In an early series of journalistic pieces for an American magazine, Motor, F. Scott Fitzgerald described a journey he took with his wife Zelda from Connecticut to Alabama in a clapped out automobile which he called the ` Rolling Junk`. It is a piece of writing whose style, in free-ranging alternation of fact & fiction, has been compared to Jerome K. Jerome`s Three Men in a Boat. This book collects together the articles as one text, illustrated with the original illustrations of Fitzgerald, Zelda & the ` Junk`. ...

The Cruising Log book provides ample space for recording information about your nautical excursions. It also contains a guest registry & quick reference pages that provide information on such topics as: rules of the road, radio procedures, distress signals & weather references. Every boat captain needs a log book on board to record critical information. The Cruising Log book provides ample space for recording information bout your nautical excursions. It also contains a guest registry & quick reference pages that provide information on such topics as: rules of the road, radio procedures, distress signals & weather references. The Cruising Log book has an attractive, embossed cover made from heavy, flexible waterproof material. Its spiral binding allows pages to open flat for ease in recording information. It is one of six different log books that are all designed to fit inside our teak & leather covers for an impressive presentation. ...

Physical map of the Holy Land from Beirut in the north to Beersheva in the south, & east to the River Jordan. The political divisions are shown as they were at the time, with the contemporary towns & holy places. Names of places are generally in French. The map also

Includes:: diagrams showing the territorial changes to the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem. Legend

Includes:: English.



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Released to coincide with a major BBC TV documentary series on the crusades presented by the author. In the eleventh century, a vast Christian army, summoned to holy war by the pope, rampaged through the Muslim world of the eastern Mediterranean, seizing possession of Jerusalem, a city revered by both faiths. Over the two hundred years that followed this First Crusade, Islam & the West fought for dominion of the Holy L&, clashing in a succession of chillingly brutal wars, both firm in the belief that they were at God`s work. For the first time, this book tells the story of this epic struggle from the perspective of both Christians & Muslims, reconstructing the experiences & attitudes of those on either side of the conflict. Mixing pulsing narrative & piercing insight, it exposes the full horror, passion & barbaric grandeur of the crusading era. One of the world`s foremost authorities on the subject, Thomas Asbridge offers a vivid & penetrating history of the crusades, setting a new standard for modern scholarship. Drawing upon painstaking original research & an intimate knowledge of the Near East, he uncovers what drove Muslims & Christians alike to embrace the ideals of jihad & crusade, revealing how these holy wars reshaped the medieval world & why they continue to echo in human memory to this day. ...

European & Arab versions of the Crusades have little in common. For Arabs, the twelfth & thirteenth centuries were years of strenuous efforts to repel a brutal & destructive invasion by barbarian hordes. In ” The Crusades Through Arab Eyes”, Amin Maalouf has sifted through the works of a score of contemporary Arab chroniclers of the Crusades, eyewitnesses & often participants in the events. He retells their stories in their own vivacious style, giving us a vivid portrait of a society rent by internal conflicts, & shaken by a traumatic encounter with an alien culture. He retraces two critical centuries of Middle Eastern history, & offers fascinating insights into some of the forces that shape Arab & Islamic consciousness today. ...

Elise loves the farm that is her home. There is always tea in the silver teapot, gin & tonics are served on the veranda & her days are spent listening to stories of spirits & charms told by her nanny, Beauty. As a young white girl growing up in Zimbabwe, her life is idyllic. However, this dream-world of her childhood cannot last. As Elise gets older, her eyes are opened to the complexities of adult life, both through the arrival of her step-father, & through her growing understanding of the tensions in Zimbabwean society. As the privileged existence of the white farmers begins to crumble into anarchy & farm invasions begin, Elise is forced to confront difficult choices & the ancient unforgiving ghosts of the past. ...

The British surrealist painter & writer Ithell Colquhoun recalls episodes from her travels in Ireland as a young woman turning her back on the modern world & setting out across the unruly Irish countryside. Here, among the holy wells, monasteries & tumuli, she finds a canvas on which her sensibility & animist beliefs can freely express themselves. Her style is beguiling, her voice sincere, & through her unique perceptions we discover a land that is fiercely alive & compelling. It is a place where the wind cries, the stones tell old tales & the mountains watch over the roads & those who travel on them. By intuiting the eerie magic of Irel&, Colquhoun casts her own spell. She offers up a land of myth & legend, stripped of its modern signs, at the same time offering herself to the reader in this portrait of the artist as a young woman. ...

On 20 August 1980 Reinhold Messner reached the summit of Everest
- alone & without the use of oxygen. This is an account of his
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The Crystal Palace was built in Hyde Park to house the treasures of the world for the Great Exhibition of 1851. It became a microcosm of Victorian life, industry & leisure, reflecting every aspect of its age. Designed by Joseph Paxton as a temporary structure its success meant that when it closed it was moved to Sydenham & rebuilt. ”...widely regarded as the most authoritative book written about the history of the famous glass Crystal Palace.. .” Kentish Times ...

For students, travellers, & all those who want to know more about the island nation just ninety miles south of Florida, “ The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, Politics” is an invaluable introduction to this marvellous & controversial country. Cuba is often perceived in starkly black & white terms
- either as the site of one of Latin America’s most successful revolutions or as the bastion of the world’s last communist regime. “ The Cuba Reader” multiplies perspectives on the nation many times over, presenting more than one hundred selections about Cuba’s history, culture, & politics. Beginning with the first written account of the isl&, penned by Christopher Columbus in 1492, the selections assembled here track Cuban history from the colonial period through the ascendancy of Fidel Castro to the present.“ The Cuba Reader”, edited by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr & Pamela Maria Smorkaloff, combines songs, paintings, photographs, poems, short stories, speeches, cartoons, government reports & proclamations, & pieces by historians, journalists, & others. Most of these are by Cubans, & many appear for the first time in English. The writings & speeches of José Martí, Fernando Ortiz, Fidel Castro, Alejo Carpentier, Che Guevera, & Reinaldo Arenas appear alongside the testimonies of slaves, prostitutes, doctors, travelers, & activists. Some selections examine health, education, Catholicism, & santería; others celebrate Cuba’s vibrant dance, music, film, & literary cultures. The pieces are grouped into chronological sections. Each section & individual selection is preceded by a brief introduction by the editors. The volume presents a number of pieces about twentieth-century Cuba, including the events leading up to & following Castro’s January 1959 announcement of revolution. It provides a look at Cuba in relation to the rest of the world: the effect of its revolution on Latin America & the Caribbean, its alliance with the Soviet Union from the 1960s until the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1989, & its tumultuous relationship with the United States. “ The Cuba Reader” also describes life in the periodo especial following the cut-off of Soviet aid & the tightening of the U.S. embargo. It is a highly readable book; do not be put off by the sheer size of it.“ What a beautiful journey through five hundred years of Cuban history, culture, & politics! The Cuba Reader is a sumptuous medley of poetry, song, speeches, interviews, & vignettes from novels new & old. You’ll hear the voices of santeros & sugar workers, prostitutes & politicos, revolutionaries & reporters, dissidents & dancers. It’s the next best thing to being in Cuba, so sit back with a mojito & enjoy the masterfully guided tour.” _ Medea Benjamin_, activist & cofounder of _ Global Exchange_” The Cuba Reader offers a splendid overview of the Cuban experience, past & present, through a dazzling array of points of view. The voices of participants & observers & perspectives on the extraordinary & the commonplace
- with imagery conveyed by way of photography & poetry, through the lyric of music & the nuance of the novel
- make for a compelling collection of material. The very fullness of its vision makes [this book] an indispensable book for courses
- of every academic discipline
- on Cuba.”, _ Louis A. Pérez, Jr._, author of “ On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, & Culture”




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