Search results for ""Author Jan"

Rosamund Lupton meets Lupin in this accomplished debut from an eclectic, cut-throat new voice in thriller writing.**DON'T MISS MEGAN DAVIS' NEXT THRILLER, BAY OF THIEVES. AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW**'A sleek, sinister debut' WOMAN'S OWN'A strong, twisting, literary journey of revelation and redemption. Five stars' JANICE HALLETT'An intelligent, gripping and stylish literary thriller - I couldn't put it down. Megan Davis is a major new talent' SOPHIE HANNAH'A sharply written, clever and classy thrill-ride through the streets of Paris' CHRIS WHITAKER A crime he didn't commit. A truth he must deliver.Wealthy and privileged, Alex has an easy path to success in the Parisian elite his father mingles with. But the two have never seen eye to eye. Desperate to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of their apartment, Alex seeks freedom on the streets of Paris where his new-found friend Sami teaches him how to survive. But everything has a price - and one night of rebellion changes their lives forever.A simple plan to steal money takes a sinister turn when Alex's father is found dead. Despite protesting their innocence, both boys are imprisoned for murder. Seven years later Alex is released from prison with a single purpose: to discover who really killed his father. Yet as he searches for answers and atones for the sins of his past, Alex uncovers a disturbing truth with far-reaching consequences.Playing out against a backdrop of corruption, fake news and civil unrest, The Messenger exposes the gritty reality of a changing city through one son's journey to redemption and the truth.'Megan Davis's electric, suspenseful and stunning evocation of contemporary Paris is unforgettable' ELIZABETH MACNEAL'A well-written, intriguing novel with an excellent sense of place' KAMILA SHAMSIE 'Compelling ... A deft blend of murder mystery, political intrigue and family secrets' DOMINIC NOLAN

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Rosamund Lupton meets Lupin in this accomplished debut from an eclectic, cut-throat new voice in thriller writing.**DON'T MISS MEGAN DAVIS' NEXT THRILLER, BAY OF THIEVES. AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW**'A sleek, sinister debut' WOMAN'S OWN'A strong, twisting, literary journey of revelation and redemption. Five stars' JANICE HALLETT'An intelligent, gripping and stylish literary thriller - I couldn't put it down. Megan Davis is a major new talent' SOPHIE HANNAH'A sharply written, clever and classy thrill-ride through the streets of Paris' CHRIS WHITAKER A crime he didn't commit. A truth he must deliver.Wealthy and privileged, Alex has an easy path to success in the Parisian elite his father mingles with. But the two have never seen eye to eye. Desperate to escape the increasingly suffocating atmosphere of their apartment, Alex seeks freedom on the streets of Paris where his new-found friend Sami teaches him how to survive. But everything has a price - and one night of rebellion changes their lives forever.A simple plan to steal money takes a sinister turn when Alex's father is found dead. Despite protesting their innocence, both boys are imprisoned for murder. Seven years later Alex is released from prison with a single purpose: to discover who really killed his father. Yet as he searches for answers and atones for the sins of his past, Alex uncovers a disturbing truth with far-reaching consequences.Playing out against a backdrop of corruption, fake news and civil unrest, The Messenger exposes the gritty reality of a changing city through one son's journey to redemption and the truth. 'Megan Davis's electric, suspenseful and stunning evocation of contemporary Paris is unforgettable' ELIZABETH MACNEAL'A well-written, intriguing novel with an excellent sense of place' KAMILA SHAMSIE 'Compelling ... A deft blend of murder mystery, political intrigue and family secrets' DOMINIC NOLAN

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_______________ AN INCREDIBLE 4-IN-1 COLLECTION OF THE FIRST FOUR FANTASTICALLY GREAT WOMEN BOOKS: Fantastically Great Women Who Changed the World Fantastically Great Women Who Made History Fantastically Great Women Who Saved the Planet Fantastically Great Women Who Worked Wonders _______________ 'Significantly more engaging and inspiring than the rival Rebel Girls' GUARDIAN 'It's hard to imagine any group of primary-aged children who wouldn't be inspired' BOOKSELLER 'An absolute must-have for every young person’s bookshelf' HUFFINGTON POST _______________ The perfect gift for curious children who want to learn all about the world's most FANTASTICALLY GREAT WOMEN! The complete collection of Kate Pankhurst's bestselling Fantastically Great Women series brought together in stunning hardback with gold foil and a cover that folds out into a FANTASTICALLY GREAT poster. Including the stories of 56 women from throughout history and around the world with new and original content for this special edition! No DREAM is too BIG if you just believe in yourself. And these strong, ambitious and FANTASTICALLY GREAT women prove it. They've conquered the tallest mountains, made game-changing discoveries, stood up for women's rights and protected our beautiful, fragile planet. Discover the inspirational lives of just some of the extraordinary women who have transformed people's expectations of what women can do in this stunning gift collection. Featuring illustrated timelines and all the women from Kate Pankhurst's adored picture books, from Frida Kahlo to Jane Goodall, and some new faces too. Get ready to meet courageous racing car driver Eliska Junkova who whizzed to victory and became the first woman to win a Grand Prix and the influential composer Chiquinha Gonzaga, the first woman conductor in Brazil. Perfect for reading at bedtime, these empowering stories will encourage you to BE BOLD, AIM HIGH and NEVER GIVE UP. How will YOU change the world?

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Robert Dance’s new evaluation of Joan Crawford looks at her entire career and—while not ignoring her early years and tempestuous personal life—focuses squarely on her achievements as an actress, and as a woman who mastered the studio system with a rare combination of grit, determination, beauty, and talent.Crawford’s remarkable forty-five-year motion picture career is one of the industry’s longest. Signing her first contract in 1925, she was crowned an MGM star four years later and by the mid-1930s was the most popular actress in America. In the early 1940s, Crawford’s risky decision to move to Warner Bros. was rewarded with an Oscar for Mildred Pierce. This triumph launched a series of film noir classics. In her fourth decade she teamed with rival Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, proving that Crawford, whose career had begun by defining big-screen glamour, had matured into a superb dramatic actress. Her last film was released in 1970, and two years later she made a final television appearance, forty-seven years after walking through the MGM gate for the first time. Crawford made a successful transition into business during her later years, notably in her long association with Pepsi-Cola as a board member and the brand’s leading ambassador. Overlooked in previous biographies has been Crawford’s fierce resolve in creating and then maintaining her star persona. She let neither her age nor the passing of time block her unrivaled ambition, and she continually reimagined herself, noting once that, for the right part, she would play Wally Beery’s grandmother. But she was always the consummate star, and at the time of her death in 1977, she was a motion picture legend and a twentieth-century icon.

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In September 1868, the remains of Jacob and Nancy Jane Young were found lying near the banks of Indiana's White River. It was a gruesome scene. Part of Jacob's face had been blown off, apparently by the shotgun that lay a few feet away. Spiders and black beetles crawled over his wound. Smoke rose from his wife's smoldering body, which was so badly burned that her intestines were exposed, the flesh on her thighs gone, and the bones partially reduced to powder. Suspicion for both deaths turned to Nancy Clem, a housewife who was also one of Mr. Young's former business partners. In The Notorious Mrs. Clem, Wendy Gamber chronicles the life and times of this charming and persuasive Gilded Age confidence woman, who became famous not only as an accused murderess but also as an itinerant peddler of patent medicine and the supposed originator of the Ponzi scheme. Clem's story is a shocking tale of friendship and betrayal, crime and punishment, courtroom drama and partisan politicking, get-rich-quick schemes and shady business deals. It also raises fascinating questions about women's place in an evolving urban economy. As they argued over Clem's guilt or innocence, lawyers, jurors, and ordinary citizens pondered competing ideas about gender, money, and marriage. Was Clem on trial because she allegedly murdered her business partner? Or was she on trial because she engaged in business? Along the way, Gamber introduces a host of equally compelling characters, from prosecuting attorney and future U.S. president Benjamin Harrison to folksy defense lawyer John Hanna, daring detective Peter Wilkins, pioneering "lady news writer" Laura Ream, and female-remedy manufacturer Michael Slavin. Based on extensive sources, including newspapers, trial documents, and local histories, this gripping account of a seemingly typical woman who achieved extraordinary notoriety will appeal to true crime lovers and historians alike.

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Watching the revolution of January 2011, the world saw Egyptians, men and women, come together to fight for freedom and social justice. These events gave renewed urgency to the fraught topic of gender in the Middle East. The role of women in public life, the meaning of manhood, and the future of gender inequalities are hotly debated by religious figures, government officials, activists, scholars, and ordinary citizens throughout Egypt. Live and Die Like a Man presents a unique twist on traditional understandings of gender and gender roles, shifting the attention to men and exploring how they are collectively "produced" as gendered subjects. It traces how masculinity is continuously maintained and reaffirmed by both men and women under changing socio-economic and political conditions. Over a period of nearly twenty years, Farha Ghannam lived and conducted research in al-Zawiya, a low-income neighborhood not far from Tahrir Square in northern Cairo. Detailing her daily encounters and ongoing interviews, she develops life stories that reveal the everyday practices and struggles of the neighborhood over the years. We meet Hiba and her husband as they celebrate the birth of their first son and begin to teach him how to become a man; Samer, a forty-year-old man trying to find a suitable wife; Abu Hosni, who struggled with different illnesses; and other local men and women who share their reactions to the uprising and the changing situation in Egypt. Against this backdrop of individual experiences, Ghannam develops the concept of masculine trajectories to account for the various paths men can take to embody social norms. In showing how men work to realize a "male ideal," she counters the prevalent dehumanizing stereotypes of Middle Eastern men all too frequently reproduced in media reports, and opens new spaces for rethinking patriarchal structures and their constraining effects on both men and women.

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Women in contemporary Greek society have been conventionally depicted as oppressed and socially inferior, circumscribed in behavior and segregated from the world of men. In 1967 Ernestine Friedl's classic article, "The Position of Women: Appearnce and Reality," argued that this view was overly simplified and that in Greek villages women in fact exercise power in household decisions and in determining the economic and marital future of their children. Since that article, feminists and anthropologists have continued to discuss the appearances of prestige vs. the realities of power. In this volume scholars form a variety of backgrounds return the debate to the setting of Greece for the first time since Friedl's work. Introduced by Jill Dubisch, the book contains eight original essays and a republication of the Friedl article.Among other topics, the essays examine changes now occurring in Greek gender roles, the ways women deal with oppression and act as mediators between the domestic sphere and life outside the home, and the extension of the language and symbolism of gender beyond male and female roles. The contributors are Juliet du Boulay, Anna Caraveli, Muriel Dimen, Jill Dubisch, Michael Herzfeld, Robinette Kennedy, Elftherios Pavlides and Jana Hesser, and S.D. Salamone and J.B. Stanton.Jill Dubisch is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte.Originally published in 1986.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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A PITCHFORK MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEARA radical, literary and intimate insight into one of the twentieth century's most vital vocalists. 'Tongson serves up a number of astute observations about fantasy, projection, longing, normalcy, and aberrance.' MAGGIE NELSON'Deftly weaves memoir, history, and cultural criticism to highlight the dynamic relationship between artists and listeners.'PITCHFORKIn the '60s and '70s, America's music scene was marked by raucous excess, reflected in the tragic overdoses of young superstars such as Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. At the same time, the uplifting harmonies and sunny lyrics that propelled Karen Carpenter and her brother, Richard, to international fame belied a different sort of tragedy - the underconsumption that led to Karen's death at age thirty-two from the effects of an eating disorder.In Why Karen Carpenter Matters, Karen Tongson (whose parents named her after the pop icon) interweaves the story of the singer's rise to fame in the 1960s and '70s with her own trans-Pacific journey between the Philippines - where imitations of American pop styles flourished - and Karen Carpenter's home ground of Southern California. Tongson reveals why the Carpenters' chart-topping, seemingly white-washed musical fantasies of 'normal love' have profound significance for her - as well as for other people of colour, LGBT+ communities, and anyone outside the mainstream culture usually associated with Karen Carpenter's legacy.This hybrid of memoir and biography excavates the destructive perfectionism at the root of the Carpenters' sound, while finding the beauty in the singer's all-too-brief life.'Engrossing . . . a triumphant delight.' 4COLUMNS'Heartfelt . . . excellent . . . breathtaking.' EXCLAIM!'Will resonate with readers who have never even heard of Carpenter.' LITERARY HUBMUSIC MATTERS: SHORT BOOKS ABOUT THE ARTISTS WE LOVE- Why Solange Matters by Stephanie Phillips- Why Marianne Faithfull Matters by Tanya Pearson- Why Karen Carpenter Matters by Karen Tongson

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On the Horizon of World Literature compares literary texts from asynchronous periods of incipient literary modernity in different parts of the world: Romantic England and Republican China. These moments were oriented alike by “world literature” as a discursive framework of classifications that connected and re-organized local articulations of literary histories and literary modernities. World literature thus provided—and continues to provide—a condition of possibility for conversation between cultures as well as for their mutual provincialization. The book offers readings of a selection of literary forms that serve also as textual sites for the enactment of new socio-political forms of life. The literary manifesto, the tale collection, the familiar essay, and the domestic novel function as testing grounds for questions of both literary-aesthetic and socio-political importance: What does it mean to attain a voice? What is a common reader? How does one dwell in the ordinary? What is a woman? In different languages and activating heterogeneous literary and philosophical traditions, works by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lu Xun, Charles and Mary Lamb, Lin Shu, Zhou Zuoren, Jane Austen, and Eileen Chang explore the far-from-settled problem of what it means to be modern in different lifeworlds. Sun’s book brings to light the disciplinary-historical impact world literature has had in shaping literary traditions and practices around the world. The book renews the practice of close reading by offering the model of a deprovincialized close reading loosened from confinement within monocultural hermeneutic circles. By means of its own focus on England and China, the book provides methods useful for comparatists working between other Western and non-Western languages. It establishes the critical significance of Romanticism for the discipline of literary studies and opens up new paths of research in global Romanticism and global nineteenth-century studies. And it offers a new approach to analyzing the cosmopolitan character of the literary and cultural transformations of early twentieth-century China.

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An artist’s record of the homes of 89 leading creatives from interior designers to ceramicists, antiques dealers, florists and chefs. SJ Axelby brings new life to interior portraiture, capturing in paint the favourite rooms of 89 leading creatives from interior designers to ceramicists and antiques dealers (and florists and chefs). A sumptuously illustrated record of a home or special project, each interior portrait is accompanied by a charming and quirky interview with the owner, in which we discover invaluable nuggets of design advice, cocktail choice, life hacks and so much more – all illustrated in watercolour by SJ. There is a long tradition of painting rooms to provide a record of grand homes, giving a glimpse into the life and times of previous generations. Today there is a resurgence of interest in our living spaces, but there is no book in the tradition of illustrated room portraiture to inspire you. SJ Axelby's Interior Portraits will take you into multiple unique and colourful homes, seen through the artist’s eye. Creating an authentic and characterful scheme is much like the composition of a painting: the shape, form, contrast, colour, pattern and texture all need to work in harmony. This pictorial guide includes not only Sarah-Jane’s original watercolours but scrapbook pages annotated with design wisdom from each room’s owners, which will enthuse and empower the reader to try new ideas in their own homes. It’s a creative who’s who of the international design world featuring mouth-watering compositions bursting with colour and pattern and displaying the true joy of a home that reflects its owner’s personality. With a foreword by Kit Kemp of Firmdale Hotels. Just a few of the creatives featured:Alexandra TolstoyAlice Stori LiechtensteinAnna SpiroAshley HicksBen Pentreath & Charlie McCormickCath Kidston PadghamErica DaviesFlora SoamesHenry HollandKit KempLucinda ChambersLulu LytleLuke Edward Hall & Duncan CampbellMatilda GoadPenny MorrisonRobert KimeSkye McAlpineSophie Conran

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‘I love Sarah’s novels because they are a burst of pure happiness’ Cathy Kelly ‘A gorgeous Christmas gift of a book – big-hearted, cosy and joyful’ Lucy Diamond ‘Unputdownable and gorgeous, I adored Snowed in for Christmas. It’s the ultimate feel-good festive novel’ Phillipa Ashley ‘Sarah is so bloody good at creating worlds and characters you fall instantly and hopelessly in love with, and Snowed In For Christmas is no different. Heartfelt, evocative and romantic’ Laura Jane Williams * * * She’s snowed in with the family. The only problem? They’re not her family. A family gatheringThis Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal – to avoid their family’s well-meaning questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention. An uninvited guestLucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone, and the prospect of losing her job – unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller. She’ll deliver her proposal to his family home in the Scottish Highlands and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller’s perfect family Christmas. A Christmas to rememberWhen Lucy appears on the Miller’s snow-covered doorstep, she is mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. But by the time the confusion is cleared up, a storm has hit and Lucy is stuck. As everyone settles in for a snowed-in Christmas, tensions bubble to the surface and suddenly Lucy finds herself facing a big family fallout with a family that isn’t hers… * * * Readers have fallen head over heels for Sarah Morgan! ‘For me, Sarah Morgan really knows how to write the perfect Christmas book’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A book you can’t put down. Loved every minute of it’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A gorgeous, feel-good festive treat of a read’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A magical read that deserves at least a ten-star rating’ Reader review, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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'Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman' - Ian Thomson, IndependentThe penultimate volume of Peter Ackroyd’s masterful History of England series, Dominion begins in 1815 as national glory following the Battle of Waterloo gives way to post-war depression, spanning the last years of the Regency to the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901.In it, Ackroyd takes us from the accession of the profligate George IV whose government was steered by Lord Liverpool, who was firmly set against reform, to the reign of his brother, William IV, the 'Sailor King', whose reign saw the modernization of the political system and the abolition of slavery. But it was the accession of Queen Victoria, aged only eighteen, that sparked an era of enormous innovation. Technological progress – from steam railways to the first telegram – swept the nation and the finest inventions were showcased at the first Great Exhibition in 1851. The emergence of the middle classes changed the shape of society and scientific advances changed the old pieties of the Church of England, and spread secular ideas across the nation. But though intense industrialization brought boom times for the factory owners, the working classes were still subjected to poor housing, long working hours and dire poverty.It was a time that saw a flowering of great literature, too. As the Georgian era gave way to that of Victoria, readers could delight not only in the work of Byron, Shelley and Wordsworth but also the great nineteenth-century novelists: the Brontë sisters, George Eliot, Mrs Gaskell, Thackeray, and, of course, Dickens, whose work has become synonymous with Victorian England.Nor was Victorian expansionism confined to Britain alone. By the end of Victoria’s reign, the Queen was also an Empress and the British Empire dominated much of the globe. And, as Ackroyd shows in this richly populated, vividly told account, Britannia really did seem to rule the waves.

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The Times Thrillers of the Year 2020 ’Superbly crafted with heart-stopping twists and chills galore. A new star has arrived in the thriller firmament’ The Times, Book of the Month Gabriela is a senior negotiator in the Foreign Office. When she returns to her young family after a seven-month stint in Moscow, something doesn’t seem right. Isobel is a journalist on the local paper in Camden. After witnessing a violent attack, she starts to investigate. But someone saw her watching, and is making themselves known in increasingly frightening ways. As Gabriela’s life begins to unravel, Isobel gets closer to the truth, and the two women’s lives converge in this deeply chilling examination of deceit. Reader reviews for A Double Life ‘A sensational story packed full of twists. What an unbelievable book, I'm absolutely flabbergasted by the ending… it's a cliffhanger, so I hope Philby is already working on a sequel because I NEED to know what happens next’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A riveting and tense thriller exploring the actions of two women whose lives are about to collide’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Can’t wait for book 3!’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Great read’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Amazingly brilliant’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Loved loved LOVED! I was hooked after the very first chapter. Engrossed in the story all the way through. The end hit me like a tonne of bricks!!! CANNOT WAIT for the 3rd book!!' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Complex, chilling, fascinating. LOVED it’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Addictive’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Chilling’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Gripping’ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Praise for A Double Life ‘I was utterly gripped’ LUCY FOLEY ‘I fell into the vivid, frightening world Charlotte Philby creates so skilfully and didn't resurface until long after I'd turned the last page’ JANE CASEY ‘A Double Life confirms Charlotte Philby as the master of a sub-genre she basically invented’ ERIN KELLY ‘Brilliantly executed and tense’ SUNDAY TIMES ‘Terribly compelling… persuasive and absorbing’ OBSERVER ‘A pacy, gripping read that kept us on the edge of our seats’ INDEPENDENT

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It's well known that human beings are allergic to change. This is nowhere more true than of human beings in organizations. Organization Development initiatives, Leadership Development programs, and Business Transformation plans all founder too often on our resistance and reluctance, on the tendency of people and things to slip back to how they were before. For a long time, Systems Thinkers in general (and Power+Systems pioneer Barry Oshry in particular) have understood that the problem lies with our failure to look at the surrounding organizational structures and dynamics, at the wider picture, at the context. Barry Oshry draws on a lifetime's experience to explain the nature of the problem with our organizational structures, and the ways in which we can dissolve the problem. This book is written in play-form: a simple briefing conversation between a recently hired team member and the Chief Contextual Thinker for a Business Consultancy firm. They discuss the change initiative they are running for a key client. The conversational format allows Oshry to introduce the relevant theory clearly and in sequence, while addressing questions and misunderstandings as they arise. The result is a guide to Systems Thinking for Organizations that's as short, clever, engaging, bright, and helpful as any business book you have ever picked up. This is a story with the potential to transform any organization and it is written for anyone interested in the workings and structures of human organizations: from Board Directors and Chief Executives, through Middle Managers to interested workers. *** "Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, 'Context, Context, Context' is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, corporate, community, and academic library Systems Thinking, Organization Development, Sociology, and Business Management collections and supplemental studies reading lists." --The Midwest Book Review, Library Bookwatch, The Sociology Shelf, January 2018 [Subject: Systems Thinking, Organization Development, Sociology, Business]

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FOURTEEN DAYS, THREE SISTERS AND THE MOTHER OF ALL LIES'Radhika has the ability to create characters who make us laugh while pulling on our heartstrings. This book is a joy' Jane Fallon'A heartwarming novel' Sheila O'Flanagan'Whip-smart, laugh out loud hilarious, and has so much heart' Beth Reekles-----Reeva Mehta is thriving. Consumed in her career as one of London's top divorce lawyers, she doesn't bat an eyelid when her mum calls to tell her that her dad is dead. Because he's been dead since she was five . . . hasn't he?If finding out her dad was alive - until last week - wasn't bad enough, his last request was for his daughters to spend fourteen days in mourning at his house. Which means Reeva must spend a fortnight stuck with the people who betrayed her when she needed them the most - her sisters.Navigating her absent Bollywood megastar mother, newly dead father and scheming sisters with only a temperamental boyfriend - and even more temperamental cat - by her side, it's no wonder Reeva's hair is falling out. Could confronting the truth help the Mehtas put aside their differences, or will attending a funeral be the death of this family?A fresh, funny and oh-so-relatable novel about trying to be the grown up when your magnificently messy family seems set to sabotage everything. Get ready to laugh, cry and fall in love with this addictive read.'Hilariously funny, totally heartfelt and completely original' Laura Price'I absolutely loved it! It was like a glorious warm hug of a book!' Harriet Minter'Such a gorgeous read' Poorna BellREADERS ARE LOVING I WISH WE WEREN'T RELATED:'This book had me hooked' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ REAL READER REVIEW'Relatable, raw and riotously witty' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ REAL READER REVIEW'Absolutely brilliant' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ REAL READER REVIEW'Full of heart and so funny in the most awkwardly relatable ways' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ REAL READER REVIEW

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Feel chills down your spine with the thrilling third novel in Nicci French's bestselling killer series . . . Ruth Lennox is found by her daughter in a pool of her own blood. But who would want to murder an ordinary housewife? And why? 'Undeniably at the top of British psychological suspense writing' OBSERVER'Frieda's thinking keeps you gripped and adds twists that most people wouldn't imagine' 5***** READER REVIEW­__________Psychotherapist Frieda Klein wasn't ready for a case to get this personal.When her niece befriends Ruth Lennox's son, Ted, she finds herself in the difficult position of confidant to both Ted, and DCI Karlsson.Soon it's clear that Ruth was leading a secret life. Her family close ranks.And Karlsson needs Frida's help more than ever before . . .But Frieda is distracted. Having survived an attack on her life, she's struggling to stay focused when a patient's chance remark rings alarm bells.Suddenly Frieda finds herself chasing the path of a suspected serial killer.Or is it merely a symptom of her own increasingly fragile mind? . . .__________'A roller coaster of emotions . . . Truly brilliant writing' 5***** READER REVIEW'The storyline is gripping with twists and turns along the way' 5***** READER REVIEW'Had me gripped from the first few pages. Lots of twists and turns' 5***** READER REVIEWPraise for Nicci French: 'Sophisticated, compassionate, gripping . . . Not many books are as insightful as they are addictive; Nicci French's are' Sophie Hannah 'A brilliantly crafted new crime series' Daily Mirror 'Terrific. The writing is pacy, the jaw-dropping twists are plentiful' Short List 'One of French's hardest-to-put-down novels' Sunday Express 'French is undeniably at the top of British psychological suspense writing, expert in the unguessable twist, supremely skilled at ratcheting up the tension' Observer 'A nerve-jangling and addictive read' Daily Express

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Blanks, Print, Space, and Void in English Renaissance Literature is an inquiry into the empty spaces encountered not just on the pages of printed books in c.1500-1700, but in Renaissance culture more generally. The book argues that print culture in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries helped to foster the modern idea of the 'gap' (where words, texts, images, and ideas are constructed as missing, lost, withheld, fragmented, or perhaps never devised in the first place). It re-imagines how early modern people reacted not just to printed books and documents of many different kinds, but also how the very idea of emptiness or absence began to be fashioned in a way which still surrounds us. Jonathan Sawday leads the reader through the entire landscape of early modern print culture, discussing topics such as: space and silence; the exploration of the vacuum; the ways in which race and racial identity in early modern England were constructed by the language and technology of print; blackness and whiteness, together with lightness, darkness, and sightlessness; cartography and emptiness; the effect of typography on reading practices; the social spaces of the page; gendered surfaces; hierarchies of information; books of memory; pages constructed as waste or vacant; the genesis of blank forms and early modern bureaucracy; the political and devotional spaces of printed books; the impact of censorship; and the problem posed by texts which lack endings or conclusions. The book itself ends by dwelling on blank or empty pages as a sign of human mortality. Sawday pays close attention to the writings of many of the familiar figures in English Renaissance literary culture - Sidney, Shakespeare, Donne, Jonson, and Milton, for example - as well as introducing readers to a host of lesser-known figures. The book also discusses the work of numerous women writers from the period, including Aphra Behn, Ann Bradstreet, Margaret Cavendish, Lady Jane Gray, Lucy Hutchinson, Æmelia Lanyer, Isabella Whitney, and Lady Mary Wroth.

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The Gin Drinker's Year is a celebration of all things gin and is packed with cocktails, food and gin-fusion recipes.With everything from 150 gin cocktails and gin-infusions, plus 30 delectable gin-spiked food recipes such as Penne alla Gin or Minty G&T Lollies, to heartfelt tributes to Snoop Dogg's 'Gin and Juice', the sozzled wit and wisdom of renowned gin soak Dorothy Parker and the rules of Gin Pong and Ten-Gin Bowling, there's an entry for every day of the year. You'll also discover fascinating snippets of gin-eral knowledge such as the history of vermouth, the Christmas gift that the beefeaters of the Tower of London are given every year, and why you most definitely should be celebrating National Gingerbread Day.So let the festivities be-gin. This is every gin lover's handbook to the best year ever.Highlights include:January - New Year's resolutions, Burns Night, Al Capone and a celeriac gin-fusion.February - Spin the Bottle, National Toast Day, Pancake Day and the Leap Day Cocktail.March - Gin Snap, White Day, St Patrick's Day, Earl Grey and some rather questionable poetry.April - Shakespeare's birthday, National Raisin Day and a Great Gatsby inspired Gin Rickey.May - Dick Bradsell's birthday, a Delft Donkey, a little opera and International Tea Day.June - Strawberry Fields, World Gin Day, Father's Day, a load of cobblers and floral foraging.July - Independence Day, genever, National Pi a Colada Day and garden games.August - Lychees, Dorothy Parker, Ogden Nash, World Oyster Day and Dubonnet.September - Hedgerows, Florida, International Talk Like a Pirate Day and directions to Park LaneOctober -International Gin & Tonic Day, the Beer Flood, spooky concoctions and Sake.November -Albert Camus, National Espresso Day and the anniversary of Casablanca.December - Humphrey Bogart's birthday, Roald Amundsen, Gin Pong and fizzy bubbles.

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From the Middle Ages until World War II, Poland was host to Europe's largest and most vibrant Jewish population. By 1970, the combination of Nazi genocide, postwar pogroms, mass emigration, and communist repression had virtually destroyed Poland's Jewish community. Although the Poles themselves were subjected to enormous cruelties in the twentieth century, questions about the extent of their antisemitism and its role in the fate of Polish Jewry are today hotly disputed.Antisemitism and Its Opponents in Modern Poland serves as an effective guide to some of the most complex and controversial issues of Poland's troubled past. Fourteen original essays by a team of distinguished Polish and American scholars explore the different meanings, forms of expression, content, and social range of antisemitism in modern Poland from the late nineteenth century to the present. The contributors focus on both the variations in antisemitic sentiment and those Poles who opposed such prejudices. Central themes of this significant, balanced, and timely contribution to a contentious and often emotional debate include the deterioration of Polish-Jewish relations in the era of national awakening for both the Poles and the Jews, the meaning of the various forms of violence against the Jews, intellectual movements in opposition to antisemitism, the role of the Catholic Church in promoting antisemitism, and the prospects for the Church to atone for this shameful chapter in its recent history. Contributors: Robert Blobaum, West Virginia University; Steven D. Corrsin, New York Public Research Libraries; William W. Hagen, University of California, Davis; Janine P. Holc, Loyola College in Maryland; Jerzy Jedlicki, Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences; Katherine R. Jolluck, Stanford University; Dariusz Libionka, Institute of National Remembrance, Lublin and Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences; Antony Polonsky, Brandeis University and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Brian Porter, University of Michigan; Szymon Rudnicki, Warsaw University; Konrad Sadkowski, University of Northern Iowa; Keely Stauter-Halsted, Michigan State University; Dariusz Stola, Institute of Political Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences and Collegium Civitas, Warsaw; Bozena Szaynok, Wroclaw University; Theodore R. Weeks, Southern Illinois University

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Eleven papers in this volume present some current interesting and important research in finance. Based upon the CAPM, Chen and Kane show that double taxation and differential tax rates on a personal and capital-gains income, affect corporate stock values and financial policies in nonneutral ways. Sengupta shows tax evasion decisions of a monopolist in a price-ceiling regulatory environment. In their paper, Osterberg and Thomson empirically examine the impact of state-level deposit preference laws on resolution type and costs for all operating FDIC-BIF insured commercial banks that were closed, or required FDIC financial assistance, from January 1986 through December 1992. Peek and Wilcox show that during periods of international financial crises, or of domestic economic stress, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) are well suited to stabilize mortgage markets. In their paper, Chen, Robinson and Siems empirically show the association between banks' subordinated debt and their loan sales activities and its implications in the transmission mechanism of monetary policy. Also in this volume, Lin et al. use the Granger causality test to examine the linkage between the euro exchange rate and the money supply and GDP in the euro community, as well as its impact on the UK exchange rate and the London stock exchange market index. In their paper, Kane and Muzere extend the Diamond-Dybvig model of bank runs to an open market economy and show that adding the central banks and the IMF, guarantees will reduce, but not eliminate the banking as well as currency crises. The paper by Chung et al. empirically shows the presence of a long memory, property in currency, future markets, and discusses its hedging implications. In their paper, Lee, Lee and Yu develop a valuation model for the pension benefit guarantees that incorporates the plan termination conditions as well as a stochastic interest rate. In a case study, Hung et al. empirically show that the specially designed dividends (SDD) have positive signals in the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Finally, in their paper, Guerard and Mark show that the use of an R&D quadratic term enhances the mean-variance efficient portfolios and stockholder returns.

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In 1859 the French navy was at a high point, having fought alongside the British in the Crimean War and developed a formidable fleet of fast wooden-hulled steam ships of the line. But in that very year the world's navies had to start over again when French naval architect Dupuy de Lome introduced the ironclad battleship. The French navy then went through three tumultuous phases. In the 1860s and 1870s it focused on building a new traditionally-structured fleet in which wooden-hulled battleships gave way to iron and steel ships with massive guns and armour. In the 1880s and 1890s this effort was disrupted by a vigorous contest between battleship sailors and advocates of fast steel cruisers and small torpedo craft, leaving France by the end of the 1890s with few new battleships (none as large as the best foreign ships) but some two hundred torpedo boats. The Fashoda crisis in 1898 revealed the weakness of the French navy and between 1900 and 1914 the French focused on building a strong battle fleet. In 1914 this fleet remained well behind those of Britain and Germany in numbers, but taken individually French warships remained among the best in the world. This book is the first comprehensive listing in English of the over 1400 warships that were added to the official French navy fleet list between 1 January 1859 and World War I. It includes everything from the largest battleships to a small armoured gunboat that looked like a floating egg. The ships are listed in three separate parts to keep contemporary ships together and then by ship type and class. For each class the book provides a design history explaining why the ships were built, substantial technical characteristics for the ships as completed and after major reconstructions, and selected career milestones including the ultimate fate of each ship. Like its predecessors written jointly with Rif Winfield, French Warships in the Age of Sail 1626-1786 and French Warships in the Age of Sail 1786-1861, with which it forms the third in a trilogy, it provides a complete picture of the overall development of French warships over a period of almost three centuries.

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Over the course of two decades and six books, Peter Markus has been making fiction out of a lexicon shaped by the words brother and fish and mud. In an essay on Markus's work, Brian Evenson writes, ""If it's not clear by now, Markus's use of English is quite unique. It is instead a sort of ritual speech, an almost religious invocation in which words themselves, through repetition, acquire a magic or power that revives the simpler, blunter world of childhood."" Now, in his debut book of poems, When Our Fathers Return to Us as Birds, Markus tunes his eye and ear toward a new world, a world where father is the new brother, a world where the father's slow dying and eventual death leads Markus, the son, to take a walk outside to ""meet my shadow in the deepening shade."" In this collection, a son is simultaneously caring for his father, losing his father, and finding his dead father in the trees and the water and the sky. He finds solace in the birds and in the river that runs between his house and his parents' house, with its view of the shut-down steel mill on the river's other side, now in the process of being torn down. The book is steadily punctuated by this recurring sentence that the son wakes up to each day: My father is dying in a house across the river. The rhythmic and recursive nature to these poems places the reader right alongside the son as he navigates his journey of mourning. These are poems written in conversation with the poems of Jack Gilbert, Linda Gregg, Jim Harrison, Jane Kenyon, Raymond Carver, Theodore Roethke too-poets whose poems at times taught Markus how to speak. ""In a dark time . . .,"" we often hear it said, ""there are no words."" But the truth is, there are always words. Sometimes our words are all we have to hold onto, to help us see through the darkened woods and muddy waters, times when the ear begins to listen, the eye begins to see, and the mouth, the body, and the heart, in chorus, begin to speak. Fans of Markus's work and all of those who are caring for dying parents or grieving their loss will find comfort, kinship, and appreciation in this honest and beautiful collection.

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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 and China, 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. He wrote an account of this in a memoir called A Diplomat in Japan, published in 1921.While Satow’s appointment as Minister to Tokyo in 1895 was understandable in terms of his background and skills, he was not the obvious choice for the Beijing (Peking) Embassy in 1900. He was also well aware that the China post would be more challenging, given Britain’s large commercial interests in the country, the large number of British residents and their dominance at the treaty ports. Satow arrived in China in late September 1900. After a brief stop in Shanghai, he moved up to Peking and began work. He was at first unable to present his credentials as minister, because the allies considered themselves at war with the court. So from September 1900 until January 1902 he was technically not the British minister but rather the British High Commissioner for negotiations leading to the settlement of claims arising from the Boxer uprising. Many issues of substance are to be found in these diaries: the negotiations for the Boxer Protocol of 1901, the status of the Peking Legation Quarter, the stationing of foreign troops in China for protection purposes, and the Chinese indemnity etc. Later Russo-Japanese tension over the Russian presence in Manchuria, and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05, receive much attention. Other important issues included missionary matters, railways and railway concessions, the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, and the British China Consular Service. The editor has added extensive annotations and explanations to these diaries, making this book an indispensable reference work for students of China at the start of the 20th century. For this edition Satow’s separate diary for the cottage at Ku-miao-tsun has also been included and annotated.

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Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Liberia, Somalia, Azerbaijan, El Salvador, Northern Ireland, Lebanon, Cambodia -- all provide bloody evidence that civil wars continue to have a powerful impact on the international scene. Because they tear at the very fabric of a society and pit countryman against countryman, civil wars are often the most brutal and difficult to extinguish -- witness the American Revolution. And yet, civil wars do inevitably end. England is no longer criss-crossed by warring armies representing York and Lancaster or King and Parliament. The French no longer kill one another over the divine right of kings. Argentines seem reconciled to living in a single state, rather than several. The ideologies of the Spanish Civil War now seem largely irrelevant. And the possibility of Southern secession is an issue long-buried in the American past. The question then begs itself: how do people who have been killing one another with considerable enthusiasm and success come together to form a common government? How can individuals and factions work together, politically and economically, with others who have killed their friends, parents, children and lovers? How are armed societies disarmed? What effect does a total military victory have on a lasting peace? In sum, how are civil societies constructed from civil violence and chaos? This is the central concern of Stopping the Killing. In this highly original and much needed volume, a distinguished group of experts on civil wars discuss both specific conflicts and broader theoretical issues. Individual chapters examine civil wars in Colombia, the Sudan, Yemen, America, Greece, and Nigeria, and analyze the causes of peace, the relationship between the battlefield and the negotiating table, and issues of settlement. An introduction and conclusion by the editor unify the volume. Contributors include: Jonathan Hartlyn (Univ. of North Carolina), Caroline Hartzell (Univ. of California, Davis), Jane E. Holl (U.S. Military Academy), John Iatrides (Southern Connecticut State University), James O'Connell (University of Bradford), Donald Rothchild (Univ. of California, Davis), Stephen John Stedman (Johns Hopkins Univ.), Robert Harrison Wagner (Univ. of Texas, Austin), Harvey Waterman (Rutgers Univ.), Manfred Wenner (Northern Illinois Univ.), and I. William Zartman (Johns Hopkins Univ.).

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The Poet and the King, described by the New York Review of Books as “the finest and most perceptive of all the innumerable accounts of La Fontaine,” is being offered for the first time in an English translation. La Fontaine, whose works are still memorized by French schoolchildren, is regarded by Fumaroli, and countless others, as the greatest French lyric poet of the seventeenth century. La Fontaine is best known, however, for his fables and Contes. Marc Fumaroli’s grand study is almost as much about Louis XIV as it is about La Fontaine. He provides a detailed analysis of the absolutist politics and attempts by the king and his ministers to enforce an official cultural style. Fumaroli’s work is a meditation on the plight of the artist under such a ruler during the imposition of a tyrannical, centralized political regime. Of particular interest to Fumaroli is Nicolas Foucquet, whose fall from power is the central event of the book. Foucquet, La Fontaine’s patron, was arrested and imprisoned by order of Louis XIV on false charges of embezzlement and treason. For La Fontaine, the arrest was a disaster. Foucquet had generously supported and protected La Fontaine, who remained loyal to him for decades, helping in his defense and writing pleas for pardon. Many of Foucquet’s associates were arrested. Others, including La Fontaine, prudently left town. During the reign of Louis XIV, the basic role of literature in the eyes of the court was that of an official propaganda machine. The royal cultural policy supported only tragedy and the heroic ode, and demanded works that praised the king. In the years that followed Foucquet’s arrest, La Fontaine had to rely on support from groups unconnected with the government, including Jansenists, Protestants, and the libertine, homosexual circle of the Duc de Vendôme. Fumaroli reads history with an eye on the modern world. His La Fontaine and his Foucquet, his world of free culture in opposition to state power, are models for the liberal vision of the possible role of culture in modern society. The Poet and the King offers not only a captivating history of one of France’s greatest poets, but also carries the message that great literature and art can be created in spite of repressive cultural and political regimes.

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THE RIOTOUSLY FUNNY AND JOYOUSLY ROMANTIC NEW NOVEL IN THE DANGEROUS DAMSELS SERIES THAT TIKTOK CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF!Two rival spies. One fake marriage. What could possibly go wrong . . .__________When rumours of an assassination plot against the Queen begin to circulate, Alice is immediately assigned to the case.However, she won't be working alone.Enter Daniel Bixby. Unflappable master spy and Alice's greatest rival.Together they must assume the identity of husband and wife in order to gain access to the traitor party.Alice is determined to remain professional. This is work after all.But when an attraction starts to grow there may be more at stake than just the throne . . .__________'A funny, captivating and magical story! I loved the chemistry between the characters' @boekhopperReaders are OBSESSED with the Dangerous Damsels . . .'Incredible! Sensational! Fantastic! So charming your inner Lizzie Bennet will swoon' 5***** Reader Review'OBSESSED. If you love playful dialogue and language, fun characters, and interesting worlds, I recommend' 5**** Reader Review!'Witty and entertaining. A literary delight! Think Jane Austen meets Jack Sparrow' 5***** Reader Review'Wondrous, whimsical, wiccan follow-up to its flying house pirate predecessor, building upon this magical, Victorian-soaked world deftly and capably' 5***** Reader Review'SPECTACULAR. Just the sort of absolute madness which one needs in a book!' 5***** Reader Review'Victorian lady assassins fighting the patriarchy, flying houses, AND . . . an ONLY ONE BED trope?! Fun fun fun' 5***** Reader Review'Witty, entertaining, laugh-out-loud funny and adventurous . . . Everything I need in a historical romance' 5***** Reader Review'The best romantic humorous adventure fantasy of manners you will ever read!' 5***** Reader ReviewPRAISE FOR THE DANGEROUS DAMSELS'As much fun as the English language will permit' New York Times Book Review'Melds the Victorian wit of Sherlock Holmes with the brash adventuring of Indiana Jones . . . A sprightly feminist tale that offers everything from an atmospheric Gothic abbey to secret societies' Entertainment Weekly'A joyride of a debut . . . As if The Parasol Protectorate series met The Princess Bride and a corseted Lara Croft: Tomb Raider' Kirkus Reviews 'With secret identities, secret doors, and secret histories to spare, this high-octane layer-cake of escapism hits the spot' Publishers Weekly

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Lenin lived a controversial life and has had a deeply controversial reputation in the centenary since his death (21 January 1924) His rise from a conventional, educated, provincial, and middle-class background to become not only the leader, even dictator, over the largest country on earth, is dramatic and vital in itself. But it is only part of the story. Even after his death, he was unchallenged as the chief inspirer of a disparate world revolutionary movement which rocked the dominant capitalist world for most of the twentieth century. His admirers and disciples included major intellectual and cultural figures, such as Brecht, Picasso, Sartre, Franz Fanon and Pablo Neruda; disparate radical activists and revolutionaries such as Ho Chi Minh, Joseph Stalin, Mao Ze dong, Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Josip Broz Tito, terrorist groups such as the Red Brigades and Baader-Meinhof, and many liberation movements. Despite this, his work and influence have often been written off as no longer relevant, and many today consider this to be so. Lenin has, they claim, had his day, even though he is still revered in China, the world's most populous country. However, Lenin, like his mentor Marx, has had a tendency to rise from apparent decline and oblivion to renewed force and influence. This study examines the key elements of Lenin's life and career, the consolidation of his ideas into the doctrines of 'Leninism', the influence of Leninism in promoting revolutionary movements around the globe, and the currently disputed issue of whether his ideas still have any relevance today. In particular, while considering his views on the role of the revolutionary party, often seen as the centrepiece of his theory and practice, this account identifies the root of Lenin's global influence in his opposition to capitalist imperialism and as a bedrock foundation for the opposition of many to fascism and associated ideologies. While recognizing that Lenin's reputation has reached its lowest point, not least in his home country where his legacy is reviled by Vladimir Putin and other contemporary leaders, the book concludes by weighing up the contemporary arguments of those who believe that Lenin still lives.

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To save their life, you have to play. *The #1 audio bestseller* ‘Subversive and gripping’ S J Watson‘Dark, fiendish, riveting’ Janice Hallett‘Exciting and original’ Simon McCleave‘This year’s must-read thriller’ Adam Croft___ Across the globe, five strangers receive a horrifying message from an unknown number. THE PERSON YOU LOVE MOST IS IN DANGER. To save them, each must play The Game – a sinister unknown entity that has a single rule: there can only be one winner. IF YOU LOSE, YOUR LOVED ONE WILL DIE. But what is The Game – and why have they been chosen? There’s only one thing each of them knows for sure: they’ll do anything to win… WELCOME TO THE GAME. YOU’VE JUST STARTED PLAYING.___ A breakneck thriller filled with non-stop suspense, perfect for fans of Harlan Coben, Mark Dawson and Terry Hayes’ I Am Pilgrim. Readers love The Game: ‘This was an absolute belter of a book!’ ‘Wow! Can absolutely see this book being made into a film. . . The whole book pulled me in straight away and I couldn't put it down. Full of twists from start to finish, twists that I never saw coming!’ ‘Had me gripped . . . I couldn't breathe until I finished it’ ‘This is one of the most original stories I've read for a while. Just read it! You won't regret it.’ ‘What an utterly terrifying thriller this was! It doesn’t get scarier than this…’ ‘Horrifyingly credible . . . This is a fast-paced, menacing and dark read. Grips from the off and doesn’t let go until that very last page.’ ‘This book was chilling and tense and will have you on the edge of your seat.’ ‘Unique, cinematic and fast-paced. Unputdownable and thrilling page-turner. Highly recommended.’ ‘I love a story that is a bit different and unique and this certainly was. A thought provoking story that chilled me to the bone . . . Will have you up all night. Such a cleverly written story’ ‘Fast-paced, tense, atmospheric and so full of suspense . . . I didn’t know what to expect when. I couldn’t put this book down it was completely gripping.’ ‘From the first few pages the adrenaline rush never lets up.’

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'A panorama of the unravelling world order as riveting as any beach read' New Yorker'Read this book: in the three hours it takes you will get a new, bracing and brilliant understanding of the dangers we in the democratic West now face. Luce is one of the smartest journalists working today, and his perceptions are priceless' Jane Mayer, staff writer on the New Yorker'No one was more prescient about the economic malaise and popular resentment that has hit the United States than Ed Luce in his previous book, Time to Start Thinking. His new book, Retreat of Western Liberalism, broadens that picture to cover the Western world. It is a must read for anyone trying to make sense of the waves of populism and nationalism we face today' Liaquat AhamedIn his widely acclaimed book Time to Start Thinking, Financial Times columnist and commentator Edward Luce charted the course of American economic and geopolitical decline, proving to be a prescient voice on our current social and political turmoil.In The Retreat of Western Liberalism, Luce makes a larger statement about the weakening of western hegemony and the crisis of democratic liberalism - of which Donald Trump and his European counterparts are not the cause, but a symptom. Luce argues that we are on a menacing trajectory brought about by ignorance of what it took to build the West, arrogance towards society's losers, and complacency about our system's durability - attitudes that have been emerging since the fall of the Berlin Wall, treated by the West as an absolute triumph over the East. We cannot move forward without a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong. Luce contrasts Western democratic and economic ideals, which rest on an assumption of linear progress, with more cyclical views of economic strength - symbolized by the nineteenth-century fall and present-day rise of the Chinese and Indian economies - and with the dawn of a new multipolar age.Combining on-the-ground reporting with intelligent synthesis of the vast literature already available, Luce offers a detailed projection of the consequences of the Trump administration and a forward-thinking analysis of what those who believe in enlightenment values must do to defend them from the multiple onslaughts they face in the coming years.

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This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the opponents of Britain’s first attempt to join the European Economic Community (EEC), between the announcement of Harold Macmillan’s new policy initiative in July 1961 and General de Gaulle’s veto of Britain’s application for membership in January 1963. In particular, this study examines the role of national identity in shaping both the formulation and articulation of arguments put forward by these opponents of Britain’s policy. To date, studies of Britain’s unsuccessful bid for entry have focused on high political analysis of diplomacy and policy formulation. In most accounts, only passing reference is made to domestic opposition. This book redresses the balance by providing a more complete depiction of the opposition movement and a distinctive approach that proceeds from a ‘low political’ viewpoint. As such, the book emphasises protest and populism of the kind exercised by, among others, Fleet Street crusaders at the Daily Express, pressure groups such as the Anti-Common Market League and Forward Britain Movement, expert pundits like A. J. P. Taylor, Sir Arthur Bryant and William Pickles, as well as constituency activists, independent parliamentary candidates, pamphleteers, letter writers and maverick MPs. In its consideration of a group largely overlooked in previous accounts, the book provides essential insights into the intellectual, structural, populist and nationalist dimensions of early Euroscepticism. The book will be of significant interest to both scholars and students of national identity, Britain’s relationship with Europe and the Commonwealth, pressure groups and party politics, and the trajectory of the Eurosceptic phenomenon.

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How Ohio's women were essential to the national women's suffrage movement Conversations and legal battles surrounding voting rights, once again a topic looming large in the United States, reflect a long history of such debates and suffrage campaigns. The struggle for women's voting rights, in particular, required persistence in the face of defeat, and unbeknownst to most people, Ohio—the fifth state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment—played a key role in the national women's suffrage movement.Covering 70 years of the movement, from 1850 through 1920, Jamie Capuzza demonstrates that the tendency to overlook the contributions of Ohio suffragists dates back to the earliest years of the movement. Ohioans were the first to petition a government for women's enfranchisement, and Ohioans helped build the infrastructure for the movement by forming the nation's first state women's rights organization and by hosting two of the earliest national women's rights conventions.Many of the movement's early leaders were Ohioans, including Frances Barker Gage, a movement leader since the 1850s who was among the first to emphasize the inherent connections between gender and race by linking women's suffrage to African American suffrage; Victoria Claflin Woodhull, a stockbroker, newspaper publisher, and radical activist who was the first woman ever to address the US Congress or to run for the US presidency; and Harriet Taylor Upton, president of the Ohio Women's Suffrage Association longer than any other woman and executive in the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, who hobnobbed with presidents and congressmen. Also among the leadership were African Americans with Ohio connections such as Mary Church Terrell, Frances Harper, Julia Cooper, Hallie Brown, Jane Hunter, Carrie Clifford, and Jewelia Higgins.The Fifth Star describes these determined leaders, their agenda, organizational capacity, and political engagement. Drawing on extensive historical records and primary sources, including suffrage convention proceedings, state senate and house reports, local mainstream and feminist media, and the personal letters and diaries of Ohio reformers, Capuzza details this fight in the context of the national women's rights movement and parallel reform movements like abolitionism and temperance. The Fifth Star is a story of remarkable perseverance and determination in pursuit of the most fundamental right in a democracy, the right to vote.

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For many years, kisses were the only sexual acts to be seen in mainstream American movies. Then, in the 1960s and 1970s, American cinema “grew up” in response to the sexual revolution, and movie audiences came to expect more knowledge about what happened between the sheets. In Screening Sex, the renowned film scholar Linda Williams investigates how sex acts have been represented on screen for more than a century and, just as important, how we have watched and experienced those representations. Whether examining the arch artistry of Last Tango in Paris, the on-screen orgasms of Jane Fonda, or the anal sex of two cowboys in Brokeback Mountain, Williams illuminates the forms of pleasure and vicarious knowledge derived from screening sex.Combining stories of her own coming of age as a moviegoer with film history, cultural history, and readings of significant films, Williams presents a fascinating history of the on-screen kiss, a look at the shift from adolescent kisses to more grown-up displays of sex, and a comparison of the “tasteful” Hollywood sexual interlude with sexuality as represented in sexploitation, Blaxploitation, and avant-garde films. She considers Last Tango in Paris and Deep Throat, two 1972 films unapologetically all about sex; In the Realm of the Senses, the only work of 1970s international cinema that combined hard-core sex with erotic art; and the sexual provocations of the mainstream movies Blue Velvet and Brokeback Mountain. She describes art films since the 1990s, in which the sex is aggressive, loveless, or alienated. Finally, Williams reflects on the experience of screening sex on small screens at home rather than on large screens in public. By understanding screening sex as both revelation and concealment, Williams has written the definitive study of sex at the movies.Linda Williams is Professor of Film Studies and Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. Her books include Porn Studies, also published by Duke University Press; Playing the Race Card: Melodramas of Black and White from Uncle Tom to O. J. Simpson; Viewing Positions: Ways of Seeing Film; and Hard Core: Power, Pleasure, and the “Frenzy of the Visible.”A John Hope Franklin Center BookNovember424 pages129 illustrations6x9 trim sizeISBN 0-8223-0-8223-4285-5paper, $24.95ISBN 0-8223-0-8223-4263-4library cloth edition, $89.95ISBN 978-0-8223-4285-4paper, $24.95ISBN 978-0-8223-4263-2library cloth edition, $89.95

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Gasoline & Vestal Lady on Brattle is volume number 8 in the City Lights Pocket Series. "Open this book as you would a box of crazy toys, take in your hands a refinement of beauty out of a destructive atmosphere. These combinations are imaginary and pure, in accordance with Corso's individual (therefore universal) desire." --Allen Ginsberg "Gregory is a gambler. He suffers reverses, like every man who takes chances. But his vitality and resilience always shine through, with a light that is more than human: The immortal light of his muse." --William S. Burroughs "...A touch young kid from the Lower East Side who rose like an angel over the rooftops and sang Italian songs as sweet as Caruso and Sinatra, but in words...Amazing and Beautiful Gregory Corso, The one and only Gregory the Herald. Read slowly and see."--Jack Kerouac "[M]ore than fifty years on from when it was first published in 1958, Gasoline (City Lights, 1958) by Beat poet Gregory Corso is a seminal book in the birth of that particular literary generation." --Paul Stubbs, 3AM Magazine Gregory Corso's first book of poetry, The Vestal Lady on Brattle, was published by City Lights Press in 1955. Born in New York City and raised in Little Italy, Gregory Corso was an American Poet and the youngest of the iconic Beat Generation writers. Homeless and family-less, Corso was arrested at 13 for petty theft and larcenry and spent some time in New York's infamous jail "The Tombs." He was arrested again, but was admitted to Bellevue Hospital Center. On the night of his 18th birthday, he was arrested again and convicted as an adult, resulting in being detained in Clinton State Prison. Gasoline is dedicated to "the Angels of Clinton Prison..." Corso met Allen Ginsberg in 1951 and Ginsberg recognized Corso as "spiritually gifted." Together they traveled from New York to San Francisco to Paris where Corso wrote some of his most famous poems Bombs and Marriage. His journey to, in, and around Paris resulted in his third book of poetry which included poems The Happy Birthday of Death, Minutes to Go, The American Express, and Long LIve Man. He returned to New York in 1958 only to discover he and the other Beat writers had become famous literary figures. Corso and Ginsberg traveled to college campuses and read their famous works Howl and Bomb and Marriage. On January 17, 2001, Corso died from prostate cancer.

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*** PRE-ORDER THE BONE HACKER, COMING IN PAPERBACK IN SPRING 2024! *** 'This page-turning series never lets the reader down’ HARLAN COBENIN A PROFESSION LIKE THIS, YOU'RE BOUND TO MAKE ENEMIES . . .An eye . . . It all starts when Dr Temperance Brennan finds a box on her porch. Inside is a fresh human eyeball with GPS coordinates etched into it. They lead her to a macabre discovery in a Benedictine Monastery, and soon after she discovers a mummified corpse in a state park. . . . for an eye There seems to be no pattern to these killings, except that each mimics a killing connected to something a younger Tempe experienced, or barely escaped. Someone is targeting her, and she needs to figure out why before they strike again. And then her daughter Katy disappears. Someone is playing a dangerous game with Tempe. And they won’t stop until they have taken everything from her . . .Electrifying, heart-stopping and compulsive, this is Tempe’s most personal and dangerous case yet . . .PRAISE FOR KATHY REICHS ‘A thing of clever beauty – smart, scary, complicated, and engrossing from the first sentence' MICHAEL CONNELLY ‘Reanimates all the ghosts from Temperance Brennan’s forensic past until they thoroughly haunt her present . . . This page-turning series never lets the reader down’ HARLAN COBEN ‘Masterfully constructed’ J.A. JANCE 'A mystery within a mystery that invites you to get into the action, complete with twisting turns and heart-stopping dives into the unknown . . . The crowning achievement of a master storyteller' NELSON DeMILLE 'I await the next Kathy Reichs’ thriller with the same anticipation I have for the new Lee Child or Patricia Cornwell' JAMES PATTERSON 'Over the course of twenty books, Kathy Reichs and Tempe Brennan have thrilled readers with pacey, mazey tales . . . We readers are truly grateful' IAN RANKIN ‘Reichs, skilfully using the conventions of the mystery novel, forces the reader to face up to the obscene realities of death time and time again. At work and a play she gets under your skin’ THE TIMES 'A thrilling read from one of my favorite writers' KARIN SLAUGHTER 'One of the absolute best thrillers of the year! I can’t recall when this many twists have been so masterfully woven into a novel.' JEFFERY DEAVER 'The Queen of forensic crime' EVENING STANDARD

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In early September 1939, the 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment were one of the first complete infantry units of the BEF to land in France. The first months of World War Two were relatively quiet but after deploying to the Maginot Line sector during January 1940 they came into contact with those Germans manning the West Wall or Seigfried Line. A patrol led by Captain Peter Barclay entered German territory and was attacked. As a result, the first decorations of the war were awarded. Barclay received the Military Cross and Lance-Corporal Davis the Military Medal while the remaining members of the patrol were mentioned in despatches. Two days later, the battalion suffered a tragic first when Lieutenant Patrick Everitt was mortally wounded while leading a daylight patrol. Everitt was the first British officer to be killed in action in the Second World War. When the Germans launched their offensive on 10 May, the BEF advanced to the River Dyle in Belgium. Within days the Allied Armies had been forced onto the back foot by the speed and ferocity of the German breakthrough. The Norfolks withdrew to the River Escaut where the BEF was to make a stand. On 21 May, the Company Sergeant Major George Gristock courageously destroyed some German machine-gun posts and won a posthumous Victoria Cross. As the Allies withdrew towards the Channel, the Norfolks were ordered to defend a section of the Canal Line between Bthune and Le Cornet Malo. Already down to around half strength, the Norfolks held their sector from 24 to 27 May. By the time the order was issued for them to withdraw, it was too late, Battalion HQ at Duries Farm, Le Paradis was surrounded and they had no alternative but to surrender, although C Company held out until the following morning. After the surrender, ninety-nine men of the Battalion were marched to a paddock where they were machine-gunned in cold blood by their SS captors. Miraculously, two men survived and were instrumental in bringing the SS officer responsible, Fritz Knoechlien, to justice after the war. When the remnants of the battalion reassembled in England, its strength was just five officers and 134 other ranks. The remainder had either been killed or captured as POWs.

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'Satisfyingly dark, cleverly plotted and pleasingly Donna Tarttish' Emma Flint, Little Deaths'Seamlessly blends Gone Girl and Promising Young Woman. Smart, sophisticated, seductive' S J Watson, Before I Go To SleepSunday Times BestsellerShortlisted for the Bloody Scotland Crime Debut of the Year 2023Longlisted for the McIlvanney PrizeOne of Cosmopolitan's Best Books for 2023------In there, them, us, it’s everything you’ve ever wanted, and you’re going to love it.I promise. I’ll look after you.All her life Clare has never fit in.So when she arrives at Edinburgh University, she seizes the chance to reinvent herself.Then she meets Tabitha who is everything she’s not: charismatic, dazzling and intimidatingly wealthy.Soon Clare is sucked into Tabitha’s enigmatic circle of friends, and it’s all she hoped it would be. Until it’s not.Because they are not all they seem.And they’ve been waiting for Clare.With friends like these, who needs enemies?An intoxicating feminist page-turner with shades of The Secret History and Promising Young Woman, this novel will take youon a journey from Edinburgh's dazzling spires to the dripping staircases and dark alleyways of its underbelly.------'Startlingly lovely, like a fine, dark silk shivering on your skin' Julia Heaberlin, We Are All the Same in the Dark'Perfect for fans of dark academia stories like The Secret History and If We Were Villains' Cosmopolitan'A deeply compelling story of friendships turned rotten' Rosemary Hennigan, The Truth Will Out'Darwent has a great career as a thriller writer ahead of her' Sunday Times'Dark academia and twisted friendships in gothic Edinburgh - what more could you want?' Cailean Steed, Home'Creepy yet compulsive, this impressive novel will stay with you long after reading' Heat'Dark and compulsive, this will have you turning the pages late into the night' Sarah Bonner, Her Perfect Twin'Themes of obsession, revenge and desire collide in a twisty, dark and delicious feminist thriller' Big Issue'An intriguing and complex heroine' Phoebe Wynne, Madam'Darwent keeps the reader guessing. Any time the balance of power appears to settle, the plot takes another twist' Scotland on Sunday'Such an immersive, surprising, impressive debut' Niamh Hargan, Twelve Days In May'Power, privilege and the most toxic of friendships. All set against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh' Carys Jones, The ListSunday Times bestseller, January 2023

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2017 PROSE Award Winner: Outstanding Scholarly Work by a Trade Publisher In the vein of Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities and Edward Glaeser's Triumph of the City, Jonathan F. P. Rose-a visionary in urban development and renewal-champions the role of cities in addressing the environmental, economic, and social challenges of the twenty-first century. Cities are birthplaces of civilization; centers of culture, trade, and progress; cauldrons of opportunity-and the home of eighty percent of the world's population by 2050. As the 21st century progresses, metropolitan areas will bear the brunt of global megatrends such as climate change, natural resource depletion, population growth, income inequality, mass migrations, education and health disparities, among many others. In The Well-Tempered City, Jonathan F. P. Rose-the man who "repairs the fabric of cities"-distills a lifetime of interdisciplinary research and firsthand experience into a five-pronged model for how to design and reshape our cities with the goal of equalizing their landscape of opportunity. Drawing from the musical concept of "temperament" as a way to achieve harmony, Rose argues that well-tempered cities can be infused with systems that bend the arc of their development toward equality, resilience, adaptability, well-being, and the ever-unfolding harmony between civilization and nature. These goals may never be fully achieved, but our cities will be richer and happier if we aspire to them, and if we infuse our every plan and constructive step with this intention. A celebration of the city and an impassioned argument for its role in addressing the important issues in these volatile times, The Well-Tempered City is a reasoned, hopeful blueprint for a thriving metropolis-and the future.

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'With smoking hot chemistry, next to no angst, and a friend group that is literally squad goals, Rochon has written another winner' - The Dating Playbook is one of Vulture's Best Romances of 2021! If you love Helen Hoang, Abby Jimenez and Talia Hibbert, you'll LOVE Farrah Rochon, whose books are always witty, hot, and engaging (BuzzFeed)!'A total knockout: funny, sexy, and full of heart' Kirkus..................................What happens when three women discover, thanks to the live tweeting of a disastrous date, that they've all been duped by the same man? They become friends of course!It was only supposed to be for one night . . . Successful pediatric surgeon London Kelley just needs to find some balance and de-stress. According to her friends Samiah and Taylor, what London really needs is a casual hookup. A night of fun with no strings. But no one - least of all London - expected it to happen at her high school reunion with Drew Sullivan, millionaire, owner of delicious abs, and oh yes, her archnemesis.Now London is certain the road to hell is paved with good sex. Because she's found out the real reason Drew's back in Austin: to decide whether her beloved hospital remains open. Worse, Drew is doing everything he can to show her that he's a decent guy who actually cares. But London's not falling for it. Because while sleeping with the enemy is one thing, falling for him is definitely not part of the plan...................................Raves for Farrah Rochon:'Relatable and real . . . I smiled the whole time I was reading' Andie J. Christopher'The free-spirited, tell-it-like-it-is page-turner you've been looking for!' Kwana Jackson'A multilayered story about friendship, love, and following your dreams - all of it told with heart and emotion' Nalini Singh'Funny, fresh, sexy, and heartfelt. This is my new favorite romance series' Suzanne Brockmann'A smart, funny digital-age romance about real women living in the real world. Couldn't put it down!' Abby Jimenez'A masterpiece of modern-day Jane Austen with effortless, razor-sharp social commentary, romance, and humor. Farrah Rochon is one of the absolute best romance writers today. Period' Kristan Higgins'Swoon-worthy romance, the power of true friendship, and a grand gesture that makes your heart sigh with pure satisfaction. Absolutely a must-read summer romance!' Priscilla Oliveras'Rochon is a romance master who adeptly writes interesting and dynamic characters . . . A richly layered conflict adds depth and complexity to this charming workplace romance' Kirkus

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What role do objects play in crafting the religions of Southeast Asia and shaping the experiences of believers? The Spirit of Things explores religious materiality in a region marked by shifting boundaries, multiple beliefs, and trends toward religious exclusivism. While most studies of religion in Southeast Asia focus on doctrines or governmental policy, contributors to this volume recognize that religious "things"—statues, talismans, garments, even sacred automobiles—are crucial to worship, and that they have a broad impact on social cohesion. By engaging with religion in its tangible forms, faith communities reiterate their essential narratives, allegiances, and boundaries, and negotiate their coexistence with competing belief systems. These ethnographic and historical studies of Southeast Asia furnish us with intriguing perspectives on wider debates concerning the challenges of secularization, pluralism, and interfaith interactions around the world. In this volume, contributors offer rich ethnographic analyses of religious practices in the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma that examine the roles materiality plays in the religious lives of Southeast Asians. These essays demonstrate that religious materials are embedded in a host of practices that enable the faithful to negotiate the often tumultuous experience of living amid other believers. What we see is that the call for plurality, often initiated by government, increases the importance of religious objects, as they are the means by which the distinctiveness of a particular faith is "fenced" in a field of competing religious discourses. This project is called "the spirit of things" to evoke both the "aura" of religious objects and the power of material things to manifest "that which is fundamental" about faith and belief. Contributors: Julius Bautista, National University of Singapore; Sandra Cate, San Jose State University, California; Margaret Chan, Singapore Management University; Liana Chua, Brunel University, London; Cecilia S. de la Paz, University of the Philippines (Diliman); Alexandra de Mersan, Centre Asie du Sud-Est (Paris) and Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales; Johan Fischer, Roskilde University, Denmark; Janet Hoskins, University of Southern California; Klemens Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm; Laurel Kendall, American Museum of Natural History and Columbia University, New York City; H. Leedom Lefferts, Drew University and Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore; Nguyên Thi Thu Huong, Academic Council of the National Museum of History, Hanoi, and Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; Anthony Reid, Australian National University, University of California–Los Angeles, and National University of Singapore; Richard A. Ruth, United States Naval Academy; Kenneth Sillander, University of Helsinki; Vu Thi Thanh Tâm, Vietnam Museum of Ethnology; and Yeoh Seng Guan, Monash University, Malaysia

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Despite being America’s most produced bomber, the Consolidated B-24 Liberator has forever flown in the shadow of its more famous and glamorous B-17 rival. The workmanlike B-24 performed multiple unheralded roles in all theatres beyond its also multiple offensive missions, making it the war’s most versatile heavy bomber. Besides its offensive bombing, anti-submarine, and mining missions, the Liberator performed many little known “inoffensive” duties. Undoubtedly the most colourful of all Liberators were the so-called assembly ships of the Groups of the 2nd Air Division. Their unique paint schemes of stripes, polka dots, and checkerboard, were designed to make them ultra-conspicuous for their task of acting as leaders on which a Group formation could assemble their combat formations more quickly for a combat mission The Consolidated F-7 was a photographic reconnaissance version of the B-24 Liberator. The F-7 saw service in most theatres of the war. The long range of the Liberator also made it well suited to mapping missions during the war and post-war. Beginning in early 1944, to aid the Allied liberation of Europe, Carpetbagger B-24s were utilized to parachute spies, called “Joes” or “Janes”, or provide aerial supply of weapons and other matériel to resistance fighters in occupied Europe. Liberators also participated in the dropping of 2.75 billion propaganda leaflets using various techniques and delivery devices. Electronic Warfare played an important part in Allied global pre-invasion plans to discover the location of enemy radars, and, if possible, destroy them. This interception and analysis of an enemy electronic radiation was the origin of present day ELINT (ELectonicINTelligence). Modified RAF B-24D Airborne Electronic Reconnaissance Liberators, codenamed Ferret, were Radio Counter Measures and Electronic Intelligence aircraft that played a major role in European air opera¬tions. During 1942 the AAF became interested in aerial refueling as a means to bombing Japan. A shorter-range B-17E was selected as the receiver aircraft while the more spacious B-24D acted as the tanker. Although these tests were considered to be successful, the availability of longer-ranging B-29s and bases ever closer to Japan diminished the urgency of wartime aerial refueling. During the war, eighty-three B-24s crashed or made forced landings in Switzerland, sixty in Sweden, and several in Russia, Spain, Portugal, and Turkey. Many of these Liberators landed undamaged or were repaired to be flown by these nations. Of particular interest are the six Liberators that were captured and flown by the Luftwaffe. Packed with a unique collection of photographs. Special Operations Consolidated B-24 Liberators reveals the most unusual and little-known facets of the Second World War’s most versatile bomber.

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'City Style' is a guide to the world's most fashionable cities, curated by their most stylish residents. From the runways of New York and Paris to the streets of Tokyo and the club scene of London, our expert guides give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the local look and how to get it, complete with required reading (magazines and blogs), street style photos and a comprehensive designer guide with photos. In addition, interviews with designers, stylists and other industry insiders answer the question: What makes each city uniquely stylish? REVIEWS: Get schooled in international fashion. We admit it: one of the best parts about travelling is getting to scope out another city's style culture. But sometimes, it's harder than it looks to adopt the fashion sense of a foreign place without seeming like an overeager tourist. In City Style: A Field Guide to Global Fashion Capitals, looking like a (stylish) local is made easy. The guidebook-slash-fashion magazine includes must-see hotspots for cities like New York, Paris, Stockholm, and Sydney. It has tons of pictures, features on up-and-coming stores, and lists of local blogs and magazines. But the book isn't just about shopping. You can also check out interviews with local tastemakers, read about iconic designers, and even brush up on each city's fashion history (for instance, did you know that Prada dates back to 1913 in Milan?). It's the perfect companion for anyone who is travelling to a cool new place and wants to get an insiders look before they go. And even if you're not planning a trip in the near future, who cares? You can still dress the part. --NYLON magazine BOOK CLUB What could be more fun for fashionistas than a guide to the eight fashion capitals of the world? Each city section provides an insider's look at what's in, with an emphasis on useful information for the visitor. As stated in the guide's foreword, 'Like it or not, fashion is the one art form we encounter every day.... All over the world, our clothing says something about who we are in the local visual language...and those symbols change from city to city'; There are listings of required reading (both magazines and blogs), neighbourhoods, and hot spots; designer directories; and lots of illustrative photos. At the end of the list, preceded by New York, Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo, Stockholm, and Sydney, Los Angeles gets short shrift (owing, in part, to its non-seasonal climate). Verdict: Although this guide may have limited appeal for most travellers, its comprehensive nature makes it a valuable resource for anyone interested in today's world of fashion. -- Janet Ross --Library Journal ILLUSTRATIONS Illustrated throughout

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'A total delight. Witty and fresh - I absolutely loved it!' MILLY JOHNSONIn the modern tech-fuelled world of dating, is it possible to find true love? Hannah lives life on the edge. Never one to pass up on a new adventure, she has truly been living her best life. But once the adrenaline wears off, she wishes she had someone to spend the quieter moments with too. Learning that her best friend’s online dating business has taken a hit, she comes up with an idea that just might solve both of their problems... Jess has been with her husband for twenty years. They have a stable marriage, great kids and run their own businesses. But what looks like a perfect life from the outside has its own problems within, and with her business on the brink Jess can’t help but wonder where the spark has gone in her life, and whether settling down is all it’s cracked up to be. When Hannah embarks upon her latest scheme: finding a man using Jess’s dating app and meeting him for the first time at the altar, both women start to realise the grass isn't always greener. Can Hannah help her friend save her failing business or will Jess stop her from making what could be the biggest mistake of her life? 'A very funny, feel-good read' HOLLY MILLER‘Fun, feelgood, fab!’ KATE EBERLEN'Refreshing, brilliantly-written and highly addictive! HELLY ACTON'A witty, warm, wonderful read!' SOPHIE COUSENS'Fresh, funny, and wonderfully timely – it's feel-good fiction at its finest!' LAURA JANE WILLIAMS'Funny, feel good and full of warmth, love and friendship' LAURA KEMP'A witty, tender story that packs a real emotional punch. I loved it!' NICOLA GILL‘A heart-warming and joyous page-turner. Impossible to put down!’ HOLLY MARTIN'If you’re looking for a story to make you giggle, shed a few tears and cheer, this is the one!' MIRANDA DICKINSON'Enthralling and entertaining!' HEIDI SWAIN'I couldn’t put it down. What a wonderful, warm, wise and witty book!' ALEX BROWN'Fresh, funny and romantic, I totally loved it' SARAH MORGAN'Fresh, funny, and the perfect tonic for these gloomy times' LIA LOUIS'Witty, fun and fresh, Married at First Swipe is the perfect book to lift your spirits and put a smile on your face' PHAEDRA PATRICK'A fabulously fun, heart-warming novel' ANNA BELL'Heartwarming, insightful and very, very funny' KATIE MARSH

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Friday, January 6, 2017: On that day, as always, John Brennan’s alarm clock was set to go off at 4:15 a.m. But nothing else about that day would be routine. That day marked his first and only security briefing with President-elect Donald Trump. And it was also the day John Brennan said his final farewell to Owen Brennan, his father, the man who had taught him the lessons of goodness, integrity, and honour that had shaped the course of an unparalleled career serving his country from within the intelligence community. In this brutally honest memoir, Brennan, the son of an Irish immigrant who settled in New Jersey, describes the life that took him from being a young CIA recruit enamoured with the mystique of spy work, secretly defiant enough to drive a motorcycle and sport a diamond earring, and invigorated by his travels in the Middle East to being the most powerful individual in American intelligence. He details his experiences with very different presidents and what it’s been like to bear responsibility for some of the nation’s most crucial and polarising national security decisions. He pulls back the curtain on the inner workings of the Agency, describing the selfless, patriotic, and invisible work of the women and men involved in national security. He also examines the insularity, arrogance, and myopia that have, at times, undermined its reputation in the eyes of the American people and of members of other branches of government. Through topics ranging from George W. Bush’s intervention in Iraq to his thoughts on the CIA’s controversial use of enhanced interrogation techniques to his eye-opening account of the planning of the raid that resulted in Bin Ladin’s death to his realisation that Russia had interfered with the 2016 election, Brennan brings the reader behind the scenes of some of the most crucial moments in recent U.S. history. He also candidly discusses the times he has failed to live up to his own high standards and the very public fallouts that have resulted. With its behind-the-scenes look at how major U.S. national security policies and actions unfolded during his long and distinguished career - especially during his eight years in the Obama administration - John Brennan’s memoir is a work of history with strong implications for the future of America and our country’s relationships with other world powers.

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A interdisciplinary collection of readings that answers the question: How do men and women practice consumer culture differently? What is the relationship between gender and consumerism? Jennifer Scanlon gathers a collection of readings and archival materials to explore the multiple and contradictory ways in which women and men consume. Interdisciplinary and cross-cultural in scope, The Gender and Consumer Culture Reader introduces the reader to some of the most compelling issues and arguments in this growing field of study. In questioning traditional ways of analyzing the relationships between gender and consumer culture, these essays analyze the liberatory and oppressive nature of consumer culture in both historical and contemporary contexts. The scholars gathered here look at the gendered relationship between the home and consumer culture, individual and group identity through purchasing, the supply side of consumer culture, and the ways in which consumers embrace, resist, and manipulate the messages and the activities of consumer culture. Topics range from white middle-class female shoplifters to the gendered depiction of Native Americans in nineteenth-century advertising, from gay men's acquisition of domestic space in early twentieth-century New York to black and Latino men's cultural resistance through dress. Archival materials link the essays in each section, creating a further historical context, and providing a connection between the readings and larger questions and issues currently being debated about gender and consumer culture. Contributors include Andrew Heinze, Erika Rappaport, George Chauncey, Steven M. Gelber, Jeffrey Steele, Ann McClintock, Robert E. Weems, Jr., Lillian Faderman, Malcolm Gladwell, Jennifer Scanlon, Lizabeth Cohen, Jane Bryce, Susan J. Douglas, Kenon Breazeale, Kathy Peiss, Elaine S. Abelson, Natasha B. Barnes, Danae Clark, Stuart Cosgrove.

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Edgar Poe was born the son of itinerant actors on January 19th, 1809 in Boston, Massachusets. Abandoned by his father and the later death of his mother, he was taken into the foster care of John Allan, a Virginia tobacco farmer. Now styled as Edgar Allan Poe, he distinguished himself at the University of Virginia but was equally adept at collecting debts from his assiduous gambling. His stepfather's disapproval shattered their fragile relationship and Poe left home to seek his fortune. In 1836 he married his cousin Virginia but despite his prolific activities - journalism, poetry, lecturing, short stories, publishing, criticism and experimentation with fictional genres, including the detective novel which he virtually invented with the publication of The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841) - he received scant recognition for his efforts until the publication of The Raven in 1845. The poem's instant popularity gave him a new visibility in literary circles, but his personal situation remained desperate: poverty, illness, drink, and the physical decline and ultimate death of Virginia in 1847 led to his untimely and premature decline. In 1849 he was found sick, injured and semi-conscious in a Baltimore tavern. Taken to hospital, he lingered on for four days, but never recovered and on October 7th Edgar Allan Poe died at the age of 40. He was one of the most original writers in the history of American letters - a genius who, thanks to his dire reputation, was tragically misunderstood during his lifetime. It was not until Baudelaire enthusiastically translated his work that he found a wider audience in Europe, and became not only an enormous influence on modern French literature but also on the acclaimed work of writers such as Dostoevsky, Conan Doyle and Jules Verne.

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The Armed Conflict Survey is the annual review of the political, military and humanitarian dimensions of all active conflicts from the International Institute for Strategic Studies. It offers in-depth analysis of the drivers, dynamics and outlook of 34 current armed conflicts along with detailed information on conflict parties and more than 60 full-colour maps and infographics. The Armed Conflict Survey is an essential resource for those involved in security, foreign and humanitarian policymaking, and an indispensable handbook for anyone conducting serious analysis of armed conflict.Key features· Essays on global trends in armed conflict, with a focus on the changing nature of third-party intervention, the long aftermath of armed conflicts, and economic migration and forced displacement in a COVID-19 world.· Overviews of key events and political and military developments from January 2020–February 2021 for each conflict.· Strategic analysis of national and regional drivers and conflict outlooks.· Regional analyses with unique insights into the geopolitical and geo-economic threads linking conflicts across regions and globally.· Expanded information on conflict parties.· The Armed Conflict Global Relevance Indicator (ACGRI), an IISS proprietary indicator that combines measures of incidence and human impact with geopolitical impact to assess the global salience of armed conflicts.· Analysis of the humanitarian, social and economic impact of conflicts.· Conflict-specific trends, strategic implications and prospects for peace.· More than 60 full-colour maps, tables and infographics highlighting key conflict developments and data.· Key statistics on violent events, fatalities, military power, geopolitical salience, refugees and internally displaced persons.· The 2021 Chart of Armed Conflict, presenting information on conflict start dates, typologies and relevant refugee flows, as well as providing a visual overview of each conflict’s geopolitical relevance, looking at 2020 UN Security Council resolutions, multilateral missions and the involvement of third-party countries.

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Betty Boyd Caroli's engrossing and informative First Ladies is both a captivating read and an essential resource for anyone interested in the role of America's First Ladies. Caroli observes the role as it has shifted and evolved from ceremonial backdrop to substantive world figure. This expanded and updated fifth edition presents Caroli's keen political analysis and astute observations of recent developments in First Lady history, including Melania Trump's reluctance to take on the mantle and former First Lady Hilary Clinton's recent run for president. Caroli here contributes a new preface and updated chapters. Covering all forty-five women from Martha Washington to Melania and Ivanka Trump and including the daughters, daughters-in-law, and sisters of presidents who served as First Ladies, Caroli explores each woman's background, marriage, and accomplishments and failures in office. This remarkable lot included Abigail Adams, whose "remember the ladies" became a twentieth-century feminist refrain; Jane Pierce, who prayed her husband would lose the election; Helen Taft, who insisted on living in the White House, although her husband would have preferred a judgeship; Eleanor Roosevelt, who epitomized the politically involved First Lady; and Pat Nixon, who perfected what some have called "the robot image." They ranged in age from early 20s to late 60s; some received superb educations for their time, while others had little or no schooling. Including the courageous and adventurous, the ambitious, and the reserved, these women often did not fit the traditional expectations of a presidential helpmate. First Ladies is an engaging portrait of how each First Lady changed the role and how the role changed in response to American culture. These women left remarkably complete records, and their stories offer us a window through which to view not only this particular sorority of women, but also the role of American woman in general.

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The first edition of Shaping Seattle Architecture, published in 1994, introduced readers to Seattle’s architects by showcasing the work of those who were instrumental in creating the region’s built environment. Twenty years later, the second edition updates and expands the original with new information and illustrations that provide an even richer exploration of Seattle architecture. The book begins with a revised introduction that brings the story of Seattle architecture into the twenty-first century and situates developments in Seattle building design within local and global contexts. The book’s fifty-four essays present richly illustrated profiles that describe the architects' careers, provide an overview of their major works, and explore their significance. Shaping Seattle Architecture celebrates a wide range of people who helped form the region's built environment. It provides updated information about many of the architects and firms profiled in the first edition. Four individuals newly included in this second edition are Edwin J. Ivey, a leading residential designer; Fred Bassetti, an important contributor to Northwest regional modernism; L. Jane Hastings, one of the region’s foremost women in architecture; and Richard Haag, founder of the landscape architecture program at the University of Washington and designer of Gas Works Park and the Bloedel Reserve. The book also includes essays on the buildings of the Coast Salish people, who inhabited Puget Sound prior to Euro-American settlement; the role that architects played in speculative housing developments before and after World War II; and the vernacular architecture built by nonprofessionals that makes up a portion of the fabric of the city. Shaping Seattle Architecture concludes with a substantial reference section, updated to reflect the last twenty years of research and publications. A locations appendix offers a geographic guide to surviving works. The research section directs interested readers to further resources, and the appendix “Additional Significant Seattle Architects” provides thumbnail sketches of nearly 250 important figures not included in the main text.

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