Niall Ferguson's bestselling Empire" is the compelling story of how the British empire rose to power
- & why it finally fell. Once
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In the international bestseller Roma" Steven Saylor told the story of the first thousand years of Rome by following the descendants of a single bloodline. Now in " Empire" Saylor charts the destinies of five more generations of the Pinarius family from the reign of the first emperor Augustus to the glorious height of Romes empire under Hadrian. Through the eyes of the Pinarii we witness the machinations of Tiberius the madness of Caligula the cruel escapades of Nero & the chaos of the Year of Four Emperors in 69 A.D. The deadly paranoia of Domitian is followed by the Golden Age of Trajan & Hadrianobut even the most enlightened emperors wield the power to inflict death & destruction on a whim. " Empire" is strewn with spectacular scenes including the Great Fire of 64 A.D. that ravaged the city Neros terrifying persecution of the Christians & the mind-blowing opening games of the Colosseum. But at the novels heart are the wrenching choices & seductive temptations faced by each new generation of the Pinarii. One unwittingly becomes the sexual plaything of the notorious Messalina. One enters into a clandestine affair with a Vestal virgin. One falls under the charismatic spell of Nero while another is drawn into the strange new cult of those who deny the gods & call themselves Christians. However diverse their destinies & desires all the Pinarii are united by one thing: the mysterious golden talisman called the fascinum handed down from a time before Rome existed. As it passes from generation to generation the fascinum seems to exercise a power not only over those who wear it but over the very fate of the empire. Praise for Steven Saylor: " Saylor expertly weaves the true history of Rome with the lives & loves of its fictional citizens". (" Daily Express"). " Saylors scholarship is breathtaking & his writing enthrals". (Ruth Rendell). " With the scalpel-like deftness of a Hollywood director Saylor puts his finger on the very essence of Roman history". (" Times Literary Supplement"). " Readers will find his work wonderfully (and gracefully) researched...this is entertainment of the first order". (" Washington Post")." ...

The influence of the British Empire is everywhere from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything from Prime Ministers decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think were good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; & the hopeless losers we will on & the food we hunger for the empire is never very far away. In this acute & witty analysis Jeremy Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers (intended to weed out the cad the feeble & the too clever) the importance of sport the sweating domestic life of the colonial officers wife (the challenge with cooking meat was to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness & putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable) & the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy & comedy of Empire & reveals its profound & lasting effect on our nation & ourselves." ...

The influence of the British Empire is everywhere from the very existence of the United Kingdom to the ethnic composition of our cities. It affects everything from Prime Ministers decisions to send troops to war to the adventurers we admire. From the sports we think were good at to the architecture of our buildings; the way we travel to the way we trade; & the hopeless losers we will on & the food we hunger for the empire is never very far away. In this acute & witty analysis Jeremy Paxman goes to the very heart of empire. As he describes the selection process for colonial officers (intended to weed out the cad the feeble & the too clever) the importance of sport the sweating domestic life of the colonial officers wife (the challenge with cooking meat was to grasp the fleeting moment between toughness & putrefaction when the joint may possibly prove eatable) & the crazed end for General Gordon of Khartoum Paxman brings brilliantly to life the tragedy & comedy of Empire & reveals its profound & lasting effect on our nation & ourselves." ...

Empire magazine is the biggest selling most respected film magazine on the planet. From the biggest blockbusters to the coolest indies to the most revered art house flicks Empire magazine brings you the best in cinema & DVD every month razzing your retinas with stunning photo shoots & exclusive pictures bringing you interviews with the biggest star names from the hottest locations & helping you plan your viewing with the most comprehensive reviews section around
- all with Empire magazines unique informed irreverent sense of humour.
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Frade & company must face one of their most delicate & dangerous tasks to date... October 1945: The Germans & Japanese have surrendered. For Cletus Frade & his colleagues in the OSS it should be time to pack up but they have far more important things to do. The United States made a secret deal with the German head of intelligence: in exchange for the identity of the Soviet spies in the American atomic bomb program his people would be spirited to safety. Frade & company must keep everyone safe
- but some people have other ideas...
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Gavin Francis fulfilled a lifetimes ambition when he spent fourteen months as the base-camp doctor at Halley a profoundly isolated British research station on the Caird Coast of Antarctica. So remote it is said to be easier to evacuate a casualty from the International Space Station than it is to bring someone out of Halley in winter. Antarctica offered a year of unparalleled silence & solitude with few distractions & very little human history but also a rare oppurtunity to live among emperor penguins the only species truly at home in the Antarctic. Following the penguins throughout the year
- from a summer of perpetual sunshine to months of winter darkness
- Gavin Francis explores a world of great beauty conjured from the simplest elements the hardship of living at 50degree C below zero & the unexpected comfort that the penguin community bring. Empire Antarctica" is the story of one man & his fascination with the worlds loneliest continent as well as the emperor penguins who weather the winter with him. Combining an evocative narrative with a sublime sensitivity to the natural world this is travel writing at its very best."

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The Short 'C' Class Empire flying boats were designed in 1934 to implement the Empire Air Mail Scheme. They were operated by Imperial Airways (forerunner of British Airways) QANTAS & Tasman Empire Airways carrying letter mail throughout the British Empire & Dominions. Small numbers of passengers & freight were also carried. With privileged access to the British Airways Heritage Collection author Brian Cassidy describes the genesis & anatomy of the Empire boats their service career operation & maintenance of the Empires & the experience of travelling by flying boat in the 1930s. ...

The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace for decades bastions of civilization prosperity & sophistication. They have been protected by treaties trade & a belief in the reasonable nature of their neighbours. But meanwhile in far-off corners the Wasp Empire has been devouring city after city with its highly trained armies its machines its killing Art.. . And now its hunger for conquest & war has become insatiable. Only the ageing Stenwold Maker spymaster artificer & statesman can see that the long days of peace are over. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people -- as soon a black-&-gold tide will sweep down over the Lowlands & burn away everything in its path. But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empires latest victim. I cannot even begin to explain how much I enjoy the Shadows of the Apt books. Their level of originality & the sheer epic-ness makes for some of the best fantasy entertainment out there LECBook Reviews.com ...

In this tour de force of original cultural history Paul Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre & devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This is the first book to bring together the worlds most important charnel sites ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy & the skull-encrusted columns of the ossuary in Evora in Portugal to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman decorated with the exhumed skeletons of his Spanish ancestors. Illustrated with specially taken photographs of sites rarely open to the public & forgotten archive images of others long destroyed this mesmerising shocking & deeply moving book is an essential memento mori for our modern age. ...