Search results for ""Author Paul""
Galley Beggar Press My Mind To Me A Kingdom Is
£9.99
Salmon Poetry Four Seasons
£11.00
Hawthorn Press The Insecurity Trap
People ask what is going wrong with the world, with new wars, extreme populist movements, climate breakdown, poverty, inequality and exclusion. There is a sense of unease, that things are falling apart', which is reflected both in global insecurity; a seeming failure to effectively negotiate or mediate in desperate wars (Ukraine, Sudan. Gaza) and a dismay at social injustice and rising poverty. This short book meets such concerns head-on, analyzing the worsening insecurity trap we are in, and how to get out of it. In the troubled decade that lies ahead, we have the combination of a bitterly divided world facing limits to growth and even climate breakdown. However, this is in a pervasive culture where national governments prioritise a security approach of hard militarism to enforce stability and protect the better off. Paul Rogers argues that responding to the prospect of a crowded glowering world, there are three questions to answer: Can we come to terms with the environmental limits
£11.99
Smith|Doorstop Books Strange Cargo:
£10.00
Pushkin Press Dust Off the Bones
Death follows young Tommy McBride everywhere. Five years ago his family was murdered, now a freak accident sends him fleeing into the wilderness of the Australian outback with a man lying dead in his wake. But Tommy is haunted by even worse - as children, he and his brother Billy witnessed the state-sanctioned massacre of the indigenous Kurrong people, and they haven't seen each other since. When an official inquiry is launched into the massacre, the successful life that Billy has built for himself comes under threat. He desperately needs to find Tommy, long disappeared into the bush. And he's not the only one - ruthless Inspector Noone, the man with perhaps the most to hide, is on Tommy's trail as well.
£8.99
Melville House UK English Uprising: Brexit and the Mainstreaming of the Far-Right
'Brexit' reflected perhaps the biggest vote of no confidence in the political establishment in modern British history. But how did we get here? Paul Stocker examines how ideas of the far right-always a fringe movement in Britain-have become part of the cultural and political mainstream, over the course of decades.
£14.99
£35.00
Galley Beggar Press Francis Plug - How To Be A Public Author
£9.99
Firefly Press Ltd LOST ON MARS LORA 1
With the scale and scope of the great science fiction epics, Lost on Mars tells the story of Lora and her family, third generation human settlers on the red planet who are struggling to survive in incredible circumstances.
£9.04
Sylph Editions Tilted Cup: The Cahier Series 22
£14.00
Vision Sports Publishing Ltd Wimbledon 2019: The official review of The Championships
£22.50
Bitter Lemon Press Death on demand
Ihaka is in the wilderness, having fallen foul of the new regime at Auckland Central. Called back to follow up a strange twist in the unsolved case that got him into trouble in the first place, Ihaka finds himself hunting a shadowy hitman who could have several notches on his belt. His enemies want him off the case, but the bodies are piling up. Ihaka embarks on a quest to establish whether police corruption was behind the shooting of an undercover cop and--to complicate matters-- he becomes involved with an enigmatic female suspect who could hold the key to everything.
£8.99
£9.04
£16.00
BlackAmber Books Ancestors
£10.99
Tradewind Books The Secret Keepers
£8.21
Tradewind Books The Bone Collector's Son
£7.60
Taylor & Francis Inc Focused Quality: Managing for Results
Focused Quality: Managing for Results is a book about using quality improvement as a means to enhance bottom line results. Written for managers in industry, services, healthcare and government, this important new book provides a focused approach on how to target critical improvement initiatives and insure their success.Prepare - Plan - Deploy - Transition are the steps in the improvement process that are covered in detail. Included are examples of how organizations have successfully accomplished each step. Practical lessons on how to and how not to implement quality and process improvement initiatives are given.Process assessment is crucial to identifying the importance of a process and defining the scope of what is involved in order to improve it. Before deciding to refine, redesign or reengineer an assessment is needed. Focused Quality: Managing for Results not only shows you how to do an assessment but also how to apply the results to improve the bottom line.Application is emphasized throughout the book with the focus on the managers role in leading the change effort. The authors have provided a set of questions that management should answer to determine if their organization is ready to effectively implement the improvement process. Realizing that even the best plans can go astray there is also a diagnostic check sheet to pinpoint the causes of and solutions for process improvement failures.
£130.00
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Economic Policy and Climate Change: Tradable Permits for Reducing Carbon Emissions
Economic Policy and Climate Change focuses on the design, implementation and consequences of a feasible system of tradable carbon permits to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the context of the European Union.Economic instruments are considered fundamental in reducing atmospheric pollution, especially carbon dioxide emissions. This important book outlines the design of an achievable system of tradable emission permits in the EU. It considers the distribution of permits, the problem of monitoring and enforcement and the possibility that the system might create a barrier to potential entrants to industry. This is especially important because entry barriers will affect the whole economy and long-term industry dynamics. The analysis then extends to consider the use of tradable permits and taxes in the context of international cooperation on emissions reduction. International agreements are examined within the framework of a second-best, two country model in which governments reduce emissions and raise revenue simultaneously. The author concludes that it is not welfare-maximizing to trade permits between countries if emission limits and side-payments have not first been agreed.This book will be of special interest to environmental economists, environmentalists and policymakers.
£100.00
Mortons Media Group Essex and East Hertfordshire: No. 42
£15.99
Mortons Media Group Yorkshire: The West Riding: v. 2
£17.99
John Murray Press Don't Tell Mum I Work on the Rigs: (She Thinks I'm a Piano Player in a Whorehouse)
A take-no-prisoners approach to life has seen Paul Carter heading to some of the world's most remote, wild and dangerous places as a contractor in the oil business. Amazingly, he's survived (so far) to tell these stories from the edge of civilization. He has been shot at, hijacked and held hostage; almost died of dysentery in Asia and toothache in Russia; watched a Texan lose his mind in the jungles of Asia; lost a lot of money backing a scorpion against a mouse in a fight to the death, and been served cocktails by an orangutan on an ocean freighter. And that's just his day job. Taking postings in some of the world's wildest and most remote regions, not to mention some of the roughest rigs on the planet, Paul has worked, got into trouble, and been given serious talkings to, in locations as far-flung as the North Sea, Middle East, Borneo and Tunisia, as exotic as Sumatra, Vietnam and Thailand, and as flat-out dangerous as Columbia, Nigeria and Russia, with some of the maddest, baddest and strangest people you could ever hope not to meet.
£9.99
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Asian Adolescents in the West
This book looks at the inter-ethnic relations, racial prejudice, gender equality, the development of ethnic identity; bilingualism; the practice of home religion; and scholastic achievement and adjustment. Its aim it to provide an up-to-date picture of the situation of South Asian and Chinese adolescents living in the UK today.
£43.95
Whittles Publishing The Fabulous Flotilla: Scotland's Adventure on the Rivers of Burma
The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, known in colonial Burma as the ‘Fabulous Flotilla’, was the largest privately-owned fleet of ships in the world. It was an entirely Scottish enterprise with nearly all its investors, management and ship’s officers drawn from Scotland. Over 1,200 ships were ordered mainly from Clyde yards and each year carried the majority of the population of Burma on its river network without loss of life. The paddle steamers were amongst the largest in the world, innovative in design and technology, and very beautiful. The flotilla began as a naval task force in the 1820s, was commandeered in five wars, and was to end its life with the British evacuation of Burma in 1942, the greatest evacuation in British military history. Fascinating personalities emerge from Strachan’s descriptions of Irrawaddy commanders and the flotilla’s key players. The ships evolved over a hundred years into riverine versions of ocean liners with plush cabins, restaurants, shops and even post offices on board. The largest class of ships carried 5,000 passengers including royalty, celebrities of the day and famous writers like Somerset Maugham along with early tourists and big game hunters. In the second part of the book, the author who himself has spent much of his life running ships on the rivers of Burma, takes us on a journey 1,000 miles upriver to explore the different regions of the country often highlighting Scottish connections. The river is the thread through which Burma’s often tragic history, yet rich and glorious Buddhist culture, flows and only on a river journey can the country be understood. Renamed Myanmar in 1997, Burma is Scotland’s ‘lost colony’ and the Scottish connection is little remembered today due to Burma’s half a century of post-war isolation. In its 1920s heyday Burma had the highest concentration of Scots anywhere in the world, outside of Scotland, with the exception of Canada. Scots were everywhere in Burma, running everything, and even their Burmese servants spoke in ‘broad’ Scots. With the ‘opening up’ of Burma in the early 21st century the Irrawaddy watershed, where about 50 million people live in a primitive rural economy, is under threat. Deforestation on a vast scale has resulted in the silting up of once navigable channels. China, with its ‘belt and road’ system that is a euphemism to a recolonisation of the country, plans to build one of the world’s largest dams in the river’s headwaters that would devastate the country’s agriculture and fisheries. The Fabulous Flotilla provides a revealing record of this remarkable era in Burma’s history and past Scottish endeavour – a jewel of a story that may soon be lost.
£18.99
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd Orban: Europe's New Strongman
A no-holds-barred biography of Viktor Orbán, the most successful--and arguably most dangerous--politician in Hungarian history. Through a masterly and cynical manipulation of ethnic nationalism, and deep-rooted corruption, Prime Minister Orbán has exploited successive electoral victories to build a closely knit and super-rich oligarchy. More than any other EU leader, he wields undisputed power over his people. Orbán's ambitions are far-reaching. Hailed by governments and far-right politicians as the champion of a new anti-Brussels nationalism, his ruthless crackdown on refugees, his open break with normative values and his undisguised admiration for Presidents Putin and Trump pose a formidable challenge to the survival of liberal democracy in a divided Europe. Mining exclusive documents and interviews, celebrated journalist Paul Lendvai sketches the extraordinary rise of Orbán, an erstwhile anti-communist rebel turned populist autocrat. His compelling portrait reveals a man with unfettered power.
£30.00
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Strategy Process
The evolving field of strategy process has witnessed many developments in recent years and attracted the attention of leading academics. Professor Olk, in this authoritative volume, has selected seminal papers which consider a number of important issues regarding strategy process. Beginning with a general overview, this indispensible collection covers important topics including stage models, goal oriented models, methodology and future direction. This timely volume, with an original introduction by the editor, is particularly well suited for scholars and students in the areas of strategy process and strategic management.
£296.00
CABI Publishing Biology of Breeding Poultry
This book reviews the biological science and background to breeding meat poultry, specifically broiler, turkey and duck. These commercial birds have been changed by genetic selection to such an extent that they are substantially different from traditional breeds and laying hens. Covering science, management and husbandry systems, this comprehensive text provides the most up to date collection of papers on the topic from a range of international experts.
£132.85
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd The Theory of International Trade and Unemployment
In this book, Paul Oslington underlines the contradiction between the prominence of job losses in political conflict over trade liberalization, and trade economists usually working with full employment models. This book is a comprehensive treatment of the benchmark competitive trade model with unemployment. It highlights the important linkages between trade and employment, providing analytical tools for participants in debates over trade liberalization. Global economy models, and empirically important cases where factor price equalization fails are considered for the first time. Questions addressed include: How do trading economies with unemployment respond to shocks such as terms of trade deteriorations, changes in labour market institutions or technological change? How does international migration affect employed and unemployed workers? How are trade patterns and volumes modified by unemployment? Is trade liberalisation always gainful when there is unemployment? How are European and American labour markets linked? How does the entry of newly industrializing countries into manufactured goods markets affect unemployment and wages in different parts of the world? What is the impact of harmonization of international labour standards on different groups in different parts of the world? This work is a basis for much needed empirical and policy work on trade and unemployment. It will strongly appeal to researchers, students and academics with an interest in international economics and international business. Economists in government and international agencies will also find much to interest them within this book.
£90.00
Kogan Page International Human Resource Management
Paul Iles is Professor of Leadership and HRM at Glasgow School for Business and Society, Glasgow Caledonian University, UKDr. Crystal Ling Zhang is Senior Lecturer in Human Resource Management and Organisational Behaviour at Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK
£46.99
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Sir George Dyson: His Life and Music
The story of a fascinating, controversial man who influenced almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. George Dyson (1883-1964) was a highly influential composer, educator and administrator, whose work touched the lives of millions. Yet today, apart from his Canterbury Pilgrims and two sets of canticles for Choral Evensong, his music is little known. In this comprehensive and detailed study, based not only on Dyson's own writings but on unpublished papers, personal correspondence, and interviews with his family and friends, Paul Spicer brings this remarkable man and his lyrical, passionate and engaging music to life once more. Born into a working class family in Halifax, West Yorkshire, he rose from humble beginnings to become the voice of public school music in Britain and Director of the RCM. As a scholarship student, he met and studied with some of the leading musicians of the day, including Sir Charles Villiers Stanford and Sir Hubert Parry. He went on to work in some of the country's greatest schools, where he established his reputation as a composer, particularly of choral and orchestral works, of which Quo Vadis was his most ambitious. A member of the BBC Brains Trust panel, Dyson was also the 'voice of music' on the radio for a number of years and helped to educate the nation through his regular broadcasts. A fascinating, controversial man, George Dyson touched almost every sphere of musical life in Britain and helped to change the face of music performance and education in this country. This seminal book, examining every aspect of his long, colourful career, re-establishes him as the towering figure he undoubtedly was in his time. PAUL SPICER was a composition student of Herbert Howells, whose biography he wrote in 1998. He is well-known as a choral conductor especially of British Music of the twentieth century onwards, a writer, composer, teacher, and producer.
£89.83
Boydell & Brewer Ltd British Spies and Irish Rebels: British Intelligence and Ireland, 1916-1945
Using recently opened archives, this book provides new insights into the history of the British intelligence community and helps explain Anglo-Irish relations during a time of momentous change. The lessons it draws still echo today, as Britain contends with the threat posed by violent militants, whether from Ireland or further afield. One of the Irish Times' Books of the Year, 2008 The struggle between British intelligence agencies and Irish revolutionaries has lasted for centuries - and still goes on. But it was at its most intense during the first half of the twentieth century. Ireland experienced a bloody rebellion, bitter partition and a stuttering march towards independence. Britain grappled with imperial decline and world war, while government agencies were worrying about being stabbed in the back by their Irish neighbour. Using recently opened archives, this book reveals for the first time how intelligence and intelligence agencies shaped Anglo-Irish relations during this formative period. The book casts light on characters long kept in the shadows - IRA gunrunners, Bolshevik agitators, Nazi saboteurs, British double agents. It shows what happened when Irish revolutionaries stopped fighting, formed governments and started sharing information with London - while doing everything possible to hide this from the Irish public. It also fills in a missing chapter in the history of the British intelligence community, tracing its evolution from amateurishbeginnings, through a painful adolescence, to the sophisticated apparatus that is largely still with us. The book probes some deeper questions about intelligence and the complex Anglo-Irish relationship. What has the most influence on government policy? The work of professional intelligence agencies? Or the misconceptions and preconceptions that politicians and civil servants bring to their jobs? Why are secrets so seductive - and sometimes so misleading? Packed with anecdotes and unexpected paradoxes, this book provides new insights into the history of the British intelligence community and helps explain the twists and turns of Anglo-Irish relations during a time of momentous change. The lessons it draws still echo today, as Britain contends with the threat posed by violent militants, whether from Ireland or further afield. PAUL MCMAHON received his bachelor's degree from University College Dublin, before studying for an MPhil and a PhD at Cambridge University. He has worked as a management consultant and policy advisor focussing on climate change and food security.
£29.99
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Monetary History, Exchange Rates and Financial Markets: Essays in Honour of Charles Goodhart, Volume Two
Commenting on the quality of the contributors when opening the conference on which these books are based, the former Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Edward George, said 'I cannot remember ever before having had such a galaxy of academic economist and central banking superstars gathered together under one roof!''Monetary History, Exchange Rates and Financial Markets is an impressive collection of original papers in honour of Charles Goodhart's outstanding contribution to monetary economics and policy. Its contributors - eminent international academics, central bankers and financial market regulators - provide an insight into an extensive set of issues including: the role of the history of economic thought in modern macroeconomics Charles Goodhart's contribution to British monetary history lessons from the history of financial crises customer trades and extreme events in foreign exchange markets trading activity, volatility and liquidity in foreign exchange markets competition, stability and financial regulation. Charles Goodhart has written extensively on many of these topics and has become synonymous with his field; the chapters within this book offer a summary of current thinking on his own research subjects and include perspectives on controversies surrounding them. Integrating clarity of economic thinking with the practicalities of policy, this arresting book will be invaluable to economists, central bankers and students of monetary economics. The companion volume examines central banking, monetary theory and practice.
£111.00
HarperCollins Publishers Build a Skyscraper
Paul Farrell's stackable cards are fun for all the family Build a skyscraper using the beautifully-designed cards, with only your imagination to limit you. Each pack contains 64 cards (105 x 69 mm) in a variety of graphic designs. Clever paper engineering allows you to slot the cards together, building up and out in whichever way you like! Also included is a short booklet, with descriptions of the key elements of a skyscraper and suggestions of how to build your masterpiece. You can go traditional or get abstract and construct your own crazy high-rise! Renowned illustrator Paul Farrell has designed these cards in a cool, graphic style – turning the image of a skyscraper into a work of art. Fun, educational, creative and mindful. The sky's the limit!
£11.69
John Wiley and Sons Ltd SUMO Your Relationships: How to handle not strangle the people you live and work with
When it comes to relationships, reality rules. We'd all like to think of ourselves as everyone's best friend, but what's the truth? Are you a hero or a zero to other people? Do you see yourself as others really see you? Do you need to make a fresh deposit into your relationship account before you go overdrawn? S.U.M.O. Your Relationships will help you manage, maintain, grow and move on, in your key relationships with others and yourself. At some point in your life you are going to have to deal with difficult relationships, whether it's with a colleague, parent, friend or partner. Isn't it time you did a stock take of your relationships and started making the best of them? S.U.M.O. Your Relationships has pit stops, pearls of wisdom and all the humour and inspiration you need to make the key changes in your life. You will discover the seven S.U.M.O. realities followed by seven insights to help light the way to a brighter future. PRAISE FOR S.U.M.O. YOUR RELATIONSHIPS "This book is full of wisdom, common sense and practical ideas on improving relationships. An essential read." —ALLAN PEASE, Co-author of THE DEFINITIVE BOOK OF BODY LANGUAGE and WHY MEN DON'T LISTEN AND WOMEN CAN'T READ MAPS
£12.99
Zero to Ten At Home
£8.42
Zero to Ten At Home
£12.99
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd A Post Keynesian Perspective on Twenty-First Century Economic Problems
This book explores key economic problems and new policies for the global economy of the 21st century. The contributors discuss to what extent past policy errors were due to the incompetence of policymakers, and highlight problems including: international payments imbalances and currency crises, volatile security markets, inflation, achieving full employment, income distribution and alleviating individuals and nations of poverty. In particular, topics explored include: the development problem experienced by Brazil during the past two decades the desire of most developing nations to achieve an export-led growth strategy the constraint of balance-of-payments on Mexico's long-term economic growth the relationship between group division and levels of economic development decreasing economic growth in the United States the consideration of effective demand, and structural and technological change the relationship between unemployment and profitability. The book presents a challenging set of arguments, and illustrates the many problems faced by decision makers in their attempt at policy making in the new global economy. It will be of special interest to academic economists, central bankers, government policymakers and those involved in financial markets.
£105.00
Smokestack Books Billy Casper's Tears
£8.23
Titan Books Ltd Horror Movie export paperback
The monster at the heart of a cult 90s cursed horror film tells his shocking and bloody secret history. Slow burn terror meets high-stakes showdowns, from the bestselling author of A Head Full of Ghosts and The Cabin at the End of the World.
£9.99
Straightforward Publishing Bookkeeping And Accounts For Small Business: Revised Edition 2022
£9.99
Emerald Publishing Limited Class History and Class Practices in the Periphery of Capitalism
Only after World War II did scholars move to theorize the distinction between the core countries at the center of capitalism and peripheral countries, often with an added distinction to include the semi-peripheral. Immanuel Wallerstein's World Systems approach has been particularly important and led the term periphery into common scholarly parlance. Not surprisingly, much work remains to be done to untangle the extreme diversity and complexity of the political economies and resistances against the multidimensional cruelties perpetrated in the world’s many, very different peripheral contexts. Class History and Class Practices in the Periphery of Capitalism addresses this need head-on. A first chapter lays a theoretical groundwork by showing that Marx, in his later life, became aware that historical developments are much more complicated than he originally conceived them to be, and he was not as far away from calling for site-specific analyses. Contributions here carry out just such analyses: they describe specificities for Russia, Portugal, Argentina, and Mexico, offer broader perspectives on post-hegemonic Latin America and Asia, provide detailed analyses of resistances across Africa, and reflect on the deeper meaning of neozapatismo for promoting a shift in the entire terrain of discussion. Rich in theoretical depth and empirical rigor, and supplemented by an out-of-the-archive translation of Karl Katusky's theory of crises, this book is essential reading for students and scholars of political economy and international political economy, and it is of keen interest to anyone working to resist specific capitalist exploitations in their own place and time.
£88.66
Michael O'Mara Books Ltd Where's the Unicorn? An Epic Adventure: A Magical Search and Find Book
The unicorns of Rainbow Valley are off on another adventure. This time, Blossom, Leaf, Ruby and friends are looking for a distant, lost land, called Unicopolis, where an ancient civilization of unicorns used to live. It’s believed to be home to countless beautiful artefacts, one of which will help restore the fading magic of their world. But they’re not the only ones looking for its treasures …The unicorns’ quest takes them across the world, from a remote and crumbling, haunted Scottish castle and the deep-sea ruins of an ancient Greek city overrun with mermaids and marine animals, to an enchanted, Nordic forest full of magical creatures, mummy-ridden ancient Egyptian tombs, a remote Antarctic outpost crowded with out-of-this-world visitors and the majestic and glittering ruins of Unicopolis itself.Use your spotting skills to not only find the each of the seven unicorns on every page, but the special ‘epic finds’ – maps, treasures and more – that will help the unicorns on their way, all the while outrunning the baddies on their tails in this epic search adventure.
£7.99
Reaktion Books Animal Architecture: Beasts, Buildings and Us
The spider spinning its web in a dark corner; wasps building a nest under a roof: there is hardly any part of the built environment that can’t be inhabited by nonhumans, and yet we are extremely selective as to which animals we allow in or keep out. This book considers many different animals, opening up new ways of thinking about architecture and the more-than-human. Looking closely at how animals produce spaces for themselves, Paul Dobraszczyk asks what we might require in order to design with animals and become more attuned to the other lifeforms that already use our structures. Animal Architecture is a provocative exploration of building in a world where humans and other animals are already entangled, whether we acknowledge it or not.
£25.00
Little Tiger Press Group Stick Boy and the Rise of the Robots
It's tough fitting in when you're born to stick out! When Baron Ben gives the residents of Little Town an exciting new gadget that lets them explore virtual worlds, they can’t wait to try it out! Before long everyone is plugged into their techy treats. Everyone that is, except Stick Boy. Left to his own devices and suspicious of Baron Ben’s generous gift, Stick is on the case. And when his investigations lead him to a secret underground lair full of robots preparing to take over the town, it’s up to Stick Boy to save the day! An exciting and extremely funny new world for middle grade readers and fans of DIARY OF A WIMPY KID, TOM GATES and TIMMY FAILURE with colour illustrations throughout.
£7.99
Bonnier Books Ltd Shooting Star
'A masterpiece. Beautiful, tragic and immaculately researched.' - Matt Everitt'Elliott was one of the best songwriters of our day and a formidable musician.' - Beck'There's an undercurrent of real sadness in a lot of his music ... and that's just really the way he was.' - Steve Drozd, Flaming LipsIn 2003, Steven 'Elliott' Smith died from two stab wounds to the heart. To this day, the autopsy evidence remains inconclusive as to whether the wounds were self-inflicted or the result of homicide. Either way, this tragic end to Elliott's short-lived though prodigiously talented life became the dark denouement of a story riddled with depression, mental illness, addiction and chronic substance abuse. Yet it is also a story of worldwide critical acclaim, of Oscar nominations and of some of the finest recorded music of the late twentieth century.Now, two decades after Elliott's death,
£12.99
Bonnier Books Ltd Shooting Star: The Definitive Story of Elliott Smith
A Resident Book of the Year'A masterpiece. Beautiful, tragic and immaculately researched.' - Matt Everitt'Elliott was one of the best songwriters of our day and a formidable musician.' - Beck'There's an undercurrent of real sadness in a lot of his music ... and that's just really the way he was.' - Steve Drozd, Flaming LipsIn 2003, Steven 'Elliott' Smith died from two stab wounds to the heart. To this day, the autopsy evidence remains inconclusive as to whether the wounds were self-inflicted or the result of homicide. Either way, this tragic end to Elliott's short-lived though prodigiously talented life became the dark denouement of a story riddled with depression, mental illness, addiction and chronic substance abuse. Yet it is also a story of worldwide critical acclaim, of Oscar nominations and of some of the finest recorded music of the late twentieth century.Now, two decades after Elliott's death, Shooting Star seeks to encapsulate the many complexities of this shy, funny, engaging, enigmatic musician and his desperately troubled soul. With contributions from those closest to Elliott who have not previously spoken about their friend, this masterful biography places the singer-songwriter's vulnerabilities and decline within the broader context of all that he achieved: the sheer, stark beauty of the records he made and the resounding impact they went on to have across a whole spectrum of contemporary music.This is the definitive account of Elliott Smith - a once-in-a-generation artist.
£19.80
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Funny Ha, Ha: 80 of the Funniest Stories Ever Written
The Sunday Times Humour Book of the Year. 80 of the funniest stories ever written, selected and introduced by Paul Merton. From Anton Chekhov to Ali Smith, from P.G. Wodehouse to Nora Ephron, the greatest writers are those who know how to laugh. Here, award-winning comedian and broadcaster Paul Merton brings together his favourite funny stories of all time. Whether it's the silly, surreal, slap-stick or satirical that makes you smile, there's a story here to tickle every funny bone. From prize-winners and literary giants, to stand-up comedians and the rising stars of funny literature, this brilliant anthology is guaranteed to cheer your day.
£25.00
C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd The Plight of Western Religion: The Eclipse of the Other-Worldly
'Religion' can be used to mean all kinds of things, but a substantive definition––based on the premise of superhuman powers––can clarify much. It allows us to attempt to differentiate religion from culture, ethnicity, morality and politics. This definition of religion necessarily implies a perception of reality. Until recent centuries in the West, and in most cultures still, the ordinary, natural and immediate way of understanding and experiencing reality was in terms of otherworldly or spiritual forces. However, a cognitive shift has taken place through the rise of science and its subsequent technological application. This new consciousness has not disproved the existence of spiritual forces, but has led to the marginalisation of the other-worldly, which even Western churches seem to accept. They persist, but increasingly as pressure groups promoting humanist values. Claims of 'American exceptionalism' in this regard are misleading. Obama's religion, Evangelical support for Trump, and the mega-church message of success in the capitalist system can all be cultural and political phenomena. This eclipsing of the other-worldly constitutes a watershed in human history, with profound consequences not just for religious institutions but for our entire world order.
£30.00