The tavern, the inn, the coffee house, the tea shop: these are places where, throughout history, we have met & socialised & where the issues of the day could be discussed over a drink. Rough Spirits & High Society shows the surprising, often subversive ways in which drinking has changed the world, & the ways in which society has struggled to control the places where people drink. Postal services developed between networks of inns & enabled modern communication. The first insurance companies were created in the coffee houses. Gin palaces prompted moral outrage. The suffragette movement found its birthplace in tea shops which allowed women to meet across social classes. This generously illustrated book unveils the little-known ways that drinks, whether alcoholic or caffeinated, have found their place at the centre of our social & political lives. ...

Sailors confront storms, rough waves, icebergs, sharks, starvation & their own fear & suffering. This collection contains the stories of the men & women who go to sea & battle against the elements to stay alive. It contains prose writings from authors such as Herman Wouk, John Mc Phee, & Sebastian Junger, & also

Includes:: true stories of drama & heroism on the high seas. In the collection, Patrick O' Brien's Jack Aubrey is pursued through the roaring 40s by a heavy Dutch frigate, explorer David Lewis contemplates impending death when his boat is demasted by 60-ft waves in the Antarctic Ocean, Steven Callahan struggles to survive 76 days aboard a flimsy infatable life raft, & five young sailors lose their boat & are attacked by sharks. Together, the writers whose work is collected here show why men & women go to sea, & what they find there.

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” Rough Water Handling” by Doug Cooper is a practical guide that will help you to master the skills needed to manoeuvre a sea kayak efficiently in rough water & advanced conditions. For intermediate & advanced paddlers, Doug draws on his personal & coaching experience to help the reader master sea kayak handling skills & techniques. Accurate sequential photos & simple concise language make the descriptions easy to follow & underst&. The technical, tactical, physiological & psychological aspects of these skills are covered in the areas of: high wind paddling, moving water, surf, rock hopping, tide races, open crossings & rolling. ” Rough Water Handling” is recommended as support material for the British Canoe Union 4 & 5 Star (Sea) awards. (The 1 star is a novice `encouragement` award, the 2 star covers basic generic kayak skills, the 3 star basic/intermediate sea specific skills & experience, & the 4 star covers intermediate sea specific skills & leadership in moderate conditions). ...

All boaters fear a storm at sea & this book shows you how to weather one safely. Any boater who leaves the harbor is eventually going to end up in rough weather. A few will find themselves in genuinely life-threatening situations. To respond correctly, you need more than grit. You need a properly equipped, seaworthy boat, & you need to have mastered a body of specialised knowledge & techniques rarely covered in the boating press. An accomplished naval architect, Roger Marshall first concentrates on the boat
- how to select & modify a boat with heavy weather in mind.
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Fifty years ago, ten Britons crossed the Channel & made history. For the first time, a team of British cyclists took part in the Tour de France, the most gruelling event in all of sport. Only two of those riders completed that 1955 race; only one British newspaper bothered to send a correspondent. Today, the recent triumphs of British cycling heroes Bradley Wiggins & Mark Cavendish have brought the Tour to a whole new generation of fans. While men like Tom Simpson, Robert Millar & Chris Boardman have written their names into the record books alongside the sport's acknowledged greats. In Roule Britannia, William Fotheringham, acclaimed biographer of Tom Simson, gives us the definitive account of British cycling's achievements in the Tour, through exclusive interviews with & profiles of all those who have completed the event. From Brian Robinson to Bradley Wiggins, Roule Britannia celebrates a nation's half-century-long affair with the greatest race of all. ...

In 2012 Bradley Wiggins made history by becoming the first Briton ever to win the Tour de France. His compatirot Chris Froome came second while fellow Brits, the `fastest man on earth` Mark Cavendish & reformed doper David Millar, made sure that between them Britain accounted for 7 of a possible 21 stage wins. Great Britain had conquered the Tour de France. In ” Roule Britannia”, number one bestselling author William Fotheringham, charts British cycling`s rise to the top. From the early days of Brian Robinson to Bradley Wiggins` dominant ride via Tom Simpson, Robert Millar, Chris Boardman & many others, ” Roule Britannia” celebrates a nation`s love affair with the greatest race of all. ...

` At the first mention of going to Roumania, a great many people, as I did myself, would take down their atlas & open the map. For Roumania, there can be no question, is among the lesser known lands of Europe.` So begins Sir Sacheverell Sitwell`s account of his Roumanian journey, made in the 1930s, when Bucharest was still eight days overland from London. His four-week trip brings him into contact with longhaired gypsies at country fairs as well as the aristocracy in their medieval castles. The natural richness & variety of the landscape-from Transylvania to the Wallachian plains, the Carpathian peaks to the Danube Delta-delight him, as does the diversity of humanity he encounters, while his deep knowledge of European art & architecture makes him the ideal guide to the paintings, frescos, & buildings of Roumania. It is impossible, of course, to read of Roumania in the 1930s without thinking of what lay ahead for that country, but the abiding impression left by the book is of the freshness of Sitwell`s perceptions & his unquenchable curiosity in everything he saw. ...

Patrick Leigh Fermor`s Mani compellingly revealed a hidden world of Southern Greece & its past. Its northern counterpart takes the reader among Sarakatsan shepherds, the monasteries of Meteora & the villages of Krakora, among itinerant pedlars & beggars, & even tracks down at Missolonghi a pair of Byron`s slippers. Roumeli is not on modern maps: it is the ancient name for the lands from the Bosphorus to the Adriatic & from Macedonia to the Gulf of Corinth. But it is the perfect, evocative name for the Greece that Fermor captures in writing that carries throughout his trademark vividness of description. But what is more, the pictures of people, traditions & landscapes that he creates on the page are imbued with an intimate understanding of Greece & its history. ...

For almost five hundred years, human beings have been finding ways to circle the Earth-by sail, steam, or liquid fuel; by cycling, driving, flying, going into orbit, even by using their own bodily power. The story begins with the first centuries of circumnavigation, when few survived the attempt. Starting with Ferdinand Magellan`s dangerous voyage, Joyce Chaplin takes us on a trip of our own as we travel with Francis Drake, William Dampier, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, & James Cook. As sea travel grew much safer & passengers came on board, circumnavigation became a fad, as captured in Jules Verne`s classic novel Around the World in Eighty Days. Newspapers sponsored racing contests, & people sought ways to distinguish themselves-by bicycling around the world, for instance, or by sailing solo. Finally humans took to the skies to circle the globe in airplanes. Not much later, Sputnik, Gagarin, & Glenn pioneered a new kind of circumnavigation-in orbit. Through it all, the desire to take on the planet has tested the courage & capacity of generations of bold men & women. Their exploits show us why we think of the Earth as home. Round About the Earth is itself a thrilling adventure. ...

This new title in the Amazing Baby Touch & Feel series, Round & Round the Garden, gives a favourite nursery rhyme a modern, interactive twist. Bright, bold graphics & texture patches on the cover & every interior spread will capture babies` attention, stimulating their senses of sight & touch. Textures include felt, holofoil & flannel. ...