In the dying days of the eighth century, the Vikings erupted onto the international stage with brutal raids & slaughter. The medieval Norsemen may be best remembered as monk murderers & village pillagers, but this is far from the whole story. Throughout the Middle Ages, long-ships transported hairy northern voyagers far & wide, where they not only raided but also traded, explored & settled new lands, encountered unfamiliar races, & embarked on pilgrimages & crusades. The Norsemen travelled to all corners of the medieval world & beyond; north to the wastelands of arctic Scandinavia, south to the politically turbulent heartlands of medieval Christendom, west across the wild seas to Greenland & the fringes of the North American continent, & east down the Russian waterways trading silver, skins, & slaves. Beyond the Northlands explores this world through the stories that the Vikings told about themselves in their sagas. But the depiction of the Viking world in the Old Norse-Icelandic sagas goes far beyond historical facts. What emerges from these tales is a mixture of realism & fantasy, quasi-historical adventures & exotic wonder-tales that rocket far beyond the horizon of reality. On the crackling brown pages of saga manuscripts, trolls, dragons & outlandish tribes jostle for position with explorers, traders, & kings. To explore the sagas & the world that produced them, Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough now takes her own trip through the dramatic landscapes that they describe. Along the way, she illuminates the rich but often confusing saga accounts with a range of other evidence: archaeological finds, rune-stones, medieval world maps, encyclopaedic manuscripts, & texts from as far away as Byzantium & Baghdad. As her journey across the Old Norse world shows, by situating the sagas against the revealing background of this other evidence, we can begin at least to understand just how the world was experienced, remembered, & imagined by this unique culture from the outermost edge of Europe so many centuries ago. ...

Elliot`s life is spiralling out of control. He`s been suspended from school, his ex-convict dad is useless around the house & his mum`s health is worsening. What`s more, the gods are determined to forge on with the quest for the third chaos stone. An unlikely, hilarious & heart-warming odyssey begins. But Elliot has heard of a mythical potion rumoured to cure all ills
- can he save his mum, even if it means sacrificing the fate of the world?
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Douglas Kennedy`s ” Beyond the Pyramids” is a superb chronicle of travels through modern Egypt; a landscape strewn with incongruities ...

The first novel from Madagascar ever to be translated into English, Naivo’s magisterial Beyond the Rice Fields delves into the upheavals of the nation’s past as it confronted Christianity & modernity, through the twin narratives of a slave & his master’s daughter. ...

Jamie Zeppa made a life-altering decision at the age of 24 when she left an academic career to join a two-year teaching programme for young Canadians in Bhutan. Bhutan is a notoriously difficult country to visit as a tourist, & the opportunity to live there was one Jamie could not ignore
- despite apprehension about leaving her boyfriend & family behind. The first months were nightmarish & Jamie existed on a meagre diet of crackers & boiled water for fear of catching tape worm or worse. The unpronouncable language, bizarre local customs & basic living conditions all conspired to make her miserably home-sick but the young chidren she was supposedly teaching eventually took her in hand & taught her to cook on an antiquated gas stove: their grateful families gave her fresh fruit & vegetables & Jamie finally discovered that she was surrounded by friends in a beautiful location. Jamie Zeppa has written a book about the difficulties of living within an alien culture, far away from the security of home. She tells, with humour, of the everyday prejudices she was forced to overcome as a white woman abroad & writes with genuine awe about the beauty of Bhutan. Her assessment of & concern for the wavering political stability is forcefully put & her eventual conversion to Buddhism is thought-provoking. Moreover, at the heart of this book is the culture-defying romance which gave Jamie a reason never to leave Bhutan.
...

UK & Ireland`s best-loved comedian Dara O Briain takes you on a journey from the safety of your comfiest chair to the furthest reaches of space (and beyond!) So you want to go into space? WHY?! (No, really
- it`s sort of a terrible idea. We humans are perfectly designed for life on Earth. We can walk around, breathe, drink water, eat vegetables, read books, not get poisoned or crushed to death when we go outside
- it`s lovely right where we are.) Not convinced? GOOD! People have been dreaming about space travel for centuries
- there`s something amazing about the idea of leaving our planet behind & setting out to explore the Universe
- there`s so much we still don`t know.



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A collection of short stories from a stellar line-up of Irish authors & illustrators, edited by bestselling author Sarah Webb. The anthology is completed by a final winter-themed tale from the winner of Harper Collins` competition for young writers, which will be illustrated by Irish Children`s Laureate, Niamh Sharkey. 12 wintry tales of wonder, from the funny to the ghostly, from the heartfelt to the action-packed
- there is something here for everyone to love... Written by some of the most outstanding talents in children`s fiction today, including Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Derek Landy & John Boyne, & with stunning illustrations from the likes of PJ Lynch, Chris Haughton & Niamh Sharkey, to name but a few. This is a gorgeous hardback that no family bookshelf should be without. All profits go to Fighting Words
- the Irish Story Centre in support of Creative Writing for Children & Adults. Fighting Words was inspired by Dave Eggers` 826 Valencia project in the USA, as have been creative writing centres all over the world since then, including Milan, Stockholm, London, Barcelona & Sydney. All of these creative writing centres are informally linked together
- they communicate regularly, sharing ideas & experience.


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A collection of short stories from a stellar line-up of Irish authors & illustrators, edited by bestselling author Sarah Webb. The anthology is completed by a final winter-themed tale from the winner of Harper Collins` competition for young writers, which will be illustrated by Irish Children`s Laureate, Niamh Sharkey. 12 wintry tales of wonder, from the funny to the ghostly, from the heartfelt to the action-packed
- there is something here for everyone to love... Written by some of the most outstanding talents in children`s fiction today, including Eoin Colfer, Roddy Doyle, Derek Landy & John Boyne, & with stunning illustrations from the likes of PJ Lynch, Chris Haughton & Niamh Sharkey, to name but a few. This is a gorgeous hardback that no family bookshelf should be without. All profits go to Fighting Words
- the Irish Story Centre in support of Creative Writing for Children & Adults. Fighting Words was inspired by Dave Eggers` 826 Valencia project in the USA, as have been creative writing centres all over the world since then, including Milan, Stockholm, London, Barcelona & Sydney. All of these creative writing centres are informally linked together
- they communicate regularly, sharing ideas & experience.


...

From Jewish clothing merchants to Bangladeshi curry houses, ancient docks to the 2012 Olympics, the area east of the City has always played a crucial role in London`s history. The East End, as it has been known, was the home to Shakespeare`s first theatre & to the early stirrings of a mass labour movement; it has also traditionally been seen as a place of darkness & despair, where Jack the Ripper committed his gruesome murders, & cholera & poverty stalked the Victorian streets. In this beautifully illustrated history of this iconic district, John Marriott draws on 25 years of research into the subject to present an authoritative & endlessly fascinating account. With the aid of copious maps, archive prints & photographs, & the words of East Londoners from 17th-century silk-weavers to Cockneys during the Blitz, he explores the relationship between the East End & the rest of London, & challenges many of the myths which surround the area. ”A major achievement.” (Euan Ferguson, ” Time Out”). ” Superb”. (Stephen Howe, ” The Independent”).” Perhaps the International Olympic Committee officials should read this terrific book as their chauffeured cars purr up & down the commandeered streets of Whitechapel next year.” (Sinclair Mckay, ” The Daily Telegraph”). ” Marriott is at his most perceptive & sympathetic in his accounts of the struggles of the working people in the East End & its age-old role as the nursery of the waves of immigrants who have enriched British society.” (Tim Knox, ” Country Life”). ” East London`s turbulent story as an area always culturally & economically on the fringe (and for centuries beyond legislative reach thanks to the city wall) is mapped out in frequently fascinating detail in this rather good history.” (Claire Allfree, ” Metro” (London)). ...

Four people are found shot dead at the luxury home of the Stahlbergs, one of Oslo`s wealthiest dynasties & notorious for highly ...