From the first landings on the moon to the implications of our cyber worlds, this unusual & intriguing book takes a provocative look at our fascination with space. Rocket Dreams is a fast-moving, fact-filled study of how all the dreams that went in to moonflight in the '60s have found new homes & mutated into new fascination with space. It is about our unquenchable desire to reach out to other worlds, physical & imaginative. From the Apollo astronauts to the military origins of the internet, & the whole phenomenon of 'virtual communities', it reveals how the ideals & longings pinned on cyberspace have evolved directly from those of the space age. Space dreams have been transformed into screen dreams, but the longing for communication with 'the other' lies at the heart of both. ...

' Rocket' Ron Haslam started racing on the professional circuit in 1972 at the age of 15 & developed into one of the finest, & fastest, racers the UK has ever seen. Winner of three World titles & four British championships, as well as a record six Macau GPs, he rode in more than 100 Grands Prix. Despite tragically losing two of his brothers in motorbike accidents, Haslam kept on riding, setting speed records wherever he went.

His son, Leon, the ' Pocket Rocket', is following in his father's extremely speedy footsteps. A national Motorcross champion & national Scooter champion at the age of just 14, he became the youngest ever rider to compete in the 500cc World Championship & is now one of Britain's top racers, competing for Stiggy Honda in the World Superbike Championship.

This is the extraordinary story of a father & a son who are addicted to motorbikes, with all the thrills & spills, miraculous escapes & multiple broken bones that involves. Both colourful characters, their story takes us all the way from the 1970s to today & is full of hilarious high-octane derring-do, a cast of characters including legends like Fast Freddie Spencer & Barry Sheene, & nothing less than terrifying but exhilarating adventure.



...

The Haslam family is motorbike royalty. ' Rocket' Ron Haslam, one of ten brothers & sisters from a Derbyshire mining town, started racing on the professional circuit in 1972 at the age of 15 & developed into one of the finest, & fastest, racers the UK has ever seen. Winner of three World titles & four British championships, as well as a record six Macau GPs, he rode in more than 100 Grands Prix. Despite tragically losing two of his brothers, Phil & Terry, in motorbike accidents, Haslam kept on riding in his chosen sport, setting speed records wherever he went, with his most recent outing being on a Ducati 998 at the Race of the Year at Mallory Park in October 2004.

His son, Leon, the ' Pocket Rocket', is following in his father's extremely speedy footsteps. A national Motorcross champion & national Scooter champion at the age of just 14, he became the youngest ever rider to compete in the 500cc World Championship & is now one of Britain's top racers. He was placed second in the British Superbike Championship in 2006, missing out on the title only on the very last race weekend, & was voted MCN's Man of the Year & Riders' Rider of the Year. Now 24, he starts the 2008 BSB season as favourite as part of the Honda team for whom his father Ron raced GPs back in the 1980s.

This is the extraordinary story of a father & a son who are addicted to motorbikes & to a lifetime of fearless racing, with all the thrills & spills, miraculous escapes & multiple broken bones that involves. Both colourful characters, their story takes us all the way from the 1970s to today & is full of hilarious high-octane derring-do, a cast of characters including legends like Fast Freddie Spencer & Barry Sheene, & nothing less than terrifying but exhilarating adventure.



...

' Rocket' Ron Haslam started racing on the professional circuit in 1972 at the age of 15 & developed into one of the finest, & fastest, racers the UK has ever seen. Winner of three World titles & four British championships, as well as a record six Macau GPs, he rode in more than 100 Grands Prix. Despite tragically losing two of his brothers in motorbike accidents, Haslam kept on riding, setting speed records wherever he went.

His son, Leon, the ' Pocket Rocket', is following in his father's extremely speedy footsteps. A national Motorcross champion & national Scooter champion at the age of just 14, he became the youngest ever rider to compete in the 500cc World Championship & is now one of Britain's top racers, competing for Stiggy Honda in the World Superbike Championship.

This is the extraordinary story of a father & a son who are addicted to motorbikes, with all the thrills & spills, miraculous escapes & multiple broken bones that involves. Both colourful characters, their story takes us all the way from the 1970s to today & is full of hilarious high-octane derring-do, a cast of characters including legends like Fast Freddie Spencer & Barry Sheene, & nothing less than terrifying but exhilarating adventure.



...

' This makes me want to read my own books all over again' Louis de Bernieres on Louis de Bernieres: the Essential Guide In Vintage Living Texts, teachers, students & any lover of literature will find the essential guide to the major works of Roddy Doyle. Also included is an exclusive in-depth interview with Roddy Doyle relating specifically to the novels under discussion. Roddy Doyle's themes, genre & narrative techniques are put under scrutiny & the emphasis is on providing a rich source of ideas for intelligent & inventive ways of approaching the novels. Amongst many other features you'll find inspirational reading plans & contextual material, suggested complementary & comparative reading & an indispensable glossary. Featured texts: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, The Van, A Star Called Henry ...

The townsfolk of Cavity drink sweet, fizzy sodas & have big brown stumps instead of nice, white smiles. Everyone, from little old ladies to tiny little babies, burps morning, noon & night. But when Rodeo Ron rides into town astride his milkshake cows, Cavity's in for a big surprise! The local soda makers, Frothy & Fruity, offer him their hometown special, a soda soooooo sweet, that it even makes Rodeo Ron burp! & before he can say 'diggidy-dang', they challenge Ron to a shake-off... Frothy & Fruity mix up their sugars & syrups, they burp & bronk & fizzle with rage, but their sickly sweet fizzy sodas are no match for the delicious, fruity shakes from Ron's coloured cows... ...

Born in Ireland in 1864 Roger Casement acted as British Consul in various parts of Africa (1895-1904) & Brazil (1906-11) where he denounced atrocities among Congolese & Putumayo rubber workers. knighted in 1911, He returned to Irel&, where as an ardent nationalist he attempted to enlist German help for the cause. He was hanged for high treason in London in 1916. A compulsive diary writer, his so-called ' Black' Diaries were finally released into the public domain in 1994. At the time of his trial, these diaries-detailing his promiscuous homosexual activities in Brazil-were used to condemn him &, subsequently, to poison his reputation. Published here for the first time-as are his more public ' White' Diaries of the same year-they not only offer the reader the opportunity to judge their authenticity-still a matter of heated debate-but they also take us deep into the mind of the bravest, most selfless & practical humanitarian of the Edwardian age. ...

Born in Ireland in 1864 Roger Casement acted as British Consul in various parts of Africa (1895-1904) & Brazil (1906-11) where he denounced atrocities among Congolese & Putumayo rubber workers. knighted in 1911, He returned to Irel&, where as an ardent nationalist he attempted to enlist German help for the cause. He was hanged for high treason in London in 1916. A compulsive diary writer, his so-called ' Black' Diaries were finally released into the public domain in 1994. At the time of his trial, these diaries-detailing his promiscuous homosexual activities in Brazil-were used to condemn him &, subsequently, to poison his reputation. Published here for the first time-as are his more public ' White' Diaries of the same year-they not only offer the reader the opportunity to judge their authenticity-still a matter of heated debate-but they also take us deep into the mind of the bravest, most selfless & practical humanitarian of the Edwardian age. ...

Introduction by Frances Spalding. Virginia Woolf was a close friend of Roger Fry for many years
- after his death she wrote this
...