Europe in 1884 on a cloth-backed reproduction of a map published by Edward Stanford, presenting the continent at the height of its great empires: imperial Russia with Finland & much of Pol&, united Germany including Alsace & part of Lorraine, the Austro-Hungarian Empire (although already post the Compromise, still shown here as one country) with north-western Balkans, & the Ottomans still with Albania & much of the present-day Greece. Hachures indicating the mountain ranges are in most places printed very faintly so names of towns & numerous geographical region marked on the map are easy to read. The map also has an unusually large number of names of smaller rivers. Latitude & longitude lines are drawn at 5° intervals. Each individual cloth-backed map is sold folded in a colourful case covered with a unique design marbled paper – no two cases are identical.PLEASE NOTE: this title is also available as a wall map in two different sizes in the “ Stanfords Classics Collection of Historical Maps”. To see the list of all the titles in this series from the Old Folding Maps please click on the series link. ...

The debut of a brilliant young writer, Farthest Field tells the lost history of India`s Second World War narrated through the joys & tragedies of a single family, the author`s own. If you loved The English Patient or Rohinton Mistry`s Fine Balance or Katherine Boo`s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, you will love this book. Three young men gazed at him from silver-framed photographs in his grandmother`s house, `beheld but not noticed, as angels are in a frieze full of mortal strugglers`. They had all been in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India
- & he thought that he had a good idea of both. One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo-frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces & onto the front line. Manek, dashing & confident, was a pilot with India`s fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby`s pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq & the green hell of the Burma battlefront. The years 1939-45 might be the most revered, deplored & replayed in modern history. Yet India`s extraordinary role has been concealed, from itself & from the world. In riveting prose, Karnad retrieves the story of a single family
- a story of love, rebellion, loyalty & uncertainty
- & with it, the greatest revelation that is India`s Second World War. Farthest Field narrates the lost epic of India`s war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it. It carries us from Madras to Peshawar, Egypt to Burma
- unfolding the saga of a young family amazed by their swiftly changing world & swept up in its violence.



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Described as `a masterpiece` by critics, this remarkable book tells the story of war through the lives, heartbreaks & deaths of a single family. If you loved The English Patient or Rohinton Mistry`s Fine Balance or Katherine Boo`s Behind the Beautiful Forevers, you will love this book. Three young men gazed at him from silver-framed photographs in his grandmother`s house, `beheld but not noticed, as angels are in a frieze full of mortal strugglers`. They had all been in the Second World War, a fact that surprised him. Indians had never figured in his idea of the war, nor the war in his idea of India
- & he thought that he had a good idea of both. One of them, Bobby, even looked a bit like him, but Raghu Karnad had not noticed until he was the same age as they were in their photo-frames. Then he learned about the Parsi boy from the sleepy south Indian coast, so eager to follow his brothers-in-law into the colonial forces & onto the front line. Manek, dashing & confident, was a pilot with India`s fledgling air force; gentle Ganny became an army doctor in the arid North-West Frontier. Bobby`s pursuit would carry him as far as the deserts of Iraq & the green hell of the Burma battlefront. The years 1939-45 might be the most revered, deplored & replayed in modern history. Yet India`s extraordinary role has been concealed, from itself & from the world. In riveting prose, Karnad retrieves the story of a single family
- a story of love, rebellion, loyalty & uncertainty
- & with it, the greatest revelation that is India`s Second World War. Farthest Field narrates the lost epic of India`s war, in which the largest volunteer army in history fought for the British Empire, even as its countrymen fought to be free of it. It carries us from Madras to Peshawar, Egypt to Burma
- unfolding the saga of a young family amazed by their swiftly changing world & swept up in its violence.



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The quest for the North Pole has long been one of the great adventure stories in the history of exploration. It has all the best ingredients
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Like a modern Viking 32-year-old Nansen set sail from Norway in 1893 to reach the North Pole. Experts warned him that his voyage was tantamount to suicide. Compact & nimble, his ship the Fram had been specially built to withstand the relentless, devastating pressure of the polar ice cap. At the right moment, he intended to strike out into the polar desert & finish the final leg by sledge. Nansen`s vivid memoir became an international phenomenon when, having been given up for dead, he emerged three years later. His epic struggle against snowdrifts, ice floes, polar bears, scurvy, gnawing hunger & the loneliness of the polar night would inspire young explorers such as Scott & Amundsen a generation later to make new conquests. This first unabridged edition since 1897

Includes:: photographs not previously published.

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Farts Around the World may not be War & Peace but it is perfectly made for it`s intended readership
- childish readers, both big
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From tiny bubble-popping goldfish toots to thunderously loud elephant gas, learn how to spot the funniest (and smelliest) farts in the animal kingdom. Hilarious tidbits identify the odour, range, frequency & aftereffects of ten different types of gassy expulsions, while the attached battery-powered fart machine reproduces each emanation with astounding accuracy. This is pure, unbridled entertainment for the giggling child in all of us. ...

Bird photographer extraordinaire Markus Varesvuo has picked his 100 favourite species, & in this sumptuous book they are illustrated using his stunning camerawork & shown as never seen before by readers. Markus has selected the very best images from the thousands he has taken over the decades, & in the accompanying text he explains why they are so special as well as the stories around them. Species covered range from the spectacular Golden Eagle that adorns the front cover through more familiar wildfowl & garden birds to eye-catching owls & exotic bee-eaters. ” Fascinating Birds” showcases 150 amazing photographs of birds in the wild. The book is a celebration of birds that is sure to captivate any bird lover or wildlife photography enthusiast. ...

A personal & urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century & how its legacy shapes today`s world, written by one of America`s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state. ” There is priceless wisdom on every page.” Kirkus Starred review A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, `is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, & is willing to use violence & whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.` The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy & Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom & left millions of innocent people dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler & Mussolini should they arise in our era. In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright, draws on her own experiences as a child in war-torn Europe & her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that very assumption. Fascism, as Albright shows, not only endured through the course of the twentieth century, but now presents a more virulent threat to international peace & justice than at any time since the end of World War II. The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse. The United States, which has historically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates popular divisions & heaps scorn on democratic institutions. In many countries, economic, technological & cultural factors are weakening the political centre & empowering the extremes of right & left. Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin & Kim Jong-un are employing many of the same tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s & 30s. Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times. Written with wisdom by someone who has not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand & the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past. ...

Christopher Duggan`s new history of fascist Italy explores how the movement became embodied in the person of Benito Mussolini who occupied for many an almost divine status & gave millions of men & women a sense of pride & hope, offering the prospect of national regeneration after decades of disappointment. A work of exceptional authority & originality, Fascist Voices makes use of rarely examined sources
- letters & private diaries, newspaper reports & secret police files
- to uncover how ordinary people experienced fascism on a daily basis & how its ideology influenced their beliefs, values, language & lifestyle. Tracing fascism from its conception to its legacy, Christopher Duggan unpicks why the regime enjoyed so much support among the majority of the Italian population. He examines the extraordinary personal relationships that millions of Italians had with Mussolini, explores the religious

Dimensions of totalitarianism, & discusses why the `cult of the Duce` still resonates in contemporary Italy. Fascist Voices is a fresh & disturbing look at a country in thrall to a charismatic dictator. It is the winner of the Wolfson History Prize.



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