2010 is the Holy Year of the Camino & over 2 million people from all over the world are expected to partake in this annual pilgrimage. The Camino, a life changing walk, is the subject of Wilna Wilkinson`s book. The Way Of Stars & Stones offers common-sense advice & information as well as spiritual guidance: an overlap of history & personal observation, of perception & of reality, of deep thought & light humour. When a close friend is stricken with cancer, the author has no answers on how to cope with the situation & this feeling of helpless ineffectiveness drives her to find a challenge as close as possible to the battle against an incurable disease. Walking the 850km of the Camino, the pilgrimage of Santiago de Compostela, turns out to be exactly that. On a physical as well as a mental level the Camino is a more demanding & difficult challenge than any she had ever had to face in her privileged life. This is the spiritual journey of a woman who chooses to walk alone, in the heart of winter, but who generously takes the reader by the hand to share the experience. She introduces you to her fellow-pilgrims & fellow travellers. She pulls you into these pilgrims` discussions, lets you eavesdrop on their confessions & listen to their points of view, she cries with you when you learn their inspirational stories, she laughs with you when their humour fills the refuge dormitories. ...

” The Dhammapada” is a core text for Buddhists all over the world. Consisting of more than 400 sayings from Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, these inspirational words have been translated into every language in the two & a half millennia since the Buddha`s death. ” The Way of the Buddha” presents, for the first time, the complete text of F. Max Muller`s 1881 translation alongside illustrations from the extensive collections of the Rubin Museum of Art. Each group of thought-provoking observations is accompanied by a beautiful piece of traditional Himalayan Buddhist artwork, portraying the Buddha as well as other sages in paintings, sculptures & textiles. ” The Dhammapada” itself covers a wide range of themes, including old age, happiness, pleasure, anger, self-awareness, wisdom & evil. Gilded & bound in a printed case with a ribbon, ” The Way of the Buddha” is a portable & elegant source of daily encouragement & spiritual illumination. ...

The Brown Hare is an animal we all know but rather rarely see, even though it is quite common, active by day & lives in the wide open spaces of classic lowland countryside. It can make itself almost invisible, lying still in its form until it takes off suddenly, fleeing at astounding, breakneck pace. Those lucky enough to see a hare in a moment of stillness, may see in its staring golden eyes a strangeness & mystery that hints at its legendary status. It is a favourite subject of wildlife artists & sculptors in love with depicting its lithe & leggy form in full flight, & its March mating madness. A nationwide treasure-hunt for a golden hare, sparked by Kit Williams` famous 1979 book Masquerade ended with more mystery than it began. It`s smaller cousin, the Mountain Hare, is an even greater mystery, living on bleak uplands where snowfall shuts down access in winter. It changes colour with the seasons & is hunted by the great Golden Eagle, but most of us hardly know it exists. The book explores the lives of both of these hares, in life & in story, & attempts to unravel the real animal from its image in our collective imagination, & examine just why it holds such fascination for us. The book

Includes:: accounts of first-hand encounters with wild hares, & research evidence from those who have worked with them & studied them. It is illustrated with line drawings & a section of colour photographs taken by the author.

...

This title deals with the extraordinary impact of the panda
- from obscurity to fame
- a story of China's transition from shy

...

A journey into Japan`s fabled running culture from the award-winning author of Running With The Kenyans Welcome to Japan, the most running-obsessed nation on earth, a place where...A 135-mile relay race is the country`s biggest annual sporting event. Thousands of professional runners compete for corporate teams in some of the most competitive races in the world. Marathon monks run a thousand marathons in a thousand days to reach spiritual enlightenment. Adharanand Finn
- award-winning author of Running With The Kenyans
- spent six months immersed in this unique running culture to discover what it might teach us about the sport & about Japan. As an amateur runner about to turn 40, he also hoped to find out whether the Japanese approach to training might help him run faster. What he learned
- about competition, team work, form, chasing personal bests, & about himself
- will fascinate anyone keen to explore why we run, & how we might do it better.



...

` Gripping.. . revelatory.. . unrivalled` Tom Holl&, New Statesman` From Mosul to Melbourne, from Cairo to Tokyo, from London to Oslo, from Connecticut to California: Graeme Wood`s quest to understand the Islamic State is a round-the-world journey to the end of the night` Niall Ferguson `A hugely important book.. . Indispensable` David Aaronovitch, The Times A radical rethinking of what ISIS is & what it really wants From Graeme Wood, author of the explosive Atlantic cover story ” What ISIS Really Wants, ” comes the definitive book on the history, psychology, character, & aims of the Islamic State. Based on Wood`s unprecedented access to supporters, recruiters, & high-ranking members of the most infamous jihadist group in the world, The Way of the Strangers is a riveting, fast-paced deep dive into the apocalyptic dogma that informs the group`s worldview, from the ideas that motivate it, to the ”fatwa factory” that produces its laws, to its very specific plans for the future. By accepting that ISIS truly believes the end is nigh, we can understand its strategy-and predict what it will do next. ...

` It tells of terrible journeys, of men masked against the sun (riding through ethereal regions with their feet frozen), of welcoming fog-girt monasteries lit by butter lamps at the journey`s end`
- ” New Statesman”. ” The Way of the White Clouds” is the remarkable narrative of a pilgrimage which could not be made today. Lama Anagarika Govinda was among the last to journey through Tibet before its invasion by the Chinese. His unique account is not only a spectacular & gloriously poetic story of exploration & discovery; it is also invaluable for its sensitive & clearly presented interpretation of the Tibetan tradition. ` Why is it that the fate of Tibet has found such a deep echo in the world? There can only be one answer: Tibet has become the symbol of all that present-day humanity is longing for`
- Lama Anagarika Govinda.

...

Part candid description of a road journey, part a meditation on travel, this is the tale of a life-enhancing journey taken in the 1950s from Geneva to the Khyber Pass on very little money. When Nicolas Bouvier & the artist Thierry Vernet set out, they had money enough for four months of travel & a Fiat Topolino. When their money ran out, they would stop & teach or sell paintings & articles
- this happened in Istanbul, Tabriz & Quetta. Then they would base themselves in & around the poorer parts of towns to spend raucous nights listening to gypsy musicians, swapping poetry with Iranian tramps & entertaining other drinkers with songs & a trusty accordion. For a long time The Way of the World has stood as a cult book in France & Switzerl&, being called, ‘nothing short of a masterpiece’ by Patrick Leigh Fermor, & this is a re-issue of the translation first published in 1992.
...

An in-depth, personal journey around Japan`s whisky distilleries. Award-winning author & Japanese whisky expert, Dave Broom, tells their story & unveils the philosophy that lies behind this fascinating whisky culture, & how it relates to many Japanese concepts. Dave looks at the history & output of each distillery, considering the elements that make that particular whisky what it is, & including tasting notes. Features on aspects of Japanese life & culture that are crucial to a wider understanding, from the importance of the seasons to the role of craftsmanship, add to the picture. & interwoven throughout the book is the fascinating narrative of the journey across Japan which Dave made with photographer Kohei Take, offering further insight into the country which creates this wonderful drink & making this a must-have edition for any whisky lover, whisky drinker, whisky collector or Japanophile. ...

The Way Out Tube Map from Drumhouse, indicating which carriage to board to arrive next to exits and/or interchanges, plus presenting the network in a geographical representation to show stations which are within easy walking distance of each other. On one side is central London, the most visited part of the city, with the Underground network overprinted on a map showing just principal streets & main sights. Each station is annotated to show which carriage to board, separately for each direction of travel, to arrive next to the exit or the interchange (s) for connecting lines. On the reverse the rest of the network is shown with similar information on a base map showing just the North & South Circular roads & main routes out of London. London’s Overground network is not included. Also provided are useful telephone numbers for enquiries about rail & air travel, lost credit cards, emergency services, etc. Current edition of this title was published in 2011. ...