Can rocks have snot? Why do doughnuts have holes in the middle? Could a human child ever be raised by animals? What have hyenas got to laugh about? & why is it impossible to belch after blast-off? This title deals with these questions 272 pages Symons Mitchell ...

Please note this is a region B Blu-ray & will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play Eli Bloom (Jesse Eisenberg) is a musical prodigy & he has an important audition to get to The only problem is his mother A recovering drug addict she needs to get to her rehab centre & the only person she trusts to get her there is Eli What should be a simple task spirals comically out of control as his mother s drug dealer turns up & the chances of Eli getting to his audition look less & less likely ...

When Jessica a grieving widow inherits an antique mall from her mother she also inherits the stallholders an elderly amoral acquisitive & paranoid collection When one of the vendors a wily ex-con named Roxy shoots her ex-husband she calls on Jessica to help bury the body & soon Jessica is embroiled in cover-ups lies & misdirection Into this mix comes Lizzie Jessica's late husband's twelve-year-old daughter by his first marriage who's been dumped on Jessica's doorstep by the child's self-absorbed mother & it soon becomes apparent that Lizzie is as obsessed with material possessions as Jessica's elderly tenants Why Stuff Matters is a compelling ode to possession why people like things & the curious lengths they will go to keep them Returning to her fictional Caprock Waldo turns her wry wit on the lives of those afraid to let go ...

' Outstanding Overy has written a masterpiece of analytical history posing & answering one of the great questions of the century' Niall Ferguson Sunday Times The Allied victory in 1945
- though comprehensive
- was far from inevitable 512 pages 16pp bw plates Overy Richard

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In this book teacher education consultant & researcher Jon Tibke fact-checks prevailing 'neuromyths' by shining a light on what scientific research is truly relevant for the classroom & exploring the current limits of our understanding 216 pages Tibke Jon ...

A SCOTSMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR Stranded at Schiphol airport Ben Coates called up a friendly Dutch girl he'd met some months earlier He stayed for dinner Actually he stayed for good In the first book to consider the hidden heart & history of the Netherlands from a modern perspective the author explores the length & breadth of his adopted homeland & discovers why one of the world's smallest countries is also so significant & so fascinating It is a self-made country the Dutch national character shaped by the ongoing battle to keep the water out from the love of dairy & beer to the attitude to nature & the famous tolerance Ben Coates investigates what makes the Dutch the Dutch why the Netherlands is much more than Holland & why the colour orange is so important Along the way he reveals why they are the world's tallest people & have the best carnival outside Brazil He learns why Amsterdam's brothels are going out of business who really killed Anne Frank & how the Dutch manage to be richer than almost everyone else despite working far less He also discovers a country which is changing fast with the Dutch now questioning many of the liberal policies which made their nation famous A personal portrait of a fascinating people a sideways history & an entertaining travelogue Why the Dutch are Different is the story of an Englishman who went Dutch & loved it ...

This book is a brilliant account of German military history which makes for thought-provoking reading Military Modelcraft International The German armed forces suffered crushing defeat in the last century Kenneth Macksey examines the reasons behind these catastrophic military failures Were they the random fortunes of war or the inevitable result of a particular structure leadership & history? A nation with few natural defensive boundaries Germany traditionally had to struggle to survive & developed an aggressive & militant outlook Its great strengths were the brilliance of individual generals & military thinkers the innovative development of the military forces & the skill & tenacity of the fighting men Set against all this was a short-term war policy a tendency to underestimate the enemy & believe its own propaganda & the politicisation of the military staffs These & many other factors were to lead Germany from nineteenth-century success & dreams of world domination to twentieth-century defeat ...

Once the kangaroo couldn't jump Find out how that changed in this lively tale adapted from one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories This title is part of the Usborne Reading Programme (First Reading level 1) with simple charming text puzzles after the story to consolidate learning & gorgeous atmospheric illustrations by John Joven Illustrations Full colour throughout ...

As you read this billions of neutrinos from the sun are passing through your body antimatter is sprouting from your dinner & the core of your being is a chaotic mess of particles known only as quarks & gluons If the recent discovery of the Higgs Boson piqued your interest then Why The Universe Exists will take you deeper into the world of particle physics with leading physicists & New Scientist exploring how the universe functions at the smallest scales Find out about hunt for dark matter & why there is something rather than nothing Discover how accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland are rewinding time to the first moments after the big bang & how ghostly neutrino particles may hold the answers to the greatest mysteries of the universe ABOUT THE SERIESNew Scientist Instant Expert books are definitive & accessible entry points to the most important subjects in science; subjects that challenge attract debate invite controversy & engage the most enquiring minds Designed for curious readers who want to know how things work & why the Instant Expert series explores the topics that really matter & their impact on individuals society & the planet translating the scientific complexities around us into language that's open to everyone & putting new ideas & discoveries into perspective & context ...

In the middle of the eighteenth century British entrepreneurs unleashed the astounding energies of steam & coal & the world changed forever Factories railways & gunboats then propelled the West's rise to power & computers & nuclear weapons in the twentieth century secured its global supremacy Today however many worry that the emergence of China & India spell the end of the West as a superpower How long will the power of the West last? In order to find out we need to know why has the West been so dominant for the past two hundred years? With flair & authority historian & achaeologist Ian Morris draws uniquely on 15000 years of history to offer fresh insights on what the future will bring Deeply researched & brilliantly argued Why The West Rules
- For Now is a gripping & truly original history of the world
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