The decline of the West is something that has long been prophesied. Symptoms of decline are all around us today it seems: slowing growth crushing debts aging populations anti-social behaviour. But what exactly is amiss with Western civilization? The answer Niall Ferguson argues is that our institutions
- the intricate frameworks within which a society can flourish or fail
- are degenerating. Representative government the free market the rule of law & civil society: these were once the four pillars of West European & North American societies. It was these institutions rather than any geographical or climatic advantages that set the West on the path to global dominance after around 1500. In our time however these institutions have deteriorated in disturbing ways. Our democracies have broken the contract between the generations by heaping IOUs on our children & grandchildren. Our markets are increasingly distorted by over-complex regulations that are in fact the disease of which they purport to be the cure. The rule of law has metamorphosed into the rule of lawyers. & civil society has degenerated into uncivil society where we lazily expect all our problems to be solved by the state. The Degeneration of the West" a powerful
- & in places polemical
- indictment of an era of negligence & complacency. While the Arab world struggles to adopt democracy & while China struggles to move from economic liberalization to the rule of law Europeans & Americans alike are frittering away the institutional inheritance of centuries. To arrest the degeneration of the Wests once dominant civilization Ferguson warns will take heroic leadership & radical reform. This book is based on Niall Fergusons 2012 BBC Reith Lectures which were broadcast under the title " The Rule of Law & Its Enemies"."



...

Fat unlovely Roberta Teys is found beside her fathers headless corpse wearing her best dress & with an axe in her lap. Her first words are: I did it. & I am not sorry & she refuses to say more. Inspector Thomas Lynley & DS Barbara Havers are sent by Scotland Yard to solve this particularly gruesome murder. & as they navigate their way around a dark labyrinth of secret scandals & appalling crimes they uncover a series of shocking revelations that shatter the facade of the peaceful Yorkshire village. ...

This is a new edition of this classic search sure to keep children entertained for hours on end whilst developing important visual recognition matching & counting skills. Each beautifully illustrated scene features a brain-teasing picture puzzle. You can see dinosaurs of all shapes & sizes across the word & through time. It is packed with fascinating facts presented in short easy-to-read captions. ...

In 15 000 B.C. early humankind who had evolved in Africa tens of thousands of years before & spread out to populate the Earth arrived in Siberia during the Ice Age. Because so much water was locked up at that time in the great ice sheets several miles thick the levels of the worlds oceans were much lower than they are today & early humans were able to walk across the Bering Strait then a land bridge without getting their feet wet & enter the Americas. Then the Ice Age came to an end the Bering Strait re-filled with water & humans in the Americas were cut off from humans elsewhere in the world. This division
- with two great populations on Earth each oblivious of the other
- continued until Christopher Columbus discovered America just before 1500 A.D. This is the fascinating subject of THE GREAT DIVIDE which compares & contrasts the development of humankind in the Old World & the New between 15 000 B.C. & 1500 A.D. This unprecedented comparison of early peoples means that when these factors are taken together they offer a uniquely revealing insight into what it means to be human. THE GREAT DIVIDE offers a masterly & totally original synthesis of archaeology anthropology geology meteorology cosmology & mythology to give a new shape
- & a new understanding
- to human history.



...

In 15 000 B.C. early humankind who had evolved in Africa tens of thousands of years before & spread out to populate the Earth arrived in Siberia during the Ice Age. Because so much water was locked up at that time in the great ice sheets several miles thick the levels of the worlds oceans were much lower than they are today & early humans were able to walk across the Bering Strait then a land bridge without getting their feet wet & enter the Americas. Then the Ice Age came to an end the Bering Strait refilled with water & humans in the Americas were cut off from humans elsewhere in the world. This division
- with two great populations on Earth each oblivious of the other
- continued until Christopher Columbus discovered America just before 1500 A.D. This is the fascinating subject of THE GREAT DIVIDE which compares & contrasts the development of humankind in the Old World & the New between 15 000 B.C. & 1500 A.D. This unprecedented comparison of early peoples means that when these factors are taken together they offer a uniquely revealing insight into what it means to be human. THE GREAT DIVIDE offers a masterly & totally original synthesis of archaeology anthropology geology meteorology cosmology & mythology to give a new shape
- & a new understanding
- to human history.



...

Every woman holds the power to enchant or to destroy. In New Orleans three women from completely different backgrounds face a turning point in their lives. Ellen a vet at a New Orleans zoo is trying to contain an infectious disease that threatens the zoos animals. At the same time she must come to terms with her crumbling marriage. Alongside her works Camille an enigmatic & disturbed young woman whose terrifying fantasies threaten to overwhelm her. Finally there is Elisabeth The Catwoman of St Francisville who was hanged in 1845 for murdering her bullying husband in horrific circumstances. In a compelling tale that bristles with energy & a sense of foreboding their stories converge to reveal the secrets behind the untamed aspects of human nature. ...

The day has arrived for the Dogs' Summer Ball. It's so high class that each dog must remove their bottom before they are allowed inside the hall. But in the middle of all the frivolity something unexpected happens & the dogs have to make a hasty exit...with or without the correct bottom! ...

Suzannes Great-Great-Aunt Deidra has left her dog to Suzannes Mum in her will. Suzanne is over-the-moon about having a dog again after her old dog Barney was sent away to a farm by her Dad. But when Beatrice the Newfoundland arrives she is a BIG disappointment. Shes smelly & old & miserable & doesnt like walks or catching sticks or any of the things that dogs are meant to like. So Anna & Suzanne devise a plan to turn Beatrice into a proper dog
- but if they dont pull it off soon Suzannes Dad will send Beatrice away too...
...

George the hero from M. P. Robertson's The Egg has returned in this brand new dragon adventure. George is bored. When it comes to fighting chickens aren't nearly as much fun as dragons. But when George's dragon returns he whisks him off to a fairytale land on a rescue mission. A wicked witch has captured a baby dragon & George realises that he must outwit the witch in order to free the dragon & prevent himself from being turned into a toad for the witch's barbecue. ...

Flat Stanley is back! Ever since Stanley was flattened by a bulletin board there are places he can get to that no one else can. So when Stanley receives a letter from an archaeologist he travels by airmail to Egypt to help find an ancient treasure deep in the heart of a great pyramid. But what if even the flattest boy on earth cant wriggle out of this dark tomb
- & the terrible mess he finds himself in?
...