Discover some of the great archival treasures of the Royal Geographical Society. Some of the greatest expeditions are described & illustrated with maps, photographs & illustrations by official artists & photographers, & members of the expedition teams. The book also

Includes:: the first travellers, who set off with sketchbook or camera, as well as diplomats who chose to explore the wider regions into which they were posted. These men & women provided Westerners with the first images of Northern Arabia, China & Nepal, & South America. They record the attempts to summit the world`s highest mountain & reach the polar extremes. For anyone with a love of adventure, this book will be an informative journey & a visual delight.

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A tense, claustrophobic & gripping science fiction thriller from the author of The Testimony. When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity's great explorers. But in space, nothing goes according to plan. The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. They mourn, & Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogy back to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter what happens, the mission must continue. But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone & spiralling towards his own inevitable death.. .unless he can do something to stop it. ...

A tense, claustrophobic & gripping science fiction thriller from the author of The Testimony. When journalist Cormac Easton is selected to document the first manned mission into deep space, he dreams of securing his place in history as one of humanity`s great explorers. But in space, nothing goes according to plan. The crew wake from hypersleep to discover their captain dead in his allegedly fail-proof safety pod. They mourn, & Cormac sends a beautifully written eulogy back to Earth. The word from ground control is unequivocal: no matter what happens, the mission must continue. But as the body count begins to rise, Cormac finds himself alone & spiralling towards his own inevitable death.. .unless he can do something to stop it. ...

Shortlisted for a 2018 Edward Stanford Travel Writing Award. From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him. He has always dreamed of becoming an explorer, of making history & of reading his name amongst the lists of great discoveries. If only he could land & look about him. As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred is suddenly left without a choice. He & the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small. Except, it seems, someone has been there before them.. . ...

Winner of the London Book Fair Children`s Travel Book of the Year at the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2018 From his seat in the tiny aeroplane, Fred watches as the mysteries of the Amazon jungle pass by below him. He has always dreamed of becoming an explorer, of making history & of reading his name amongst the lists of great discoveries. If only he could land & look about him. As the plane crashes into the canopy, Fred is suddenly left without a choice. He & the three other children may be alive, but the jungle is a vast, untamed place. With no hope of rescue, the chance of getting home feels impossibly small. Except, it seems, someone has been there before them. ...

LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL 2017 With the Yi River on one side & the Balou Mountains on the other, the village of Explosion was founded a thousand years ago by refugees fleeing a volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era, the name takes on a new significance as the rural community grows explosively from a small village to a town to a city to a vast megalopolis. Behind this rapid expansion are three rival clans linked together by a web of ambition, madness & greed. The four Kong brothers; Zhu Ying, the daughter of the former village chief; & Cheng Qing, who starts out as a secretary & goes on to become a powerful political & business figure in her own right, transform their hometown into a Babylon of modern times -- an unrivalled urban superpower built on lies, sex & thievery. Brimming with absurdity, intelligence & wit, The Explosion Chronicles considers the high stakes of passion & power, the consequences of corruption & greed, the dynamics of love & hate, as well as the seemingly boundless excesses of capitalist culture.` One of the masters of modern Chinese literature` Jung Chang` One of China`s most successful writers... [ Yan Lianke] writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that ”reality & satire are the same”` Evan Osnos, New Yorker ...

With the Yi River on one side & the Balou Mountains on the other, the village of Explosion was founded a thousand years ago by refugees fleeing a volcanic eruption. But in the post-Mao era, the name takes on a new significance as the rural community grows explosively from a small village to a town to a city to a vast megalopolis. Behind this rapid expansion are three rival clans linked together by a web of ambition, madness & greed. The four Kong brothers; Zhu Ying, the daughter of the former village chief; & Cheng Qing, who starts out as a secretary & goes on to become a powerful political & business figure in her own right, transform their hometown into a Babylon of modern times
- an unrivalled urban superpower built on lies, sex & thievery. Brimming with absurdity, intelligence & wit, The Explosion Chronicles considers the high stakes of passion & power, the consequences of corruption & greed, the dynamics of love & hate, as well as the seemingly boundless excesses of capitalist culture. ” One of the masters of modern Chinese literature”. (Jung Chang). ” One of China`s most successful writers.. .[ Yan Lianke] writes in the spirit of the dissident writer Vladimir Voinovich, who observed that ”reality & satire are the same”.” (Evan Osnos, New Yorker).
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By the best selling author of The Selfish Gene ` This entertaining & thought-provoking book is an excellent illustration of why the study of evolution is in such an exciting ferment these days.` Science ` The Extended Phenotype is a sequel to The Selfish Gene.. .he writes so clearly it could be understood by anyone prepared to make the effort` John Maynard Smith, London Review of Books ` Dawkins is quite incapable of being boring this characteristically brilliant & stimulating book is original & provocative throughout, & immensely enjoyable.` G. A. Parker, Heredity ` The extended phenotype is certainly a big idea & it is pressed hard in dramatic language.` Sydney Brenner, Nature ` Richard Dawkins, our most radical Darwinian thinker, is also our best science writer.` Douglas Adams ` Dawkins is a superb communicator. His books are some of the best books ever written on science.` Megan Tressider, Guardian ` Dawkins is a genius of science popularization.` Mark Ridley, The Times ...

The Selfish Gene is a classic exposition of evolutionary thought. In it Professor Dawkins articulates a gene`s eye view of evolution
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The Extra Mile is a modern-day pilgrimage around some of the most ancient religious sites in Britain. Peter Stanford assesses the essential spirituality of an age often described as secular & sceptical. Do the present-day pilgrims he meets en route go simply in search of history, or does their journey have another significance rooted in the unholy times in which we live now? Are their numbers growing as more conventional church-going declines? The Extra Mile is an evocative, sometimes humorous, yet challenging story of one individual`s pilgrimage in search of faith in Britain today. As he walks between Neolithic stones, ruined abbeys & miracle wells, Stanford explores the link between past & present belief & reflects on the spiritual state we are in. ...