Search results for ""Author Alex"
HarperCollins Publishers The Ghost Woods
‘Haunting’ Sara Sheridan ‘Intriguing, atmospheric, thought-provoking’ Alexandra Bell ‘Beautifully crafted, thrilling and atmospheric’ Rebecca Netley In the midst of the woods stands a house called Lichen Hall. This place is shrouded in folklore – old stories of ghosts, of witches, of a child who is not quite a child. Now the woods are creeping closer, and something has been unleashed. Pearl Gorham arrives in 1965, one of a string of young women sent to Lichen Hall to give birth. And she soon suspects the proprietors are hiding something. Then she meets the mysterious mother and young boy who live in the grounds – and together they begin to unpick the secrets of this place. As the truth comes to the surface and the darkness moves in, Pearl must rethink everything she knew – and risk what she holds most dear. Praise for The Ghost Woods . . . ‘Cooke has mixed the darkness of reality with a magical realism that will have you gripped’ Woman & Home ‘This chilling gothic tale is the perfect choice for a book club . . . atmospheric’ Prima ‘Original and compelling, The Ghost Woods is a beautifully written, chilling tale that will stay with the reader long after the book is finished’ Elizabeth Lee ‘[C.J. Cooke is] a master of the feminist gothic!’ Katherine May ’The Ghost Woods rattles along, with a twisty plot that defies expectations right from the start . . . highly enjoyable’ Sally Hinchcliffe ‘An eerie gothic thriller’ Samantha Downing ‘Deliciously unsettling, strangely believable’ Carly Reagon ‘With a great plot, this suspenseful and compelling story touches on the difficult history of women in mid-20th-century Scotland’ Candis
£9.99
Headline Publishing Group Learning to Love the Spaces in Between: Discover the Power of Liminal Spaces
The word liminal comes from the Latin word 'limen', meaning threshold. In its literal sense, a threshold is a doorway. 'Liminal' is often used to describe the gateway between two stages.A liminal space can be a metaphysical state – the place between sleep and wakefulness, between life and death where consciousness is altered, the transition period between one life event and the next; or it can be a physical space – the coastline between sea and shore, an empty art gallery, or the moment just before it rains.In an age where so much importance is placed on facts and explanations, the feelings we derive from liminal 'unknown' spaces can disrupt our equilibrium. Yet these 'spaces in between' are often where insight, creativity and inspiration are found.Here, life-long liminal explorer and journalist Claire Gillman helps us learn and grow through our experiences of liminality. Featuring contributions from leading luminaries including Bruce Parry, Caroline Myss, Dr Eben Alexander, Neale Donald Walsch, Phyllis Curott, Yasmin Boland, Dr Robert Holden, Satish Kumar, Dr Mike Dow and Felicity Warner, Claire shows us how we can navigate and embrace liminal experiences to enhance our wellbeing and understanding of the world.
£13.49
Yale University Press Matilda: Empress, Queen, Warrior
A life of Matilda—empress, skilled military leader, and one of the greatest figures of the English Middle Ages “[Matilda] will attract a growing audience interested in stories of women challenging the male-dominated European past.”—Alexandra Locking, Medieval Review “A lively and authoritative account.”—Katherine Harvey, Times Literary Supplement Matilda was a daughter, wife, and mother. But she was also empress, heir to the English crown—the first woman ever to hold the position—and an able military general. This new biography explores Matilda’s achievements as military and political leader, and sets her life and career in full context. Catherine Hanley provides fresh insight into Matilda's campaign to claim the title of queen, her approach to allied kingdoms and rival rulers, and her role in the succession crisis. Hanley highlights how Matilda fought for the throne, and argues that although she never sat on it herself her reward was to see her son become king. Extraordinarily, her line has continued through every single monarch of England or Britain from that time to the present day.
£13.60
Headline Publishing Group The Little Book of Whisky: Matured to Perfection
The perfect gift for anyone desiring a richer whisky experience. Some drinking buddies only ever talk about themselves. Well, not this guy. The Little Book of Whisky is here to listen, entertain and help you imbibe as many whisky-soaked titbits of wit and wisdom as possible. Whisky, aqua vitae, the water of life, the spirit of the Gods, the hard stuff – whatever you call it, has long been many people’s best friend. But now your best friend has a new best friend – The Little Book of Whisky, a tiny tome guaranteed to raise your spirits with its fine blend of whisky facts & stats, quotes & quips, and matured with whisky history and heritage. The Little Book of Whisky is a guaranteed 100 proof... of excellence. 'I'm on a whisky diet. I've lost three days already.' Tommy Cooper. 'A good gulp of hot whiskey at bedtime – it's not very scientific, but it helps.' Alexander Fleming on how to kill a common cold. If this doesn't make you want to visit Scotland nothing will. The nation is home to more than 20 million casks of maturing whisky. That's four barrels for every Scottish person. No wonder they want their independence.
£7.78
Everyman Chess Italian Game and Evans Gambit
The Italian Game (sometimes referred to as the Giuoco Piano) is one of the oldest openings around, and also one of the first lines players learn when they are introduced to chess. It leads to play that is easy to understand: both sides develop their pieces logically and begin attacks on the opposing kings. The Italian Game gives both White and Black the opportunity to play either aggressively and in gambit fashion, or in a restrained and positional manner. One of White's most exciting and attacking options is the legendary Evans Gambit, which has been brought back into the limelight in this modern era by such uncompromising players as World number one Garry Kasparov, Alexander Morozevich,and England's Nigel Short. In this book, openings expert Jan Pinski investigates the different strategies and tactics in the Italian Game and Evans Gambit. Using model games for both White and Black, Pinski provides crucial coverage of both the main lines and offbeat variations. This book arms readers with enough knowledge to play the Italian Game and Evans Gambit with confidence.
£16.99
Alma Books Ltd The House of the Dead
The House of the Dead recounts the story of Alexander Goryanchikov, a gentleman who is sent to a prison colony in Siberia for killing his wife. Largely ignored at first by his fellow inmates due to his noble blood, he gradually settles in and becomes an avid observer of the new world around him – watching his fellow prisoners being brutally and cruelly punished by the guards, listening to their past stories of blood and murder, assimilating the institution’s social codes and learning that even convicts are capable of acts of pure generosity. Based on Dostoevsky’s own autobiographical experiences of penal servitude in Siberia, this genre-defying novel is not only an unflinching exposé of the conditions faced by prisoners during the Tsarist period, but also a call to see the human side in criminals and rediscover the values of forgiveness and compassion. Based on Dostoevsky's own autobiographical experiences during a four-year internment in a prison colony in Siberia, this genre-defying novel is not only an unflinching expose of the conditions of Russian prisoners during the Tsarist period, but also a call to see the human side in criminals and rediscover the values of forgiveness and brotherly love.
£9.04
Reaktion Books North Pole: Nature and Culture
In North Pole, Michael Bravo explains how visions of the North Pole have been supremely important to the world's cultures and political leaders, from Alexander the Great to neo-Hindu nationalists. Tracing poles and polarity back to sacred ancient civilizations, this book explores how the idea of a North Pole has given rise to utopias, satires, fantasies, paradoxes and nationalist ideologies, from the Renaissance to the Third Reich. The Victorian conceit of the polar regions as a vast empty wilderness, and the preserve of white males battling against the elements, was far from the only polar vision. Michael Bravo shows an alternative set of pictures, of a habitable Arctic criss-crossed by densely connected networks of Inuit routes, rich and dense in cultural meanings. In Western and Eastern cultures, theories of a sacred North Pole abound. Visions of paradise and a lost Eden have mingled freely with the imperial visions of Europe and the United States. Forebodings of failure and catastrophe have been companions to tales of conquest and redemption. Michael Bravo shows that visions of a sacred or living pole can help humanity understand its twenty-first-century predicament, but only by understanding the pole's deeper history.
£16.95
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Allied Armies in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1945: Photographs from Wartime Archives
The Italian campaign was one of the most debated of the Second World War, splitting the American and British allies, and causing great disharmony. After the fall of Rome and the surrender of Italy, the invasion of Normandy led to the Italian campaign becoming a sideshow as the D-Day Dodgers' fought their way through Italy to the Alps against a grinding defence and extreme weather. In a sequence of 200 wartime photographs Simon Forty sums up the major events of the conflict - from the landings on Sicily to the crossing of the Po. Commanded first by Sir Harold Alexander and then Mark Clark, the Allied armies (US Fifth and British Eighth) drew men not only from Britain, the United States, France and Poland but from all over the Commonwealth - from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand and South Africa - as well as such other countries as Brazil, Czechoslovakia, Greece and Palestine. The devastation caused by the war in the cities, towns and countryside is part of the story, but perhaps the most powerful impression is made by the faces of the soldiers themselves as they look out from the Italian front of so long ago.
£14.99
Amberley Publishing The Man in the Iron Mask: The Truth about Europe's Most Famous Prisoner
The Man in the Iron Mask has all the hallmarks of a thrilling adventure story: a glamorous and all-powerful king, ambitious ministers, a cruel and despotic gaoler, dark and sinister dungeons - and a secret prisoner. It is easy for forget that this story, made famous by Alexandre Dumas, is that of a real person, who spent more than thirty years in the prison system of Louis XIV’s France never to be freed. This book brings to life the true story of this mysterious man and follows his journey through four prisons and across decades of time. It introduces the reader to those with whom he shared his imprisonment, those who had charge of him and those who decided his fate. The Man in the Iron Mask is one of the most enduring mysteries of Louis XIV’s reign, but, above all, it is a human story. Using contemporary documents, this book shows what life was really like for state prisoners in seventeenth-century France and offers tantalising insight into why this mysterious man was arrested and why, several years later, his story would become one of France’s most intriguing legends.
£20.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Artist Explorers: Painting The New World
It was in large part the lure of riches, such as spices and gold, and the promise of fertile land which tempted the British and other Europeans to venture out to unknown lands. These intrepid explorers, who devoted and often lost their lives on journeys of discovery, were frequently accompanied by artists. At the time there was no other way of pictorially recording their exploits and experiences. James Cook and his botanist Joseph Banks had artists Alexander Buchan and Sydney Parkinson on board for their initial voyage to the South Seas. Buchan’s first pictures were of the natives of Tierra del Fuego as the Endeavour rounded Cape Horn but tragically within a month he died, apparently of epilepsy. Thomas Baines travelled with Livingstone while Charles Heaphy in New Zealand and the Governor's wife in India were amongst many others who produced drawings and paintings. The many fine works in this book fashioned the British public's image of their countrymen’s discoveries and, later, of the lives of those who remained in these faraway places. Right up to the start of the 20th century their publication in the illustrated papers of the day became the core of popular appreciation.
£22.50
Penguin Books Ltd Artificial Intelligence: Everything you need to know about the coming AI. A Ladybird Expert Book
THE PERFECT INTRODUCTION TO AI FROM THE PRESENTER OF THE 2023 ROYAL INSTITUTION CHRISTMAS LECTURE'I propose to consider the question, 'Can machines think?' Alan Turing (1950)Part of the ALL-NEW Ladybird Expert series.This book is for everyone living in the age of Artificial Intelligence. And this is an accessible and authoritative introduction to one of the most important conversations of our time . . . Written by computer scientist Michael Wooldridge, Artificial Intelligence chronicles the development of intelligent machines, from Turing's dream of machines that think, to today's digital assistants like Siri and Alexa. AI is not something that awaits us in the future. Inside you'll learn how we have come to rely on embedded AI software and what a world of ubiquitous AI might look like.What's inside?- The British mathematician Alan Turing- Can machines 'understand'?- Logical and Behavioural AI- The reality of AI today- AI tomorrow- And much more . . . For an adult readership, the Ladybird Expert series is produced in the same iconic small hardback format pioneered by the original Ladybirds. Each beautifully illustrated book features the first new illustrations produced in the original Ladybird style for nearly forty years.
£9.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd The Silent Lady
The woman who presented herself at the offices of the respectable firm of London solicitors was, the receptionist decided, clearly a vagrant who had been sleeping on the streets. The clothes that hung on her frail body were filthy, and she seemed unable to speak. When she asked to see the firm's senior partner, Alexander Armstrong, she was at first shown the door - but when Mr Armstrong learned the name of his visitor, all the office staff were amazed at his reaction. For Irene Baindor was a woman with a past, and her emergence from obscurity was to signal the unravelling of a mystery that had baffled the lawyer for twenty-six years.What Irene - the silent lady of the title - had been doing, and where she had been, gradually emerged over the following weeks as Armstrong met the unlikely benefactors who had befriended her and helped her to build a useful and satisfying life in a sheltered environment. Now, at last, she was able to confront her tortured and violent past and find great happiness and contentment with the help of old friends and some newer ones.
£10.99
Yale University Press These Trees Tell a Story: The Art of Reading Landscapes
A deeply personal master class on how to read a natural landscape and unravel the clues to its unique ecological history “[Charney] is an amiable host. . . . The cumulative effect of his book on the reader is the realization that, as much as we talk about ‘managing’ nature, nature has been managing itself for eons just fine without us.”—Alexandra Horowitz, The Atlantic Structured as a series of interactive field walks through ten New England ecosystems, this book challenges readers to see the world through the eyes of a trained naturalist. With guided questions, immersive photography, and a narrative approach, each chapter adds layers of complexity to a single scene, revealing the millions of years of forces at play. Tying together geology, forest ecology, wildlife biology, soil processes, evolution, conservation, and more, Noah Charney shows how and why landscapes appear in their current forms. Charney’s stories and lessons will provide anyone with the necessary investigative skills to look at a landscape, interpret it, and tell its story—from its start as rock or soil to the plants and animals that live on it. Ultimately, Charney argues, by critically engaging with the landscape we will become better at connecting with nature and ourselves.
£22.67
Penguin Books Ltd Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe
'Magisterial ... Immensely readable' Douglas Alexander, Financial Times'Insightful, productively provocative and downright brilliant' New York Times A compelling history of catastrophes and their consequences, from 'the most brilliant British historian of his generation' (The Times) Disasters are inherently hard to predict. But when catastrophe strikes, we ought to be better prepared than the Romans were when Vesuvius erupted or medieval Italians when the Black Death struck. We have science on our side, after all. Yet the responses of many developed countries to a new pathogen from China were badly bungled. Why? While populist rulers certainly performed poorly in the face of the pandemic, Niall Ferguson argues that more profound pathologies were at work - pathologies already visible in our responses to earlier disasters. Drawing from multiple disciplines, including economics and network science, Doom: The Politics of Catastrophe offers not just a history but a general theory of disaster. As Ferguson shows, governments must learn to become less bureaucratic if we are to avoid the impending doom of irreversible decline. 'Stimulating, thought-provoking ... Readers will find much to relish' Martin Bentham, Evening Standard
£12.99
Island Press Food Town, USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That Are Changing the Way We Eat
Look at any list of America's top foodie cities and you probably won't find Boise, Idaho or Sitka, Alaska. Yet they are the new face of the food movement. Healthy, sustainable fare is changing communities across this country, revitalizing towns that have been ravaged by disappearing industries and decades of inequity. What sparked this revolution? To find out, Mark Winne travelled to seven cities not usually considered revolutionary. He broke bread with brew masters and city council members, farmers and philanthropists, toured start-up incubators and homeless shelters. What he discovered was remarkable, even inspiring. In Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, once a company steel town, investment in the arts has created a robust new market for local restaurateurs. In Alexandria, Louisiana, "one-stop shopping" food banks help clients apply for health insurance along with SNAP benefits. In Jacksonville, Florida, aeroponics are bringing fresh produce to a food desert. Over the course of his travels, Winne experienced the power of individuals to transform food and the power of food to transform communities. The cities of Food Town, USA remind us that innovation is ripening all across the country, especially in the most unlikely places.
£22.99
University of Alberta Press Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers
It is a common misconception that it is difficult or impossible to discuss music, that a piece of music simply speaks to the listener-or not. Paul Steenhuisen, in conversation with composers, offers readers insight into the creative process, and ways of listening and entering into works of new music. Steenhuisen, himself a composer of merit, talks one on one with thirty-two of his contemporaries-twenty-six of whom are Canadian-with a colleague's candour, sympathy, and expertise. These rare intimations afford fellow composers, musicologists, students, and inquisitive listeners a comparative look into the lives of the people who write some of the most innovative, challenging, and sublime music today. Composers Interviewed: R. Murray Schafer; Robert Normandeau; Chris Paul Harman; Linda Catlin Smith; Alexina Louie; Omar Daniel; Michael Finnissy; John Weinzweig; Udo Kasemets; Pierre Boulez; Barbara Croall; James Rolfe; John Beckwith; Yannick Plamondon and Marc Couroux; George Crumb; Peter Hatch; John Oswald; Francis Dhomont; Martin Arnold; Helmut Lachenmann; Juliet Palmer; Christian Wolff; Mauricio Kagel; John Rea; Gary Kulesha; Howard Bashaw; Christopher Butterfield; Keith Hamel; Jean Piché; James Harley; Hildegard Westerkamp;
£26.99
HarperCollins Publishers The Society for Soulless Girls
’TWISTY, SEXY, SMART ’ – Kiran Millwood-Hargrave ‘A MODERN GOTHIC GEM’ – Samantha Shannon ‘OH SO ROMANTIC’ – Alexandra Christo ‘AS SEDUCTIVE AS IT IS SINISTER’ – Kate Dunn ‘THE SAPPHIC DARK ACADEMIA OF DREAMS – Francesca May A dark academia thriller romance with a supernatural twist. From the winner of the Comedy Women in Print Prize Ten years ago, four students lost their lives in the infamous North Tower murders at the elite Carvell College of Arts, forcing Carvell to close its doors. Now Carvell is reopening, and fearless student Lottie is determined to find out what really happened. But when her roommate, Alice, stumbles upon a sinister soul-splitting ritual hidden in Carvell’s haunted library, the North Tower claims another victim. Can Lottie uncover the truth before the North Tower strikes again? Can Alice reverse the ritual before her monstrous alter ego consumes her? And can they stop flirting for literally fifteen seconds in order to do this? Exploring possession and ambition, lust and bloodlust, femininity and violence, The Society of Soulless Girls is perfect for fans of Ace of Spaces, The Secret History and The Inheritance Games.
£8.99
Faber & Faber Conquerors: How Portugal Forged the First Global Empire
As remarkable as Columbus and the conquistador expeditions, the history of Portuguese exploration is now almost forgotten. But Portugal's navigators cracked the code of the Atlantic winds, launched the expedition of Vasco da Gama to India and beat the Spanish to the spice kingdoms of the East - then set about creating the first long-range maritime empire. In an astonishing blitz of thirty years, a handful of visionary and utterly ruthless empire builders, with few resources but breathtaking ambition, attempted to seize the Indian Ocean, destroy Islam and take control of world trade.Told with Roger Crowley's customary skill and verve, this is narrative history at its most vivid - an epic tale of navigation, trade and technology, money and religious zealotry, political diplomacy and espionage, sea battles and shipwrecks, endurance, courage and terrifying brutality. Drawing on extensive first-hand accounts, it brings to life the exploits of an extraordinary band of conquerors - men such as Afonso de Albuquerque, the first European since Alexander the Great to found an Asian empire - who set in motion five hundred years of European colonisation and unleashed the forces of globalisation.
£12.99
Columbia University Press The Body and Society: Men, Women, and Sexual Renunciation in Early Christianity
First published in 1988, Peter Brown's The Body and Society was a groundbreaking study of the marriage and sexual practices of early Christians in the ancient Mediterranean and Near East. Brown focuses on the practice of permanent sexual renunciation-continence, celibacy, and lifelong virginity-in Christian circles from the first to the fifth centuries A.D. and traces early Christians' preoccupations with sexuality and the body in the work of the period's great writers. The Body and Society questions how theological views on sexuality and the human body both mirrored and shaped relationships between men and women, Roman aristocracy and slaves, and the married and the celibate. Brown discusses Tertullian, Valentinus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Constantine, the Desert Fathers, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine, among others, and considers asceticism and society in the Eastern Empire, martyrdom and prophecy, gnostic spiritual guidance, promiscuity among the men and women of the church, monks and marriage in Egypt, the ascetic life of women in fourth-century Jerusalem, and the body and society in the early Middle Ages. In his new introduction, Brown reflects on his work's reception in the scholarly community.
£27.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Fallschirmjager: German Paratroopers - 1942-1945: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
As elite troops, the German Fallschirmjager (paratroopers) were regularly engaged in front line combat during the Second World War. Their famed actions such as the fighting in Scandinavia, the taking of the Belgian fortress Eden-Emal in May 1940, and the Battle for Crete just a year later, have given them the reputation of being determined, courageous and loyal soldiers. This book continues the pictorial history of the Fallschirmjager, focusing on the period following the bloody Battle for Crete. Used as elite infantry, first in the USSR and then in Africa, the Fallschirmjager were able to reconnect with their glorious past, whether in Italy or on the Greek Islands, as they jumped from their Ju 52s to engage the enemy. Their hard fighting in Italy helped to cement the legend of 'the Green Devils', with the British General Harold Alexander describing them as 'tenacious, highly-trained men, hardened by their many actions and combats'. However, during the fighting in Normandy, the Ardennes and on the Eastern Front, the number of veterans decreased, meaning it was the young German paratroopers who finally surrendered the III Reich on 8 May 1945.
£14.99
Orion Publishing Co The Polish Officer
From the master of the historical spy thriller, a story set in the heart of the Polish resistanceSeptember, 1939. The invading Germans blaze a trail of destruction across Poland. France and Britain declare war, but do nothing to help. And a Polish resistance movement takes shape under the shadow of occupation, enlisting those willing to risk death in the struggle for their nation's survival. Among them is Captain Alexander de Milja, an officer in the Polish military intelligence service, a cartographer who now must learn a dangerous new role: spymaster in the anti-Nazi underground. Beginning with a daring operation to smuggle the Polish National Gold Reserve to the government in exile, he slips into the shadowy and treacherous front lines of espionage; he moves through Europe, changing identities and staying one step ahead of capture. In Warsaw, he engineers a subversive campaign to strengthen the people's will to resist. In Paris, he poses as a Russian poet, then as a Slovakian coal merchant, drinking champagne in black-market bistros with Nazis while uncovering information about German battle plans. And a love affair with a woman of the French Resistance leads him to make the greatest decision of his life.
£10.04
Little, Brown Book Group Prague Spring
'Prague Spring is a wonderfully atmospheric portrait of the city as well as a political and historical thriller with dashes of espionage. It is as brilliant as anything he has written, which is saying a lot' The TimesIt's the summer of 1968, the year of love and hate, of Prague Spring and Cold War winter. Two English students, Ellie and James, set off to hitch-hike across Europe with no particular aim in mind but a continent, and themselves, to discover. Somewhere in southern Germany they decide, on a whim, to visit Czechoslovakia where Alexander Dubcek's 'socialism with a human face' is smiling on the world.Meanwhile Sam Wareham, a first secretary at the British embassy in Prague, is observing developments in the country with a mixture of diplomatic cynicism and a young man's passion. In the company of Czech student Lenka Konecková, he finds a way into the world of Czechoslovak youth, its hopes and its ideas. It seems that, for the first time, nothing is off limits behind the Iron Curtain.Yet the wheels of politics are grinding in the background. The Soviet leader, Leonid Brezhnev is making demands of Dubcek and the Red Army is massed on the borders. How will the looming disaster affect those fragile lives caught up in the invasion?
£9.99
Pegasus Books Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empire: 1811-1821
An accomplished Oxford scholar delivers a dynamic new history covering the last chapter of the emperor's life—from his defeat in Russia and the drama of Waterloo to his final exile—as the world Napoleon has created begins to crumble around him. In 1811, Napoleon stood at his zenith. He had defeated all his continental rivals, come to an entente with Russia, and his blockade of Britain seemed, at long last, to be a success. The emperor had an heir on the way with his new wife, Marie-Louise, the young daughter of the Emperor of Austria. His personal life, too, was calm and secure for the first time in many years. It was a moment of unprecedented peace and hope, built on the foundations of emphatic military victories. But in less than two years, all of this was in peril. In four years, it was gone, swept away by the tides of war against the most powerful alliance in European history. The rest of his life was passed on a barren island. This is not a story any novelist could create; it is reality as epic. Napoleon: The Decline and Fall of an Empire traces this story through the dramatic narrative of the years 1811-1821 and explores the ever-bloodier conflicts, the disintegration and reforging of the bonds among the Bonaparte family, and the serpentine diplomacy that shaped the fate of Europe. At the heart of the story is Napoleon’s own sense of history, the tensions in his own character, and the shared vision of a family dynasty to rule Europe. Drawing on the remarkable resource of the new edition of Napoleon’s personal correspondence produced by the Fondation Napoleon in Paris, Michael Broers dynamic new history follows Napoleon’s thoughts and feelings, his hopes and ambitions, as he fought to preserve the world he had created. Much of this turns on his relationship with Tsar Alexander of Russia, in so many respects his alter ego, and eventual nemesis. His inability to understand this complex man, the only person with the power to destroy him, is key to tracing the roots of his disastrous decision to invade Russia—and his inability to face diplomatic and military reality thereafter. Even his defeat in Russia was not the end. The last years of the Napoleonic Empire reveal its innate strength, but it now faced hopeless odds. The last phase of the Napoleonic Wars saw the convergence of the most powerful of forces in European history to date: Russian manpower and British money. The sheer determination of Tsar Alexander and the British to bring Napoleon down is a story of compromise and sacrifice. The horrors and heroism of war are omnipresent in these years, from Lisbon to Moscow, in the life of the common solider. The core of this new book reveals how these men pushed Napoleon back from Moscow to St. Helena. Among this generation, there was no more remarkable persona than Napoleon. His defeat forged his myth—as well as his living tomb on St. Helena. The audacious enterprise of the 100 Days, reaching its crescendo at the Battle of Waterloo, marked the spectacular end of an unprecedented public life. From the ruins of a life—and an empire—came a new continent and a legend that haunts Europe still.
£17.55
Penguin Books Ltd Life in the Balance
''A remarkably honest memoir of a life spent pulling people back from death'' - Adam KayIn these stories, Dr Jim Down brings us to the very heart of the intensive care unit - the section of the hospital where the sickest patients are brought to be cared for until their condition improves. With honesty, humility and a streak of dark humour, Dr Down describes the quietly heroic work of doctors and nurses on the ICU, a place which sits at the cutting edge of medical technology and where a split-second decision can make the difference between life and death.From headline-grabbing cases like that of Alexander Litvinenko, poisoned by Russian agents and admitted to Down''s ward, to the appalling aftermath of a train crash, Life in the Balance offers an inside glimpse of intensive care medicine, its immense challenges, deleterious effects on doctors'' mental health and enormous rewards. Its profundity will make you reconsider the fragility of life and reframe y
£10.99
Westholme Publishing, U.S. Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913-1918
Translated for the First Time in English with Annotations by a Leading Expert, the Romanov Family s Final Years Through the Writings of the Second Oldest Daughter Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia was the second of the four daughters of Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Long recognized by historians as the undisputed beauty of the family, Tatiana was acknowledged for her poise, her elegance, and her innate dignity within her own family. Helen Azar, translator of the diaries of Olga Romanov, and Nicholas B. A. Nicholson, Russian Imperial historian, have joined together to present a truly comprehensive picture of this extraordinarily gifted, complex, and intelligent woman in her own words. Tatiana Romanov, Daughter of the Last Tsar: Diaries and Letters, 1913 1918," presents translations of material never before published in Russian or in English, as well as materials never published in their entirety in the West.The brisk, modern prose of Tatiana s diary entries reveals the character of a young woman who was far more than the sheltered imperial beauty as she previously has been portrayed. While many historians and writers describe her as a cold, haughty, and distant aristocrat, this book shows instead a remarkably down-to-earth and humorous young woman, full of life and compassion. A detail-oriented and observant participant in some of the most important historical events of the early twentieth century, she left firsthand descriptions of the tercentenary celebrations of the House of Romanov, the early years of Russia s involvement in World War I, and the road to her family s final days in Siberian exile. Her writings reveal extraordinary details previously unknown or unacknowledged. Lavishly annotated for the benefit of the nonspecialist reader, this book is not only a reevaluation of Tatiana s role as more than just one of four sisters, but also a valuable reference on Russia, the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the people closest to the Grand Duchess and her family."
£22.77
Headline Publishing Group Murder in the Gulag
The gripping sequel to the bestselling Killer in the Kremlin2:19pm, Moscow time, 16 February 2024. The Federal Penitentiary Service of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District announces that Alexei Navalny is dead. The news sends shockwaves around the world.In Murder in the Gulag, award-winning journalist John Sweeney goes behind the headlines to reveal what really happened to the Russian opposition leader in the freezing Polar Wolf penal colony in a remote part of Siberia. The book is less a whodunnit - Russian President Vladimir Putin''s machinery of repression killed Navalny - than a howdunnit.The narrative relates Navalny''s extraordinary life story in technicolour detail, from his childhood summers spent with his grandparents in the shadow of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine to his untimely death at the age of 47, cut down in his prime.This is a warts-and-all portrayal of a highly charismatic but controversial figu
£20.00
Luath Press Ltd How to Get into Fashion: A Complete Guide for Models, Creatives and Anyone Interested in the World of Fashion
‘In many ways, being a fashion model can be compared to the life of a professional footballer. You might get signed, but the work doesn’t stop there. In fact, it’s only just begun.’ Interested in working in the fashion industry? Do you want to be a model, designer, photographer or stylist? Want a rare look at the industry from the inside? Supermodel Eunice Olumide MBE was signed when she was just 16. She has since graced catwalks all over the world, working with top design powerhouses including Christopher Kane, Harris Tweed, Alexander McQueen, and Mulberry. How to Get into Fashion is for you, whether you are looking to become a model or wish to pursue one of the many other careers in fashion – or just want to know what goes on behind the scenes. With stunning photographs and the knowledge of someone who’s been there and done it, this is your essential guide to the industry.
£15.29
Amberley Publishing First West Yorkshire Buses
The merging of Bristol-based Badgerline and Scottish-based GRT Holding saw the creation of FirstBus in West Yorkshire. After the corporate logo was introduced, local liveries arrived. However, by 1998 First were pushing for its Willow Leaf' livery and corporate interior as the standard. Former West Yorkshire PTE vehicles were withdrawn and replaced by the standard Volvo/Wrightbus vehicles from 2004. The low-floor era brought in 120 Volvo/Alexander double-deckers and 20 Volvo saloons with Wrightbus bodies. Investment in Bradford and Leeds was apparent, eventually trickling down elsewhere. In 2012 First refreshed the livery with a more pastel colour scheme, as ninety-eight new buses arrived in Leeds from the Olympic Games. Newer vehicles were also cascaded into Halifax and Huddersfield.Scott Poole documents the ups and downs of this operator, with a range of previously unpublished images.
£15.99
Orion Publishing Co The Green Count
One of the finest historical fiction writers in the world - Ben KaneAfter the bloody trials of Alexandria, Sir William Gold is readying for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to ease the burden on his soul. He hopes, too, that the Holy City might allow his relationship with Emile, cousin of the Green Count of Savoy, to develop.But the Roman Emperor of Constantinople has been taken hostage by an unknown enemy, and the Green Count is vital to the rescue effort. It is up to Sir William to secure his support, but he soon finds that his past, and his relationship with Emile, might have repercussions he had not foreseen...Suddenly thrust onto the stage of international politics, Sir William finds himself tangled in a web of plots, intrigue and murder. He must hold true to his chivalric principles, and to his knights, if he is to save the Emperor and survive to tell the tale.
£10.99
Schiffer Publishing Ltd The Artistic Glassware of Dalzell, Gilmore & Leighton
Featuring 352 color photos of beautiful glassware and 67 black and white historical photos and catalog pages, this is one of the most authoritative volumes documenting this prolific firm. Dazzling tableware, tumblers, condiments, and more are displayed in many of their popular glass patterns, including Eyewinker, Reverse torpedo, Alexis, Klondike, Onyx, and Floradine. Sweetheart, Crown, Two Post, Delaware, and Oklahoma lamps are also featured. Among the highly sought novelties illustrated are the Snowball Wine Set, Mrs. Snowball, Clown Decanter, Parrot Decanter, and the novelty pitchers Bicycle Girl, Bringing Home the Cows, Squirrel, and Three Birds. The text provides a detailed history of the company, from its founding in West Virginia through its time as a part of the National Glass Company. Values are provided in the captions. This book is a must for all who enjoy, collect, and study beautiful glassware.
£33.29
Canelo The Bodies at Westgrave Hall
A large country mansion. A locked room. A gruesome murder.Russian oligarch Alexander Volkov has invited 1000 guests to a party at his palatial Surrey residence, Westgrave Hall. But while giving a private tour of the library, a gunman kills Volkov, wounding his ex-wife and slaying her new beau.Nothing makes sense to DCI Craig Gillard. In the blood-spattered crime scene there are no forensic traces of anyone else involved, CCTV shows no one entered or left the library, and everyone seems to have an alibi.Is it a crime of revenge, the squaring of a love triangle, or a Russian government operation? Could the victims have simply shot each other? Gillard’s eventual discovery is shocking even to him.The latest gripping crime thriller from a master of the genre, The Bodies at Westgrave Hall will leave you guessing until the very end. Perfect for fans of Ed James and Damien Boyd.
£9.44
Orion Publishing Co Restless Souls
'Restless Souls turns genre inside out . . . it never stops being a page-turner' Colum McCann After three years embedded in the Siege in Sarajevo, war correspondent Tom returns to Dublin a haunted shell of his former self. Laughably unqualified, but determined to see him through the darkness, his childhood friends Karl and Baz embark on a journey for an unlikely cure, to an experimental Californian clinic called Restless Souls. But as they try to save Tom from his memories, they are forced to confront their own - of what happened to the lost member of their group, Gabriel. 'Ambitious, rambunctious and extremely accomplished' Sunday Times 'A bawdy, alive, profane panegyric to the indissoluble bonds of friendship' Colin Barrett 'The funniest sad book I've read in a long time' J. Robert Lennon 'A tender, banter-filled debut' Daily Mail 'Sheehan is a brave new voice in fiction, fusing comedy and heart to explore a friendship transformed by trauma' Alexandra Kleeman
£9.04
Headline Publishing Group The Forbidden Tomb (The Hunters 2)
THE HUNTERSIf you seek, they will find...The treasure:For two thousand years, Alexander the Great's legendary tomb - and the extraordinary riches within - has remained hidden, but recent events hold the key to locating the fabled vault. Only one team can solve the mystery that has plagued historians for centuries.The mission: The Hunters - an elite group assembled by an enigmatic billionaire to locate the world's greatest treasures - are tasked with finding the tomb. Following clues to Egypt, they encounter hostile forces determined to stop them. What started as a treasure hunt quickly becomes a rescue mission that will take the lives of hundreds and leave a city in ruins.As the danger mounts, will the Hunters rise to the challenge?Or will the team be killed before they find the ultimate prize? High-octane action. Brilliant characters. Classic Kuzneski.
£9.99
Oxford University Press Inc Power Image and Memory
Those who write history determine its narrative, whether through written text or through the visual language of art and public monuments. Power, Image, and Memory examines a wide variety of artistic traditions, showing how art commemorating historical events can shape collective memory, and with it, the identities of social groups and nations. From the Mesopotamians to the present day, leaders and societies have used art to frame and memorialize important events. This account establishes a dialogue among traditions in a series of case studies, ranging from the reliefs at Ramses'' temple at Abu Simbel and the ancient Greek Alexander Mosaic to the Heian Period Japanese scroll of the Night Attack on the Sanjo Palace, the Benin Bronzes, Diego Velázquez''s Surrender at Breda, and Picasso''s Guernica. Weaving together meticulous historic detail, theory, and visual analysis, this volume offers a complex picture of the power of art and memory, as well as of the life of these monuments and mess
£23.54
Tuttle Publishing Geometric Origami Mini Kit
This compact origami kit contains everything you need to create beautiful, geometric origami sculptures.Art and math intertwine in exciting and complex new ways in Geometric Origami Kit. World-renowned origami artists Michael G. LaFosse and Richard L. Alexander bring you this paper craft kit where folding a piece of paper can create a new and wondrous origami object. In Geometric Origami, the first folds are easily created, but once the basic building blocks are ready, the intricate combining of these pieces form new geometric origami sculptures that interlock into interchangeable origami puzzles. Ideal for demonstrating the sophistication and wonder of geometry, they can also be great conversation starting decorations for the home or office. This kit and DVD provide the beginning folder with a series of fun, modular origami projects that represent a wide variety of subjects and techniques.This origami kit includes:Full-color 32-page
£10.11
HarperCollins Publishers The Art of Rhetoric (Collins Classics)
HarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics… Despite dating from the 4th century BC, The Art of Rhetoric continues to be regarded by many as the single most important work on the art of persuasion. As democracy began emerging in 5th-century Athens, public speaking and debate became an increasingly important tool to garner influence in the assemblies, councils, and law courts of ancient Greece. In response to this, both politicians and ordinary citizens became desperate to learn greater skills in this area, as well as the philosophy behind it. This treatise was one of the first to provide just that, establishing methods and observations of informal reasoning and style, and has continued to be hugely influential on public speaking and philosophy today. Aristotle, the grandfather of philosophy, student of Plato, and teacher of Alexander the Great, was one of the first people to create a comprehensive system of philosophy, encompassing logic, morality, aesthetics, politics, ethics, and science. Although written over 2,000 years ago, The Art of Rhetoric remains a comprehensive introduction for philosophy students into the subject of rhetoric, as well as a useful manual for anyone today looking to improve their oratory skills of persuasion.
£5.03
Lonely Planet Global Limited Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin
Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin is your guide to the city’s best experiences and local life - neighbourhood by neighbourhood. Get up close to the Brandenburger Tor, explore Potsdamer Platz, and visit the Berlin Wall; all with your trusted travel companion. Uncover the best of Berlin and make the most of your trip!Inside Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin: Full-colour maps and travel photography throughoutHighlights and itineraries help you tailor a trip to your personal needs and interestsInsider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spotsEssential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, pricesHonest reviews for all budgets - eating, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks missConvenient pull-out Berlin map (included in print version), plus over 25 colour neighborhood mapsUser-friendly layout with helpful icons, and organized by neighbourhood to help you pick the best spots to spend your timeCovers Reichstag & Unter den Linden, Museumsinsel & Alexanderplatz, Potsdamer Platz, Scheunenviertel, Ku'damm & City West, Kreuzberg & Neukolln, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Pocket Berlin, an easy-to-use guide filled with top experiences - neighbourhood by neighbourhood - that literally fits in your pocket. Make the most of a quick trip to Berlin with trusted travel advice to get you straight to the heart of the city.Looking for a comprehensive guide that recommends both popular and offbeat experiences, and extensively covers all of Berlin's neighbourhoods? Check out Lonely Planet Berlin city guide.Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet Germany guide for a comprehensive look at all that the country has to offer.About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' – New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' – Fairfax Media (Australia)
£8.23
Little, Brown Book Group Changeless: Book 2 of The Parasol Protectorate
Alexia Tarabotti, now Lady Maccon, awakens in the wee hours of the mid-afternoon to find her husband, who should be decently asleep like any normal werewolf, yelling at the top of his lungs. Then he disappears - leaving her to deal with a regiment of supernatural soldiers encamped on her doorstep, a plethora of exorcised ghosts, and an angry Queen Victoria. But Alexia is armed with her trusty parasol, the latest fashions and an arsenal of biting civility. Even when her investigations take her into the backwaters of ugly waistcoats, Scotland, she is prepared: upending werewolf pack dynamics as only A soulless can. She might even find time to track down her wayward husband, if she feels like it. ***Also available as a manga adaptation***
£9.99
Orenda Books Smoke Screen
When the mother of a missing two-year-old girl is seriously injured in a suspected terrorist attack in Oslo, crime-fighting duo Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the case, and things aren’t adding up … The second instalment in an addictive, atmospheric, award-winning series. ‘An exercise in literary tag-teaming from two of Norway’s biggest crime writers with a bold new take … a series with potential’ Sunday Times ‘Grim, gory and filled with plenty of dark twists … There’s definitely a Scandinavian chill in the air with this fascinating read’ Sun ‘Alongside Jo Nesbo’s Knife, Smoke Screen is this summer’s most anticipated read, and it doesn’t disappoint’ Tvedestrandsposten, Norway __________________ Oslo, New Year’s Eve. The annual firework celebration is rocked by an explosion, and the city is put on terrorist alert. Police officer Alexander Blix and blogger Emma Ramm are on the scene, and when a severely injured survivor is pulled from the icy harbour, she is identified as the mother of two-year-old Patricia Smeplass, who was kidnapped on her way home from kindergarten ten years earlier … and never found. Blix and Ramm join forces to investigate the unsolved case, as public interest heightens, the terror threat is raised, and it becomes clear that Patricia’s disappearance is not all that it seems… _____________________ Praise for the Blix & Ramm series: ‘Everything about this crime novel sings, the relationship between Blix and Emma, which is complex, but also the relationship between Blix and Fosse and Kovic. The past bleeds into the present and the clever melding of the strands of the story and the slow reveal of details that propel the story is masterly. This tale often surprises or shifts in subtle ways that are pleasing and avoid cliché. As the opener for a new series this is a cracker, long live the marriage of Horst and Enger’ New Books Magazine ‘A fast-moving, punchy, serial killer investigative novel with a whammy of an ending. If this is the first in the Blix and Ramm series, then here’s to many more!’ LoveReading ‘A clever, gripping crime novel with personality, flair, and heart’ Crime by the Book ‘A stunningly excellent collaboration from Thomas Enger and Jorn Lier Horst …. It’s a brutal tale of fame, murder, and reality TV that gets the pulse racing’ Russel McLean ‘Now — what happens when you put two of the most distinguished writers of Nordic noir in tandem? Death Deserved by Thomas Enger and Jørn Lier Horst suggests it was a propitious publishing move; a ruthless killer is pursued by a tenacious celebrity blogger and a damaged detective’ Financial Times
£8.99
JCB Mohr (Paul Siebeck) Celebrating Arthur Darby Nock: Choice, Change, and Conversion
Arthur Darby Nock (1902-1963) made lasting contributions to classical scholarship and the history of religion, including the study of ancient religion, magic, and the relationship of paganism to ancient Judaism and early Christianity. Almost ninety years after its publication, his work, Conversion: The Old and New in Religion from Alexander the Great to Augustine of Hippo , serves as an introduction to what is today an entire area of research encompassing history, literature (i.e., "conversion" as a literary genre), philosophy, psychology, and theology. The present volume features essays exploring the circumstances of religious transformation not only in early Christianity but also in other ancient religions and in philosophical schools - the various converts, the means by which followers attracted adherents, and the factors influencing and limiting their success.
£165.40
Phaidon Press Ltd Eliot Noyes
This is the first publication about Eliot Noyes (1910–77), an important figure in twentieth-century design in America. His influential and successful career stretched from his position as the first Director of Industrial Design at MoMA in the 1940s to Consulting Director of Design for key businesses such as IBM, Mobil Oil and Westinghouse. This book traces Noyes’ life and pioneering career, emphasizing his work for the corporate industries, to which he introduced key designers, artists and architects such as Paul Rand, Alexander Calder and Marcel Breuer, as well as his architectural projects and lectures. The focus is on the ideas he eschewed throughout his life and the influence he exerted on the design world
£40.50
Hodder & Stoughton A Royal Life
'A pleasure to read... a timely reminder of the need for service' -- The Daily Telegraph'The voices and reminiscence of family and friends merge seamlessly, giving the impression of gathering round the fire on a winter evening' -- The Oldie'A remarkable memoir penned by the Duke of Kent, whose entire life has been dedicated to Queen and country... an insider's account of what it is like to be a working royal.' -- Daily MailHRH The Duke of Kent has been at the heart of the British Royal Family throughout his life. As a working member of the Royal Family, he supported his cousin The Queen, representing her at home and abroad, until her death in 2022. His royal duties began when, in 1952, at the age of sixteen, he walked in the procession behind King George VI's coffin, later paying homage to The Queen at her Coronation in 1953. Since then he has witnessed and participated in key Royal occasions.A Royal Life is a unique account based on a series of conversations between the Duke and acclaimed Royal historian Hugo Vickers. It covers the Duke's upbringing, his army life, his royal tours and events and associations with organisations. Here too are recollections of family members including his mother, Princess Marina, his grandmother, Queen Mary, his cousin, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, and his uncle, King George VI.Other members of the Royal Family contribute their memories, including his wife, the Duchess of Kent, the Duke's siblings, Princess Alexandra and Prince Michael of Kent, his son, the Earl of St Andrews, his daughter, Lady Helen Taylor as well as his cousins, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Archduchess Helen of Austria and her brother, Hans Veit Toerring.Containing never before seen photographs from the Duke's private collection and a new chapter on the Platinum Jubilee and the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, A Royal Life is an unprecedented and remarkable insight into Royal history.
£11.69
Titan Books Ltd Blade Runner 2019 13 Boxed Set
Return to the world of Blade Runner with this, the officially sanctioned box-set of the comic book series based on the cult 1982 science fiction movie Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott. Including art cards featuring the cover art from the individual books.LAPD''s best Blade Runner and detective, Aahna ''Ash'' Ashina, has been assigned to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Isobel and Cleo Selwyn, the wife and daughter of business tycoon, Alexander Selwyn, a close personal friend of Eldon Tyrell. Ash''s search will take her on a journey from the crime-ridden underbelly of Los Angeles to the promised land of the Off-World Colonies and back home again as she uncovers a terrible secret and a desperate conspiracy that forces her to confront her own hatred for Replicants - the synthetic humans that she hunts with such vengeance.Collects Blade Runner 2019: Los Angeles/Off-World/Home Again, Home Again.
£40.49
Orion Publishing Co The Excitements
''Not all heroes wear capes, some wear M&S cardigans! A triumph!'' MIKE GAYLE''A sublime mix of comedy, drama and adventure'' JILL MANSELL''Just pure joy from start to finish.'' ALEXANDRA POTTERMeet the Williamson sisters, Britain''s most treasured World War II veterans. Now in their nineties, Josephine and Penny are in demand, popping up at commemorative events all over the country. Despite their age, they''re in great form-sprightly and sparky, and always in search of their next excitement. This time it''s a trip to Paris to receive the Légion d''honneur, accompanied by their devoted great-nephew, Archie.Keen historian Archie believes his great aunts had minor roles in the Women''s Royal Navy and the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, but that''s only half the story. There''s a reason sweet Auntie Penny can dispatch a would-be mugger with a brolly.This trip to Paris is not what it seems either. Scandal and crime have quietly trailed the sisters sinc
£9.99
Hodder & Stoughton Voices of Rome
Lindsey Davis has received the Crime Writer's Association Lifetime Achievement Award for her two immortal series of detective novels featuring Marcus Didius Falco and his adopted daughter, Flavia Albia. She is regarded as the finest living novelist of Ancient Rome. Here, for the first time in book form, are four novella-length stories written to illuminate her unparalleled output of the last 30 years.The Bride from Bithynia tells the story of Aelia Camilla who travels 1000 miles to Britain to marry Gaius Flavius, a Roman officer. But their relationship struggles, then the province explodes in the Boudican Revolt. Now, it will be up to Aelia to save herself from the conflagration.The Spook Who Spoke Again. Marcus Didius Alexander Postumus is an odd boy who has known two families. That of Marcus Didius himself and his actual birth mother, Thalia the Snake Dancer. Things begin to unravel quickly when he decides to emulate his adopt
£9.99
Little, Brown Book Group Electric Universe: How Electricity Switched on the Modern World
For centuries, electricity was viewed as little more than a curious property of certain substances that sparked when rubbed. Then, in the 1790s, Alessandro Volta began the scientific investigation that ignited an explosion of knowledge and invention, transforming our world. The force that once seemed inconsequential was revealed to be responsible for everything from the structure of the atom to the functioning of our brains. A superb storyteller, Bodanis weaves tales of romance, divine inspiration, and fraud through lucid accounts of scientific breakthrough. The great discoverers come to life in all their brilliance and idiosyncrasy, including the visionary Michael Faraday, who struggled against the prejudices of the British class system, and Alexander Graham Bell, driven to invent by his love for a young deaf student. From the cold waters of the Atlantic, to the streets of Hamburg during a World War II firestorm and the interior of the human body, Electric Universe is a mesmerizing journey of discovery by a master science writer.
£10.99
Verso Books The Case for the Green New Deal
In 2008, the first Green New Deal was devised by Pettifor and a group of English economist and thinkers, but was ignored within the tumults of the financial crash. A decade later, the ideas was revived within the democratic socialists in the US, forefront by Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. The Green New Deal demands a radical and urgent reversal of the current state of the global economy: including total de-carbonisation and a commitment to fairness and social justice.Critics on all sides have been quick to observe that the GND is a pipe dream that could never be implemented, and would cost the earth. But, as Ann Pettifor shows, we need to rethink the function of money, and how it works within the global system. How can we bail out the banks but not the planet? We have to stop thinking about the imperative of economic growth-nothing grows for ever. The program will be a long term project but it needs to start immediately.
£8.99
Humanix Books Ghost Rendition: An Action-Packed CIA Techno-Thriller Full of Guns, Gadgets and White Knuckle Gripping Suspense
An action-packed CIA spy thriller, part family dramedy - part quirky comedy, and all too human characters. Gib Alexander is a divorced suburban dad who also happens to be a deadly efficient, off the books, CIA contractor. Balancing the demands of his perilous profession, his resentful ex-wife, and troubled son is a dangerous juggling act. His safety and the safety of his family depend on his fanatical precautions to keep his two lives separate. When a young computer coder threatens a top secret NSA project that could tilt the balance in the escalating international cyberwars, Gib is hired to conduct a ghost rendition, spiriting the coder away to a black site in Egypt for extreme interrogation that is outlawed in the United States. But what appears at first to be a straight forward contract turns into a morally ambiguous conflict that sets off a CIA power struggle. Caught in the middle, Gib finds his two lives set on a collision course that will ultimately threaten them both.
£17.09