In one of the great defining moments in human history, more people now live in cities than in rural areas, & the effects of this depopulation & the plummeting birthrate are being felt keenly throughout Europe, which has the fastest-declining population in the world. Tom Pow sets out to explore what this means in some of the most rapidly vanishing areas of Europe. From Spain to Russia, he uses the tools of his trade
- travelogue, essay, story & poem
- to make connections, not only with what he encounters in numerous dying villages, but to reflect on his own experiences of memory, identity & loss. In Another World is an open book: not an argument, but an invitation to remember, to reflect & to engage with one of the most significant social issues affecting Europe today.

...

Shortly after the 2005 London bombings, Tahir Shah was thrown into a Pakistani prison on suspicion of spying for Al-Qaeda. What sustained him during his terrifying, weeks-long ordeal were the stories his father told him as a child in Morocco. Inspired by this, on his return to his adopted homeland he embarked on an adventure worthy of the mythical Arabian Nights, going in search of the stories & storytellers that have nourished this most alluring of countries for centuries. Wandering through the medinas of Fez & Marrakech, criss-crossing the Saharan sands & tasting the hospitality of ordinary Moroccans, he collected a treasury of traditional stories recounted by a vivid & eccentric cast of characters: from master masons who work only at night to Sufi wise men who write for soap operas & Tuareg guides addicted to reality TV. Himself a link in the chain of scholars & teachers who have passed such tales down from father to son, mother to daughter, Shah reveals a world & a way of thinking that most visitors to Morocco barely know exist. ...

From Booker Prize-winner Ben Okri: a voyage into the enduring myth of Arcadia & the mysterious painting it inspired. A lyrical novel about art & enlightenment that takes the reader from Waterloo Station in London to Paris & a four hundred year old enigma, the painting by Nicolas Poussin known as ` Et in Arcadia Ego`. ` We never write the book we think we are writing. We never read the book we think we are reading` BEN OKRI. ...

For as long as Jake Tilson can remember he has always been scared of fish. Mysterious ice-laden market stalls have been sidestepped & intimidating seafood recipes left safely on the shelf, while the few occasions he has attempted to cook it have met with disaster. In at the Deep End sees the award-winning artist, designer, writer & cook finally overcome his last culinary taboo by travelling the globe on a quest to buy, prepare & cook fish & seafood. An evocative, marvellously layered & wonderfully illustrated exploration of Jake`s many experiences with fish, this delightful food memoir & recipe book catalogues his journey from fish-phobic to seafood obsessive. Whether cooking mussels in Sydney or sprats in Sweden, visiting the fish markets of Tokyo or snorkelling on the Great Barrier Reef, Jake`s unquenchable interest in every aspect of the sea & fish cookery is unstoppable. His acute eye & enticing culinary experiments & recipes make In at the Deep End a book to be read, savoured, used &, above all, enjoyed. ...

One of the titles in a series of topographic maps covering much of north-west Africa, produced as part of the IMW* project in 1960’s. Each map covers an area spanning 6° in longitude & 4° in latitude. There is some variation in colouring & the depiction of terrain, but hill-shading, spot heights & contours are used to show the general relief. Additional graphics show features such as dunes, rock outcrops, cliffs, sand areas, escarpments, marshes, seasonal lakes & watercourses, & areas liable to flooding. Bathymetric contours are also included. Communications detail

Includes:: roads, major trails & railways, although there is some inconsistency in colouring & the extent of classification, e.g. not all maps distinguish seasonal roads. On most maps intermediate road distances are indicated on main routes. Symbols show airports, mosques, mines, oil & gas fields, lighthouses, ruins & significant isolated buildings. Administrative boundaries are marked & latitude & longitude lines are drawn at 1° intervals, with further margin ticks at 1’ intervals. The map legend is in French only on some sheets, & in English & French on others.* The International Map of the World was a project conceived in the early 20th century to compile a world map series at 1:1, 000, 000 through the efforts of participating nations. The value of the program has declined since 1970 & the IMW is no longer regarded as an active international series.

...

Fourteen years after independence, the enduring childhood friendship of three women has carried them through times of violence & loss in Kenya, their chosen homel&. Hannah Olsen & her husband Lars own Langani Farm & Safari Lodge where they struggle to protect their wildlife & land from poachers & corrupt officials. But the developing relationship between their daughter & a young African boy with a terrifying legacy tests the strength of their family. Sarah Singh, wildlife researcher & renowned photographer, is married to an Indian journalist. However, their inability to have children puts Sarah`s relationship with her husband & his family under increasing pressure. & Camilla Broughton Smith, international model & fashion designer, has given up a sparkling career to work with the charismatic safari guide Anthony Chapman, who has been injured in a tragic accident. Yet his bitterness & fear of commitment threaten to shatter her dreams. The final part of the Langani trilogy is an unforgettable story of courage & fortitude, of loyalty & murderous deceit, of friendship & betrayal, set against the backdrop of the beauty & wilderness of Kenya. ...

In Brazil, you can commune with spirits & dance with gods. In Brazil, you can learn a lot about life`s possibilities. Seven years of travel in Brazil saw Fran Bryson`s fascination with the country develop into something of an obsession with its culture, religions, & history. During many journeys from her island home in Australia, she explored the country: from the glittering modern city of Brasilia to small, deeply religious towns; from the inner reaches of the Amazon jungle to the vibrant backlands
- home to outcasts & the possessed
- & finally to the sweat-drenched streets of Rio during Carnaval. Lyrical & mesmerising, In Brazil is Fran`s account of her experiences travelling through one of the world`s most colourful & contradictory nations &, in doing so, making sense of the world around them.

...

In Bread is a smart & simple cookbook that celebrates classic & much-loved sandwich recipes from around the world, as well as home-grown favourites
- &

Includes:: bagels, baguettes, wraps, flatbreads & toasties. Every country has its own variation, & In Bread takes you around the world, one delicious doughy bite after another, from the mighty Philly Cheese, to the hearty Ploughman`s to the humble PB&J. Filled with 80 delicious & easy-to-follow recipes for any time of day, whether you`re relaxing at home on a lazy Sunday afternoon, feeding your nostalgia for that moreish street food you ate in a far away place, or if you`re looking for inspiration in the fridge on a Monday morning. With a clean design & full-colour photography throughout, In Bread is a true celebration of the mighty sandwich.


...

When Tessa de Loo saw Albania for the first time, no foreigners were allowed to enter. Filled with a great curiosity, longing, & a sense of wonderment by this isolated l&, de Loo gazed toward the mountains that stood like `the backs of patiently waiting elephants` across the water from Corfu. Inspired by the famous Thomas Phillips portrait of Lord Byron in Albanian national costume, & enthralled by the image of Lord Byron since her teenage years, she sets about exploring not only his physical journey, but attempts to understand his inner one as well. de Loo stole her way in & found a country suffering the hardships of post-communist reality & the constant & sometimes fractious clash between tradition & modernity. In the tradition of Bruce Chatwin, de Loo, the award-winning author of ” The Twins, ” has written a fascinating travelogue & a very personal reassessment of the a formative chapter in Lord Byron`s short life. ...

In 1815, the clever, courted & cherished Annabella Milbanke married the notorious & brilliant Lord Byron. Just one year later, she fled, taking with her their baby daughter, the future Ada Lovelace. Byron himself escaped into exile & died as a revolutionary hero in 1824, aged 36. The one thing he had asked his wife to do was to make sure that their daughter never became a poet. Ada didn`t. Brought up by a mother who became one of the most progressive reformers of Victorian Engl&, Byron`s little girl was introduced to mathematics as a means of calming her wild spirits. Educated by some of the most learned minds in Engl&, she combined that scholarly discipline with a rebellious heart & a visionary imagination. As a child invalid, Ada dreamed of building a steam-driven flying horse. As an exuberant & boldly unconventional young woman, she amplified her explanations of Charles Babbage`s unbuilt calculating engine to predict, as nobody would do for another century, the dawn today of our modern computer age. When Ada died
- like her father, she was only 36
- great things seemed still to lie ahead for her as a passionate astronomer. Even while mired in debt from gambling & crippled by cancer, she was frenetically employing Faraday`s experiments with light refraction to explore the analysis of distant stars. Drawing on fascinating new material, Seymour reveals the ways in which Byron, long after his death, continued to shape the lives & reputations both of his wife & his daughter. During her life, Lady Byron was praised as a paragon of virtue; within ten years of her death, she was vilified as a disgrace to her sex. Well over a hundred years later, Annabella Milbanke is still perceived as a prudish wife & cruelly controlling mother. But her hidden devotion to Byron & her tender ambitions for his mercurial, brilliant daughter reveal a deeply complex but unsuspectedly sympathetic personality. Miranda Seymour has written a masterful portrait of two remarkable women, revealing how two turbulent lives were often governed & always haunted by the dangerously enchanting, quicksilver spirit of that extraordinary father whom Ada never knew.

...