Combining the data from 18 of the most advanced Earth satellites ever built, NASA has constructed the most detailed global portrait of our planet ever created. The Complete Earth reproduces this photomap in its entirety & at full-resolution, living up to its title by revealing the whole planet, cloud-free, at a resolution of 500m to every pixel, or 90 miles to every inch. At this scale we can we can trace the Amazon from Andean headwaters to Atlantic mouth, or explore the trackless sand seas of the Sahara, or follow the corrugated ridges of hills & mountains that mark the frontline of India's tectonic assault on Eurasia as if we were in low-Earth orbit. These images are supplemented by a wealth of even higher resolution satellite imagery that zooms in on noteworthy features
- from volcanoes to cities, river deltas to glaciers. In addition, 12 double-page-spreads chart one year in the life of our planet as they follow the ebb & flow of the seasons across the globe: we watch snow fall in the North as it melts in the South, & desert lands bloom & fade as the rains come & go. Accompanying the images, a brief but informative text explores the history of each landscape, explaining the how & when of its mountain ranges, deserts & plains.
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WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY JACK ZIPES Wolves & grandmothers, ugly sisters, a house made from bread, a goose made from gold...the folk tales collected by the Grimm brothers created an astonishingly influential imaginative world. However, this is also a world where a woman serves her stepson up in a stew, a man marries a snake, a princess sleeps with a frog, & an evil queen dances to death in a pair of burning shoes. Violent, funny, disturbing, wise & sometimes beautiful, these stories have intrigued children, adults, scholars, psychologists & artists for centuries. The only complete edition available of the most famous collection of fairy tales ever published, this collection features the 279 stories in an acclaimed, modern, unexpurgated translation. ...

One of the greatest pleasures of having a garden is being able to find & identify the great number of different bird species which may feed, bathe & nest there, or simply fly over, particularly during migration. The latest edition of this bestseller combines full identification & behavioural features of over 70 common garden bird species with detailed information on attracting birds to your garden. Stunningly illustrated, yet simple to use, The Complete Garden Bird Book will ensure that you get the maximum pleasure from your garden whatever its size or location. The book is endorsed by The Wildlife Trusts. ...

One of the greatest pleasures of having a garden is being able to identify the great number of different bird species that may feed, bathe & nest there, or simply fly over, particularly during migration. This bestseller combines full identification & behavioural features of over 70 common garden bird species with detailed information on attracting birds to your garden. The clear illustrations & text are presented in an easy-to-use format & provide practical bird identification information to the novice birdwatcher. A concise introduction covers ideal garden habitats, binoculars, bird behaviour & feeding birds. Stunningly illustrated, yet simple to use, The Complete Garden Bird Book will ensure that you get the maximum pleasure from your garden whatever its size or location. ...

An all-in-one gardening book by the world's best-selling gardening author. In its 256 pages the beginner can find the answers to all those questions & problems which crop up. For experienced gardeners it is an invaluable source book to those areas where they may lack information or experience. Find out about garden styles & the secrets of good design Learn about your plants Check effects of the weather on your garden Learn how to identify & improve your soil Choose the best flowers for borders, bedding & containers Learn about all the essential tasks for the gardener Plan the planting, growing & picking of vegetables Find out how to choose the right tools Learn how to pick the right trees & shrubs for your garden Put a name to plant troubles & weeds plus the up-to-date way to control them Find the best way to look after fruit trees Care for & prune roses Learn about all the features in your garden Keep your lawn in the best condition Pick the right greenhouse for your needs & much, much more The Complete Garden Expert is the latest addition to the world's best-selling garden book series. It is packed with full-colour photographs, practical diagrams & Expert-style copy to provide a unique guide to every part of the garden. ...

The gods & goddesses of ancient Egypt, worshipped for over half of recorded history, are among the most fascinating & complex of any civilization. Here is a comprehensive & authoritative guide to the deities that lay at the heart of Egyptian religion & society. It examines the evolution, worship & eventual decline of the numerous gods & goddesses
- from minor household figures such as Bes & Taweret to the all-powerful deities Amun & Re
- that made Egypt the most completely theocratic society of the ancient world, & made Egyptians, according to Herodotus, `more religious than any other people`.

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This is a comprehensive, full-colour manual providing a complete reference for climbers of every level & discipline. It covers all the skills, safety issues & equipment necessary for the key climbing disciplines: mountains, bouldering & climbing walls, summer climbing, winter climbing, big wall & expedition climbing. This exciting book is extensively illustrated throughout, with practical diagrams as well as inspirational & instructive photographs covering everything from the basic saftey, equipment & techniques to advanced-level mountaineering on some of the world's toughest ascents. The basic skills

Includes:: fundamental information on the necessary technical equipment, from harness, rock boots & ropes to slings, karabiners & belay devices. There is a detailed section on different types of knots with clear diagrams to exemplify each. The technical skills section gives comprehensive information on abseiling with diagrams & photographs, plus various emergency procedures that all climbers & mountaineers should know. The natural ability to climb is in all of us, it is getting it out on to the surface & refining it into a useful skill that is the trick. Pete Hill explains how to move on rock with the various handholds, footholds & specific climbing techniques, he shows the attractions of bouldering, & the importance of chalk as part of a boulderer's arsenal, & finally Pete discusses the various types of climbing walls. The summer section of the book details everything you need to know about traditional climbing, considered by many as the purest form of the sport, as well as sport climbing, & Via Ferratas which are well suited for families new to climbing. The Winter section covers avalanches, ice climbing & snow shelters, as well as step kicking, step cutting & crampon techniques. For the more advanced climbers & mountaineers, the Alpine Climbing, Big wall climbing & expedition sections of the book will provide you with ideas, equipment information, techniques, advice on how to overcome any problems & scenarios to get your adrenaline racing. The Appendices provides essential & useful information on the various climbing grades worldwide, as well as factors & forces. It is one of very few books on the market that is so comprehensive, internationally relevant & covers so many different types of climbing. It is written by Pete Hill (MIC, FRGS), an experienced & highly-regarded author & climbing instructor. Pete is author of the bestselling ' Mountain Skills Training Handbook' & ' The International Handbook of Technical Mountaineering'. He has led mountaineering expeditions to the Indian & Nepalese Himalaya, & was leader of an international expedition to Kashmir which made the first ascents of three previously unclimbed peaks.

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This ultimate guide to digital photography reflects the latest technological advances & contains all the information the reader will need to create crisp colour photographs every time. With over 600 illustrations, a no-nonsense, jargon-busting glossary of terms, & a full index for easy reference, it is an indispensable source of information & enlightenment. ...

This comprehensive guide to the flags of the world, now available in a completely updated edition, provides concise, accurate coverage of every country in the world, giving the history, meaning, & symbolism of national flags, together with large-scale & smaller locator maps. It

Includes:: the history of flags; color flags of over 220 countries & territories; flags of international organizations; large-scale & detailed locator maps for easy reference; up-to-date data & statistics for all countries; information about the history & symbolism of each flag; a section on de facto & emerging states; & a full index.

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This handy-sized guide is an indispensable reference book for everyone from the novice to the craftsman & the outdoor adventurer. With everything from everyday knots to decorative & applied knots, this pocket guide reveals what each knot looks like, where you can use it & how to tie it. Each one comes with a short introduction about its properties, easy-to-follow instructions & clear step-by-step photographs showing every single stage. Beginning with a chapter on different types of rope & the situations where they should be used (whether they are flexible, tough, are water resistant or can float), this comprehensive handbook spans simple knots like the Loop knot, sewing knots like the Overhand knot, moving on to climber`s knots, applied knots used to make rope ladders or netting, & beautiful ornamental knots. Special sections are devoted to knots used for shortening ropes, those for use as tackles for lifting & moving weights, & importantly, knots that can be tied with only one hand for emergency situations. This essential book will enable you to master 70 of the most useful knots with absolute confidence. ...