Bill Bryson describes himself as a reluctant traveller but even when he stays safely at home he can&t contain his curiosity about the world around him A Short History of Nearly Everything is his quest to understand 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 & particle physics & see if there isn&t some way to render them comprehensible to people who have never thought they could be interested in science The ultimate eye-opening journey through time & space A Short History of Nearly Everything is the biggest-selling popular science book of the 21st century & reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before
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A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill Bryson&s 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 His challenge is to take subjects that normally bore the pants off most of us & 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 & space Bill Bryson takes us with him on the ultimate eye-opening journey & reveals the world in a way most of us have never seen it before
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The industrial revolution stands out as a key event not simply in British history but in world history ushering in as it did a new era of sustained economic prosperity 204 pages XIII 204 p Griffin Emma ...

The extraordinary creative energy of Renaissance Italy lies at the root of modern Western culture In her elegant new introduction Virginia Cox offers a fresh vision of this iconic moment in European cultural history when
- between the fourteenth & sixteenth centuries
- Italy led the world in painting building science & literature Her book explores key artistic literary & intellectual developments but also histories of food & fashion map-making exploration & anatomy Alongside towering figures such as Leonardo da Vinci Michelangelo Raphael Petrarch Machiavelli & Isabella d' Este Cox reveals a cast of lesser-known protagonists including printers travel writers actresses courtesans explorers inventors & even celebrity chefs At the same time Italy's rich regional diversity is emphasised; in addition to the great artistic capitals of Florence Rome & Venice smaller but cutting-edge centres such as Ferrara Mantua Bologna Urbino & Siena are given their due As the author demonstrates women played a far more prominent role in this exhilarating resurgence than was recognized until very recently
- both as patrons of art & literature & as creative artists themselves ' Renaissance woman' she boldly argues is as important a legacy as ' Renaissance man'


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Barbara H Rosenwein's bestselling survey text continues to stand out by integrating the history of three medieval civilizations (European Byzantine & Islamic) in a lively narrative that is complemented beautifully by 70 full-color plates 46 maps & 13 genealogies many of them new to this edition The fourth edition begins with an essay entitled Why the Middle Ages Matter Today & the book now covers East Central Europe in some depth This edition

Includes:: three Seeing the Middle Ages features each discussing a work of art in depth An Ivory Diptych of Christ & the Virgin Saint Luke Gospel Book of Otto III; & A Shrine Madonna The sections for further reading have been updated & ancillary materials including study questions can be found on the History Matters website (wwwutphistorymatterscom)

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Martin Luther pinned his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of All Saints' Church in Wittenberg he shattered foundations of western Christendom The Reformation of doctrine & practice that followed Luther's seismic action & protest against sale of indulgences fragmented the Church & overturned previously accepted certainties & priorities 256 pages 5 Maps Parish Helen L ...

A Short History of US Interventions in Latin America & the Caribbean presents a concise account of the full sweep of US military invasions & interventions in Central America South America & the Caribbean from 1800 up to the present day Engages in debates about the economic military political & cultural motives that shaped US interventions in Cuba Nicaragua Puerto Rico Haiti the Dominican Republic Panama Guatemala Mexico & elsewhere Deals with incidents that range from the taking of Florida to the Mexican War the War of 1898 the Veracruz incident of 1914 the Bay of Pigs & the 1989 invasion of Panama Features also the responses of Latin American countries to US involvement Features unique coverage of 19th century interventions as well as 20th century incidents &

Includes:: a series of helpful maps & illustrations

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' For the first time in my life I felt that death was a possibility; a stupid pointless lonely death on the aptly named Mondulkiri Death Highway' The Ho Chi Minh Trail is one of the greatest feats of military engineering in history But since the end of the Vietnam War much of this vast transport network has been reclaimed by jungle while remaining sections are littered with a deadly legacy of unexploded bombs For Antonia a veteran of ridiculous adventures in unfeasible vehicles the chance to explore the Trail before it's lost forever was a personal challenge she couldn't ignore
- yet it would sometimes be a terrifying journey Setting out from Hanoi on an ageing Honda Cub she spent the next two months riding 2000 miles through the mountains & jungles of Vietnam Laos & Cambodia Battling inhospitable terrain & multiple breakdowns her experiences ranged from the touching to the hilarious meeting former American fighter pilots tribal chiefs illegal loggers & bomb disposal experts The story of her brave journey is thrilling & poignant a unique insight into a little known face of Southeast Asia
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A classic of travel writing A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' is Eric Newby's iconic account of his journey through one of the most remote & beautiful wildernesses on earth It was 1956 & Eric Newby was earning an improbable living in the chaotic family business of London haute couture Pining for adventure Newby sent his friend Hugh Carless the now-famous cable
- CAN YOU TRAVEL NURISTAN JUNE?
- setting in motion a legendary journey from Mayfair to Afghanistan & the mountains of the Hindu Kush north-east of Kabul Inexperienced & ill prepared (their preparations involved nothing more than some tips from a Welsh waitress) the amateurish rogues embark on a month of adventure & hardship in one of the most beautiful wildernesses on earth
- a journey that adventurers with more experience & sense may never have undertaken With good humour sharp wit & keen observation the charming narrative style of A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush' would soon crystallise Newby's reputation as one of the greatest travel writers of all time One of the greatest travel classics from one of Britain's best-loved travel writers this edition

Includes:: new photographs an epilogue from Newby's travelling companion Hugh Carless & a prologue from one of Newby's greatest proponents Evelyn Waugh




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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 or region free DVD player in order to play As murder follows murder with the beautiful Maria as the obvious suspect; bumbling Inspector Clouseau drives his boss Dreyfus mad by stubbornly vowing to prove her innocence! ...