Search results for ""Author Roy"

With over 400 million Bibles in print, the New International Version is the world's most popular modern English Bible. It is renowned for its combination of reliability and readability. Fully revised and updated for the first time in 25 years, the NIV is ideal for personal reading, public teaching and group study.This Bible also features: clear, readable 6.75pt text easy-to-read layout shortcuts to key stories, events and people of the Bible reading plan timeline book by book overview quick links to find inspiration and help from the Bible in different life situations.British Text This edition uses British spelling, punctuation and grammar to allow the Bible to be read more naturally. More about the translation This revised and updated edition of the NIV includes three main types of change, taking into account changes in the way we use language day to day; advances in biblical scholarship and understanding; and the need to ensure that gender accurate language is used, to faithfully reflect whether men and women are referred to in each instance. The translators have carefully assessed a huge body of scholarship, as well as inviting peer submissions, in order to review every word of the existing NIV to ensure it remains as clear and relevant today as when it was first published. Royalties from all sales of the NIV Bible help Biblica, formerly the International Bible Society, in their work of translating and distributing Bibles around the world.

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Queen. Mother. Servant. Friend. This is the most intimate portrait of our longest serving monarch, an inspiration to her country: Queen Elizabeth II.Get to know the real Elizabeth in the definitive biography from the bestselling British Royal Family writer 'To have any understanding of the Queen you must first read this book' Amanda Foreman'Emotional, personal, human, insightful and moving. You will be a better person for reading and learning from this book' 5***** Reader Review 'Extensively researched, fluently written and containing a lot of intriguing information. Much to recommend' Daily Telegraph ________We knew her as the Queen. But she was so much more.Playing with her children at the Palace, crawling on her stomach to stalk deer, donning yellow Marigolds to wash up after Balmoral cookouts; this was Queen Elizabeth going about her daily life. Performing a duty she cherished. Serving a nation she loved.In this, the first all-round, up-close picture of her remarkable life, readers finally get meet the real Queen. With exclusive access to her personal letters, close friends and associates, this intimate biography is a treasure trove of insights on her public persona and private life. In these pages we have the honour of meeting the leader, strategist, and diplomat; the daughter, wife, mother and grandmother - Elizabeth the Queen.________'A phenomenal biography about a truly incredible leader and human being' 5***** Reader Review

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The roots of modern Western legal institutions and concepts go back nine centuries to the Papal Revolution, when the Western church established its political and legal unity and its independence from emperors, kings, and feudal lords. Out of this upheaval came the Western idea of integrated legal systems consciously developed over generations and centuries. Harold J. Berman describes the main features of these systems of law, including the canon law of the church, the royal law of the major kingdoms, the urban law of the newly emerging cities, feudal law, manorial law, and mercantile law. In the coexistence and competition of these systems he finds an important source of the Western belief in the supremacy of law.Written simply and dramatically, carrying a wealth of detail for the scholar but also a fascinating story for the layman, the book grapples with wide-ranging questions of our heritage and our future. One of its main themes is the interaction between the Western belief in legal evolution and the periodic outbreak of apocalyptic revolutionary upheavals.Berman challenges conventional nationalist approaches to legal history, which have neglected the common foundations of all Western legal systems. He also questions conventional social theory, which has paid insufficient attention to the origin of modern Western legal systems and has therefore misjudged the nature of the crisis of the legal tradition in the twentieth century.

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Ce livre porte sur la culture alimentaire byzantine, sa constitution et la manière dont elle se différencie des cultures alimentaires juive, musulmane et chrétienne occidentale. Il se penche sur ses sources d'inspiration puisqu'elle opère une synthèse entre les exigences religieuses du christianisme et les recommandations diététiques de la médecine grecque. Le choix des aliments, la préparation de la nourriture, comme sa consommation lors de repas, obéissent à des règles qui changent à travers le temps; or, durant les onze siècles de son existence, le monde byzantin a connu de profonds changements religieux, culturels et politiques. Il est entré en contact avec des populations ayant leurs propres traditions culinaires ou leurs interdits alimentaires et il a donc été soumis à des influences diverses. La culture alimentaire byzantine naît d'une rencontre entre les traditions culinaires du monde romain, les habitudes alimentaires des différentes populations du monde méditerranéen et les nouvelles règles de l'éthique alimentaire chrétienne, favorisant la frugalité, voire l'ascèse en matière d'alimentation. Le christianisme byzantin modifie les habitudes alimentaires, non pas à la manière de l'islam ou du judaïsme en établissant une liste d'aliments et de boissons interdits, conduisant à une modification des productions agricoles, mais en créant une éthique alimentaire chrétienne dans laquelle le jeûne tient une place prépondérante. Le livre étudie la mise en place d'un calendrier du jeûne, faisant alterner des périodes festives et des périodes de restrictions alimentaires. Le milieu monastique fait naître un régime ascétique rigoureux qui doit faciliter la maîtrise du corps, dans la recherche d'une proximité spirituelle avec Dieu, égale à celle des anges. La création d'un régime alimentaire ascétique par les moines a une forte influence sur le reste de la société byzantine, parce que la vie monastique y est perçue comme la voie royale pour entrer au Paradis. La société byzantine médiévale suit une version adoucie, plus modérée de cette ascèse alimentaire, qui est toutefois devenue une norme du comportement chrétien, rejetant le gourmand et, encore plus, le glouton parmi les pécheurs. Ce livre analyse la manière dont la religion s'est insérée dans l'alimentation en bénissant ou en sacralisant certains aliments, par exemple dans le rituel eucharistique. Histoire religieuse et histoire sociale se combinent donc dans ce travail pour essayer de comprendre comment s'est élaborée cette culture alimentaire byzantine que les étrangers de passage perçoivent comme différents de la leur au Moyen ge et dont les Byzantins eux-mêmes ont conscience quand ils critiquent leurs voisins, en particulier les Latins.

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Han Dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) stone carved tombs were constructed from carved stone slabs or a combination of moulded bricks and carved stones, and were distributed in Central and Eastern China. Such multi-chambered stone tombs were very popular among the Han people, but they were entirely new, and were a result of outside stimuli rather than an independent development within China. The stone carved tombs were a result of imitating royal rock-cut tombs, while the rock-cut tombs were stimulated by foreign examples. Moreover, many details of stone carved tombs also had Western features. These exotic elements reflected the desire to assimilate exotica within Chinese traditions. Some details within stone carved tombs showed high level of stone working technologies with Western influences. But in general the level of stone construction of the Han period was relatively low. The methods of construction showed how unfamiliar the Western system was to the Han artisans. Han Dynasty stone carved tombs were hybrids of different techniques, including timber, brick and stone works. From these variations, Han people could choose certain types of tombs to satisfy their specific ritual and economic needs. Not only structures, but also pictorial decorations of stone carved tombs were innovations. The range of image motifs was quite limited. Similar motifs can be found in almost every tomb. Such similarities were partly due to the artisans, who worked in workshops and used repertoires for the carving of images. But these also suggest that the tombs were decorated for certain purposes with a given functional template. Together with different patterns of burial objects and their settings, such images formed a way through which the Han people gave meaning to the afterworld. As the Han Empire collapsed, stone carved tombs ceased being constructed in the Central Plains. However, they set a model for later tombs. The idea of building horizontal stone chamber tombs spread to Han borderlands, and gradually went further east to the Korean Peninsula. In this book, the origins, meanings and influences of Han Dynasty stone carved tombs are presented as a part of the history of interactions between different parts of Eurasia.

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From master storyteller and New York Times-bestseller Tad Williams comes the first book in the landmark epic fantasy saga of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.With The Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams introduced readers to the incredible fantasy world of Osten Ard. His beloved, internationally bestselling series Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn inspired a generation of modern fantasy writers, including George R.R. Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, and Christopher Paolini, and defined Tad Williams as one of the most important fantasy writers of our time. This edition features a brand-new introduction from Tad Williams' editor as well as the original introduction from Williams himself! “One of my favorite fantasy series.” —George R. R. Martin “Groundbreaking.” —Patrick Rothfuss “One of the great fantasy epics of all time.” —Christopher Paolini BOOK ONE: THE DRAGONBONE CHAIR A war fueled by the powers of dark sorcery is about to engulf the peaceful land of Osten Ard—for Prester John, the High King, lies dying. And with his death, the Storm King, the undead ruler of the elf-like Sithi, seizes the chance to regain his lost realm through a pact with the newly ascended king. Knowing the consequences of this bargain, the king’s younger brother joins with a small, scattered group of scholars, the League of the Scroll, to confront the true danger threatening Osten Ard. Simon, a kitchen boy from the royal castle unknowingly apprenticed to a member of this League, will be sent on a quest that offers the only hope of salvation, a deadly riddle concerning long-lost swords of power. Compelled by fate and perilous magics, he must leave the only home he’s ever known and face enemies more terrifying than Osten Ard has ever seen, even as the land itself begins to die. After the landmark Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, the epic saga of Osten Ard continues with The Heart of What Was Lost. Then don’t miss the sequel trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard, beginning with The Witchwood Crown!

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The definitive book on an iconic aircraft. Illustrated throughout with a varied and interesting selection of images, many previously unpublished. An early jet aircraft that collected many notable firsts including the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic and the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier. Comprehensive appendices covering serial allocations, production, export details and preserved airframes. The de Havilland Vampire was the second of the RAF's first-generation, post-Second World War jet fighters to enter service. It began life as an interceptor but was soon re-tasked in the day fighter/ground attack roles with the 2nd Tactical Air Force in Germany from 1948 to 1954 and with the RAF's Middle and Far East Air Forces. Throughout its forty-six-year career, it collected many notable firsts: it was the first jet fighter to cross the Atlantic; the first jet to land on an aircraft carrier; and the first jet trainer on which student pilots qualified for their 'Wings'. In addition to playing a full part in the RAF's order of battle during the 1940s and 1950s, the Vampire also served with the Fleet Air Arm and became an export success story for the British aircraft industry with hundreds sold to air forces worldwide. For a brief period during the 1950s, the Vampire formed the backbone of the RAF's night-fighter force and between 1952 and 1967 the Vampire trainer was responsible for a steady flow of trained pilots for the RAF, Royal Navy and foreign air forces. This comprehensive history covers the Vampire's development and operational service. It has been written with the full co-operation of the manufacturer, MoD, RAF and other world air forces, mixing narrative and technical detail with vivid personal accounts from those involved with the aircraft. Comprehensive appendices include technical specifications, production details, serials and export details. It is also lavishly illustrated and includes more than one story of encounters with UFOs by RAF Vampire pilots.

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The story of how Elizabeth II became queen.'Rich with princess anecdotes... Williams's book weaves the Second World War, vast social change and the royal upheaval of abdication and celebration of coronation into energised, nostalgic storytelling' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'Fascinating insights into Elizabeth's relationship with her sister also make this a worthwhile, enjoyable read' DAILY TELEGRAPHWe can hardly imagine a Britain without Elizabeth II on the throne. It seems to be the job she was born for. And yet for much of her early life the young princess did not know the role that her future would hold. She was our accidental Queen.As a young girl, Elizabeth was among the guests in Westminster Abbey watching her father being crowned, making her the only monarch to have attended a parent's coronation. Kate Williams explores the sheltered upbringing of the young princess with a gentle father and domineering mother, her complicated relationship with her sister, Princess Margaret, and her dependence on her nanny, Marion 'Crawfie' Crawford. She details the profound and devastating impact of the abdication crisis when, at the impressionable age of 11, Elizabeth found her position changed overnight: no longer a minor princess she was now heiress to the throne.Elizabeth's determination to share in the struggles of her people marked her out from a young age. Her father initially refused to let her volunteer as a nurse during the Blitz, but relented when she was 18 and allowed her to work as a mechanic and truck driver for the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service. It was her forward-thinking approach that ensured that her coronation was televised, against the advice of politicians at the time.Kate Williams reveals how the 25-year-old young queen carved out a lasting role for herself amid the changes of the 20th century. Her monarchy would be a very different one to that of her parents and grandparents, and its continuing popularity in the 21st century owes much to the intelligence and elusive personality of this remarkable woman.

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A veteran Twin Cities journalist and raconteur summons the life of the city after reporting and recording its stories for more than thirty years Two or three times a week, as a columnist, hustling freelance writer, and genuinely curious reporter, Jim Walsh would hang out in a coffee shop or a bar, or wander in a club or on a side street, and invariably a story would unfold—one more chapter in the story of Minneapolis, the city that was his home and his beat for more than thirty years. Fear and Loving in South Minneapolis tells that story, collecting the encounters and adventures and lives that make a city hum—and make South Minneapolis what it is. Here is a man who drives around Minneapolis in a van that sports a neon sign and keeps a running tally of the soldiers killed in Iraq. Here is another, haunted by the woman he fell in love with, and lost, many years ago at the Minnesota Music Café on St. Paul’s East Side. Here are strangers on a cold night on the corner of Forty-sixth and Nicollet, finding comfort in each other’s company in the wake of the shootings in Paris. And here are Walsh’s own memories catching up with him: the woman who joined him in representing “junior royalty” for the Minneapolis Aquatennial when they were both seven years old; the lost friend, Soul Asylum’s Karl Mueller, recalled while sitting on his memorial bench at Walsh’s go-to refuge, the Rose Gardens near Lake Harriet. These everyday interactions, ordinary people, and quiet moments in Jim Walsh’s writing create an extraordinary picture of a city’s life. James Joyce famously bragged that if Dublin were ever destroyed, it could be rebuilt in its entirety from his written works. The Minneapolis that Jim Walsh maps is more a matter of heart, of urban life built on human connections, than of streets intersecting and literal landmarks: it is that lived city, documented in measures large and small, that his book brings so vividly to mind, drafting a blueprint of a community’s soul and inviting a reader into the boundless, enduring experience of Fear and Loving in South Minneapolis.

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A fully updated edition of the most comprehensive illustrated survey of the life and work of Peter Blake, one of Britain’s most popular artists. Since his emergence in the early 1960s as a key member of the Pop Art movement, Peter Blake has become one of the best-known and most popular artists of his generation. Though primarily a painter, he has worked across many media, from drawings, watercolours and collages to sculpture and printmaking, as well as commercial art in the form of graphics and album covers – most notably his design for The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album in 1967. Exploring his remarkable creative output from the 1950s to the present, Peter Blake is the most comprehensive illustrated survey available of the life and work of the artist. Marco Livingstone grounds Blake’s art firmly in his working-class origins, identifying a yearning for the innocence of childhood in his bittersweet paintings of the early to mid-1950s that depict children reading comics or going to the Saturday matinee at the cinema. From that moment, while studying at the Royal College of Art in London, Blake concerned himself with popular entertainments as subject matter, and as the source of formal solutions, for his paintings. The directness with which Blake gave expression to his enthusiasms for mass culture during the 1950s brought him to the forefront of the Pop Art movement before it had even been named, and independently of the investigations into similar areas by other British, American and European artists. The radical nature of his collage paintings of 1959–62, in particular, in which he combined existing imagery from popular culture with unapologetically bold and bright colours, made him a singularly influential figure within British Pop. This fully updated edition includes a new chapter on what the artist has jokingly styled his ‘Late Period’, in which Blake has continued to mine the many strands of his art with undiminished energy and completed some of his most ambitious long-standing projects. As well as the sheer scale of Blake’s production, what becomes clear is the kaleidoscopic variety of subject matter, form and medium to be found in his work, its humour and friendly appeal, and, above all, its celebration of life and humanity.

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Afrofuturism, a movement that began in the Black community during the early 20th Century as an escape from racial hostility, economic turmoil, and aggressive policing, is enjoying a renaissance witnessed by the record-breaking success of creative projects, including the Oscar-winning Marvel Studios film, Black Panther; Regina King’s Emmy-winning HBO superhero tale, Watchmen; Janelle Monae’s hit album, Dirty Computer; Jordan Peele’s provocative feature Get Out; Octavia Butler’s famed science fiction novel, Kindred; and Beyonce’s visual album Black Is King. Now comes Afrofuturist Tim Fielder’s beautifully written and rendered INFINITUM. In INFINITUM, King Aja Ọba and Queen Lewa are revered across the African continent for their impressive political and military skills. Yet the future of their kingdom is in jeopardy, for the royal couple do not have an heir of their own. When the King kidnaps his son born to a concubine, Obinrin, she curses Ọba with the “gift” of immortality. After enjoying long, wonderful lives both, Queen Lewa and the crown prince die naturally, leaving the ageless bereaved King Ọba heartbroken and alone. Taking advantage of Ọba’s vulnerability, enemy nations rise to power and kill the king – or so they think. King Aja Ọba survives the fatal attack, finally realizing the bitter fruit of Obinrin’s curse. For millennia, the immortal Ọba wanders the earth, mourning his lost subjects and searching for a new kingdom. His journey leads him across time, allowing him to witness the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the New World, and the American Civil Rights Movement. The expansion of global technology brings about intergalactic travel, first contact with an alien species, and conflicts within and ultimately outside the known universe. Thrust into these seminal events, Ọba, now known by many as “John,” faces harrowing decisions that will determine mankind’s physical and spiritual trajectory. In 280 plus stunningly emotional and evocative full-color images, INFINITUM presents a unique cosmic experience, addressing issues of racism, classism, gender inequity, the encroachment of technology and the spiritual cost of war, while exposing the history behind ancient mysteries.

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From 1923 until 1980, Mien Ruys created over 3,000 gardens and landscapes. While most of these are in her native Netherlands, the influence of her designs and approaches spread far wider: many of us will have a little bit of Mien in our gardens, be it a railway sleeper, a diagonal line, a Phlomis russeliana or a water ball. Her work was extraordinary in combining two exceptional elements. Firstly, Mien was one of the leading proponents of modernist design: having trained and collaborated with architects such as Ben Merkelbach, Charles Karsten, Aldo van Eyck, Jan Piet Kloos, Hein Salomonson and Gerrit Rietveld, she introduced clean lines, geometric shapes and innovative materials into garden and landscape design. One of the few women members of CIAM, she was also one of the first to call for architects and landscape architects to collaborate fully from initial design onwards. She did so regularly, often on much needed social housing schemes, but also on schools, hospitals and nursing homes. All her projects shared a desire to offer users a better quality of life. One of her most well-known collaborations was with Gerrit Rietveld in Bergeijk on the Ploeg factory and Park, which has since been listed as a historic monument. Uniquely, she combined this modernist design approach with an extensive knowledge of plants and planting, which she learnt from a very early age in her father’s Royal Moerheim Nursery in Dedemsvaart. Her father had close links with international gardeners, such as Gertrude Jekyll, who greatly influenced Mien as she developed her own loose, natural style of planting. Her book on perennials, published in 1950, was internationally influential and, in seeking deeper understanding about plants and planting, Mien created more than 20 experimental gardens at Dedemsvaart, many of which are now also historic monuments. The book includes a foreword which sets Mien’s work within the wider context, as well as interviews with gardening experts and landscape architects who knew Mien or were deeply influenced by her work, which offer rich insight into Mien’s character and the timeless lessons which can still be learnt from her work.

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"I love the Foale and Tuffin book. The layout and graphics are terrific and it's a joy to read. The whole book is so well put together." Mary Quant "I wish all fashion books could be as much fun as this one. But they can't all be about Foale & Tuffin and the spirit of the 1960's ....truly a living book of fashion history." Margaret Howell Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin were two bolshy girls who just did it. After meeting at Walthamstow Art School in 1955 and then studying together at the Royal College of Art, they embarked on a trailblazing career in fashion lasting throughout the 1960s, until their partnership came to an end in 1972. Quirky, youthful creativity, acute sensitivity to the latest moods and trends, expert craftsmanship, and a little Swinging Sixties good fortune placed them at the hub of the cultural explosion in London that defined the era. Their boutique off Carnaby Street was at the epicentre of the new fashion scene. Suddenly, David Bailey was photographing their outfits for VOGUE, Cathy MacGowan was wearing them on Ready, Steady, Go!, and they were jetting around America as part of the ground-breaking Youthquake tour. Through detailed interviews with Foale and Tuffin themselves, exclusive access to their personal archives, and contributions from an extraordinary array of figures from the fashion, art and cultural scenes of the 1960s, 70s and beyond, Iain R. Webb builds a fascinating picture of the time, throwing new light on how fashion and business underwent a period of unprecedented change. It was a period of cross-pollination in art, music and fashion, of entrepreneurial and cultural innovation. Contributors include Manolo Blahnik, Sir Terence Conran, Felicity Green, Barbara Hulanicki, Caterine Milinaire, Janet Street Porter, Mary Quant and Jean Shrimpton. The narrative of the Foale and Tuffin story perfectly traces the decade from its groovy, optimistic beginnings, when the two embryonic fashion designers blithely set up shop in 1961, to its crash-and-burn finale, as Sixties sanguinity melted away into a hangover of Seventies cynicism, masked as it was with the distraction of fancy-dress escapism.

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In late nineteenth-century France, when Charles Darwin’s theories of evolution had finally begun to permeate French culture and society, several academic artists turned to a relatively new sub-genre of history painting, the prehistoric-themed subject. This artistic interest in Darwin’s theories was manifested as paintings and sculptures of prehistoric humanity engaged in physical conflict with each other or other animals, struggling for food, or hunting—all nineteenth-century popular understandings of “survival of the fittest.” This book examines how this sub-genre captured the imagination of French Salon painters from the 1880s to early 1900s, in particular that of Fernand Cormon (1845–1924), one of the foremost academic painters during the final quarter of the nineteenth century. A central argument of this book concerns the unique interpretation of prehistoric humanity that Cormon visualized in his paintings. While the vast majority of prehistoric-themed images made by his salon colleagues focused on violence, combat, and sexual conquest, Cormon’s paintings depict a conflict-free humanity, in which collaboration and cooperation dominate, rather than physical struggle. This study probes the French intellectual understanding and appropriation of Darwin’s theories and considers how the French (mis)translation of The Origin of Species by Clémence-Auguste Royer, the first French translator of the text—along with Neo-Lamarckism and republican ideology in Third Republic France—may have collectively shaped Cormon’s representation of early humanity. The art press overwhelmingly favored Cormon’s visualization of the prehistoric world over that of his Salon peers. Through extended analysis of the art criticism concerning Cormon’s work, Shalon Parker argues that critics’ very clear preference for Cormon’s paintings was rooted in their awareness that he utilized the sub-genre of the prehistoric as a forum in which to reimagine and revive academic figurative painting at a time when the critical reception of Salon art had reached its nadir. Additionally, this study provides a broad overview of the visual models, in particular the anthropological and ethnographic texts and imagery, most readily available to Cormon as sources for shaping his vision of the prehistoric world.

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"Polari," from the Italian "polare" ("to talk") is a coded language, originating in the UK and dating as far back as the 16th century. Overheard in outdoor markets, the theatre, fairgrounds, and circuses, it was appropriated by gay men to provide them with cover as well as with a way to assert personal and shared identities. It spread around the English-speaking world via the Royal Navy, the merchant marine, and cruise ships, adding and subverting many foreign-language words — like polari — along the way. While Polari does not employ this jargon or probe its success as a mode of connection between gay men, the language of Barton's poems may be viewed as an effective tool for communicating a sense of history, politics, and aesthetics. Think of Polari as a cross-sectional scan of a living tree that reveals ring after ring of Barton's experience of language, with the new buds at the tips of its branches adding colour, movement, and ornament. Most of these poems were written using set forms drawn from Robin Skelton's The Shapes of our Singing: A Comprehensive Guide of Verse Forms and Metres from Around the World (Spokane: Eastern Washington University Press, 2002). While the forms Barton has appropriated are not by themselves the vehicles of a particular sociolect or an anti-language, except, say, of poetry itself, he have nevertheless twisted them to follow the turns of his point of view and aesthetics. When it comes to time, geography, and subject, Polari covers a lot of ground: from child memories to the frailties and deaths of ageing parents; from Queen Victoria's coronation to the first ascent of Everest; from the October Crisis to the trial of Omar Khadr. The titles of nine poems are borrowed from the Diagram Prize, an award given out by the UK magazine, The Bookseller, for the oddest book title of the year. The titles chosen — an example is "Highlights in the History of Concrete" — may sound frivolous, even absurd, but the poems are less or more so. The serious nature of their themes being at odds with their titles gives them an engaging tension, and will be read as signature of his particular brand of polari.

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Blast off into outer space and explore the mysteries of the red planet with Discovering Mars.Did you know that Mars is twice the size of Earth's moon? Or that it is home to the Valles Marineris--the largest canyon in our solar system? Blast off and explore the surface of the fourth planet from the Sun with Discovering Mars. This book is a complete scientific guide to Mars, including information on geography, atmosphere, unique landscape features, and more. Discover Mars's moons Phobos and Deimos, learn all about unique polar spiders, and investigate past, present, and future life on Mars. Incredible illustrations and NASA imagery of Mars's surface, craters, and volcanoes bring outer space right to your fingertips and let you explore the red planet like never before. Learn all about past missions to Mars, and take a sneak peek into future projects from NASA and beyond.An avid traveler, Alexandra Lefort has lived in France, Scotland, Switzerland, and the U.S., and has now made her home in Vancouver, B.C. Passionate about exploration, she completed a PhD in planetary sciences at the University of Bern, Switzerland, focusing her academic research on the investigations of Martian water, with a particular interest for the question of habitability and extraterrestrial life. This interest in the origin and development of life also translates into artistic representation of terrestrial lifeforms and environments. A self-taught artist, her favorite media are photography, with a portfolio which includes wildlife portraits, macro photography, landscapes, and traditional drawing and painting, including graphite, pastels, acrylics, and digital art. She has designed several coins for the Royal Canadian Mint and has collaborated with paleoartist Julius Csotonyi on realistic depictions of prehistoric wildlife, including a mural for the 2015-2018 exhibit Ice Age Bison Discovery: Our Frozen Past and Thawing Future at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, and collaborative paintings in The paleoart of Julius Csotonyi, Why Did T. rex Have Short Arms?: And Other Questions about Dinosaurs, and Discovering Sharks.

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The magnificent Vickers Supermarine Spitfire, together with its able partner the Hawker Hurricane, saved Britain from Nazi invasion in the summer of 1940 and irrevocably changed the course of the Second World War. This new book from Philip Kaplan celebrates one of history's most important weapons in a glorious new light. A British national icon, the Spitfire is the best-known symbol of the war years for generations of Britons. From the deep, haunting growl of its Rolls-Royce engine, to the elegant style of its elliptical wing, it is perhaps the most famous and revered combat aeroplane ever built. Kaplan investigates just what it is that fuels the Spitfire's compelling mystique. During wartime, it held an unrivalled reputation amongst Allied and Axis airmen. Today, it continues to hold aviation enthusiasts in thrall. Kaplan highlights the immeasurable contributions of Spitfire designers Reginald J. Mitchell and Joseph Smith, test pilots Jeffrey Quill, Mutt Summers and Alex Henshaw, and ace Spitfire pilots including Al Deere, Sailor Malan and Pierre Clostermann. All added to the legend of this lovely, but deadly, little fighter. The origin and evolution of the plane are tracked, and the story of the marvellous Merlin engine that powered so many Spitfires through those challenging war years and beyond is brought to life. Kaplan considers the phenomenon of the burgeoning warbird movement, a worldwide effort to restore, preserve and display scores of Spitfires and many other military aircraft types for hundreds of thousands of air show visitors the world over. There are only a few airworthy Mark I Spitfires today and this book centres round the Mk Ia AR213, whose total restoration to flying status was completed in 2008\. Much of its colourful background is described, as is the experience of flying it, in the words of both Tony Bianchi and Jonathan Whaley, who have flown it for many years and, arguably, know it better than anyone. In this, the eighth decade of Mitchell's brilliant fighter, Spitfire: An Icon of the Skies is dedicated to the craftsmen and women who built it.

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Reese Witherspoon, Oprah and Roxane Gay LOVE her! Readers love her!Have you discovered New York Times bestseller and Reese's Book Club pick Jasmine Guillory yet?'The queen of contemporary romance' OprahMag.com'She writes the sexiest and smartest romances' Red Magazine'Just as essential to a good summer holiday as SPF' GraziaA feel-good romance to warm your heart! A groomsman and his last-minute guest are about to discover if a fake date can go the distance.'A sweet, funny, realistic, grown up . . . romantic tale' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'Love love loved this book!!! The tension and build made had me turning the pages not wanting it to end' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'A perfect romantic comedy!' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐'The Wedding Date has everything one would look for in a romance novel - and more' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐...........................................................Love wasn't part of the deal . . .On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew Nichols is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend . . . Agreeing to go to a wedding with a guy she gets stuck with in an elevator is not something Alexa Monroe would normally do. But Drew's proposal proves hard to resist. After their wedding date turns into a whole weekend of fun in San Francisco, Drew and Alexa return to their all-consuming careers - his in LA and hers in Berkeley. Too bad they can't stop thinking about each other . . . It could be the long-distance dating disaster of the century - or Drew and Alexa could be just a flight away from what each of them truly wants............................................................PERFECT FOR FANS OF EMILY HENRY, CHRISTINA LAUREN AND TESSA BAILEY!'A charming, warm, sexy gem' ROXANE GAY'The undisputed queen of the modern-day romance' Vogue'Juicy yet meaningful, like every Guillory classic' Elle'Steamy and swoonworthy' PopSugar'When Jasmine Guillory comes out with a book, buy it' Refinery29If you love this, be sure to check out all of Jasmine's smart and sexy rom-coms:The Wedding DateThe ProposalThe Wedding PartyRoyal HolidayParty of TwoWhile We Were DatingDrunk on Love

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Pathfinder(R) Norfolk covering Castle Rising, Oxburgh Hall and Overstrand. This selection offers interest, regional variety and balance of routes in Norfolk providing the best walks in the area. From an easy stroll in Tyrrel's Wood to the much more challenging walk in Fordham this volume contains something for everyone. Covering walks through the whole of Norfolk both popular and little know scenic routes including Wells-next-the-Sea, Peddars Way and Binham. -See walk locations by Looking Inside Inside: -28 great walks in Norfolk from 2 to 10 miles -Clear, large scale Ordnance Survey route maps -GPS reference for all Norfolk waypoints -Where to park, good pubs and places of interest en route -All routes have been fully researched and written by expert outdoor writers -Beautiful photography of scenes from the walks Pathfinder(R) Guides are Britain's best loved walking guides. Made with durable covers, they are the perfect companion for countryside walks throughout Britain. Each title features circular walks with easy-to-follow route descriptions, large-scale Ordnance Survey route maps and GPS waypoints.With over 70 titles in the series, they offer essential information for walkers throughout the country. Contents* Horsey* Binham Priory* Oxborough and Gooderstone* Hales Green from Loddon* Marham Fen and the Nar Valley Way* Tyrrel's Wood and Shelton* Felbrigg Park and Metton* Langmere and the Devil's Punchbowl* River Bure and Upton Marshes* How Hill and Ludham* The Buckenhams* Hardley Cross* Blickling and the River Bure* Peddars Way - Fring and Sedgeford* Castle Acre and West Acre* Boudica's Way - Shotesham and Saxlingham Nethergate* Thompson Common and the Pingos* Westwick Woods and the Weavers Way* West Runton and Beacon Hill* Wiveton Downs and Cley next the Sea* The Burnhams* Denver Sluice - a three rivers walk* Wells-next-the-Sea, Warham and Wighton* Weavers Way to the Berney Arms* Reepham, Marriott's Way and Salle* Weeting Castle and Grime's Graves* Castle Rising and Roydon Common* Ringstead Downs and the Norfolk Coast

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Words sting. Songs kill.'Everything about Burton's debut is razor-sharp' NATASHA NGANThe Cruel Prince meets To Kill a Kingdom in this seductive YA fantasy debut, in which a siren must choose between protecting her family and following her heart in a prejudiced kingdom where her existence is illegal. Saoirse Sorkova survives on secrets. As the last siren in her kingdom, she can sing any man to an early grave - but her very existence is illegal, and if her true identity were ever discovered, it would be her life on the line.By day, Saoirse disguises herself as a fae, pretending to be the perfect soldier-in-training. By night, she satisfies her darker urges working as an assassin for dangerous mercenaries. And all the while, she keeps the biggest secret of all: that she is not always in control of her Siren powers, or her desire to kill.Then a blackmailer threatens her sister, and Saoirse's investigation takes her to the royal palace, and her most dangerous job yet: personal bodyguard to the Crown Prince.Saoirse expects to despise Prince Hayes. But he is kind, thoughtful, and charming, and she finds herself increasingly drawn to him . . . until he tasks her with investigating a killer plaguing the kingdom. The problem: the killer is Saoirse.Trapped by her deadly double life, Saoirse can't leave the palace until she saves her sister . . . but who will save her from herself?*** READERS LOVE SING ME TO SLEEP ***'OH MY GOD THIS BOOK IS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!' Netgalley - 5 star review'I would recommend it to fans of sirens and readers who enjoyed The Cruel Prince and To Kill A Kingdom' Netgalley - 5 star review'Mesmerizing faes, sirens, enchanting siren song - you will feel pulled into this story right from the beginning! Sing Me to Sleep was beautiful, terrific, magical and extremely unique!' Netgalley - 5 star review'Oh my freaking god I loved this book! I read it in under 24 hours it was so damn good. A captivating story of hidden identities, secrets, betrayals and a slow burn romance to die for' Netgalley - 5 star review'I looooved this book! I never knew who was trustworthy' Netgalley - 5 star review'WOW WOW WOW!' Netgalley - 5 star review

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The period from the end of the Second World War to the late 1960s marked a golden era for the traditional port-to-port class-divided passenger ship business. It was an age of re-awakening, with the wealthy and adventurous seeking new experiences abroad and countless migrants wanting to leave war-shattered Europe for new lives and opportunities overseas. On the liners, everyone was catered for: from passengers such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, who required suites of luxurious rooms with space to unpack over a hundred pieces of luggage, to penniless migrants carrying nothing more than an overnight bag, for whom a berth in a fifty-bed dormitory was all that was needed. Atlantic crossings were popular throughout the period, but there were also three- and four-class ships to South America, combination passenger-cargo services carrying only 100 or so travelers, fast mail ships to South Africa, colonial passenger vessels to East Africa, crowded migrant sailings to Sydney and Auckland, and trans-Suez and trans-Pacific passages. This was an era when long-distance travel was entirely dependent on the ocean liners. Post-War on the Liners examines, through fascinating anecdotes and detailed research, the many passenger ship services of this bygone era, recapturing the charm, practicality, and importance of post-war sea travel. From the magnificent-Cunarders Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, Italian Line's Augustus, Union-Castle's Bloemfontein Castle, P&O's Oronsay, and Shaw Savill's Southern Cross-to the lesser known-Fyffes Line's Golfito, Royal Mail's Amazon, Sitmar Line's Fairsea, and NYK Line's Hikawa Maru-this book reveals the unique qualities of individual ships and why they were so often regarded with affection by the men and women who travelled and served on them.

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WINNER OF THE BRITISH ARMY BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021 'A riveting account of T. E. Lawrence’s battles on and off the battlefield… Using scrupulous research and succinct prose, Johnson provides a gold mine of stratagems… a must-read for military leaders to come!' Arnel P. David, Lt Col, US Army Special Advisor to the Chief of the General Staff (UK) 'An innovative study of Lawrence that carefully and intelligently examines his campaigns and thinking on irregular warfare, and in doing so produces an accessible and intellectually stimulating work of military history.' James Kitchen, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 'This is a major contribution to the literature on the Middle East in the Great War, and the history of military ideas - and it is highly relevant to contemporary armed force.' Professor Gary Sheffield, University of Wolverhampton Lawrence of Arabia is one of the most iconic figures of the First World War, seen by many as a heroic and romantic guerrilla leader in a period of savage and deeply impersonal industrial warfare. While Lawrence himself has been the subject of many biographies, and an award-winning film, the context of his war in the desert, and his ideas on war itself, are less well known. Lawrence of Arabia on War is a study of those ideas and of his campaign of irregular warfare which has informed tactical theory and decision-making down to the present day, juxtaposed alongside the operations conducted by the Ottoman Empire and those of the Allied army in Palestine. It explores the challenges he faced in a complex environment against a more numerous and better armed adversary, and the manner in which he assessed what was changing, what was distinctive, and what was unique to guerrilla warfare in the desert. Setting Lawrence in his historical context, it examines the peace settlement process he participated in during 1919–20, analyses how other military writers made use of his ideas, and describes the ways in which his legacy has informed and inspired those partnering and mentoring local forces today.

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Satan’s Playground chronicles the rise and fall of the tumultuous and lucrative gambling industry that developed just south of the U.S.-Mexico border in the early twentieth century. As prohibitions against liquor, horse racing, gambling, and prostitution swept the United States, the vice industry flourished in and around Tijuana, to the extent that reformers came to call the town “Satan’s Playground,” unintentionally increasing its licentious allure. The area was dominated by Agua Caliente, a large, elegant gaming resort opened by four entrepreneurial Border Barons (three Americans and one Mexican) in 1928. Diplomats, royalty, film stars, sports celebrities, politicians, patricians, and nouveau-riche capitalists flocked to Agua Caliente’s luxurious complex of casinos, hotels, cabarets, and sports extravaganzas, and to its world-renowned thoroughbred racetrack. Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Louis B. Mayer, the Marx Brothers, Bing Crosby, Charlie Chaplin, Gloria Swanson, and the boxer Jack Dempsey were among the regular visitors. So were mobsters such as Bugsy Siegel, who later cited Agua Caliente as his inspiration for building the first such resort on what became the Las Vegas Strip. Less than a year after Agua Caliente opened, gangsters held up its money-car in transit to a bank in San Diego, killing the courier and a guard and stealing the company money pouch. Paul J. Vanderwood weaves the story of this heist gone wrong, the search for the killers, and their sensational trial into the overall history of the often-chaotic development of Agua Caliente, Tijuana, and Southern California. Drawing on newspaper accounts, police files, court records, personal memoirs, oral histories, and “true detective” magazines, he presents a fascinating portrait of vice and society in the Jazz Age, and he makes a significant contribution to the history of the U.S.-Mexico border.

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A ground-breaking account of the potential and failures of Christianity since the colonialist period—winner of the 2015 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion and of an American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence "Detailing the nooks and crannies of white supremacist Christianity, The Christian Imagination allows not only for greater sophistication when considering race and theology. It also points to possible cures to the disease so elegantly diagnosed."—Edward J. Blum, Journal of Religion"[A] theological masterpiece."--Chris Smith, Englewood Review of Books Why has Christianity, a religion premised upon neighborly love, failed in its attempts to heal social divisions? In this ambitious and wide-ranging work, Willie James Jennings delves deep into the late medieval soil in which the modern Christian imagination grew, to reveal how Christianity’s highly refined process of socialization has inadvertently created and maintained segregated societies. A probing study of the cultural fragmentation—social, spatial, and racial—that took root in the Western mind, this book shows how Christianity has consistently forged Christian nations rather than encouraging genuine communion between disparate groups and individuals.Weaving together the stories of Zurara, the royal chronicler of Prince Henry, the Jesuit theologian Jose de Acosta, the famed Anglican Bishop John William Colenso, and the former slave writer Olaudah Equiano, Jennings narrates a tale of loss, forgetfulness, and missed opportunities for the transformation of Christian communities. Touching on issues of slavery, geography, Native American history, Jewish-Christian relations, literacy, and translation, he brilliantly exposes how the loss of land and the supersessionist ideas behind the Christian missionary movement are both deeply implicated in the invention of race.Using his bold, creative, and courageous critique to imagine a truly cosmopolitan citizenship that transcends geopolitical, nationalist, ethnic, and racial boundaries, Jennings charts, with great vision, new ways of imagining ourselves, our communities, and the landscapes we inhabit.

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Garcilaso de la Vega, the great chronicler of the Incas and the conquistadors, was born in Cuzco in 1539. At the age of twenty, he sailed to Spain to acquire an education, and he remained there until his death at Córdoba in 1616. As the natural son of a noble conquistador and an Indian woman of royal blood, he took immense pride in both his Spanish and Inca heritage, and, living as he did during a bewildering but stimulating epoch, he personally witnessed the last gasp of the dying Inca empire, the fratricidal conflicts that accompanied the Conquest, and the literary growth as well as the political decline of the Spain of Philip II and Philip III. Garcilaso left for posterity one of the earliest accounts of the ancient Incas, a reliable though admittedly biased chronicle of Spanish conquests in Andean America and a glowing story of Hernando de Soto’s exploration of North America. Though he never lost pride in his Spanish heritage, continued rebuffs in caste-conscious Spain strengthened his pride in his Indian heritage and his sympathy for his mother’s people. Thus his histories, while ennobling Spaniards, also ennobled the Incas, and eventually were to have some influence in the struggle of South Americans for political independence from Spain. In both blood and character El Inca Garcilaso was a true mestizo. He is generally considered to have been the first native-born American to attain the honor of publication. This was the life, and these were the times, that Varner has evoked so richly in his narrative. It rings and glitters with the sounds and colors of festivals, pageantry, and battle; it listens to the murmur of prayers, the defeated mutter of the Incas, the scratch of the scholar’s quill; it pictures both highlights and shadows. For the reader already acquainted with Garcilaso’s chronicles, this book will be a welcome complement; for those who are meeting El Inca here for the first time, it will be a rewarding and satisfying introduction.

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Louis IX, king of France from 1226 to 1270 and twice crusader, was canonized in 1297. He was the last king canonized during the medieval period, and was both one of the most important saints and one of the most important kings of the later Middle Ages. In Blessed Louis, the Most Glorious of Kings: Texts Relating to the Cult of Saint Louis of France, M. Cecilia Gaposchkin presents six previously untranslated texts that informed medieval views of St. Louis IX: two little-known but early and important vitae of Saint Louis; two unedited sermons by the Parisian preacher Jacob of Lausanne (d. 1322); and a liturgical office and proper mass in his honor—the most commonly used liturgical texts composed for Louis’ feast day—which were widely copied, read, and disseminated in the Middle Ages. Gaposchkin’s aim is to present to a diverse readership the Louis as he was known and experienced in the Middle Ages: a saint celebrated by the faithful for his virtue and his deeds. She offers for the first time to English readers a typical hagiographical view of Saint Louis, one in counterbalance to that set forth in Jean of Joinville’s Life of Saint Louis. Although Joinville’s Life has dominated our views of Louis, Joinville’s famous account was virtually unknown beyond the French royal court in the Middle Ages and was not printed until the sixteenth century. His portrayal of Louis as an individual and deeply charismatic personality is remarkable, but it is fundamentally unrepresentative of the medieval understanding of Louis. The texts that Gaposchkin translates give immediate access to the reasons why medieval Christians took Louis to be a saint; the texts, and the image of Saint Louis presented in them, she argues, must be understood within the context of the developing history of sanctity and sainthood at the end of the Middle Ages.

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Tentsmuir has been a scene of human activity for over 10,000 years. It witnessed one of the earliest known occurrences in Scotland of Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and has supported human activities throughout the Neolithic and Iron Age. In medieval times it was a home for the Norman nobility, and then a royal hunting forest with highly-valued fishing rights for Scottish Kings. Tentsmuir is prone to flooding in winter due to the front line of dunes blocking drainage to the sea. It provides a natural refuge for a wide range of plants, as well as resident and migrating birds, and other animals, including outstanding populations of butterflies and moths. Consequently, this led to the creation in 1954 of a National Nature Reserve at the north-eastern end of the Tentsmuir Peninsula. Initially, an active period of coastal accretion more than trebled the size of the reserve. Now, however, Tentsmuir is eroding in places. The probability of rising sea levels and increasing exposure to storms may cause a level of destruction such that the physical existence and biological future of Tentsmuir cannot be guaranteed. This book is an attempt to record how even within a limited geographical area, such as this peninsula on the east coast of Scotland, plant and animal communities are constantly reacting to environmental change. Frequently, it is difficult to decide whether or not these changes should be resisted, encouraged, or ignored. Examples are provided of instances where human intervention to counteract change has resulted in negative as well as positive consequences for biodiversity.

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This book is the first major study of Lydian material culture at Gordion and also the first published monograph on Lydian painted pottery from any site excavation. Richly illustrated, it provides a comprehensive definition and analysis of Lydian ceramics based on stylistic, archaeological, and textual evidence, while thoroughly documenting the material’s stratigraphic contexts. The book situates the ceramic corpus within its broader Anatolian cultural context and offers insights into the impact of Lydian cultural interfaces at Gordion. The Lydian pottery found at Gordion was largely produced at centers other than Sardis, the Lydian royal capital, although Sardian imports are also well attested and began to influence Gordion’s material culture as early as the 7th century BCE, if not before. Following the demise of the Lydian kingdom, a more limited repertoire of Lydian ceramics demonstrably continued in use at Gordion into the Achaemenid Persian period in the late 6th and 5th centuries BCE. The material was excavated by Professor Rodney Young’s team between 1950 and 1973 and is fully presented here for the first time. Ongoing research in the decades following Young’s excavations has led to a more refined understanding of Gordion’s archaeological contexts and chronology, and, consequently, we are now able to view the Lydian ceramic corpus within a more secure stratigraphic framework than would have been the case if the material had been published shortly after the excavations.

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There's nothing better than getting together with family & friends to enjoy a great meal of heart-warming comfort food, lively conversation, and good memories. Comfort Food Lightened Up shares the tried & true recipes you’ve always loved, made with simple, affordable ingredients, now lightened up just for you! We have lightened up those mouth-watering, classic recipes so you can still enjoy every bite knowing that they are healthier for you as well! Can “comfort food” and “lightened up” be in the same recipe? Of course they can! Comfort Food Lightened Up shows you that it is totally possible to please your palate and eat lighter and healthier at the same time. And we’ve given you Nutritional Analysis for every recipe so you can rest assured that you are making good choices. Start off with some favorite appetizers like Simple Bruschetta, Grilled Shrimp, and Sweet Potato Crisps. Get ready to sink your teeth into a juicy beef and veggies burger, a tuna panini on fresh whole grain bread, or a slice of wheat-crust pizza topped with spinach and tomatoes. It doesn't get heartier (or tastier) than Grandma’s Creamed Chicken & Biscuits, and our version manages to keep calories in check. You’ll love our sides and salads chapter filled with fresh new recipes like Chicken Taco Salad and Old-Fashioned Scalloped Corn. Don’t want to give up your mac & cheese? Ours is just as creamy and tasty as ever, with less fat! And desserts? Of course you can! Try our Royal Strawberry Shortcake, Mango Peach Sorbet, or Cherry Berry Chocolate Cake. So go ahead, enjoy those favorite recipes and get comfortable with your healthier lifestyle at the same time. Good for you!

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PUBLISHED BY EUREKA PRESS, TOKYO, AND DISTRIBUTED BY ROUTLEDGE OUTSIDE JAPAN.The scholar and diplomat Sir Ernest Satow was the best-known Westerner who lived in Meiji Japan. Although he rose to become British Minister to Japan, the most interesting part of his career was the start of it, when he witnessed, and in a small way influenced, the fall of the Bakufu and the Meiji Restoration. This volume of his diaries continues the story up to the time when Satow leaves Japan for subsequent appointments in Bangkok, Montevideo and Tangier, before returning to Tokyo as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in 1895. Although the years 1870-1883 were an interlude between the exciting years of the Bakumatsu and the promotion to Consul General in Bangkok, they give much detail of Satow’s journeys under difficult conditions including appalling weather in the interior of Japan, and a firsthand account of the Satsuma Rebellion which was beginning as Satow returned to Japan from Europe in January 1877. There is also an account of a visit to Korea in late 1878, and of the visit to Japan of the British royal princes Arthur and George in 1881. His two leaves in Europe reflect his cultural interests, though Japan is mentioned only occasionally. The editor has added extensive annotations and explanations to these diaries, making this book an indispensable reference work for students of early Meiji Japan, and indeed anybody who wants to understand the story of how a very young, very clever, but rather awkward Englishman could have penetrated the very highest levels of the Japanese hierarchy to witness the transformation of the country from a feudal, inward-looking society to one that would become a major industrialized power to shock the world.

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“We are buried beneath mountains of fast-accumulating data. In such circumstances, this book, rather than adding to the data load, aims to offer real understanding.” —James LovelockHuman beings are extraordinary creatures. Intelligent, agile, and curious, we have adapted and invented our way to becoming the most important species on the planet. So great is the extent of our influence, that many speak of a new geological era, the Anthropocene, an age defined by human-induced change to the blue and green globe we call home.Our lofty status comes with responsibility as much as possibility: How should we approach our present and future? What knowledge should we carry with us? Conceived by James Lovelock (1919–2022), inventor of the Gaia theory, this illustrated essay collection brings together an all-star lineup of thinkers and scientists to offer essential understanding about who we are, how we live, and where we might be going.Much as the Gaia theory considers our Earth as an integrated whole of living systems, The Earth and I encourages holistic understanding. Across 12 chapters, we take in both the intricate details and immense structures of our species and our planet, from our ever-expanding universe to our minuscule but mighty cells. We see stellar explosions and the layers of life beneath our feet, delve into the neuroscience of decision-making, get to grips with our climate, and contemplate our increasing intimacy with technology.The book’s world-class contributors include quantum physicist Lisa Randall, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees, Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist Edward O. Wilson, and Nobel Prize–winning neuroscientist Eric Kandel. With lively illustrations from British artist Jack Hudson, the result is an inspiration for curious minds young and old, and a trusted tool kit for an informed and enlightened future.

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Dachshunds are everywhere. Walk down any fashionable metropolitan street today and you will be tripping over little sausages. They are the dog du jour: compact enough for city living yet feisty enough for a good country walk; cute but clever and independent. Advertising campaigns, aprons, Christmas decorations, Instagram accounts from Canada to Japan to Australia are all peppered with them. They have a universal appeal and come in two official sizes: standard (between 7 kg and 14.5 kg) and miniature (under 5 kg), with lots of 'unofficials' in between; three types of coat: smooth, long-haired and wire-haired; and myriad variations of colouring. By the writer's reckoning there are more than 150 varieties that will pass muster with the UK Kennel Club. In this book, Caroline Donald shares her experience of life with a dachshund: what to look for and what to avoid, how to train and how to look after them. Included too are reports from dachsy homes: from Crusoe the Celebrity Dachshund in Canada (3m Facebook followers, 800k on Instagram), River the Mini Dachshund on the Gold Coast in Australia (139k followers on Instagram), to the Dixter dachshunds; Greta the puppy belonging to landscape designer Catherine Fitzgerald, her husband the actor Dominic West and family and Willow, the elegant long-haired English cream belonging to Claire Waight Keller, artistic director of Givenchy and designer of Meghan's wedding dress. There are also stories of artists' dachshunds, including Picasso's Lump, Andy Warhol's Archie and Amos and David Hockney's Stanley and Boodgie; and royal dachshunds (Queen Victoria's, the Kaiser's, Princess Margaret's). New to the breed or old hand, there’s more than a titbit or two to get your teeth into.

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‘An essential part of the library for anyone interested in the great political and military upheavals in the 15th century.’ – Graeme Rimer, Retired Former Academic Director of the Royal Armouries‘A creditable effort to examine a neglected aspect of medieval warfare.’ – Jim Bradbury, Cambridge University Press ‘Everything you need to know about being a soldier in the Wars of the Roses.’ – The Mail BookshopWhat was it like to fight in a Wars of the Roses battle? What kind of men fought at St Albans, Northampton, Wakefield, Towton, Tewkesbury and Bosworth? How was the medieval soldier recruited, paid, equipped, fed and billeted? And how was a battle contested once both sides resorted to all-out conflict?First published in 1998, this classic study of the medieval soldier in the Wars of the Roses examines these and other questions using various documentary sources and recent evidence. Eyewitness accounts, contemporary chronicles, personal letters, civic records, archaeology and surviving military equipment are used to paint a fascinating picture of the medieval soldier. Evidence gleaned from the mass war grave found close to the battlefield of Towton in North Yorkshire sheds new light on those that lived and died in the civil wars. But what do we know about the psychology of those involved? And how did soldiers feel about killing their fellow Englishmen?Andrew Boardman explores the grim reality of medieval soldiering on land and sea during this crucial period of aristocratic violence and dynastic upheaval. He makes us question the current historical record, such as it is, and our perceptions of chivalry and warfare in Lancastrian and Yorkist England. The text is supported by many contemporary illustrations, diagrams and maps, making this updated work an indispensable guide to medieval soldiering in the late fifteenth century.

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“I Know This to Be True is the basis for the Netflix documentary series Live to Lead created and directed by Geoff Blackwell and executive produced by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.” The I Know This to Be True series is a collection of extraordinary figures from diverse backgrounds answering the same questions, as well as sharing their compelling stories, guiding ideals, and insightful wisdom. At just seventeen, Greta Thunberg is one of today’s most prominent climate change activists—her impassioned calls for action on global warming have captured hearts and minds around the world. In this inspiring interview, Thunberg discusses the irrefutable facts surrounding climate change, the need to hold political figures and lawmakers accountable, and why every person has the power to make a difference. Immovable in her mission, Thunberg’s story is a testament to the power of young voices Here is proof that, when guided by truth and perseverance, anyone can create meaningful change The landmark book series brims with messages of leadership, courage, compassion, and hope Inspired by Nelson Mandela’s legacy and created in collaboration with the Nelson Mandela Foundation, I Know This to Be True is a global series of books created to spark a new generation of leaders. This series offers encouragement and guidance to graduates, future leaders, and anyone hoping to make a positive impact on the world. Royalties from sales of the series support the free distribution of material from the series to the world’s developing economy countries A highly giftable and lovely hardcover with vivid photographic portraits throughout Great for those who loved Letters of Note: An Eclectic Collection of Correspondence Deserving of a Wider Audience by Shaun Usher, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela by Nelson Mandela, and The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming by David Wallace-Wells

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The Convoy represents a fresh approach to the story of the Battle of the Atlantic. It is also the first to deal with the more spectacular story of HG-76, a major turning point in the naval war. HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941 and was specially targeted by the Germans. A wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed too in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine. Despite this the convoy fought its way through. Improved radar and sonar gave the convoy’s escorts a slight edge over their opponents, while the escort group was led by Commander Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. Previous Gibraltar convoys had been mauled by Luftwaffe bombers operating from French airfields. This time, though, HG-76 would be accompanied by HMS Audacity, the Royal Navy’s first escort carrier – a new type of warship purpose-built to defend convoys from enemy aircraft and U-boats. Following seven days and nights of relentless attack, the horrors of which are brought home through a series of first-hand accounts, the convoy finally reached the safety of a British port for the loss of only two merchant ships. Its arrival was seen as the first real convoy victory of the war. Brought to life by expert naval historian Angus Konstam, The Convoy combines the story of the technical and tactical developments that won the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies along with a narrative that reveals both the terror and the stubborn determination that defined the experiences of those that served on convoy duties.

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Start your music career off right with this fun guide to the music industry Music Business For Dummies explains the ins and outs of the music industry for artists and business people just starting out. You'll learn how file-sharing, streaming, and iTunes have transformed the industry, and how to navigate your way through the new distribution models to capitalize on your work. It all begins with the right team, and this practical guide explains who you need to have on your side as you begin to grow and get more exposure. Coverage includes rehearsing, performing, recording, publishing, copyrights, royalties, and much more, giving you the information you need to start your career off smart. Music industry success has never been easy to achieve, and recent transformations and disruptions to the business side have made the whole idea even more daunting than before. This guide gives you a roadmap around the landmines, and provides expert advice for starting out on the right foot. Find the right players, agents, and business managers Make more money from your work with smart distribution Build your brand and get people talking about you Get gigs, go on tour, and keep on growing If music is your calling, you need to plan your career in a way that sets you up for success from the very beginning. Put the right people in place, get the most out of your investments, and learn how to work the crowd both virtually and in person. Music Business For Dummies is your companion on your journey to the music career you want.

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Winner, 2023 Columbia University Press Distinguished Book AwardWinner, 2023 Frank Luther Mott / Kappa Tau Alpha Research AwardWinner, 2023 Journalism Studies Division Book Award, International Communication AssociationWinner, 2023 History Book Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass CommunicationLong before the current preoccupation with “fake news,” American newspapers routinely ran stories that were not quite, strictly speaking, true. Today, a firm boundary between fact and fakery is a hallmark of journalistic practice, yet for many readers and publishers across more than three centuries, this distinction has seemed slippery or even irrelevant. From fibs about royal incest in America’s first newspaper to social-media-driven conspiracy theories surrounding Barack Obama’s birthplace, Andie Tucher explores how American audiences have argued over what’s real and what’s not—and why that matters for democracy.Early American journalism was characterized by a hodgepodge of straightforward reporting, partisan broadsides, humbug, tall tales, and embellishment. Around the start of the twentieth century, journalists who were determined to improve the reputation of their craft established professional norms and the goal of objectivity. However, Tucher argues, the creation of outward forms of factuality unleashed new opportunities for falsehood: News doesn’t have to be true as long as it looks true. Propaganda, disinformation, and advocacy—whether in print, on the radio, on television, or online—could be crafted to resemble the real thing. Dressed up in legitimate journalistic conventions, this “fake journalism” became inextricably bound up with right-wing politics, to the point where it has become an essential driver of political polarization. Shedding light on the long history of today’s disputes over disinformation, Not Exactly Lying is a timely consideration of what happens to public life when news is not exactly true.

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On August 4, 1578, in an ill-conceived attempt to wrest Morocco back from the hands of the infidel Moors, King Sebastian of Portugal led his troops to slaughter and was himself slain. Sixteen years later, King Sebastian rose again. In one of the most famous of European impostures, Gabriel de Espinosa, an ex-soldier and baker by trade - and most likely under the guidance of a distinguished Portuguese friar - appeared in a Spanish convent town passing himself off as the lost monarch. The principals, along with a large cast of nuns, monks, and servants, were confined and questioned for nearly a year as a crew of judges tried to unravel the story, but the culprits went to their deaths with many questions left unanswered. Ruth MacKay recalls this conspiracy, marked both by scheming and absurdity, and the legal inquest that followed, to show how stories of this kind are conceived, told, circulated, and believed. The story of Sebastian - supposedly in hiding and planning to return to claim his crown - was lodged among other familiar stories: prophecies of returned leaders, nuns kept against their will, kidnappings by Moors, miraculous escapes, and monarchs who die for their country. As MacKay demonstrates, the conspiracy could not have succeeded without the circulation of news, the retellings of the fatal battle in well-read chronicles, and the networks of rumors and correspondents, all sharing the hope or belief that Sebastian had survived and would one day return. With its royal intrigues, ambitious artisans, dissatisfied religious women, and corrupt clergy, "The Baker Who Pretended to Be King of Portugal" will undoubtedly captivate readers as it sheds new light on the intricate political and cultural relations between Spain and Portugal in the early modern period and the often elusive nature of historical truth.

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‘A litany of fresh heroes to make the embattled heart sing’ Caitlin Moran ‘Newman is a brilliant writer’ Observer A fresh, opinionated history of all the brilliant women you should have learned about in school but didn’t. For hundreds of years we have heard about the great men of history, but what about herstory? In this freewheeling history of modern Britain, Cathy Newman writes about the pioneering women who defied the odds to make careers for themselves and alter the course of modern history; women who achieved what they achieved while dismantling hostile, entrenched views about their place in society. Their role in transforming Britain is fundamental, far greater than has generally been acknowledged, and not just in the arts or education but in fields like medicine, politics, law, engineering and the military. While a few of the women in this book are now household names, many have faded into oblivion, their personal and collective achievements mere footnotes in history. We know of Emmeline Pankhurst, Vera Brittain, Marie Stopes and Beatrice Webb. But who remembers engineer and motorbike racer Beatrice Shilling, whose ingenious device for the Spitfires’ Rolls-Royce Merlin fixed an often-fatal flaw, allowing the RAF’s planes to beat the German in the Battle of Britain? Or Dorothy Lawrence, the journalist who achieved her ambition to become a WW1 correspondent by pretending to be a man? And developmental biologist Anne McLaren, whose work in genetics paved the way for in vitro fertilisation? Blending meticulous research with information gleaned from memoirs, diaries, letters, novels and other secondary sources, Bloody Brilliant Women uses the stories of some extraordinary lives to tell the tale of 20th and 21st century Britain. It is a history for women and men. A history for our times.

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Longquan wares were made mainly in Zhejiang province over a period of over sixteen hundred years, from the 3rd to the 19th centuries. There are two outstanding features of the beautiful Longquan ceramics, one is that the body is made of porcelain, and the other, that the glaze contains kaolin in its composition. This gives Longquan ware unique colour and quality. The body is smooth and dense, the glaze either unctuous or shiny, the colour a myriad shades of kingfisher blue and jade green. The result of development of porcelain technology at Longquan was a tough, attractive, and versatile celadon material that was ideally suited for export. Longquan vessels found their way to a variety of markets around the world, from royal palaces to common dwellings. During the Yuan dynasty a peak in quantity was reached, with more than 150 kiln sites overall. Many new decoration techniques and forms of mass production for global exports emerged, until production almost expired entirely during the late Ming dynasty, due to a range of still-debated reasons. It is readily apparent that the Longquan kilns in Zhejiang province produced a wide range of wares, in vast quantities, over a period of more than 500 years. During the Southern Song period premier kinuta ceramics glazed with shimmering pale bluish-green colours attracted the highest approbation. During the early Ming dynasty the Daoyao kiln manufactured superlative imperial ceramics for the imperial household. However, despite their great beauty and perceived worth, Longquan ceramics have never been regarded as one of the “Five Great Wares”. This book combined some of the rarest and most exquisite Longquan wares of over 270 pieces from museums and Art Institutes around the world.

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Shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book Prize.'A study of diseases that we sometimes say are 'all in the mind', and an explanation of how unfair that characterisation is.' – Tom Whipple, The Times Books of the Year'To compare any book to a Oliver Sacks is unfair, but this one lives up to it . . . I finished it feeling thrillingly unsettled, and wishing there was more.' – James McConnachie, Sunday TimesIn Sweden, refugee children fall asleep for months and years at a time. In upstate New York, high school students develop contagious seizures. In the US Embassy in Cuba, employees complain of headaches and memory loss after hearing strange noises in the night.These cases are some of the most remarkable diagnostic mysteries of the twenty-first century, as both doctors and scientists have struggled to explain them within the boundaries of medical science and – more crucially – to treat them. What unites them is that they are all examples of a particular type of psychosomatic illness: medical disorders that are influenced as much by the idiosyncratic aspects of individual cultures as they are by human biology.Inspired by a poignant encounter with the sleeping refugee children of Sweden, Wellcome Prize-winning neurologist Suzanne O’Sullivan travels the world to visit other communities who have also been subject to outbreaks of so-called ‘mystery’ illnesses.From a derelict post-Soviet mining town in Kazakhstan, to the Mosquito Coast of Nicaragua via an oil town in Texas, to the heart of the Maria Mountains in Colombia, O’Sullivan hears remarkable stories from a fascinating array of people, and attempts to unravel their complex meaning while asking the question: who gets to define what is and what isn’t an illness?Reminiscent of the work of Oliver Sacks, Stephen Grosz and Henry Marsh, The Sleeping Beauties is a moving and unforgettable scientific investigation with a very human face.

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Samuel Johnson famously said that: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.” London’s remarkable history, architecture, landmarks, streets, style, cool, swagger, and stalwart residents are pictured in hundreds of compelling photographs sourced from a wide array of archives around the world. London is a vast sprawling metropolis, constantly evolving and growing, yet throughout its complex past and shifting present, the humor, unique character, and bulldog spirit of the people have stayed constant. This book salutes all those Londoners, their city, and its history. In addition to the wealth of images included in this book, many previously unpublished, London’s history is told through hundreds of quotations, lively essays, and references from key movies, books, and records. From Victorian London to the Swinging ’60s; from the Battle of Britain to Punk; from the Festival of Britain to the 2012 Olympics; from the foggy cobbled streets to the architectural masterpieces of the millennium; from rough pubs to private drinking clubs; from royal weddings to raves, from the charm of the East End to the wonders of Westminster; from Chelsea girls to Hoxton hipsters; from the power to glory: in page after page of stunning photographs, reproduced big and bold like the city itself, London at last gets the photographic tribute it deserves. Photographs by: Slim Aarons, Eve Arnold, David Bailey, Cecil Beaton, Bill Brandt, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Anton Corbijn, Terence Donovan, Roger Fenton, Bert Hardy, Evelyn Hofer, Frank Horvat, Tony Ray-Jones, Nadav Kander, Roger Mayne, Linda McCartney, Don McCullin, Norman Parkinson, Martin Parr, Rankin, Lord Snowdon, William Henry Fox Talbot, Juergen Teller, Mario Testino, Wolfgang Tillmans, and many, many others.

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An overview of John Stezaker’s film still collages, this book showcases the evolution of the artist’s relationship with a specific material. Leading British collage and appropriation artist John Stezaker began his ongoing series of film still collages in 1979 – the result of a period that marked a crucial change in the direction of the artist’s work, which had previously been centered around a text-based ‘conceptualism’. The series moves with Stezaker’s changing interests, using stills from classic American-period Hitchcock films as raw material before shifting towards the undistinguishable mass of 1940s and early 1950s low-budget studio films. Featuring collages based on a combination of film still excisions and superimpositions, this ongoing series is catalogued comprehensively for the first time in this volume, which brings together Stezaker’s earliest film still collages with his most recent. Full-colour illustrations are accompanied by an essay by David Campany and a conversation between the critic and the artist. John Stezaker (b.1949, Worcester) is one of the leading artists in contemporary photographic collage and appropriation. Employing vintage photographs, old Hollywood film stills, travel postcards and other printed matter, Stezaker creates small-format collages that bear qualities of Surrealism, Dada and found art. Stezaker studied at the Slade School of Art and has taught at the Royal College of Art and Central Saint Martins School of Art, London. In 2012 he was awarded the Deutsche Börse photography prize following a retrospective at the Whitechapel Gallery, London. His work has been exhibited internationally since the 1990s and is held in collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Arts Council England; and Tate.

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Here is a selection of paintings by artist Robert Geoghegan about his home city of Birmingham where he has lived for all his life. His work is full of the detail and colour of modern urban life, often combined with a nostalgia for old Birmingham. Some of the works portray ordinary everyday scenes like someone walking dogs, a lollipop man or getting on the bus with an off peak pass, while others show many of the city's landmarks such as Selfridges, Aston Hall and the Custard Factory but always with a comic twist. There's something here for everyone – from depictions of modern-day Goths in Pigeon Park to yesteryear's children hanging off the back of the old Corporation buses. There's football pictures about the Blues, Villa and West Brom – both tragic and comic! One about Jasper Carrott and of course King Kong has to make an appearance. Here the Birmingham buses are peopled by bears, Morris dancers, druids, Santa Claus and even the Royal Family. There's pictures of Birmingham's public statues: the Iron Man squaring up to a Cyberman, Bullie being harassed and the statue of Victorian reformer Thomas Attwood attracting the attention of the police. The Beatles, characters from Father Ted, Dracula, Daleks and the Peaky Blinders all make an appearance in this enthralling collection. Robert sells prints of his work at local art markets in Moseley, Kings Heath and the MAC as well as in the city centre before Christmas. His work is also available to purchase online at robspaintings.com. As well as being a practicing artist, Robert is an art tutor who has run art sessions in primary schools for many years and also teaches drawing and painting to adults.

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This book is a masterpiece of quilting. The 24th in the series--includes a range of quilts for all skill levels. Artist Kaffe Fassett is a name every quilter knows. His work has been commissioned by the British monarchy, American fashion designers, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. With his unerring eye, Kaffe has found the perfect location for his exquisite new collection of quilts, featuring both his scintillating new fabric designs and his classics, all in his unique colour palette. This time he has chosen the iconic 13th-century Powis Castle in north Wales, where the 20 quilts in this book are set off against the storybook castle and stunning grounds. Photographed brilliantly by Debbie Patterson, they are displayed in all their glory in a sumptuous eye-catching quilt gallery. The new designs include: Saturated red quilt consisting of rich deep hues Cold Frames quilt, with its dramatic black-and-white sashing framing fussy-cut flower prints The cool geometry of his Marble Tiles quilt takes its inspiration from the painted panelling in the Long Gallery Vintage Library quilt echoes the warm tones of the hundreds of leather-bound books in the Castle's collection. As usual, this book--the 24th in the series--includes a range of quilts for all skill levels, from beginners to advanced, and features an eclectic mix of patterns and colours ranging from Philip Jacobs' eye-catching bold floral prints to Brandon Mably's smaller-scale quirky patterns. In addition, flat shots, a practical know-how section, and a glossary back up the fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions for each quilt. This stunning book with impressive designs and eye-watering photography is as much of a keepsake as it is a beautiful gift for a loved one.

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Summer, 1660. Cromwell is dead and Charles Stuart has been restored to the throne. Men who supported the Protectorate are being hunted down as traitors. 'S. G. MacLean can make any historical period sing with life' Antonia HodgsonBy the summer of 1660 the last remnants of the Republic have been swept away and the Stuarts have been restored under their king, Charles II. A list of regicides believed to be involved in the death of Charles I is drawn up. Gruesome executions begin to take place and the hunt intensifies for those who have gone into hiding at home or abroad.Although not a regicide, staunch Republican Damian Seeker is on a list of traitors to the king. Royalist spy, Lady Anne Winter, is employed to find evidence of guilt or innocence among the names on this Winter List. Seeker has fled England but his beloved daughter Manon remains, married to Seeker's friend, the lawyer Lawrence Ingolby, and living in York.As the conduit to her father and to others on the Winter List and surrounded by spies and watchers, Manon lives in constant danger and fear of discovery. One of those spies is closer than even she could have imagined.Perfect for fans of Robert Harris and Andrew Taylor.******************************Praise for The Winter List 'A wonderful storyteller' The Times 'Vividly imaginative, this builds the world of 1660 from the ground up, with all its romance and tragedy' Sun 'A propulsive plot . . . well-researched and fascinating' Guardian'Gripping fiction with historical fact' Sunday Times'What a fabulous book . . . there is murder, there is intrigue, there is revenge' 5* Reader Review'Kept me hooked right up to the end' 5* Reader Review'A glorious tale of revenge and retribution . . . Highly recommended' 5* Reader Review

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When the call went out in 1917 for volunteers willing to serve both at home and on the Western Front in a newly founded Women's Army Auxiliary Corps, young women from every province of Ireland responded just as eagerly as those from homes in Scotland, England and Wales. Drawn from every class, creed, family background and ability, the girls who came forward to join the WAAC from Ireland had often suffered equal heartbreak over the loss of husbands, brothers and friends killed or wounded in France. Yet, their willingness to help bring about an end to the slaughter was a narrative that became ignored in popularised versions of that politically volatile era and it is hoped that this study will now go some way to restore a rightful recognition of their army service days within the historiography of twentieth-century Irishwomen. Their work as office workers, cooks and caterers, motor transport drivers, cryptanalysis and hi-tech telecommunication personnel are examined. Close investigation is made of the Irishwomen seconded to the Royal Engineers from branches of the General Post Office in Ireland and elsewhere. Attached to Signal units, they became key players in ensuring the Western Front's crucial, high-security army Lines of Communication remained viable. The story of these Irish servicewomen in the Great War winds up within the interwar period that followed. Had often dangerous war experiences affected these women's postwar life-changing decisions and aspirations? Compare/contrast experiences in the postwar era are cited. There were new careers, migration, home and family life. How many had foreseen that twenty years hence, Irish women veterans' of the Great War would once more rally at a time of fresh crisis?

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The 'little ships' of the Second World War - the fast and highly manoeuvrable motor torpedo boats and gunboats which fought in coastal waters all over the world - developed a special kind of naval warfare. With their daring nightly raids against an enemy's coastal shipping - and sometimes much larger warships - they acquired the buccaneering spirit of an earlier age. And never more so than in the close hand-to-hand battles which raged between opposing craft when they met in open waters. Large numbers of these small fighting boats were built by the major naval powers. The Germans called them Schnellboote (Fast Boats), referred to by the British as E-boats (E for Enemy). In the Royal Navy they were MTBs and MGBs. The American equivalent were PT boats (for Patrol Torpedo). They fought in the narrow waters of the English Channel and the stormy North Sea, in the Mediterranean off the coasts of North Africa and Italy and among the islands of the Aegean, across the Pacific from Pearl Harbour to Leyte Gulf, in Hong Kong and Singapore, and off Burma's Arakan coast. Bryan Cooper's book traces the history and development of these craft from their first limited use in the First World War and the fast motor boats designed in the 1930s for wealthy private clients and water speed record attempts. With account of the battles which took place during the Second World War, when the vital importance of coastal waters came to be recognised, he captures the drama of this highly individual form of combat. And not least the sea itself which was the common enemy of all who crewed these frail craft.

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