The Hell-Fire Clubs scandalized eighteenth-century English society. Rumours of their orgies, recruitment of prostitutes, extensive libraries of erotica, extreme rituals, & initiation ceremonies circulated widely at the time, only to become more sensational as generations passed. This thoroughly researched book sets aside the exaggerated gossip about the secret Hell-Fire Clubs & brings to light the first accurate portrait of their membership (including John Wilkes, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, & the Prince of Wales), beliefs, activities, & the reasons for their proliferation, first in the British Isles & later in America, possibly under the auspices of Benjamin Franklin. Hell-Fire Clubs operated under a variety of titles, but they all attracted a similar membership
- mainly upper-class men with abundant leisure & the desire to shock society. This book explores the social & economic context in which the clubs emerged & flourished; their various phases, which first involved violence as an assertion of masculinity, then religious blasphemy, & later sexual indulgence; &, the counter movement that eventually suppressed them. Uncovering the facts behind the Hell-Fire legends, this book also opens a window on the rich contradictions of the Enlightenment period.
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Enter a vanished & unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren`t trusted not to steal the silver... There`s Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child & nursing the hurt caused by her own son`s tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; & white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen & Minny. No one would believe they`d be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend & rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. & together they have an extraordinary story to tell. ...

Recently made into a major US motion picture & proving a bestseller the world over, here is your chance to read the original book that started it all. Enter a vanished & unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren`t trusted not to steal the silver... There`s Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child & nursing the hurt caused by her own son`s tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; & white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen & Minny. No one would believe they`d be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend & rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. & together they have an extraordinary story to tell. ...

The Help is the phenomenal international bestseller (that inspired the Oscar nominated film) by Kathryn Stockett. Enter a vanished & unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren`t trusted not to steal the silver... There`s Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child & nursing the hurt caused by her own son`s tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; & white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen & Minny. No one would believe they`d be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend & rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. & together they have an extraordinary story to tell... Penguin by Hand is a collection comprising six of Penguin`s most popular women`s fiction titles of recent years, all with new & beautiful craft-inspired jackets. ...

We think the way we do because Socrates thought the way he did. His aphorism ' The unexamined life is not worth living' may have originated twenty-five centuries ago, but it is a founding principle of modern life. Socrates lived & contributed to a city that nurtured key ingredients of contemporary civilisation
- democracy, liberty, science, drama, rational thought
- yet, as he wrote nothing in his lifetime, he himself is an enigmatic figure. The Hemlock Cup gives Socrates the biography he deserves, setting him in the context of the Eastern Mediterranean that was his home, & dealing with him as he himself dealt with the world. Socrates was a soldier, a lover, a man of the people. He philosophised neither in grand educational establishments nor the courts of kings but in the squares & public arenas of Golden Age Athens. He lived through an age of extraordinary materialism, in which a democratic culture turned to the glorification of its own city; when war was declared under the banner of democracy; &, when tolerance turned into intimidation on streets once populated by the likes of Euripides, Sophocles & Pericles. For seventy years he was a vigorous citizen of one of the greatest capitals on earth, but then his beloved Athens turned on him, condemning him to death by poison. Socrates' pursuit of personal liberty is a vibrant story that Athens did not want us to hear, but which must be told. Bettany Hughes has painstakingly pieced together Socrates' life, following in his footsteps across Greece & Asia Minor, & examining the new archaeological discoveries that shed light on his world. In The Hemlock Cup she reveals the human heart of the man, & relates a story that is as relevant now as it has ever been.

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An acknowledged classic of narrative nature-writing, Donald Watson`s The Hen Harrier was the culmination of a lifetime`s study of this beautiful upland bird. A gentle, warm & wonderfully written book, The Hen Harrier stems from an age of `amateur` conservation, from the pen of a man who cared deeply about birds & their habitats, especially of the Scottish borders where he conducted much of his research & painting. The book was among the last of a dying breed; it would be thirty years or more before writing on our natural history would again reach the heights of accessibility to nature-lovers exemplified by Donald Watson & his peers. The book starts with Watson setting down more or less everything known about harriers
- which at that time often consisted of information sent by letter to the author, rather than published in a journal
- before moving on to the story of Watson`s years studying nests in the south-west of Scotl&. With a foreword by conservation champion Mark Avery, this edition of Watson`s greatest work is particularly timely. The conflict between grouse-shooting interests, which has overseen the virtual extinction of the harrier as a breeding bird in England through illegal persecution, & an increasingly vocal conservationist lobby is the number one conservation issue in Britain today. Donald Watson`s narrative soars like a sky-dancing harrier throughout this book. Read it, & be taken back to a simpler age of nature conservation by a true master of the art.

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This is the practical, plot-to-plate guide to growing & cooking with herbs. From basil to vervain, ” The Cook`s Herb Garden” will teach you everything you need to know about nurturing, harvesting & cooking with herbs. Delve into this little book to find notes on herb flavours, the best growing conditions, storage & how to use them in the kitchen. There are inspirational planting schemes for window boxes & pots including Mediterranean, everyday essentials & salad herbs & a photographic catalogue of more than 130 culinary herbs. Packed with more than 70 delicious recipes for rubs & marinades, sauces & salsas, flavoured butters, cordials, syrups, teas & tisanes, plus charts on best herb-with-food flavour combinations, ” The Cook`s Herb Garden” is the perfect herb guide for any cook. ...

The famous Hereford world map, the ' Mappa Mundi', dates from around 1300, & was painted on one skin of calf-parchment, less than 1 mm thick & measuring about 130 cm square. When we read of its frequent ordeals, we may marvel that it is still in good condition & can be examined. Yet, it is by no means the oldest surviving mappamundi, nor was it the largest: the Ebstorf map (destroyed by bombing in 1943) was of similar age & almost three times bigger. Mappaemundi may be square or round, large or small, extremely simple or amazingly complex. Their geography is unfamiliar & many of their fauna are grotesque. Their importance is enormous: for their encyclopaedic ambition, for their place in devotional & romanesque iconography & for their attempts to document contemporary world views. In setting the Hereford world map in context, P.D.A. Harvey & his twenty-four collaborators introduce us to medieval ideas of the world & man's place in it in ways that will excite historians, geographers, students of art history, theologians, & anyone interested in the medieval world view. ...

WINNER OF THE GLASS KEY AWARD
- previous winners include Henning Mankell, Jo Nesbo, Karin Fossum, Stieg Larsson & Arnaldur Indridason
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Ruta de l` Ermità, the Hermitage Trail in the Catalan Pyrenees on a contoured GPS compatible map at 1:25, 000 from Editorial Alpina which highlights alternatives for the hiking (105km), mountain bike (168km) & horse riding (120km) variants of the route. The map has contours at 10m intervals with relief shading & colouring to indicate vegetation. The course of the trail is highlighted in different colours for the hiking, mountain bike & horse riding alternatives. Also marked are other waymarked long-distance & local hiking trails. Symbols indicate hermitages & accommodation facilities along the route, as well as various types of accommodation possibilities in other locations on the map, including campsites & youth hostels, restaurants, shops with local handicrafts or food, equestrian centres, petrol stations & car parks, interesting natural sites, etc. The map has a 1-km UTM grid. Map legend

Includes:: English. The accompanying booklet, in CATALAN only, provides details of accommodation along the route, suggested stages, & other information about the area. To see the list of all the maps from Editorial Alpina covering long-distance hiking routes please click on the series link.

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