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Out of Sheer Rage: In the Shadow of D. H. Lawrence (Canons)
by Geoff DyerDyer was a talented young writer and determined to write a study of D.H. Lawrence. But when he sat down to write the book, he found himself distracted by . . . everything! Welcome to the world of Dyer! Gripped by indecision at every turn, he agonises over where to settle down to write, whether or not he should move in with his almost-girlfriend, and even which edition of Lawrence's poems to pack in his rucksack. In Out of Sheer Rage Dyer travels the world, providing fascinating insights into Lawrence's life and the continuing value of his work - and into the myriad anxieties that define the life of a writer.
White Sands: Experiences from the Outside World
by Geoff DyerSHORTLISTED FOR STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR From a trip to The Lightning Field in New Mexico, to chasing Gauguin's ghost in French Polynesia, White Sands is a creative exploration of why we travel. Episodic, wide-ranging and funny, Geoff Dyer blends travel writing, essay, criticism and fiction with a smart and cantankerous wit that is unmatched. From one of the most original writers in Britain, this is a book for armchair travellers and procrastinating philosophers everywhere.
Nino Rota: Music, Film and Feeling
by Richard DyerNino Rota is one of the most important composers in the history of cinema. Both popular and prolific, he wrote some of the most cherished and memorable of all film music – for The Godfather Parts I and II, The Leopard, the Zeffirelli Shakespeares, nearly all of Fellini and for more than 140 popular Italian movies. Yet his music does not quite work in the way that we have come to assume music in film works: it does not seek to draw us in and identify, nor to overwhelm and excite us. In itself, in its pretty but reticent melodies, its at once comic and touching rhythms, and in its relation to what's on screen, Rota's music is close and affectionate towards characters and events but still restrained, not detached but ironically attached.In this major new study of Rota's film career, Richard Dyer gives a detailed account of Rota's aesthetic, suggesting it offers a new approach to how we understand both film music and feeling and film more broadly. He also provides a first full account in English of Rota's life and work, linking it to notions of plagiarism and pastiche, genre and convention, irony and narrative. Rota's practice is related to some of the major ways music is used in film, including the motif, musical reference, underscoring and the difference between diegetic and non-diegetic music, revealing how Rota both conforms to and undermines standard conceptions. In addition, Dyer considers the issue of gay cultural production, Rota's favourte genre, comedy, and his productive collaboration with the director Federico Fellini.
Greg Dyke: Inside Story
by Greg Dyke‘“How did a short bald, man with a speech impediment have such an impact?” How indeed? Like his life, “Inside Story” is a pacy romp. Honest and heartfelt, it should be required reading.’ Observer
Mission: A Decade of Living Dangerously
by Ash DykesAt the age of 23, Ash Dykes became the first person to walk, solo and unsupported, across Mongolia. His journey took 78 days and saw him trek over the Altai Mountains, the Gobi Desert and the Mongolian Steppe. It was an expedition filled with danger and extreme conditions. He almost didn't make it.A year later, Ash spent more than five months traversing the length of Madagascar via its eight highest peaks and through the civil unrest that was brewing in the south. It was another world first.In Mission: Possible, Ash reveals the spirit, planning, training and sheer determination that went into these two record-breaking feats. Along the way, we discover how a young man from Wales transformed himself into one of the world's most acclaimed and exciting young adventurers. It is an inspirational story.
Hustling Hinkler: The short tumultuous life of a trailblazing aviator
by D. R. DymockHustling Hinkler is mandatory reading for anyone who loves flight . . . a gripping story of an intrepid country boy who followed his dreams.' (Richard de Crespigny, author of multi-award winning QF32)Part adventure, part mystery and part tragedy, Hustling Hinkler is the unforgettable true story of aviator Bert Hinkler's astonishing life.Herbert John Louis Hinkler was a working-class lad, born in Bundaberg, Queensland, in 1892. From his earliest years, Bert was captivated by stories of flight and, inspired by the Wright brothers, build his first plane while still a teenager. Determined to make a life of adventure, he became a mechanic for a barnstorming pilot before making his way to England. At the outbreak of World War I he joined up, becoming a decorated air gunner before achieving his pilot's wings in the RAF. Ambition finally aligned with skill, and he became famous for his death-defying aviation triumphs. In 1928 he thrilled the world with his first solo flight from England to Australia, and another across the South Atlantic in 1931.Yet behind this publicly feted hero was a complex man who struggled to find his place in the world when not in the sky. He desperately clung to his dreams, despite the odds against him. Tragically, Bert's pioneering attempts came to an abrupt end on 7 January 1933, while attempting another solo flight from England to Australia.D. R. Dymock's insightful biography reveals the many intriguing facets of this outstanding aviator, the circumstances that led to that final, fatal flight, and the three women he left behind. Hustling Hinkler is the riveting true story of a trailblazing Australian.
Nothing Is Impossible: The Real-Life Adventures of a Street Magician
by Dynamo'I immersed myself in magic. I read every book I could get my hands on and practised and practised, day after day and night after night. Magic became my world...some might say an obsession.'When you’re a kid life can seem tough; tougher for some than others. But the darkest of times can also be the most enlightening.When his late granddad showed him magic for the first time, Steven Frayne knew there was more to life than hiding from bullies. He had a destiny. A calling. In that moment Dynamo was born: the most exciting magician of the 21st century. Since then, Dynamo has shocked, thrilled and amazed men, women and children, from all walks of life, all over the world. With his mind-blowing illusions, he has catalysed a whole new era of magic. Now, in his very first book, Dynamo invites you to join him on a breathtaking journey across the globe. Be prepared to levitate Lindsay Lohan in Singapore, transform snow into diamonds in the Austrian mountains, and walk on water across the River Thames. Along the way, he reveals how to make the impossible possible, what it takes to pull off the greatest stunts man has seen, and why everyone needs magic in their lives. This is no illusion. This is Dynamo revealed.
Routledge Revivals: The Illuminations of the Stavelot Bible (Routledge Revivals)
by Wayne DynesFirst published in 1978, this book offers a comprehensive study of the illuminations of the Stavelot Bible. The illuminations themselves have been recognized as occupying an important place in the incipient stage of the Romanesque style in the Meuse valley. The two volumes of the Bible contain no less than ninety-seven illuminated initials, almost half of them containing figures. Wayne Dynes’s study brings this into context by giving the historical background of the abbey of Stavelot and the manuscript itself, and then the exegetical and illustrative tradition shaping earlier illuminated Bibles. A third chapter examines the question of the assignment of the hands, providing at the same time a survey of the contents. This clears the way for discussions of areas of importance including the famous full-page composition of Christ in Majesty, and analyses key miniatures and groups of miniatures. This procedure serves to clarify the overall scheme of illumination and permit a comparison with earlier achievements in the history of Bible illumination.
Routledge Revivals: The Illuminations of the Stavelot Bible (Routledge Revivals)
by Wayne DynesFirst published in 1978, this book offers a comprehensive study of the illuminations of the Stavelot Bible. The illuminations themselves have been recognized as occupying an important place in the incipient stage of the Romanesque style in the Meuse valley. The two volumes of the Bible contain no less than ninety-seven illuminated initials, almost half of them containing figures. Wayne Dynes’s study brings this into context by giving the historical background of the abbey of Stavelot and the manuscript itself, and then the exegetical and illustrative tradition shaping earlier illuminated Bibles. A third chapter examines the question of the assignment of the hands, providing at the same time a survey of the contents. This clears the way for discussions of areas of importance including the famous full-page composition of Christ in Majesty, and analyses key miniatures and groups of miniatures. This procedure serves to clarify the overall scheme of illumination and permit a comparison with earlier achievements in the history of Bible illumination.
Swing by Sailor: True stories from the war brides of HMS Victorious
by Catherine DysonThis is a nostalgic look back at the 1940s, a fascinating insight into a unique journey taken by a group of ordinary women, a sympathetic portrait of youth and its hopes and expectations - and a reflection on the challenges of life, and love.
Analogia: The Entangled Destinies of Nature, Human Beings and Machines
by George DysonHow did we end up in a world where humans coexist with technologies we can no longer fully control or understand? George Dyson plots an unexpected course through the past 300 years to reveal the hidden connections that underpin our digital age, ending with a premonition of what lies ahead. From an eighteenth-century Russian voyage across the North Pacific, to the mirror signals that heralded the age of digital telecommunications and the invention of the vacuum tube, Analogia interweaves historical adventure with scientific insight in a deeply personal story that frames the pursuit - and cost - of the digital revolution in a captivating new light.
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Death and How it Changed America
by Michael Eric DysonOn April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m., while he was standing on a balcony at a Memphis hotel, Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and fatally wounded. Only hours earlier King ended his final speech with the words, "I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.”Acclaimed public intellectual and best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson examines how King fought, and faced, his own death, and how America can draw on his legacy in the twenty-first century. April 4, 1968 celebrates the leadership of Dr. King, and challenges America to renew its commitment to his vision.
April 4, 1968: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Death and How It Changed America
by Michael Eric DysonOn April 4, 1968, at 6:01 PM, while he was standing on a balcony at a Memphis hotel, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and fatally wounded. Only hours earlier King -- the prophet for racial and economic justice in America -- ended his final speech with the words, "I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the Promised Land." Acclaimed public intellectual and best-selling author Michael Eric Dyson uses the fortieth anniversary of King's assassination as the occasion for a provocative and fresh examination of how King fought, and faced, his own death, and we should use his death and legacy. Dyson also uses this landmark anniversary as the starting point for a comprehensive reevaluation of the fate of Black America over the four decades that followed King's death. Dyson ambitiously investigates the ways in which African-Americans have in fact made it to the Promised Land of which King spoke, while shining a bright light on the ways in which the nation has faltered in the quest for racial justice. He also probes the virtues and flaws of charismatic black leadership that has followed in King's wake, from Jesse Jackson to Barack Obama. Always engaging and inspiring, April 4, 1968 celebrates the prophetic leadership of Dr. King, and challenges America to renew its commitment to his deeply moral vision.
Earth Heroes: Twenty Inspiring Stories of People Saving Our World
by Lily DyuWhen faced with climate change, the biggest threat that our planet has ever confronted, it's easy to feel as if nothing you do can really make a difference . . . but this book proves that individual people can change the world. With twenty inspirational stories celebrating the pioneering work of a selection of Earth Heroes from all around the globe, from Greta Thunberg and David Attenborough to Yin Yuzhen and Isatou Ceesay, each tale is a beacon of hope in the fight for the future of our planet, proving that one person, no matter how small, can make a difference.Featuring Amelia Telford, Andrew Turton and Pete Ceglinski, Bittu Sahgal, Chewang Norphel, David Attenborough, Doug Smith, Ellen MacArthur, Greta Thunberg, Isabel Soares, Isatou Ceesay, Marina Silva, Melati and Isabel Wijsen, Mohammed Rezwan, Renée King-Sonnen, Rok Rozman, Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Stella McCartney, William Kamkwamba, Yin Yuzhen and Yvon Chouinard.Featuring illustrations by Jackie Lay.
Fantastic Female Adventurers: Truly amazing tales of women exploring the world
by Lily DyuDo you know how it feels to run for 1,900 miles? Or to look down at the earth from a space station? Or to swim alongside a hungry shark?Fantastic Female Adventurers by Lily Dyu is a collection of fourteen exciting and inspirational stories about the women that do. Follow them on their incredible journeys around the globe.Ski to the North Pole with Ann Daniels while watching out for polar bears and lethal cracks in the ice. Feel the air beneath your feet as you climb high on a cliff face with Gwen Moffat. Experience the thrill of racing down rocky Himalayan trails with champion runner Mira Rai. Sail the oceans with Ellen MacArthur, the girl who saved up her lunch money to buy her first boat. You’ll even fly into space with Britain’s first astronaut, Helen Sharman. And join Lily on other awesome adventures with Anna McNuff, Sarah Outen, Misba Khan and more – taking you from Everest to the South Pole and all the places in between.Beautifully illustrated by artist and adventurer Chellie Carroll, Fantastic Female Adventurers will leave you thinking: I can do that, too!
Hypatia of Alexandria (Revealing antiquity ;)
by Maria DzielskaHypatia—brilliant mathematician, eloquent Neoplatonist, and a woman renowned for her beauty—was brutally murdered by a mob of Christians in Alexandria in 415. She has been a legend ever since. In this engrossing book, Maria Dzielska searches behind the legend to bring us the real story of Hypatia's life and death, and new insight into her colorful world. Historians and poets, Victorian novelists and contemporary feminists have seen Hypatia as a symbol—of the waning of classical culture and freedom of inquiry, of the rise of fanatical Christianity, or of sexual freedom. Dzielska shows us why versions of Hypatia's legend have served her champions' purposes, and how they have distorted the true story. She takes us back to the Alexandria of Hypatia's day, with its Library and Museion, pagan cults and the pontificate of Saint Cyril, thriving Jewish community and vibrant Greek culture, and circles of philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, and militant Christians. Drawing on the letters of Hypatia's most prominent pupil, Synesius of Cyrene, Dzielska constructs a compelling picture of the young philosopher's disciples and her teaching. Finally she plumbs her sources for the facts surrounding Hypatia's cruel death, clarifying what the murder tells us about the tensions of this tumultuous era.
With Nails: Picador Classic (Picador Classic #33)
by Richard E GrantWith an introduction by Steve MartinTwo pages into the script and an ache has developed in my gonads - I am both laughing out loud and agonized by the fact that the Withnail part is such a corker that not in a billion bank holidays will they ever seriously consider me. When, in the summer of 1986, Richard E. Grant was cast as the lead in Withnail and I, his whole world shifted and he was set firmly on the path to international stardom. With Nails is his outrageous, irreverent and brutally funny account of that time and the years afterwards, of his self-doubt and anxiety on the route to Hollywood, and of all the extraordinary, mad, brilliant people in the film business. From drinking himself incoherent so he could film Withnail and I to a night spent in Paris's red light district with a world-famous couple, to working with Hollywood's biggest actors and directors, Richard E. Grant - always eloquent, always honest - has documented, in his own inimitable style, what it is to become a film star. A rare classic, there is no book quite like it.
The Story of Joan of Arc
by E. M. Wilmot-BuxtonInspiring story of a 15th-century farm girl who answered a divine call to drive the English from France. The miraculous story of the Maid of Orleans unfolds from her early childhood and the touching story of the "Voices," to the battles she led and the splendid march to Rheims.
Evelyn Waugh: A Life Revisited
by Philip Eade'Brisk, lively and wonderfully entertaining' John Banville'Excellent ... read this book' Literary Review'The best single-volume life of the author available' Irish TimesThe much mythologised author of Decline and Fall, A Handful of Dust and Brideshead Revisited was hailed by Graham Greene as 'the greatest novelist of my generation', yet reckoned by Hilaire Belloc to have been possessed by the devil. Evelyn Waugh's literary reputation has continued to rise since Greene's assessment in 1966. Fifty years after his death, Philip Eade draws on extensive unpublished sources to paint a fresh and compelling portrait of this endlessly fascinating man, telling the full story of his dramatic, colourful and frequently bizarre life.
Sylvia, Queen Of The Headhunters: An Outrageous Englishwoman And Her Lost Kingdom
by Philip EadeThe biography of the last Ranee of Sarawak, born into the aristocracy as Sylvia Brett in 1885 and destined to become 'Queen of the Headhunters'.'Jaw-dropping ... If you thought White Mischief the last word in English expatriate decadence, you haven't yet met Sylvia and the Brookes' The TimesSylvia Brooke was the consort of His Highness Sir Vyner Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, the last in a bizarre dynasty of English despots who ruled their jungle kingdom on Borneo until 1946. The White Rajahs were long held up as model rulers, but the spectacularly eccentric behaviour of Ranee Sylvia - self-styled Queen of the Headhunters - changed everything. This is the compelling story of her part in their downfall.
Young Prince Philip: His Turbulent Early Life
by Philip Eade‘The narrative is as suspenseful as any thriller. Truly, an excellent read’ Lynn Barber, Sunday Times Married for almost seventy years to the most famous woman in the world, Prince Philip is the longest-serving royal consort in British history. Yet his origins have remained curiously shrouded in obscurity.
Seton Gordon: The Life and Times of a Highland Gentleman
by Raymond EagleSeton Gordon was born in 1886 into an Aberdeenshire family and was to live to the age of 91. In that time his life spanned some of the most momentous changes in civilisation and yet his travels rarely took him away from Scotland for long. He dedicated his life to natural history and in his awareness of the environment he was ahead of his time.He wore the kilt as everyday dress and entered college in 1908 to take a degree in natural sciences at Exeter College, Oxford. Whilst there he befriended the Prince of Wales, who was to correspond with him after he left university. In later life he also corresponded with Ramsay MacDonald.He spent hours roaming the hills of Deeside and the Cairgorm plateau while observing nature and would sustain incredible hardships in pursuit of his favourite bird, the golden eagle. He became engaged to Audrey Pease in 1915 and after marriage, they moved to the Isle of Skye where they settled in Trotternish and where he began to write on all aspects of Highland and Hebridean life. Over the years he produced prose which managed to place man in his proper context in the environment, and these books inspired countless numbers to look to the hills and corries in search of Scotland's wilderness areas.His ethereal descriptions of the Western Isles, whether in sun or in rain, a but the real contribution of are perhaps his most finely observed pieces but the real contribution of his 28 books and numerous articles and papers was to the sum of knowledge on the natural history of the Highlands and Islands. He will be remembered by all who knew him, read him and heard him speak as one of the last great Highland gentlemen.Raymond Eagle first met Seton Gordon in Skye in 1949 and was to correspond with him for a number of years. After Eagle moved to Vancouver in 1967, a chance encounter led him to meet Seton's son, Alasdair who had lived in the city for several years. With Alasdair's help, Eagle set out to write this biography which was published in print format in 1990. This is a complete revised Ebook edition with numerous colour and black and white illustrations.
A Race Too Far: The Tragic Story Of The 1968 Golden Globe Yacht Race
by Chris EakinThe true story of the tragic round-the-world yacht race - now the subject of The Mercy, starring Colin Firth and Rachel WeiszIn 1968, the Sunday Times organised the Golden Globe race–an incredible test of endurance never before attempted–a round the world yacht race that must be completed single-handed and non-stop.This remarkable challenge inspired those daring to enter–with or without sailing experience. A Race Too Far is the story of how the race unfolded, and how it became a tragedy for many involved.Of the nine sailors who started the race, four realised the madness of the undertaking and pulled out within weeks. The remaining five each have their own remarkable story. Chay Blyth, fresh from rowing the Atlantic with John Ridgway, had no sailing experience but managed to sail round the Cape of Good Hope before retiring. Nigel Tetley sank while in the lead with 1,100 nautical miles to go, surviving but dying in tragic circumstances two years later. Donald Crowhurst began showing signs of mental illness and tried to fake a round the world voyage. His boat was discovered adrift in an apparent suicide, but his body was never found. Bernard Moitessier abandoned the race and carried on to Tahiti, where he settled and fathered a child despite having a wife and family in Paris. Robin Knox-Johnston was the only one to complete the race.Chris Eakin recreates the drama of the epic race, talking to all those touched by the Golden Globe: the survivors, the widows and the children of those who died. It is a book that both evokes the primary wonder of the adventure itself and reflects on what it has come to mean to both those involved and the rest of us in the forty years since.
The Paris Letters of Thomas Eakins
by Thomas EakinsThe young Thomas Eakins's most revealing letters—published here for the first timeThe most revealing and interesting writings of American artist Thomas Eakins are the letters he sent to family and friends while he was a student in Paris between 1866 and 1870. This book presents all these letters in their entirety for the first time; in fact, this is the first edition of Eakins's correspondence from the period. Edited and annotated by Eakins authority William Innes Homer, this book provides a treasure trove of new information, revealing previously hidden facets of Eakins's personality, providing a much richer picture of his artistic development, and casting fresh light on his debated psychosexual makeup. The book is illustrated with the small, gemlike drawings Eakins included in his correspondence, as well as photographs and paintings.In these letters, Eakins speaks openly and frankly about human relationships, male companionship, marriage, and women. In vivid, charming, and sometimes comic detail, he describes his impressions of Paris--from the training he received in the studio of Jean-Léon Gérôme to the museums, concerts, and popular entertainments that captured his imagination. And he discusses with great insight contemporary aesthetic and scientific theories, as well as such unexpected subjects as language structure, musical composition, and ice-skating technique. Also published here for the first time are the letters and notebook Eakins wrote in Spain following his Paris sojourn.This long-overdue volume provides an indispensable portrait of a great American artist as a young man.
The Fun of It (Arcturus Classics)
by Amelia Earheart"Flying may not be all plain sailing, but the fun of it is worth the price."This fascinating autobiography by one of America's greatest pilots provides unique insights into the life, motivations and achievements of Amelia Earhart. As she recounts the journey which led to her groundbreaking solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932, she provides valuable advice for everyone who struggles to be a woman in a man's world. Though faced with obstacles every step of the way, she triumphed over adversity and became an instant celebrity. By turns inspiring, humorous and deeply personal, The Fun of It reveals Earhart's passion enthusiasm for aviation and her unswerving determination to achieve her goals.