The dramatic arc of Saigo Takamoria s life from his humble origins as a lowly samurai to national leadership to his death as a rebel leader has captivated generations of Japanese readers & now Americans as well -- his life is the inspiration for a major Hollywood film The Last Samurai starring Tom Cruise & Ken Watanabe. In this vibrant new biography Mark Ravina professor of history & Director of East Asian Studies at Emory University explores the facts behind Hollywood storytelling & Japanese legends & explains the passion & poignancy of Saigoa s life. Known both for his scholarly research & his appearances on The History Channel Ravina recreates the world in which Saigo lived & died the last days of the samurai. The Last Samurai traces Saigoa s life from his early days as a tax clerk in far southwestern Japan through his rise to national prominence as a fierce imperial loyalist. Saigo was twice exiled for his political activities ---- sent to Japana s remote southwestern islands where he fully expected to die. But exile only increased his reputation for loyalty & in 1864 he was brought back to the capital to help his lord fight for the restoration of the emperor. In 1868 Saigo commanded his lorda s forces in the battles which toppled the shogunate & he became & leader in the emperor Meijia s new government. But Saigo found only anguish in national leadership. He understood the need for a modern conscript army but longed for the days of the traditional warrior. Saigo hoped to die in service to the emperor. In 1873 he sought appointment as envoy to Korea where he planned to demand that the Korean king show deference to the Japanese emperor drawing his sword if necessary top defend imperial honor. Denied this chance to show his courage & loyalty he retreated to his homeland & spent his last years as a schoolteacher training samurai boys in frugality honesty & courage. In 1876 when the government stripped samurai of their swords Saigoa s followers rose in rebellion & Saigo became their reluctant leader. His insurrection became the bloodiest war Japan had seen in centuries killing over 12 000 men on both sides & nearly bankrupting the new imperial government. The imperial government denounced Saigo as a rebel & a traitor but their propaganda could not overcome his fame & in 1889 twelve years after his death the government relented pardoned Saigo of all crimes & posthumously restored him to imperial court rank. In THE LAST SAMURAI Saigo is as compelling a character as Robert E. Lee was to Americans--a great & noble warrior who followed the dictates of honor & loyalty even though it meant civil war in a country to which hea d devoted his life. Saigoa s life is a fascinating look into Japanese feudal society & a history of a country as it struggled between its long traditions & the dictates of a modern future. ...

British studio potter Michael Cardew (1901-1983) was a man of paradox a modernist who disliked modernity a colonial servant who despised Empire & an intellectual who worked with his hands. After graduating from Oxford in 1923 he made majestic slipware alongside legendary potter Bernard Leach. Wartime service in Ghana made Cardew fiercely critical of British overseas policies; he remained in West Africa intermittently until 1965 founding a local tradition of stoneware. Beginning in the late 1960s he travelled through Australia & North America teaching pottery & demonstrating against racism & its consequences. By the time of his death he had established himself as one of the finest 20th-century potters & as a voice of political dissent & counterculture. This is the first biography of his remarkable life. Harrods engaging narrative

Includes:: interviews with friends students & Cardews two surviving sons. Also included are previously unpublished photographs of Cardew & his family as well as colour images of his work.

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Jerusalem 70 AD. As the legions of Rome besiege the Holy Temple a boy is given a secret that he must guard with his life. Southern Germany December 1944. Six emaciated prisoners drag a mysterious crate deep into a disused mine. They too give their lives to keep the secret safe
- they are murdered by their Nazi guards. Egypt Valley of the Kings present day. A body is discovered among some ruins. It appears to be an open-&-shut case but the more Inspector Yusuf Khalifa of the Luxor police uncovers about the dead man the more uneasy he becomes. & his investigation turns out to be anything but routine. Khalifa doesn't know it yet but he is on the trail of an extraordinary long-lost artifact that could in the wrong hands turn the Middle East into a blood bath. It's a dangerous path he's taking
- & to make matters worse he's not alone... From ancient Jerusalem the Crusades Cathar heretics & coded medieval manuscripts to the Holocaust hidden Nazi treasure & the murderous present-day The Last Secret of the Temple is a thrilling rollercoaster ride of adventure in search of a two thousand year-old mystery & a pulse-pounding race against time.

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As civil war between Caesar & Pompey engulfs the Roman world Gordianus the Finder receives an anonymous message informing him of the death of his son Meto who has been acting as a double agent for Caesar. The search for Metos fate brings Gordianus to the besieged seaport of Massilia which is stubbornly holding out against Caesars troops. As famine & slaughter threaten the blockaded city Gordianus is drawn into the intrigues of exiled Romans & duplicitous Massilians. His only friend in the city Hieronymous has been made the doomed scapegoat elected by city officials to bear the sins of the populace & save them all from annihilation. Meanwhile Gordianus is constantly frustrated in his efforts to find out what happened to his son
- & when he witnesses the fall of a young woman from a precipice outside the city called the Sacrifice Rock then the plot begins to thicken...
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This title is presented with an introduction by Victoria Glendinning. The Irish troubles rage but up at the Big House tennis parties dances & flirtations with the English officers continue undisturbed by the ambushes arrests & burning country beyond the gates. Faint vibrations of discord reach the young girl Lois who is straining for her own freedom & she will witness the troubles surge closer & reach their irrevocable inevitable climax. ...

The Last Single Maverick Jace is every bit as gorgeous as his sexy twin brother but rumour has it he is even more marriage-shy. Theres not a woman alive who could make this restless rancher settle down... Until he meets runaway bride Jocelyn. Could her feisty spirit rope in the last single maverick? Puppy Love in Thunder Canyon When quiet reserved orthopaedic surgeon Thomas meets quirky pet therapist Annabel hes surprised by his reaction to her. They couldnt be more different but her bubbly enthusiasm & passion are infectious. Soon the doctors struggling to stay immune to Annabels charms... ...

John Kirk was the only companion of explorer David Livingstone to emerge untainted from the disastrous tragic expedition up the Zambezi river between 1859 & 1863. Three years later Kirk returned to Africa to the notorious island of Zanzibar ancient post of the slave trade between Africa & the Middle East. Half a century after the abolition of slavery in Britain slave trafficking persisted on Africas east coast apparently tolerated & even connived with by parts of the British Empire in the Indian Ocean. Kirk appointed as medical officer to the British Consulate in Zanzibar could do nothing. This extraordinary & controversial book brings Kirks years in Zanzibar to life. The horrors of the overland passage from the interior & the Zanzibar slave market itself are vividly described together with Kirks final bitter conflict with Livingstone who blamed Kirk for his own failings. But it was Kirks success in closing down the slave trade on the island which made him famous across the world. Using private diaries & papers a long forgotten Victorian hero & an extraordinary chapter in British history are revived in detail. ...

Seventeen-year-old Veronica ' Ronnie' Miller's life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced & her father moved from New York City to Wilmington North Carolina. Three years later she remains angry & alienated from her parents especially her father.. .until her mother decides it would be in everyone's best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie's father a former concert pianist & teacher is living a quiet life in the beach town immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church. The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story about love in its myriad forms
- first love the love between parents & children
- that demonstrates as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can the many ways that deeply felt relationships can break our hearts.. .and heal them.

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The whites want war & we will give it to them
- Sitting Bull. This is the archetypal story of the American West. Whether it is
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It is 1881 & General George Pomeroy-Colley commander of the British forces in Natal is planning to stamp out a rebellion. He is convinced the Transvaal Boers can pose no serious threat but he needs reliable information. He calls on former army captain Simon Fonthill. A veteran of the recent Zulu & Sekukuni campaigns Fonthill knows to never underestimate the enemy. He & his servant 352 Jenkins agree to carry out a covert diplomatic assignment. But the greatest test is yet to come. As the two armies converge on the heights of Majuba Hill Fonthill & Jenkins are first into the fray. If they are to break the enemy Colleys men must hold the summit at all costs... ...