” In the summer of 2009, the leader of the dreaded Tamil Tiger guerrillas was killed, bringing to a bloody end the stubborn & complicated civil war in Sri Lanka. For nearly thirty years, the war`s fingers had reached everywhere: into the bustle of Colombo, the Buddhist monasteries scattered across the isl&, the soft hills of central Sri Lanka, the curves of the eastern coast near Batticaloa & Trincomalee, & the stark, hot north. With its genius for brutality, the war left few places, & fewer people, untouched. What happens to the texture of life in a country that endures such bitter conflict? What happens to the country`s soul? Samanth Subramanian gives us an extraordinary account of the Sri Lankan war & the lives it changed. Taking us to the ghosts of summers past, & to other battles from other times, he draws out the story of Sri Lanka today
- an exhausted, disturbed society, still hot from the embers of the war. Through travels & conversations, he examines how people reconcile themselves to violence, how religion & state conspire, how the powerful become cruel, & how victory can be put to the task of reshaping memory & burying histories. This Divided Island is a harrowing & humane investigation of a country still inflamed.”
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Dogs know that their human is the greatest in the whole world! They`ll stop at nothing to show their owners just how much they love them. They`ll remodel the garden, lick the dishes clean & keep the bed nice & warm. They just can`t figure out why their displays of affection don`t always get the reaction they deserve... Discover a dog`s infinite love for their human in this hilarious dog`s-eye view of life. ...

This Dynamic Planet World Wall Map from the USGS, size 148.5 x 111cm (59 x 44 approx), provides on both of its sides extensive information on many of the features which have shaped & continue to change our planet. Produced by an impressive trio of organizations: the United States Geological Survey, the Smithsonian Institute & the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the map has on one side a physical map of the world indicating both the elevation of the land masses & the surface of the ocean floor. The map shows locations of volcanoes, impact craters & earthquake sites, plus the boundaries of the tectonic plates. Under the main world map & on the whole of the reverse side are panels with additional maps, colour illustrations or photos, tables & time lines, & extensive text providing more information on various aspects of the development of the earth crust. Current edition of this map was published in 2006. ...

For those who loved The Alchemist, Siddhartha, & Jonathan Livingston Seagull, This Flawless Place Between is a mesmerising & uplifting story about death & dying. Interweaving themes from The Tibetan Book of the Dead, Portier takes us to Tibet & the scene of a motorcycle accident. Anne's life is over, but with the help of a stranger her spirit begins a cathartic voyage that carries her back through the traumas & ecstasies of her life. As she revisits her past, & the futures of those she will leave behind, Anne begins to accept not only her death but also her life
- & that what happens next will be up to her.
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Touching the Void was Joe Simpson`s account of his near fatal accident on Peru`s Siula Grande. He never expected to be in the same situation again. However fate had other ideas & later in the Himalayas another near fatal fall forced him to again examine why he should be so lucky when so many of his climbing friends & colleagues are not. This Game of Ghosts is the sequel to Touching the Void, & continues Joe simpson`s examination of his own psyche & also the motivations of climbers in general. This is a remarkable book by a remarkably lucky individual, a homage to a breed of men & women who to the rest of us appear to be touched by lunacy, but who are forever questing, forever valiant
- Sunday Express
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If you had told Helen two years ago that she would be getting up at 6 a.m. on Sundays to swim in a freezing reservoir & spending her Saturday nights unshowered & covered in mud in a pub, she would have spat out her champagne. But when everyone around you starts settling down, what else is a glamorous party girl to do but to launch herself into the world of endurance sport? For someone who didn`t even own a pair of flat shoes (and definitely no waterproofs), Helen would soon find she had a lot to learn. Join Helen on her hilarious & soul-searching journey as she swaps a life of cocktail bars & dating for the challenges & exhilaration of triathlons, trail runs, obstacle races, long-distance cycles & ocean swims... & sets herself the seemingly impossible goal of qualifying as a Team GB triathlete. ...

As Karl Maier makes clear in the preface to his diligent, urgent study of Africa`s largest nation, Nigeria is not a developing country, but an under-developing one. Rich in natural resources, since the British departed in 1960, ”the bastard son of imperialism” has gone from being the premier African voice to a dissenting cacophony made up of its various ethnic, geographic & religious groupings. At the start of the new Millennium, Nigeria looks in danger of succumbing to regionalism, the alter ego of globalisation, & could descend into a disastrous turmoil of regional violence unprecedented since the Biafran war. This is the third, & worst, scenario envisaged by Maier, as he concludes what is a richly researched & vigorous survey of the country & its people. Maier was an African correspondent for Western newspapers for 10 years, & reported from Nigeria from 1991 to 1993. He opens his account with the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, following it with swift analyses of historic Nigerian tensions, such as election monitoring, the numerous military coups, the battle of the Ogoni people in the Niger delta against oil producers & their own government, religious tensions between Muslims & non-Muslim communities, Sharia rule & the survival of the Igbo people. ...

This House is Not for Sale is a story about a house in an African neighbourhood, the Family House, owned & ruled over by the patriarchal, business-minded Grandpa
- by turns benevolent & cruel
- & home to his wives, children, grandchildren, & the many in his service. It tells the stories of the people who live there, of the curse placed on the house by one of its former occupants, of the evil & brutality that transpires there, & finally of its downfall. By the acclaimed author of Voice of America, This House is Not for Sale is a brilliantly inventive debut novel which draws on the rich oral traditions of Nigeria & is full of wisdom & dark humour. From everyday violence & magic, to the voices of gossiping neighbours, here is an utterly engrossing story of an African community, its culture & traditions, & the power of storytelling.

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Reporting from the cutting edge of scientific discovery, today`s visionary thinkers target the greatest roadblocks to innovation. Few truly new ideas are developed without first abandoning old ones. In the past, discoveries often had to wait for the rise of the next generation to see questions in a new light & let go of old truisms. Today, in a world that is defined by a rapid rate of change, staying on the cutting edge has as much to do with shedding outdated notions as adopting new ones. In this spirit, John Brockman, publisher of the online salon Edge.org (”the world`s smartest website”--The Guardian), asked 175 of the world`s most influential scientists, economists, artists, & philosophers: What scientific idea is ready for retirement? Jared Diamond explores the diverse ways that new ideas emerge * Nassim Nicholas Taleb takes down the standard deviation * Richard Thaler & novelist Ian Mc Ewan reveal the usefulness of ”bad” ideas * Steven Pinker dismantles the working theory of human behavior * Richard Dawkins renounces essentialism * Sherry Turkle reevaluates our expectations of artificial intelligence * Physicist Andrei Linde suggests that our universe & its laws may not be as unique as we think * Martin Rees explains why scientific understanding is a limitless goal * Alan Guth rethinks the origins of the universe * Sam Harris argues that our definition of science is too narrow * Nobel Prize winner Frank Wilczek disputes the division between mind & matter * Lawrence Krauss challenges the notion that the laws of physics were preordained * plus contributions from Daniel Goleman, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Nicholas Carr, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Matt Ridley, Stewart Br&, Sean Carroll, Daniel C. Dennett, Helen Fisher, Douglas Rushkoff, Lee Smolin, Kevin Kelly, Freeman Dyson, & others. ...

The contribution of diplomatic, military, & naval exploits in the formation of the British Empire are well recorded, but far less well-known are those of botanic gardens which, in their own unsung way, helped to underpin the Empire`s commercial success & were also instrumental in furthering botanical knowledge around the world. Christian Lamb, distinguished plantswoman & garden historian, writes in her introduction ” It so happens that I `collect` botanic gardens... this book is a nebulous collection of a few chosen botanic gardens from the vast array available--the stars in their spheres... & the remarkable array of the often learned & entrepreneurial characters that created them.” ...