Peter Jacksons epic trilogy the biggest film event of the 21st century turned the best-selling book of the 20th century into a popular critical & financial success all over again. This comprehensive collection draws together twenty-five essays on the making the meaning & the reception of The Lord of the Rings. There is a section on the business of the event film critical chapters on techniques & meanings ranging from music to spirituality essays on the multimedia products associated with the films observations on the trilogys global audience & an informative dossier of reviews interviews production details & box-office returns. More closely integrated & more attuned to the global marketplace than the older blockbusters the event film with its attention-grabbing pitch for the status of news will be one of the most influential media forms of the coming years. These meticulous essays combine with Peter Jacksons remarkable trilogy to form a unique entry to the study of 21st century media. ...

A new edition of Arnolds number one media studies textbook Studying the Media is a major event. The only A level textbook to offer full colour throughout this new edition has been thoroughly revised to address the needs of media students taking the new AS/A2 media studies specifications & as pre-course reading for undergraduates. Following the revised specifications it contains much more material on media texts & representations including genre more on globalisation film & new media. The chapter on media research & investigation addresses the needs of students undertaking project work & a glossary of key terms help ensure their understanding of key concepts. Giving students a foundation framework to build on Studying the Media also provides numerous creative exercises & activities with suggestions for future reading & guidelines for further research & analysis. ...

On the heels of the successful Stuff Every Man Should Know" & " Stuff Every Husband Should Know" comes the most important volume yet in Quirks handy guides to practical manhood: " Stuff Every Dad Should Know". Its full of the indispensible hands-on wisdom that all fathers need in order to instill that comforting sense of dad awe in their children including How to Fix a Boo-Boo; How to Stop a Temper Tantrum; Five Great Books to Read with Your Child; How to Rid a Room of Monsters; The Birds & the Bees for All Ages; How to Photograph Your Child; & many more! Blending humour practicality & wholesome family values " Stuff Every Dad Should Know" is a Fathers Day slam dunk & a must-have pocket reference for any dad or dad-to-be." ...

On the heels of the successful Jokes Every Man Should Know" & " Stuff Every Man Should Know" comes the companion for the " Fairer Sex-Stuff Every Woman Should Know". Full of valuable information worthwhile to women of all ages from How to Be a Good Hostess to How to Flirt to How to Change a Tire " Stuff Every Woman Should Know" is a keepsake volume that makes the perfect gift for any gal in your life." ...

Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik is a fantastically entertaining introduction to the strange inner life of materials by one of the The Times 100 most influential scientists in the UK & scientist in residence on Dara O Briain's Science Club. Insightful fascinating. The futuristic materials will elicit gasps. Makes even the most everyday substance seem exciting". (Sunday Times). " Expert deftly written immensely enjoyable". (Observer). " Enthralling...a mission to re-acquaint us with the wonders of the fabric that sustains our lives". (Guardian). "A certain sort of madness may be necessary to pull of what he has attempted here which is a wholesale animation of the inanimate: Miodownik achieves precisely what he sets out to". (The Times). " Wonderful. Miodownik writes well enough to make even concrete sparkle". (Financial Times). Why is glass see-through? What makes elastic stretchy? How come concrete pours? Why does a paperclip bend? Why does any material look & behave the way it does? From the towering skyscrapers of our cities to the most ordinary objects in our homes Stuff Matters tells enthralling stories that explain the science & history of materials we take entirely for granted while introducing some of humankind's most ingenious & improbable inventions. From the tea-cup to the jet engine the silicon chip to the paper clip the plastic in our appliances to the elastic in our underpants world-leading materials scientist Mark Miodownik reveals the miracles of engineering & ingenuity that permeate every aspect of our lives. Along the way he introduces materials that can heal themselves implants that become living bone the explosive that made the movie business materials that might one day save the world
- & others that already have. " Utterly captivating. Every piece of 'stuff' we take for granted in our daily lives has a rich story to tell. A real delight". (Jim Al-Khalili author of Paradox). " The Master of Materials strikes again. Professor Miodownik has a gift for exciting us with his unique combination of the science & the sensuality of the stuff that the world around is made from". (Thomas Heatherwick designer of the Olympic Flame). " Written with such informed & infectious zeal.. . Stuff Matters doesn't just reveal the hidden & amazing structures behind much of what our world is made from it tells the hidden & fascinating stories too". (Quentin Cooper BBC Radio 4). " Stuff Matters has reminded me that historians can spend too much time looking at what people have said & written & not enough on the materials with which we have built modern society. I now understand why epochs in human history are defined by the stuff we have used". (Dan Snow). " An ode to material science. Miodownik delves into the molecules & history of metal paper concrete & chocolate finding poetry & beauty in the details. It's also about the ingenuity of humankind the unique ability of humans to understand the materials around us & to manipulate them". (Alice Roberts). Mark Miodownik recently appeared in The Times' inaugural list of the 100 most influential scientists in the UK. He is Professor of Materials & Society at UCL & presenter of several BBC television documentaries including How it Works & The Genius of Invention as well as appearing as scientist-in-residence on Dara O Briain's Science Club. In 2010 he gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. He is Director of the UCL Institute of Making which is home to a materials library containing some of the most wondrous matter on earth & has collaborated to make interactive events with many museums such as Tate Modern the Hayward Gallery & Wellcome Collection."
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In STUFF THAT SCARES YOUR PANTS OFF! Glenn Murphy shows us that it is OK to be scared & that there are very good reasons why we are able to feel fear. He looks closely at our most common fears including natural disasters predators spiders disease needles dentists crashes darkness speaking in public heights ghosts & monsters to show us how much of that fear is perhaps unnecessary. The result is a fun carefully pitched popular-science title that mixes great true-life stories with the psychology of fear the statistical probabilities of things happening & a lot of reassurance. ...

The Hutton Report in 2004 created todays BBC. It cost the corporation its Chairman & Director General & ushered in an age of self-doubt & caution. It was also the end of the most extraordinary experiment in news management Britain has ever seen the decade of Alastair Campbell
- the Blair courtier who delivered new Labours mission to create the truth. But Lord Hutton condemned the BBC & its journalism without hearing a single word from the man who put the sexed-up dossier story on air
- Today editor Kevin Marsh. Had he done so his conclusions would have been very different. Now outside the BBC Marsh can tell for the first time the inside story of Andrew Gilligans infamous 0607 broadcast on the Today programme. He explains how he was certain the story was true but also how Gilligans flawed reporting fatally damaged the BBCs case. & he tells of his growing disillusion with the British medias ability & appetite for holding power to account
- or even telling the truth. This is an important book for anyone who wants to understand the toe-to-toe confrontations between Tony Blairs government & the BBC & the fight to keep BBC journalism independent in the face of unprecedented government pressure.


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The Royal School of Needlework (RSN) teaches hand embroidery to the highest standard & is well respected all over the world. It not only upholds the traditions of English embroidery that go back many hundreds of years but is constantly taking embroidery forwards in new & innovative ways. This series of Essential Stitch Guides has been produced in close collaboration with the RSN with the aim of providing a set of definitive works on traditional embroidery techniques. All of the authors were chosen by the RSN & all are graduate apprentices of the Royal School. In Stumpwork Kate Sinton brings together all of the major techniques & stitches associated with stumpwork embroidery to produce a stunning book that reflects both her expertise as an embroiderer & her artistic talent. For both expert advice & innovation this book is second to none. ...

Jane Nicholas' fascination with beetles became an absolute passion when she discovered Evans' & Bellamy's book An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles" in a store in Indianapolis in 1998. As she turned each page her imagination was captured visualising the stumpwork beetles that could be stitched using the photographs for inspiration. Hence the stumpwork beetle specimen box was born. Jane has always recorded ideas & drawn sketches in a notebook & as the months went by the entries burgeoned to interpret the beetle not only in stumpwork but in many other forms of embroidery: glittering goldwork beetles inspired by Art Nouveau jewellery; beaded beetles from mosaic buttons; redwork beetles first seen on an antique quilt on display in Omaha Nebraska; & beetles in surface stitchery using lustrous silk & metallic threads. Jane's hope is that this book will "delight & inspire" & that readers may find an idea that they just have to stitch!" ...

In a world in crisis children are the future. Part of the cure. Not now. Children are deadly. Marked one to ten. Fiona is a TEN. She just doesn't know it yet.. . She doesn't know her true strength. Fiona doesn't remember going to sleep. But she has woken to find her entire world has changed
- her house is abandoned & broken & her neighbourhood is barren & dead. Even stranger is the tattoo on her right wrist that she doesn't remember getting but somehow knows she must cover at any cost. & she's right. When the honeybee population collapsed a worldwide pandemic occurred & the government tried to bio-engineer a cure. But instead the vaccination turned people into ferocious deadly beasts. They have been branded as a warning to unvaccinated survivors. Key people needed to rebuild society are protected inside a fortress-like wall. Fiona has awakened branded alone & on the wrong side of the wall.. .
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