BookOdyssey

No gamble in history has been more momentous than the landfall of Columbus\'s ship the Santa Maria in the Americas in 1492 - an event that paved the way for the conquest of a \'New World\'. The accounts collected here provide a vivid narrative of his voyages throughout the Caribbean and finally to the mainland of Central America, although he still believed he had reached Asia. Columbus himself is revealed as a fascinating and contradictory figure, fluctuating from awed enthusiasm to paranoia and eccentric geographical speculation. Prey to petty quarrels with his officers, his pious desire to bring Christian civilization to \'savages\' matched by his rapacity for gold, Columbus was nonetheless an explorer and seaman of staggering vision and achievement. Σελίδες: 320, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

Considered a classic at the time of its publication in 1910, A Shepherd\'s Life is a rare account of the lives of those who lived on and worked the land in nineteenth-century rural Britain. A masterful work of prose, W. H. Hudson focuses on the story of one man, a Wiltshire shepherd named Caleb Bawcombe, whose tales of sheep dogs, farmer\'s wives, poachers and local fairs become a sublime account of a way of life that has largely disappeared from these shores. Σελίδες: 240, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

When Kristin Kimball fell in love with a farmer and left behind her life in Manhattan to start a new farm with him in the Adirondacks, she had to learn a lot about farming - and fast. But, it turns out that starting a farm is not as challenging as sustaining it. Over the next five years, as two children are born and more land is acquired, the farm has its ups and downs, but then the downs keep on coming. Kristin\'s husband gets injured, the weather turns against them, the financial pressures mount. Suddenly, Kristin is facing not only the daily juggle of planting and milking and putting dinner on the table, but bigger questions about the life she has chosen. Is she still a farmer or is she now a farmer\'s wife? What does the farm need in order to survive? What does a family need in order to thrive? Beautifully written and refreshingly honest, Good Husbandry is about farmers and food, friends and neighbours, love and marriage, birth and death, and about how to grow and harvest the good things in life. Σελίδες: 304, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

\'Evocative and intelligent\' Guardian Discover the secret history of our green belts.The first book to tell the story of Britain\'s green belts, Outskirts is at once a fascinating social history, a stirring evocation of the natural world, and a poignant tale of growing up in a place, and within a family, like no other.\'Illuminating and enjoyable\' David Kynaston, SpectatorGreen belts are part of the landscape and psyche of post-war Britain, but have led to conflicts at every level of society - between conservationists and developers, town and country, politicians and people, nimbys and the forces of progress.Growing up on \'the last road in London\' on an estate at the edge of the woods, John Grindrod had a childhood that mirrored these tensions. His family, too, seemed caught between two worlds: his wheelchair-bound mother and soft hearted father had moved from the inner city and had trouble adjusting. His warring brothers struggled too: there was the sporty one who loved the outdoors, and the agoraphobic who hated it. And then there was John, an unremarkable boy on the edge of it all discovering something magical.In the green belts John discovers strange hidden places, from nuclear bunkers to buried landfill sites, and along the way meets planners, protestors, foresters and residents whose passions for and against the green belt tell a fascinating tale of Britain today. Σελίδες: 368, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0213, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

\'Extraordinary... A fascinating and intelligent book.\' Sunday TimesNew islands are being built at an unprecedented rate whether for tourism or territorial ambition, while many islands are disappearing or fragmenting because of rising sea levels. It is a strange planetary spectacle, creating an ever-changing map which even Google Earth struggles to keep pace with. In The Age of Islands, explorer and geographer Alastair Bonnett takes the reader on a compelling and thought-provoking tour of the world\'s newest, most fragile and beautiful islands and reveals what, he argues, is one of the great dramas of our time.From a \'crannog\', an ancient artificial island in a Scottish loch, to the militarized artificial islands China is building in the South China Sea; from the disappearing islands that remain the home of native Central Americans to the ritzy new islands of Dubai; from Hong Kong and the Isles of Scilly to islands far away and near: all have urgent stories to tell. Σελίδες: 256, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

When Jenny and Robert fall in love in the late 1960s they decide to build a new future together, away from the city. They escape to an isolated sheep farm nestled on a mountainside. It has no running water but it is beautiful and rugged. Their young sons can roam wild. As their flock struggles, money runs low and rain drives in horizontally across the fields, inside the ancient house their marriage begins to unravel. Wilful and romantic, Jenny refuses to abandon her farm. She will bring her boys up single-handedly on the mountain. Together they embark on a perilous adventure. Running for the Hills is astonishing family memoir - Horatio Clare vividly recreates his mother\'s extraordinary way of life and his own bewitching childhood in a magical story of love and struggle. Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0208, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

Borders harm all of us: they must be abolished.Borders divide workers and families, fuel racial division, and reinforce global disparities. They encourage the expansion of technologies of surveillance and control, which impact migrants and citizens both.Bradley and de Noronha tell what should by now be a simple truth: borders are not only at the edges of national territory, in airports, or at border walls. Borders are everyday and everywhere; they follow people around and get between us, and disrupt our collective safety, freedom and flourishing. is a passionate manifesto for border abolition, arguing that we must transform society and our relationships to one another, and build a world in which everyone has the freedom to move and to stay. Σελίδες: 192, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0830, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

A radical, yet accessible, new theory of the origins and future of the universe by two of the world\'s leading cosmologistsThe first serious challenge to the widely accepted \'Big Bang\' model of the universe. According to \'Big Bang\' theory, space and time sprang into existence fifteen billion years ago: a super-heated fireball of near infinite density that expanded at phenomenal speed. As it continued to expand, it cooled and condensed to create the galaxies, stars and planets we see today.But the theory has always had flaws and they have become increasingly difficult to reconcile. Why is the distribution of matter and radiation in the universe so uniform? Why is space flat rather than curved, as Einstein\'s theory of general relativity suggests? And where did the seeds for forming galaxies come from? To resolve these issues, Turok and Steinhardt propose a very different model of the universe. They argue that it is without beginning or end, truly an ENDLESS UNIVERSE.This highly accessible book chronicles the last thirty years of cosmology; it explains the discovery of \'dark energy\', \'dark matter\' and addresses the question of when the next collision might occur between our worlds and the parallel dimensions in space. Σελίδες: 304, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0201, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

We often consider dogs to be our enduring sidekicks but the truth is domestic pigs have played a role in our lives for nearly as long. Pigs are highly social and smart. They like to play. They’re inventive, crafty and belligerent – and incredibly singleminded. Ultimately, we have far more in common with these creatures than we like to admit. Here is a charming ode to one of the most common, yet surprisingly intelligent, animals populating our landscapes. In this gentle and illuminating study, Matt Whyman embarks on a journey to uncover the heart and soul of an animal brimming with more energy, intelligence and playfulness than he could ever have imagined. In his bid to understand what makes a pig tick, having climbed a steep learning curve as a keeper himself, Whyman meets a veterinary professor and expert in pig emotion, as well as a spirited hill farmer whose world revolves around hogs and sows. Packed with fascinating research and delightful anecdotes, this entertaining and informative celebration of all things porcine covers everything from evolution, behaviour and communication to friendship, loyalty and broken hearts – uncovering a surprising notion of family along the way. Σελίδες: 160, Διαστάσεις: 13.5x13.5cm

\'An important book on several levels... Read a few sentences out loud, wherever you are.\' Rosamund YoungEverybody thinks they know what sheep are like: they\'re stupid, noisy, cowardly (\'lambs to the slaughter\'), and they\'re \'sheepwrecking\' the environment.Or maybe not. Contrary to popular prejudice, sheep are among the smartest animals in the farmyard, fiercely loyal, forming long and lasting friendships. Sheep, farmed properly, are boons to biodiversity. They also happen to taste good and their fleeces warm us through the winter - indeed, John Lewis-Stempel\'s family supplied the wool for Queen Elizabeth\'s \'hose\'.Observing the traditional shepherd\'s calendar, The Sheep\'s Tale is a loving biography of ewes, lambs, and rams through the seasons. Lewis-Stempel tends to his flock with deep-rooted wisdom, ethical consideration, affection, and humour. This book is a tribute to all the sheep he has reared and sheared - from gregarious Action Ram to sweet Maid Marion. In his inimitable style, he shares the tales that only a shepherd can tell. Σελίδες: 192, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

Bees make honey; we all know that. But what happens between the bee buzzing around our garden, and the sticky knife in the jar, is a mystery to most of us. How many bee-hours does it take to make just one jar of honey? What do the honeybees\' waggling dances really mean? Why do bees swarm? What is a \'house bee\'?From exploring their life cycle and development, to revealing their societies and behaviour, expert biodynamic beekeeper Michael Weiler answers these questions and many more.Combining poetic observations with scientific detail, The Secrets of Bees uncovers the incredible world of these remarkable insects. Σελίδες: 160, Διαστάσεις: 13.8x13.8cm

Over the last fifty years, humanity has developed an extraordinary global utility which is omnipresent, universal, and available to all: the Global Positioning System (GPS). A network of twenty-four satellites and their monitoring stations on Earth, it makes possible almost all modern technology, from the smartphone in your pocket to the Mars rover. Neither the internet nor the cloud would work without it. And it is changing us in profound ways we\'ve yet to come to terms with. While GPS has brought us breathtakingly accurate methods of timekeeping, navigation, and earthquake tracking, our overwhelming reliance on it is having unexpected consequences on our culture, and on ourselves. GPS is reshaping our thinking about privacy and surveillance, and brings with it the growing danger of GPS terrorism. Neuroscientists have even found that using GPS for navigation may be affecting our cognitive maps - possibly rearranging the grey matter in our heads - leading to the increasingly common phenomenon \'Death by GPS\', in which drivers blindly follow their devices into deserts, lakes, and impassable mountains. Deeply researched, inventive and with fascinating insights into the way we think about our place in the world, Pinpoint reveals the way that the technologies we design to help us can end up shaping our lives. It is at once a grand history of science and a far-reaching book about contemporary culture. Σελίδες: 336, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller: but even when he stays safely in his own study at home, he can\'t contain his curiosity about the world around him. A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us. Bill Bryson\'s challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us, like geology, chemistry and particle physics, and see if there isn\'t some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science. It\'s not so much about what we know, as about how we know what we know. How do we know what is in the centre of the Earth, or what a black hole is, or where the continents were 600 million years ago? How did anyone ever figure these things out?On his travels through time and space, he encounters a splendid collection of astonishingly eccentric, competitive, obsessive and foolish scientists, like the painfully shy Henry Cavendish who worked out many conundrums like how much the Earth weighed, but never bothered to tell anybody about many of his findings. In the company of such extraordinary people, Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey, and reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before. Σελίδες: 672, Διαστάσεις: 11.2x11.2cm

\'A refreshingly original meditation... I wish I had written it myself\' Literary ReviewGraveyards are oases: places of escape, peace and reflection. Liminal sites of commemoration, where the past is close enough to touch. Yet they also reflect their living community - how in our restless, accelerated modern world, we are losing our sense of connection to the dead.Jean Sprackland - the prize-winning poet and author of Strands - travels back through her life, revisiting her once local graveyards. In seeking out the stories of those who lived and died there, remembered and forgotten, she unearths what has been lost. Σελίδες: 240, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

THE RICHARD & JUDY NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER‘Magnificent’ Mail on Sunday‘Gripping’ New York Times‘A master storyteller’ The Times‘Epic’ Sunday TelegraphTen-year-old Abdullah would do anything for his younger sister. In a life of poverty and struggle, with no mother to care for them, Pari is the only person who brings Abdullah happiness. For her, he will trade his only pair of shoes to give her a feather for her treasured collection. When their father sets off with Pari across the desert to Kabul in search of work, Abdullah is determined not to be separated from her. Neither brother nor sister know what this fateful journey will bring them. Σελίδες: 496, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1201, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Σελίδες: 208, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0715, Διαστάσεις: 16.3x16.3cm

‘Morland predicts the future of humanity in 10 illuminating statistics (could the Japanese and Italians now go the way of the dodo?) and looks back to how ebbs and flows of population have shaped history, such as the Soviet Union’s plummeting birth rate in the 1960s, which hastened the end of the Cold War.’ - The Daily Telegraph ‘The Best Books for Summer 2022’The great forces of population change – the balance of births, deaths and migrations – have made the world what it is today. They have determined which countries are superpowers and which languish in relative obscurity, which economies top the international league tables and which are at best also-rans.The same forces that have shaped our past and present are shaping our future. Illustrating this through ten illuminating indicators, from the fertility rate in Singapore (one) to the median age in Catalonia (forty-three), Paul Morland shows how demography is both a powerful and an under-appreciated lens through which to view the global transformations that are currently underway.Tomorrow’s People ranges from the countries of West Africa where the tendency towards large families is combining with falling infant mortality to create the greatest population explosion ever witnessed, to the countries of East Asia and Southern Europe where generations of low birth-rate and rising life expectancy are creating the oldest populations in history. Morland explores the geographical movements of peoples that are already under way – portents for still larger migrations ahead – which are radically changing the cultural, ethnic and religious composition of many societies across the globe, and in their turn creating political reaction that can be observed from Brexit to the rise of Donald Trump. Finally, he looks at the two underlying motors of change – remarkable rises in levels of education and burgeoning food production – which have made all these epochal developments possible.Tomorrow’s People provides a fascinating, illuminating and thought-provoking tour of an emerging new world. Nobody who wants to understand that world should be without it. Σελίδες: 336, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0725, Διαστάσεις: 13.2x13.2cm

Sunday Times bestsellerLessons to live by, without getting up with the lark Hannah Jackson (aka The Red Shepherdess) grew up in the Wirral, and hadn\'t set foot on a farm until she was 20-years-old. But she\'d always loved animals and on a visit to the Lake District, she saw a lamb being born and had a light bulb moment - a burning desire to succeed as a farmer - and never looked back.In Tales of a Shepherdess, Hannah gives us a unique insight into farm life and the values it has taught her that we can use in our everyday lives to change ourselves and our world for the better - from connection, communication and community, to leadership, patience and resilience. Hannah will show us how becoming a lambing and farming contractor in a male-dominated and traditional world taught her grit and determination; how training her loyal sheepdog Fraser taught her to trust; and how sometimes failure can teach us more about ourselves than success. Hannah\'s journey also teaches us how we should find what sets our hearts on fire and throw everything into it.Hannah\'s simple and universal wisdom, practical advice, and words of encouragement will inspire you to achieve your goals, follow your dreams and focus on what\'s really important in life. Σελίδες: 320, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

\'One woman\'s gloriously lyrical account of life and love as a shepherdess\' MAIL ON SUNDAY\'Janet White\'s unfailingly enjoyable book . . . taps into a widespread feeling that we have become cut off from the natural world\' TLS\'An immensely enjoyable and heartfelt book: it makes you want to run for the hills\' THE LADYWith an introduction by Colin ThubronAs a child in wartime England, Janet White decided that she wanted to live somewhere wild and supremely beautiful, to inhabit and work the landscape. She imagined searching the whole world for a place, high and remote as a sheep stell, quiet as a monastery, challenging and virginal, untouched and unknown. Turning her back on convention, Janet\'s desire to carve out her own pastoral Eden has taken her from the Cheviot Hills to Sussex and Somerset, via the savage beauty of rural New Zealand. THE SHEEP STELL tells the tale of a woman before her time; a woman with incredible courage and determination, truly devoted to the land and its creatures. Evocative, unaffected and profound, it is a lost classic.\'A book to share or even fight over if necessary\' Rosamund Young, author of THE SECRET LIFE OF COWS\'An extraordinary memoir... THE SHEEP STELL is pure joy, one of the most moving books I\'ve read in a long time\' Philip Marsden, author of RISING GROUND \'This is a strange and lovely book, and quiet as it is, it makes you gasp at the profoundly lived quality of the life it so modestly describes\' Jenny Diski\'A hymn to country solitude, lyrical, unpretentious and deeply felt\' Colin Thubron Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0409, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

Ever since men first hunted for honeycomb in rocks and daubed pictures of it on cave walls, the honeybee has been seen as one of the wonders of nature: social, industrious, beautiful, terrifying. No other creature has inspired in humans an identification so passionate, persistent or fantastical. In this gem of a book, award-winning writer Bee Wilson explores the magical world of the honeybee. From the hive to honey, from beekeepers to honeymooners, via Aristotle, Shakespeare, Napoleon and Sherlock Holmes, here is a book that delights and surprises at every turn. And there is even a recipe or two. Σελίδες: 320, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1013, Διαστάσεις: 13.1x13.1cm

For John Connell, the lambing season on his County Longford farm begins in the autumn. In the sheep shed, he surveys the dozen females in his care and contemplates the work ahead as the season slowly turns to winter, then spring.The twelve sheep have come into his life at just the right moment. After years of hard work, John felt a deep tiredness creeping up on him, a sadness that he couldn\'t shrug off. Having always sought spiritual guidance, he comes to realise that, in addition to the soothing words of literature and philosophy, perhaps the way ahead involves this simple flock of sheep. In the hard work of livestock rearing, in the long nights in the shed helping the sheep to lamb, he can reflect on what life truly means.Like the flock that he shepherds, this book is both simple and profound, a meditation on the rituals of farming life and a primer on the lessons that nature can teach us. As spring returns and the sheep and their lambs are released into the fields, skipping with joy, John recalls the words of Henry David Thoreau, reminding us to \'live in each season as it passes.\' Σελίδες: 192, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'Subtle and self-reflexive. . . an excellent overview of the debates and issues that have shaped this hugely influential social science\' - GuardianHow does anthropology help us understand who we are?What can it tell us about culture, from Melanesia to the City of London? Why does it matter?For well over one hundred years, social and cultural anthropologists have traversed the world from urban Zimbabwe to suburban England, Beijing to Barcelona, uncovering surprising facts, patterns, predilections and, sometimes, the inexplicable, in terms of how humans organize their lives and articulate their values. By weaving together theories and examples from around the world, Matthew Engelke brilliantly shows why anthropology matters: not only because it allows us to understand other points of view, but also because in the process, it reveals something about ourselves too. Σελίδες: 368, Διαστάσεις: 11.3x11.3cm

THE PHENOMENAL INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER – 3 MILLION COPIES SOLD   The iconic bestseller Prisoners of Geography, now fully updated with brand new content to reflect the changing global geopolitical landscape since it was first published in 2015   ‘One of the best books about geopolitics you could imagine.’ Evening Standard   Prisoners of Geography is the book people need to understand what’s happening in the news today, from China’s ambitions to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.   Bestselling author and geopolitics expert Tim Marshall looks at the past, present and future to offer crucial insights into one of the major factors that determines world history – because if you don’t know geography, you’ll never have the full picture.   This completely revised and updated edition brings the classic text up to date with the events and trends of the past decade, with new material including: the Russia–Ukraine war and Moscow\'s alliances with authoritarian statesthe conflicts in the Middle EastChina’s growing military and strategic power, and its stance on TaiwanAmerican global power and pivot to the PacificEurope’s leaning towards more extreme politics, increased defence spending, and the new ‘Iron Curtain’Japan\'s remilitarisation and increasing powergreat power play in Africathe growth of Indian economic and military strength   Read Tim Marshall’s geopolitical primers (Prisoners of Geography, The Power of Geography and The Future of Geography) to understand what’s happening in our fast-changing world.   *Want to test your world knowledge? Challenge friends and family with Prisoners of Geography: The Quiz Book, and discover who is the ultimate armchair explorer! * Σελίδες: 352, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0716, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Everyone has an interest in the weather, whether it\'s to check the prospects for a day out or to know when best to harvest a crop. The Earth\'s weather systems also provide some of the most dramatic forces of nature, from the vast release of energy in a lightning flash to the devastating impact of tornadoes and hurricanes.For centuries, our only real guide to future weather was folklore, but with the introduction of the first weather forecasts and maps in Victorian times, attempts were made to give some warning of the weather to come. Until relatively recently, these forecasts could be wildly inaccurate - think of Michael Fish\'s denial that there was a storm on the way the night before the UK\'s great storm of 1987. This was due to the mathematically chaotic nature of weather systems, first discovered in the 1960s, the understanding of which would transform forecasting from the 1990s and mean that meteorologists became some of the foremost users of supercomputers.From the crystalline perfection of the snowflake to the transfer of energy from the Sun, science lies at the heart of the weather and our understanding of it. In recent years, weather science has moved to the leading edge with advanced modelling, versatile use of satellite data and a better understanding of mathematical chaos. This is a true example of hot science at work. Σελίδες: 192, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'Divide is well written and thought-provoking\' - Sunday Telegraph\'A lively guide through the thorny challenges of rural life in an urban world. Essential reading for both incomer and local. Anna Jones is insightful but above all sensitive: we walk in everybody\'s shoes\' - Tom Heap\'This book, by farmer\'s daughter and now-journalist and media presenter Anna Jones, is one of the most enjoyable and interesting books I have read this year\' - Mark AveryThis book is a call to action. It warns that unless we learn to accept and respect our social, cultural and political differences as town and country people, we are never going to solve the chronic problems in our food system and environment. As we stare down the barrel of climate change, only farmers - who manage two thirds of the UK\'s landscape - working together with conservation groups can create a healthier food system and bring back nature in diverse abundance. But this fledgling progress is hindered and hamstrung by simplistic debates that still stoke conflict between conservative rural communities and the liberal green movement.Each chapter, from Family and Politics to Animal Welfare and the Environment, explores a different aspect of the urban/rural disconnect, weaving case studies and research with Anna\'s personal stories of growing up on a small, upland farm. There is a simple theme and a strong message running throughout the book - a plea to respect our differences, recognise each other\'s strengths and work together to heal the land. Σελίδες: 288, Έτος Έκδοσης: 1227, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

Join science journalist Sabrina Imbler on an astonishing journey which will completely redefine the way you think about nature and the ocean\'An astonishing debut\' GUARDIAN\'Reveals just as much about our fascinating, mysterious world as it does about our fascinating, mysterious selves\' NEW YORK TIMESIn My Life in Sea Creatures we encounter: the mother octopus, starving herself while watching over her eggs; the yeti crab, thriving in crushing pressure and oppressive darkness; the cuttlefish, able to change its appearance in a fraction of a second; and many other creatures lurking in the depths of the ocean.Imbler\'s work weaves the wonders of marine biology with their own identity as a queer, non-binary mixed-race writer. They implicitly connect endangered sea life to marginalised human communities and shatter our preconceptions about the sea and what it means to survive.\'A miraculous, transcendental book\' ED YONG\'Profound, surprising and thrillingly strange. I love it\' SY MONTGOMERY\'Astounding\' PHILIP HOARE\'A revelation\' ISABELLA TREE***LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE WINNER*** Σελίδες: 272, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

\'Astounding ... To call this a \"history\" does not do justice to Helen Gordon\'s ambition\' Simon Ings, Daily Telegraph \'Awe-inspiring ... She has imbued geological tales with a beauty and humanity\' Shaoni Bhattacharya-Woodward, Mail on Sunday The story of the Earth is written into our landscape: it\'s there in the curves of hills, the colours of stone, surprising eruptions of vegetation. Wanting a fresh perspective on her own life, the writer Helen Gordon set out to read that epic narrative. Her odyssey takes her from the secret fossils of London to the 3-billion-year-old rocks of the Scottish Highlands, and from a state-of-the-art earthquake monitoring system in California to one of the world\'s most dangerous volcanic complexes in Naples. At every step, she finds that the apparently solid ground beneath our feet isn\'t quite as it seems. Σελίδες: 336, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0203, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

\'A lyrical meditation on landscapes and cities, vivid reportage and a memoir. And also a beautifully realised and moving read.\' Financial Times\'A beguiling mix of history, geology, folklore and memoir that captivated me from the first page.\' Lara Maiklem, author of Mudlarking\'Tom Chivers brings a poet\'s sensibility to this book about the hidden parts of the capital, mixing the past with the present, the known with the unknown and his personal story with social history and geology.\' Bernardine Evaristo, author of Girl, Woman, OtherWhat secrets lie beneath a city?Tom Chivers follows hidden pathways, explores lost islands and uncovers the geological mysteries that burst up through the pavement and bubble to the surface of our streets. From Roman ruins to a submerged playhouse, from an abandoned Tube station to underground rivers, Chivers leads us on a journey into the depths of the city he loves.A lyrical interrogation of a capital city, a landscape and our connection to place, London Clay celebrates urban edgelands: in-between spaces where the natural world and the metropolis collide. Through a combination of historical research, vivid reportage and personal memoir, it will transform how you see London, and cities everywhere.\'Tom Chivers, with the forensic eye of an investigator, the soul of a poet, is an engaging presence; a guide we would do well to follow.\' Iain Sinclair, author of The Last London Σελίδες: 464, Διαστάσεις: 12.7x12.7cm

A FINANCIAL TIMES AND TLS BOOK OF THE YEARAn exhilarating new biography of John von Neumann: the lost genius who invented our world\'A sparkling book, with an intoxicating mix of pen-portraits and grand historical narrative. Above all it fizzes with a dizzying mix of deliciously vital ideas. . . A staggering achievement\' Tim HarfordThe smartphones in our pockets and computers like brains. The vagaries of game theory and evolutionary biology. Self-replicating moon bases and nuclear weapons. All bear the fingerprints of one remarkable man: John von Neumann.Born in Budapest at the turn of the century, von Neumann is one of the most influential scientists to have ever lived. His colleagues believed he had the fastest brain on the planet - bar none. He was instrumental in the Manhattan Project and helped formulate the bedrock of Cold War geopolitics and modern economic theory. He created the first ever programmable digital computer. He prophesied the potential of nanotechnology and, from his deathbed, expounded on the limits of brains and computers - and how they might be overcome.Taking us on an astonishing journey, Ananyo Bhattacharya explores how a combination of genius and unique historical circumstance allowed a single man to sweep through so many different fields of science, sparking revolutions wherever he went.Insightful and illuminating, The Man from the Future is a thrilling intellectual biography of the visionary thinker who shaped our century. Σελίδες: 368, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

\'Axel Lindén is a shepherd-philosopher with James Herriot\'s knack for mishap and an almost Chekhovian deadpan humour.\' Observer\'Endearing and liberating.\' Idler Magazine\'A sublime little book.\' Cotswold Life_______Why do we keep sheep? Alex Lindén ruminates as he watches his sheep ruminating. Naive and inexperienced, he has ditched his doctoral studies in order to move to a fully working farm in the country with his family, where he is tasked with the responsibility of caring for a herd of sheep.Lindén records his new life in his diary, as he tries to manage life on the farm, the ever-escaping sheep and the trials and tribulations that come with being a shepherd - shearing, lambing and confronting the slaughterhouse. As time passes and he gradually settles into the rhythm of shepherding, his naivete fades away and is replaced with stark realisations about what is now his everyday life. He finds himself applying his experiences of animal husbandry to consider our place - as individuals and as a collective organism - in the universe. Is he really the one caring for the sheep, or are they the ones keeping him? Lindén finds both companionship in his flock and a sound, if complex, moral framework for examining the lives we lead.The result is a sensitive and entertaining meditation on the small wonders in our world. Σελίδες: 160, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0709, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Laki is Iceland\'s largest volcano. Its eruption in 1783 is one of history\'s great, untold natural disasters. Spewing out sun-blocking ash and then a poisonous fog for eight long months, the effects of the eruption lingered across the world for years. It caused the deaths of people as far away as the Nile and created catastrophic conditions throughout Europe. Island on Fire is the story not only of a single eruption but the people whose lives it changed, the dawn of modern volcanology, as well as the history and potential of other super-volcanoes like Laki around the world. And perhaps most pertinently, in the wake of the eruption of another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, which closed European air space in 2010, acclaimed science writers Witze and Kanipe look at what might transpire should Laki erupt again in our lifetime. Σελίδες: 224, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0119, Διαστάσεις: 12.8x12.8cm

\'This is a rip-roaring read, full of derring-do and sometimes comic, often foolhardy bravery. [Jenny] sounds an absolute hoot, and her book is never anything less\' – Daily Mail ‘A fascinating and quirky take on how easily we can be hoodwinked and hacked. Next time you hear anyone complain about the cost of cyber-protection, hand them a copy of People Hacker. It could save them a fortune’ – The Times -------\'From an early age, locked doors, high fences and the secrets kept by businesses, buildings and people, fascinated me. I wanted to find out what they wanted to hide away.\' A burglar for hire, con-artist and expert in deception and physical infiltration – Jenny Radcliffe is a professional people hacker. After being schooled in the art of breaking and entering by her family, she became an expert social engineer, doing an insider’s job to exploit the flaws and weaknesses in top-grade security operations. In People Hacker, Jenny reveals how she uses her inimitable blend of psychology, stagecraft and charm to gain access to top-grade private and commercial properties. From the back streets of Liverpool to the City of London\'s Square Mile, across rooftops, cellars and staircases in Europe to the mansions of gangsters in the Far East, Jenny has risked it all to earn the title ‘People Hacker’. This is Jenny insider’s account of how her working-class upbringing, northern sense of humour and femininity in a male-dominated industry all helped her to become one of the most sought-after social engineers in the world. Told in her trademark colourful style, and packed full of stories of the crazy and dangerous situations she has found herself in along the way, Jenny shines a light on the security mistakes we all make – and how to avoid them.   Σελίδες: 304, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0201, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

A pilot\'s love letter to the world\'s greatest cities from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Skyfaring\'A journey around both the author\'s mind and the planet\'s great cities that leaves us energised, open to new experiences and ready to return more hopefully to our lives\' ALAIN DE BOTTONGrowing up in his small hometown, Mark Vanhoenacker spun the illuminated globe in his bedroom and dreamt of elsewhere - of distant, real cities, and a perfect metropolis that existed only in his imagination.Now, as a commercial airline pilot, Mark has spent more than two decades crossing the skies of our planet and touching down in the cities he\'d always longed to see. Imagine a City celebrates the metropolises he has come to know and love through the lens of the hometown his heart has never left. From the sweeping roads of Los Angeles and the old gates of Jeddah to the intricate, dream-inspired plan of Brasília, he shows us with warmth and fresh eyes the extraordinary places that billions of us call home.\'Vanhoenacker... has a near-bottomless appetite for fresh sights and guidebook curiosities... Intimate and thoughtful\' PICO IYER, AIR MAIL\'A love letter to the cities he\'s returned to again and again... Vanhoenacker captivates when describing the silent beauty of a world glimpsed from above\' Washington Post\'Eloquent... A love song to cities the world over\' Wall Street Journal Σελίδες: 416, Διαστάσεις: 13x13cm

If it\'s fun, funky, jazzy and is to do with butter, it\'s in this book. From how to make butter at home, to where to use it, and if that raises your \'yeah, sure, I know about butter, pal\' eyebrows, this book is going to surprise and delight you into next week.Split into four sections:· What you need to know· Making butter· Getting creative· RecipesMake Your Own Butter will· Whip you into a frenzy so you can\'t wait to start churning· Thrill and surprise with its sheer range of buttery creations like cocktails and beauty products· Enthral with QI style buttery facts· Equip you with a life skill to be passed on to others Σελίδες: 160, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0409, Διαστάσεις: 12.6x12.6cm

Chatwin’s brilliantly unique record of his adventures in Patagonia and the fascinating people he meets along the way. Beautifully written and full of wonderful descriptions and intriguing tales, In Patagonia is an account of Bruce Chatwin\'s travels to a remote country in search of a strange beast and his encounters with the people whose fascinating stories delay him on the road.VINTAGE VOYAGES: A world of journeys, from the tallest mountains to the depths of the mind Σελίδες: 320, Διαστάσεις: 12.9x12.9cm

Discover the truth about ENDURANCE in this superb true story of adventure, shipwreck, storms and survival on the high seas.\'Superb ... the greatest survival story of all time\' Sir Chris Bonington\'One of the most remarkable tales of human courage and determination. The story is gripping and the book is a classic\' Sir Ranulph FiennesENDURANCE is the story of one of the most astonishing feats of exploration and human courage ever recorded. In 1914 Sir Ernest Shackleton and a crew of 27 men set sail for the South Atlantic on board a ship called the Endurance. The object of the expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland. In October 1915, still half a continent away from their intended base, the ship was trapped, then crushed in ice. For five months Shackleton and his men, drifting on ice packs, were castaways on one of the most savage regions of the world. This utterly gripping book, based on first-hand accounts of crew members and interviews with survivors, describes how the men survived, how they lived together in camps on the ice for 17 months until they reached land, how they were attacked by sea leopards, the diseases which they developed, and the indefatigability of the men and their lasting civility towards one another in the most adverse conditions conceivable. Σελίδες: 304, Έτος Έκδοσης: 0801, Διαστάσεις: 19.2x19.2cm