Field Notes From a Hidden City is set against the background of the austere, grey & beautiful northeast Scottish city of Aberdeen. In it, Esther Woolfson examines the elements
- geographic, atmospheric & environmental
- which bring diverse life forms to live in close proximity in cities. Using the circumstances of her own life, house, garden & city, she writes of the animals who live among us: the birds
- gulls, starlings, pigeons, sparrows & others; the rats & squirrels; the spiders & the insects. In beautiful, absorbing prose, Woolfson describes the seasons, the streets & the quiet places of her city over the course of a year, which begins with the exceptional cold & snow of 2010. Influenced by her own long experience of corvids, she considers prevailing attitudes towards the natural world, urban & non-urban wildlife, the values we place on the lives of individual species & the ways in which man & creature live together in cities.


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Against the background of austere & beautiful Aberdeen, Woolfson observes the seasons, the streets & the quiet places of her city over the course of a year. She considers the geographic, atmospheric & environmental elements which bring diverse life forms together in close proximity, & in absorbing prose writes of the animals among us: the birds, the rats & squirrels, the spiders & the insects. Her close examination of the natural world leads her to question our prevailing attitudes to urban & non-urban wildlife, & to look again at the values we place on the lives of individual species. ...

In Field Notes from the Edge, the acclaimed writer of the Guardian`s ` Country Diary`, Paul Evans, takes us on a journey through the in-between spaces of Nature
- such as strandlines, mudflats, cliff tops & caves
- where one wilderness is on the verge of becoming another & all things are possible. Here, Evans searches out wildlife & plants to reveal a Nature that is inspiring yet intimidating; miraculous yet mundane; part sacred space, part wastel&. It is here that we tread the edge between a fear of Nature`s dangers & a love of Nature`s beauty. Combining a naturalist`s eye for observation with a poet`s ear for the lyrical, Field Notes from the Edge confirms Paul Evans`s place among our leading nature writers today.

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”A profoundly satisfying read”. (Financial Times). In Field Notes from the Edge, the acclaimed writer of the Guardian`s ` Country Diary`, Paul Evans, takes us on a journey through the in-between spaces of Nature
- such as strandlines, mudflats, cliff tops & caves
- where one wilderness is on the verge of becoming another & all things are possible. Here, Evans searches out wildlife & plants to reveal a Nature that is inspiring yet intimidating; miraculous yet mundane; part sacred space, part wastel&. It is here that we tread the edge between a fear of Nature`s dangers & a love of Nature`s beauty. Combining a naturalist`s eye for observation with a poet`s ear for the lyrical, Field Notes from the Edge confirms Paul Evans`s place among our leading nature writers today.

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The new high-end Fieldmaster-ED85DS is perfect for the discerning birdwatcher & nature observer. This refined instrument features a doublet objective lens which provides a highly corrected image & excellent optical performance. One Exotic ED (Extra-low dispersion) lens element is employed in its construction, which virtually eliminates chromatic aberration & delivers high-fidelity true-colour images. Features high quality Ba K-4 Prisms. Optics are fully broadband multi-coated throughout for maximum light transmission & contrast. Features a precision 4:1 ratio dual-speed focuser for exceptional focusing accuracy. The stylish spotting scope body is constructed from robust but lightweight magnesium alloy, with a sliding dewshield/sun shade. Fully waterproof & nitrogen-filled for clear, fog-free viewing. The supplied 7.5-22.5mm zoom eyepiece, constructed from 8 lens elements, provides a generous 20-18mm of eye relief & is suitable for use with or without spectacles. Supplied with quality Stay-on case. Standard tripod bush. ...

It is the most persistent myth of our time: religion is the cause of all violence. But history suggests otherwise. Karen Armstrong, former Roman Catholic nun & one of our foremost scholars of religion, speaks out to disprove the link between religion & bloodshed. Religion is as old as humanity: Fields of Blood goes back to the Stone Age hunter
- gatherers & traces religion through the centuries, from medieval crusaders to modern-day jihadists; The West today has a warped concept of religion: we regard faith as a personal & private matter, but for most of history faith has informed people`s entire outlook on life, & often been inseparable from politics; humans undoubtedly have a natural propensity for aggression: the founders of the largest religions
- Jesus, Buddha, the rabbis of early Judaism, the prophet Muhammad
- aimed to curb violence & build a more peaceful & just society, but with our growing greed for money & wealth came collective violence & warfare; with the arrival of the modern all-powerful, secular state humanity`s destructive potential has begun to spiral out of control. Is humanity on the brink of destroying itself? Fields of Blood is a celebration of the ancient religious ideas & movements that have promoted peace & reconciliation across millennia of civilization.


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Fields of Ice tells the dramatic story of Franklin's third & final expedition to the North-West Passage through the eyes of the ship's cook, Canot. The Erebus & the Terror set sail from Greenhithe on 19 May 1845. On board were Sir John Franklin, a crew of a hundred & twenty-nine men, & three years' provisions. Franklin's plan was to find the North-West Passage, a northern sea route to Asia that had eluded European explorers for hundreds of years. He was never heard from again. When Franklin failed to report back, his wife started a major campaign to try to find her missing husb&. Alongside Sir John Franklin's journey, Fields of Ice tells the story of Jane, Lady Franklin, a strong, redoubtable woman, who spent years trying to raise money & support to send out expeditions to find her husband & his men. ...

Set in Thail&, this is a brilliantly original & page-turning first novel of anthropologists, missionaries, demon possession, sexual taboos, murder, & one obsessed young American reporter. When his girlfriend takes a job in Thail&, Mischa goes along for the ride, planning only to enjoy himself as much as possible. But when he hears about the suicide of a young woman, Martiya van der Leun, in the Thai prison where she was serving a life sentence for murder, what begins as mild curiosity becomes an obsession. It is clear that Martiya was guilty, but what was it that led her to kill? ...

Fieri Prefecture at 1:100, 000 in a series of handy size, waterproof & tear-resistant, contoured & GPS compatible road maps from the Tirana-based publishers Vektor. Landscape is presented by altitude colouring & contours lines at 100m intervals, with spot heights & a few more names of topographic features than found on Vektor’s 200K road maps of the country. National parks & nature reserves are prominently highlighted. The prefecture maps appear to show the same small local dirt roads as in the 200K series, but given the increase in scale do so with greater clarity & also provide more detailed GPS coordinates (latitude & longitude lines are drawn at 5’ intervals), useful when travelling across the more remote parts of the country. Railway lines are included & local airports are marked. Symbols highlight campsites, beaches, archaeological & historical sites, caves, etc. The maps also show subdivisions of prefectures & names of the communes, & indicate administrative status of towns. Map legend

Includes:: English. Please note: border crossings are prominently marked but beyond topographic colouring no road or other information is provided outside the country’s borders.

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Mexico has a vast range of festivals, several commemorating national events but mostly religious or spiritual in inspiration. After the Spanish Conquest of 1521, Roman Catholic teachings fused with the beliefs of native civilizations, & even today the popular arts & crafts draw upon the Church as a rich source of imagery. Fiestas are often lavish & extremely costly. With extensive preparations, they commemorate local saints days & religious holidays such as Christmas, Carnival & Holy Week. Many festivals are dominated by masked dances, & the Devil, Death, angels & the Deadly Sins still do battle at fiesta time in countless village squares. During the Days of the Dead (All Saints & All Souls days, 1st & 2nd November), the deceased are thought to visit friends & relatives on earth. Families welcome the returning souls with flowers, incense, candles & feasting. On 12th December, Mexicans everywhere honour Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico & an important symbol of national identity. Drawing on her extensive travels in Mexico & the collections she has helped create in the British Museum, Chloe Sayer provides a living context to show what makes these festivities so attractive & also uniquely Mexican. ...