Collected here for the first time in a deluxe paperback volume are six of John Steinbeck`s most widely read & beloved novels--” Tortilla Flat, The Red Pony, Of Mice & Men, The Moon Is Down, Cannery Row, ” & ” The Pearl.” From Steinbeck`s tale of commitment, loneliness, & hope in ” Of Mice & Men, ” to his tough yet charming portrait of people on the margins of society in ” Cannery Row, ” to ” The Pearl`”s examination of the fallacy of the American dream, Steinbeck created stories that were realistic, rugged, & imbued with energy & resilience. ...

Fans of The Twilight Saga will be enthralled by the riveting story of Bree Tanner, a character introduced in Eclipse, & the darker side of the newborn vampire world she inhabits. In another irresistible combination of danger, mystery & romance, Stephenie Meyer tells the devastating story of Bree & the newborn army as they prepare to close in on Bella Swan & the Cullens, following their encounter to its unforgettable conclusion. 'I'm as surprised as anyone about this novella, ' said Stephenie Meyer. ' When I began working on it in 2005, it was simply an exercise to help me examine the other side of Eclipse, which I was editing at the time. I thought it might end up as a short story that I could include on my website. Then, when work started on The Twilight Saga: The Official Guide, I thought the Guide would be a good fit for my Bree story. However, the story grew longer than I anticipated, until it was too long to fit into the Guide. ...

The Short Story of Art is a new & innovative introduction to the subject of art. Simply constructed, the book explores 50 key works, from the wall paintings of Lascaux to contemporary installations, & then links these to se ctions on art movements, themes & techniques. The design of the book allows the student or art enthusiast to easily navigate their way around key periods, artists & styles. Accessible & concise, it simplifies & explains the most important & influential concepts in art, & shows how they are linked. The book explains how, why & when art changed, who introduced certain things, what they were, where they were produced, & whether they matter. It demystifies artistic jargon, giving readers a thorough understanding & broad enjoyment of art. ...

READ IN AN AFTERNOON. REMEMBER FOR A LIFETIME. In this short, entertaining & thought-provoking book, acclaimed historian John Hirst provides a fascinating exploration of the qualities that have made Europe a world-changing civilisation. Starting with a rapid historical overview from the ancient Greeks to the present day (the `shortest history` itself), Hirst goes on to explore in detail what makes Europe unique: its political evolution; the shaping influence of its linguistic boundaries; the crucial role played by power struggles between Pope & Emperor; & of course the great invasions & conquests that have transformed the continent. Written with clarity, feeling & wit, The Shortest History of Europe is a tour-de-force: read in a single afternoon, it will be remembered for a lifetime.NB This is a updated & expanded edition, with new sections covering the industrial revolution, the world wars & the postwar period. ...

In his acclaimed new bestseller, now in paperback, James Hawes tells the story of Europe`s most admired & feared country, from Julius Caesar to Angela Merkel. With more than 100 maps & images, this is a fresh, concise & entertaining attempt to answer the question: are the Germans really us, or them? ...

Leningrad, September 1941. Hitler orders the German forces to surround the city at the start of the most dangerous, desperate winter in its history. For two pairs of lovers
- Anna & Andrei, Anna`s novelist father & banned actress Marina
- the siege becomes a battle for survival. They will soon discover what it is like to be so hungry you boil shoe leather to make soup, so cold you burn furniture & books. But this is not just a struggle to exist, it is also a fight to keep the spark of hope alive...” The Siege” is a brilliantly imagined novel of war & the wounds it inflicts on ordinary people`s lives & a profoundly moving celebration of love, life & survival.

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In the early fifteenth century, as winter falls away, the people of Albania know that their fate is sealed. They have refused to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire, & war is now inevitable. Soon enough dust kicked up by Turkish horses is spotted from a citadel. Brightly coloured banners, hastily constructed minarets & tens of thousands of men fill the plain below. From this moment on, the world is waiting to hear that the fortress has fallen. The Siege tells the enthralling story of the weeks & months that follow
- of the exhilaration & despair of the battlefield, the constantly shifting strategies of war, & those whose lives are held in balance, from the Pasha himself to the technicians, artillerymen, astrologer, blind poet & harem of women that accompany him.
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Cadiz, 1811. While the city is under siege from the marauding French army, an even greater menace is lurking within the city walls: a serial killer is on the loose, flaying young women to death. Each of these murders takes place near where a French bomb has just fallen. In order to find the murderer, police commissioner Rogelio Tizon begins to perceive the city as a vast chessboard as he tries to predict his unknown opponent`s next deadly move. In the claustrophobic atmosphere of the besieged town, an heiress, an unscrupulous corsair captain, a taxidermist who is also a spy & a hardened soldier begin to cross paths, & behind them all the figure of Tizon is getting closer to deciphering the lethal pattern behind the murders... With all the intrigue & romance of Perez-Reverte`s bestsellers, THE DUMAS CLUB & THE FLANDERS PANEL, THE SIEGE is the story of a city & a people who will never be the same again. ...

This is the history of one of the great battles of the world, written by a private soldier who was an eye-witness. The siege of Malta was a crucial moment in the long struggle between Islam & Christendom for domination of the Mediterranean, fought out by unequal forces on the small island which commands the sea-routes at the centre of that sea. The Knights of St John were a survival from the medieval world, the largest of the surviving crusading orders, & they had been driven out of their base on Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean after a great onslaught by the Turks in 1522. Now, forty-three years later, the Turkish ruler, Suleyman the Magnificent, who had been the victor at Rhodes, was determined to finish them off. He sent out a huge armada, carrying the pick of his army, under two commanders. Against this powerful force, the Knights could only raise a handful of men & mercenaries, & had to depend on the fortifications they had raised in the thirty-five years since they first came to Malta, which bore no comparison to the massive walls & ditches on Rhodes. Francisco Balbi di Correggio was a humble soldier of fortune who enlisted under the charismatic command of the Grand Master of the Order, Jean de la Valette. The extraordinary drama that unfolded after the first appearance of the Turkish fleet in the summer of 1565 is told in his own words, giving equal credit to the courage & leadership of the Knights & the grim determination of the ordinary people of Malta. ...

The consequences of defeat were momentous: the Ottomans lost half their European territories & began the long decline which led to the final collapse of the Empire, & the Hapsburgs turned their attention from France & the Rhine frontier to the rich pickings of the Balkans. The hot September day that witnesses the last great trial of strength between Cross & Crescent opened an epoch in European history that lasted until the cataclysm of the First World War in 1914. ...