It`s the night before the feast in the village of Furstenfelde (population: an odd number). The village is asleep. Except for the ferryman
- he`s dead. & Mrs Kranz, the night-blind painter, who wants to depict her village for the first time at night. A bell-ringer & his apprentice want to ring the bells
- the only problem is that the bells have gone. A vixen is looking for eggs for her young, & Mr Schramm is discovering more reasons to quit life than smoking. Someone has opened the doors to the Village Archive, but what drives the sleepless out of their houses is not that which was stolen, but that which has escaped. Old stories, myths & fairy tales are wandering about the streets with the people. They come together in a novel about a long night, a mosaic of village life, in which the long-established & newcomers, the dead & the living, craftsmen, pensioners & noble robbers in football shirts bump into each other. They all want to bring something to a close, in this night before the feast.

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Winner of the Leipzig Book Fair Prize Longlisted for the German Book Prize It`s the evening before the feast in the village of Furstenfelde (population: declining), but not everyone is asleep. The local artist, wearing an evening dress & gum-boots, goes down to the lake under cover of darkness. The village archivist is kept awake by ancient tales that threaten to take on a life of their own. A retired lieutenant-colonel weighs his pistol, & his future, in his h&. & eighteen-year-old Anna, namesake of the Feast, prepares to take her place in tomorrow`s festival of drinking & dancing, eating & burning. On this night of misdeeds & mischief, they are joined by a dead ferryman, a hapless bellringer, two robbers in football shirts & a vixen on the hunt as the fantastic, the menacing, & the inexplicable collide in the most surprising ways. ...

Before the Heroes Came
- Antarctica in the 1890s is an appreciation of the pioneering ventures in the far south before the arrival
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This is a gripping portrait of a country poised between peace & war. In the mid-1960s, Cambodia`s position within South East Asia was highly vulnerable. The Americans were embroiled in war in Vietnam, the Viet Cong were gaining clandestine control over Cambodian frontier areas, while the Cambodian government
- under the leadership of a charming but difficult Head of State, Prince Norodom Sihanouk
- wanted nothing more than to preserve their neutrality & keep out of the war. Highly distrustful of any perceived foreign interference, the Cambodians had even rioted & attacked the American & British Embassies in Phnom Penh & their debris was still strewn on the streets when Leslie Fielding arrived in the city. Yet against this grim & dramatic backdrop, the daily round of international foreign policy somehow had to continue & ” Before the Killing Fields” offers a compelling & fascinating account of how this was achieved. As well as a political history this is also a portrait of an exotic but overlooked country at a critical stage in its development. Violence, intrigue & even the supernatural mingle with issues of day-to-day management & office morale. From diplomatic meetings conducted in opium dens & dancing lessons with beautiful princesses at the Royal Palace to candid portraits of the rest of the international community of Phnom Penh, ” Before the Killing Fields” is an illuminating insight into a lost world.

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A romantic, heart-wrenching tale of love against the odds from the Number One Sunday Times bestselling author 1930, Rajputana, India. Since her husband`s death, 28-year-old photojournalist Eliza`s only companion has been her camera. When the British Government send her to an Indian princely state to photograph the royal family, she`s determined to make a name for herself. But when Eliza arrives at the palace she meets Jay, the Prince`s handsome, brooding brother. While Eliza awakens Jay to the poverty of his people, he awakens her to the injustices of British rule. Soon Jay & Eliza find they have more in common than they think. But their families
- & society
- think otherwise. Eventually they will have to make a choice between doing what`s expected, or following their hearts...

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This historic volume showcases tribal cultures around the world. With globalization, these societies are to be prized for their distinctive lifestyles, art & traditions. They live in close harmony with nature, now a rarity in our modern era. Jimmy Nelson not only presents us with stunning images of customs & artifacts, but also offers insightful portraits of people who are the guardians of a culture that they
- & we
- hope will be passed on to future generations in all its glory. Nelson`s large-plate field camera captures every intricate detail & fine nuance for posterity. What`s more, this splendid pageantry is set against a vivid backdrop of some of the world`s most pristine landscapes.

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Randy Boyagoda`s Beggar`s Feast is a tour de force of a novel set in Sri Lanka about a man living in defiance of fate. Sam Kandy, born in 1899 in a poor village in the heart of Ceylon & abandoned by his family ten years later at the gates of a remote temple, resolves to make his own luck amongst the cheats & chancers of the world. When twenty years reckoning with the streets of Colombo, the docks of Sydney & the brothels of Singapore lead Sam back to his blighted birth village, he returns as a steely self-made man. He marries a nobleman`s daughter & coldly pursues a life of wealth, prestige, & power. & so begins a devastating chain of events, in which families are torn apart, fortunes are made & lost, & old ways & wants collide with modernity`s new machines & money & desires. Just as Sam Kandy is called back to his roots & longs for a chance to prove himself to a people & a place that gave up on him long before, ambition, reinvention, tradition & family each demand an answer: what does it cost a man to rewrite his history? Beggar`s Feast is a masterpiece
- a raw, profound & magnificent novel about origins & endings, about what we forsake to survive.” Gleaming... An ambitious book that seeks to convey the sweep of history through the prism of one island”. (Sara Wheeler, New York Times). ”A brilliant book. This novel reminds us of the values we are taught as children but which we might forget as we enter adulthood: love should be the ultimate reason behind each one of our actions; never think you can deceive anyone without any cost to yourself; nor does a lie become truth just because a hundred people are telling it.” (Nadeem Aslam, author of The Blind Man`s Garden). Randy Boyagoda`s first novel, Governor of the Northern Province, was nominated for the Scotia Bank Giller Prize in 2006. He has written for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Paris Review, & Harper`s Magazine. His second novel, Beggar`s Feast, was nominated for the 2013 IMPAC Dublin Literary Prize & was selected as a New York Times Book Review Editor`s Choice. He lives in Toronto with his wife & four daughters.
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Map No. 1011, Beggingen, in the topographic survey of Switzerland at 1:25, 000 from Bundesamt für Landestopographie (swisstopo), covering the whole country on 247 small format sheets, with special larger maps published for popular regions including some titles now available in hiking versions. Highly regarded for their superb use of graphic relief & hill shading, the maps give an almost 3-D picture of Switzerland`s mountainous terrain. Contours are at 10 m intervals, with 20m intervals in the mountainous areas. All the maps have a 1-km grid for Swiss national coordinates (datum CH 1903). * Small format sheets (Nos. 1011
- 1374)* Map legend in the language of the area covered by the map. Additional margin ticks show latitude & longitude in steps of 2`. The area covered by each map is 17 x 12 km (11 x 7 miles approx). * Special larger sheets (Nos. from 2501 onwards) – STANDARD editions:* No map legend is included but a separate leaflet can be provided instead. The area covered by each map is 25 x 17 km (15 x 11 miles approx).* Special larger sheets (Nos. from 2501 onwards) – HIKING editions:* An overprint highlights hiking, mountain & alpine paths, including regional & national long-distance trails. The maps also show bus routes with bus stops, plus inns in remote locations. The area covered by each map is 25 x 17 km (15 x 11 miles approx).
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Vast, diverse, dynamic, & turbulent, the true nature of Africa is often obscured by its poverty-stricken image. In this controversial & gripping guide, Tom Young cuts through the emotional hype to critically analyse the continent`s political history & the factors behind its dismal economic performance. Maintaining that colonial influences are often overplayed, Young argues that much blame must lie with African governments themselves & that Western aid can often cause as much harm as good. ...

This is a new book aimed at young climbers learning the National Indoor Climbing Achievement Scheme (NICAS). It features cartoon illustrations giving step-by-step instructions on the basic skills required for Levels 1 & 2 of the scheme & is fully endorsed by NICAS. It is also endorsed by the Mountaineering Council of Scotl&. The book is beautifully illustrated by Sophie Mitchell with appealing drawings & comes with a robust hardback fold-out cover & is package with a short section of cord which enables readers to practice the knots they are learning in the book. ...