A revised & updated edition of Philip Marsden`s classic travel book, published to coincide with the centenary of the Armenian massacres. After centuries of prominence as a world power, Armenia has withstood every attempt during the 20th century to destroy it. With a name redolent both of dim antiquity & of a modern world & its tensions, the Armenians founded a civilization & underwent a diaspora that brought many of the great ideas of the East to Western Europe. The Crossing Place is Philip Marsden`s gripping account of his remarkable journey through the Middle East, Eastern Europe & the Caucasus in a quest to discover the secret of one of the world`s most extraordinary peoples. Caught between opposing empires, between warring religions & ideologies
- at the crossing place of history
- the Armenians have somehow survived against the odds. This is their story
- told by one of the finest travel writers at work today.


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Samar Yazbek was well known in her native Syria as a writer & a journalist but, in 2011, she fell foul of the Assad regime & was forced to flee. Since then, determined to bear witness to the suffering of her people, she bravely revisited her homeland by squeezing through a hole in the fence on the Turkish border. In The Crossing, she testifies to the appalling reality that is Syria today. From the first innocent demonstrations for democracy, through the beginnings of the Free Syrian Army, to the arrival of ISIS, she offers remarkable snapshots of soldiers, children, ordinary men & women simply trying to stay alive... Some of these stories are of hardship & brutality that is hard to bear, but she also gives testimony to touches of humanity along the way: how people live under the gaze of a sniper...how principled young men try to resist orders from their military superiors...how children cope in the bunkers... Yazbek`s portraits of life in Syria are very real, her prose is luminous. The Crossing will undoubtedly become a classic: as both a historical document & a work of literature. ...

”ONE OF THE FIRST POLITICAL CLASSICS OF THE 21st CENTURY”. (Observer). ”EXTRAORDINARILY POWERFUL, POIGNANT & AFFECTING. I WAS GREATLY MOVED”. (Michael Palin). FOREWORD BY CHRISTINA LAMB. Journalist Samar Yazbek was forced into exile by Assad`s regime. When the uprising in Syria turned to bloodshed, she was determined to take action & secretly returned several times. The Crossing is her rare, powerful & courageous testament to what she found inside the borders of her homel&. From the first peaceful protests for democracy to the arrival of ISIS, she bears witness to those struggling to survive, to the humanity that can flower amidst annihilation, & why so many are now desperate to flee. ...

The Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1955-58 organised & led by Sir Vivian Fuchs & supported by Sir Edmund Hillary was one of the most extraordinary exploits ever undertaken in Antarctica
- but it has been underappreciated. On the sixtieth anniversary of the crossing, this book tells the complete story of this remarkable episode in the history of exploration. The Crossing is illustrated with photographs from the Royal Geographical Society, with the kind permission of Mary Lowe, widow of expedition photographer George Lowe, & from Peter & Sarah Hillary & the Auckland War Memorial Museum. Sir Ernest Shackleton had tried unsuccessfully to cross the Antarctic in 1914. He called it the Last Great Journey, but he & his men escaped by the skin of their teeth. The new post-war expedition was therefore, with knowledge of what had gone before, a brave attempt to conquer the vast frozen continent. For this historic endeavour, planning had to be done at opposite ends of the Earth, in the UK & New Zeal&, & members of the expedition were drawn from the Commonwealth. The plan was meticulous but flawed, & the stakes were high: national, political & scientific interests all depended on its success. John Knight`s account shows how the expedition was organised, from the scientific insight it relied on, to the voyage to Antarctica & the choice of the largely mechanised transport intended to carry the men across the ice desert
- though the courageous dog teams would be crucial as pathfinders. Survival at times was touch & go, & controversies arose amid the pressure of the journey. This book not only provides a technical insight into a ground-breaking venture but touches on the human aspects of the challenge. Crucially, did Ed Hillary exceed his remit by pushing on south, when his specific instructions were to establish depots for ` Bunny` Fuchs`s journey, not to engage in a ` Second Race to the Pole`? The Crossing charts a unique event in postwar history.

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This guide is a celebration of the beauty of birds & the British & Irish countryside. Aimed at beginner & intermediate birders, yet suitable for all levels, this new volume in the groundbreaking Crossley ID Guide series is the most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain & Irel&. Following The Crossley ID Guides` award-winning design, this book looks at all regularly occurring species in Britain & Irel&, & shows readers how to identify birds in their natural habitats using size, structure, shape, probability, & behavior
- just like the experts do! stunning images are accompanied by the colorful & compelling text of Dominic Couzens, one of Britain`s leading nature writers. This unique book treats more than 300 species
- all the regularly occurring birds likely to be encountered by observers
- & the guide`s attractive pages provide a real-life approach to bird identification. Beautiful, in-focus scenes present birds in various plumages & in lifelike poses set in identifiable British & Irish habitats. The plates also illustrate how a bird`s appearance changes with distance. Organising images in cohesive, easy-to-understand plates rather than as separate photographs, this book also sets itself apart by containing more images that demonstrate flight, behavior, habitat, & plumages than any other volume available. Not only is this field guide a reference book, it is also a spectacular teaching resource that makes it easy for nature enthusiasts to see & appreciate the big picture of bird identification.

Features: the most user-friendly guide to the birds of Britain & Ireland; a close look at more than 300 regularly occurring species; award-winning Crossley ID Guide design; lifelike images of birds from near to far; a celebration of the British & Irish countryside; a teaching & field guide & essential reference; & concise & compelling text by Dominic Couzens & Richard Crossley.




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A BBC Radio 4 ` Book of the Week` in 2018. In 2013 Guy Stagg made a pilgrimage from Canterbury to Jerusalem. Though a non-believer, he began the journey after suffering several years of mental illness, hoping the ritual would heal him. For ten months he hiked alone on ancient paths, crossing ten countries & more than 5, 500 kilometres. The Crossway is an account of this extraordinary adventure. Having left home on New Year’s Day, Stagg climbed over the Alps in midwinter, spent Easter in Rome with a new pope, joined mass protests in Istanbul & survived a terrorist attack in Lebanon. Travelling without support, he had to rely each night on the generosity of strangers, staying with monks & nuns, priests & families. As a result, he gained a unique insight into the lives of contemporary believers & learnt the fascinating stories of the soldiers & saints, missionaries & martyrs who had followed these paths before him. The Crossway is a book full of wonders, mixing travel & memoir, history & current affairs. At once intimate & epic, it charts the author’s struggle to walk towards recovery, & asks whether religion can still have meaning for those without faith. ...

This is the international thriller sensation. It starts with just one body
- the hands bound, the skin covered in marks. Detective
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From its bravura opening onwards, THE CROW ROAD is justly regarded as an outstanding contemporary novel. ` It was the day my grandmother exploded. I sat in the crematorium, listening to my Uncle Hamish quietly snoring in harmony to Bach`s Mass in B Minor, & I reflected that it always seemed to be death that drew me back to Gallanach.` Prentice Mc Hoan has returned to the bosom of his complex but enduring Scottish family. Full of questions about the Mc Hoan past, present & future, he is also deeply preoccupied: mainly with death, sex, drink, God & illegal substances... ...

The Crows of Pearblossom tells the story of Mr. & Mrs. Crow, who live in a cotton-wood tree at Pearblossom, California. Due to a hungry Rattlesnake living at the bottom of the tree, Mrs. Crow's eggs disappear before they hatch. After catching the snake eating her 297th egg that year (she does not work on Sundays), Mrs. Crow tells Mr. Crow go & kill the snake. Thinking better of it, Mr. Crow confers with his wise friend, Old Man Owl. Owl bakes mud into two stone eggs & paints them to resemble Mrs. Crows eggs. These dummy eggs are left in the nest to trick the Rattlesnake, who unwisely eats them the next day, causing the Rattlesnake such pain, that he thrashes about, tying himself in knots around the branches. Mrs. Crow goes on to hatch four families of seventeen children each & uses the snake as a clothesline on which to hang the little crows' diapers. ...

Arthur Miller`s classic parable of mass hysteria draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch-hunt of 1692
- one of the strangest
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