Search results for ""Author Alexander Smith""

This highly readable book is a unique, ethnographic study of devolution and Scottish politics as well as Party political activism more generally. It explores how Conservative Party activists who had opposed devolution and the movement for a Scottish Parliament during the 1990s attempted to mobilise politically following their annihilation at the 1997 General Election. It draws on fieldwork conducted in Dumfries and Galloway - a former stronghold for the Scottish Tories - to describe how senior Conservatives worked from the assumption that they had endured their own ‘crisis’ in representation. The material consequences of this crisis included losses of financial and other resources, legitimacy and local knowledge for the Scottish Conservatives. This book ethnographically describes the processes, practices and relationships that Tory Party activists sought to enact during the 2003 Scottish and local Government elections. Its central argument is that, having asserted that the difficulties they faced constituted problems of knowledge, Conservative activists cast to the geographical and institutional margins of Scotland became ‘banal’ activists. Believing themselves to be lacking in the data and information necessary for successful mobilisation during Parliamentary elections, local Tory Party strategists attempted to address their knowledge ‘crisis’ by burying themselves in paperwork and petty bureaucracy. Such practices have often escaped scholarly attention because they appear everyday and mundane and are therefore less noticeable.

Read more less

International bestseller Nova Lee Maier delivers another gripping thriller about the darkness that lies in wait in unexpected places. Deeply vulnerable after a traumatic birth, new mother Didi Vos is depending on her maternity nurse to help her heal. But despite her uniform, Hennequin Smith is no nurse, and healing couldn’t be further from her mind. Though beautiful on the outside, Hennequin harbors ugly motives; slowly and subtly, she sets about her plan to gain Didi’s trust and then ruin her life. And when Miriam de Moor—a police investigator who suspects Hennequin played a role in her brother’s sudden death six months earlier—unearths horrifying secrets about Hennequin’s past, the destinies of the three women become chillingly linked and will come to a head in a thrilling, unforgettable climax.

Read more less

Lying in the heart of the Nene Valley at Higham Ferrers in Northamptonshire, was a substantial Roman roadside settlement, excavated in part by Oxford Archaeology during 2002-3. Established along the eastern side of a road in the early 2nd century AD with an array of circular stone buildings, it underwent a significant transformation around 100 years later. A series of plots containing rectangular stone buildings was laid out on one side of the road, whilst on the other side was a monumental shrine complex containing hundreds of votive offerings. Although the shrine fell into disuse in the later 3rd century, the settlement continued to expand along the road until it too was abandoned during the latter half of the 4th century. No doubt the shrine played an active role in the economic lives of the inhabitants, but the evidence indicates an overwhelming agricultural economy - a community of native farming families with horticultural plots, small paddocks, nearby arable fields, and hay meadows on the Nene floodplain. This volume presents the results of archaeological investigations of this Roman settlement, along with other excavated prehistoric sites in the local area, including Mesolithic activity, a late Neolithic/early Bronze Age ring ditch and a middle Iron Age settlement.

Read more less

Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.Somewhere between magic, art, and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric—two brothers in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure! You’ve read the manga and seen the anime. Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.During a recent visit with their former teacher Izumi Curtis, the Elric brothers discover the existence of a particular book—a book so dangerous that it remains against the law to even print it! Curious, Edward and Alphonse set out to locate this unique and rare tome. On their journey they encounter a young Ishvalan child and his foster mother. Seeing them reminds the brothers of their own mother, who died of an illness. Meanwhile, Roy Mustang, who was recently promoted to duty in Central City, investigates a puzzling case involving synthetic beasts known as chimeras. During the investigation, Mustang bumps into someone from his past—someone he never thought he’d see again!

Read more less

Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.Somewhere between magic, art and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric—two brothers in search of the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure!The mining town of Xenotime has seen better days. Once renowned for its skilled goldsmiths, it now lies forgotten in a sea of sand, its mines empty and its fields barren. The townsfolk’s only hope lies with the talented state alchemist Edward Elric and his brother, Alphonse. But who is the real Edward Elric? When the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother arrive in Xenotime searching for the Philosopher’s Stone, they discover that two strangers have stolen their names and their reputations! Will the real Elric brothers set things right, or will the battle between the true and false brothers shatter Xenotime’s only chance for survival?Plus a bonus story, The Phantom of Warehouse 13!

Read more less

The site at Cotswold Community in the western reaches of the Upper Thames Valley has been a focus for human activity since Neolithic times. Successive Bronze Age, Iron Age and Roman settlements developed within an increasingly open grassland landscape, which was heavily exploited for the growing crops and the grazing of animals. The spiritual lives of the inhabitants were glimpsed through a series of structured pit deposits and ritual monuments, including a potential Neolithic timber circle and Bronze Age round barrows. One of the most striking landscape features was a late Bronze Age/early Iron Age pit alignment that extended over 500m, possibly marking one of the earliest attempts at defining territory on a large scale. It was still a visible feature for some time as it partly dictated the position of the boundaries of a Roman farmstead, which occupied the site from the 1st to 4th centuries AD. The farm lay in the shadow of Roman Cirencester less than 5km to the north and may even have been involved in the recycling of refuse from this important urban centre. Following abandonment of the Roman farmstead there was no further occupation on site, although a small number of Saxon agricultural structures indicate continuing use of the land, which may now have been part of a locally-centred Saxon estate.

Read more less

Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original storiesSomewhere between magic, art and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric—two brothers in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure! You’ve read the manga and seen the anime. Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.Under direct orders from their commanding officer, Edward and Alphonse Elric journey to a remote city deep within the wasteland borders of Eastern Command. Almost immediately, the Elric brothers discover that Wisteria isn’t exactly a normal place. Veiled in shadows, it appears to be a utopian wonderland ruled not by military command but rather by the very laws of alchemy that guide their own personal fate. Like it or not, the brothers must make the biggest decision of their young lives. Do they follow orders and expose the secrets of Wisteria? Or will they allow themselves to be seduced by the paradise they’ve discovered?

Read more less

Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.Somewhere between magic, art, and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric—two brothers in search of the Philosopher’s Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure! You've read the manga and seen the anime. Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.It’s only been a year since the Elric brothers set out on their journey to find the elusive Philosopher’s Stone. But a lot has happened in that short time. For one thing, Edward has become an official state alchemist. And as such, he often finds himself embroiled in one dangerous situation after another. Now, sidelined with a fever in a remote village, Edward comes face-to-face with a childhood friend. Even though he’s become a valuable member of his country’s military organization, Edward can’t help feeling a pang of jealousy during this unexpected reunion. While he and his brother are bound to their cruel fate, his friend is busy making his dreams come true. Once again Edward must wrestle with the consequences of his alchemically altered past. Also included in this volume is a heartwarming story featuring Roy Mustang, Maes Hughes, and Alex Louis Armstrong. The trio of alchemists takes a holiday in the woods and discover a mysterious village populated only with children.

Read more less

Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.Somewhere between magic, art and science exists a world of alchemy. And into this world travel Edward and Alphonse Elric—two brothers in search of the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate alchemical treasure! You've read the manga and seen the anime. Complete the Fullmetal experience with these best-selling novels featuring original stories.Train lines destroyed in a series of devastating terrorist strikes—all without a single victim! A string of kidnappings targeting the friends and families of the military! Civilian anger mounts with every passing day, and the authorities seem powerless to catch the insurgents. Colonel Roy Mustang alone sees a connection between the two crime sprees, but he’ll have a tough time convincing his superiors at Central Command... At least, until Edward and Alphonse Elric find themselves in the middle of the investigation—and the kidnapping too!

Read more less