As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother's stories of Mexican adventures: of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver & a narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. But Robin sensed there was more to these stories than anyone knew, & so he set out to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. The Mango Orchard is the story of parallel journeys' a hundred years apart, into the heart of Latin America. Undaunted by the passage of time & a paucity of information, Robin seeks out the places where his great grandfather Arthur ' Arturo' Greenhalgh travelled & lived, determined to uncover his legacy. Along the road Robin encounters witches, drug dealers, a gun-toting Tasmanian Devil & an ex-Nazi diamond trader. He is threatened with deportation, offered the protection of Colombian guerrilla fighters & is comforted by the blessings of los santos. He falls in love with a beautiful Guatemalan girl with mystical powers & almost gives up his quest, until a sense of destiny drives him on to western Mexico & the discovery of much, much more than he had bargained for. ...

As a child, Robin Bayley was enchanted by his grandmother`s stories of Mexican adventures: of bandits, wild jungle journeys, hidden bags of silver & a narrow escape from the bloody Mexican Revolution. But Robin sensed there was more to these stories than anyone knew, & so he set out to follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather. ” The Mango Orchard” is the story of parallel journeys, a hundred years apart, into the heart of Latin America. Undaunted by the passage of time & a paucity of information, Robin seeks out the places where his great-grandfather Arthur ` Arturo` Greenhalgh travelled & lived, determined to uncover his legacy. Along the road Robin encounters witches, drug dealers, a gun-toting Tasmanian Devil & an ex-Nazi diamond trader. He is threatened with deportation, offered the protection of Colombian guerrilla fighters & is comforted by the blessings of los santos. He falls in love with a beautiful Guatemalan girl with mystical powers & almost gives up his quest, until a sense of destiny drives him on to western Mexico & the discovery of much, much more than he had bargained for. ...

A unique walking guide to Manhattan, from the author of The New York Nobody Knows Bill Helmreich walked every block of New York City--six-thousand miles in all--to write the award-winning The New York Nobody Knows. Now he has re-walked most of Manhattan--721 miles--to write this new, one-of-a-kind walking guide to the heart of one of the world`s greatest cities. Drawing on hundreds of conversations he had with residents during his block-by-block journey, The Manhattan Nobody Knows captures the unique magic & excitement of the island & highlights hundreds of facts, places, & points of interest that you won`t find in any other guide. The guide covers every one of Manhattan`s thirty-one distinct neighborhoods, from Marble Hill to the Financial District, providing a colorful portrait of each area`s most interesting, unusual, & unfamiliar people, places, & things. Along the way you`ll be introduced to an elderly Inwood man who lives in a cave; a Greenwich Village townhouse where Weathermen terrorists set up a bomb factory; a Harlem apartment building whose residents included W.E.B. Du Bois & Thurgood Marshall; a tiny community garden attached to the Lincoln Tunnel; a Washington Heights pizza joint that sells some of the biggest slices in town; the story behind the ” Birdman” of Washington Square Park; & much, much more. An unforgettably vivid chronicle of today`s Manhattan, the book can also be enjoyed without ever leaving home--but it`s almost guaranteed to inspire you to get out & explore this fascinating metropolis. Covers every one of Manhattan`s neighborhoods, providing a colorful portrait of their most interesting, unusual, & unfamiliar people, places, & things Each neighborhood section features a brief overview & history; a detailed, user-friendly map keyed to the text; & a lively guided walking tour Draws on the author`s 721-mile walk through every Manhattan neighborhood
Includes: insights from conversations with hundreds of residents
...

When the Manhattan came along, it completely changed the drinking landscape. Cocktail historian Philip Greene traces the evolution of this classic from the stories of its origin to its continuing influence. Richly illustrated with vintage artwork & deluxe photos, this definitive story of the iconic cocktail offers 65 recipes from the classic versions to the Manhattan`s many descendants
- including the almighty Martini itself.
...

For Londoners of the eighteenth & nineteenth centuries, debt was a part of everyday life. But when your creditors lost their patience, you might be thrown into one of the capital`s most notorious jails: the Marshalsea Debtors` Prison. The Marshalsea became a byword for misery; in the words of one of its inmates, it was `hell in epitome`. But the prison was also a microcosm of London life & it housed a colourful range of characters, including Charles Dickens` father. The experience haunted the writer, who went on to immortalise the Marshalsea in his work, most memorably in Little Dorrit. In Mansions of Misery, acclaimed chronicler of the capital Jerry White introduces us to the Marshalsea`s unfortunate prisoners
- rich & poor; men & women; spongers, fraudsters & innocents. We get to know the trumpeter John Grano who wined & dined with the prison governor & continued to compose music whilst other prisoners were tortured & starved to death. We meet the bare-knuckle fighter known as the Bold Smuggler, who fell on hard times after being beaten by the Chelsea Snob. And then there`s Joshua Reeve Lowe, who saved Queen Victoria from assassination in Hyde Park in 1820, but whose heroism couldn`t save him from the Marshalsea. Told through these extraordinary lives, Mansions of Misery gives us a fascinating & unforgettable cross-section of London life from the early 1700s to the 1840s.
...

The authoritative guide to being a man in the 21st century is here, at last. * Ever wondered which is the right way to walk with an umbrella? * Ever questioned just exactly what differentiates different types of beer or where all the single malt whiskies come from? * Ever wanted to work out without actually having to go to the gym & fancied doing it James Bond style? * Ever considered how a batiste shirt differs from a broadcloth one? If you have, you`re in luck. The answers to every question you have ever needed to ask are within these pages, from how to strut your stuff on the dance floor to how to cook a decent chilli. Designed to help you out of any awkward situation, this book gives you any number of tips & hints for witty repartee down the pub, including why it`s better to have an older mistress & the 85 ways to tie a tie. All this & so much more is explained in a systematic & intelligent way, with facts & figures, diagrams & tables. This indispensable guide for all men`s rituals & practical habits belongs in every man`s rear pocket. ...

Curated by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy & Gillian Clarke, the National Poet of Wales, this new anthology gathers from centuries of essential poems. The editors have drawn on the rich languages of these islands, starting with the very first poets whose names we know
- Taliesin & Aneirin, who composed in Welsh & Old Brythoneg in what is now Scotland
- `to begin at the beginning`, to explore the poetry of Ireland & the British Isles in order to tell our story across the ages in this beautiful, vital treasury.

...

The Map & the Clock is a celebration of the most scintillating poems ever composed on our islands. Curated by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy, & by Gillian Clarke, National Poet of Wales, this anthology gathers fourteen centuries of extraordinary verse
- beginning with the first writings from the old languages of England & Irel&, Scotland & Wales, & culminating in some of our most recent poets, speaking in our present-day tongues. Many of our founding myths & legends are told here
- King Arthur & Gawain, Beowulf & Mad Sweeney, the Mabinogion
- as are the nursery-tales & songs we still sing today. Through these pages we witness the tragedy of European wars & world conflict; we court romance & friendship; we explore nationhood & belonging, identity & belief; & we are welcomed to a celebration of the cultural diversity of the poetries of our twenty-first century. The Map & the Clock is a stunning & essential treasury of the poems that have moulded our languages, examined our worlds, & shaped our islands through time.


...

Artist Jed Martin emerges from a ten-year hiatus with good news. It has nothing to do with his broken boiler, the approach of another lamentably awkward Christmas dinner with his father or the memory of his doomed love affair with the beautiful Olga. It is that, for his new exhibition, he has secured the involvement of none other than celebrated novelist Michel Houellebecq. The exhibition brings Jed new levels of global fame. But, his boiler is still broken, his ailing father flirts with oblivion &, worst of all, he is contacted by an inspector requiring his help in solving an unspeakable, atrocious & gruesome crime, involving none other than celebrated novelist Michel Houellebecq... Shortlisted for the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award 2013. ...

Like all of us, though few so visibly, Alan Greenspan was forced by the financial crisis of 2008 to question some fundamental assumptions about risk management & economic forecasting. How had our models so utterly failed us? Virtually every day, we make wagers on the future
- but, even when we`re not driven by factors entirely beyond our conscious control, the maps by which we are steering are often out-of-date. The Map & the Territory is an important attempt to update our forecasting conceptual grid using twenty-first-century technologies, offering a lucid & empirical grounding in what we can know about economic forecasting & what we can`t.
...