An absorbing travel book, a meditation on geology, photography, Romanesque art & the romance of physical decline, The Slow Breath of Stone throws a mirror on Europe of the Middle Ages & its hold on us today. In the years following the devastations of the first world war, a brilliant, young American couple, Kingsley & Lucy Porter, travelled to south-west France to document the abbeys & basilicas of the Romanesque period. Their extraordinary photographs revealed some of the most feverishly inventive stonescapes in Europe, stories chiselled from the Bible & nightmares: rams playing harps & devils eating men's brains; a female centaur pulling a mermaid's hair; women suckling snakes at their breasts. For the Porters, these were images of an imagined world that unlocked secrets of the eleventh century but, menacingly, cast a dark shadow over their marriage. In The Slow Breath of Stone, Pamela Petro rents a car &, using the Porter's photographs & Lucy's journal as her map, retraces their journey through the wild landscapes of the Rouergue. She visits the beautiful & disturbing sculptures of monsters & animals devouring prey that adorn the cathedrals of Cahors & Carcassonne, & she explores a limestone quarry from where these great slabs of stone were hewn a thousand years ago. She walks the routes of pilgrimages, testaments to the tenacity of human hope, meeting people along the way & savouring the local food & wine. Above all, she journeys deep into the strange relationship of the sexually incompatible Lucy & Kingsley, following them to Donegal where their marriage was to end tragically & mysteriously on the cliffs of Inishbofin. ...

A twenty-six-year-old Indian journalist decides to give up his job & travel to a country where he can 'escape the deadness of his life'. So he arrives in Guyana, a forgotten colonial society of raw, mesmerising beauty. From the beautiful, decaying wooden houses of Georgetown, through coastal sugarcane plantations, to the dark rainforest interior scavenged by diamond-hunters, he is absorbed by the fantastic possibilities of this place where the descendants of the enslaved & the indentured have made a new world. But he is not just seduced by the country: he is also captivated by the feisty yet fragile Jan, & together they embark on an adventure which will take them into a new country & change both their lives. In his dazzling & ambitious debut novel, Rahul Bhattacharya has created a story that follows the shape & rhythms of life, not art. Part picaresque, in part a meditation, The Sly Company of People Who Care captures the heady adventures of travel, the overheated restlessness of youth, & the paradoxes of searching for life's meaning in the escape from home. ...

A twenty-six-year-old Indian journalist decides to give up his job & travel to a country where he can `escape the deadness of his life`. So he arrives in Guyana, a forgotten colonial society of raw, mesmerising beauty. From the beautiful, decaying wooden houses of Georgetown, through coastal sugarcane plantations, to the dark rainforest interior scavenged by diamond-hunters, he is absorbed by the fantastic possibilities of this place where the descendants of the enslaved & the indentured have made a new world. But he is not just seduced by the country: he is also captivated by the feisty yet fragile Jan, & together they embark on an adventure which will take them into a new country & change both their lives. In his dazzling & ambitious debut novel, Rahul Bhattacharya has created a story that follows the shape & rhythms of life, not art. Part picaresque, in part a meditation, The Sly Company of People Who Care captures the heady adventures of travel, the overheated restlessness of youth, & the paradoxes of searching for life`s meaning in the escape from home. ...

This is the chilling tale of a man in the grip of a small, invisible h&...A ghost story by the author of ” The Woman in Black” & ” The Man in the Picture”, to be read by the fire on a cold winter`s night. Returning home from a visit to a client late one summer`s evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow takes a wrong turning & stumbles across the derelict old White House. Compelled by curiosity, he approaches the door, &, standing before the entrance feels the unmistakeable sensation of a small hand creeping into his own, `as if a child had taken hold of it`. Intrigued by the encounter, he determines to learn more, & discovers that the owner`s grandson had drowned tragically many years before. At first unperturbed by the odd experience, Snow begins to be plagued by haunting dreams, panic attacks, & more frequent visits from the small hand which become increasingly threatening & sinister... ...

This is the chilling tale of a man in the grip of a small, invisible h&...an exceptional & bestselling ghost story by the author of ” The Woman in Black” & ” The Man in the Picture”. Late one summers evening, antiquarian bookseller Adam Snow is returning from a client visit when he takes a wrong turn. He stumbles across a derelict Edwardian house, & compelled by curiosity, approaches the door. Standing before the entrance, he feels the unmistakable sensation of a small cold hand creeping into his own, `as if a child had taken hold of it`. At first he is merely puzzled by the odd incident but then begins to suffer attacks of fear & panic, & is visited by nightmares. He is determined to learn more `about the house & its once-magnificent, now overgrown garden but when he does so, he receives further, increasingly sinister, visits from the small h&. ...

The Smaller Islands In The British Ocean, an original antique map by R. Morden published in London, 1695-1722-. Copperplate, coloured. Map size 43 x 36 cm, overall mounted size 58.5 x 52 cm. An attractive & popular map of Islands in the British Ocean. Considering the popularity & success of Camden's Britannia, first issued with maps in 1607, it is surprising that it was not until the end of the seventeenth century that a new edition was prepared. Robert Morden (d.1703) was commissioned to engrave a set of county maps for Edmund Gibson's new edition. Morden's first series of maps were rejected as being too small, & these were later published in Morden's New Description & State of Engl&, first issued in 1701, & subsequently re-issued in Cox's Magna Britannia, in the 1720s. Morden finally produced a new set of maps on a larger scale which were used in Gibson's editions published in 1695, 1722 as here, circa 1730, 1753 & 1772. The maps were based on the most up-to-date surveys where available, although some drew on Saxton & Speed, & were engraved by Sutton Nicholls & John Sturt. The maps are plain & simple, invariably with decorative title surround, & charmingly engraved. Their detail, convenient size, visual attraction & antiquity make them among the most popular of all early county maps. Antique maps from various original publishers are presented on the Stanford ...

In Peter H. Reynolds` whimsical holiday story, young Roland learns that more isn`t always better
- & rediscovers the magic of
...

We have all heard talk of the intelligence of dolphins, elephants or great apes, or even, in different ways, ants & bees. But what is this intelligence all about? How do we know which animals are smart, & how do they use this superior intelligence? Written by one of the world`s authorities in this field, this riveting book cover the themes of tool use, language, communication, imitation & social learning, numerical abilities, social cognition, emotion, self-recognition & awareness, drawing together the most recent & remarkable global research relating to almost every ”smart” species. Fully illustrated, & including step-by-step illustrations to show experiments & observations both in the field & in captivity, Covering the core themes of, this book delivers cutting-edge scientific research about a topic fascinating to anyone interested in the natural world. ...

A new, limited edition of the modern classic The Smartest Giant in Town. George wished he wasn`t the scruffiest giant in town. ...

George wished he wasn`t the scruffiest giant in town. So when he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he decides it`s time for a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he`s the smartest giant in town...until he bumps into some animals who desperately need his help
- & his clothes! All children will love The Smartest Giant in Town, a funny & big-hearted tale from the unparalleled picture-book partnership of Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler, creators of The Gruffalo. This handy board book format is perfect for younger readers. It features the classic story with a stunning redesigned cover & beautiful finish, making it a must-have for even the smallest Donaldson & Scheffler fans! Also available in board book format & with striking redesigned covers are: The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo`s Child, Room on the Broom, The Snail & the Whale, Monkey Puzzle, Charlie Cook`s Favourite Book, & A Squash & a Squeeze.
...