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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Nyree & Cia live on a remote farm in the east of what was Rhodesia in the late 1970s. Beneath the dripping vines of the Vumba rainforest, & under the tutelage of their heretical grandfather, theirs is a seductive childhood laced with African paganism, mangled Catholicism & the lore of the Brothers Grimm. Their world extends as far as the big fence, erected to keep out the ` Terrs` whom their father is off fighting. The two girls know little beyond that until the arrival from the outside world of `the bastard`, their orphaned cousin Ronin, who is to poison their idyll for ever. ...

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. ...

` 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 ...

This inspirational & comprehensive handbook leads the reader step by step through choosing, planning & following the voyager's life. Whether long distance sailor or armchair cruiser; contemplating a cruise for a few months or even a year; sailing on a shoestring or a CEO's pension; this new edition is the most comprehensive, best organised & authoritative treatment of how to prepare & execute a major voyage under sail. Packed with detailed information on finding & equipping the right boat, selecting crewmembers, financing the voyage, weather forecasting, passage planning, heavy-weather sailing, staying healthy & sane, & mid-ocean repairs, The Voyager's Handbook is the ultimate resource for anyone planning, preparing for, or just dreaming about the adventure of a lifetime. ' Belongs on the bookshelf of every cruising vessel' Blue Water Sailing ' If you are serious about that extended voyage, read ' The Voyager's Handbook' Sailing ...

Captain James Cook is probably the most famous explorer of all time, & not without good reason. The three Pacific voyages of discovery he made between 1768 & 1779 set new standards in navigation, surveying & shipboard health; & he discovered & charted numerous lands, resulting in lasting trade & the development of British interests abroad. The interest & influence of the Royal Society in the expeditions meant that a group of scientists & artists accompanied Cook & his crew to record the people & places that they encountered. In turn, the samples they collected & catalogued, & the paintings & drawings they made not only advanced the botanical & natural sciences, but left us with a vivid visual reminder of those voyages. Many books have been written on the subject of Cook`s voyages & his maritime career, but this is the first to approach them from the point of view of the reader with a healthy curiosity rather than a scholarly interest. Similarly, for someone who has been been inspired & intrigued by a visit to the Endeavour replica, or to one of the many museums devoted to Captain Cook, this is a concise & readable guide that pulls out the key questions & provides clear, engaging answers, detailing essential information on the many aspects of Cook`s voyages. The 101 Questions & Answers structure is an ideal format for dealing with such diverse yet frequently-asked questions as: How many ships took part in the voyages? What were their names? What is a collier? What were Cook`s secret instructions? Did Cook discover Antarctica? Who said ” Ne plus ultra”? Where did Cook learn his surveying techniques? What was the transit of Venus? How did they measure longitude? Which voyage did the artist William Hodges accompany Captain Cook on? What is breadfruit? All these questions & many more are answered simply & accurately, employing contemporary paintings, charts & other images to illustrate each point where necessary. ...

` Tim & I both understood we had done something really stupid. We had underestimated the danger involved in going out to sea. We had no radio, compass, life raft or flares. In other words, we were a couple of idiots.` This is the story of Shane & Timothy Spall & their Dutch barge The Princess Matilda. After a summer on the Thames they head out to sea with only a road atlas & a vast amount of ignorance
- & it is absolutely terrifying! On their travels, memories are triggered of childhood trips to the seaside, but also of more recent times. A decade before, Tim had been diagnosed with acute leukaemia & was given only days to live. Shocked at how life can pass you by they decided that when, & if, Tim got better, they would buy a boat. As Tim & Shane explore the coast from the Medway to Cornwall, eventually they start to wonder, could they make it out of England altogether? Could Matilda make it to... Wales? Taking over five years, ” The Voyages of The Princess Matilda” is a minor epic, charting a very personal, moving & uplifting story of an everyday couple`s adventure around their much loved homel&. It is a winner of the British Travel Press` Narrative Travel Book of the Year Award.
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On January 7, 1980, in the run-up to the publication of Thy Neighbor`s Wife, Gay Talese received an anonymous letter from a man in Colorado. ` Since learning of your long awaited study of coast-to-coast sex in America, ` the letter began, `I feel I have important information that I could contribute to its contents or to contents of a future book.` The man went on to tell Talese a remarkable, shocking secret, so compelling that Talese travelled to Colorado to verify it in person. But because the letter-writer insisted on remaining anonymous, Talese filed his reporting away, certain the story would remain untold. Over the next thirty-five years, the man occasionally reached out to Talese to fill him in on the latest developments in his life, but he continued to insist on anonymity. Finally, after thirty-five years, he`s ready to go public. In the tradition of Thy Neighbor`s Wife, Talese`s landmark, best-selling exploration of the sexual revolution in America, this will be a provocative, eye-opening & much-talked-about book. ...