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. ...

He`s gone. & telling the truth won`t bring him back... When a baby goes missing on a lonely roadside in Australia, it sets off a police investigation that will become a media sensation & dinner-table talk across the world. Lies, rumours & guilt snowball, causing the parents, Joanna & Alistair, to slowly turn against each other. Finally Joanna starts thinking the unthinkable: could the truth be even more terrible than she suspected? & what will it take to make things right? The Cry is a dark psychological thriller with a gripping moral dilemma at its heart & characters who will keep you guessing on every page. ” Fitzgerald is dark, clever, highly inventive”. (Lovereading.co.uk). ” Fitz Gerald excels at twisting the reader`s expectations & turning our assumptions on their heads”. (The List). ...

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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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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` Nelson De Mille is a true master` Dan Brown Strap in for the ride of a lifetime with the blistering new novel from America`s greatest living thriller writer, Nelson De Mille. Daniel ` Mac` Mac Cormick has a good life. Aged thirty-five & a decorated US Army veteran, he whiles away his life in stunning Key West, Florida, running a forty-two-foot charter fishing boat The Maine. A ladies` man & rule-breaker, Mac has it all
- apart from the money to hold on to his beloved boat. Then Mac is approached by a hotshot Miami lawyer called Carlos with an apparently irresistable offer: a fee of $2 million to run the boat into Havana & smuggle out $60 million from a stash hidden from the Castro government
- cash once owned by the family of a beautiful Cuban-American woman named Sara Ortega. With the political ` Cuban Thaw` underway, it`s only a matter of time before someone finds the stash. But Mac knows if he accepts this job, he`ll walk away rich...or not at all. Punchy, witty & rammed with action, legendary international 1 bestseller Nelson De Mille once more shows he`s a true master of the genre.

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The Cuban Table is a comprehensive, contemporary overview of Cuban food, recipes & culture as recounted by serious home cooks & professional chefs, restaurateurs & food writers. Cuban-American food writer Ana Sofia Pelaez & award-winning photographer Ellen Silverman travelled through Cuba, Miami & New York to document & learn about traditional Cuban cooking from a wide range of authentic sources. Cuban home cooks are fiercely protective of their secrets. Content with a private kind of renown, they demonstrate an elusive turn of hand that transforms simple recipes into bright & memorable meals that draw family & friends to their tables time & again. More than just a list of ingredients or series of steps, Cuban cooks` tricks & touches hide in plain sight, staying within families or being passed down in well-worn copies of old cookbooks largely unread outside of the Cuban community. Here you`ll find documented recipes for everything from iconic Cuban sandwiches to rich stews with Spanish accents & African ingredients, accompanied by details about historical context & insight into cultural nuances. More than a cookbook, The Cuban Table is a celebration of Cuban cooking, culture & cuisine. With stunning photographs throughout & over 110 deliciously authentic recipes this cookbook invites you into one of the Caribbean`s most interesting & vibrant cuisines. ...

When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, & calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. Strike is a war veteran
- wounded both physically & psychologically
- & his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model's complex world, the darker things get
- & the closer he gets to terrible danger.. .A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London
- from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho
- The Cuckoo's Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is a classic crime novel in the tradition of P. D. James & Ruth Rendell, & marks the beginning of a unique series of mysteries.




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When a troubled model falls to her death from a snow-covered Mayfair balcony, it is assumed that she has committed suicide. However, her brother has his doubts, & calls in private investigator Cormoran Strike to look into the case. Strike is a war veteran
- wounded both physically & psychologically
- & his life is in disarray. The case gives him a financial lifeline, but it comes at a personal cost: the more he delves into the young model`s complex world, the darker things get
- & the closer he gets to terrible danger.. .A gripping, elegant mystery steeped in the atmosphere of London
- from the hushed streets of Mayfair to the backstreet pubs of the East End to the bustle of Soho
- The Cuckoo`s Calling is a remarkable book. Introducing Cormoran Strike, this is the acclaimed first crime novel by J.K. Rowling, writing under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.




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