninth victim of the notorious Doc Holiday. A horribly sadistic killer who strikes during the holidays. But with the girl's identity obscured by her injuries, they have little to go on. Until Liska discovers that one of her son's friends - Gray - is missing... THE 9TH GIRL is the next gripping thriller in the series.

Read more less

From the bestselling author of The Boy That Never Was and Girl Unknown, Only We Know is a gripping novel that shows just how dangerous our childhood secrets can be.In 1982, on a once-in-a-lifetime holiday beneath the stifling heat of the midday sun, three children start a game that ends in tragedy.Now, thirty years later, Nick, Luke and Katie are estranged, yet still bound together by the dark truth of what happened at the river that day.Except some secrets won't stay buried.And when Luke suddenly vanishes and the threatening messages begin, it seems that the strings of the past are tightening around them all. Because someone else knows what they did and is intent on seeking justice, at any cost . . .Praise for Only We Know:'Only We Know builds handsomely on the promise of The Boy That Never Was, plausibly and hauntingly exploring the extent to which guilt, shame and secrecy can shape, define and eventually destroy lives' Declan Burke, The Irish Times 'This is an intense and subtle story with some wonderfully poetic passages and a character driven plot which becomes more compelling as the sense of momentum gathers and the true version of events is slowly revealed. Gripping stuff' Sunday Mirror'The power of Only We Know lies in the slow illumination of how, under their flimsy cloaks of adulthood, Katie and Nick and Luke are still the traumatised children of a long-ago day by a river, frozen in time by one event. It raises fascinating questions about who we are at heart, about the degree to which damage and guilt can shape our natures, and about whether - and how - we can be redeemed' Tana French'Don't be surprised if you devour Only We Know in one sitting' Crime Fiction Lovers

Read more less

The horrors of the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the very heart of Europe in 1992, may be all but forgotten - but not by everyone. In this book, Jasna Levinger-Goy offers a vivid, personal story of a family of Jewish origin who identified as Yugoslavs. It traces their journey over a period of ten years, starting with their life in Sarajevo under siege and ending in the United Kingdom. Without belonging to any of the warring factions, this is Levinger-Goy's true story, a story that takes place on the front lines in the heart of Sarajevo. The book offers a percipient view of the civil war through the eyes of those who witnessed it. We are presented here with the motives, reactions and behaviour of people caught in the crossfire of political and military events outside their control. It illustrates coping with dangers and the resourcefulness needed during the siege and during the perilous journey out. It also shows that almost the equal amount of coping mechanism and resourcefulness was required in adapting to new circumstances as well as in building a new life. Levinger-Goy's venture into the unknown is tangled with the sense of loss - of home, of a country and the loss of identity. Her experience provides an insightful commentary on how these intersect, overlap and ultimately affect an individual. It sheds light on human suffering and resilience, frailty and ingenuity, cruelty and empathy. It describes unique personal circumstances, but illustrates universal behaviours. Although the book inevitably deals with fear, pain, desperation, loss, and even hatred, it also reveals much about love, hope and happiness and above all about the prevalence of good even in the most difficult of circumstances. Set against the backdrop of a brutal conflict, this book reminds us of the very human cost of war.

Read more less

This is the story of Admiral Sir John Balchen, his life and career, and HMS _Victory_, the largest, finest ship-of-the-line in the Royal Navy at the time, which he commanded when both were lost, along with more than 1,000 crew, in an October storm in the English Channel in 1744\. This is not the _Victory_ of Trafalgar fame, however, but the First Rate built some thirty years earlier, the last Royal Navy three-decker to carry bronze cannons, and a ship whose poor design may well have contributed to her loss. It is also the story of Admiral John Balchen, a courageous, if not heroic, naval officer who saw major engagements and whose legacy in naval development deserves greater recognition. Indeed, the story of both the ship and her commander, their individual and remarkably parallel lives, can now be revealed as fundamental catalysts to the revolutionary reforms in naval shipbuilding, design and dockyard administration that transformed the Royal Navy after 1745\. They were indeed major foundation stones for a navy that delivered the glorious achievements of Nelson, Anson, Howe, Hood, Rodney, Boscawen and many more in the great pantheon of British naval history that followed their loss. The exciting discovery of the wreck of HMS _Victory_ in 2008, the subsequent and continuing public and political wrangling over possible salvage, and the 2019 display at Portsmouth of a mighty 42-pounder bronze gun retrieved from the wreck, have been the catalyst for this history of the admiral and his ship, and anyone with an interest in naval or maritime history, whether academic or popular, will be fascinated by the facts about the hitherto virtually unknown predecessor of Nelson's great flagship. This glorious man-and-ship odyssey, whose intrinsic importance to naval history can now be recognised, is richly and compelling told in this important new book.

Read more less

We are accustomed to think of the late Republic as a period in which Rome enjoyed almost uninterrupted military success against foreign enemies. Yet at the start of the first century BC, Rome, outnumbered and out-generalled, faced a hostile army less than a week's march from the Capitol. It is probable that only a swift surrender prevented the city from being attacked and sacked. Before that point, three Roman consuls had died in battle, and two Roman armies had been soundly defeated - not in some foreign field, but in the heartland of Italy. So who were this enemy who so comprehensively knocked Rome to its knees? What army could successfully challenge the legions which had been undefeated from Spain to the Euphrates? And why is that success almost unknown today? These questions are answered in this book, a military and political history of the Social War of 90-88BC. This tells the story of the revolt of Rome's Italian allies (socii in Latin - hence the name of the war). Because these Italian allies had the arms, training and military systems of the Roman army which they usually fought alongside, all Rome's usual military advantages were nullified. This brought the war down to a clash of generals, with the Roman rivals Gaius Marius and Cornelius Sulla spending almost as much time in political intrigue as combat with the enemy. The Italian leaders had to manage an equally fractious coalition of peoples. Some tribes sought negotiation with Rome, and others would settle for nothing less than the total extermination of the city and its people. The interplay of personalities (the young Cicero, Cato, and Pompey were also protagonists); high-stakes politics and full-scale warfare combine with assassination; personal sacrifice and desperate measures (such as raising an army of freed slaves) to make for a taut, fast-paced tale.

Read more less

The year is 1680, in the heart of the Golden Age of Piracy, and more than three hundred daring, hardened pirates-a potent mix of low-life scallywags and a rare breed of gentlemen buccaneers-gather on a remote Caribbean island. The plan: to wreak havoc on the Pacific coastline, raiding cities, mines, and merchant ships. The booty: the bright gleam of Spanish gold and the chance to become legends. So begins one of the greatest piratical adventures of the era-a story not given its full due until now.Inspired by the intrepid forays of pirate turned Jamaican governor Captain Henry Morgan-yes, that Captain Morgan-the company crosses Panama on foot, slashing its way through the Darien Isthmus, one of the thickest jungles on the planet, and liberating a native princess along the way. After reaching the South Sea, the buccaneers, primarily Englishmen, plunder the Spanish Main in a series of historic assaults, often prevailing against staggering odds and superior firepower. A collective shudder racks the western coastline of South America as the English pirates, waging a kind of proxy war against the Spaniards, gleefully undertake a brief reign over Pacific waters, marauding up and down the continent.With novelistic prose and a rip-roaring sense of adventure, Keith Thomson guides us through the pirates' legendary two-year odyssey. We witness the buccaneers evading Indigenous tribes, Spanish conquistadors, and sometimes even their own English countrymen, all with the ever-present threat of the gallows for anyone captured. By fusing contemporaneous accounts with intensive research and previously unknown primary sources, Born to Be Hanged offers a rollicking account of one of the most astonishing pirate expeditions of all time.

Read more less

Arden of Faversham * A Woman Killed with Kindness * The Witch of Edmonton * The English Traveller In about 1590, an unknown dramatist had the idea of writing a tragedy about the lives of ordinary people, instead of the genre's usual complement of kings and queens and politicians. His play, Arden of Faversham, inaugurated a new genre of 'domestic' drama, set in near-contemporary England and concerned with issues of marriage, crime, and property rather than war and power. Arden dramatizes a notorious murder case of forty years earlier, in which a wealthy husband was killed by his wife and her lover. In Thomas Heywood's A Woman Killed with Kindness, a wife is caught by her husband in bed with his best friend, only to find that he takes unusual reprisals. The Witch of Edmonton combines a true-life story of witchcraft with a fictitious tale of bigamy and wife-murder, and The English Traveller deals with the unexpected and unwelcome changes people find when they return home after a lengthy absence. Part of the Oxford English Drama series, this edition has modern-spelling texts; a critical introduction that outlines the way all four plays raise powerful and complex questions about the English society in which their tragic events unfold; wide-ranging notes; a chronology of the plays from their sources to recent performance; and appendices relating to two of the plays: who wrote Arden of Faversham and when did Heywood write The English Traveller. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Read more less

White Fear is the second must-have title in Tom Palmer's brilliant spy thriller new series The Squad. Perfect for readers of 10+ and all fans of Anthony Horowitz and Robert Muchamore's Cherub.A team of spies. Highly Trained. Super-intelligent. Thirteen years old. . . THEY ARE THE SQUAD.The Squad have been summoned to the deadly and frozen land of the Arctic Circle by the British Prime Minister who has heard of their growing reputation as brilliant young spies. An unknown criminal is trying to hijack a world conference about the precious and much fought-over fuels that lie below the arctic ice. To prevent an international war breaking out, Lily, Lesh, Hatty, Adnan and Kester go undercover to find out who it is and stop them. But the beauty of the icy mountains and deep fjords hide some dangerous secrets and someone will do anything to make sure that the Squad don't discover them . . .Praise for Tom Palmer:'Scores with the precision of a Ronaldo free kick' Sunday TimesAs well as being a huge football fan, Tom Palmer has an international reputation in reader development. He is a coordinator of the Reading Partners consortium, works with The Reading Agency, Booktrust and the National Literacy Trust, and has been the official writer for the Premier League Reading Stars scheme for five years. He also teaches annually for the Arvon Foundation, and has travelled around the world to train librarians and teachers in techniques to encourage boys to read. He is the bestselling author of Football Academy and The Foul Play series, in which the first book was nominated for the Blue Peter Award, Book that I Can't Put Down.

Read more less

'A dazzling chronicle, a bracing challenge to modernity's smug assumptions' - Bryce Christensen, Booklist'O what a world of profit and delightOf power, of honour and omnipotenceIs promised to the studious artisan.'Christopher Marlowe, Dr FaustusBetween the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, Europe changed out of all recognition and particularly transformative were the ardent quest for knowledge and the astounding discoveries and inventions which resulted from it. The movement of blood round the body; the movement of the earth round the sun; the velocity of falling objects (and, indeed, why objects fall) - these and numerous other mysteries had been solved by scholars in earnest pursuit of scientia. Several keys were on offer to thinkers seeking to unlock the portal of the unknown:Folk religion had roots deep in the pagan past. Its devotees sought the aid of spirits. They had stores of ancient wisdom, particularly relating to herbal remedies. Theirs was the world of wise women, witches, necromancers, potions and incantations.Catholicism had its own magic and its own wisdom. Dogma was enshrined in the collective wisdom of the doctors of the church and the rigid scholastic system of teaching. Magic resided in the ranks of departed saints and the priestly miracle of the mass.Alchemy was at root a desire to understand and to exploit the material world. Practitioners studied the properties of natural substances. A whole system of knowledge was built on the theory of the four humours.Astrology was based on the belief that human affairs were controlled by the movement of heavenly bodies. Belief in the casting of horoscopes was almost universal.Natural Philosophy really began with Francis Bacon and his empirical method. It was the beginning of science 'proper' because it was based on observation and not on predetermined theory.Classical Studies. University teaching was based on the quadrivium - which consisted largely of rote learning the philosophy and science current in the classical world (Plato, Aristotle, Galen, Ptolemy, etc.). Renaissance scholars reappraised these sources of knowledge.Islamic and Jewish Traditions. The twelfth-century polymath, Averroes, has been called 'the father of secular thought' because of his landmark treatises on astronomy, physics and medicine. Jewish scholars and mystics introduced the esoteric disciplines of the Kabbalah.New Discoveries. Exploration connected Europeans with other peoples and cultures hitherto unknown, changed concepts about the nature of the planet, and led to the development of navigational skills.These 'sciences' were not entirely self-contained. For example physicians and theologians both believed in the casting of horoscopes. Despite popular myth (which developed 200 years later), there was no perceived hostility between faith and reason. Virtually all scientists and philosophers before the Enlightenment worked, or tried to work, within the traditional religious framework. Paracelsus, Descartes, Newton, Boyle and their compeers proceeded on the a príori notion that the universe was governed by rational laws, laid down by a rational God.. This certainly did not mean that there were no conflicts between the upholders of different types of knowledge. Dr Dee's neighbours destroyed his laboratory because they believed he was in league with the devil. Galileo famously had his run-in with the Curia.By the mid-seventeenth century 'science mania' had set in; the quest for knowledge had become a pursuit of cultured gentlemen. In 1663 The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge received its charter. Three years later the French Academy of Sciences was founded. Most other European capitals were not slow to follow suit. In 1725 we encounter the first use of the word 'science' meaning 'a branch of study concerned either with a connected body of demonstrated truths or with observed facts systematically classified'. Yet, it was only nine years since the last witch had been executed in Britain - a reminder that, although the relationship of people to their environment was changing profoundly, deep-rooted fears and attitudes remained strong.

Read more less

Bulgaria is arguably the historically most underrated Axis ally that actually fought the Allies during World War 2. Despite remaining outside the main battleground of the war, the Eastern Front, this Balkan country did take its fair share of warfare, particularly due to the combat activity of its fighter air force against the armada of US bombers and their fighter escorts, in 1943 and 1944. Then, following an about-face in early September 1944, the Bulgarians combatted their former ally, the Germans. This notable air activity is largely unknown outside Bulgaria, and is not very much popularized even within the country, despite fully deserving the utmost attention.This two-volume book describes and illustrates all the fighter and fighter trainer aircraft used by the Bulgarian armed forces before, during, and shortly after WW 2. These aircraft were procured from the following countries: Germany, Poland and Czechoslovakia. Emphasis is placed on the most potent German fighter types, the Messerschmitt Bf 109E and G, as well as the top-notch fighter type of France, the Dewoitine D.520. However, rare, exotic models, including the sole locally built prototype that fits the definition, the DAR-5, are also included.The camouflage and markings, as well as the military coding system of these large variety of aircraft types are described in great details. Fully illustrated with many rare photos, most of them seen for the first time in print. Mutinously detailed colour profiles of many representative aircraft type are included as well.Summing up, this lavishly illustrated, full-colour two-volume book, spanning across over 600 pages, is the reference work of the fighter and fighter trainer aircraft, as well as the pilots who flew for the Royal Bulgarian Air Force prior to, during, and shortly after World War 2.

Read more less

The Nebrodi mountains run along the central-northern part of Sicily. It is an area characterised by high ground that rises abruptly from the Tyrrhenian coast, separated by narrow valleys crossed by creeks and a few flat areas. Human presence there is very old due to the abundance of natural resources (water, wood, fertile land) and a favourable climate. In classical times, many cities prospered here, usually on well-defended hilltops; the archaic indigenous settlements encountered Greek culture from the 6th century BC, but they can be defined as totally Hellenized only after the middle of the 4th century BC. The phase of greatest prosperity was the Hellenistic age, especially following the Roman conquest of Sicily. Important centres were, among others, Tyndaris, Halaesa, Kale Akte and Herbita. Their wealth derived from the great availability of natural resources and from direct or indirect trade with the rest of the island, the Italian peninsula and other areas of the Mediterranean, especially those overlooking the sea. The birth of many of these settlements often dates back to prehistory and the existence of some of them has continued until today. The physical characteristics of this mountainous part of Sicily, along with its remoteness from the main cities of antiquity, affected the forms of human occupation and the growth of an autonomous culture. The Nebrodi have long remained archeologically unexplored: research and excavations were few and concentrated mainly on certain sites (particularly Tyndaris and Halaesa). Therefore, the history of these districts is still almost unknown. This volume presents the author’s many years of research, hoping to increase the knowledge of many aspects of this part of the island: the meeting between indigenous and Greek cultures, their coexistence, the types of settlement and the organization of cities, the trade and the local productions.

Read more less

Members of the Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East (ASTENE), founded in 1997, continue to research, hold international conferences, and publish books and essays in order to reveal the lives, journeys and achievements of these less well-known men and women who have made such a contribution to the present day historical and geographical knowledge of this region of the world and who have also given us a better understanding of its different peoples, languages and religions. The men and women from the past who are written about in this volume are a mixture of the incredibly rich or the very poor, and yet they have one thing in common, the bravery to tackle an adventure into the unknown without the certainty they would ever return home to their families. Some took up the challenge as part of their job or to create a new business, one person travelled to learn how to create and manage a harem at his house in London, others had no choice because as captives in a military campaign they were forced to make journeys into Ottoman controlled lands not knowing exactly where they were, yet every day they were looking for an opportunity to escape and return to their homes, while hoping the next person they met would guide them towards the safest route. Apart from being brave, many of these men and women travellers have something else in common: they and others they encountered have left a collective record describing their travels and their observations about all manner of things. It is these forgotten pioneers who first gathered the facts and details that now fill numerous modern guidebooks, inflight magazines and websites.

Read more less

The Story of the Masters is the first comprehensive year-by-year history of the world's most famous golf tournament. Veteran golf journalist David Barrett draws upon contemporaneous reporting and other source material to offer dramatic accounts of each year the tournament has been played, starting in 1934. The story of the tournament progresses from the early years when it was founded by golf great Bobby Jones and quickly established itself as an elite event, to the post-World War II era when Sam Snead and Ben Hogan dominated. The thrilling exploits of dashing hero Arnold Palmer brought the tournament into the television age and the sustained excellence of Jack Nicklaus helped to further the prestige of the tournament. Nearly two full decades of European dominance of the Masters heralded the international age of golf. Then Tiger Woods came along and used the Augusta stage for his coming-out party in 1997 and then for his epic comeback in 2019. In Barrett's telling, each year has its own story to tell as the Augusta National course provides the perfect setting for tournament excitement, noted for suspenseful back-and-forth action between multiple contenders—the norm at the Masters. The nature of the course's layout creates opportunities for stirring charges and heroic shots to determine the champion, while filled with enough danger to provoke monumental collapses that also become part of Masters lore. Through the decades, the game's greatest players have shined their brightest at the Masters. Many golfing careers have been shaped and defined by this tournament, and Barrett shares unknown and forgotten stories of not only the sport's stars, but also the many others who challenged them over the years at Augusta.

Read more less

Figuring It Out is the fascinating memoir written by Elizabeth “Libby” Connolly Alexander, detailing her role in the meteoric rise of a company started from scratch by her father, a company that later went public at a significant market valuation and after that was sold at an even greater price tag. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in History from Tulane University, Libby joined her father’s payment integrity firm, Connolly, learned the business from the bottom up, and quickly advanced through the ranks. With her brother, Larry, and tech-savvy husband, Robert, they formed the proverbial “three-legged stool,” the triumvirate that drove exponential growth by figuring it out. Figuring it out, indeed… Initially, the trio created a significant technological competitive advantage by establishing a personal computer-driven data mining and analytics capability. Then, they pivoted the company into the unknown healthcare payment integrity industry, harnessing a growth engine unlike any previously leveraged. Libby took the lead in establishing and building the healthcare business, serving as CEO of Connolly Healthcare and subsequently as CEO of the entire company. Thanks to Connolly’s data analytics capabilities and the incredible growth prospects of its healthcare business, Advent International came aboard as a major private equity investor and strategic business partner. Advent helped Connolly engineer a synergistic acquisition of Atlanta-based iHealth Technologies, at which point both companies merged and Libby became vice chairman of the board of the new company, which was renamed Cotiviti. Cotiviti subsequently went public in May of 2016 at a market valuation of $2.55 billion. Two years later, in August, 2018, Cotiviti was acquired by Veritas Capital-backed healthcare data solutions provider Verscend, at a transaction value of $4.89 billion. That’s called creating serious value… by figuring it out.

Read more less

The vast and mysterious universe is explored in this anthology from award-winning editor and anthologist Neil Clarke (Clarkesworld magazine, The Best Science Fiction of the Year).The urge to explore and discover is a natural and universal one, and the edge of the unknown is expanded with each passing year as scientific advancements inch us closer and closer to the outer reaches of our solar system and the galaxies beyond them.Generations of writers have explored these new frontiers and the endless possibilities they present in great detail. With galaxy-spanning adventures of discovery and adventure, from generations ships to warp drives, exploring new worlds to first contacts, science fiction writers have given readers increasingly new and alien ways to look out into our broad and sprawling universe. Stories include are: A Jar of Goodwill — Tobias S. Buckell Mono no aware — Ken Liu Rescue Mission — Jack Skillingstead Shiva in Shadow — Nancy Kress Slow Life — Michael Swanwick Three Bodies at Mitanni — Seth Dickinson The Deeps of the Sky — Elizabeth Bear Diving into the Wreck — Kristine Kathryn Rusch The Voyage Out — Gwyneth Jones The Symphony of Ice and Dust — Julie Novakova Twenty Lights to “The Land of Snow” — Michael Bishop The Firewall and the Door — Sean McMullen Permanent Fatal Errors — Jay Lake Gypsy — Carter Scholz Sailing the Antarsa — Vandana Singh The Mind is Its Own Place — Carrie Vaughn The Wreck of the Godspeed — James Patrick Kelly Seeing — Genevieve Valentine Travelling into Nothing — An Owomoyela Glory — Greg Egan The Island — Peter Watts The Final Frontier delivers stories from across this literary spectrum, a reminder that the universe is far large and brimming with possibilities than we could ever imagine, as hard as we may try.

Read more less

Draken vae Khellian, bastard cousin of the Monoean King, had risen far from his ignominious origins, becoming both a Bowrank Commander and a member of the Crown’s Black Guard. But when cursed black magic took his wife and his honor away, he fought past his own despair and grief, and carved out a new life in Akrasia. His bloody, unlikely path, chronicled in Exile: The First Book of the Seven Eyes, led him to a new love, and a throne.Draken has seen too much blood . . . the blood of friends and of enemies alike. Peace is what he wants. Now he must leave his wife and newborn child in an attempt to forge an uneasy peace between the Monoean King and the kingdom of Akrasia. The long bloody shadow of Akrasia’s violent past hangs over his efforts like a shroud. But there are other forces at work. Peace is not something everybody wants . . . not even in the seemingly straightforward kingdom of Draken’s birth.Factions both known and unknown to Draken vie to undermine his efforts and throw the kingdom into civil war. Forces from his days in the Black Guard prove to be the most enigmatic, and a bloody tide threatens to engulf Draken’s every step.Skyhorse Publishing, under our Night Shade and Talos imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of titles for readers interested in science fiction (space opera, time travel, hard SF, alien invasion, near-future dystopia), fantasy (grimdark, sword and sorcery, contemporary urban fantasy, steampunk, alternative history), and horror (zombies, vampires, and the occult and supernatural), and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller, a national bestseller, or a Hugo or Nebula award-winner, we are committed to publishing quality books from a diverse group of authors.

Read more less

Revised and Updated in September 2020!The hills of the East Bay contain one of the finest and densest urban hiking environments in the state of California—more than 400 paved pathways and public staircases lattice up and down the slopes of Berkeley and Oakland alone. Rising high above the city centers, with towering views of the San Francisco Bay, the Bay Bridge, and San Francisco itself, these elegant civic walking trails—many of them shaded in oaks and redwoods, and many unknown even to local residents—present a unique landscape for both the casual walker and dedicated hiker.Charles Fleming, the Southern California author whose bestselling 2010 walking guide Secret Stairs turned the hidden public staircases of Los Angeles into popular hiking trails, now turns his eyes northward. For Secret Stairs: East Bay, Fleming has designed more than 30 individual hiking loops. Linking multiple staircases into one-to two-hour self-guided strolls, these urban treks will delight the tourist, newly arrived Berkeley undergraduate, and veteran Bay Area resident alike.The circular walks, each calibrated by length, difficulty, and duration—and each accompanied by a detailed, easy-to-follow map—are sprinkled with fascinating facts about the historic staircases, the historic homes around them, and the famous Bay Area characters who gave them their names. Walk the walks of Bret Harte, Mark Twain, and John Muir! Climb Berkeley’s massive Fred Herbert and Tamalpais Paths, hike Easter Way, and summit Sunset Trail! Mount Oakland’s Oakmore stairs, then tackle the hills of Upper Rockridge and Crocker Highlands via the public staircases. And do it all within easy walking distance from BART or bus stops, free parking, and excellent Bay Area cafés.

Read more less

Shortlisted for the 2018 RBC Taylor prize for literary nonfiction “A riveting tale of the previously unknown and fascinating story of the unsung angels who strove to foil the Final Solution.”—Kirkus starred review On November 25, 1944, prisoners at Auschwitz heard a deafening explosion. Emerging from their barracks, they witnessed the crematoria and gas chambers--part of the largest killing machine in human history--come crashing down. Most assumed they had fallen victim to inmate sabotage and thousands silently cheered. However, the Final Solution's most efficient murder apparatus had not been felled by Jews, but rather by the ruthless architect of mass genocide, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. It was an edict that has puzzled historians for more than six decades. Holocaust historian and New York Times bestselling author Max Wallace--a veteran interviewer for Steven Spielberg's Shoah Foundation--draws on an explosive cache of recently declassified documents and an account from the only living eyewitness to unravel the mystery. He uncovers an astounding story involving the secret negotiations of an unlikely trio--a former fascist President of Switzerland, a courageous Orthodox Jewish woman, and Himmler's Finnish osteopath--to end the Holocaust, aided by clandestine Swedish and American intelligence efforts. He documents their efforts to deceive Himmler, who, as Germany's defeat loomed, sought to enter an alliance with the West against the Soviet Union. By exploiting that fantasy and persuading Himmler to betray Hitler's orders, the group helped to prevent the liquidation of tens of thousands of Jews during the last months of the Second World War, and thwarted Hitler's plan to take "every last Jew" down with the Reich. Deeply researched and dramatically recounted, In the Name of Humanity is a remarkable tale of bravery and audacious tactics that will help rewrite the history of the Holocaust.

Read more less

Mirko D. Grmek (1924-2000) is one of the most significant figures in the history of medicine, and has long been considered a pioneer of the field. The singular trajectory that took Grmek from Yugoslavia to the academic culture of post-war France placed him at the crossroads of different intellectual trends and made him an influential figure during the second half of the twentieth century. Yet, scholars have rarely attempted to articulate his distinctive vision of the history of science and medicine with all its tensions, contradictions, and ambiguities. This volume brings together and publishes for the first time in English a range of Grmek’s writings, providing a portrait of his entire career as a historian of science and an engaged intellectual figure. Pathological Realities pieces together Grmek’s scholarship that reveals the interconnections of diseases, societies, and medical theories. Straddling the sciences and the humanities, Grmek crafted significant new concepts and methods to engage with contemporary social problems such as wars, genocides and pandemics. Uniting some major strands of his published work that are still dispersed or simply unknown, this volume covers the deep epistemological changes in historical conceptions of disease as well as major advances within the life sciences and their historiography. Opening with a classic essay – “Preliminaries for a Historical Study of Diseases,” this volume introduces Grmek’s notions of “pathocenosis” and “emerging infections,” illustrating them with historical and contemporary cases. Pathological Realities also showcases Grmek’s pioneering approach to the history of science and medicine using laboratory notebooks as well as his original work on biological thought and the role of ideologies and myths in the history of science. The essays assembled here reveal Grmek’s significant influence and continued relevance for current research in the history of medicine and biology, medical humanities, science studies, and the philosophy of science.

Read more less

The Standard Bearer of the Roman Church examines the missionary work of the early modern Capuchin friar, and doctor of the Church, Lawrence of Brindisi. Renowned in his own day as a preacher, Bible scholar, missionary, chaplain, and diplomat, as well as vicar general of his order, Lawrence led the first organized, papally-commissioned Capuchin mission among the non-Catholics of Bohemia in the Holy Roman Empire from 1599 to 1602. He returned again under papal mandate, from 1606 to 1613. Andrew J. G. Drenas analyzes Lawrence’s evangelistic and polemical strategies in central Europe in order to shed light on some of the ways the Capuchins labored in religiously divided territories to confirm Catholics in their faith and to win over heretics.The introduction explains, principally, the book’s purpose and the historiographical background. After providing a brief biographical sketch of Lawrence’s life followed by details of his afterlife, Drenas examines Lawrence’s leading role in establishing the Capuchins’ new Commissariate of Bohemia-Austria-Styria in 1600, and specifically its first three friaries in Prague, Vienna, and Graz. From there the volume moves on to treat his preaching against heresy, followed by a focus on how Lawrence, while in Prague, involved himself directly in theological disputations with two different Lutheran preachers. The first dispute, with Polycarp Leyser, took place in July 1607, and dealt with good works and justification. The second, with a Lutheran whose identity remains unknown, and which occurred in August 1610, concerned Catholic veneration of the Virgin Mary. This is followed by an analysis of the Lutheranismi hypotyposis, or The Express Image of Lutheranism, Lawrence’s literary refutation of Lutheranism following additional contact with Polycarp Leyser in 1607. Finally, Drenas considers briefly the effectiveness of Lawrence’s apostolate and closes with a review of the book as a whole.

Read more less

Best-selling author Russell Shorto, praised for his incisive works of narrative history, never thought to write about his own past. He grew up knowing his grandfather and namesake was a small-town mob boss but maintained an unspoken family vow of silence. Then an elderly relative prodded: You’re a writer—what are you gonna do about the story? Smalltime is a mob story straight out of central casting—but with a difference, for the small-town mob, which stretched from Schenectady to Fresno, is a mostly unknown world. The location is the brawny postwar factory town of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The setting is City Cigar, a storefront next to City Hall, behind which Russ and his brother-in-law, “Little Joe,” operate a gambling empire and effectively run the town. Smalltime is a riveting American immigrant story that travels back to Risorgimento Sicily, to the ancient, dusty, hill-town home of Antonino Sciotto, the author’s great-grandfather, who leaves his wife and children in grinding poverty for a new life—and wife—in a Pennsylvania mining town. It’s a tale of Italian Americans living in squalor and prejudice, and of the rise of Russ, who, like thousands of other young men, created a copy of the American establishment that excluded him. Smalltime draws an intimate portrait of a mobster and his wife, sudden riches, and the toll a lawless life takes on one family. But Smalltime is something more. The author enlists his ailing father—Tony, the mobster’s son—as his partner in the search for their troubled patriarch. As secrets are revealed and Tony’s health deteriorates, the book become an urgent and intimate exploration of three generations of the American immigrant experience. Moving, wryly funny, and richly detailed, Smalltime is an irresistible memoir by a masterful writer of historical narrative.

Read more less

Untether from your sense of "normal" and fall into the abundant life God intends.Singer-songwriter and Bible teacher Laura Story gets what it's like to have plans altered and to surrender security when faced with circumstances beyond our control. But she also understands the blessing of having a Father who loves you enough to place you in the best possible scenario for good and growth.The So Long, Normal video study guide (streaming included) walks small groups through the process of leaving behind the idols of comfort, caution, and routine so you can live strong and well--even when life takes an unwelcome turn.This study guide has everything you need for a full Bible study experience, including: The study guide itself--with discussion and personal reflection questions, video notes, and a leader's guide. An individual access code to stream all five video sessions online (you don't need to buy a DVD!). Laura Story looks at the obstacles of attachment to comfort and leads the way to learning how to trust our unknown future to a faithful God.With personal stories and deep dives into biblical stories of people who wavered between God and earthly comfort, this five-session study is for anyone who finds themselves paralyzed by fear in the inevitable changes of life.When we say goodbye to normal, our joy and peace are no longer tethered to our circumstances; we can truly experience the abundant life Christ offers his children.Streaming video access code included. Access code subject to expiration after 12/31/2027. Code may be redeemed only by the recipient of this package. Code may not be transferred or sold separately from this package. Internet connection required. Void where prohibited, taxed, or restricted by law. Additional offer details inside.

Read more less

The bestselling author of Head Strong and The Bulletproof Diet answers the question, “How can I kick more ass at life?” by culling the wisdom of world-class thought leaders, maverick scientists, and disruptive entrepreneurs to provide proven techniques for becoming happier, healthier, and smarter.When Dave Asprey started his Bulletproof Radio podcast more than five years ago, he sought out influencers in an array of disciplines, from biochemists toiling in unknown laboratories to business leaders changing the world to mediation masters discovering inner peace. His guests were some of the top performing humans in the world, people who had changed their areas of study or even pioneered entirely new fields. Dave wanted to know: What did they have in common? What mattered most to them? What made them so successful—and what made them tick? At the end of each interview, Dave asked the same question: “What are your top three recommendations for people who want to perform better at being human?”After performing a statistical analysis of the answers, he found that the wisdom gleaned from these highly successful people could be distilled into three main objectives: finding ways to become smarter, faster, and happier. Game Changers is the culmination of Dave’s years-long immersion in these conversations, offering 46 science-backed, high performance “laws” that are a virtual playbook for how to get better at life.With anecdotes from game changers like Dr. Daniel Amen, Gabby Bernstein, Dr. David Perlmutter, Arianna Huffington, Esther Perel, and Tim Ferris as well as examples from Dave’s own life, Game Changers offers readers practical advice they can put into action to reap immediate rewards. From taming fear and anxiety to making better decisions, establishing high-performance habits, and practicing gratitude and mindfulness, Dave brings together the wisdom of today’s game-changers to help everyone kick more ass at life.

Read more less

Let Secret Bangkok guide you around the unusual and unfamiliar. Step off the beaten track with this fascinating Bangkok guide book and let our local experts show you the well-hidden treasures of this amazing city. Ideal for local inhabitants, curious visitors and armchair travellers alike. Only in a city with as much to offer as Thailand's City of Angels could a temple boasting a million Buddhas have remained overlooked by visitors. Bangkok is regularly listed as the number one city destination in the world yet take time to scratch just a little below the surface and you'll find stunning and intriguing (and sometimes downright bizarre) spots that remain virtually unknown to outsiders ... and often to the citizens themselves. Frequent residents Narina Exelby and Mark Eveleigh spent over a year hunting down some of the city's most captivating secret spots - many of which even experienced local guides had never heard of. This book will lead you to the place where people offer bacon and eggs to tiger temple guardians, and a temple with elaborate effigies of David Beckham, Donald Duck and Popeye. It will take you into the lair of giant monitor lizards, show you how to gain merit by sponsoring a coffin, or how to decipher, from a tree trunk, the winning lottery numbers offered by a beautiful female ghost. You'll also meet a unique community of outlaw flute-players, eat a communal vegetarian breakfast with Bangkok's Sikh community, learn about the traditional Thai pastime of "baldy-butting", and meet a celebrated "healer" who goes by the name of Madame Breast-slapper.Secret Bangkok is more than just an indispensable guide to the hidden face of the city: it is written also to offer fascinating background information for those who love to connect with the soul of a place.

Read more less

The authors studied in this book can be visualized as the islands that constitute an unknown, fragile and trembling literary and cultural Francophone archipelago. The archipelago does not appear on any map, in the middle of an ocean whose name we already know. No Francophone anthology would put these authors together as a matter of course because what connects them is a narrative grammar rather than a national origin or even a language. Yet, their writing techniques and their apprehension of the real (the ways in which they know and name the world) both reflect and actively participate in our evolving perception of what Gayatri Spivak calls the “planet”. The Reparative in Narratives argues that argue that they repair trauma through writing. One description of these awe-inspiring, tender and sometimes horrifying tales is that their narrators are survivors who have experienced and sometimes inflicted unspeakable acts of violence. And yet, ultimately, despair, nihilism, cynicism or silence are never the consequences of their encounter with what some quickly call evil. The traumatic event has not killed them and has not killed their desire to write or perform, although the decidedly altered life that they live in the aftermath of the disaster forces them to become different types of storytellers. They are the first-person narrators of their story, and their narration reinvents them as speaking subjects. In turn, this requires that we accept new reading pacts. That pact is a temporal and geographical signature: the reparative narrative needs readers prepared to accept that healing belongs to the realm of possibilities and that exposure and denunciation do not exhaust the victim’s range of possibilities. Rosello contends that this context-specific yet repeating pattern constitutes a response to the contemporary figuration of both globalized and extremely localized types of traumatic memories.

Read more less

"THIS WAS DRAWYN BY A KNYGHT PRESONER, SIR THOMAS MALLEORE, THAT GOD SENDE HYM GOOD RECOVER." In 1934, these were the lines which made the Librarian of Winchester College realize that he had discovered a hitherto unknown version of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, a work known to all previous readers only through Caxton's 1485 edition. For it was known that Thomas Malory of Newbold Revel had been imprisoned on numerous occasions between the 1450s and his death in 1471 by Lancastrians and Yorkists. But who was Malory? Why did successive authorities want to lock him up? How did he come to write the Morte d'Arthur? And why has that text been so persistent a presence in English culture? Going in quest of Malory and of the meaning of the Morte the author addresses the text's central preoccupations violence, desire, and the nature of Englishness. Malory is placed in his social context, at a time of unprecedented national and regional unrest. Lustig traces the connections between writers and commentators from Tennyson to T.S. Eliot who have been fascinated by Malory's work. A prime purpose of the volume is to reveal the Morte's extraordinary ability to move its readers intensely, to become part of their lives. Accordingly, the author delves into his own boyhood fascination with the stories of King Arthur, exploring their influence on him both then and now. The Morte d'Arthur was one of the last great literary works of the Middle Ages. But it was also one of the first to articulate a distinctively modern set of concerns particularly with the nature of identity, both personal and national. Knight Prisoner: Thomas Malory Then and Now will send readers back to Malory's work with renewed enjoyment and understanding.

Read more less

John Brande Trend, the first Professor of Spanish in Cambridge in 1933, arrived at his Chair by a circuitous route through a variety of disciplines, encountering a host of prominent people in pre-war political, cultural and intellectual life. It was this wider experience that made his teaching so unique and makes his story central to the period through which he lived. At Cambridge with the doomed generation who were to perish in the First World War, Trend studied Natural Sciences but fell under the spell of the musicologist Edward Dent, who became his lifelong friend. A brilliant linguist and musician, it was music that took Trend to Spain in 1919 to unearth ancient manuscripts and to write articles for London magazines. He fell in love with a country undergoing a cultural, intellectual and political transformation that culminated in the establishment of the Second Republic in 1931. He became a close friend of Manuel de Falla, whose music he introduced to the British public, as well as of the ill-fated poet, Federico García Lorca, and other luminaries of the optimistic 1920s. After the euphoria of the Republic and the subsequent Civil War, he never returned to Spain but did much to help Spanish exiles and refugees. Academically he extended his interests to Central and South America, one of the first Hispanists to do so. Trend's books on Spanish literature and music were vivid and evocative, as was his style of teaching, inspired by the philosophy of the Spanish educationalist, Francisco Giner de los Ríos. Drawing on Trend's prolific and hitherto unknown correspondence with many celebrated figures, the book depicts his extraordinary personality and achievements, and his first-hand involvement in important events of the period.

Read more less

Scholar, reverend, politician, and perhaps aristocrat... James Arthur Stanley Harley was certainly a polymath. Born in a poor village in the Caribbean island of Antigua, he went on to attend Howard, Harvard, Yale and Oxford universities, was ordained a priest in Canterbury Cathedral and was elected to Leicestershire County Council. He was a choirmaster, a pioneer Oxford anthropologist, a country curate and a firebrand councillor. This remarkable career was all the more extraordinary because he was black in an age - the early twentieth century - that was institutionally racist. Pamela Roberts' meticulously researched book tells Harley's hitherto unknown story from humble Antiguan childhood, through elite education in Jim Crow America to the turbulent England of World War I and the General Strike. Navigating the complex intertwining of education, religion, politics and race, his life converged with pivotal periods and events in history: the birth of the American New Negro in the 1900s, black scholars at Ivy League institutions, the heyday of Washington's black elite and the early civil rights movement, Edwardian English society, and the Great War. Based on Harley's letters, sermons and writings as well as contemporary accounts and later oral testimony, this is an account of an individual's trajectory through seven decades of dramatic social change. Roberts' biography reveals a man of religious conviction, who won admirers for his work as a vicar and local councillor. But Harley was also a complex and abrasive individual, who made enemies and courted controversy and scandal. Most intriguingly, he hinted at illicit aristocratic ancestry dating back to Antigua's slave-owning past. His life, uncovered here for the first time, is full of contradictions and surprises, but above all illustrates the power and resilience of the human spirit.

Read more less

100 of the most astonishing stories of human survival, adventure and exploration, chosen by Levison Wood. We are always captivated by tales of courage and bravery, of world-firsts and death-defying experiences. In this anthology, explorer and bestselling author Levison Wood has gathered 100 of the most fascinating accounts of human endurance throughout history. From the heroism of Antarctic explorers to pioneering women in the Middle East; from record-breaking athletes to survivors of war and torture, this wide-ranging collection embraces both classics of the genre, as well as new and neglected voices. The extracts are organised around a range of themes; you will find those who sought out new frontiers, or who purposely tested their physical limits in full knowledge of the dangers or risks they might face, but also those who endured persecution and suffering, or were thrust into life or death situations yet defied the odds to survive. Endurance is packed full of you-couldn't-make-it-up true stories and adventure fiction classics, from the high seas to the poles, from inhospitable jungles and deserts to the unknown realms of space, through physical and mental despair to euphoric highs. Yet all of these extraordinary stories celebrate the enduring nature of the human spirit, and show the mental and physical determination it sometimes takes to achieve one's aims. This varied and compelling collection will take you on an adventure around the world, but also on an emotional journey exploring what it means to be human. Includes extracts about and by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay, Amelia Earhart, Marie Colvin, John Krakauer, Solomon Northrup, Ella Maillart, Freya Stark, Ed Stafford, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Aron Lee Ralston, María Elena Moyano, Gertrude Bell, Isabelle Eberhart, Nellie Bly, Alex Honnold, Nelson Mandela, David Nott, Jules Verne, Neil Armstrong and Scott Kelly.

Read more less

An All Black's memoir of rugby, dementia, and the hidden cost of success 'The best sports book I have read in decades' - Kevin Norquay, Stuff'Startlingly honest' - Phil Gifford'A brilliant read. Bold, brave and honest' - Mike Hosking, Newstalk ZBCarl Hayman, All Black #1000, once the most highly prized player in world rugby and a giant of the game in every sense - someone who was always respected, even feared. But at the end of seventeen years as a professional rugby player, the last eight played with the sole aim of setting up his family's future, Hayman's life began to unravel in nightmarish fashion.Head On is about the pressures on the modern athlete, where physical performance and commerce collide, and players become victims of their own success.Exploited then left out in the cold, Hayman is now left counting the hidden cost of the achievements that would have exceeded any young rugby player's dreams. He now fears both the known and the unknown with equal trepidation. as he looks for answers to dementia and a degenerative brain condition called CTE. In Head On, Hayman relives a remarkable rugby career, with revelations about the shock All Blacks loss to France in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, the decisions to leave New Zealand and play for the Newcastle Falcons in England, in doing so becoming one of the best-paid players on the planet, and how being put on the fast track to the All Blacks as a youngster combined with the Southern Man rugby ethos in Dunedin caused him to develop a dangerous relationship with alcohol.This book is about how we can better understand the unintended consequences of the decisions we make, and how we can better serve the next generation.

Read more less

How American soldiers opposed and resisted the war in Vietnam While mainstream narratives of the Vietnam War all but marginalize anti-war activity of soldiers, opposition and resistance from within the three branches of the military made a real difference to the course of America’s engagement in Vietnam. By 1968, every major peace march in the United States was led by active duty GIs and Vietnam War veterans. By 1970, thousands of active duty soldiers and marines were marching in protest in US cities. Hundreds of soldiers and marines in Vietnam were refusing to fight; tens of thousands were deserting to Canada, France and Sweden. Eventually the US Armed Forces were no longer able to sustain large-scale offensive operations and ceased to be effective. Yet this history is largely unknown and has been glossed over in much of the written and visual remembrances produced in recent years. Waging Peace in Vietnam shows how the GI movement unfolded, from the numerous anti-war coffee houses springing up outside military bases, to the hundreds of GI newspapers giving an independent voice to active soldiers, to the stockade revolts and the strikes and near-mutinies on naval vessels and in the air force. The book presents first-hand accounts, oral histories, and a wealth of underground newspapers, posters, flyers, and photographs documenting the actions of GIs and veterans who took part in the resistance. In addition, the book features fourteen original essays by leading scholars and activists. Notable contributors include Vietnam War scholar and author, Christian Appy, and Mme Nguyen Thi Binh, who played a major role in the Paris Peace Accord. The book originates from the exhibition Waging Peace, which has been shown in Vietnam and the University of Notre Dame, and will be touring the eastern United States in conjunction with book launches in Boston, Amherst, and New York.

Read more less

The definitive guide to the history of nuclear arms control by a wise eavesdropper and masterful storyteller, Michael Krepon. The greatest unacknowledged diplomatic achievement of the Cold War was the absence of mushroom clouds. Deterrence alone was too dangerous to succeed; it needed arms control to prevent nuclear warfare. So, U.S. and Soviet leaders ventured into the unknown to devise guardrails for nuclear arms control and to treat the Bomb differently than other weapons. Against the odds, they succeeded. Nuclear weapons have not been used in warfare for three quarters of a century. This book is the first in-depth history of how the nuclear peace was won by complementing deterrence with reassurance, and then jeopardized by discarding arms control after the Cold War ended. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace tells a remarkable story of high-wire acts of diplomacy, close calls, dogged persistence, and extraordinary success. Michael Krepon brings to life the pitched battles between arms controllers and advocates of nuclear deterrence, the ironic twists and unexpected outcomes from Truman to Trump. What began with a ban on atmospheric testing and a nonproliferation treaty reached its apogee with treaties that mandated deep cuts and corralled "loose nukes" after the Soviet Union imploded. After the Cold War ended, much of this diplomatic accomplishment was cast aside in favor of freedom of action. The nuclear peace is now imperiled by no less than four nuclear-armed rivalries. Arms control needs to be revived and reimagined for Russia and China to prevent nuclear warfare. New guardrails have to be erected. Winning and Losing the Nuclear Peace is an engaging account of how the practice of arms control was built from scratch, how it was torn down, and how it can be rebuilt.

Read more less