The Terracotta Dog opens with a mysterious tete-a-tete with a Mafioso, some inexplicably abandoned loot from a supermarket heist, & some dying words that lead Inspector Montalbano gives to a secret grotto in a mountain cave where two young lovers dead fifty years ago & still embracing are watched over by a life-size terracotta dog. Montalbano`s passion to solve this old crime takes him, heedless of personal danger, on a journey through the island`s past & into a family`s dark heart amid the horrors of World War II. ...

From the beginning, Laurens van der Post has been aware of a dimension in life far larger & more significant than the outer eventfulness of everyday living. His perception of life's mysterious power began with the Bushmen, the first people of his native Africa, & grew in the universal imagery of dreams, the fertile legends & stories of ancient civilization, the intuitive teaching of prophets, poets & other pioneers of human awareness. In this text, he has brought together two of his most deeply-felt & far-reaching essays, & has extended their message by exploring the potential in all men & women to acquire self-knowledge & to live life according to its fundamental precepts. ...

We all hear voices. Ordinary thinking is often a kind of conversation, filling our heads with speech: the voices of reason, of memory, of self-encouragement & rebuke, the inner dialogue that helps us with tough decisions or complicated problems. For others
- voice-hearers, trauma-sufferers & prophets
- the voices seem to come from outside: friendly voices, malicious ones, the voice of God or the Devil, the muses of art & literature. In The Voices Within, Royal Society Prize shortlisted psychologist Charles Fernyhough draws on extensive original research & a wealth of cultural touchpoints to reveal the workings of our inner voices, & how those voices link to creativity & development. From Virginia Woolf to the modern Hearing Voices Movement, Fernyhough also transforms our understanding of voice-hearers past & present. Building on the latest theories, including the new `dialogic thinking` model, & employing state-of-the-art neuroimaging & other ground-breaking research techniques, Fernyhough has written an authoritative & engaging guide to the voices in our heads.

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The Volcano Adventure Guide is the first book of its type. It contains vital information for anyone wishing to visit, explore, & photograph active volcanoes safely & enjoyably. Following an introduction that discusses eruption styles of different types of volcanoes, how to prepare for a volcano trip, & how to avoid volcanic dangers, the book presents guides to visiting 42 different volcanoes around the world. This section is packed full of practical information including tour itineraries, maps, transportation details, & warnings of possible non-volcanic dangers. Three appendices at the end of the book direct the reader to a wealth of further volcano resources. Aimed at non-specialist readers who wish to explore volcanoes without being foolhardy, it will fascinate amateur enthusiasts & professional volcanologists alike. The stunning colour photographs throughout the book will delight armchair travellers as well as inspire the adventurous to get out & explore volcanoes for themselves. ...

Susan Sontag’s The Volcano Lover is a novel of complexity, expression & passion set in late nineteenth century Naples, which re-imagines the real life events of the story of Horatio Nelson, Emma Hamilton & her husb&, the British Ambassador at the court of Naples, Sir William Hamilton. The British Ambassador has only two passions in life
- his precious art collection & his fascination with volcanoes
- until he agrees to take care of Emma, his nephew’s discarded mistress. He soon develops a new obsession & marries the girl, a beautiful, carefree & in some ways vulgar character. With the arrival of the British Navy, an affair erupts between its heroic captain & the ambassador’s wife which threatens to throw everyone’s life off course.

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The first English-language book to document the men who emerged from the gulags to become Russia`s much-feared crime class: the vory v zakone Mark Galeotti is the go-to expert on organized crime in Russia, consulted by governments & police around the world. Now, Western readers can explore the fascinating history of the vory v zakone, a group that has survived & thrived amid the changes brought on by Stalinism, the Cold War, the Afghan War, & the end of the Soviet experiment. The vory-as the Russian mafia is also known-was born early in the twentieth century, largely in the Gulags & criminal camps, where they developed their unique culture. Identified by their signature tattoos, members abided by the thieves` code, a strict system that forbade all paid employment & cooperation with law enforcement & the state. Based on two decades of on-the-ground research, Galeotti`s captivating study details the vory`s journey to power from their early days to their adaptation to modern-day Russia`s free-wheeling oligarchy & global opportunities beyond. ...

Frank Delage, a middle-aged Australian, arrives in Vienna with the most daring of propositions. He has invented a revolutionary piano & means to market it to the grand old world of classical music. A chance meeting with one Amalia von Schalla brings new possibilities
- a soiree, an introduction to her daughter Elisabeth, dinner with an avant-garde composer. But when the sheer audacity of his campaign dawns on him, he takes a slow boat home to the southern hemisphere. As it meanders through the Mediterranean & the Suez Canal, he is afforded ample time to reflect on tensions between the old world & the new. &, for all his travails, he is not going home empty-handed...
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The Voyage of the Beagle by James Taylor brings together, for the first time in a single volume, the circumstances that set the Beagle voyage in motion & the characters who circumnavigated the world together. Chapters include the career history of the Beagle, including cabin layouts & plans, biographies on Darwin & Captain Robert Fitzroy, & the work of the crewmembers & artists who accompanied the survey voyage. Beautifully illustrated with artworks, sketches & charts that were produced during & after the voyage by those onboard, & enriched with first-hand accounts from personal diaries & letters, James Taylor has woven together all the various strands of the Beagle story to produce a thoroughly engaging & highly informative read, which will appeal to scientists, art lovers, maritime historians, & anyone with a sense of adventure. ...

The Beagle has become synonymous with Charles Darwin & his groundbreaking title On the Origin of Species. But how did Darwin come to be on board? Now reissued in paperback, in a single volume all the various strands of the Beagle story have been woven together to reveal the circumstances that set the expedition in motion & the characters who circumnavigated the world together. Enriched with first-hand commentary from personal letters & diaries, & the official narrative of the voyage, as well as artworks, sketches & charts produced by the shipboard artists & surveyors, James Taylor has produced a thoroughly engaging & informative account that will appeal to historians, scientists, art lovers, & anyone with a sense of adventure. ...

` Gentlemen-` Fitzmaurice`s eyes gleamed & he revealed many teeth `-- lace up your stoutest boots & pack your warmest underwear -- we`re all off to the bloody Arctic!` It is Dublin in the spring of 1916: while war rages across Europe & rebellion threatens the Irish capital, three young College friends embark on a foolhardy seafaring mission to find the lost skeleton of an Irish giant. With mishaps, mischief, & a little romance, their voyage is a hilarious odyssey round the edges of history & into a curious, wonderful adventure that will change their lives forever. Ernest Shackleton meets P.G. Wodehouse in this heart-warming tale of three men in a ship (to say nothing of the dog, a foul-mouthed Scotsman & an iguana...) By the author of Jammy Dodger, nominated for the 2013 Desmond Elliott Prize for new fiction ...