Vaclav Klaus is President of the Czech Republic. He hit the headlines most recently by refusing like David Cameron to sign up to the deal to bail out the Greek Government. In this new book President Klaus examines the uneasy Europe of today without illusions or personal attacks but with a mercilessly realistic view of the system that Europe has created in the last half century. He examines the benefits of integrating the continent in strictly economic terms & explains the tragic flaw in the original plan to do so. They feared the consequences of nationalism & wanted to work for transcontinental unity. Klaus argues that the present situation is unstable & unsustainable. The President proposes a transformation of both the socio-economic system & the integration model of European unity turning back to the market economy & a more realistic cooperation between European states. ...

Half a millennium of European warfare brilliantly retold by masterly historian Brendan Simms. At the heart of Europe's history lies a puzzle. In most of the world humankind has created enormous political frameworks whether ancient (such as China) or modern (such as the United States). Sprawling empires kingdoms or republics appear to be the norm. By contrast Europe has remained stubbornly chaotic & fractured into often amazingly tiny pieces with each serious attempt to unify the continent (by Charles V Napoleon & Hitler) thwarted. In this marvelously ambitious & exciting new book Brendan Simms tells the story of Europe's constantly shifting geopolitics & the peculiar circumstances that have made it both so impossible to dominate but also so dynamic & ferocious. It is the story of a group of highly competitive & mutually suspicious dynasties but also of a continent uniquely prone to interference from 'semi-detached' elements such as Russia the Ottoman Empire Britain & (just as centrally to Simms' argument) the United States. Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy will become the standard work on this crucial subject
- & an extremely enjoyable one. Reviews: This is a brilliant & beautifully written history. From the Holy Roman Empire to the Euro Brendan Simms shows that one of the constant preoccupations of Europeans has always been the geography the power & the needs of Germany. Europe is a work of extraordinary scholarship delivered with the lightest of touches. It will be essential absorbing reading for anyone trying to understand both the past & the present of one of the most productive & most dangerous continents on earth". (William Shawcross). " World history is German history & German history is world history. This is the powerful case made by this gifted historian of Europe whose expansive erudition revives the proud tradition of the history of geopolitics & whose immanent moral sensibility reminds us that human choices made in Berlin (and London) today about the future of Europe might be decisive for the future of the world". (Timothy Snyder (author of Bloodlands)). About the author: Brendan Simms is Professor of the History of International Relations at the University of Cambridge. His major books include Unfinest Hour: Britain & the Destruction of Bosnia (shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize) & Three Victories & a Defeat: The Rise & Fall of the First British Empire."
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Exploring Europe by train is so easy economical & enjoyable. Based around 50 routes that reveal Europes rich diversity from the Atlantic coast to the Bosphorus from northern fjords to Spanish sierras Europe by Rail" is the definitive guide to exploring the continent by train. Get advice on travel planning & find the best ticket deals with the help of our insider tips. Whether you want the buzz of big cities a dose of southern sun or just prefer to sit back & watch the landscape slide by " Europe by Rail" is packed with detailed information on what to see where to stay & how to get around." ...

Europe is a patchwork of more than 40 compulsively individualistic countries & is a dazzling & spectacular place to explore. Jump in almost anywhere & join the party. Tom Masters Lonely Planet Writer Our Promise You can trust our travel information because Lonely Planet authors visit the places we write about each & every edition. We never accept freebies for positive coverage & you can rely on us to tell it like we see it. Inside This Book 37 authors 45 countries 6+ months on the ground research 300+ hours of train travel Inspirational photos Clear easy-to-use maps In-depth background At-a-glance practical info Comprehensive planning tools Easy-to-read layout ...

This title is the winner of the Society for Military History Distinguished Book Award 2011. The horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618-48) tore the heart out of Europe killing perhaps a quarter of all Germans & laying waste to whole areas of Central Europe to such a degree that many towns & regions never recovered. All the major European powers apart from Russia were heavily involved & while each country started out with rational war aims the fighting rapidly spiralled out of control with great battles giving way to marauding bands of starving soldiers spreading plague & murder. The war was both a religious & a political one & it was this tangle of motives that made it impossible to stop. Whether motivated by idealism or cynicism everyone drawn into the conflict was destroyed by it. At its end a recognizably modern Europe had been created but at a terrible price. Peter Wilsons book is a major work the first new history of the war in a generation & a fascinating brilliantly written attempt to explain a compelling series of events. Wilsons great strength is in allowing the reader to understand the tragedy of mixed motives that allowed rulers to gamble their countries future with such horrifying results. The principal actors in the drama (Wallenstein Ferdinand II Gustavus Adolphus Richelieu) are all here but so is the experience of the ordinary soldiers & civilians desperately trying to stay alive under impossible circumstances. ...

Peasant cookery is the foundation on which all subsequent cuisines is based. A rich oral tradition passed down through generations the peasant kitchen offers healthy real food
- the antithesis of fast-food catering
- & is as relevant now as it was centuries ago. In this remarkable book Elisabeth Luard sets out to record the principles of European cookery & to rediscover what has been lost in over-refinement. The recipes come from twenty-five countries ranging from Ireland in the west to Romania in the east Iceland in the north to Turkey in the south. It is an enormous compendium which covers Vegetables dishes Potato dishes Beans Lentils Polenta & Cornmeal Rice Pasta & Noodles Eggs Milk & Cheeses Fish Poultry Small Game Pork Shepherds Meats Beef Breads & Yeast Pastries Sweet Dishes Herbs Mushrooms & Fungi Oils & Preserves. Written with the scrupulous attention to detail & authenticity that is the hallmark of Elisabeth Luards cookery writing the recipes are peppered with hundreds of fascinating anecdotes & little known facts about local history & folklore.

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This title is presented in quick easy-to-use & a perfect size to fit in your pocket. It is organized by subjects such as everyday phrases hotels travelling around &

Includes:: an extensive menu section. It uses a simple & effective system of imitated pronunciation.

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A well-planned holiday is a trouble-free holiday & this reference guide will help you in researching & planning any trip. This special summer edition of the European Rail Timetable is an extended version of the regular monthly edition. It is packed full of schedules & essential information on trains & ferries throughout Europe. Editions twice annually for Summer & Winter schedules published in June & December.

Includes:: new schedules from 10 June 2012 timings for over 50 000 rail connections in Europe serving over 5 000 destinations country by country travel information & a comprehensive guide to European rail passes. 72 page ' Beyond Europe' supplement containing principal rail services for destinations outside of Europe. Information on many other topics including ferry sailings & airport to city centre transport links.

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This expanded edition of the European Rail Timetable is published twice per year based on the June (Summer) & December (Winter) editions of the monthly timetable. As well as all the information from the regular edition it

Includes:: a detailed feature on European rail passes & a special country by country section with a host of useful information on rail & bus travel currencies embassies holidays telephones tourist offices visas & much more. It also contains all six of the Beyond Europe sections from previous monthly issues with principal rail timings for popular areas around the world.

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Since its first appearance in 1991 The European Reformation has offered a clear integrated & coherent analysis & explanation of how Christianity in Western & Central Europe from Iceland to Hungary from the Baltic to the Pyrenees splintered into separate Protestant & Catholic identities & movements. Catholic Christianity at the end of the Middle Ages was not at all a uniformly decadent or corrupt institution: it showed clear signs of cultural vigour & inventiveness. However it was vulnerable to a particular kind of criticism if ever its claims to mediate the grace of God to believers were challenged. Martin Luther proposed a radically new insight into how God forgives human sin. In this new theological vision rituals did not purify people; priests did not need to be set apart from the ordinary community; the church needed no longer to be an international body. For a critical Reformation moment this idea caught fire in the spiritual political & community life of much of Europe. Lay people seized hold of the instruments of spiritual authority & transformed religion into something simpler more local more rooted in their own community. So were born the many cultures liturgies musical traditions & prayer lives of the countries of Protestant Europe. This new edition embraces & responds to developments in scholarship over the past twenty years. Substantially re-written & updated with both a thorough revision of the text & fully updated references & bibliography it nevertheless preserves the distinctive features of the original including its clearly thought-out integration of theological ideas & political cultures helping to bridge the gap between theological & social history & the use of helpful charts & tables that made the original so easy to use. ...