In the 22nd Century a group of misfits & mavericks are preparing to leave behind everything they have known. Advanced technology has created a one-way time portal to Earth's Pliocene Era -- six million years ago. Those seeking a better life are drawn to the promise of a simple utopia far from the civilised Galactic Mileu. But no one could have predicted the dangers on the other side. For the group will enter the battleground of two warring alien races exiled from a distant planet. & these races not only have potent mind powers but seek to exploit & enslave humans for their own needs. The travellers are about to discover that their unspoilt paradise is far from Eden. Winner of the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. ' Julian May has woven a many-coloured tapestry of exotic adventure' Roger Zelazny 'I was captivated by its glamorous sinister movement through the misty forests of Earth's true past' Fritz Leiber ...

Jung Changs Wild Swans was an extraordinary bestseller throughout the world selling more than 10 million copies & reaching a wider readership than any other book about China. Now she & her husband Jon Halliday have written a groundbreaking biography of Mao Tse-tung. Based on a decade of research & on interviews with many of Maos close circle in China who have never talked before
- & with virtually everyone outside China who had significant dealings with him
- this is the most authoritative life of Mao ever written. It is full of startling revelations exploding the myth of the Long March & showing a completely unknown Mao: he was not driven by idealism or ideology; his intimate & intricate relationship with Stalin went back to the 1920s ultimately bringing him to power; he welcomed Japanese occupation of much of China; & he schemed poisoned & blackmailed to get his way. After Mao conquered China in 1949 his secret goal was to dominate the world. In chasing this dream he caused the deaths of 38 million people in the greatest famine in history. In all well over 70 million Chinese perished under Maos rule
- in peacetime. Combining meticulous history with the story-telling style of Wild Swans this biography makes immediate Maos roller-coaster life as he intrigued & fought every step of the way to force through his unpopular decisions. The reader enters the shadowy chambers of Maos court & eavesdrops on the drama in its hidden recesses. Maos character & the enormity of his behaviour towards his wives mistresses & children are unveiled for the first time. This is an entirely fresh look at Mao in both content & approach. It will astonish historians & the general reader alike.


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Winner of the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction 2011 Between 1958 & 1962 45 million Chinese people were worked starved or beaten to death. Mao Zedong threw his country into a frenzy with the Great Leap Forward an attempt to catch up with & overtake the Western world in less than fifteen years. It lead to one of the greatest catastrophes the world has ever known. Dikotters extraordinary research within Chinese archives brings together for the first time what happened in the corridors of power with the everyday experiences of ordinary people giving voice to the dead & disenfranchised. This groundbreaking account definitively recasts the history of the Peoples Republic of China. ...

Raised in a desperately poor village during the height of Chinas Cultural Revolution Li Cunxins childhood revolved around the commune his family & Chairman Maos Little Red Book. Until that is Madame Maos cultural delegates came in search of young peasants to study ballet at the academy in Beijing & he was thrust into a completely unfamiliar world. When a trip to Texas as part of a rare cultural exchange opened his eyes to life & love beyond Chinas borders he defected to the United States in an extraordinary & dramatic tale of Cold War intrigue. Told in his own distinctive voice this is Lis inspirational story of how he came to be Maos last dancer & one of the worlds greatest ballet dancers. ...

This is the true story of a poor Chinese peasant boy who plucked unsuspectingly at the age of ten from millions of others across the land to be trained as a ballet dancer turned the situation to his advantage to become one of the world's greatest ballet stars. Simply told with charm humour & compassion & at times this is a great drama. His childhood despite the terrible hardships is drawn with love & affection & contrasts starkly with the seven lonely years of gruelling training at the Peking Dance Academy. At the age of l 8 Li performs at the Houston Ballet school in the US which leads to his dramatic defection. This is a condensed edition specially for younger readers & has an Afterword especially for children. ...

This comprehensive guidebook to navigation with a map & compass but also with advice about using GPS & digital mapping systems aims to help readers make the most of their outdoor experiences by learning how to use the map compass correctly. The techniques described will give readers the freedom to get away from the crowds invent their own routes & discover new areas even where the GPS fails. Chapters cover understanding a map features grid refs contours; planning walks carefully; taking bearings walking with a compass; timing pacing & other techniques; what to do when you get lost & in poor visibility or darkness; navigating abroad & GPS & other digital technology. Packed with useful practical exercises & examples. Written by an experienced navigation trainer. ...

Having made his name with an exhibition of photographs of Michelin roadmaps
- beautiful works that won praise from every corner
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Maps are not just diagrams of the route from A to B
- from the earliest times they have helped us make sense of our world from
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Map of a Nation tells the story of the creation of the Ordnance Survey map
- the first complete accurate affordable map of the
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When a group of parishioners is burned to death in a German cathedral the US sends in SIGMA FORCE. For this tragedy is more than a case of arson
- someone has stolen the priceless treasure stored in the cathedrals golden reliquary: the bones of the biblical Three Kings. Commander Gray Pierce leads a team on the hunt for the Royal Dragon Court a clandestine aristocratic fraternity of alchemists that dates back to the Middle Ages & seeks to establish a new world order using the mystical bones. Pierce & his team follow a trail that leads from Europes Gothic cathedrals through the remnants of the seven wonders of the ancient world to a mystical place where science & religion unite to unleash a threat not seen since the beginning of time itself...
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