Search results for ""author stills"
Stichting Kunstboek BVBA Haribana
The Haribana style was created in May 2020 in the mid of the global pandemic when the supply of fresh flowers and other materials was limited in Singapore. Used to making flamboyant designs with an abundance of flowers, the material shortage forced floral designer Harijanto Setiawan to drastically rethink his design style and to come up with a fresh way to create high-quality and impactful designs using the least number of materials as possible. One could argue that the pandemic was a blessing in disguise for Harijanto, as it rekindled his passion for floristry and allowed him to reinvent himself and show another aspect of his personality as a designer – away from the extravagance everyone was used to. It allowed him to go back to his roots as an architect. While Harijanto’s imagination was still limitless, the realisation of his ideas had to be within the reality of the pandemic. A grass leaf and a single flower are enough to create a Haribana piece, a highly architectural design statement with a single flower as focal point. The name Haribana hints at Ikebana – even though these designs cannot officially be classified as ‘Ikebana’, as even the most free-spirited Ikebana schools objected to this. Haribana therefore is Harijanto’s own interpretation of ‘some sort of Ikebana’ married with an architectural style and approach. Haribana pieces incorporate architectural concepts such as structure, balance, shape, line, color, texture, rhythm and harmony into floral art, as if the two are destined for each other, rather than forced upon. Steel grass stalks can be seen as the load bearing structures in architecture: the steel reinforcements and the concrete. The greenery is shaped to create the base structure, a filigree facade against which a single flower can shine. Haribana is suitable for any designer who wants to explore and understand how architecture can be translated through flowers. Haribana has been well received and it is Harijanto Setiawan’s hope that it will fill a unique void in floristry and develop into a specific style that is adapted worldwide. This book contains 65 stunning Haribana pieces designed by the master himself.
£35.10
Komshe Belgradestreets
Andy Townend was educated, lived and worked in London for many years. In February 2011, he moved from Sydney to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, with his Spanish wife, Fatima, and their young son, Alejandro. He has been working in the city ever since. Andy's original goal for belgradestreets was to capture the essence of the city with a series of weekly photographs, street by street. Soon enough, the idea took on a life of its own and the photos became a journal. It became not only a record of life in Belgrade, but also a unique perspective of someone still finding their way through the complexities and colour of a big city that is completely new to them. He set out to capture images which tell the story of how Belgrade's streets create the spirit of the city and its fascinating and diverse people. In short, Belgrade had captured Andy's heart. He discovered a unique city not yet overrun by global culture and repetitive brands. Every street in Belgrade, however rundown, overflows with life, colour, history and character. They are the streets of a city full of life, determination, memories and hopes for the future. It is a friendly city which throws its arms open, enthusiastically welcoming visitors into its embrace. Belgraders have seen hard times and yet in spite of this, possibly as a result of it, take life as it comes, devoting much of their passion to the enjoyment of life. A city that has been through so much cannot remain reserved, living its life behind closed doors, instead life pours out onto the streets. Photography is Andy's passion and he strives to capture places and moments to record a sense of a particular time or a specific feeling. His work on belgradestreets is held together by the same blend of contradictory emotions that bind Belgrade together as a city. There is a deep melancholy to some images but even at their most intense they evoke the humour and light of the city. This is belgradestreets through Andy's eye.
£13.99
Manning Publications Practical Probabilistic Programming
DESCRIPTION Data accumulated about customers, products, and website users can not only help interpret the past, it can help predict the future! Probabilistic programming is a programming paradigm in which code models are used to draw probabilistic inferences from data. By applying specialized algorithms, programs assign degrees of probability to conclusions and make it possible to forecast future events like sales trends, computer system failures, experimental outcomes, and other critical concerns. Practical Probabilistic Programming explains how to use the PP paradigm to model application domains and express those probabilistic models in code. It shows how to use the Figaro language to build a spam filter and apply Bayesian and Markov networks to diagnose computer system data problems and recover digital images. Then it dives into the world of probabilistic inference, where algorithms help turn the extended prediction of social media usage into a science. The book covers functional-style programming for text analysis and using object-oriented models to predict social phenomena like the spread of tweets, and using open universe models to model real-life social media usage. It also teaches the principles of algorithms such as belief propagation and Markov chain Monte Carlo. The book closes out with modeling dynamic systems by using a product cycle as its main example and explains how probabilistic KEY SELLING POINTS Covers the basic rules of probabilistic inference Illustrated with useful practical examples Build a wide variety of probabilistic models AUDIENCE Code examples are written in Figaro. Some knowledge of Scala and a basic foundation in data science is helpful. No prior exposure to probabilistic programming is required. ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY Probabilistic programming is a new discipline, and the tools and best practices are still emerging. Powerful new tools like the Figaro library built into Scala make probabilistic programming more practical in day-to-day work as a data scientist.
£61.40
Amber Books Ltd Afghanistan
“The United States of America will use all our resources to conquer this enemy. We will rally the world. We will be patient. We’ll be focused, and we will be steadfast in our determination.” – President George W. Bush, September 12, 2001 On September 11, 2001, Islamic terrorists hijacked four airliners, crashing them into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon and near the White House, killing nearly 3,000 people. Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda network quickly claimed responsibility for the outrage. The aftermath still reverberates around the world today, with President Bush declaring a “War on Terror” against al-Qaeda and its allies. By October, the US military was carrying out air strikes against al-Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan, and US ground forces were deployed against bin Laden’s protectors, the incumbent Taliban regime. By June 2002 the Taliban had been ousted and a US-friendly government established in the capital, Kabul. But the campaign didn’t end there, as American and allied NATO forces became bogged down for the next two decades. Afghanistan provides a photographic exploration of the 20-year war in Afghanistan, from the first deployment of US special forces in October 2001 to the final withdrawal of US forces in August 2021. In between, the book offers a compact overview of the operations fought by the US and NATO forces against the Taliban/al- Qaeda insurgency, including the bombing of the Tora Bora cave complex, Operation Anaconda, President Obama’s deployment surge, the Navy SEAL’s assassination of Osama bin Laden in neighbouring Pakistan, the development of a local Afghan army, police force and government, the eventual withdrawal of US forces and the collapse of the Afghan administration amidst renewed Taliban pressure. Afghanistan offers a concise pictorial history of the war that came to define US policy in Central Asia and the Middle East in the 21st century.
£17.99
The Pragmatic Programmers Genetic Algorithms and Machine Learning for Programmers
Self-driving cars, natural language recognition, and online recommendation engines are all possible thanks to Machine Learning. Now you can create your own genetic algorithms, nature-inspired swarms, Monte Carlo simulations, cellular automata, and clusters. Learn how to test your ML code and dive into even more advanced topics. If you are a beginner-to-intermediate programmer keen to understand machine learning, this book is for you. Discover machine learning algorithms using a handful of self-contained recipes. Build a repertoire of algorithms, discovering terms and approaches that apply generally. Bake intelligence into your algorithms, guiding them to discover good solutions to problems. In this book, you will: Use heuristics and design fitness functions. Build genetic algorithms. Make nature-inspired swarms with ants, bees and particles. Create Monte Carlo simulations. Investigate cellular automata. Find minima and maxima, using hill climbing and simulated annealing. Try selection methods, including tournament and roulette wheels. Learn about heuristics, fitness functions, metrics, and clusters. Test your code and get inspired to try new problems. Work through scenarios to code your way out of a paper bag; an important skill for any competent programmer. See how the algorithms explore and learn by creating visualizations of each problem. Get inspired to design your own machine learning projects and become familiar with the jargon. What You Need: Code in C++ (>= C++11), Python (2.x or 3.x) and JavaScript (using the HTML5 canvas). Also uses matplotlib and some open source libraries, including SFML, Catch and Cosmic-Ray. These plotting and testing libraries are not required but their use will give you a fuller experience. Armed with just a text editor and compiler/interpreter for your language of choice you can still code along from the general algorithm descriptions.
£33.29
Pan Macmillan Solve For Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy
'He explains how even in the face of the unthinkable, happiness is still possible' – StylistSolve for Happy is the equation for happiness. A startlingly original book about creating and maintaining happiness, written by a top Google executive with an engineer's training and fondness for thoroughly analyzing a problem. Mo Gawdat, a remarkable thinker whose gifts had landed him top positions in half a dozen companies and who – in his spare time – had created significant wealth, realized that he was desperately unhappy. A lifelong learner, he attacked the problem as an engineer would, examining all the provable facts and scrupulously following logic. When he was finished, he had discovered the equation for enduring happiness.Ten years later, that research saved him from despair when his college-aged son, Ali – also intellectually gifted – died during routine surgery. In dealing with the loss, Mo found his mission: he would pull off the type of 'moonshot' that he and his Google [X] colleagues were always aiming for: he would help ten million people become happier by pouring his happiness principles into a book and spreading its message around the world.One of Solve for Happy's key premises is that happiness is a default state. If we shape expectations to acknowledge the full range of possible events, unhappiness is on its way to being defeated. To steer clear of unhappiness traps, we must dispel the six illusions that cloud our thinking (e.g., the illusion of time, of control, and of fear); overcome the brain's seven deadly defects (e.g., the tendency to exaggerate, label, and filter), and embrace five ultimate truths (e.g., change is real, now is real, unconditional love is real).By means of several highly original thought experiments, Mo helps readers find enduring contentment by questioning some of the most fundamental aspects of their existence.
£10.99
Thomas Nelson Publishers The NKJV, Open Bible, Black Leathersoft, Red Letter, Comfort Print (Thumb Indexed): Complete Reference System
Connect the Dots to a Deeper Understanding of God’s Word with The Open Bible.The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by many writers over a vast time period, and yet it’s the unified Word of God. The Open Bible offers clean and easy navigation through Scripture’s interconnected themes and teachings, with a time-tested complete reference system trusted by millions. Plus, The Open Bible gives you even more access into the pages of the Word with book introductions and outlines to provide context and themes from beginning to end.Features include: Topical Index to the Bible—This easy-to-navigate feature quickly displays the scriptural connections between more than 8,000 names, places, concepts, events, and doctrines. Concordance—Quickly find the Bible verses you’re looking for with 4,795 word entries with nearly 36,000 Scripture references—plus 339 entries of significant people in the Bible. The Visual Survey of the Bible—The detailed 24-page visual overview of the Bible unfolds the people, events and themes of scripture at a glance. Life application notes crystallize central spiritual truths. Bible Book Introductions—Extensive at-a-glance outlines plus a detailed overview of the overview help broaden your perspective of each book. How to Study the Bible—Expert advice for both personal and family Bible study, plus helpful principles of Bible interpretation. The Christian’s Guide to the New Life—A complete doctrinal overview of Scripture divided into 32 “Christian Guides,” supported by hundreds of scripture references. A Guide to Christian Workers—Powerful motivation and practical guidance for sharing the Gospel—from contact to conversation, conversion, the certainty of salvation, and more. And more: The Scarlet Thread of Redemption, 82 Prayers of the Bible, Read Your Bible Through the Year, Between the Testaments, Teachings and Illustrations of Christ, Prophecies of the Messiah Fulfilled in Christ, The Parables of Jesus Christ, The Miracles of Jesus Christ, The Laws of the Bible, Detailed Maps, and still more. The exclusive Thomas Nelson NKJV Comfort Print® at a readable 9-point print size
£49.50
Thomas Nelson Publishers The NKJV, Open Bible, Brown Genuine Leather, Red Letter, Comfort Print: Complete Reference System
Connect the Dots to a Deeper Understanding of God’s Word with The Open Bible.The Bible is a collection of 66 books written by many writers over a vast time period, and yet it’s the unified Word of God. The Open Bible offers clean and easy navigation through Scripture’s interconnected themes and teachings, with a time-tested complete reference system trusted by millions. Plus, The Open Bible gives you even more access into the pages of the Word with book introductions and outlines to provide context and themes from beginning to end.Features include: Topical Index to the Bible—This easy-to-navigate feature quickly displays the scriptural connections between more than 8,000 names, places, concepts, events, and doctrines. Concordance—Quickly find the Bible verses you’re looking for with 4,795 word entries with nearly 36,000 Scripture references—plus 339 entries of significant people in the Bible. The Visual Survey of the Bible—The detailed 24-page visual overview of the Bible unfolds the people, events and themes of scripture at a glance. Life application notes crystallize central spiritual truths. Bible Book Introductions—Extensive at-a-glance outlines plus a detailed overview of the overview help broaden your perspective of each book. How to Study the Bible—Expert advice for both personal and family Bible study, plus helpful principles of Bible interpretation. The Christian’s Guide to the New Life—A complete doctrinal overview of Scripture divided into 32 “Christian Guides,” supported by hundreds of scripture references. A Guide to Christian Workers—Powerful motivation and practical guidance for sharing the Gospel—from contact to conversation, conversion, the certainty of salvation, and more. And more: The Scarlet Thread of Redemption, 82 Prayers of the Bible, Read Your Bible Through the Year, Between the Testaments, Teachings and Illustrations of Christ, Prophecies of the Messiah Fulfilled in Christ, The Parables of Jesus Christ, The Miracles of Jesus Christ, The Laws of the Bible, Detailed Maps, and still more. The exclusive Thomas Nelson NKJV Comfort Print® at a readable 9-point print size
£85.50
HarperCollins Publishers The Woman Who Kept Everything
The Lady in the Van meets The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry in this uplifting, funny and moving debut novel about a 79-year-old hoarder who is convinced the world is against her. 79-year-old Gloria Frensham is a hoarder. She lives amongst piles of magazines, cardboard boxes and endless knick-knacks that are stacked into every room of her home, and teeter in piles along the landing and up the stairs. She hasn’t left the house in years, but when a sudden smell of burning signifies real danger, she is forced to make a sudden departure and leave behind her beloved possessions. Determined she’s not ready for a care home, Gloria sets out to discover what life still has to offer her. It’s time to navigate the outside world on her own, one step at a time, with just one very small suitcase in tow… Heart-warming and poignant in equal measure, this is a story about the loneliness of life, the struggles of growing old, the power of kindness, and the bravery it takes to leave our comfort zones. ** Praise for The Woman Who Kept Everything ** ‘Without a doubt, readers will be charmed by the many colourful characters and their relationships with each other, as well as where life takes Gloria next.’ ‘This delightful book will enchant any reader who has a soul.’ ‘Fans of A Man Called Ove and Three Things About Elsie will find comfortable, enjoyable ground here.’ ‘It would make a great and inspired book club read.’ ‘A beautiful, charming, witty story’ ‘This is a novel that perhaps we all need to read. It is a realistic look into aging with humour and some sadness, that all too many often forget to see.’ ‘A lesson on how to live life!’ ‘Oh Gloria Frensham, what a fabulous ride you gave us on your adventures in this book. I suspect this will turn out to be a film and very much on a par with Lady in the Van.’
£8.99
HarperCollins Publishers Beetles (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 136)
‘A truly excellent account’ British Wildlife Beetles are arguably the most diverse organisms in the world, with nearly half a million beetle species described and catalogued in our museums, more than any other type of living thing. This astonishing species diversity is matched by a similar diversity in shape, form, size, life history, ecology, physiology and behaviour. Beetles occur everywhere, and do everything. And yet they form a clearly discrete insect group, typically characterised by their attractively compact form, with flight wings folded neatly under smooth hard wing-cases. Almost anyone could recognise a beetle, indeed many are intimately associated with human society. Groups like ladybirds are familiar to us from a very young age. Large stag beetles and handsome chafers are celebrated for their imposing size and bright colours. The sacred scarabs of the ancient Egyptians were given iconic, if not god-like, status and even though the exact religious meanings may be fading after three millennia, their bewitching jewellery and monumental statuary inspire us still. Despite this ancient and easy familiarity with beetles, the Coleoptera remains tainted by the notion that it is a ‘difficult’ group of insects. The traditional routes into studying British natural history, through birdwatching, butterfly-collecting and pressing wild flowers, now extend to studying dragonflies, bumblebees, grasshoppers, moths, hoverflies and even shieldbugs. These are on the verge of becoming popular groups, but beetles remain the preserve of the expert, or so it seems. So many British beetles are easy to find and easy to identify by the non-expert, but that bewildering background diversity, and the daunting numbers of species in the Coleoptera as a whole, have been enough to dissuade many a potential coleopterist from grasping the nettle and getting stuck in. Richard Jones’ groundbreaking New Naturalist volume on beetles encourages those enthusiasts who would otherwise be put off by the, to date, rather technical literature that has dominated the field, providing a comprehensive natural history of this fascinating and beautiful group of insects.
£31.50
Great Northern Books Ltd The Last Years of South West Steam
In South West England a rich railway history was developed through the construction of various routes, the steam locomotives used and services offered. Last Years of South West Steam looks at the region in the 1950s and 1960s as steam traction came to an end. This is done using 230 evocative colour and black-and-white images. Covering over 9,000 square miles, South West England includes the counties: Cornwall; Devon; Dorset; Gloucestershire; Somerset; Wiltshire. A selection of the towns and cities present are: Bath; Bristol; Bournemouth; Cheltenham; Cirencester; Dawlish; Exeter; Exmouth; Gloucester; Liskeard; Newton Abbot; Penzance; Plymouth; Salisbury; Sidmouth; Swindon; Tavistock; Truro; Wadebridge; Weymouth; Yeovil. A number of important routes pass through the area, including the Great Western Main Line from Paddington to Penzance and the South Western Main Line between Waterloo and Weymouth. Several local lines and branches also connected places in the South West. Many of the locomotive classes that worked in the region are present. These were mainly ex-Great Western Railway designs, such as Collett’s ‘Castle’, ‘Hall’, ‘Grange’ and ‘Manor’ Class 4-6-0s or the numerous 5700 and 8750 Class 0-6-0PTs, 5101 and 6100 2-6-2Ts, whilst Churchward’s 2800 Class 2-8-0s and 4300 2-6-0s were still employed. Some ex-Southern Railway classes feature, such as the ‘West Country’ Pacifics, Maunsell’s ‘N’ Class 2-6-0, Drummond T9 Class 4-4-0, Adams 415 Class 4-4-2T, Drummond M7 Class 0-4-4T, etc. BR’s Standard Classes also assisted in the region at the end of steam. The locomotives are pictured at stations, junctions, points from the lineside and sheds, both large and small. Last Years of South West Steam chronicles the railways of the area in the final years of an increasingly distant time in English history.
£31.49
Ad Lib Publishers Ltd Red Card to Racism: The Fight for Equality in Football
The global Black Lives Matter campaign has given greater exposure to the extent and insidious nature of the structural and systemic racism that exists in all strata of our society and has provided renewed impetus to the urgent need to challenge and eradicate racism in all its forms and wherever it is found. Sadly, sport has not been immune from this, especially so in the case of football. For too long, there were attempts to hide and mitigate racist attitudes and actions within the game, but thanks to the growing profile and visibility of black and minority ethnic (BAME) players both past and present – Viv Anderson, Cyrille Regis, Jimmy Carter, Les Ferdinand, Pat Nevin and Ruud Gullit to name just a few – and almost three decades of education and campaigning led by Kick It Out, attitudes have changed. However, now is not the time to be complacent – there’s still a great deal left to do. Throughout his entire journalistic career, leading sportswriter Harry Harris has championed the fight against racism in football. Now, within these pages, he shines a timely spotlight on the Beautiful Game, revealing the forces within football that have both helped expose and challenge racism – and, at times, sadly, hinder more rapid positive change. Over the years, Harris has gathered an impressively large network of contacts within the game – players, managers, media pundits and association personnel among them. Many of them, such as Greg Dyke, Glenn Hoddle, Ivor Baddiel, Mek Stein, and Jermain Defoe, have spoken exclusively to Harris for this book. Red Card to Racism is not only a welcome addition to the ongoing debate surrounding ending prejudice within football but also a timely and necessary addition to the wider discussion of the need within our evermore global multicultural society for all people, whatever their beliefs, gender, identity, sexuality or ethnic background, to be treated with equity, humanity and respect.
£9.04
Little, Brown Book Group The Silo Effect: Why Every Organisation Needs to Disrupt Itself to Survive
Ever since civilised society began, we have felt the need to classify, categorise and specialise. It can make things more efficient, and help give the leaders of any organisation a sense of confidence that they have the right people focusing on the right tasks. But it can also be catastrophic, leading to tunnel vision and tribalism. Most importantly it can create a structural fog, with the full picture of where an organisation is heading hidden from view. It is incredibly widespread: the chances are these 'silos' are rife in any organisation or profession, whether your business, or your local school or hospital.Across industries and cultures, as this brilliant and penetrating book shows, silos have the power to collapse companies and destabilise financial markets, yet they still dominate the workplace. They blind and confuse us, often making modern institutions act in risky, silly and damaging ways.Gillian Tett has spent years covering financial markets and business, but she's also a trained anthropologist, having completed a doctorate at Cambridge University and conducted field work in Tibet and Tajikistan. She's no stranger to questioning the assumptions and practices of a culture. Those in question - financial trading desks, urban police forces, surgical teams within medical clinics, software debuggers and consumer product engineers - have practices and rituals as ordered and intricate as those of any far-flung tribe.In The Silo Effect, she uses an anthropological lens to explore how individuals, teams and whole organisations often work in silos of thought, process and product. With examples drawn from a range of fascinating areas - the New York Fire Department and Facebook to the Bank of England and Sony - these narratives illustrate not just how foolishly people can behave when they are mastered by silos but also how the brightest institutions and individuals can master them. The Silo Effect is a sharp, visionary and inspiring work with the insight, prescriptions and power to remove our organisational blinders and transform the way we think for the better.
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd Bolt
Discover the classic mystery from Dick Francis, one of the greatest thriller writers of all time'One of the best Dick Francis books ever! You just cannot put down' 5***** Reader Review'Outstanding. The writing is excellent and the plots are engaging from the first line' 5***** Reader Review______Jockey Kit Fielding's patron, Princess Casilia, is in trouble. Her husband is being threatened by a ruthless business partner who wants to use the firm to manufacture arms.At the same time, some of the Princess's best horses are being killed - shot by a bolt. The only person the Princess can turn to is Kit - but he has problems of his own. His fiancé Danielle has taken a shine to another man. And his old feud with Maynard Allardeck, racing steward and hereditary enemy of the Fieldings, might lose him his license to race.Between riding winners and trying to save his impending marriage, Kit has somehow to find out and stop who is slaughtering the horses.But, as he's about to discover, the killer has more than horses in his sights . . .Packed with intrigue and hair-raising suspense, Bolt is just one of the many blockbuster thrillers from legendary crime writer Dick Francis.Praise for Dick Francis:'As a jockey, Dick Francis was unbeatable when he got into his stride. The same is true of his crime writing' Daily Mirror'The narrative is brisk and gripping and the background researched with care . . . the entire story is a pleasure to relish' Scotsman'Dick Francis's fiction has a secret ingredient - his inimitable knack of grabbing the reader's attention on page one and holding it tight until the very end' Sunday Telegraph'A regular winner . . . as smooth, swift and lean as ever' Sunday Express'The master of suspense and intrigue' Country Life'Francis writing at his best' Evening Standard'Still the master' Racing Post
£10.99
Transworld Publishers Ltd Generation Kill
Generation Kill is about the young men sent to fight their nation's first open-ended war since Vietnam. Despite the flurry of media images to come of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, you have never really met any of these people, who serve as front-line troops. For whatever reason, the media simply doesn't get them. As we all know, news accounts of the last two wars focused almost exclusively on battlefield imagery of high-tech weapons wreaking astounding destruction, comply with analysis from retired army grandees and other experts, punctuated by the odd heart-warming patriotic sound-bite. The troops themselves play a role in the media's presentation of recent wars rather like extras in The Triumph of the Will. They are everywhere yet somehow invisible. When they speak you get the sense that what they are saying has been carefully scripted. Now Generation Kill tells the soldiers' story in their own words.The narrative focuses on a platoon of 23 marines, many of them veterans of Afghanistan, whose elite reconnaissance unit spearheaded the blitzkrieg on Iraq. This is the story of young men that have been trained to become ruthless killers. It's about surviving death. It's about taking part in a war many questioned before it even began.Evan Wright was the only reporter with First Recon, which operated well ahead of most other forces, usually behind enemy lines. They were among the first marines sent into the fight and one of the last units still engaged on the outskirts of Iraq, even after the city centre fell. Generation Kill is not just a combat chronicle but an inside look at how people fighting in war actually experience it. It is both an action narrative like Black Hawk Down and a detailed portrait of a generation at war along the lines of Band of Brothers. It is not a book you are going to forget in a hurry...
£10.99
Penguin Books Ltd Money and Government: A Challenge to Mainstream Economics
'In this remarkable work, Robert Skidelsky unites his experience, knowledge and talents in a sweeping account of money and power' James K. GalbraithThe dominant view in economics is that money and government should play only a minor role in economic life. Money, it is claimed, is nothing more than a medium of exchange; and economic outcomes are best left to the 'invisible hand' of the market. The view taken in this important new book is that the omnipresence of uncertainty make money and government essential features of any market economy. One reason we need money is because we don't know what the future will bring. Government - good government - makes the future more predictable and therefore reduces this kind of demand for money.After Adam Smith orthodoxy persistently espoused non-intervention, but the Great Depression of 1929-32 stopped the artificers of orthodox economics in their tracks. A precarious balance of forces between government, employers, and trade unions enabled Keynesian economics to emerge as the new policy paradigm of the Western world. However, the stagflation of the 1970s led to the rejection of Keynesian policy and a return to small-state neoclassical orthodoxy. Thirty years later, the 2008 global financial crash was severe enough to have shaken the re-vamped classical orthodoxy, but, curiously, this did not happen. Once the crisis had been overcome - by Keynesian measures taken in desperation - the pre-crash orthodoxy was reinstated, undermined but unbowed. Since 2008, no new 'big idea' has emerged, and orthodoxy has maintained its sway, enacting punishing austerity agendas that leave us with a still-anaemic global economy.This book aims to familiarise the reader with essential elements of Keynes's 'big idea'. By showing that much of economic orthodoxy is far from being the hard science it claims to be, it aims to embolden the next generation of economists to break free from their conceptual prisons and afford money and government the starring roles in the economic drama that they deserve.
£12.99
Penguin Books Ltd Love and Summer
Love and Summer - a remarkable, heart-rending novel by acclaimed writer William Trevor'Lingers in the memory as a beautiful meditation on love, belonging and the impossibility of escape' Observer'Unbearably moving' SpectatorIt is summer and a stranger has come to quiet Rathmoye. He is noticed by Ellie, the young convent girl, who is married to Dillahan, a farmer still mourning his first wife. Over the long and warm days, Ellie and the stranger form an illicit attachment. And those in the town can only watch, holding their tongues, as passion, love and fate take their inevitable course.'A portrait of a brackish rural backwater, complete with family tragedy, sexual scandal, a repressed spinster and a half-crazed ancient retainer . . . delicate, elegiac, written with all Trevor's trademark compassion and understanding' Daily Mail'A series of wrenching human dramas, which Trevor depicts with kindness and beautiful delicacy' Sunday Telegraph'Brilliant. Trevor is the ultimate Old Master' Evening Standard'Beautiful. A flawless work of art' Independent on SundayReaders of The Story of Lucy Gault and Felicia's Journey will adore Love and Summer. It will also be cherished by readers of Colm Toibin and William Boyd. William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork. He has written eighteen novels and novellas, and hundreds of short stories, for which he has won a number of prizes including the Hawthornden Prize, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award, the Whitbread Book of the Year Award and the David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement. In 2002 he was knighted for his services to literature. His books in Penguin are: After Rain; A Bit on the Side; Bodily Secrets; Cheating at Canasta; The Children of Dynmouth; The Collected Stories (Volumes One and Two); Death in Summer; Felicia's Journey; Fools of Fortune; The Hill Bachelors; Love and Summer; The Mark-2 Wife; Selected Stories; The Story of Lucy Gault and Two Lives.
£9.99
Penguin Books Ltd The Origin of Our Species
Chris Stringer's bestselling The Origin of our Species tackles the big questions in the ongoing debate about the beginnings of human life on earth. Do all humans originate from Africa? How did we spread across the globe? Are we separate from Neanderthals, or do some of us actually have their genes? When did humans become 'modern' - are traits such as art, technology, language, ritual and belief unique to us? Has human evolution stopped, or are we still evolving? Chris Stringer has been involved in much of the crucial research into the origins of humanity, and here he draws on a wealth of evidence - from fossils and archaeology to Charles Darwin's theories and the mysteries of ancient DNA - to reveal the definitive story of where we came from, how we lived, how we got here and who we are. 'A new way of defining us and our place in history' Sunday Times 'When it comes to human evolution Chris Stringer is as close to the horse's mouth as it gets ... The Origin of Our Species should be the one-stop source on the subject. Read it now' BBC Focus 'Britain's foremost expert on human evolution ... you need a primer to make sense of the story so far. Here is that book' Guardian 'Combines anecdote and speculation with crisp explanation of the latest science in the study of the first humans ... an engaging read' New Scientist Chris Stringer is Britain's foremost expert on human origins and works in the Department of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum. He also currently directs the Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project, aimed at reconstructing the first detailed history of how and when Britain was occupied by early humans. His previous books include African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity, The Complete World of Human Evolution and most recently, Homo Britannicus, which was shortlisted for the Royal Society Science Book of the Year in 2007.
£10.99
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC Afterlives: By the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature 2021
BY THE WINNER OF THE 2021 NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2021 ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 WALTER SCOTT PRIZE ‘Riveting and heartbreaking ... A compelling novel, one that gathers close all those who were meant to be forgotten, and refuses their erasure’ Maaza Mengiste, Guardian ‘A brilliant and important book for our times, by a wondrous writer’ Philippe Sands, New Statesman, Books of the Year _______________ While he was still a little boy, Ilyas was stolen from his parents by the German colonial troops. After years away, fighting in a war against his own people, he returns to his village to find his parents gone, and his sister Afiya given away. Another young man returns at the same time. Hamza was not stolen for the war, but sold into it; he has grown up at the right hand of an officer whose protection has marked him life. With nothing but the clothes on his back, he seeks only work and security – and the love of the beautiful Afiya. As fate knots these young people together, as they live and work and fall in love, the shadow of a new war on another continent lengthens and darkens, ready to snatch them up and carry them away… _______________ ‘One of the world’s most prominent postcolonial writers … He has consistently and with great compassion penetrated the effects of colonialism in East Africa and its effects on the lives of uprooted and migrating individuals’ Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee ‘In book after book, he guides us through seismic historic moments and devastating societal ruptures while gently outlining what it is that keeps those families, friendships and loving spaces intact, if not fully whole’ Maaza Mengiste ‘Rarely in a lifetime can you open a book and find that reading it encapsulates the enchanting qualities of a love affair ... One scarcely dares breathe while reading it for fear of breaking the enchantment’ The Times
£8.99
John F Blair Publisher Voices of Cherokee Women
Voices of Cherokee Women is a compelling collection of first-person accounts by Cherokee women. It includes letters, diaries, newspaper articles, oral histories, ancient myths, and accounts by travelers, traders, and missionaries who encountered the Cherokees from the 16th century to the present. Among the stories told by these “voices” are those of Rebecca Neugin being carried as a child on the Trail of Tears; Mary Stapler Ross seeing her beautiful Rose Cottage burned to the ground during the Civil War; Hannah Hicks watching as marauders steal her food and split open her feather beds, scattering the feathers in the wind; and girls at the Cherokee Female Seminary studying the same curriculum as women at Mount Holyoke. Voices of Cherokee Women recounts how Cherokee women went from having equality within the tribe to losing much of their political and economic power in the 19th century to regaining power in the 20th, as Joyce Dugan and Wilma Mankiller became the first female chiefs of the Cherokee Nation. The book’s publication was timed for the commemoration of the 175th anniversary of the Trail of Tears. Carolyn Ross Johnston has a B.A. from Samford University and a Ph.D. in history from the University of California–Berkeley. Her previous publications Cherokee Women in Crisis: Removal, The Civil War, and Allotment, 1838-1907; Sexual Power: Feminism and the Family in America; Jack London: An American Radical; and My Father’s War: Fighting with the Buffalo Soldiers in World War II. A recipient of Woodrow Wilson and Danforth fellowships and a Pulitzer-prize nominee, Johnston teaches at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she is professor of history and American studies and the Elie Wiesel Professor of Humane Letters. "In her spirited and well-sourced collection, Johnston...unfolds history through the voices of people who remembered terrible events....An academic account that respectfully resurrects long-dead voices from a people who still have a lot to tell us." - Kirkus Reviews"
£14.67
Boydell & Brewer Ltd Military Society and the Court of Chivalry in the Age of the Hundred Years War
An investigation into three of the best-known cases tried under the Court of Chivalry reveals much about gentry military society. The highest and most sovereign things a knight ought to guard in defence of his estate are his troth and his arms. So declared Richard, Lord Scrope of Bolton, before the Court of Chivalry, eloquently encapsulating the fundamental role heraldic identity played in the lives of the late medieval English gentry. The Court of Chivalry was England's senior military court during the age of the Hundred Years War (1337-1453), but unfortunately its medieval registers are now lost and only a bare few cases survive. This book explores three of the best preserved of those cases: Scrope v. Grosvenor (1385-91), Lovel v. Morley (1386-7) and Grey v. Hastings (1407-10), disputes in which competing knightly families claimed rightful possession of the same coat-of-arms. Hundreds of witnesses gave evidence in each of these cases, in the process providing vivid insights into the military, social, and cultural history of late medieval England. This study asks a number of important questions. How did the plaintiffs and defendants choose their witnesses? What motives and constraints shaped their choices? How did they gain access to the various gentry networks that spoke in their defence? To what extent did lordly influence impact upon the composition of each witness list? How well did the witnesses themselves know each other? What role did bonds of regional solidarity play before the Court? Perhaps most significantly, what does the testimony itself reveal about the chivalric culture of the age? These questions enable the historian to probe in considerable depth the character of gentry military society, and its chivalric ethos, at a time when the victories of Edward III (1327-1377) were receding ever deeper into popular memory and the triumphs of Henry V (1413-1422) still lay in the future. PHILIP CAUDREY is an Honorary Research Associate at the University of Tasmania, Australia.
£75.00
Johns Hopkins University Press Tiger Check: Automating the US Air Force Fighter Pilot in Air-to-Air Combat, 1950–1980
Spurred by their commanders during the Korean War to be "tigers," aggressive and tenacious American fighter pilots charged headlong into packs of fireball-spewing enemy MiGs, relying on their keen eyesight, piloting finesse, and steady trigger fingers to achieve victory. But by the 1980s, American fighter pilots vanquished their foes by focusing on a four-inch-square cockpit display, manipulating electromagnetic waves, and launching rocket-propelled guided missiles from miles away. In this new era of automated, long-range air combat, can fighter pilots still be considered tigers? Aimed at scholars of technology and airpower aficionados alike, Steven A. Fino's Tiger Check offers a detailed study of air-to-air combat focusing on three of the US Air Force's most famed aircraft: the F-86E Sabre, the F-4C Phantom II, and the F-15A Eagle. Fino argues that increasing fire control automation altered what fighter pilots actually did during air-to-air combat. Drawing on an array of sources, as well as his own decade of experience as an F-15C fighter pilot, Fino unpacks not just the technological black box of fighter fire control equipment, but also fighter pilots' attitudes toward their profession and their evolving aircraft. He describes how pilots grappled with the new technologies, acutely aware that the very systems that promised to simplify their jobs while increasing their lethality in the air also threatened to rob them of the quintessential-albeit mythic-fighter pilot experience. Finally, Fino explains that these new systems often required new, unique skills that took time for the pilots to identify and then develop. Eschewing the typical "great machine" or "great pilot" perspectives that dominate aviation historiography, Tiger Check provides a richer perspective on humans and machines working and evolving together in the air. The book illuminates the complex interactions between human and machine that accompany advancing automation in the workplace.
£61.20
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd The Transaction Cost Economics Project: The Theory and Practice of the Governance of Contractual Relations
The presence of transaction costs greatly modifies the traditional picture of the allocation of resources through the market. It gives rise to many phenomena inexplicable in the simple market view and to problems of government policy. Oliver Williamson has been a leading figure in this analysis. His interpretations of corporate governance and of the complementarity between internal controls and the market have been the most profound in the literature. It is good that his leading essays are now available in collected form.'- Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University, US'Oliver Williamson's contributions to economics are certainly among the most important of the past several decades, and their importance will be increasingly recognized as economists come to grips with all that he has accomplished. This collection provides an unparalleled view of those contributions, and it belongs on the bookshelf of everyone who wants to understand complex economic transactions.'- David Kreps, Stanford University, US'This book provides a terrific opportunity to have a collection of Oliver Williamson's best papers on transaction cost economics all in one convenient volume.'- Paul L. Joskow, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and MIT'Williamson's work on transaction cost economics has shaped the thinking of all social scientists about organizations and institutions. This volume reprints many of his seminal papers on the subject, and is valuable both as commemoration and for reference.'- Avinash Dixit, Princeton University, USTransaction cost economics has and continues to be a fruitful area of research. There is still much to be done in the field with past research being used in conjunction with the vast number of contractual phenomena that have yet to be investigated in transaction cost economics terms. New challenges are posed by the need to move beyond the design of new contractual instruments (such as financial derivatives) to include an examination of the lurking hazards that attend contract implementation.This important collection brings together Professor Williamson's key papers on transaction cost economics. It will be of benefit to academics, scholars and practitioners with an interest in this progressive subject.
£134.00
Cornell University Press Humiliation: And Other Essays on Honor, Social Discomfort, and Violence
How do we feel when our friend turns up with a holiday present and we have nothing ready to give in exchange? What lies behind our small social panics and the maneuvers we use, to avoid losing face? Recognizing how much we care about how others see us, this wise and witty book tackles the complex subject of humiliation and the emotions that keep us going as self-respecting social actors. William Ian Miller writes astutely about a host of homely and seemingly banal social occasions and shows us what is buried behind them. In his view, our lives are permeated with sometimes merely uncomfortable, sometimes hair-raising rituals of shame and humiliation. Take the unwanted dinner invitation, the exchange of valentines in grade school, or the "diabolically ingenious invention of the bridal registry." Readers will have no trouble recognizing the social situations he finds indicative of our often perilous dealings with each other. Educated as a literary critic and philologist, by profession a historian of medieval Iceland, by employment a law professor, Miller ranges comfortably beyond his areas of formal expertise to talk about emotions across time and culture. His scenarios are based on incidents from his own college town and from the Iceland of the sagas. He also makes incursions into the emotional worlds represented in the Middle English poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and in some of the works of Shakespeare, Dostoyevsky, and others. Indeed, one theme that gradually becomes specific is how meaning travels from one culture to another. Ancient codes of honor, he insists, still function in contemporary American life. Some of Miller's narratives are unsettling, and he acknowledges that a certain ironical misanthropy may run through his discussions. But he succeeds in cutting through a mountain of pretensions to entertain and enlighten us.
£45.90
University of California Press A Heart at Fire's Center: The Life and Music of Bernard Herrmann
No composer contributed more to film than Bernard Herrmann, who in over 40 scores enriched the work of such directors as Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, Francois Truffaut, and Martin Scorsese. In this first major biography of the composer, Steven C. Smith explores the interrelationships between Herrmann's music and his turbulent personal life, using much previously unpublished information to illustrate Herrmann's often outrageous behavior, his working methods, and why his music has had such lasting impact. From his first film ("Citizen Kane") to his last ("Taxi Driver"), Herrmann was a master of evoking psychological nuance and dramatic tension through music, often using unheard-of instrumental combinations to suit the dramatic needs of a film. His scores are among the most distinguished ever written, ranging from the fantastic ("Fahrenheit 451", "The Day the Earth Stood Still") to the romantic ("Obsession", "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir") to the terrifying ("Psycho"). Film was not the only medium in which Herrmann made a powerful mark. His radio broadcasts included Orson Welles' "Mercury Theatre on the Air" and "The War of the Worlds". His concert music was commissioned and performed by the New York Philharmonic, and he was chief conductor of the CBS Symphony. Almost as celebrated as these achievements are the enduring legends of Herrmann's combativeness and volatility. Smith separates myth from fact and draws upon heretofore unpublished material to illuminate Herrmann's life and influence. Herrmann remains as complex as any character in the films he scored - a creative genius, an indefatigable musicologist, an explosive bully, a generous and compassionate man who desperately sought friendship and love. The films scored by Bernard Herrmann include "Citizen Kane", "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir", "Vertigo", "Psycho", "Fahrenheit 451", "Taxi Driver", "The Magnificent Ambersons", "The Man Who Knew Too Much", "North By Northwest", "The Birds", "The Snows of Kilimanjaro", "Cape Fear", "Marnie", "Torn Curtain", among others.
£30.00
Kent State University Press Baseball Goes West: The Dodgers, the Giants, and the Shaping of the Major Leagues
Following the 1957 season, two of baseball’s most famous teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants, left the city they had called home since the 19th century and headed west. The Dodgers went to Los Angeles and the Giants to San Francisco. Those events have entered baseball lore, and indeed the larger culture, as acts of betrayal committed by greedy owners Walter O’Malley of the Dodgers and Horace Stoneham of the Giants. The departure of these two teams, but especially the Dodgers, has not been forgotten by those communities. Even six decades later, it is not hard to find older Brooklynites who are still angry about losing the Dodgers. This is one side of the story. Baseball Goes West seeks to tell another side. Lincoln A. Mitchell argues that the moves to California, second only to Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947, forged Major League Baseball (MLB) as we know it today. By moving two famous teams with national reputations and many well-known players, MLB benefited tremendously, increasing its national profile and broadening its fan base. This was particularly important following a decade that, despite often being described as baseball’s golden age, was plagued with moribund franchises, low wages for many players, and a difficult dismantling of the apartheid system that had been part of big league baseball since its inception.In the years immediately following the moves, the two most iconic players of the 1960s, Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays, had their best years, bringing even greater status and fame to their respective ball clubs. The Giants played an instrumental role in the first phase of baseball’s globalization by leading the effort to bring players from Latin America to the big leagues, while the Dodgers set attendance records and pioneered new ways to market the game. Sports historians, baseball fans, and historians of American culture on a broader scale will appreciate Mitchell’s reframing of baseball’s move west and his insights into the impacts felt throughout baseball and beyond.
£46.22
Monthly Review Press,U.S. Can the Working Class Change the World?
“Michael Yates’s passion and respect for the class he came out of delivers a book that is especially accessible without retreating from the complexities and internal contradictions of working class life and organization—a book committed not only to defending workers, but also to building on their potentials to transform society.”—Sam Gindin, former chief economist, Canadian Auto Workers Union; Packer Visitor in Social Justice, Political Science Dept., York University, Toronto One of the horrors of the capitalist system is that slave labor, which was central to the formation and growth of capitalism itself, is still fully able to coexist alongside wage labor. But, as Karl Marx points out, it is the fact of being paid for one's work that validates capitalism as a viable socio-economic structure. Beneath this veil of “free commerce” – where workers are paid only for a portion of their workday, and buyers and sellers in the marketplace face each other as “equals” – lies a foundation of immense inequality. Yet workers have always rebelled. They've organized unions, struck, picketed, boycotted, formed political organizations and parties – sometimes they have actually won and improved their lives. But, Marx argued, because capitalism is the apotheosis of class society, it must be the last class society: it must, therefore, be destroyed. And only the working class, said Marx, is capable of creating that change. In his timely and innovative book, Michael D. Yates asks if the working class can, indeed, change the world. Deftly factoring in such contemporary elements as sharp changes in the rise of identity politics and the nature of work, itself, Yates asks if there can, in fact, be a thing called the working class? If so, how might it overcome inherent divisions of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, location – to become a cohesive and radical force for change? Forcefully and without illusions, Yates supports his arguments with relevant, clearly explained data, historical examples, and his own personal experiences. This book is a sophisticated and prescient understanding of the working class, and what all of us might do to change the world.
£63.00
SPCK Publishing Everything Happens for a Reason and Other Lies I've Loved
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - 'A meditation on sense-making when there's no sense to be made, on letting go when we can't hold on, and on being unafraid even when we're terrified.' LUCY KALANITHI 'Belongs on the shelf alongside other terrific books about this difficult subject, like Paul Kalanithi's When Breath Becomes Air and Atul Gawande's Being Mortal.' BILL GATES NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY REAL SIMPLE London-born Kate Bowler, a thirty-five year-old professor at the school of divinity at Duke, had finally had a baby with her childhood sweetheart when she began to feel jabbing pains in her stomach. She lost thirty pounds, guzzled antacid, and visited doctors for three months before she was finally diagnosed with Stage IV colon cancer. As Kate navigates the aftermath of her diagnosis, she pulls the reader into her life and her history – affectionately filled with a colourful retinue of friends, mega-church preachers, parents, and doctors – and shares her irreverent, laser-sharp reflections on faith, friendship, love, and death. She wonders why suffering makes her feel like a loser and explores the burden of positivity. Trying to relish the time she still has with her son and husband, she realizes she must cure her habit of ‘skipping to the end’ and planning the next move. An historian of the American Prosperity Gospel (the creed of the megachurches that promises believers a cure for tragedy, if they just want it badly enough) Kate finds that she craves these same 'outrageous certainties'. Why is it so hard to surrender when she knows there are no spiritual guarantees? In Everything Happens for Reason we encounter one of the talented, courageous few who - like Paul Kalanithi - can articulate the grief we feel as we contemplate our own mortality.
£10.99
Orion Publishing Co Authentic Gravitas
'Gravitas must be caused by an Agent acting constantly according to certain laws, and Rebecca Newton has found those laws. It doesn't take confidence to matter, but it does take courage' SETH GODIN'A powerful, practical resource for people looking to bring their best self to work, and for leaders who want to equip others to do the same.' MELISSA DAIMLERHaving a powerful, meaningful impact on others is not about being the most dominant person in the room; it's about being intentional, curious, and courageous.Organizational psychologist and executive coach Rebecca Newton has found that even her most successful clients still want more of one quality: gravitas. They want their words to carry weight, to have a positive, lasting impact on those around them. Gravitas can seem like an elusive, intangible quality, but it isn't about adopting the style of another or being someone you're not. Newton draws on extensive research and experience coaching business leaders to show what underpins authentic gravitas and how anyone can develop it. She presents the counterintuitive idea that in order to be valued, we shouldn't spend all our time and energy trying to stand out from the crowd; instead, we should focus on the crowd - connecting with others and understanding their needs in order to make a significant difference.Newton debunks the myths of gravitas and gives readers the practical tools to develop it by: * Minimizing the gaps between intention, action, and impact * Remaining true to yourself while adapting to work successfully with people who have different styles * Choosing to be courageous regardless of how confident you feel - as you engage in courageous behaviours, confidence naturally buildsAuthentic gravitas extends beyond commanding presence in the room during a key meeting; it's about the small things you can do beforehand, during, and in all the spaces in between - to be someone who genuinely adds substantive value in the workplace and beyond.
£14.99
Little, Brown Book Group Heavy Duty: Days and Nights in Judas Priest
'A must for fans and rock buffs' The Sun'Fascinating read' PowerplayJudas Priest formed in Birmingham in 1969. With its distinctive twin-guitar sound, studs-and-leather image, and international sales of over 50 million records, Judas Priest became the archetypal heavy metal band in the 1980s. Iconic tracks like 'Breaking the Law', 'Living after Midnight', and 'You've Got Another Thing Coming' helped the band achieve extraordinary success, but no one from the band has stepped out to tell their or the band's story until now.As the band approaches its golden anniversary, fans will at last be able to delve backstage into the decades of shocking, hilarious, and haunting stories that surround the heavy metal institution. In Heavy Duty, guitarist K.K. Downing discusses the complex personality conflicts, the business screw-ups, the acrimonious relationship with fellow heavy metal band Iron Maiden, as well as how Judas Priest found itself at the epicentre of a storm of parental outrage that targeted heavy metal in the '80s. He also describes his role in cementing the band's trademark black leather and studs image that would not only become synonymous with the entire genre, but would also give singer Rob Halford a viable outlet by which to express his sexuality. Lastly, he recounts the life-changing moment when he looked at his bandmates on stage during a 2009 concert and thought, 'This is the last show'. Whatever the topic, whoever's involved, K.K. doesn't hold back.From the band at the very beginning until his retirement in 2011 (and even still as a member of the band's board of directors), Downing has seen it all and is now finally at a place in his life where he can also let it all go. Even if you're a lifelong fan, if you think you know the full story of Judas Priest, well, you've got another thing coming.
£11.99
Little, Brown Book Group Untouchable
Jack Lancaster spends his nights dreaming of fire. After nearly burning to death in his childhood home, he resolved to hunt down the man responsible - the charismatic cult leader known as Quinton Zane. Twenty years later, Jack is a renowned FBI consultant, known for his almost preternatural ability to get inside the killer's head. But the more cases he solves, the deeper he slips into the darkness - and the more his still unresolved past begins to torment him. His only solace is Winter Meadows, a hypnotist who's helping Jack decode his mysterious dreams. But when Winter falls into danger at the hands of an old enemy, they are brought together as more than just therapist and client. Meanwhile, the one man whose dark legacy continues to haunt Jack is nearer than they think - and more powerful than ever.A feverish, suspenseful read with a smouldering secret at its heart, perfect for fans of Nora Roberts and Melinda Leigh.Here's what other readers had to say about Untouchable'A couple to root for, a tiny hint of the supernatural, a page-burning plot . . . a sexy, heart-warming romance' Kirkus Reviews'For the sake of full disclosure, I haven't read the first two books in the series. But let me assure you, I didn't feel left in the dark while reading Untouchable - and neither will you. It's a complicated, suspenseful novel that also delivers a riveting romance' NPR 'A satisfying, fast-paced end to Krentz's arsonist series' People'A delightful blend of dry wit, crackling chemistry, and edgy suspense' Book Wyrm'A wonderfully written story that keeps us engrossed from start to finish' The Reading Cafe'An easy-read and engaging romantic suspense' Delighted Reader'Wow what an absolutely perfect way to end this series . . . An engrossing page-turner that flows smoothly' Fresh Fiction Join these readers in discovering the dark, romantic thrill of Untouchable
£9.99
Oxford University Press The Ecology of Tropical East Asia
Tropical East Asia is home to over one billion people and faces massive human impacts from its rising population and rapid economic growth. It has already lost more than half of its forest cover to agriculture and urbanization, and has the highest rates of deforestation and logging in the tropics. Habitat loss, coupled with hunting and the relentless trade in wildlife products, threatens all its large and many of its smaller vertebrates. Despite these problems, the region still supports an estimated 15-25% of global terrestrial biodiversity and a growing environmental awareness means that it is no longer assumed that economic development justifies environmental damage, and no longer accepted that this trade-off is inevitable. Effective conservation action now depends on integrating a clear understanding of the ecological patterns and processes in the region with the varied needs of its human population. This third edition continues to provide an overview of the terrestrial ecology of Tropical East Asia: from southern China to Indonesia, and from Bhutan and Bangladesh to the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. It retains the balance between compactness and comprehensiveness of the previous editions, and the even-handed geographical treatment of the whole region, but it updates both the contents and the perspective. Approximately one third of the text is new or greatly modified, reflecting the explosion of new research in the region in the last few years and the increasing use of new tools, particularly from genomics and remote sensing. The change in perspective largely reflects the growing realization that we are in a new epoch, the Anthropocene, in which human activities have at least as large an influence as natural processes, and that stopping or reversing ecological change is no longer an option. This does not mean that biodiversity conservation is no longer possible or worthwhile, but that the biodiverse future we strive for will inevitably be very different from the past. The Ecology of Tropical East Asia is an advanced textbook suitable for senior undergraduate and graduate level students taking courses on the terrestrial ecology of the East Asian tropics, as well as an authoritative regional reference for professional ecologists, conservationists, and interested amateurs worldwide.
£117.10
Oxford University Press The Gene's-Eye View of Evolution
'Arvid Ågren has undertaken the most meticulously thorough reading of the relevant literature that I have ever encountered, deploying an intelligent understanding to pull it into a coherent story. As if that wasn't enough, he gets it right.' (Richard Dawkins) To many evolutionary biologists, the central challenge of their discipline is to explain adaptation, the appearance of design in the living world. With the theory of evolution by natural selection, Charles Darwin elegantly showed how a purely mechanistic process can achieve this striking feature of nature. Since then, the way many biologists have thought about evolution and natural selection is as a theory about individual organisms. Over a century later, a subtle but radical shift in perspective emerged with the gene's-eye view of evolution in which natural selection was conceptualized as a struggle between genes for replication and transmission to the next generation. This viewpoint culminated with the publication of The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (Oxford University Press, 1976) and is now commonly referred to as selfish gene thinking. The gene's-eye view has subsequently played a central role in evolutionary biology, although it continues to attract controversy. The central aim of this accessible book is to show how the gene's-eye view differs from the traditional organismal account of evolution, trace its historical origins, clarify typical misunderstandings and, by using examples from contemporary experimental work, show why so many evolutionary biologists still consider it an indispensable heuristic. The book concludes by discussing how selfish gene thinking fits into ongoing debates in evolutionary biology, and what they tell us about the future of the gene's-eye view of evolution. The Gene's-Eye View of Evolution is suitable for graduate-level students taking courses in evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, and evolutionary genetics, as well as professional researchers in these fields. It will also appeal to a broader, interdisciplinary audience from the social sciences and humanities including philosophers and historians of science.
£24.41
Headline Publishing Group Keep the Receipts: THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER All the conversations and advice you've had in the club toilet, finally in one place. For fans of Three Women, Women Don't Owe You Pretty and Slay in Your Lane. 'The book is heart-warmingly honest and beautifully fun. Reading it felt like having a conversation with a best friend.' GRACE BEVERLEY ----------Join your girl Tolly T, Audrey, formerly known as Ghana's Finest, and your mamacita Milena Sanchez as they get super honest about their life experiences and lessons. From their different approaches to love to their wise advice on building strong friendships; from those conversations about sex we never have, to how to enjoy life as a Black woman or a woman of colour, The Receipts girls always keep it real, authentic and fiercely funny.This book is a celebration of the wonderful messes, mistakes, successes, highs and lows of three audacious women who are still trying to get it right and live their best lives.It's time to normalise women sharing things with zero judgement, to embrace women for all their flaws and differences and to realise being completely yourself is the best thing you could possibly be.THIS BOOK IS FOR ANYONE SEEKING ADVICE, SOLIDARITY AND A WARM HUG FROM WOMEN WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH IT ALL.----------More praise for KEEP THE RECEIPTS:'This book is raw, funny and feels like the best and most necessary dmc (deep meaningful chat) you'll ever have.' NICOLE CRENTSIL 'Keep the Receipts is relatable and hilarious; it offers you an opportunity to see yourself in its pages, and feel understood on a deeper level.' MS BANKS 'If like me, you've grown up in a predominately male household, you're going to love the revelations about sisterhood, self-love and sex in this book. There's so much to learn when it comes to being your own woman and Tolly T, Audrey and Milena aren't afraid to tell you every last detail.' JULIE ADENUGA
£9.99
Simon & Schuster Charlie Hernández & the Castle of Bones
“Well worth it for ravenous fans of quest stories.” —Kirkus Reviews “A highly recommended adventure series” —School Library Journal Inspired by Hispanic folklore, legends, and myths from the Iberian Peninsula and Central and South America, this bold sequel to Charlie Hernández & the League of Shadows, which Booklist called “a perfect pick for kids who love Rick Riordan” in a starred review, follows Charlie as he continues on his quest to embrace his morphling identity. Charlie Hernandez still likes to think of himself as a normal kid. But what’s normal about being a demon-slaying preteen with an encyclopedic knowledge of Latino mythology who can partially manifest nearly any animal trait found in nature? Well, not much. But, Charlie believes he can get used to this new “normal,” because being able to sprout wings or morph fins is pretty cool. But there is a downside: it means having to constantly watch his back for La Mano Peluda’s sinister schemes. And when the leader of La Liga, the Witch Queen Jo herself, is suddenly kidnapped, Charlie’s sure they’re at it again. Determined to save the queen and keep La Liga’s alliances intact, Charlie and his good friend Violet Rey embark on a perilous journey to track down her captors. As Charlie and Violet are drawn deeper into a world of monstruos and magia they are soon left with more questions than answers—like, why do they keep hearing rumors of dead men walking, and why is Charlie suddenly having visions of an ancient evil: a necromancer priest who’s been dead for more than five centuries? Charlie’s abuela once told him that when dead men walk, the living run in fear. And Charlie’s about to learn the truth of that—the hard way.
£18.05
Simon & Schuster The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth's Newest Age
A brilliant young environmental journalist argues that we must innovate and adapt to save planet Earth in this enlightening “trip around the world to meet people working out new ways for humanity to live as well as survive” (The New York Times Book Review).With the historical perspective of The Song of the Dodo and the urgency of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, The Unnatural World chronicles a disparate band of unlikely heroes: an effervescent mad scientist who would fertilize the seas; a pigeon obsessive bent on bringing back the extinct; a low-level government functionary in China doing his best to clean up his city, and more. These scientists, billionaires, and ordinary people are all working toward saving the best home humanity is ever likely to have. What is the threat? It is us. In a time when a species dies out every ten minutes, when summers are getting hotter, winters colder, and oceans higher, some people still deny mankind’s effect on the Earth. But all of our impacts on the planet have ushered in what qualifies as a new geologic epoch, thanks to global warming, mass extinction, and such technologies as nuclear weapons and plastics. “A futurist ray of hope amid the usual denial and despair” (Esquire), The Unnatural World examines the world we have created and analyzes the glimmers of light emerging from the efforts of incredible individuals seeking to change our future. Instead of a world without us, this history of the future shows how to become good gardeners, helping people thrive along with an abundance of plants, animals, all the exuberant profusion of life on Earth—a better world with us. The current era of humans need not be the end of the world—and “Biello describes both what we have done to alter our planet and what we should do in the future to ensure its habitability” (Scientific American).
£17.16
Johns Hopkins University Press Protesting Affirmative Action: The Struggle over Equality after the Civil Rights Revolution
A lightning rod for liberal and conservative opposition alike, affirmative action has proved one of the more divisive issues in the United States over the past five decades. Dennis Deslippe here offers a thoughtful study of early opposition to the nation's race- and gender-sensitive hiring and promotion programs in higher education and the workplace. This story begins more than fifteen years before the 1978 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Regents of the University of California v. Bakke. Partisans attacked affirmative action almost immediately after it first appeared in the 1960s. Liberals in the opposition movement played an especially significant role. While not completely against the initiative, liberal opponents strove for "soft" affirmative action (recruitment, financial aid, remedial programs) and against "hard" affirmative action (numerical goals and quotas). In the process of balancing ideals of race and gender equality with competing notions of colorblindness and meritocracy, they even borrowed the language of the civil rights era to make far-reaching claims about equality, justice, and citizenship in their anti-affirmative action rhetoric. Deslippe traces this conflict through compelling case studies of real people and real jobs. He asks what the introduction of affirmative action meant to the careers and livelihoods of Seattle steelworkers, New York asbestos handlers, St. Louis firemen, Detroit policemen, City University of New York academics, and admissions counselors at the University of Washington Law School. Through their experiences, Deslippe examines the diverse reactions to affirmative action, concluding that workers had legitimate grievances against its hiring and promotion practices. In studying this phenomenon, Deslippe deepens our understanding of American democracy and neoconservatism in the late twentieth century and shows how the liberals' often contradictory positions of the 1960s and 1970s reflect the conflicted views about affirmative action many Americans still hold today.
£53.33
HarperChristian Resources Chase Bible Study Guide: Chasing After the Heart of God
What are you chasing? Through deep Bible study and practical exercises with Jennie Allen, discover that God has carved out a space in each of us that only he can fill.Are you doing everything right but still feel empty? Are you so busy doing things for God and everyone else that you altogether miss him? Do you ever, in your busy life, stop and see him, really see him?Jennie Allen once felt paralyzed in her relationship with God. It occurred to her that maybe she was chasing the wrong things. Maybe God was after something else. When she stumbled across the phrase in 1 Samuel 13, "David was a man after God's own heart," she was intrigued. She knew David was both completely broken, and completely sold out for God.David's life shatters our ideas of what God wants from us. In Chase, Jennie shows us a man who spent his life chasing after God, which points to several things we shouldn't be chasing: Don't chase self-worth by achieving more Don't chase freedom by protecting yourself Don't chase approval by being moral Don't chase satisfaction by rebelling Don't chase fulfillment. Chase God! Whether you're running from God or working your tail off to please him, David's journey will challenge your view of God. He is the only thing we can chase that won't leave us feeling more empty.The Chase Study Guide uses projects, stories, and Bible study in the life of David to engage the mind and heart.Designed for use with the Chase Video Study (9780529104342), sold separately.
£13.58
St Martin's Press The Hospital: Life, Death, and Dollars in a Small American Town
BEST OF THE 2022 RUSA Book & Media AWARDS | One of Biblioracle's 8 favorite nonfiction books of 2021 in the Chicago Tribune | The New York Post's BEST BOOKS OF 2021 | USA Today's 5 BOOKS NOT TO MISS "Alexander nimbly and grippingly translates the byzantine world of American health care into a real-life narrative with people you come to care about." -New York Times "Takes readers into the world of the American medical industry in a way no book has done before." -Fortune By following the struggle for survival of one small-town hospital, and the patients who walk, or are carried, through its doors, The Hospital takes readers into the world of the American medical industry in a way no book has done before. Americans are dying sooner, and living in poorer health. Alexander argues that no plan will solve America's health crisis until the deeper causes of that crisis are addressed. Bryan, Ohio's hospital, is losing money, making it vulnerable to big health systems seeking domination and Phil Ennen, CEO, has been fighting to preserve its independence. Meanwhile, Bryan, a town of 8,500 people in Ohio's northwest corner, is still trying to recover from the Great Recession. As local leaders struggle to address the town's problems, and the hospital fights for its life amid a rapidly consolidating medical and hospital industry, a 39-year-old diabetic literally fights for his limbs, and a 55-year-old contractor lies dying in the emergency room. With these and other stories, Alexander strips away the wonkiness of policy to reveal Americans' struggle for health against a powerful system that's stacked against them, but yet so fragile it blows apart when the pandemic hits. Culminating with COVID-19, this book offers a blueprint for how we created the crisis we're in.
£14.99
Jason Aronson Inc. Publishers Jewish Answers to Medical Questions: Questions and Answers from the Medical Ethics Department of Chief Rabbi of Great Britain
As head of the department of Medical Ethics for Britain's Chief Rabbi's office, Rabbi Nisson E. Shulman was entrusted with the task of responding to questions on halakhah (Jewish law) and medicine which came from virtually all over the world, and from a wide variety of sources: from government agencies such as the Ministry of Foods and Fisheries, from Medical Foundations and groups such as the Nuffield Foundation, the College of Physicians of Edinburgh, the Lingard Fertility Clinic in Australia, from groups with polemic agendas such as the Lynx Organization fighting the fur trade, and from individuals who had questions about the Jewish view on current medical issues. Thus, nurses, physicians, students, and researchers turned to the Chief Rabbi's office for material. Even a group of physicians, theologians, and ethicists, gathered for the express purpose of seeking to forestall medicine's possible degeneration into the kind of science that produced Nazi "medicine," and which met as a "Human Values in Health Care Discussion Group," utilized the Chief Rabbi's office through Rabbi Shulman for some of their deliberations. This book selects a number of questions to which the answers actually encompass medical ethics issues including genetic engineering, new birth techniques, surrogate parenthood, embryo research, marriage, sex selection, saving and preserving life, transplant surgery, scarce resources, care of the critically ill, living will, organ donations and transplants, and even touches upon disaster management. Rabbi Shulman has organized and collected answers to the most frequently asked questions. Many of the question selected had been asked repeatedly and are therefore to be considered very much on today's agenda. Some of the questions arose because of specific events, such as the discovery of the remains of the Jewish martyrs of York and their reburial, thus making it possible for Jews to visit that city again. Others originated from students coping with planned research projects. Still others w
£100.85
Harvard University Press The Island: War and Belonging in Auden’s England
A groundbreaking reassessment of W. H. Auden’s early life and poetry, shedding new light on his artistic development as well as on his shifting beliefs about political belonging in interwar England.From his first poems in 1922 to the publication of his landmark collection On This Island in the mid-1930s, W. H. Auden wrestled with the meaning of Englishness. His early works are prized for their psychological depth, yet Nicholas Jenkins argues that they are political poems as well, illuminating Auden’s intuitions about a key aspect of modern experience: national identity. Two historical forces, in particular, haunted the poet: the catastrophe of World War I and the subsequent “rediscovery” of England’s rural landscapes by artists and intellectuals.The Island presents a new picture of Auden, the poet and the man, as he explored a genteel, lyrical form of nationalism during these years. His poems reflect on a world in ruins, while cultivating visions of England as a beautiful—if morally compromised—haven. They also reflect aspects of Auden’s personal search for belonging—from his complex relationship with his father, to his quest for literary mentors, to his negotiation of the codes that structured gay life. Yet as Europe veered toward a second immolation, Auden began to realize that poetic myths centered on English identity held little potential. He left the country in 1936 for what became an almost lifelong expatriation, convinced that his role as the voice of Englishness had become an empty one.Reexamining one of the twentieth century’s most moving and controversial poets, The Island is a fresh account of his early works and a striking parable about the politics of modernism. Auden’s preoccupations with the vicissitudes of war, the trials of love, and the problems of identity are of their time. Yet they still resonate profoundly today.
£30.80
Zondervan Evangelical Scholarship, Retrospects and Prospects: Essays in Honor of Stanley N. Gundry
This is, perhaps, the most multifaceted collection of essays Zondervan has ever published. A fitting Festschrift to Stan Gundry, a man known by many people for many things, but never for being one-dimensional. As a pastor, scholar, publisher, mentor, and trusted friend, Stan has played diverse roles and worn numerous hats in his professional tenure.Contributors from a variety of disciplines put a Gundry spin on a topic of their expertise and choosing--whether it's an evangelical-historical look at recent developments in their particular discipline or reflections on a topic at the center of Stan's interests. The result is this Festschrift--as multilayered, engaging, and authentic as the man it honors.Contributors and essays include the following: Craig L. Blomberg - "Does the Quest for the Historical Jesus Still Hold Any Promise?" Millard J. Erickson - "Eighty Years of American Evangelical Theology" Gordon D. Fee - "On Women Remaining Silent in the Churches: A Text-Critical Approach to 1 Corinthians 14:34-35" Robert A. Fryling - "A Key to a Publishing Friendship" Robert H. Gundry - "A Brotherly Tribute" Carolyn Custis James and Frank A. James III - "The Blessed Alliance: Already But Not Yet" Karen H. Jobes - "'It Is Written': The Septuagint and Evangelical Doctrine of Scripture" Tremper Longman III - "'What Was Said in All the Scriptures concerning Himself' (Luke 24:27): Reading the Old Testament as a Christian" Richard J. Mouw - "Faithfulness in a 'Counterpoint' World: The Role of Theological Education" Ruth A. Tucker - "Eve, Jezebel, and the Woman at the Well: Biblical Women Hijacked in the Fight against Equality" John H. Walton - "The Tower of Babel and the Covenant: Rhetorical Strategy in Genesis Based on Theological and Comparative Analysis" John D. Woodbridge - "The Fundamentalist-Modernist Controversy" Christopher J. H. Wright - "The Missional Nature and the Role of Theological Education"
£40.00
The University of Chicago Press King of the World – The Life of Louis XIV
Louis XIV was a man in pursuit of glory. Not content to be the ruler of a world power, he wanted the power to rule the world. And, for a time, he came tantalizingly close. Philip Mansel’s King of the World is the most comprehensive and up-to-date biography in English of this hypnotic, flawed figure who continues to captivate our attention. This lively work takes Louis outside Versailles and shows the true extent of his global ambitions, with stops in London, Madrid, Constantinople, Bangkok, and beyond. We witness the importance of his alliance with the Spanish crown and his success in securing Spain for his descendants, his enmity with England, and his relations with the rest of Europe, as well as Asia, Africa, and the Americas. We also see the king’s effect on the two great global diasporas of Huguenots and Jacobites, and their influence on him as he failed in his brutal attempts to stop Protestants from leaving France. Along the way, we are enveloped in the splendor of Louis’s court and the fascinating cast of characters who prostrated and plotted within it.King of the World is exceptionally researched, drawing on international archives and incorporating sources who knew the king intimately, including the newly released correspondence of Louis’s second wife, Madame de Maintenon. Mansel’s narrative flair is a perfect match for this grand figure, and he brings the Sun King’s world to vivid life. This is a global biography of a global king, whose power was extensive but also limited by laws and circumstances, and whose interests and ambitions stretched far beyond his homeland. Through it all, we watch Louis XIV progressively turn from a dazzling, attractive young king to a belligerent reactionary who sets France on the path to 1789. It is a convincing and compelling portrait of a man who, three hundred years after his death, still epitomizes the idea of le grand monarque.
£38.06
Sage Publications Ltd Cultural Analysis
′Jim McGuigan has done it again. The complex cultural machinery hiding behind the apparently simple ′facts of life′ still fresh in our collective memory, has been pulled out from its hiding, exposed, disassembled and put together again, and showed in action of shaping up its products; all that done to the benefit of us all - simultaneously producers and product of the life we share. Another great contribution to cultural studies; and to our understanding of the world notorious for defying/escaping understanding. This is exactly what we need ′cultural analysis′ for′ - Professor Zygmunt Bauman, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Leeds ′Jim McGuigan is one of cultural studies′ leading practitioners. This volume is a generous and wide-reaching exploration of how to use cultural theory to explore a wide variety of topics, brought together under the sign of the struggle for a vigorous, participatory public sphere′ - Toby Miller, University of California This book represents a distinctive approach to cultural analysis, using multi-dimensional methods for addressing issues of public interest. Stressing the impact of both neoliberalism and the formation of a ′cool capitalist culture′ that has colonised everyday life around much of the globe, Jim McGuigan deploys his original concept of the ′cultural public sphere′ within several carefully analysed case studies, including: • celebrity death • festivals and urban regeneration • ′race′ and multicultural controversy • popular television • social significance of the all purpose mobile communication device in a privatised and individualised way of life • riskiness and uncertainty in the creative and media industries This is a radical intervention in the research agendas and conceptual development of cultural policy studies, cultural sociology and, more generally, in the broad field known as ′cultural studies′. It offers challenging theoretical arguments that are substantiated with concrete evidence of cultural and social processes.
£44.99
Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd Controlling Arms and Terror in the Asia Pacific: After Bali and Baghdad
Years after 9/11, the Global War on Terror is still not over. The deepening crisis in Iraq has been accompanied by rising violence in Asia, as the bombings in Indonesia show. The 18 specialists and policymakers who have contributed to this book assess how the security scenario in the Asia Pacific has changed in response to these events.The Asia Pacific is rent by communal conflicts that have generated local jihads, which fuel regional and global jihads. This book assesses state responses to terrorism, paying attention to neglected factors such as money laundering, the emerging role of the EU, the growing fear of the US and increasing concern about the way anti-terrorist legislation curtails civil liberties. With the benefit of extensive fieldwork and access to unique sources in many languages, the contributors analyze key features of the local security scenarios. Pakistan's precarious situation is explored here from many angles, including Islamic militancy, the role of the military and the peace process with India. Again, domestic failures support regional and global terror. Regional anti-terrorist collaboration is also hampered by South-east Asia's counter-terrorism dilemmas, setbacks in the Philippine-US security relationship, the Asian arms race, and growing fears of the US National Missile Defence system and how this system will be perceived by China. The history of state sponsored terrorism and millenarian ideology are crucial to these regional scenarios. The latter, in the particular form of Japan's Aum Shinrikyo movement, reminds us that militant Islamists are not uniquely destructive. An important addition to the literature on terrorism and security, this in-depth and comprehensive analysis of a complex and increasingly unstable region will be welcomed by political scientists, scholars, policymakers, and those seeking a better understanding of whether the Global War on Terror has changed the security architecture of the Asia Pacific in a positive way.
£115.00
Atlantic Books The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II
'A multiple biography with overlapping chronology is a tricky feat and Buruma pulls it off magnificently.' Ben Macintyre, The TimesOn the face of it, the three characters here seem to have little in common - aside from the fact that each committed wartime acts that led some to see them as national heroes, and others as villains. All three were mythmakers, larger-than-life storytellers, for whom the truth was beside the point. Felix Kersten was a plump Finnish pleasure-seeker who became Heinrich Himmler's indispensable personal masseur - Himmler calling him his 'magic Buddha'. Kersten presented himself after the war as a resistance hero who convinced Himmler to save countless people from mass murder. Kawashima Yoshiko, a gender fluid Manchu princess, spied for the Japanese secret police in China, and was mythologized by the Japanese as a heroic combination of Mata Hari and Joan of Arc. Friedrich Weinreb was a Hasidic Jew in Holland who took large amounts of money from fellow Jews in an imaginary scheme to save them from deportation, while in fact betraying some of them to the German secret police. Sentenced after the war as a traitor and a con artist, he is still regarded by supporters as the 'Dutch Dreyfus'. All three figures have been vilified and mythologized, out of a never-ending need, Ian Buruma argues, to see history, and particularly war, and above all World War II, as a neat tale of angels and devils. In telling their often-self-invented stories, The Collaborators offers a fascinating reconstruction of what in fact we can know about these fantasists and what will always remain out of reach. It is also an examination of the power and credibility of history: truth is always a relative concept but perhaps especially so in times of political turmoil, not unlike our own.
£10.99
Bloodaxe Books Ltd Greetings from Grandpa
Jack Mapanje was imprisoned without trial or charge by Malawi's dictator Hastings Banda for nearly four years, chronicling his prison experiences with dogged wit in his previous books. In Greetings from Grandpa - his sixth collection - Mapanje is still effervescent, with his wry humour defiantly intact. Some treacherous African tyrants may have been deposed or died horrific deaths, leaving their snoops in exile washing cars to survive - but these are mere metaphors of another life. The narratives in Greetings from Grandpa are mellow and cheerful testimonies of the sojourn of the human spirit as it survives freedom under implausible circumstances, whether at home or in exile. Grandchildren are born, calming the nerves of exile; dear friends back home die of AIDS, unsettling gentle memories; China and Asia arrive in Africa and nobody raises a finger; greedy bureaucrats syphon billions from accountant general's coffers; but Africa marches on regardless, stubbornly celebrating life, sometimes in traditional symbols; sometimes by inventing delightful beef festivals.The collection also includes Mapanje's version of Kalikalanje, a well-known legend among the Yao speaking African peoples of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, whose trickster hero comes into the world endowed with knowledge of past, present, future times and events. Kalikalanje is a lover of life, freedom, peace, truth, justice, and above all, fun. His enemies try to kill him only to bring destruction on themselves instead. This age-old tale has universal appeal - and is popular with children - but its symbolic, social-cultural-political nuance makes it especially relevant in today's world of persistent liars and impostors. Jack Mapanje's previous collection, Beasts of Nalunga, was shortlisted for the Forward Prize for Best Collection in 2007. His earlier work - including the prison poems - is available in The Last of the Sweet Bananas: New & Selected Poems (2004).
£9.95
New Harbinger Publications The Self-Love Revolution: Radical Body Positivity for Girls of Color
It's time to ditch harmful, outdated beauty standards and build real, lasting body positivity. It's time for a self-love revolution!Every day we see movies, magazines, and social media that make us feel like we need to change how we look. This takes a toll on how we think about ourselves-and how we allow others to treat us. And while many teens feel shame about their body, being a teen girl of color can be hard in unique ways. Maybe you feel alienated by the mainstream image of beauty, which is still thin, white and able-bodied. In addition to that, you may also feel pressure from within your community to measure up to a different-but equally unfair-beauty standard. So, how can you start feeling good about yourself when you're surrounded by these unrealistic-and problematic-ideas about your body?In The Self-Love Revolution, leading body image expert and creator of #LoseHateNotWeight Virgie Tovar offers an unapologetic guide to help you question popular culture and cultivate radical body positivity. With this groundbreaking book, you'll identify and challenge mainstream beliefs about beauty; understand the unique tools girls of color have to counter negative body image; and build real, lasting body empowerment. You'll also learn how to call out diet culture, and discover ways to move beyond your own inner critic and start building the unconditional love for yourself that you deserve.It's time to explode society's beauty standards, stop messing with diets, wear what you want, and recognize that your body is your business. This book will help you find your way to radical body positivity, one step at a time.
£13.99