Part of a new series Legends from the Ancient North, The Saga of the Volsungs is one of the classic books that influenced JRR Tolkien`s The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings. ” They summoned their friends, readied their horses, & prepared their helmets, shields, swords, coats of mail”. (J.R.R). Tolkien spent much of his life studying, translating & teaching the great epic stories of northern Europe, filled with heroes, dragons, trolls, dwarves & magic. He was hugely influential for his advocacy of Beowulf as a great work of literature &, even if he had never written The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings, would be recognised today as a significant figure in the rediscovery of these extraordinary tales. Legends from the Ancient North brings together from Penguin Classics five of the key works behind Tolkien`s fiction. They are startling, brutal, strange pieces of writing, with an elemental power brilliantly preserved in these translations. They plunge the reader into a world of treachery, quests, chivalry, trials of strength. They are the most ancient narratives that exist from northern Europe & bring us as near as we will ever get to the origins of the magical landscape of Middle-earth (Midgard) which Tolkien remade in the 20th century. ...

Based on Viking Age poems, ” The Saga of the Volsungs” combines mythology, legend & sheer human drama. At its heart are the heroic deeds of Sigurd the dragon slayer who acquires magical knowledge from one of Odin`s Valkyries. Yet it is also set in a very human world, incorporating strands from the oral narratives of the fourth & fifth centuries, when Attila the Hun & other warriors fought on the northern frontiers of the Roman Empire. One of the great books of world literature, the saga is an unforgettable tale of princely jealousy, unrequited love, greed & vengeance. With its cursed treasure of the Rhine, sword reforged & magic ring of power, it was a major influence for writers including William Morris & J. R. R. Tolkein & for Wagner`s Ring cycle. ...

In Icel&, the age of the Vikings is also known as the Saga Age. A unique body of medieval literature, the Sagas rank with the world`s great literary treasures
- as epic as Homer, as deep in tragedy as Sophocles, as engagingly human as Shakespeare. Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with an astonishingly modern realism the lives & deeds of the Norse men & women who first settled in Iceland & of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland &, ultimately, North America. Sailing as far from the archetypal heroic adventure as the long ships did from home, the Sagas are written with psychological intensity, peopled by characters with depth, & explore perennial human issues like love, hate, fate & freedom.
...

A definitive & illuminating biography of one of the most famous
- & most famously unfinished
- buildings in the world, the

...

The Sahara is the quintessence of isolation, epitomizing both remoteness & severity of environment unlike any other place on the face of the earth. Replete with myths & fictions, it is a wild l&, dotted with oases & camel trains trudging through sand dunes that roll like the waves on a sea, as far as the distant horizon. But this is just part of the picture. The largest desert in the world, the Sahara ranges from the river Nile running through Egypt & Sudan in the east, to the Atlantic coast from Morocco to Mauritania in the west; stretching from the Atlas Mountains & the shores of the Mediterranean in the north, to the fluid Sahelian fringe that delineates the desert in the south. Invaders & traders have come & gone for millennia, but the Sahara is also the place that some people call home. While larger than the continental United States, this vast area contains only three million people: Africans & Arabs, Berber & Bedu, Tuareg & Tebu. Eamonn Gearon explores the history, culture, & terrain of a place whose name is familiar to all, but known to few. Conquered & Cursed from the 50, 000-strong army of Cambyses, swallowed in a sandstorm in the sixth century BC, to the us marines first foreign engagement, in 1805; Hannibal & his elephants, Caesar against Anthony & Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, the armies of Islam, Napoleon, & Rommel versus Monty. Myths & Mysteries: from whales in the White desert to the arrival of camels in the Great Sand Sea; chariots of the gods & colonialists` motor-cars; from the Land of the dead to Timbuktu; salt & gold mines, fields of oil & gas & a man-made river. Artists, Writers & Filmmakers: from the ancient rock art of the Tassili frescoes to the modernism of Matisse & Klee; from Ibn Battuta to Paul Bowles; from Beau Geste`s French Foreign Legion to Star Wars. CONQUERED & CURSED: From the 50, 000-strong army of Cambyses, swallowed in a sandstorm in the Sixth century BC, to the US Marines first foreign engagement, in 1805, countless invaders have fought & died from the heart of the desert ”to the shores of Tripoli.” The legion of names

Includes:: Hannibal & his elephants, Caesar against Anthony & Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, the Armies of Islam, Napoleon, & Rommel versus Monty. MYTHS & MYSTERIES, from ANCIENT EMPIRES to MODERN NATIONS: From whales in the White Desert to the arrival of camels in the Great Sand Sea; from chariots of the gods to motor-cars of the colonialists; from the Land of the Dead to Timbuktu; mines of salt & gold, fields of oil & gas, & a Man-Made River. ARTISTS, WRITERS, & FILMMAKERS: From the ancient rock art of the Tassili frescoes to the modernist canvases of Matisse & Klee; From Ibn Battuta to Paul Bowles, via St. Augustine & Saint-Exupery; From Beau Geste`s French Foreign Legion to the inter-stellar Star Wars, via Ice Cold in Alex & The English Patient. The Sahara inspired them all.

...

Sail with the experts! The Sailing Bible is the complete, user-friendly, hands-on manual packed with detailed step-by-step diagrams, lively action photos, & helpful advice on getting the most out of your sailing at whatever level. Whether you are a dinghy or yacht sailor just learning the basics or wanting tips on sailing with the best, this is the book that will give you all the answers you are looking for. It`s all in here! Dinghies & yachts Cruising & racing Launching, helming, trapezing, & capsizing Racing techniques & tactics Buoyage, tides, charts & navigation Anchoring & marina berthing Knots, ropes & flags Boat etiquette & seamanship Rules of the road, safety & emergencies Boat maintenance & repair & much more... The Sailing Bible is an ideal companion to enjoyable sailing whether in a dinghy or a yacht. ...

The Sailing Handbook is the ideal guide for anyone who wants to get the most out of sailing. Brightly presented, clear & accessible, it is designed to teach the basics of sailing, increase your enjoyment of the sport, improve your technique, & ultimately, enable you to take part in professional competitions. Designed for easy reference, with over 500 colour photographs & explanatory illustrations, it presents clear & comprehensive guidance on the different parts of a boat * choosing a boat for pleasure & performance * how a boat sails * its fittings & equipment * how to anchor & pick up a mooring * handling ropes * navigating * understanding tides & buoyage * using radar * reading the weather * safety at sea * care & repair of the boat * buying, selling, chartering & insuring. The Sailing Handbook is ideal for novices of all ages. ...

Following on from the success of ` The Speckled People`, Hugo Hamilton`s new memoir recounts the summer he spent working at a local harbour in Irel&, at a time of tremendous fear & mistrust. Young Hugo longs to be released from the confused identity he has inherited from his German mother & Irish father, but the backdrop of his mother`s shame at the hands of Allied soldiers in the aftermath of the Second World War, along with his German cousin`s mysterious disappearance somewhere on the Irish West Coast & the spiralling troubles in the north, seems determined to trap him in history. In an attempt to break free of his past, Hugo rebels against his father`s strict & crusading regime & turns to the exciting new world of rock & roll, still a taboo subject in the family home. His job at the local harbour, rather than offering a welcome respite from his speckled world, entangles him in a bitter feud between two fishermen
- one Catholic, one Protestant. Hugo listens to the missing persons bulletins going out on the radio for his German cousin, & watches the unfolding harbour duel end in drowning before he can finally escape the ropes of history.
...

A band of savage thirteen-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, & sentimental, & train themselves in a brutal callousness they call `objectivity`. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship`s officer, he & his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft & romantic. They regard this disallusionment as an act of betrayal on his part
- & the retribution is deliberate & horrifying.
...

First published in 1867, the Sailor's Word-Book is an incomparable alphabetical digest of nautical terms
- some 14, 000 in all.
...