Frederick Bruce Thomas is not a famous man. His life does not feature in the history books, it has not been translated to film or stage. & yet, in his own way, Frederick Thomas is one of the most remarkable characters of the twentieth century. After the brutal murder of his father, Thomas fled his home for Europe. Through his own ingenuity, he mastered the languages & cultures that he found there, moving from London to Monte Carlo before settling in the imperial decadence of pre-revolution Moscow. There against a backdrop of European war, Thomas became a rich & respected member of the bourgeoisie, married, became a millionaire through bootleg vodka, remarried, gave up his American citizenship & fled in penury before the bloody October Revolution. All of this as the third son of former slaves. ...

Based on previously published cruising notes this guide provides sailing directions for all the countries surrounding the Black Sea. Packed with useful background information & supported by the RCCPF’s access to the latest & often changing information this is an essential companion for anyone venturing north from the Bosphorus. ...

The lands surrounding the Black Sea share a colourful past. Though in recent decades they have experienced ethnic conflict, economic collapse, & interstate rivalry, their common heritage & common interests go deep. Now, as a region at the meeting point of the Balkans, Central Asia, & the Middle East, the Black Sea is more important than ever. In this lively & entertaining book, which is based on extensive research in multiple languages, Charles King investigates the myriad connections that have made the Black Sea more of a bridge than a boundary, linking religious communities, linguistic groups, empires, & later, nations & states. ...

A condensed guide to life from the bestselling author of ” The Black Swan”, Nassim Nicholas Taleb`s ” The Bed of Procrustes” is an invaluable collection of aphorisms navigate the modern world. Why are we so often unwilling to accept that life is unpredictable? In this brilliant book Nassim Nicholas Taleb distils his idiosyncratic wisdom to demolish our illusions, contrasting the classical values of courage, elegance & erudition against modern philistinism & phoniness. Only by accepting what we don`t know, he shows, can we see the world as it really is. ” Happily provocative.. .blistering.. .his observations concern superiority, wealth, suckerdom, academia, modernity, technology & the all-purpose, ignorant ”they”.. .very"able”. (” The New York Times”). ”A master philosopher”. (” The Times”). ” Taleb`s crystalline nuggets of thought stand alone like esoteric poems”. (” Financial Times”). ” Opinionated & witty... It showcases his wit & learning, & provides ways to fillet his enemies”. (” Independent on Sunday”). Nassim Nicholas Taleb spends most of his time as a flaneur, meditating in cafes across the planet.A former trader, he is currently Distinguished Professor of Risk Engineering at New York University. He is the author of ” Fooled by Randomness” & ” The Black Swan”, an international bestseller which has become an intellectual, social, & cultural touchstone. ...

Formed into a regiment in 1739 & named for the dark tartan of its soldiers` kilts, The Black Watch has fought in almost every major conflict of nation & empire between 1745 & the present, & has a reputation second to none. Following on from The Highland Furies, in which she traced the regiment`s history to 1899, Victoria Schofield tells the story of The Black Watch in the 20th & 21st centuries. She tracks its fortunes through the 2nd South African War, two World Wars, the `troubles` in Northern Ireland & the war in Iraq
- up to The Black Watch`s merger with five other regiments to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland in 2006. Drawing on diaries, letters & interviews, Victoria Schofield weaves the many strands of the story into an epic narrative of a heroic body of officers & men. In her sure hands, the story of The Black Watch is no arid recitation of campaigns & battle honours, but a rewarding account of the fortunes of war of a regiment that has played a distinguished role in British, & world, history.
...

Espionage, adventure & a hard-boiled heroine not to be trifled with
- this classic noir will have you gripped from start to finish.
...

In 1887 Government inspectors were sent to investigate the Old Nichol, a notorious slum on the boundary of Bethnal Green parish, where almost 6, 000 inhabitants were crammed into thirty or so streets of rotting dwellings & where the mortality rate ran at nearly twice that of the rest of Bethnal Green. Among much else they discovered that the decaying 100-year-old houses were some of the most lucrative properties in the capital for their absent slumlords, who included peers of the realm, local politicians & churchmen. The Blackest Streets is set in a turbulent period of London`s history when revolution was in the air, & award-winning historian Sarah Wise skilfully evokes the texture of life at that time, not just for the tenants but for those campaigning for change & others seeking to protect their financial interests. She recovers Old Nichol from the ruins of history & lays bare the social & political conditions that created & sustained this black hole which lay at the very heart of the Empire. ...

The Blackmore Vale in 1903 in a series of reproductions of Ordnance Survey’s famous ” Inch to the Mile” maps published in the Alan Godfrey Editions to provide a historical record of England & Wales in the second half of 19th & early 20th century. The map covers the area of north Dorset known as the Blackmore Vale, stretching from North Wootton & Folke eastward to Win Green & Tarrant Hinton, & from Shaftesbury southward to Winterborne Stickl&. Other locations include Ashmore, Belchalwell, Bishops Caundle, Blandford Forum, Blandford St Mary, Buckland Newton, Caundle Marsh, Child Okeford, Compton Abbas, Durweston, East Orchard, East Stour, Fifehead Magdalen, Fifehead Neville, Fontmell Magna, Goathill, Hammoon, Hanford, Haselbury Bryan, Haydon, Hinton St Mary, Holnest, Holwell, Ibberton, Iwerne Courtney or Shroton, Iwerne Minster, Kington Magna, Langton Long Blandford, Lydlinch, Manston, Mappowder, Margaret Marsh, Marnhull, Melbury Abbas, Okeford Fitzpaine, Pimperne, Pulham, Purse Caundle, Shillingstone, Stalbridge, Steepleton Iwerne, Stoke Wake, Stour Provost, Stourpaine, Stourton Caundle, Sturminster Newton, Sutton Waldron, Tarrant Gunville, Tarrant Rawston, Todber, Turnworth, West Orchard, West Stour, Winterborne Houghton, Woolland & Wootton Glanville; plus in Somerset Charlton Horethorne, Henstridge, Horsington, Milborne Port, Stowell & Templecombe. On the reverse is a detailed map of Stalbridge. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the OS Inch to the Mile Maps: the maps provide an invaluable overview of a wider area, typically 18 x 12 miles (29 x 19 kms approx.), & offer historical mapping for small towns & villages not covered by the more detailed series for which the Godfrey Editions are better known. On the reverse all the maps have historical notes & most titles also include a more detailed, large scale map of a small town or a village in the area. To see other titles in this series please click on the series link. ...

Jim Francis has finally found the perfect life
- & is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter & sculptor, he
...

Jim Francis has finally found the perfect life
- & is now unrecognisable, even to himself. A successful painter & sculptor, he
...