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Reading Clausewitz
by Beatrice HeuserClausewitz's On War, first published in 1832, remains the most famous study of the nature and conditions of warfare. Contemporaries found him 'endearing' or 'totally unpalatable', while later generations called him 'the father of modern strategical study', whose tenets have 'eternal relevance', or dismissed him as outdated. Was it really he who made the discovery that warfare is a continuation of politics? Was he the 'Mahdi of mass and mutual massacre', in part responsible for the mass slaughter of the First World War, as Liddell Hart contended? Can the idea of total war be traced back to him? Complex and often misunderstood, Clausewitz has fascinated and influenced generations of politicians and strategic thinkers. Beatrice Heuser's study is the first book, not only on how to read Clausewitz, but also on how others have read him - from the Prussian and German masters of warfare of the late nineteenth century through to the military commanders of the First World War, through Lenin and Mao Zedong to strategists in the nuclear age and of guerrilla warfare. The result is an accessible and comprehensive introduction to the work and influence of the greatest classic on the art of war.
Villa And Zapata: A Biography of the Mexican Revolution
by Frank McLynnThe Mexican Revolution (1910-19) was the first seismic social convulsion of the twentieth century, superseded in historical importance only by the Russian and Chinese revolutions. Tierra y Libertad (Land and Liberty) was the watchword of the revolutionaries who fought a succession of autocrats in Mexico City. But the revolution was fired by a confusing multiplicity of issues: local, national, international, cultural, racial and economic. The two greatest rebel leaders were Francisco (Pancho) Villa and Emiliano Zapata, and Frank McLynn here tells the story of the Revolution through a dual biography of these legendary heroes.The great ten-year struggle that devastated Mexico was essentially a war on two fronts: in the north waged by Villa and a mobile army of ex-cowboys and ranchers; and in the south carried on by Zapata and an infantry army recruited from the peons of the sugar plantations. Villa was the Revolution's great military hero, but Zapata was its soul and the only rebel whose revolt was aimed at a genuine root-and-branch transformation of Mexican society. The two men reached the peak of their careers in 1914 when they met briefly in triumph in Mexico City. Failing to make common cause, over the next five years they gradually fell victim to their great rivals, Obregon and Carranza.Mixed up in the turbulent melting pot of the Revolution were the US government, American oil interests and German secret agents, and among the dramatic events McLynn discusses are Villa's raid on Columbus, Pershing's punitive expedition south of the border and the Zimmermann telegraph. Villa and Zapata is an enthralling biography and a remarkable work of history.
The Killing Zone: One Regiment Under Fire On Afghanistan's Front Line
by Richard DorneyOn a tour of duty in the Helmand River Valley, the Grenadier Guards faced the toughest challenge of their lives...Carrying out patrols in the most fiercely contested land in Afghanistan the Guards were under fire almost constantly. The summer of 2007 saw some of the most frequent and intense combat yet, beyond what anyone could have predicted. Based in isolated forward operating bases their nearest reinforcements were often miles away, down a track strewn with deadly roadside bombs. The Killing Zone is an action-packed and authentic insight into the real Afghanistan. This is what it’s like to deliberately draw fire on your own position so that your mates can escape an ambush, to experience the adrenaline rush of being the first in to clear a Taliban compound, and to rely on skill, loyalty and quick-thinking to survive in one of the most dangerous places on earth.
Professor Branestawm Stories
by Norman HunterHe's madly sane and cleverly dotty. Professor Branestawm is the craziest genius you'll ever meet and he's back with this bumper collection of hilarious adventures, zany inventions and mind-boggling experiments. So open up for a wacky collection of stories, riddles, puzzles, tricks and tips . . . You'll never get the better of Professor Branestawn but now you can at least get the best!
Alien Invaders: Two Book Bind-up (2 Books in #1)
by Max SilverDiscover the explosive world of Alien Invaders in this awesome introduction to the series - featuring Cosmo's first two adventures in full! Travel at hyperspeed to the moon of Garr where you will battle the first invader ROCKHEAD, the living mountain. Then, fly your own Dragster 7000 spaceship to the jungle planet of Zaman, where you will battle the second invader INFERNOX, the firestarter!Complete with bonus games and puzzles - and fantastic gaming cards that allow you to do battle alongside Cosmo!
The Meaning Of The 21st Century: A Vital Blueprint For Ensuring Our Future
by James MartinJames Martin, one of the world's most widely respected authorities on the impact of technology on society, argues that we are living at a turning point in human history. 'We are travelling at breakneck speed into an era of extremes - extremes of wealth and poverty, extremes in technology, extremes in globalization. If we are to survive, we must learn how to manage them all.' Although we face huge challenges and conflicts, Martin argues that it is in the scientific breakthroughs of the new century that we will find new hope. In a clear, penetrating and insightful style he addresses the key questions of our age and proposes an interconnected set of solutions to its problems.
A Lucid Dreamer: The Life of Peter Redgrove
by Dr Neil Roberts Peter RedgroveThe work of the poet Peter Redgrove is one of the great unexplored treasures of late twentieth century literature. His prolific output presents an intriguing variety of personae: magician, scientist, lover, psychologist, joker, madman. It is only now, with the publication of his Collected Poems and this biography, that we can see how and why these personae developed - and discover the full depth and range of this visionary writer.Born into an apparently conventional middle-class family that was in reality deeply disturbed, the poet finally emerged: transforming himself from the neurotic, Oedipal young scientist, through a process of mental breakdown, insulin coma therapy, erotic revelation and the discovery of poetic companionship at Cambridge - and particularly his friendship and rivalry with Ted Hughes.Neil Roberts explores the inner story of this emergence, and Redgrove's later development through marriage, family life, the fellowship of the 'Group', alcoholic excess, infidelity and marital breakdown to his triumphant later partnership with Penelope Shuttle. We also discover, for the first time, some darker secrets: his fascination with Aleister Crowley, his damaged and damaging relationship with his father, and the lifelong sexual fetish which he called the 'Game'. Drawing on the poet's intimate journals and correspondence, and interviews with family, friends and colleagues, A Lucid Dreamer tells the exceptionally inward and revealing story of an astonishing creative life.
Flight Of The Titans: Boeing, Airbus and the battle for the future of air travel
by Kenny KempThe gripping story of the biggest trade war in aviation history. In October 2007, the colossal Airbus A380, the largest commercial jet in history, will take to the skies. This gigantic double-decker is the first real competitor to Boeing's iconic 747 Jumbo Jet. Meanwhile, Boeing has thrown its weight behind the smaller 787 Deamliner, an aircraft whose emphasis is on fuel economy and reduced emissions. The future of commercial air travel is in the balance, and the outcome is difficult to predict.
Alan Turing: The Enigma
by Andrew HodgesThe official book behind the Academy Award-winning film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley Alan Turing was the mathematician whose cipher-cracking transformed the Second World War. Taken on by British Intelligence in 1938, as a shy young Cambridge don, he combined brilliant logic with a flair for engineering. In 1940 his machines were breaking the Enigma-enciphered messages of Nazi Germany’s air force. He then headed the penetration of the super-secure U-boat communications. But his vision went far beyond this achievement. Before the war he had invented the concept of the universal machine, and in 1945 he turned this into the first design for a digital computer.Turing's far-sighted plans for the digital era forged ahead into a vision for Artificial Intelligence. However, in 1952 his homosexuality rendered him a criminal and he was subjected to humiliating treatment. In 1954, aged 41, Alan Turing took his own life.
The Cold War: A Military History
by David MillerFrom 1949 to 1991 the world was overshadowed by the Cold War. Repeatedly it seemed that in days, even hours, global nuclear conflict would sweep away much of the United States, the Soviet Union and Europe. They would be obliterated in what President Carter described as 'one long, final and very bleak afternoon'. When the Cold War ended, the Warsaw Pact was wound up and the vast military forces which had flourished for over forty years were disbanded. As with all wars, however, it was only then that the realities of what had been involved began to emerge; indeed, much has remained hidden until now.In The Cold War, David Miller discloses not only the vast scope of the military resources involved, but also how nearly threat came to terrible reality. Most chillingly of all, he reveals that while the menace of nuclear war predominated, it was actually little understood even by the experts. The book examines each military area in turn, covering the formation of the two great alliances, and the strategies and major weapons in the rival navies, armies and air forces. That the Cold War ended without a conflict was due to professionalism on both sides. The result, Miller suggests, would have impressed the Chinese military strategist, Sun Tsu, who, writing in the fifth century BC, said that 'to subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill'.
Circulation: William Harvey’s Revolutionary Idea
by Thomas Wright“What I am really anxious to hear is the final cause of your monstrous fiction. For your false invention seems to have no purpose. What reason can you give me for the circulation of the blood?”William Harvey’s theory of circulation was as controversial in its day as Copernicus’ idea that the earth revolved around the sun. Unleashing intellectual anarchy, derailing established ideas, & gaining currency far beyond the walls of the College of Physicians, Harvey’s revolutionary theory went on to permeate the culture and language of 17th century England.Circulation charts the remarkable rise of the yeoman’s son who demolished beliefs held by anatomists since Roman times, going on to become arguably the greatest Englishman in the history of science after Darwin & Newton.
The Urban Beekeeper: A Year of Bees in the City
by Steve BenbowAt a time when the UK bee population is in decline there's no better way to make a difference than to start up your own beehive. Steve Benbow's enormous success with urban beekeeping show's how easy it is to keep bees, whether you're in the city or in the countryside, a beginner or an experienced beekeeper, and you'll never look back once you've tasted your very own sticky, golden honey, or lit a candle made from the beeswax from your beehive.Steve Benbow is a visionary beekeeper who started his first beehive ten years ago on the roof of his tower block in Bermondsey and today runs 30 sites across the city. His bees live atop the Tate Modern and Tate Britain, Fortnum & Mason and the National Portrait Gallery, and he supplies honey to the Savoy tearooms, Harvey Nichols, Harrods and delis across London. His bees forage in parks, cemeteries, along railway lines and in window boxes, and because of the diversity of the plants and trees in the city, produce far richer honey and greater yields than they would in rural areas.The Urban Beekeeper is a fact-filled diary and practical guide to beekeeping that follows a year in the life of Steve and his bees and shows how keeping bees and making your own delicious honey is something anyone can do. It is a tempting glimpse into a sunlit lifestyle that starts with the first rays of the morning and ends with the warm glow of sunset, filled with oozing honeycomb, recipes for sensational honey-based dishes, and honey that tastes like sunshine. A hugely affectionate but practical diary of a beekeeper's year and the immense satisfaction of harvesting your own delicious honey. Read it and join the revolution.
A Very British Killing: The Death of Baha Mousa
by A. T. WilliamsOn 14 September 2003 Baha Mousa, a hotel receptionist, was arrested in Basra by British troops and taken to a military base for questioning. Less than forty-eight hours later he was dead. In A Very British Killing A.T. Williams tells the inside story of this crime and its aftermath, exposing the casual brutality, bureaucratic apathy, and instituional failure to hold people criminally responsible for Mousa's death. What it reveals about Britain and its political and military institutions is explosive.
Fred Dibnah's Age Of Steam
by David Hall Fred DibnahBritains favourite steeplejack and industrial enthusiastic, the late Fred Dibnah, takes us back to the 18th century when the invention of the steam engine gave an enormous impetus to the development of machinery of all types. He reveals how the steam engine provided the first practical means of generating power from heat to augment the old sources of power (from muscle, wind and water) and provided the main source of power for the Industrial Revolution. In Fred Dibnahs Age of Steam Fred shares his passion for steam and meets some of the characters who devote their lives to finding, preserving and restoring steam locomotives, traction engines and stationary engines, mill workings and pumps. Combined with this will be the stories of central figures of the time, including James Watts - inventor of the steam engine - and Richard Trevithick who played a key role in the expansion of industrial Britain in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Soul Made Flesh: How The Secrets of the Brain were uncovered in Seventeenth Century England
by Carl ZimmerAt the beginning of Europe's turbulent seventeenth century, no one knew how the brain worked. By the century's close, the science of the brain had taken root, helping to overturn many common misconceptions about the human body as well as to unseat centuries-old philosophies of man and God. Presiding over this evolution was the founder of modern neurology, Thomas Willis, a fascinating, sympathetic, even heroic figure who stands at the centre of an extraordinary group of scientists and philosophers known as the 'Oxford circle'. Chronicled here in vivid detail are their groundbreaking revelations and often gory experiments that first enshrined the brain as the chemical engine of reason, emotion, and madness - indeed as the very seat of the human soul.
The Emperor Of Scent: A True Story Of Perfume And Obsession
by Chandler BurrIn the tradition of Susan Orlean's The Orchid Thief and James Gleick's Genius, The Emperor of Scent tells the story of Luca Turin, an utterly unusual, stubborn scientist, his otherworldly gift for perfume, his brilliant, quixotic theory of how we smell, and his struggle to set before the world the secret of the most enigmatic of our senses.
High Rollers: Aviation Thriller
by Jack BowmanWhen the engine of a 737 tears itself apart at Los Angeles Airport, Tom Patrick is in the wrong place at the wrong time – playing poker at a nearby casino.He’s been losing at cards and probing pipeline leaks ever since his big mouth led to his fall from grace as the National Transportation Safety Board’s top air-crash investigator. Now he can’t wait to come in from the cold.Sidelined by the official investigation, Tom starts to dig anyway. And when another 737 crashes for what looks like similar reasons, it’s clear that something could be terribly wrong with the world’s most popular passenger jet.Risking everything, Tom Patrick sets out on a global paperchase, racing against time and ruthless killers – before planes and people start falling out of the sky like bloody confetti…BRACE YOURSELF FOR HIGH OCTANE, HIGH RISK… HIGH ROLLERS
An Appetite For Wonder: The Making Of A Scientist
by Richard DawkinsBorn to parents who were enthusiastic naturalists, and linked through his wider family to a clutch of accomplished scientists, Richard Dawkins was bound to have biology in his genes. But what were the influences that shaped his life? And who inspired him to become the pioneering scientist and public thinker now famous (and infamous to some) around the world?In An Appetite for Wonder we join him on a personal journey from an enchanting childhood in colonial Africa, through the eccentricities of boarding school in England, to his studies at the University of Oxford’s dynamic Zoology Department, which sparked his radical new vision of Darwinism, The Selfish Gene. Through Dawkins’s honest self-reflection, touching reminiscences and witty anecdotes, we are finally able to understand the private influences that shaped the public man who, more than anyone else in his generation, explained our own origins.
Charles Waterton 1782-1865: Traveller and Conservationist
by Julia BlackburnCharles Waterton was the first conservationist who fought to protect wild nature against the destruction and pollution of Victorian industrialisation. During his lifetime he was famous for his eccentricities, but also for his achievements and his opinions. A Yorkshire landowner, he turned his park into a sanctuary for animals and birds. As an explorer he learned to survive in the tropical rain forests of South America without a gun or the society of other white men. He was an authority on the poisons used by South American Indians and a taxidermist of note. The huge public that read his books included Dickens, Darwin and Roosevelt. Since his death the memory of Waterton's personal eccenticities has flourished, while the originality of his ideas and work has often suffered. Using his surviving papers, Julia Blackburn has redressed the balance in a biogr aphy that restores Waterton to his place as the first conservationist of the modern age.
Tycho and Kepler: The Unlikely Partnership that Forever Changed our Understanding of the Heavens
by Kitty FergusonThe extraordinary, unlikely tale of Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler and their enormous contribution to astronomy and understanding of the cosmos is one of the strangest stories in the history of science.Kepler was a poor, devoutly religious teacher with a genius for mathematics. Brahe was an arrogant, extravagant aristocrat who possessed the finest astronomical instruments and observations of the time, before the telescope. Both espoused theories that seem off-the-wall to modern minds, but their fateful meeting in Prague in 1600 was to change the future of science.Set in one of the most turbulent and colourful eras in European history, when medieval was giving way to modern, Tycho and Kepler is a double biography of these two remarkable men.
Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science
by Richard DawkinsIn An Appetite for Wonder Richard Dawkins brought us his engaging memoir of the first 35 years of his life from early childhood in Africa to publication of The Selfish Gene in 1976, when he shot to fame as one of the most exciting new scientists of his generation. In Brief Candle in the Dark he continues his autobiography, following the threads that have run through the second half of his life so far and homing in on the key individuals, institutions and ideas that inspired and motivated him. He paints a vivid picture, coloured with wit, anecdote and digression, of the twenty-five postgraduate years he spent teaching at Oxford. He pays affectionate tribute to past colleagues and students, recalling the idiosyncrasies of an establishment steeped in ancient tradition and arcane ritual while also recording his respect for the profound commitment to learning and discovery that lies at its core. He invites us to share the life of a travelling scientist, from fieldwork on the Panama Canal to conferences of stratospheric eminence in exotic locations in the company of some of the most prominent of the world’s scientific luminaries. And he describes his experiences with his many publishers, television producers, interviewers and partners in debate, not least in the heady period when, after publication of The God Delusion in 2006, he is dubbed the world’s most outspoken and controversial atheist. Most important of all, for the first time he reviews with fresh and stimulating insights the evolving narrative of his ideas about science over the course of his highly distinguished career as thinker, teacher and writer. In Brief Candle in the Dark we are invited to enter with him a constantly stimulating world of discovery and to meet a fascinating cast of exceptional characters described by the talented pen of one of the most exceptional of them all.
Pure Dead Wicked (Pure Dead #2)
by Debi GlioriWith the slates of the StregaSchloss roof crumbling round their ears, the Strega-Borgia family, complete with staff and dungeon-dwelling beasts, is forced to decamp to a local hotel for Christmas. Bored of being cooped up with only his laptop for entertainment, Titus tries his own experiment in cyber-cloning, only to end up besieged by 500 miniature versions of himself and his sister Pandora. The beasts too are fed up at the hotel. Determined to return to StregaSchloss, Ffup the dragon, Sab the gryphon and friends set off cross-country, only occasionally distracted by the call of the wild . . . A superbly labyrinthine plot weaves together clones, kids, beasts and dodgy roofers with great humour and a touch of magic in this highly acclaimed second novel.
The End Of The Line: How Overfishing Is Changing The World And What We Eat
by Charles CloverWe have reached a pivotal moment for fishing, with seventy-five percent of the world's fish stocks either fully exploited or overfished. If nothing is done to stop the squandering of fish stocks the life of the oceans will face collapse and millions of people could starve. Fish is the aspirational food for Western society, the healthy, weight-conscious choice, but those who eat and celebrate fish often ignore the fact that the fishing industry, although as technologically advanced as space travel, has an attitude to conservation 10,000 years out of date. Trawling on an industrial scale in the North Sea takes 16 lbs of dead marine animals to produce just 1lb of sole. Regulation isn't working, fishermen must cheat or lose money, dolphins and other wildlife (seabirds, turtles, sharks) are killed unnecessarily and fish stocks are collapsing despite the warnings. The End of the Line looks at the problem and proves that we, as consumers, have to change if the situation is to improve.
Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World
by Carolyn SteelWe live in a world shaped by food, a Sitopia (sitos = food; topos = place). Food, and how we search for and consume it, has defined our human journey. This visionary book shows us how food can help us build our future too.*How can we lead healthy and ethical lives in a world where cheap, poorly produced food is the norm?*How do we reform the production and distribution of food to avoid irrevocable climate change?*What role will mind-blowing technological advances play in the future?*How can food help us live a good, meaningful life? From our foraging hunter-gatherer ancestors to the enormous appetites of modern cities, food has shaped our bodies and homes, our politics and trade, and our climate. Whether it’s the daily decision of what to eat, or the monopoly of industrial food production, food touches every part of our world. But by forgetting its value, we have drifted into a way of life that threatens our planet and ourselves.Yet food remains central to addressing the predicaments and opportunities of our urban, digital age. Drawing on insights from philosophy, history, architecture, literature, politics and science, as well as stories of the farmers, designers and economists who are remaking our relationship with food, Sitopia is a provocative and exhilarating vision for change, and how to thrive on our crowded, overheating planet. In her inspiring and deeply thoughtful new book, Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City, points the way to a better future.
Two Wheels Good: The History and Mystery of the Bicycle
by Jody RosenA panoramic revisionist portrait of the nineteenth-century invention that is transforming the twenty-first-century world.'The real feat of this book is that it takes us on a ride-across the centuries and around the globe, through startling history and vivid first-person reporting.' - Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times bestselling author of Empire of PainThe bicycle is a vestige of the Victorian era, seemingly out of pace with our age of smartphones and ridesharing apps and driverless cars. Yet across the world, more people travel by bicycle than by any other form of transportation. Almost anyone can learn to ride a bike - and nearly everyone does.In Two Wheels Good, writer and critic Jody Rosen reshapes our understanding of this ubiquitous machine, an ever-present force in humanity's life and dreamlife, and a flashpoint in culture wars for more for than two hundred years. Combining history, reportage, travelogue, and memoir, Rosen unfolds the bicycle's saga from its invention in 1817 to its present-day renaissance as a 'green machine' in a world afflicted by pandemic and climate change.Readers meet unforgettable characters: feminist rebels who steered bikes to the barricades in the 1890s, a Bhutanese king who races mountain bikes in the Himalayas, astronauts who ride a floating bicycle in zero gravity aboard the International Space Station.Two Wheels Good examines the bicycle's past and peers into its future, challenging myths and clichés, while uncovering cycling's connection to colonial conquest and the gentrification of cities. But the book is also a love letter: a reflection on the sensual and spiritual pleasures of bike riding and an ode to an engineering marvel - a wondrous vehicle whose passenger is also its engine.'Love for two-wheeled transport runs through every sentence in the book' - Economist'The best thing I've ever read on a single subject' - Lauren Collins, author of When in French'This is social history as it ought to be written: funny, precise, surprising, anti-dogmatic and unafraid of following a story' - Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon