The Alhambra palace complex is imposingly situated above the town of Granada, on the lower slopes of the Sierra Nevada, southern Spain. It is the most important surviving medieval Islamic palace in the world. Michael Jacobs takes a fresh look at this magical palace-fortress, built by the Muslim Nasrid rulers & the potent mythology that has grown up around it. The heart of the book is a tour of the palace & the adjoining gardens of the Generalife. The final chapter assesses the literature, art & architecture inspired by this legendary place. ...

The Alhambra, the `red fort` on its rocky hill above Granada, with its fountained courts & gardens, & intricate decoration, has long been a byword for exotic & melancholy beauty. In a stimulating new book in the ” Wonders of the World” series Robert Irwin, Arabist & novelist, examines its engrossing & often mysterious history. Built by a bloody & threatened dynasty of Muslim Spain, it was preserved as a monument to the triumph of Christianity. Much of what we see is the invention of later generations. Its highly sophisticated decoration is not just random but full of hidden meaning. Even its purpose
- palace or theological college
- is not always clear. Its influence on art, & on literature, orientalist painting & Granada cinemas, Washington Irving & Borges, has been significant. Robert Irwin enables us to understand that history fully. ” The Wonders of the World” is a series of books that focuses on some of the world`s most famous sites or monuments. Their names will be familiar to almost everyone: they have achieved iconic stature & are loaded with a fair amount of mythological baggage. These monuments have been the subject of many books over the centuries, but our aim, through the skill & stature of the writers, is to get something much more enlightening, stimulating, even controversial, than straightforward histories or guides.

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Topographic coverage of mainland Spain at 1:50, 000 in the MTN50 (Mapa Topográfico Nacional) series from the Centro Nacional de Información Geografica, the country’s civilian survey organization. The maps have contours at 20m intervals, enhanced by relief shading, plus colouring and/or graphics to show different types of terrain, vegetation or land use. Boundaries of national parks & other protected areas are marked. In addition to all the usual information featured on topographic mapping at this scale, detailed presentation of the road & rail networks, rural tracks & paths, etc, the maps also show campsites & mountain refuges. On more recent editions some GRs, the official long-distance hiking routes, are also marked (although not as clearly as on hiking maps from other publishers). Each map covers 29.5x 18.5 km (with adjustments in the border or coastal areas). The maps have a 1-km UTM grid, plus margin ticks for latitude & longitude at 1` intervals. Map legend is in Spanish only.HOW TO CHOOSE THE RIGHT 50K MAP: all the titles in CNIG’s 200K Provincial Road Maps series at 1:200, 000 are overprinted with the grid for the 1:50, 000 maps & can be used to see the area covered by each 50K title. TO SEE THE LIST OF TITLES IN THIS SERIES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK.PLEASE NOTE
- MAP TITLES: the grids shown on our website serve both the civilian & the military 1:50, 000 topographic series. Although the areas covered by maps in both series are identical (apart from some border or coastal sheets), occasionally map titles differ – only one title is shown on the grid, usually the military one. In Galicia, the Basque country & in the Catalan speaking areas the tendency now is to use local place names rather than the often better known Castilian ones. Where possible, both versions are included in our titles. Map titles listed on our website are based on information received by us at the time of publication, but sometimes maps arrive showing a completely different title! As long as the map number is as ordered, the correct map has been supplied.
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With its meandering rooms, tranquil open-air spaces & spectacular natural setting, the Alhambra palace & fortress complex is a place of great mystery & discovery. This sticker book allows children to experience these qualities, while learning about the structure`s rich architectural past & its significance to the city of Granada. The Alhambra`s nooks & crannies, amazing Lion`s Fountain & Islamic art are all part of the journey, which each reader can tailor to his or her unique vision. Dozens of stickers provide inspiration for children to create their own fortress
- & will pique their curiosity about how history, religion & culture played a role in the development of this architectural wonder.
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Topographic coverage of mainland Spain at 1:25, 000 published by the Centro Nacional de Información Geograficá, the country’s civilian survey organization. The maps have contours at 10m intervals & colouring and/or graphics to show different types of vegetation or land use. Boundaries of national parks & other protected areas are marked. In addition to all the usual information shown on topographic maps at this scale, detailed presentation of the road & rail networks, rural tracks & paths, etc, the maps also show campsites. The maps have a 1-km UTM grid, with margin ticks for latitude & longitude at 1` intervals. Map legend is in Spanish only.PLEASE NOTE: our grid for the whole of Spain is in preparation
- in the meantime, for areas other than those shown on the attached grid please use CNIG’s topographic survey at 1:50, 000 by searching for ‘SI00000832’. Each 25K map covers one quarter of the corresponding 50K map, with the numbering system: I = NW quarter, II = NE quarter, III = SW quarter & IV = SE quarter. CNIG maps in the Provincial Road Maps series at 1:200, 000 are overprinted with the grid for the 1:50, 000 survey & can be used to see the area covered by each 50K or 25K title in more detail. To see the list of titles in this series please click on the series grid
- for map numbers not yet listed on our website please contact us by email.

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The most comprehensive & definitive biography of Muhammad Ali that has ever been published, based on more than 500 interviews with those who knew him best, with many dramatic new discoveries about his life & career. When the frail, trembling figure of Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996, a TV audience of up to 3 billion people was once again gripped by the story of the world`s most famous sporting icon. The man who had once been reviled for his refusal to fight for his country & for his fast-talking denunciation of his opponents was now almost universally adored, the true cost of his astonishing boxing career clear to see. In Jonathan Eig`s ground-breaking biography, backed up with much detailed new research specially commissioned for this book, we get a stunning portrait of one of the most significant personalities of the second half of the twentieth century. We are not only taken inside the ring for some of the most famous bouts in boxing history, we also learn about his personal life, his finances, his faith & the moments when the first signs of his physical decline began to show. Ali was a symbol of freedom & courage, a hero to many, but this is also a very personal story of a warrior who vanquished every opponent but was finally brought down by his own stubborn refusal to quit. An epic tale of a fighter who became the world`s most famous pacifist, Ali: A Life does full justice to an extraordinary man. ...

BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR. SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2017. SHORTLISTED FOR THE JAMES TAIT BLACK BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR. WINNER OF THE PEN/ESPN AWARD FOR LITERARY SPORTS WRITING. THE TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR. The most comprehensive & definitive biography of Muhammad Ali that has ever been published, based on more than 500 interviews with those who knew him best, with many dramatic new discoveries about his life & career. When the frail, trembling figure of Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame in Atlanta in 1996, a TV audience of up to 3 billion people was once again gripped by the story of the world`s most famous sporting icon. The man who had once been reviled for his refusal to fight for his country & for his fast-talking denunciation of his opponents was now almost universally adored, the true cost of his astonishing boxing career clear to see. In Jonathan Eig`s ground-breaking biography, backed up with much detailed new research specially commissioned for this book, we get a stunning portrait of one of the most significant personalities of the second half of the twentieth century. We are not only taken inside the ring for some of the most famous bouts in boxing history, we also learn about his personal life, his finances, his faith & the moments when the first signs of his physical decline began to show. Ali was a symbol of freedom & courage, a hero to many, but this is also a very personal story of a warrior who vanquished every opponent but was finally brought down by his own stubborn refusal to quit. An epic tale of a fighter who became the world`s most famous pacifist, Ali: A Life does full justice to an extraordinary man.` Ali: A Life is the business
- 640 pages of patient scholarship & intelligent reassessment written in crackly prose` Giles Smith, The Times `[A] richly researched, sympathetic yet unsparing portrait.. . Ali: A Life is an epic of a biography` Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times
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Sometimes I whisper it over to myself: Murderess. Murderess. It rustles, like a taffeta skirt along the floor.` Grace Marks. Female fiend? Femme fatale? Or weak & unwilling victim? Around the true story of one of the most enigmatic & notorious women of the 1840s, Margaret Atwood has created an extraordinarily potent tale of sexuality, cruelty & mystery. ...

A decade & a half has passed since Grace was locked up, at the age of 16, for the cold-blooded murders of her employer Thomas Kinnear & his housekeeper/lover Nancy Montgomery. Her alleged accomplice, James Mc Dermot, was hanged in 1843. Dr Simon Jordan attempts to uncover the truth. ...

A stunning new hardback edition of Margaret Atwood`s classic work of true crime
- `an explosive mixture of murder, sex
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