THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER' These 128 pages are a brief primer in every important thing we might have learned from the history of the last century & all that we appear to have forgotten' Observer History does not repeat but it does instruct In the twentieth century European democracies collapsed into fascism Nazism & communism These were movements in which a leader or a party claimed to give voice to the people promised to protect them from global existential threats & rejected reason in favour of myth European history shows us that societies can break democracies can fall ethics can collapse & ordinary people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances History can familiarise & it can warn Today we are no wiser than the Europeans who saw democracy yield to totalitarianism in the twentieth century But when the political order seems imperilled our advantage is that we can learn from their experience to resist the advance of tyranny Now is a good time to do so ...

Beauty & ugliness are two sides of the same coin; by ugliness we usually mean the opposite of beauty & we often define the first in order to understand the nature of the second But the various depictions of ugliness over the centuries are richer & more unpredictable than is commonly thought The striking images & anthological"ations in On Ugliness lead us on an extraordinary journey through the passions terrors & nightmares of almost three thousand years where acts of rejection go hand in hand with touching instances of empathy & an aversion to deformity is accompanied by seductive violations of all classical canons With his characteristic wit & erudition Umberto Eco draws on examples in art & literature from ancient times to the present day Abundantly illustrated with demons madmen vile enemies & disquieting presences with freaks & the living dead On Ugliness is conceived for a vast & diverse readership & is an invaluable companion volume to On Beauty ...

The highly anticipated cookbook from Jeremy Fox the California chef who is redefining vegetable-based cuisine with global appeal Known for his game-changing approach to cooking with vegetables Jeremy Fox first made his name at the Michelin-starred restaurant Ubuntu in Napa Valley Today he is one of America's most talked-about chefs celebrated for the ingredient-focused cuisine he serves at the Los Angeles restaurant Rustic Canyon Wine Bar & Seasonal Kitchen In his first book Fox presents his food philosophy in the form of 160 approachable recipes for the home cook On Vegetables elevates vegetarian cooking using creative methods & ingredient combinations to highlight the textures flavours & varieties of seasonal produce & including basic recipes for the larder ...

Translated by JJ Graham revised by FN Maude Abridged & with an Introduction by Louise Willmot On War is perhaps the greatest book ever written about war Carl von Clausewitz a Prussian soldier had witnessed at first hand the immense destructive power of the French Revolutionary armies which swept across Europe between 1792 & 1815 His response was to write a comprehensive text covering every aspect of warfare On War is both a philosophical & practical work in which Clausewitz defines the essential nature of war debates the qualities of the great commander assesses the relative strengths of defensive & offensive warfare &
- in highly controversial passages
- considers the relationship between war & politics His arguments are illustrated with vivid examples drawn from the campaigns of Frederick the Great & Napoleon Bonaparte For the student of society as well as the military historian On War remains a compelling & indispensable source

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ON WAR is the most significant attempt in Western history to understand war both in its internal dynamics & as an instrument of policy Since the work's first appearance in 1832 it has been read throughout the world & has stimulated generations of soilders statemen & intellectuals from Marx & Bismarck to Raymond Aron ...

By the author of The Handmaid's Tale & Alias Grace What is the role of the writer? Prophet? High Priest of Art? Court Jester? Or witness to the real world? Looking back on her own childhood & the development of her writing career Margaret Atwood examines the metaphors which writers of fiction & poetry have used to explain
- or excuse!
- their activities looking at what costumes they have seen fit to assume what roles they have chosen to play In her final chapter she takes up the challenge of the book's title if a writer is to be seen as 'gifted' who is doing the giving & what are the terms of the gift? Margaret Atwood's wide & eclectic reference to other writers living & dead is balanced by anecdotes from her own experiences as a writer both in Canada & on the international scene The lightness of her touch is underlined by a seriousness about the purpose & the pleasures of writing & by a deep familiarity with the myths & traditions of western literature

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A collection of previously unpublished letters from America's cult icon on the art of writing Charles Bukowski was one of our most iconoclastic raw & riveting writers one whose stories poems & novels have left an enduring mark on our culture On Writing collects Bukowski's reflections & ruminations on the craft he dedicated his life to Piercing unsentimental & often hilarious On Writing is filled not only with memorable lines but also with the author's trademark toughness leavened with moments of grace pathos & intimacy In the previously unpublished letters to editors friends & fellow writers collected here Bukowski is brutally frank about the drudgery of work & uncompromising when it comes to the absurdities of life & of art ...

There is a reason why Stephen King is one of the bestselling writers in the world ever Described in the Guardian as 'the most remarkable storyteller in modern American literature' Stephen King writes books that draw you in & are impossible to put down Part memoir part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time this superb volume is a revealing & practical view of the writer's craft comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have King's advice is grounded in the vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer from his struggling early career to his widely reported near-fatal accident in 1999
- & how the inextricable link between writing & living spurred his recovery
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What is history & how should it be written? This important new anthology translated & edited by Professor John Marincola contains all the seminal texts that relate to the writing of history in the ancient world The study of history was invented in the classical world Treading uncharted waters writers such as Plutarch & Lucian grappled with big questions such as how history should be written how it differs from poetry & oratory & what its purpose really is This book

Includes:: complete essays by Dionysius Plutarch & Lucian as well as shorter pieces by Pliny the Younger Cicero & others & will be an essential resource for anyone studying history & the ancient world

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Please note this is a region 2 DVD & will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play ON YOUR BIKE A HISTORY OF CYCLING ON FILM (2-DVD SET) Every time I see an adult on a bicycle I no longer despair for the future of the human race H G Wells This two-disc collection provides a fascinating portrait of the British cycling experience on film featuring entertaining short dramas animations advertisements newsreel items & public information films From nineteenth-century women elegantly displaying their proficiency to the cut-throat 1928 Olympic Trials at the Herne Hill Velodrome & careless 1980s BMX kids meeting untimely ends the films on this set offer up a century of cycling in Britain whilst celebrating classic brands such as Raleigh Hercules Moulton Humber Rudge & Witcomb UK 1899-1983 black & white & colour English language 248 minutes DVD9 x 2 Ratio 1331 Disc One Lady Cyclists (1899) Race for the Muratti Cup at Manchester Wheelers& Annual Meet Extract (1901) Rudge Whitworth Britain&s Best Bicycle (1902) Manchester & Salford Harriers Extract (1901) Flying the Foam & Some Fancy Diving (1906) Fat Man on a Bicycle (1914) National Bicycle Week Begins (1923) Olympic Trials (1928) Cycling the Channel (1929) Woman Wheelers (1929) From Acorn to Oak (1938) Cinema Adverts Humber Raleigh Rudge (1938) Tom&s Ride (1944) How a Bicycle is Made (1945) Stringing Along (1947) The Ballad of the Battered Bicycle (1947) Pedal Cyclists (1947) Good Cycles Deserve Good Riders (1950) Skid Kids (1953) Disc Two Cyclists Special (1955) Hercules Lion Cubs (1956) Cyclists Abroad (1957) Cycling Proficiency Scheme Father & Son (1959) Riding on Air (1959) The Racing Cyclist (1966) The Moulton Bicycle (1972) Free Wheeling (1979) It&s a Bike (1983) Cyclist Turning Right (1983) ...