Search results for ""Melville House UK""

Wales is a nation of contradictions. It boasts incredible natural resources and crushing poverty; fierce patriotism and a stark north/south divide; an energy surplus, and some of the highest bills in the UK. It also has a famously rugby-mad culture - but its football team are lighting up international tournaments. So what''s going on? And how might Wales look in decades to come? Rhys Thomas hails from Laugharne - the village on which, it is rumoured, Dylan Thomas based Under Milk Wood''s ''Llareggub'' (read it backwards). In this affectionate investigation into his home country - via Welsh geography, food, culture and sport - he aims for the heart of its contrasts. In doing so, Thomas builds a mosaic-like image of how Wales looks today - and how it might look in the future.

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The Age of Intelligent Machines is upon us, and as we approach the end of human intellectual superiority, we as a species need to plan for a monumental shift. A Human Algorithm examines the immense impact intelligent technology will have on humanity. These machines, while challenging our personal beliefs and our socio-economic world order, also have the potential to transform our health and well-being, alleviate poverty and suffering, and reveal the mysteries of intelligence and consciousness. International human rights attorney Flynn Coleman deftly argues that it is critical we instill values, ethics, and morals into our robots, algorithms, and other forms of AI. Equally important, we need to develop and implement laws, policies, and oversight mechanisms to protect us from tech's insidious threats. Ultimately, A Human Algorithm is a clarion call for building a more humane future and moving conscientiously into a new frontier of our own design.

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William Tyce is a boy without parents, left under the care of an eccentric, absent uncle. To impose order on the sudden chaos of his life, he crafts a glossary-style list, through which he imparts his particular wisdom and thoughts on subjects ranging from asphalt paths, betta fish, and mullet, to mortal betrayal, nihilism, and revelation. His improbable quest-to create a reference volume specific to his existence-takes him on a journey down the river by raft (see mystical vision, see navigating big rivers by night). He seeks to discover how his mother died (see absence) and find reasons for his father's disappearance (see uncertainty, see vanity). But as he goes about defining his changing world, all kinds of extraordinary and wonderful things happen to him. Unlocking an earnest, clear-eyed way of thinking that might change your own, A Key to Treehouse Living is a story about keeping your own record straight and living life by a different code.

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'The skin was smooth and bright as porcelain, but looked as if it would give to the touch. What manner of wood had he used? What tools to exact such detail? What paints, tints or stains to flush her with life?' So wonders the window dresser Colton Kemp when he sees the first mannequin of his new rival, a silent man the inhabitants of Marumaru simply call The Carpenter. Rocked by the sudden death of his wife in childbirth and left with twins to raise, Kemp hatches a dark and selfish plan to make his name and thwart his rival. What follows is a gothic tale of art and deception, strength and folly, love and transgression, which ranges from small-town New Zealand to the graving docks of the River Clyde in Scotland. Along the way we meet a Prussian strongman, a family of ship's carvers with a mysterious affliction, a septuagenarian surf lifesaver and a talking figurehead named Vengeance. Lives and stories will intertwine as fate takes its cruel trajectory, leaving you feeling as if waking from an unsettling dream.

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Twenty-something Holly has moved to Brighton to escape. But now she's here, sitting on a bench, listening to the sea sway… How is she supposed to fill the void her boyfriend left when he died, leaving her behind? She had thought she'd want to be on her own, but when she meets Frank, a retired magician who has experienced his own loss, the tide begins to shift. A moving and powerful debut, Let Me Be Like Water is a book about the humdrum and extraordinariness of everyday life; of lost and new connections; of loneliness and friendship.

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Wittgenstein Jr. is the nickname Peters and his gang of fellow Philosophy undergrads give to their lecturer; a brooding, complicated, melancholic academic who is determined to make them grasp the very essence of philosophical thought. But the students are too busy getting drunk on lethal homemade cocktails, falling in and out of love, and coming to terms with the life waiting for them after Cambridge. As Wittgenstein Jr. becomes more withdrawn and depressive, the students come to realise how much he needs them.

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As the world grows increasingly turbulent, war crimes justice is needed more than ever. But it is failing. The International Criminal Court in the Netherlands, the world''s first permanent war crimes court, opened in 2002 but it has jailed just five war criminals to date. Meanwhile, wars continue to rage around the globe. So what has gone wrong, and can it be fixed? Journalist and war correspondent Chris Stephen takes a colourful look at the turbulent history of war crimes justice, and the pioneers who created it. He examines its shortcomings, and options for making it more effective, including the case for prosecuting the corporations and banks who fund warlords. Casting the net wider, he examines alternatives to war crimes trials, and peers into the minds of war criminals themselves. With war law advocates fighting for justice on one side, and reluctant governments unwilling to relinquish control on the other, will the world of the future be governed by rule-of-law, or might-is-right

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A beautifully poignant and poetic debut about love, loss, friendship, and ultimately, starting over. Twenty-something Holly has moved to Brighton to escape. But now she's here, sitting on a bench, listening to the sea sway How is she supposed to fill the void her boyfriend left when he died, leaving her behind? She had thought she'd want to be on her own, but when she meets Frank, a retired magician who has experienced his own loss, the tide begins to shift. A moving and powerful debut, Let Me Be Like Water is a book about the humdrum and extraordinariness of everyday life; of lost and new connections; of loneliness and friendship.

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In a collection of essays published by the New York Times, MTV, and Pitchfork, among others - along with original, previously unreleased essays ' Hanif Abdurraqib explores the political, social, racial condition of our world today through the language of music and culture. From discussions over public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show to the everyday threats to the lives of black Americans, including his own, Abdurraqib provides a lens through which to view our world, so that we might better understand ourselves, and in so doing proves himself a bellwether for our times.

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A genre-bending memoir that offers fierce and fresh reflections on motherhood, desire, identity and feminism. At the centre is a love-story, between Nelson and the artist Harry Dodge, who is undergoing gender reassignment, while Nelson undergoes the transformations of pregnancy. Personal, honest and wide-ranging, Nelson explores the challenges and complexities that make up a modern family.

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Do you think the world of the Eurovision Song Contest, with its crazy props, even crazier dancers and crazier still songs has nothing to do with serious European politics? Think again. The contest has been a mirror for cultural, social and political developments in Europe ever since its inauguration in 1956. It has been a voice of rebellion across the Iron Curtain, the voice of liberation for both sexual and regional minorities and it even once triggered a national revolution. Eurovision! charts both the history of Europe and the history of the Eurovision Song Contest over the last six decades, and shows how seamlessly they interlink - and what an amazing journey it has been. This updated edition takes in every content up to 2022.

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Within two generations humanity is set to leave behind the fossil fuels which built our modern industrial civilisation. The clean energy transition is already underway, and its completion inevitable. So what lies ahead in our future? The key technologies of wind, solar, pumped hydro, batteries, heat pumps and green hydrogen are going to be key, argues Black. But transitions are not necessarily going to be smooth: fossil fuel corporations will go bankrupt and workers will lose jobs; the most powerful fossil fuel states have always pushed back and will continue to do so as their market contracts. However, water cannot be pushed uphill for any length of time. Already clean energy costs have fallen so far that almost all electricity generation capacity being built around the world is renewable; soon, for example, electric models will account for almost all growth in the global car fleet. As more are built, costs come down and rollout accelerates. Whether the transition happens fast enough

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In a society battered by economic, political, cultural and ecological collapse, where do we place our trust, now that it is more vital than ever for our survival? How has that trust - in our laws, our media, our governments - been lost, and how can it be won back? Examining the police, the rule of law, artificial intelligence, the 21st century city and social media, Ros Taylor imagines what life might be like in years to come if trust continues to erode. Have conspiracy theories permanently damaged our society? Will technological advances, which require more and more of our human selves, ultimately be rejected by future generations? And in a world fast approaching irreversible levels of ecological damage, how can we trust the custodians of these institutions to do the right thing - even as humanity faces catastrophe?

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Look in the mirror - what do you see? We all feel, instinctively, that self exists. That somewhere inside us, under the clothes, the make-up and self-tan, lurks a hard ''pearl'', a kernel of truth called ''me''. And it''s big business uncovering that ''authentic'' kernel. It''s also a fool''s errand, because that ''true self''? It doesn''t exist. Self is no more than a story we tell ourselves. It''s mutable, pliable as Plasticine. Worse, it''s not even strictly autobiographical, but co-authored with those around us. And as such, there is no one version, but myriad, and the number is growing as we are exposed to ever more connections. We are already seeing the effects travel, television, and celebrity culture can have on the formation of self, but as digital and social media exposure grows, and in the advent of AI, what will happen to our sense of self? Can we become ever more multiple and adapt better to our globalised world? Or will we dissolve into narcissitic, detached ''nobodies''?

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A quirky and literary book about the umbrella, exploring its history and cultural and literary significance. You will never think of the humble brolly in the same way again.

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Wittgenstein Jr. is the nickname Peters and his gang of fellow Philosophy undergrads give to their lecturer; a brooding, complicated, melancholic academic who is determined to make them grasp the very essence of philosophical thought. But the students are too busy getting drunk on lethal homemade cocktails, falling in and out of love, and coming to terms with the life waiting for them after Cambridge. As Wittgenstein Jr. becomes more withdrawn and depressive, the students come to realise how much he needs them.

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The air pollution that we breathe every day is largely invisible - but it is killing us. How did it get this bad, and how can we stop it? Far from a modern-day problem, scientists were aware of the impact of air pollution as far back as the seventeenth century. The Invisible Killer will introduce you to the incredible individuals whose groundbreaking research paved the way for today's understanding of air pollution. Gary Fuller's global story examines devastating incidents from London's Great Smog to Norway's acid rain; Los Angeles's traffic problem to wood-burning damage in New Zealand. Fuller argues that the only way to alter the future course of our planet and improve collective global health is for city and national governments to stop ignoring evidence and take action, persuading the public and making polluters bear the full cost of the harm that they do. The decisions that we make today will impact our health for decades to come.

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How does one pay homage to A Tribe Called Quest? Hanif Abdurraqib digs into the group's history and draws from his own experience to reflect on how its distinctive sound resonated among fans like himself. He traces the Tribe's creative career, from their early days as part of the Afrocentric rap collective known as the Native Tongues, through their first three classic albums, to their eventual breakup and long hiatus. Throughout the narrative Abdurraqib connects the music and cultural history to their street-level impact, seeking deeper truths that are not simply heard in the head, but felt in the chest.

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Over a long, hot Christmas in Australia, Throwing Muses frontwoman and critically acclaimed solo artist Kristin Hersh considers her future as a songwriter. Is it possible to create music and not show off about it? How can artists establish and refine a following without becoming part of the commercial problem? And just how many times is it healthy to watch It''s A Wonderful Life in three weeks? In The Future of Songwriting, Hersh chooses to interrogate these questions through philosophical dialogue. From in-depth conversations with a comedian friend about the similarities between songs and jokes, via a fruitful visit to Sydney''s ''bone museums'', to a revelation from an acupuncturist in New Orleans, she delivers a fierce, funny and existential meditation on the art of the song - and its future.

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The Aeronauts is the true story behind the forthcoming Major Motion Picture, telling the daring life and death escapades of pioneering Victorian balloonist James Glaisher. In 1862, Glaisher set out to do the impossible: ascend higher into the skies than ever before. A pioneer of weather forecasting and of photography, he wanted to take ground-breaking research measurements from different altitudes. Before aeroplanes, the only unpredictable available method of air transportation was the hot air balloon. This is his memoir, detailing death-defying air ballon journeys in his own words.

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'Brexit' reflected perhaps the biggest vote of no confidence in the political establishment in modern British history. But how did we get here? Paul Stocker examines how ideas of the far right-always a fringe movement in Britain-have become part of the cultural and political mainstream, over the course of decades.

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