Lawrence Anthony`s South African game reserve is home to many animals he has saved, from a remarkable herd of elephants to a badly behaved bushbaby called George. Described as `the Indiana Jones of conservation`, when one of his rhinos was brutally slaughtered for her horn, he didn`t hesitate to lead an armed response against the poachers. Then he learned that there were only a handful of northern white rhinos left in the wild, living in an area of the Congo controlled by the infamous Lord`s Resistance Army & soon to be hunted into extinction. Lawrence knew he had to take action. What followed was an extraordinary adventure, as he headed into the jungle to negotiate with the rebels, while battling to save his own animals from terrible drought & to save the eyesight of his beloved elephant matriarch Nana. The Last Rhinos is peopled with unforgettable characters, both human & animal, & is a sometimes funny, sometimes moving, always exciting read. ...

James, Duke of Monmouth, the adored illegitimate son of Charles II, was born in exile the very year that his grandfather was executed & the English monarchy abolished. Abducted from his mother on his father`s orders, he emerged from a childhood in the backstreets of Rotterdam to command the ballrooms of Paris, the brothels of Covent Garden & the battlefields of Flanders. Pepys described him as `the most skittish, leaping gallant that ever I saw, always in action, vaulting or leaping or clambering`. Such was his appeal that when the monarchy itself came under threat, the cry was for Monmouth to succeed Charles II as King. He inspired both delight & disgust, adulation & abhorrence &, in time, love & loyalty almost beyond fathoming. Louis XIV was his mentor, Nell Gwyn his protector, D` Artagnan his lieutenant, William of Orange his confidant, John Dryden his censor & John Locke his comrade. Anna Keay matches rigorous scholarship with a storyteller`s gift to enrapturing effect. His story is one of the bond between father & son, the power struggle between King & Parliament & the conflict between love & honour. She brings to life the warm, courageous & handsome Duke of Monmouth, a man who by his own admission `lived a very dissolute & irregular life`, but who was prepared to risk everything for honour & justice. His life, culminating in his fateful invasion, provides a sweeping history of the turbulent decades in which England as we know it was forged. ...

The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. When modest Quaker Honor Bright sails from ...

The stunning new novel from the bestselling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. Honor Bright is a sheltered Quaker who has ...

`A triumph
- a genuinely new story` A. S. Byatt` Destined to become a classic` Garth Risk Hallberg` The funniest book I`ve read
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This title is presented with an introduction by Victoria Glendinning. The Irish troubles rage, but up at the ` Big House`, tennis parties, dances & flirtations with the English officers continue, undisturbed by the ambushes, arrests & burning country beyond the gates. Faint vibrations of discord reach the young girl Lois, who is straining for her own freedom, & she will witness the troubles surge closer & reach their irrevocable, inevitable climax. ...

John Kirk was the only companion of explorer David Livingstone to emerge untainted from the disastrous, tragic expedition up the Zambezi river between 1859 & 1863. Three years later, Kirk returned to Africa, to the notorious island of Zanzibar, ancient post of the slave trade between Africa & the Middle East. Half a century after the abolition of slavery in Britain, slave trafficking persisted on Africa`s east coast, apparently tolerated & even connived with by parts of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean. Kirk, appointed as medical officer to the British Consulate in Zanzibar, could do nothing. This extraordinary & controversial book brings Kirk`s years in Zanzibar to life. The horrors of the overland passage from the interior, & the Zanzibar slave market itself, are vividly described, together with Kirk`s final, bitter conflict with Livingstone, who blamed Kirk for his own failings. But it was Kirk`s success in closing down the slave trade on the island which made him famous across the world. Using private diaries & papers, a long forgotten Victorian hero & an extraordinary chapter in British history are revived in detail. ...

” The Last Speakers” is an engaging & thought-provoking treatment that reports on the extinction crisis that threatens many languages worldwide. Through photos, graphics, short vignettes, interviews, & first-person stories, this scientist`s notebook documents linguist K. David Harrison`s around-the-world adventures to meet with last speakers of languages. The speakers` points of view are revealed through candid direct"ations & captivating photographs that capture the individuals not simply in static poses, but in active engagement with their environment & their traditional & modern lifeways. Writing in a personal journalistic style, Harrison details his travels to visit language hotspots around the world
- an undertaking also chronicled in the recent film ” The Linguists”. Working with other professionals, photographer Chris Rainier, & local scholars, Harrison ventures to remote corners of Bolivia, Australia, Siberia, Japan, & India. There he seeks out any speakers of languages previously reported as extinct, & tries to clarify numbers of speakers for very small languages.” The Last Speakers” clearly explains the new, cutting-edge methods in social science that the team employs, as well as summaries of well-established (yet not widely known) scientific knowledge in the field. Languages don`t disappear only in tiny hamlets. Harrison also visits last speakers living in urban areas in the developed world, to demonstrate that language extinction is happening, though largely invisibly, right in our own backyard. Sites include Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Japan, & several European nations. At some of these locations we observe focused efforts at language revitalisation, including the use of computer & internet technologies to assist small languages in bridging the digital divide. Ultimately, Harrison`s book humanises the global language-extinction crisis. Last speakers eloquently discuss their feelings about their language, what will be lost if it goes extinct, & how & why they believe this loss is happening. To prevent extinction of these cherished words & meanings, some speakers actively participate in language revitalization programs, working to pass on their knowledge to young generations. Their stories, which Harrison tells with empathy & respect, help us to grasp the impact of language extinction & the realization that when languages are lost, so are culture, diversity, & heritage.
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The life of the complex, ruthless adversary of General Franco, whose life spanned much of Spain`s turbulence in the 20th century. From 1939 to 1975, the Spanish Communist Party, effectively lead for two decades by Santiago Carrillo, was the most determined opponent of General Franco`s Nationalist regime. Admired by many on the left as a revolutionary & a pillar of the anti-Franco struggle & hated by others as a Stalinist gravedigger of the revolution, Santiago Carrillo was arguably the dictator`s most consistent left-wing enemy. For many on the right, Carrillo was a monster to be vilified as a mass murderer for his activities during the Civil War. But his survival owed to certain qualities that he had in abundance
- a capacity for hard work, stamina & endurance, writing & oratorical skills, intelligence & cunning
- though honesty & loyalty were not among them. One by one he turned on those who helped him in his desire for advancement, revealing the ruthless streak that he shared with Franco, & a zeal for rewriting his past. Drawing on the numerous, continuously revised accounts Carillo created of his life, & contrasting them with those produced by his friends & enemies, Spain`s greatest modern historian Paul Preston unravels the legend of a devastating & controversial figure at the heart of 20th century Spanish politics.

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This is the archetypal story of the American West. Whether it is cast as a tale of unmatched bravery in the face of impossible odds or of insane arrogance receiving its rightful comeuppance, Custer`s Last Stand continues to captivate the imagination. Nathaniel Philbrick brilliantly reconstructs the build-up to the Battle of the Little Big Horn through to the final eruption of violence. Two legendary figures dominate the events: George Armstrong Custer & Sitting Bull. Those involved are brought vividly to life, as well as the history, geography & haunting beauty of the Great Plains. This book provides a thrilling account of what happened there
- & why
- at the end of June 1876.

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