Search results for ""author simon"

In this specially-commissioned anthology, sixty accomplished authors share secrets and insights into their writing lives: on their inspirations, methods, wild ideas and daily routines; on the pleasure and the pain in achieving their literary goals; on how they started out and how they hope to continue. They outline some golden rules for staying on track and talk candidly about what goes wrong as well as right. We hear from novelists, poets, biographers, and children's writers; illustrators, campaigners, teachers, mothers, husbands, an entrepreneur turned surfboard shaper, a quantum physicist, an opera librettist, and a Laureate who loves dragons. All writers. We have emerging talents in our team alongside much-loved authors whose books have sold in millions. Each reflects in their own way on the creative process and the compulsion to write. How to find inspiration? How to get the words right? How to cope with writer's block? How to handle bad reviews? How to become a better reader? Pencil or computer? Inside or out? And where do the good ideas really come from? Swallowed by a Whale includes contributions from: Kwame Alexander, Anthony Browne, Cressida Cowell, Isabelle Dupuy, Inua Ellams, Lev Grossman, Joanne Harris, Catherine Johnson, Thomas Keneally, Neal Layton, David Mitchell, Beverley Naidoo, Chibundu Onuzo, Chris Riddell, Francesca Simon, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, Raynor Winn and many more.

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Eighteenth-century British culture is often seen as polite and sentimental - the product of an emerging middle class. Simon Dickie overturns these notions in "Cruelty and Laughter", a wildly enjoyable but shocking plunge into the forgotten comic literature of the era. Beneath the veneer of civilization, Dickie uncovers a rich strain of cruelty coursing through the period that reminds us just how slowly ordinary sufferings became worthy of sympathy. Dickie delves into an enormous archive of jestbooks, comic periodicals, farces, variety shows, and minor comic novels that amount to a bottomless repository of jokes about cripples, blind men, rape, and wife-beating. He also discovers epigrams about scurvy and one-act farces about hunchbacks in love and reveals that all of these exposed the limits of compassion of the period. Everyone - rich and poor, women as well as men - laughed along. In the process, he expands our understanding of many of the century's major authors, including Henry Fielding, Samuel Richardson, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, Tobias Smollett, Frances Burney, and Jane Austen. "Cruelty and Laughter" is an engaging, far-reaching study of the other side of culture in eighteenth-century Britain.

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If you have a working knowledge of Haskell, this hands-on book shows you how to use the language's many APIs and frameworks for writing both parallel and concurrent programs. You'll learn how parallelism exploits multicore processors to speed up computation-heavy programs, and how concurrency enables you to write programs with threads for multiple interactions. Author Simon Marlow walks you through the process with lots of code examples that you can run, experiment with, and extend. Divided into separate sections on Parallel and Concurrent Haskell, this book also includes exercises to help you become familiar with the concepts presented: Express parallelism in Haskell with the Eval monad and Evaluation Strategies Parallelize ordinary Haskell code with the Par monad Build parallel array-based computations, using the Repa library Use the Accelerate library to run computations directly on the GPU Work with basic interfaces for writing concurrent code Build trees of threads for larger and more complex programs Learn how to build high-speed concurrent network servers Write distributed programs that run on multiple machines in a network

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'I want what the straight kids have. Even just for a couple of days . . .'Seventeen-year-old Max might be out and proud but he's usually too busy checking his nail polish to check his privilege.So when he says he wishes he could have the 'easy' life straight kids enjoy, Max gets more than he bargained for. He wakes up to find his wish has come true - not only have his feelings for boys vanished, so has his lifelong best friend Dean.With his world turned upside down and relationships in tatters, can Max find his way back to the life he took for granted, and maybe even win the heart of the guy he thought could never be his . . . ?What If It's Us meets One Last Stop in this deliciously swoony queer romance. 'Outrageous, heartfelt, funny and tender, Straight Expectations is a thought provoking exploration of identity and what makes us who we are' Simon James Green, author of Gay Club.'A refreshingly unique, beautifully queer take on a familiar trope, packed with endless adorable moments, sugar sweetness and laugh-out-loud hilarity. Don't miss out on this utterly charming, heart-melting rom-com from a new voice to watch in the queer YA world!' Sophie Gonzales, co-author of If This Gets Out.'Straight Expectations blends classic rom-com with a heartfelt examination of what it is to be queer, and how it's so much more than just a matter of attraction' LC Rosen, author of Camp.

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The Sunday Times bestseller - a thrilling new adventure in Simon Scarrow's acclaimed Eagles of the Empire series. Perfect for readers of Conn Iggulden and Bernard Cornwell. READERS CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF SIMON SCARROW'S BOOKS!'I could not put it down' ***** - AMAZON REVIEW'Awesome read . . . ' ***** - AMAZON REVIEW'A storytelling master . . . I loved this novel and can't wait for the next' ***** - AMAZON REVIEW'If you have read the previous books, you already know how good they are . . . If you have not read any of these books, then get started!' ***** - AMAZON REVIEWA.D. 57. Battle-scarred veterans of the Roman army Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro return to Rome. Thanks to the failure of their recent campaign on the eastern frontier they face a hostile reception at the imperial court. Their reputations and future are at stake. When Emperor Nero's infatuation with his mistress is exploited by political enemies, he reluctantly banishes her into exile. Cato, isolated and unwelcome in Rome, is forced to escort her to Sardinia. Arriving on the restless, simmering island with a small cadre of officers, Cato faces peril on three fronts: a fractured command, a deadly plague spreading across the province...and a violent insurgency threatening to tip the province into blood-stained chaos. IF YOU DON'T KNOW SIMON SCARROW, YOU DON'T KNOW ROME!MORE PRAISE FOR SIMON SCARROW'S NOVELS'Scarrow's [novels] rank with the best' Independent'Blood, gore, political intrigue' Daily Sport'Always a joy' The Times

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Erika Montgomery''s A Summer to Remember is an unforgettable tale of love, loss and finding your place that glitters as brightly as the golden age of Hollywood.--Kristy Woodson Harvey, USA Today Bestselling author of Feels Like FallingBest Debut Novels of Spring and Summer *Library Journal * Fresh Fiction * Booktrib For thirty-year-old Frankie Simon, selling movie memorabilia in the shop she opened with her late mother on Hollywood Boulevard is more than just her livelihoodit's an enduring connection to the only family she has ever known. But when a mysterious package arrives containing a photograph of her mother and famous movie stars Glory Cartwright and her husband at a coastal film festival the year before Frankie's birth, her life begins to unravel in ways unimaginable.What begins is a journey along a path revealing buried family secrets, betrayals between lovers, bonds between friends. And for Frankie, as the past unl

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Perfect for fans of Simon Scarrow and Ben Kane, this heart-stopping historical thriller from bestselling author Douglas Jackson will have you on the edge of your seat! "Rightly hailed as one of the best historical novelists writing today" -- DAILY EXPRESSReaders are loving Gaius Valerius Verrens! "This was probably the best book that I have read of this genre." - 5 STARS."As good as Scarrow, Riches or Scott." - 5 STARS."Valerius is quite addictive..." - 5 STARS .**************************************************************AD 59: Rome's grip on Britain is weakening. Roman cruelty and exploitation has angered their British subjects; the Druids are on the rise; the warrior queen Boudicca will lead the tribes to war.The Roman Tribune, Gaius Valerius Verrens must lead the veteran legions at Colonia in a last stand against the rising tide of rebellion and the unstoppable horde of Boudicca's rebel army.Can he defend his honour and the Empire he represents? Hero of Rome is the first in Douglas Jackson's Gaius Valerius Verrens series. His story continues in Defender of Rome.

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The Economics of the Mind addresses economics from the perspective of real men and women: how they assess things, decide and act. It looks at the choices we make, and calls for the assumptions which make up the foundations of economic theory to be consistent with the mechanisms which guide the workings of the human mind.The author begins by presenting an historical analysis of the role of knowledge and decision-making, taking into account the work of Hayek and Simon. Salvatore Rizzello then reconstructs the birth and development of neo-institutionalism, experimental economics and evolutionary economics. He discusses economic and social institutions and how these simplify the individual's choices related to knowledge and tasks. Specifically, he examines rules, learning and evolution in neo-institutional economics. The book breaks new ground on the role of the social sciences, and economics in particular, and suggests a move away from neoclassical economics towards a more definite link between economics, psychology and the artificial sciences.The book will be warmly welcomed by institutional and evolutionary economists, and those working in the field of economic psychology.

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Germaine de Sta\u00ebl's first major novel, Delphine, published in 1802, is a profound commentary on the status of women during a critical period of French political history. Delphine's eighteenth-century conventional form as an epistolary novel masks its unconventional questioning of accepted values and norms. From the start, the Napoleonic government understood that Delphine was more than just a tale of tragic love. Though Sta\u00ebl disclaimed any intention of writing a political novel, the subversive aspects of a book dedicated to "The France of Silence" were not lost on Bonaparte, who prompty exiled the author from Paris. Perhaps most unacceptable to Napoleon was Sta\u00ebl's assertion of the rights of the individual, particularly those of women. The novel is especially important for its presentation of the plight of women at the end of the eighteenth century. This translation of Delphine is based on the authoritative critical French edition prepared by Simone Balay\u00e9. Goldberger's introduction places the novel in the context of Sta\u00ebl's work and the thought of the times.

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Is your organization prepared for the next paradigm of customer experience, or will you be left behind? This practical book will make you a winner in a market driven by experience, enabling you to develop desirable offerings and standout service to attract loyal customers. Author Simon Clatworthy shows you how to transform your organization into one that aligns your customers’ experiential journey with platforms, organizational structures, and strategic alliances. Rather than treat customer experience as an add-on to product and service design, you’ll discover how experience-centricity can drive the whole organization. Learn the five steps necessary to transform into an experience-centric organization Explore the underlying structure needed to design and deliver memorable experiences Understand how customers and clients experience products and services Develop experiential DNA as an extension of your brand DNA Be proactive by translating cultural trends into experiences

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Germaine de Sta\u00ebl's first major novel, Delphine, published in 1802, is a profound commentary on the status of women during a critical period of French political history. Delphine's eighteenth-century conventional form as an epistolary novel masks its unconventional questioning of accepted values and norms. From the start, the Napoleonic government understood that Delphine was more than just a tale of tragic love. Though Sta\u00ebl disclaimed any intention of writing a political novel, the subversive aspects of a book dedicated to "The France of Silence" were not lost on Bonaparte, who prompty exiled the author from Paris. Perhaps most unacceptable to Napoleon was Sta\u00ebl's assertion of the rights of the individual, particularly those of women. The novel is especially important for its presentation of the plight of women at the end of the eighteenth century. This translation of Delphine is based on the authoritative critical French edition prepared by Simone Balay\u00e9. Goldberger's introduction places the novel in the context of Sta\u00ebl's work and the thought of the times.

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If you're among the many hobbyists and designers who came to electronics through Arduino and Raspberry Pi, this cookbook will help you learn and apply the basics of electrical engineering without the need for an EE degree. Through a series of practical recipes, you'll learn how to solve specific problems while diving into as much or as little theory as you're comfortable with. Author Simon Monk (Raspberry Pi Cookbook) breaks down this complex subject into several topics, from using the right transistor to building and testing projects and prototypes. With this book, you can quickly search electronics topics and go straight to the recipe you need. It also serves as an ideal reference for experienced electronics makers. This cookbook includes: Theoretical concepts such as Ohm's law and the relationship between power, voltage, and current The fundamental use of resistors, capacitors and inductors, diodes, transistors and integrated circuits, and switches and relays Recipes on power, sensors and motors, integrated circuits, and radio frequency for designing electronic circuits and devices Advice on using Arduino and Raspberry Pi in electronics projects How to build and use tools, including multimeters, oscilloscopes, simulations software, and unsoldered prototypes

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Aditi the cat is loved by her little girl, but her owner is heartbroken when she disappears! Will she be found? This beautifully illustrated rhyming story will be loved by children and parents alike.I love my cat That shiny black fur That tiny white ring that goes right round the tip of her tail I think it means she might be magic!A little girl loves her cat, from the tip of her tail to the way she opens doors and even has taught herself to drink from the tap! But one day, the cat tries to nibble at her toast and she won't stop, and then she digs her claws in, and then they both fall over… and the little girl shouts, 'Out!'She is heartbroken when the cat doesn't come home for dinner. But after a week of the cat being missing, finally she returns. This beautifully illustrated title has lyrical rhyming text from award-winning children's poet and author Simon Mole which will brings the narrative to life. This is the follow-up to I Love My Bike and is the second in a picture-book series based on first experiences and the magic in the everyday.

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Meet the young activists who are using their voices and minds to fight climate change. Did you know that the past five years have been the hottest ever recorded? Or that over seven million people participated in the global Climate Strike? We’re facing a very real problem, but there’s hope. Everyone is affected by climate change. Reading Climate Action: What Happened and What We Can Do is the perfect introduction not only to the dramatic effects of climate change, but to the solutions. Learn how our behavior and actions have led us to this point, hear from kids around the world dealing with extreme storms, wildfires, and sea level rise, and discover what scientists, youth activists, and ordinary citizens are doing to protect their communities. Divided into eight sections for easy browsing and with over fifty photographs, captions, charts, and graphs, this nonfiction book is an excellent choice to share in the classroom and for homeschooling for kids ages 6 and up. Also includes a glossary to supplement the text, author’s note, and index. Climate Action is the latest of Seymour Simon’s nonfiction science books. His books are regularly honored by the National Science Teacher's Association.

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This delightful book records a year in the life of an essentially English waterscape, one that is home to a vast array of wildlife and natural habitat of the keen angler – the chalkstream. Simon Cooper grew up in Hampshire, where he first fell in love with fly fishing. Only after moving away did he realise how little people knew about the secret world of the chalkstreams. Chalkstreams are nearly exclusive to England, ranging from Dorset to Yorkshire and including the famous River Test in Hampshire. Every river is special in its own right. Life of a Chalkstream is a lyrical and revealing voyage through the yearly cycle of this unique waterway. From the remarkable spectacle of salmon, sea trout and brown trout spawning in winter, to the emergence of water voles in spring and the explosion of mayflies in the early days of summer, the author evocatively describes the natural wonders of the chalkstream. He introduces us to the fascinating diversity of life that inhabits its waters and environs – the fish, the angling community, the plant life and the wildlife. We learn how neglect threatens these inhabitants and why the fight to save the chalkstreams is so vital, not only for fishermen, but for anybody who values the beauty of rural England.

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Number One for Fiendish Fun!This book contains an EPIC battle, a haunted house, a treasure map and a TERRIBLE TV show!Four utterly hilarious and totally brilliant Horrid Henry stories by Francesca Simon, with illustrations by Tony Ross. An irresistible introduction to reading for pleasure.

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BRAVE HERO OR CRIMINAL MASTERMIND? TONIGHT WE FIND OUT.'Simon Kernick writes with his foot pressed hard on the pedal. Hang on tight!' HARLAN COBEN'Great plots, great characters, great action' LEE CHILD'Heaven for readers who love ruthless, full-throttle thrillers' SUNDAY TIMES Undercover cop Chris Sketty became a hero when he almost died trying to stop the most brutal terror attack in UK history. With the suspects either dead or missing, the real motive remains a mystery.But someone is convinced Sketty is a liar.A criminal mastermind. A murderer. Blackmailed into revealing the truth, Sketty will share a twisting tale of betrayal, deception and murder...with a revelation so shocking that nothing will be the same again.'An absolute master of the adrenaline-fuelled ride' PETER JAMES'One of Britain's top thriller writers' THE SUN'That thud you hear is Kernick whipping the rug from under your feet again.' THE TIMES'Simon Kernick is one of the most reliable purveyors of the edge-of-your-seat thriller... gives a more powerful adrenaline rush than an EpiPen' SUNDAY EXPRESS'Pace, pace, pace is what Simon Kernick does best' DAILY MIRROR

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BRAVE HERO OR CRIMINAL MASTERMIND?TONIGHT WE FIND OUT'Simon Kernick writes with his foot pressed hard on the pedal. Hang on tight!' HARLAN COBEN'Great plots, great characters, great action' LEE CHILD'Heaven for readers who love ruthless, full-throttle thrillers' SUNDAY TIMES Undercover cop Chris Sketty became a hero when he almost died trying to stop the most brutal terror attack in UK history. With the suspects either dead or missing, the real motive remains a mystery.But someone is convinced Sketty is a liar.A criminal mastermind.A murderer.Blackmailed into revealing the truth, Sketty will share a twisting tale of betrayal, deception and murder...with a revelation so shocking that nothing will be the same again.'That thud you hear is Kernick whipping the rug from under your feet again.' THE TIMES'An absolute master of the adrenaline-fuelled ride' PETER JAMES'One of Britain's top thriller writers' THE SUN'Simon Kernick is one of the most reliable purveyors of the edge-of-your-seat thriller... gives a more powerful adrenaline rush than an EpiPen' SUNDAY EXPRESS'Pace, pace, pace is what Simon Kernick does best' DAILY MIRROR

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In this comprehensive and newly-updated guide to Yorkshire brewing, renowned beer writer Simon Jenkins trawls the length and breadth of Britain’s biggest (and best) county seeking out the brewers old and new, large and small, which between them have created an astonishing beer scene. From fiercely traditional brewers producing time-honoured beers in slate Yorkshire squares, to the new-wave craft brewers embracing a dizzying variety of imported hops; from the ancient brewer hemmed in by a tight knot of cobbled streets to the brewery founded in a garden shed as a lockdown project – Simon found them all. This entertaining journey around the county lists every brewery Simon could find – more than 180 – and chronicles the resilience which these businesses showed when faced with the pandemic and the closure of the hospitality industry. We learn about some of the very best beers the county has to offer, meet lots of the brewers, and discover the extraordinary measures which many took to survive the challenges of Covid-19 and some of the best places to drink them.

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It is said that artillery won the Second World War for the Allies - that Soviet guns wore down German forces on the Eastern Front, negating their superior tactics and fighting ability, and that the accuracy and intensity of the British and American artillery was a major reason for the success of Allied forces in North Africa from El Alamein, in Italy and Normandy, and played a vital role in the battles of 1944 and 1945\. Yet the range of weapons used is often overlooked or taken for granted - which is why this highly illustrated history by Simon and Jonathan Forty is of such value. They stress the importance of artillery on every front and analyse how artillery equipment, training and tactical techniques developed during the conflict. The selection of wartime photographs - many from east European sources - and the extensive quotations from contemporary documents give a graphic impression of how the guns were used on all sides. The photographs emphasize the wide range of pieces employed as field, anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery without forgetting self-propelled guns, coastal and other heavyweights and the development of rockets. The authors offer a fascinating insight into the weapons that served in the artillery over seventy years ago.

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There was once a cheeky little rabbit. You might know him already. When his mother told him, "Simon, tomorrow is your first day of school!" he replied,"I'm not going."

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'Maths at its most playful and multifarious' Jordan EllenbergMatt Parker, author of the No.1 bestseller Humble Pi, takes us on a riotous journey through the possibilities of numbers Mathematician Matt Parker uses bizarre Klein Bottles, unimaginably small pizza slices, knots no one can untie and computers built from dominoes to reveal some of the most exotic and fascinating ideas in mathematics. Starting with simple numbers and algebra, this book goes on to deal with inconceivably big numbers in more dimensions than you ever knew existed. And always with something for you to make or do along the way. 'The book oozes with sheer joy' New Scientist'Matt Parker is some sort of unholy fusion of a prankster, wizard and brilliant nerd - clever, funny and ever so slightly naughty' Adam Rutherford, author of Creation'Matt Parker never got the memo about maths being boring ... he seeks to reconnect us to the numbers around us' Simon Usborne, Independent'Essential reading' Observer

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'An engrossing new spin on a well-known tale' Antonia Senior, The Times'Caligula as you've never seen him before! A powerfully moving read from one of the best ancient world authors in the business' Kate Quinn, author of The Alice Network Everyone knows his name. Everyone thinks they know his story.Rome 37AD. The emperor is dying. No-one knows how long he has left. The power struggle has begun.When the ailing Tiberius thrusts Caligula's family into the imperial succession in a bid to restore order, he will change the fate of the empire and create one of history's most infamous tyrants, Caligula. But was he really a monster?Forget everything you think you know. Let Livilla, Caligula's youngest sister and confidante, tell you what really happened. How her quiet, caring brother became the most powerful man on earth. And how, with lies, murder and betrayal, Rome was changed for ever . . .'A truly different take on one of history's villains . . . All through this I am seeing Al Pacino in The Godfather, slowly stained darker and darker by power and blood' Robert Low, author of The Oathsworn series'Enthralling and original, brutal and lyrical by turns. With powerful imagery and carefully considered history Simon Turney provides a credible alternative to the Caligula myth that will have the reader questioning everything they believe they know about the period' Anthony Riches, author of the Empire series

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This fully revised third edition of Cognac: The Story of the World’s Greatest Brandy provides an authoritative account of how the much-loved spirit is produced and matured. Nicholas Faith was the world’s leading authority on Cognac. Here he explores the reasons for the spirit’s complex character, and reveals its fascinating history. Cognac is an extraordinary and unparalleled collection of insights into the world’s finest brandy. The first edition of this book, published in 1986, won the Veuve Clicquot award in the US and the Deinhard/Wine Magazine award in Britain. In 2005 the second edition was awarded the André Simon prize, Britain’s premier wines and spirits writing prize. The most recent edition includes a fully updated directory of the top producers and their brandies – including the author’s tasting notes – and two new sections on tasting and mixing: a selection of Cognac cocktails and how to make them, and revelations on the associations made between brandy and food. This completely updated edition of Nicholas Faith’s classic guide is a thorough and engaging resource – the essential companion for every Cognac enthusiast.

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Over the last 180 years designers have propelled fashion from an elite craft into a cornerstone of popular culture. This brilliantly written guide to the lives and collections of 55 iconic fashion designers draws on the latest academic research and the best of fashion journalism, including the authors’ own interviews with designers. Beginning with 19th century couturier Charles Frederick Worth and concluding with the star names of the 2010s, Polan and Tredre detail each designer’s working methods and career highlights to capture the spirit of their times. This beautifully illustrated revised edition features five new designer profiles: Hedi Slimane, Raf Simons, Phoebe Philo, Alessandro Michele and Demna Gvasalia. It’s also been updated throughout to reflect a fashion world in constant ferment, with designers swapping jobs and fashion houses at unprecedented speed. The industry has expanded into a global phenomenon - and designers have emerged as true celebrities; The Great Fashion Designers explores their passion and flair to show us fashion at its most inspirational.

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'A fantastic and varied collection of problems authored by some of the best puzzle setters around' - Alex Bellos'A book of delightful puzzles. It's just as good as you'd expect.' - Tim Harford'A marvellous miscellany of mysteries' - Simon Singh'Hours of arguing and puzzling. I loved it.' - Matt ParkerThis highly engaging collection of 70 puzzles comes from the popular weekly column in New Scientist magazine. You'll find puzzles that are great for sharing with friends at a pub, problems drawn from real-life situations, games with intriguing strategies, and puzzles with such creative and whimsical storylines that they need to be explained to be believed. With the solutions you'll read the untold back stories behind the puzzles, and a fascinating exploration of related puzzles and mathematical ideas. You'll learn why a particular puzzle adaptation involved talking to an expert in sheep genetics, which solution was thought up by the BBC Radio 5 Drive team, and outside-the-box solutions to apparently straightforward challenges. This book is a must for any lover of puzzles or recreational mathematics.

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Award-winning author Simon Morden joins Gollancz with a stunning SF quest across a vast world that mirrors every London ever built.Instead of fire, there was water.A wave slapped through the open doorway, and a gust of wind blew into the smoke-filled corridor, dragging a spiral of soot outwards and away.MARY. One slip away from prison, fighting to build herself a future from nothing.DALIP. The gentle son of a warrior tradition. A young man who must fight for independence from his family.STANISLAV. A fierce and capable man carrying the wounds of a brutal war.They left London in flames for a place where everything was different. A place that can uncover your secrets.A place haunted by a man called Crows . . .

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A wildly enjoyable but shocking plunge into the forgotten comic literature of eighteenth-century Britain, Cruelty and Laughter uncovers a rich vein of cruel humor beneath the surface of Enlightenment civility that forces us to recognize just how slowly ordinary human sufferings became worthy of sympathy. Delving into an enormous archive of comic novels, jestbooks, farces, variety shows, and cartoons, Simon Dickie finds a vast repository of jokes about cripples, rape, and wife-beating alongside epigrams about syphilis and one-act comedies about hunchbacks in love. In the process, he expands our understanding of many of the century's major authors, including Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollett, Jane Austen, and Henry Fielding. Cruelty and Laughter is an engaging, far-reaching study of the other side of culture in eighteenth-century Britain.

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Suicide is everywhere. It haunts history and current events. It haunts our own networks of friends and family. The spectre of suicide looms large, but the topic is taboo because any meaningful discussion must at the very least consider that the answer to the question – ‘is life worth living?’ – might not be an emphatic yes; it might even be a stern no. Through a sweeping historical overview of suicide, a moving literary survey of famous suicide notes, and a psychological analysis of himself, Simon Critchley offers us an insight into what it means to possess the all too human gift and curse of being of being able to choose life or death. Five years after its initial publication, this revised edition of Notes on Suicide includes a new preface by the author adressing shifts in the discourse surrounding suicide, particularly in relation to social media.

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After what feels like a lifetime of mayhem, Simon Ellice returns to the Hampshire village where he grew up. He enjoys the solace and tranquility of rural life, working on a farm and getting to know the lively locals, but suddenly Si walks right into a deadly mystery. Old friends are going missing and then turning up dead. Someone from the City is spreading their evil tentacles and Si dives into London's underworld to uncover a conspiracy of poisoning, murder and pagan ritual that threatens those closest to him. Written with Humphris' razor-sharp style, this is Simon Ellice's darkest and most challenging adventure yet, touching on themes of sacrifice and objectification, that threaten the very foundations of our civilised world.

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How does one write an experimental ABC, an impossible theory that would deal with a series of phenomena, concepts, places, sensations, persons, and moods? A para-philosophy? Returning to a once-abandoned project of fragmented thoughts where the author’s voice moves from the serious to the pathetic, to the absurd, to the cynical, Simon Critchley’s ABC of Impossibility finds new life in the form of this small encyclopedic and aphoristic text where the reader bears witness to the slow emergence of an attempt at a poetic ontology. ABC of Impossibility is a unique undertaking that reexamines the poetic site of the fragment as thought. Following a heritage of fragmented, aphoristic thinkers including Pascal, Nietzsche, Kierkegaard, and Pessoa, Critchley revitalizes a para-philosophical thinking that can only be uttered by way of another. As he declares in the opening pages, “In writing this, I promise to tell the truth, but not to be myself.”

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Little bigger than a fingernail, Celtic Coins are one of the richest sources of Celtic art in the world, and yet few people are even aware that they exist. With their strange otherworldly designs they evoke a forgotten time of magical beasts, amulets, druids and spirit helpers. In this extraordinary pocket volume, incredibly the first of its kind, Celtic coin artist and researcher Simon Lilly unveils the amazing lost world of early European art hidden in museums and private collections across the planet. With hundreds of original drawings by the author. WOODEN BOOKS are small but packed with information. "Fascinating" FINANCIAL TIMES. "Beautiful" LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS. "Rich and Artful" THE LANCET. "Genuinely mind-expanding" FORTEAN TIMES. "Excellent" NEW SCIENTIST. "Stunning" NEW YORK TIMES. Small books, big ideas.

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Hamburg State Prosecutor Chastity Riley becomes involved in the horrifying, chilling search for a violent serial killer targeting dancers from a club … the first book in an award-winning, wildly original, addictive series… ‘Such a revelation’ Laura Lippman ‘Gruesome and assured, Buchholz’s work remains as persuasive as ever’ Barry Forshaw, Financial Times ‘Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers … a truly unique voice in crime fiction’ Graeme Macrae Burnet ‘Unpredictable, shocking and funny … Simone Buchholz is my favourite German crime writer’ Mark Sanderson,The Times **WINNER of the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger** ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– A serial killer is on the loose in Hamburg, targeting dancers from The Acapulco, a club in the city’s red-light district, taking their scalps as gruesome trophies and replacing them with plastic wigs. Chastity Riley is the state prosecutor responsible for crimes in the district, and she’s working alongside the police as they investigate. Can she get inside the mind of the killer? Her strength is thinking like a criminal; her weaknesses are pubs, bars and destructive relationships, but as Chastity searches for love and a flamboyant killer – battling her demons and the dark, foggy Hamburg weather – she hits dead end after dead end. As panic sets in and the death toll rises, it becomes increasingly clear that it may already be too late. For everyone… ––––––––––––––––––––––––––– ‘Caustic, incisive prose. A street-smart, gutsy heroine. A timely and staggeringly stylish thriller’ Will Carver ‘The coolest character in crime fiction … Darkly funny and written with a huge heart’ Doug Johnstone, Big Issue ‘Modern noir, with taut storytelling, a hard-bitten heroine, and underlying melancholy peppered with wry humour’ New Zealand Listener ‘Dark, atmospheric, and complex, with often surprisingly emotional … a classy piece of fiction from an author who never disappoints’ Jen Med’s Book ReviewsPraise for the Chastity Riley series: 'Combines nail-biting tension with off-beat humor ... Elmore Leonard fans will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly 'Buchholz doles out delicious black humor ... interwoven in a manner that ramps up the intrigue and tension' Foreword Reviews ’Lyrical and pithy' Sunday Times 'Fierce enough to stab the heart' Spectator 'A real blast of adrenaline' Big Issue 'Simone Buchholz writes with real authority and a pungent, noir-ish sense of time and space' Financial Times 'A stylish, whip-smart thriller' Russel McLean

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Darius doesn't think he'll ever be enough, in America or in Iran. Hilarious and heartbreaking, this unforgettable debut introduces a brilliant new voice in contemporary YA.Winner of the William C. Morris Debut Award“Heartfelt, tender, and so utterly real. I’d live in this book forever if I could.” —Becky Albertalli, award-winning author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens AgendaDarius Kellner speaks better Klingon than Farsi, and he knows more about Hobbit social cues than Persian ones. He’s a Fractional Persian—half, his mom’s side—and his first-ever trip to Iran is about to change his life.   Darius has never really fit in at home, and he’s sure things are going to be the same in Iran. His clinical depression doesn’t exactly help matters, and trying to explain his medication to his grandparents only makes things harder. Then Darius meets Sohrab, the boy next door, and e

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“Legitimately unputdownable. It’s a scathing critique of toxic masculinity wrapped up in a gorgeously written prep-school mystery.”—Becky Albertalli, NYT bestselling author of Simon Vs the Homo Sapiens AgendaSeton Academic High is a prep school obsessed with its football team and their thirteen-year conference win streak, a record that players always say they’d never have without Seton’s girls. What exactly Seton girls do to make them so valuable, though, no one ever really says. They're just "the best." But the team’s quarterback, the younger brother of the Seton star who started the streak, wants more than regular season glory. He wants a state championship before his successor, Seton’s first Black QB, has a chance to overshadow him. Bigger rewards require bigger risks, and soon the actual secrets to the team's enduring success leak to a small group of girls who suddenly have the power to change their world forever.

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Simon Armitage - poet, playwright, broadcaster and Professor of Poetry at Oxford University - has been commissioned by 14-18 Now to write a sequence of poems in response to photographs (aerial, oblique and panoramic) of areas associated with the Battle of the Somme, which took place on the Western Front between July to November 1916.

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The period covered by the Old Testament - beginning in approximately 3000 BC - was one of great technological development and innovation in warfare, as competing cultures clashed in the ancient Middle East. The Sumerians were the first to introduce the use of bronze into warfare, and were centuries ahead of the Egyptians in the use of the wheel. The Assyrians developed chariot warfare and set the standard for a new equine-based military culture. The Babylonians had an army whose people were granted land in return for army service. This authoritative history gives an overview of warfare and fighting in the age of the Old Testament, from the Akkadians, Early and Middle Kingdom Egypt and their enemies, Mycenean and Minoan Greece and Crete, Assyrians and New Kingdom Egyptians, the Hittites, the Sea Peoples who gave rise to the Philistines, the Hebrew kingdom, the Babylonian kingdom, the Medes and later Persian Empires, through to early Classical Greece. Author Simon Elliott explores how archaeology can shed light on events in the Bible including the famous tumbling walls of Jericho, the career of David the boy warrior who faced the Philistines, and Gideon, who was able to defeat an army that vastly outnumbered his own.

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This accessible book explains the significance of relationships between the body and the mark, visual imitation, drawing and writing and visual storytelling, providing a simple guide to these key ideas. For millennia drawing has been conceived as an exploratory activity, mediating between the vision of the drafter and what they are drawing. Drawing reveals hidden relationships, directs attention, scrutinises the material world and provides plans for further action. The book unpacks the key ideas that have shaped the rich, complex and foundational activity of drawing. It presents an unexpected, engaging and authoritative range of illustrated examples of drawings made by culturally and historically diverse people for different purposes, with different media, in widely different times and situations. Educator, author and artist Simon Grennan builds together concepts to create a complete guide to ideas about drawing.

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Who does not know the phrase 'Have some madeira, m'dear'? Madeira is one of the world's greatest wines, with a fascinating history few others can equal. Capable of evolution over decades and with seemingly indefinite longevity, precious centenarian bottles are sought by wine connoisseurs world wide, but to the ordinary wine lover more commercial wines offer a wide range of delicious and varied drinking. Once dismissed as a cooking wine, discriminating drinkers enjoy it on its own and, increasingly, as an accompaniment to food. Over a million tourists visit this small island every year, and expanding export markets indicate that the recent revival of interest in madeira continues to gain strength. This book, originally published in 1998, was short-listed for the Andre Simon Award and quickly established itself as a wine classic. Alexander Liddell, recognised as the leading authority on madeira, has known the island and its wine for over forty years, and this completely revised new edition brings matters up to date.

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FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE SILK ROADS 'Filled with Byzantine intrigue, in every sense this book is important, compellingly revisionist and impressive in its scholarly use of totally fresh sources' Simon Sebag Montefiore In 1096, an expedition of extraordinary scale and ambition set off from Western Europe on a mass pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Three years later, after a journey which saw acute hardship, the most severe dangers and thousands of casualties, the knights of the First Crusade found themselves storming the fortifications and capturing the Holy City. Against all the odds, the expedition had returned Jerusalem to Christian hands. In 'the most significant contribution to rethinking the origins and course of the First Crusade for a generation' (Mark Whittow, TLS), Frankopan paints a strikingly original picture of this infamous confrontation between Christianity and Islam. Focusing on Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire, a truly fresh interpretation of a very old story emerges that radically alters our understanding of the entire crusade movement.

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A stunning, apocalyptic standalone sequel to The Stranger.'There's a healthy crop of younger spy writers just now, and Simon Conway is among the pick of the bunch. His military background renders the action scenes bloodily and the novel's apocalyptic scenario all too plausibly . . . Fire in the hole' - The Times'This'll keep readers up all night. It's a hugely entertaining read, featuring the nastiest, most charismatic villain of recent years, and barely pauses for breath throughout' - Mick Herron, author of Slough House'A superb writer, with great imagination, inventiveness and the ability to portray events with simplicity and urgency' - Michael Jecks, author of Act of Vengeance'Conway has created, with Jude Lyon, a very modern hero, and one who will run for many more stories, I hope. Basically, if you are going to read any thriller this year, make it this one' - Shots Magazine'The most brilliant spy thriller' - Charlotte Philby, author of A Double LifeThe terrorist Guy Fowle has escaped from prison.Jude Lyon of MI-6 has been saved from a Syrian ambush by his lover - and enemy? - Julia Ermolaeva. A mysterious Russian has been murdered in London and his thumb cut off.The Chancellor of the Exchequer has made an unfortunate social connection at a party, which he hopes he can keep secret.And suddenly, the world is literally going up in flames.Jude needs to start putting together the pieces of this jigsaw and quickly, because someone is putting into play a terrifying Russian plan to disable and destroy the UK. Once it has begun, it is designed to be impossible to stop.Bad enough if that someone is the Russian government. Worse if it is the psychopathic genius Fowle, otherwise known as The Stranger.Packed with stunning action, political intrigue, authentic tradecraft, emotion, shocks and nail-biting suspense, The Saboteur takes the spy thriller to new heights.

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Simon Templar is the Saint - daring, dazzling, and just a little disreputable. On the side of the law, but standing outside it, he dispenses his own brand of justice one criminal at a time.In Paris, a dying man claims his brother can make gold... a secret that men are prepared to kill for. In London, a small-time American criminal sets up a violent gang, only to learn that there are certain things the Saint will not put up with. And in the Scilly Isles, drug-smuggling, drugged beer and a damsel in distress combine to make for a most unusual holiday for Simon Templar. In these three stories, the Saint needs all his wits to survive - and to stay out of jail.

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Martin Packard is an extraordinary man who has led an extraordinary life. An idealist and a man of liberal instincts, his enthusiasms resulted in him having an inside track in several major events of recent decades, including the coup and bloody dictatorship in Greece and the unravelling of the Soviet Union. Easy going, warm and generous with his friendship, his life story is a ripping read. Peter Murtagh, journalist and author of The Rape of Greece (Simon & Schuster, London, 1994)His story needed telling Peter Preston, editor of The Guardian 1975-1995This gripping biography is a classic tale of fact being stranger than fiction. Martin Packard was an incurable romantic who thought he could do ethical business in the chaos of Gorbachev's perestroika Russia, but was constantly thwarted by more ruthless rivals or incompetent partners. He was a Don Quixote of the Cold War. His story is a fascinating, alternative and very personal view on the confrontations of his times, from the cynical U

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As featured on Simon Mayo's BBC Radio 2 Book Club.'Girl in Snow is a perfectly-paced and tautly-plotted thriller.' Paul Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train.Who are you when no one is watching?When beloved high school student Lucinda Hayes is found murdered, no one in her sleepy Colorado suburb is untouched – not the boy who loved her too much; not the girl who wanted her perfect life; not the police officer assigned to investigate. In the aftermath of the tragedy, these three unforgettable characters – Cameron, Jade, and Russ – must each confront their darkest secrets in an effort to find solace, the truth, or both.In crystalline prose, Danya Kukafka explores the razor-sharp line between love and obsession, between watching and seeing, between reality and memory. Intoxicating and emotionally intense, Girl in Snow is a gripping debut novel that will linger long after the final page is turned.Shortlisted for the 2018 CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger.Shortlisted for Hearst's Big Book Award 2018.

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The Child Ballads are a series of over 300 traditional ballads from England and Scotland that, along with their American variants, were anthologized by folklorist Francis James Child in the nineteenth century. An Evolving Tradition is the story of the Child Ballads—the world’s best-known and most highly regarded repository of traditional English folk songs, and the wellspring for approximately 10,000 recordings over the last century, from obscure musicological archives to classic releases from Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, and Led Zeppelin.Drawing on interviews with numerous scholars and musicians, author Dave Thompson explains what a ballad is, outlines their dominant themes, and recounts how these ballads survived to become a mainstay of field recordings made by Cecil Sharp, Alan Lomax, and others as they traveled the English and American countryside in search of old songs. Thompson traverses the entire spectrum of rock, pop, folk, roots, experimental music, industrial, and goth to reveal the remarkable legacy and incalculable influence of the Child Ballads on all manner of modern music.

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Chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club with Simon Mayo'A carefully crafted and utterly compelling tale of lost opportunity and impossible choices.' Amanda Brooke, author of The AffairWhy do you love your child? Is it because they're a straight A student, a talented footballer? Or is it simply because they're yours?Sarah and Phil love both their children, James and Lauren. The couple have the same hopes and aspirations as any parent. But their expectations are shattered when they discover that their perfect baby daughter has been born with a flaw; a tiny, but life-changing glitch that is destined to shape her future, and theirs, irrevocably. Over time the family adapt and even thrive. Then one day a blood test casts doubt on the very basis of their family. Lauren is not Phil's child. Suddenly, their precious family is on the brink of destruction. But the truth they face is far more complex and challenging than simple infidelity. It tests their capacity to love, each other and their children, and it raises the question of what makes - and what breaks - a family.

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___ An innocent woman sent to the Gulag. A passion that gave her the will to survive. ‘Shattering, cinematic and brave’ Simon Morrison, author of Bolshoi Confidential ___ Nina Anisimova was one of Russia’s most intriguing ballerinas and one of the first Soviet female choreographers. Yet few knew that her exemplary career concealed a dark secret. In 1938, at the height of Stalin’s Great Terror, Nina was arrested by the secret police, accused of being a Nazi spy and sentenced to forced labour in a camp in Kazakhstan. Trapped without hope – and without winter clothes in temperatures of minus 40 degrees – her art was her salvation, giving her a reason to fight for her life. As Nina struggled to survive in the Gulag, her husband fought for her release in Leningrad. Against all odds, she was ultimately freed and astonishingly managed to return to her former life, just as war broke out. Despite wartime deprivation and the suffocating grip of Stalin’s totalitarian state, Nina’s irrepressible determination set her on the path to become an icon of the Kirov Ballet. A remarkable true story of suffering and injustice, of courage, resilience and triumph. ___ ‘Nina Anisimova’s story is extraordinary – heroic and harrowing in equal measure, a snapshot of the best and worst of Stalin’s Russia – and Christina Ezrahi does it vivid, gripping justice.’ Judith Mackrell, author of The Unfinished Palazzo ‘Christina Ezrahi vividly charts this brutal and uplifting story, bringing alive an extraordinary resourcefulness and determination to survive.’ Helen Rappaport, author of The Race to Save the Romanovs ‘Christina Ezrahi has uncovered a remarkable, untold episode in Soviet ballet history, which she brings to life through her customary rigorous research, clarity of expression and elegance of prose.’ Baroness Deborah Bull ‘An inspiring tale of survival against the odds. Ezrahi's diligent scholarship casts much-needed light on ballet history's darkest chapter.’ Luke Jennings, dance critic and author of Killing Eve

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1324: The English kingdom is in uproar. Roger Mortimer, once the King's most able commander, but now his most hated enemy, is plotting to assassinate the King. But he's not the only one with murder on his mind... When the bodies of a local craftsman and the King's messenger are found in the city of Exeter's streets, Sir Baldwin de Furnshill, the Keeper of the King's Peace and his friend Bailiff Simon Puttock, are implored by the Bishop to find out who was responsible. The dead messenger was carrying a dangerous secret that may prove fatal, should it fall into the wrong hands. Baldwin and Simon must find the murderer before he can strike again. But when murderers can use magic, no one is safe...

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