Gladiators & goddesses, philosophers & poets, epic battles & romantic landscapes
- the classical world has for centuries captivated
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Derry Brabbs spent the best part of a decade taking the photographs for the large-format illustrated walking guides which A. Wainwright wrote from 1984 to 1992, when his legendary series of Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells was complete. This is a fascinating account of Derry`s training & adventures from his early days as a photographer, including his first meeting with Wainwright & the joys, trials & tribulations of working on projects with the great fell walker. This work provides insights into Wainwright`s unique approach to publishing, straight from the horse`s mouth. It features spectacular photographs of famous long-distance walking routes including the Coast to Coast Walk & the Pennine Way. It also gives a wealth of practical advice for the would-be outdoor photographer. ...

For nearly 700 years debate has raged over the true nature of William Wallace & his role in Scotland`s turbulent history. Was he the ` Braveheart` of Blind Harry`s legendary account, the bold, but savage hero of the Scottish wars? Or, as some contemporary chroniclers attested, nothing but a villainous thief & vagrant fugitive? This book draws on a wide range of contemporary & modern sources to look behind the figure of legend to find Wallace`s true character. These superb photographs trace Wallace`s life from his modest upbringing in south-west Scotland to his remarkable victory as a `guerilla` leader & military commander at Stirling Bridge, & to his eventual betrayal, capture & painful execution seven years later. This is an essential travel companion for a journey through the landscapes & places associated with Wallace in Scotland & Northern Engl&, & a vibrant new insight into the reality of Scotland`s most famous battlefield hero. ...

The Maroons (escaped slaves) of Jamaica are famous. Not so the Maroons of another Caribbean island
- Dominica, also a former British
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Jacobs is considered one of the leading Hispanists of his generation. This is his meditation on Andalusia, its Islamic heritage & the romantic allure it has exercised on generations of Western travellers. Full of references to ancient & modern day travel writers the book takes us from Granada south, through Morocco to Timbuktu. Jacobs's book is an extraordinary mixture of fact & imagination that spreads new light on this fascinating part of Spanish & European & African history. ...

Afghanistan expert Seth G. Jones watched as American optimism evaporated after the Taliban defeat in 2001; by 2005, a new ”war of a thousand cuts” had brought Afghanistan to its knees. With new research on insurgencies & declassified US government documents, Jones shows how the siphoning of resources to Iraq left NATO forces in Afghanistan ineffectual & without support. Through interviews with prominent figures, including ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad & commander Karl Eikenberry, Jones explains how a growing sanctuary for insurgents in Pakistan & a collapsing government in Kabul were a catalyst for the Taliban resurgence. Examining what has & has not worked so far, Jones argues that the US must take a radically new approach to the war if it is to avoid the disastrous fate that has befallen every world power to enter the region. With a new afterword. ...

By turns fascinating, funny, & horrifying, this is Nick Gordon`s account of more than 10 years spent in the Amazonian forests as a wildlife filmmaker, snorting ground-up seeds with the local shaman, building an artificial tarantula habitat to film the furry monsters mating, & killing & eating a two-foot snake. ...

One of the most impressive of all Victorian scientists but also a marvelous writer, Bates' (1825-1892) account of his years in the upper reaches of the Amazon is almost too good to be true
- a great monument to human inquisitiveness as he battles great hoards of malevolent reptiles & insects in his quest for ever more obscure specimens on ever more narrow & creeper-choked tributaries. Great Journeys allows readers to travel both around the planet & back through the centuries
- but also back into ideas & worlds frightening, ruthless & cruel in different ways from our own. Few reading experiences can begin to match that of engaging with writers who saw astounding things: great civilizations, walls of ice, violent & implacable jungles, deserts & mountains, & multitudes of birds & flowers new to science. Reading these books is to see the world afresh, to rediscover a time when many cultures were quite strange to each other, where legends & stories were treated as facts & in which so much was still to be discovered.

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Stifled by the torpor of colonial South Africa & trapped in a web of reciprocal oppression, a lonely sheep farmer seeks comfort in the arms of a black concubine. But when his embittered spinster daughter Magda feels shamed, this lurch across the racial divide marks the end of a tenuous feudal peace. As she dreams madly of bloody revenge, Magda`s consciousness starts to drift & the line between fact & the workings of her excited imagination becomes blurred. What follows is the fable of a woman`s passionate, obsessed & violent response to an Africa that will not heed her. ...

H.E. Bates is a revered writer on the countryside; author of a wealth of books reflecting English life including, The Darling Buds of May. Beautifully illustrated with wood engravings by the renowned wildlife artist C.F. Tunnicliffe. The genius of H.E. Bates & C.F. Tunnicliffe was inspired by the beauty of the English countryside. This book is their tribute to its many faces: the magnificence of winter blizzards; the sudden sweet arrival of spring blossom; the heavy scent of an August garden; or the bronze glow of autumn light. Its pages are full of sharp observations which reveal the loveliness of everyday sights & fleeting moments, from the charm of butterflies & their names, to the behavior of animals & birds; the joys of gardening, the character of the people & their ever-changing landscape. ...