The perfect introduction for the novice astronomer, this book stirs the imagination & puts observation in a framework of social activity & personal adventure. Written by an award-winning amateur astronomer & columnist, it is a technical guide to the sky, full of helpful practical hints. The lively & fresh style of the author will engage, entertain, & inform the reader. Newcomers will learn how to enjoy the Moon, planets, comets, meteors, & distant galaxies observable through a small telescope. For instance, author Levy describes the features of the Moon from night to night; how to observe constellations in both Northern & Southern hemispheres; how best to view the stars, nebulae, & galaxies; how to follow the planets on their annual trek among the constellations; how to map the sky; how to find a new comet; how to buy or even make a telescope; what to see in a month of lunar observations or a year of stellar observation; & much more. Beginners who have just joined an astronomy club or amateurs who wish to learn more about what can be accomplished with a small telescope will not find a better first book. ...

Of all Scotland`s islands none casts its spell quite as dramatically as the Isle of Skye. Celebrated in song & story, Eilean a` Cheo is a place of astonishing natural beauty & attracts climbers & walkers from all over the world. The 70-mile long Skye Trail connects two of the island`s most extraordinary landscapes; the world-famous Cuillin, the most rugged mountain range in Britain, & the Trotternish ridge, a rolling escarpment of basalt hills that look over the sea to the tumbled landscapes of mainland Scotl&. This long walk through the isl&, the ` Skitis` of the Celtic world, follows ancient byways, cattle drovers` routes, mountain footpaths & an old railway line, through a land where the first inhabitants sensed the presence of their gods in every nook & cranny, on every hill & crag, in every corrie & loch. Landscape & weather & an affinity with wild nature made up the very fabric of their lives. The route visits castles, takes in geological gems like the Quiraing & the Storr, follows rivers & loch-side paths & recalls those who were brutally removed from their homes during the Highland Clearances. It visits the site of the `last battle on British soil` & climbs Bla Bheinn, surely the finest mountain on this island of fine mountains. The route then takes its finale along the old Marble Line to Broadford, & the end of a magnificent island journey. The Skye Trail is destined to be one of the most popular long distance walks in Britain. Adopted by the Highland Council as an official long distance walk, it was brought to life by BBC Scotland`s often repeated ” Skye Trail” presented by Cameron Mc Neish. This illustrated book is based on the broadcast & Cameron`s experiences of the trail, the isl&, its people & its history & environment. ...

This guidebook describes the challenging 80-mile (128km) Skye Trail, a week-long trek across the magical Isle of Skye, the largest island in Scotland`s Inner Hebrides. As yet unwaymarked, the route demands navigational skill, fitness & self-reliance & is therefore suitable for experienced backpackers & mountain walkers. The trail is presented in 7 stages of between 7 (11.5km) & 173/4 miles (28.5km), plus an alternative stage to include an ascent of Bla Bheinn. Alongside detailed route description, 1:50, 000 OS mapping & stunning photography, the guide provides a wealth of information about Skye`s rich history, culture, literature, geology, wildlife & plants, as well as practical advice such as when to go, what to take & where to stay. Blending information with inspiration, the result is an ideal companion to trekking this magnificent route. From the headland of Rubha Hunish, through Portree to Broadford, the Skye Trail provides the walker with a tour of Skye`s most iconic landforms
- including the Quiraing, the Old Man of Storr & the Cuillin
- as well as of its turbulent history, from Iron Age forts to the ruins of Clearance villages. Whether making use of island hospitality or opting for the freedom of a tent, completing the continuous route represents a real challenge & a fitting match for the epic landscapes found on Skye.

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This slim guidebook to the Skye Trail long-distance walking route from top to toe of the magical Isle of Skye tells you all you need to know for an excellent 7 days` backpacking all the way from the headland of Rubha Hunish, through Portree to Broadford & over Bla Bheinn if you fancy. As yet unwaymarked & only for experienced walkers & backpackers, this challenging route provides the walker with a tour of Skye`s most iconic landforms
- including the Trotternish Ridge & the Cuillin ridge
- as well as of its turbulent history, from the iron age forts to the ruins of the Clearance villages. Whether making use of island hospitality or opting for the freedom of a tent, completing the continuous route represents a real challenge & a fitting match for the epic landscapes found on Skye. Route illustrated with OS maps & profiles & stunning photography
- with extensive appendices on the language, all the accommodation available & a comprehensive reading list for some inspirational pre-adventure reading.


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At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy. The boy is not his son. It is a single act of violence, but this one slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen. Longlisted for the Man Booker Prize, THE SLAP is the most talked-about novel of 2010, & looks set to be the most read book of 2011. ...

This text is an entertaining account of one man's journey through distant lands. Artist Harry Holcroft visits over 20 countries across Africa & America as he retraces the path of the ancient slave routes, adopting the various historical means of travel along the way. An enthusiastic storyteller, Holcroft's diary conveys the idiosyncratic charm of these exotic lands, while a unique collection of over 100 paintings & sketches capture the haunting atmosphere of some of the world's most evocative places. ...

Beijing, 1956: foreign correspondent Alan Winnington heard reports of slaves being freed in the mountains of south-west China. The following year he travelled to Yunnan province & spent several months with the head-hunting Wa & the slave-owning Norsu & Jingpaw. From that journey was born The Slaves of the Cool Mountains, which Neal Ascherson has called `one of the classics of modern English travel writing`. The first European to enter & leave these areas alive, Winnington met a slave-owner who assessed his value at five silver ingots (` Your age is against you, but as a curiosity you would fetch a decent price`), a head-hunter who a fortnight earlier killed a man in order to improve his own rice harvest, & a sorcerer struggling against the modern medicines sapping his authority & livelihood. Meeting recently released slaves was a scoop of which most journalists can only dream — ` Nobody will ever again be able to see them as I saw them` — & Winnington`s account of their struggle to come to terms with new-found freedom is unforgettable. ...

A thrillingly reimagined fairy tale from the truly magical combination of author Neil Gaiman & illustrator Chris Riddell
- weaving
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Freya is an ordinary girl living in modern Britain, but with a twist: people still worship the Viking gods. One evening, stuck with her dad on his night shift at the British Museum, she is drawn to the Lewis Chessmen & Heimdall`s Horn. Unable to resist, she blows the horn, waking three chess pieces from their enchantment; the slaves Roskva & Alfi, & Snot the Berserk. They are all summoned to Asgard, land of the Viking gods, & told they must go on a perilous journey to restore the gods to youth. If Freya refuses she will be turned into an ivory chess piece but, if she accepts her destiny & fails, the same terrible fate awaits her. ...

This is an evocative family memoir & unique portrait of Afghanistan from a young Afghan journalist. Hamida Ghafour's family fled Kabul after the Russian invasion. In 2003, she was sent back by the Telegraph to cover the country's reconstruction. She finds a place changed utterly from the world her parents had described & her grandmother
- an Afghan Virginia Woolf
- had written about. All around her is the West's first post-9/11 experiment with an Islamic democracy. But the people she meets reveal a different kind of nation building: the 'beautician without borders' whose school teaches women a new kind of independence; her cousin's determined parliamentary campaign; &, the archaeologist digging for his country's lost civilization in the form of a giant sleeping Buddha. As she participates in her country's present, its elusive past & her family's own story come vividly together for Hamida. But only when she's standing by her grandmother's grave
- after a heavily escorted Chinook trip to the wildest corner of the land
- does she start to find her own place in it all.



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