` The Sites of Ancient Greece` presents 150 of Georg Gerster`s most spectacular & evocative photographs of the landscapes & architecture
- both ancient & modern
- of Greece, a country he has visited & photographed numerous times in his long career. The photographs in this book were taken between 1996 & 2006. A short preface by Gerster himself & an introductory essay convey a sense of why this country, its history, myths & landscapes, have captured the hearts & minds of so many for thousands of years, from ancient kings & poets to modern holiday-makers. In addition, a map of the featured locations & a timeline listing the key dates, events & eras of the ancient Greek world help set the scene for the picture section to follow. Arranged geographically by region, the images in this book take the viewer on a guided tour of Greece & her islands, from cloud-topped Mount Olympus, home of the Gods, in the northern mainland to the isle of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea. The historical sites featured include the seventeen UNESCO world heritage sites of Greece, such as the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens; Delphi, the site of the most important oracle of the ancient Mediterranean world; the astounding mountain-top monasteries at Mount Athos & Meteora, precariously perched high above the ocean; Olympia, one of the most important sanctuaries of antiquity & the birthplace of the Olympic Games; the beautiful monuments of Thessaloniki & the medieval city of Rhodes, once the site of the Collosus, one of the lost seven wonders of the world; & the fortified town of Mystras. Gerster`s picture also show the wide-ranging landscapes of Greece, from the bustling modern metropolises of Athens & Thessaloniki, studded as they are with ancient jewels, to the arid plains of Sparta, craggy coastlines & jewel-like islands surrounded by calm blue waters. Each photograph is accompanied by an extended caption describing when & where the picture was taken & offering contextual information about the landscapes or monuments pictured, for example noting the key historical (or mythical) events associated with the site.

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By Norway`s bestselling novelist & the author of NORWEGIAN WOOD, a family story of epic scale. Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway with his taciturn grandfather, Sverre. The death of his parents, when he was three years old, has always been shrouded in mystery
- he has never been told how or where it took place & has only a distant memory of his mother. But he knows that the fate of his grandfather`s brother, Einar, is somehow bound up with this mystery. One day a coffin is delivered for his grandfather long before his death
- a meticulous, beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all. Edvard`s desperate quest to unlock the family`s tragic secrets takes him on a long journey
- from Norway to the Shetlands, & to the battlefields of France
- to the discovery of a very unusual inheritance. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme is about the love of wood & finding your own self, a beautifully intricate & moving tale that spans an entire century. Translated from the Norwegian by Paul Russell Garrett



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By Norway`s bestselling novelist & the author of NORWEGIAN WOOD, a family story of epic scale. ” An intricate story about war, family, secrets &, yes, wood.. . An engaging, satisfying read” The Times” So cleverly plotted, & it builds up such effortless dramatic momentum as it zeroes in on its conclusion” Scotsman Edvard grows up on a remote mountain farmstead in Norway with his taciturn grandfather, Sverre. The death of his parents, when he was three years old, has always been shrouded in mystery
- he has never been told how or where it took place & has only a distant memory of his mother. But he knows that the fate of his grandfather`s brother, Einar, is somehow bound up with this mystery. One day a coffin is delivered for his grandfather long before his death
- a meticulous, beautiful piece of craftsmanship. Perhaps Einar is not dead after all. Edvard`s desperate quest to unlock the family`s tragic secrets takes him on a long journey
- from Norway to the Shetlands, & to the battlefields of France
- to the discovery of a very unusual inheritance. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme is about the love of wood & finding your own self, a beautifully intricate & moving tale that spans an entire century. Mytting`s book is as much a romantic historical thriller as it is a book of promise, a page-turner as it is a reflective journey into selfhood, history, life`s meaning & individual moral responsibility
- Mika Provata-Carlone, Bookanista Translated from the Norwegian by Paul Russell Garrett




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When Nuria Marti, the beautiful Spanish figure skater, is suddenly dropped from the Olympic team, a besotted admirer builds a secret ice rink for her in the ruins of an old mansion on the outskirts of their seaside town. What he doesn`t tell her is that he paid for it using embezzled public funds. Such deceit is not without repercussions, & the skating rink soon becomes a crime scene.. . Rife with political corruption, sex, jealousy & frustrated passion, The Skating Rink
- narrated in turn by a corrupt & pompous civil servant, a beleaguered romantic poet, & a duplicitous local entrepreneur
- is a darkly atmospheric tale of murder & its motives.

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Shiver me timbers & swash me buckles
- it`s time for an adventure with the Skeleton Pirate! The Skeleton Pirate is the Terror of
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` Magic that takes you out, far out, of this time & this world`
- George Bernard Shaw, after a visit to Skellig. This is the
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The Sketchbook Project is a crowd-sourced library of over 30, 000 sketchbooks (and counting) submitted by people of all ages & backgrounds from all over the world. Organised continent by continent & featuring work from 135 different countries, The Sketch Book Project World Tour will showcase the best & brightest work from hundreds of artists. Along with introductions to each continent section, mini-bios will accompany each artist`s work to provide context to the art. Page by page, the Sketchbook Project World Tour will reveal a unique & intimate look into the inner-creative workings of everyday people around the globe. The Sketchbook Project World Tour`s publication will coincide with the launch of the Sketchbook Project`s 2015 Summer Tour across America. Potential foreword by This is Colossal`s founder & editorial director, Christopher Jobson. ...

Have you ever looked up & wondered what`s going on high up in the skies above your eyes? Take a journey up into the air, through the atmosphere, way out into space, & back down to Earth in this richly illustrated concertina book. Zoom past the technology that fills our skies, from helicopters, fighter jets, weather balloons, to satellites, hang-gliders & hot-air balloons. Discover the insects & animals that whizz through the skies, explore the layers of the atmosphere, & travel through the solar system & out to the galaxies far beyond. The follow up to The Street Beneath My Feet, which dug down to the centre of the Earth, this expansive concertina book opens out to an impressive 2.5 metres, perfect for inquisitive young minds. ...

” It is a shameful thing to win a war.” The reliably unorthodox Curzio Malaparte`s own service as an Italian liaison officer with the Allies during the invasion of Italy was the basis for this searing & surreal novel, in which the contradictions inherent in any attempt to simultaneously conquer & liberate a people beset the triumphant but ingenuous American forces as they make their way up the peninsula. Malaparte`s account begins in occupied Naples, where veterans of the disbanded & humiliated Italian army beg for work, & ceremonial dinners for high Allied officers or important politicians feature the last remaining sea creatures in the city`s famous aquarium. He leads the American Fifth Army along the Via Appia Antica into Rome, where the celebrations of a vast, joy-maddened crowd are only temporarily interrupted when one well-wisher slips beneath the tread of a Sherman tank. As the Allied advance continues north to Florence & Milan, the civil war intensifies, provoking in the author equal abhorrence for killing fellow Italians & for the ”heroes of tomorrow, ” those who will come out of hiding to shout ” Long live liberty” as soon as the Germans are chased away. Like Celine, another anarchic satirist & disillusioned veteran of two world wars, Malaparte paints his compatriots as in a fun-house mirror that yet speaks the truth, creating terrifying, grotesque, & often darkly comic scenes that will not soon be forgotten. Unlike the French writer however, he does so in the characteristically sophisticated, lush, yet unsentimental prose that was as responsible for his fame as was his surprising political trajectory. The Skin was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, & placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum. ...

The explosive story of the poisoning of Sergei Skripal & the new spy war between the West & Russia, based on hours of exclusive interviews Skripal gave before his near-death with number one bestselling author Mark Urban, diplomatic & defence editor for BBC Newsnight.` With regard to traitors, they will kick the bucket on their own, I assure you... Whatever thirty pieces of silver those people may have gotten, they will stick in their throat.` Vladimir Putin, 20104 March 2018, Salisbury, Engl&. Sergei Skripal & his daughter Yulia were enjoying a rare & peaceful Sunday spent together, completely unaware that they had been poisoned with the deadly nerve agent Novichok. Hours later both were found slumped on a park bench close to death. Following their attempted murders on British soil, Russia was publicly accused by the West of carrying out the attack, marking a new low for international relations between the two since the end of the Cold War. The Skripal Files is the definitive account of how Skripal`s story fits into the wider context of the new spy war between Russia & the West. The book explores the time Skripal spent as a spy in the Russian military intelligence, how he was turned to work as an agent by MI6, his imprisonment in Russia & his eventual release as part of a spy-swap that would bring him to Salisbury where, on that fateful day, he & his daughter found themselves fighting for their lives. ...