Exploit the power of dynamic cloud formation and auto-scaling features to fully implement OpenStack orchestrationAbout This BookSet up, manage, and troubleshoot Heat and effectively automate your datacenter and cloud-based servicesAchieve high availability, minimize down-time, and automate the deployment of cloud-based services and resources with minimum effortUpgrade your skills and manipulate resources on virtual machines in an unattended fashion using Heat Who This Book Is For If you are a System Engineer, System Administrator, Cloud Administrator, or a Cloud Engineer, then this book is for you. You should have a background of working in a Linux-based setup. Any knowledge of OpenStack-based cloud infrastructure will help you create wonders using this book.What You Will LearnInstall an orchestration service for a private cloud environmentTackle errors that show up during the installation and configuration of heatConfigure a template for orchestration using the native HOT formatConfigure a template for orchestration using the AWS cloud formation formatDeploy a stack using the HOT templateDeploy a test stack using the AWS CloudFormation templateAutomate and orchestrate cloud-based services with OpenStack Heat In Detail This book is focused on setting up and using one of the most important services in OpenStack orchestration, Heat. First, the book introduces you to the orchestration service for OpenStack to help you understand the uses of the templating mechanism, complex control groups of cloud resources, and huge-potential and multiple-use cases. We then move on to the topology and orchestration specification for cloud applications and standards, before introducing the most popular IaaS cloud framework, Heat. You will get to grips with the standards used in Heat, overview and roadmap, architecture and CLI, heat API, heat engine, CloudWatch API, scaling principles, JeOS and installation and configuration of Heat. We wrap up by giving you some insights into troubleshooting for OpenStack. With easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions and supporting images, you will be able to manage OpenStack operations by implementing the orchestration services of Heat.Style and approach The book is a step-by-step guide to implementing an orchestration (cloud formation) service for OpenStack-based cloud environments. This book uses real-world scenarios and examples to demonstrate the procedures in an easy-to-understand language with plenty of screenshots to help you get a better understanding.

Sharpen your skills in Swift by designing and deploying seven fully functional applicationsAbout This BookDevelop a variety of iOS-compatible applications that range from health and fitness to utilities using this project-based handbookDiscover ways to make the best use of the latest features in Swift to build on a wide array of applicationsFollow step-by-step instructions to create Swift apps oriented for the real world Who This Book Is For If you are a competent iOS developer who wants to develop stunning applications with Swift, then this book is for you. Familiarity with Swift programming is assumed.What You Will LearnGet to grips with the basics of Xcode and Swift for application developmentCreate a Photo Sharing application to capture an image, edit it using different features and share it via social media.Develop applications using the WatchKit and exchange data between iPhone and the WatchUse advanced features such as SpriteKit to build a gameInstall third-party Swift frameworks to improvise on your application developmentDiscover how to simulate home automation with HomeKitBuild an application to monitor the user's weight, heart rate and the number of steps for Health Historic AnalysisManipulate media using AVFoundation framework to merge audio and video. In Detail In this book, you will work through seven different projects to get you hands-on with developing amazing applications for iOS devices. We start off with a project that teaches you how to build a utility app using Swift. Moving on, we cover the concepts behind developing an entertainment or social networking related application, for example, a small application that helps you to share images, audio, and video files from one device to another. You’ll also be guided through create a city information app with customized table views, a reminder app for the Apple Watch, and a game app using SpriteKit. By the end of this book, you will have the required skillset to develop various types of iOS applications with Swift that can run on different iOS devices. You will also be well versed with complex techniques that can be used to enhance the performance of your applications.Style and approach This book takes a step-by-step approach to help you build apps from scratch and learn the methodology to develop real-time applications using Swift.

Manage, analyze, and visualize data with Microsoft Excel 2013 to transform raw data into ready to use informationAbout This BookCreate formulas to help you analyze and explain findingsDevelop interactive spreadsheets that will impress your audience and give them the ability to slice and dice dataA step-by-step guide to learn various ways to model data for businesses with the help of Excel 2013 Who This Book Is For If you want to start using Excel 2013 for data analysis and business modeling and enhance your skills in the data analysis life cycle then this book is for you, whether you’re new to Excel or experienced.What You Will LearnDiscover what Excel formulas are all about and how to use them in your spreadsheet developmentIdentify bad data and learn cleaning strategiesCreate interactive spreadsheets that engage and appeal to your audienceLeverage Excel’s powerful built-in tools to get the median, maximum, and minimum values of your dataBuild impressive tables and combine datasets using Excel’s built-in functionalityLearn the powerful *ing language VBA, allowing you to implement your own custom solutions with ease In Detail Excel 2013 is one of the easiest to use data analysis tools you will ever come across. Its simplicity and powerful features has made it the go to tool for all your data needs. Complex operations with Excel, such as creating charts and graphs, visualization, and analyzing data make it a great tool for managers, data scientists, financial data analysts, and those who work closely with data. Learning data analysis and will help you bring your data skills to the next level. This book starts by walking you through creating your own data and bringing data into Excel from various sources. You’ll learn the basics of SQL syntax and how to connect it to a Microsoft SQL Server Database using Excel’s data connection tools. You will discover how to spot bad data and strategies to clean that data to make it useful to you. Next, you'll learn to create custom columns, identify key metrics, and make decisions based on business rules. You’ll create macros using VBA and use Excel 2013’s shiny new macros. Finally, at the end of the book, you'll be provided with useful shortcuts and tips, enabling you to do efficient data analysis and business modeling with Excel 2013.Style and approach This is a step-by-step guide to performing data analysis and business modelling with Excel 2013, complete with examples and tips.

Over 35 exciting recipes to spice up your application development with IonicAbout This BookLearn how to utilize the robust features of Ionic CLI and its framework to create, develop, and build your mobile appExplore new integrations with various Backend-as-a-Services, along with AngularJS modules, for creative solutionsUse out-of-the-box Ionic functionalities, customize existing components, and add new components with this comprehensive, step-by-step guide Who This Book Is For If you are a front-end developer and want to take advantage of your existing mobile application development skills to develop cross-platform mobile apps, this book is for you. You will build up your Ionic knowledge with in-depth recipes on Angular.js, Cordova, and Sass.What You Will LearnAuthenticate users using an e-mail password, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedInRetrieve data and store it using FirebaseAccess native device functionalities such as a camera, contact list, e-mail, and maps using ngCordovaWork with localStorage and SQLite for persistent data access on the client sideCommunicate to and from your app using push notifications or SMSLeverage AngularJS events and Ionic-specific events to communicate across pages, controllers, and directivesCustomize the color and theme of your Ionic appCreate new custom directives as componentsCompile your app for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone In Detail The world of mobile development is extremely fragmented with many platforms, frameworks, and technologies available. Ionic is intended to fill that gap, by enabling developers to build apps that have a native feel to them, using web technologies such as HTML, CSS, and AngularJS. Ionic makes it easy for front-end developers to become app developers. The framework provides superior performance with deep Cordova integration and a comprehensive set of tools for prototyping, backend support, and deployment. Ionic Cookbook takes you through the process of developing a cross-platform mobile app using just HTML5 and the JavaScript-based Ionic. You will start with an introduction to the CLI and then move on to building and running an app. You will explore common features of real-world mobile apps such as authenticating a user, and getting and saving data using either Firebase or Local Storage. Next, the book covers how Ionic integrates with Cordova to support native device features using ngCordova, and you will discover how to take advantage of existing modules around its ecosystem. You will also delve into advanced topics, including how to extend Ionic to create new components. Finally, the book will walk you through customizing the Ionic theme and building the app so that it can be deployed to all platforms.Style and approach This book follows a recipe-based approach to cross-platform mobile app development, where each task is explained in a conversational and easy-to-follow style. Every topic explains individual features or components of Ionic, and provides extra details for readers to come up with custom solutions based on real-world applications.

Use game elements in Moodle courses to build learner resilience and motivationAbout This BookFormulate a Moodle course that acts as a flexible framework ready for your own contentKeep learners engrossed and create opportunities for motivation through the concepts of status, access, and powerA resourceful guide to innovative learning using automatic reports, assessments, and conditional release of activities Who This Book Is For This book has been designed for teachers who to use technology to create more engaging learning experiences for both online learning and in face-to-face sessions. This book will especially appeal to people who are interested in the underlying mechanics of play and games and want to know more about applying these concepts in an educational context. It is assumed that you are a teacher and expert in your field, have basic computer skills, and have access to the Internet.What You Will LearnSet up a scoring system using Moodle GradebookEnable communication and collaboration in your class as a Learning Community using forumsAssess your learners’ abilities by setting up challenges and questsConfigure gateways to check and ensure progress before new content or activities are releasedCreate Moodle assignments to provide effective feedback through a comment bank and custom scaleIssue Open Badges to recognize achievements and set up an online backpack to share digital badgesReduce anxiety for learners by using the game-like concept of “Levelling Up” In Detail This book describes how teachers can use Gamification design within the Moodle Learning Management System. Game elements can be included in course design by using, badges, rubrics, custom grading scales, forums, and conditional activities. Moodle courses do not have to be solo-learning experiences that replicate Distance Education models. The Gamification design process starts by profiling players and creating levels of achievement towards meeting learning outcomes. Each task is defined, valued, and sequenced. Motivation loops are devised to keep the momentum going. In a gaming studio, this approach would require a team of specialists with a large budget and time frames. Preparing for a class rarely has these optimal conditions. The approach used in this book is to introduce game elements into the course design gradually. First, apply gamification to just one lesson and then build up to gamifying a series of lessons over a term. Each example will indicate the difficulty level and time investment. Try it out to see what is most effective with your learners and choose wisely in your use of technology. By the end of this book, you will be able to create Moodle courses that incorporate choice, communication, challenge, and creativity.Style and approach An easy-to-follow guide full of screenshots and step-by-step instructions with estimated time frames required to accomplish numerous tasks. Tips are offered for new Moodlers and plugin extensions are suggested for advanced Moodlers. The focus of the book is on why you would want to use each activity rather than detailed technical de*ions.

When Lord Templeton is sent for by Sir James Redwell, the British Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, he knows that there is trouble somewhere in the world and because he is so successful at dealing with international problems he realises that there is a new mission for him. The problem this time is in Siam and its adjoining country Khmer and he agrees to try to find out if it is true as the Siamese think that the French have their eyes on Khmer. Lord Templeton agrees to go, but Sir James tells him that there is a further problem in that both the King of Siam and the King of Khmer are anxious to marry an English woman so that they have a greater call on the British and can proudly fly the Union Jack. Sir James suggests to Lord Templeton that he would be absolutely safe if he takes his lovely niece, Amina, with him pretending to be his wife. Lord Templeton is not very keen on this as he is pressure from his family to preserve his title and estate and anyway he has sworn never to marry until he is much older. However Sir James presses him to take his niece for the simple reason that she has been brought up by her father as a boy and hates the idea of marrying anyone. Amina is dressed in beautiful clothes for the journey and reluctantly begins to feel a little more feminine. Finally they set off and are treated warmly in Siam but there is danger and death waiting for them in Khmer. How Amina visits the esoteric green Buddha in Bankok and is given an important message that will change her life. And how, after a devastating encounter in a cave in Khmer, she unexpectedly finds the love of her life is all told in this exciting story by BARBARA CARTLAND.

Having once rashly boasted that she could remember every animal she had ever known, the author thought she must put pen to paper and see what memories came flooding back. The delightful poems in this collection moving, funny, sad, loving, will strike a chord with many a pet owner and entertain all who enjoy the ways of our animal friends.

Explore the big data field and learn how to perform data analytics and predictive modelling in STATAAbout This BookVisualize and analyse data in STATA to devise a business strategyLearn STATA programming and predictive modelingDiscover how you can become a data scientist with the power of STATA Who This Book Is For This book is for all the professionals and students who want to learn STATA programming and apply predictive modelling concepts. This book is also very helpful for experienced STATA programmers as it provides advanced statistical modelling concepts and their application.What You Will LearnPerform important statistical tests to become a STATA data scientistBe guided through how to program in STATAImplement logistic and linear regression modelsVisualize and program the data in STATAAnalyse survey data, time series data, and survival dataPerform database management in STATA In Detail STATA is an integrated software package that provides you with everything you need for data analysis, data management, and graphics. STATA also provides you with a platform to efficiently perform simulation, regression analysis (linear and multiple) [and custom programming. This book covers data management, graphs visualization, and programming in STATA. Starting with an introduction to STATA and data analytics you’ll move on to STATA programming and data management. Next, the book takes you through data visualization and all the important statistical tests in STATA. Linear and logistic regression in STATA is also covered. As you progress through the book, you will explore a few analyses, including the survey analysis, time series analysis, and survival analysis in STATA. You’ll also discover different types of statistical modelling techniques and learn how to implement these techniques in STATA.Style and approach This book is a hands-onguide to STATA programming and statistical modelling providing many STATA code examples and taking. You through the working of the code in detail.

Make use of Node.js to learn the development of a simple yet scalable cross-platform mobile applicationAbout This BookUse Node.js to satisfy the core backend requirements of modern apps, including user management, security, data access, and real-time data communicationBuild practical real-world mobile applications, which will give you the necessary knowledge to build your very own mobile solutionsStep-by-step development of projects using Ionic Framework as the frontend and Node.js for the backend supported by a MongoDB database Who This Book Is For This book is intended for web developers of all levels of expertise who want to deep dive into cross-platform mobile application development without going through the pains of understanding the languages and native frameworks that form an integral part of developing for different mobile platforms. This book is also for you if you are a developer who wants to capitalize on the MobileFirst strategy and so are going to use JavaScript for your complete stack.What You Will LearnDevelop an API from scratchSet up a MongoDB Database as part of your mobile application backendDeploy a cross-platform mobile application from the command lineIncorporate features within your mobile application that use native phone features such as a gyroscope, GPS, and accelerometerImplement mobile applications that use web-enabled APIsBuild a mobile application with real-time chat messaging featuresDevelop a secure mobile application that is capable of functioning with real-time data In Detail Node.js is a massively popular JavaScript library that lets you use JavaScript to easily program scalable network applications and web services. People approaching Node.js for the first time are often attracted by its efficiency, scalability, and the fact that it's based on JavaScript, the language of the Web, which means that developers can use the same language to write backend code. Also, it’s increasingly being seen as a "modern" replacement for PHP in web development, which relies on fast-paced data exchange. The growing community and the large amount of available modules makes Node.js one of the most attractive development environments. This book takes a step-wise and incremental approach toward developing cross-platform mobile technologies using existing web technologies. This will allow you to truly understand and become proficient in developing cross-platform mobile applications with Node.js, Ionic Framework, and MongoDB. The book starts off by introducing all the necessary requirements and knowledge to build a mobile application with a companion web service. It covers the ability to create an API from scratch and implement a comprehensive user database that will give you the opportunity to offer a mobile application with a personalized experience. Midway through the book, you will learn the basic processes to create a successful mobile application. You will also gain higher-level knowledge, allowing you to develop a functional and secure mobile application to ensure a seamless user experience for end users. Finally, the book ends with more advanced projects, which will bring together all the knowledge and expertise developed in the previous chapters to create a practical and functional mobile-application that has useful real-world features.Style and approach This book is an easy-to-follow guide that takes a step-wise approach in giving expertise and knowledge to help you truly understand what is needed to create a memorable user experience for end users. Each topic is placed in the context of the bigger picture, that is, to create cross-platform mobile applications using existing technologies.

Use PyCharm with fluid efficiency to write idiomatic python codeAbout This BookUnderstand how PyCharm works and how you can leverage its strength to develop applications quicklyMaster PyCharm’s editor to get a fast workflowFull of examples and illustrations that focus on the practical aspects of using PyCharm Who This Book Is For If you know PyCharm but want to understand it better and leverage its more powerful but less obvious tool set, this is the book for you. Serving as a launch pad for those who want to master PyCharm and completely harness its best features, it would be helpful if you were familiar with some of Python’s most prominent tools such as virtualenv and Python’s popular docstring formats such as reStructuredText and EpyType.What You Will LearnUnderstand the internal workings of the IntelliJ PlatformLeverage PyCharm’s powerful search tools, and learn which ones are the best for you and your workflowCustomize PyCharm’s enhanced Python interpreter and its inbuilt terminalDevelop web applications quickly and easily with different frameworks such as Flask and DjangoUnderstand how code completion works in PyCharm for Python and JavaScript In Detail PyCharm is addictive, with powerful and configurable code completion, superb editing tools, top-notch support, diverse plugins, and a vibrant ecosystem to boot. Learning how PyCharm works and maximising the synergy of its powerful tools will help you to rapidly develop applications. From leveraging the power of the editor to understanding PyCharm's internals, this book will give you a comprehensive view of PyCharm and allow you to make your own choices about which workflow and tools are best for you. You will start by getting comfortable with PyCharm and making it look exactly like you want. You can customize the tools and taskbars to suit individual developers' coding styles. You also learn how to assign keyboard shortcuts. You will master debugging by inserting breakpoints, collecting runtime data, and debugging from the console. You will understand how PyCharm works underneath and how plugins such as Codemap, Vim, Bitbucket, Assets compressor, markdown, bash file, shortcut translator, and .gitignore leverage the power of the IntelliJ platform. You will become comfortable using the VCS interface in PyCharm and see the benefits of using it for some simple tasks as well as some more complex tasks such as partial commits using changelists. You will take an in-depth look at the various tools in PyCharm, improving your workflow drastically. Finally, you will deploy powerful PyCharm tools for Django, Flask, GAE, and Pyramid Development, becoming well acquainted with PyCharm’s toolset for web development with popular platforms. Packed with insider tricks, this book will help you boost productivity with PyCharm.Style and approach An easy-to-follow guide with plenty of examples and screenshots. Each topic starts off with the goal of enhancing or changing a part of PyCharm to make it suit your needs.

Due to copyright restrictions, this eBook may not contain all of the images available in the print edition. It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion, and initiation. Patti Smith would evolve as a poet and performer, and Robert Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Bound in innocence and enthusiasm, they traversed the city from Coney Island to Forty-second Street, and eventually to the celebrated round table of Max's Kansas City, where the Andy Warhol contingent held court. In 1969, the pair set up camp at the Hotel Chelsea and soon entered a community of the famous and infamous the influential artists of the day and the colorful fringe. It was a time of heightened awareness, when the worlds of poetry, rock and roll, art, and sexual politics were colliding and exploding. In this milieu, two kids made a pact to take care of each other. Scrappy, romantic, committed to create, and fueled by their mutual dreams and drives, they would prod and provide for one another during the hungry years. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It serves as a salute to New York City during the late sixties and seventies and to its rich and poor, its hustlers and hellions. A true fable, it is a portrait of two young artists' ascent, a prelude to fame.

Counted among his admirers are Jonas Salk, Aldous Huxley, David Hockney, and Van Morrison, along with countless other philosophers, artist, writers and students of the spiritual path. Now the trustees of Krishnamurti work have gathered his very best and most illuminating writings and talks to present in one volume the truly essential ideas of this great spiritual thinker.Total Freedom includes selections from Krishnamurti early works, his Commentaries on Living, and his discourses on life, the self, meditation, sex and love. These writings reveal Krishnamuri core teachings in their full eloquence and power: the nature of personal freedom; the mysteries of life and death; and the pathless land, the personal search for truth and peace. Warning readers away from blind obedience to creeds or teachers including himself Krishnamurti celebrated the individual quest for truth, and thus became on of the most influential guides for independent-minded seekers of the twentieth century and beyond.

Create robust and maintainable Java applications using the functional style of programmingAbout This BookExplore how you can blend object-oriented and functional programming styles in JavaUse lambda expressions to write flexible and succinct codeA tutorial that strengthens your fundamentals in functional programming techniques to enhance your applications Who This Book Is For If you are a Java developer with object-oriented experience and want to use a functional programming approach in your applications, then this book is for you. All you need to get started is familiarity with basic Java object-oriented programming concepts.What You Will LearnUse lambda expressions to simplyfy codeUse function composition to achieve code fluencyApply streams to simply implementations and achieve parallelismIncorporate recursion to support an application’s functionalityProvide more robust implementations using OptionalsImplement design patterns with less codeRefactor object-oriented code to create a functional solutionUse debugging and testing techniques specific to functional programs In Detail Functional programming is an increasingly popular technology that allows you to simplify many tasks that are often cumbersome and awkward using an object-oriented approach. It is important to understand this approach and know how and when to apply it. Functional programming requires a different mindset, but once mastered it can be very rewarding. This book simplifies the learning process as a problem is described followed by its implementation using an object-oriented approach and then a solution is provided using appropriate functional programming techniques. Writing succinct and maintainable code is facilitated by many functional programming techniques including lambda expressions and streams. In this book, you will see numerous examples of how these techniques can be applied starting with an introduction to lambda expressions. Next, you will see how they can replace older approaches and be combined to achieve surprisingly elegant solutions to problems. This is followed by the investigation of related concepts such as the Optional class and monads, which offer an additional approach to handle problems. Design patterns have been instrumental in solving common problems. You will learn how these are enhanced with functional techniques. To transition from an object-oriented approach to a functional one, it is useful to have IDE support. IDE tools to refactor, debug, and test functional programs are demonstrated through the chapters. The end of the book brings together many of these functional programming techniques to create a more comprehensive application. You will find this book a very useful resource to learn and apply functional programming techniques in Java.Style and approach In this tutorial, each chapter starts with an introduction to the terms and concepts covered in that chapter. It quickly progresses to contrast an object-oriented approach with a functional approach using numerous code examples.

How to Live as Jesus Lived Dallas Willard, one of today's most brilliant Christian thinkers and author of The Divine Conspiracy (Christianity Today's 1999 Book of the Year), presents a way of living that enables ordinary men and women to enjoy the fruit of the Christian life. He reveals how the key to self-transformation resides in the practice of the spiritual disciplines, and how their practice affirms human life to the fullest. The Spirit of the Disciplines is for everyone who strives to be a disciple of Jesus in thought and action as well as intention.

One of the most popular and beloved introductions to the concept of faith ever written, Mere Christianity has sold millions of copies worldwide. The book brings together C. S. Lewis legendary radio broadcasts during the war years, in which he set out simply to explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times. Rejecting the boundaries that divide Christianity many denominations, Mere Christianity provides an unequalled opportunity for believers and nonbelievers alike to absorb a powerful, rational case for the Christian faith.

A milestone in the history of popular theology, The Screwtape Letters is an iconic classic on spiritual warfare and the dynamics of temptation. This profound and striking narrative takes the form of a series of letters from Screwtape, a devil high in the Infernal Civil Service, to his nephew Wormwood, a junior colleague engaged in his first mission on earth, trying to secure the damnation of a young man who has just become a Christian. Although the young man initially looks to be a willing victim, he changes his ways and is "lost" to the young devil. Dedicated to Lewis's friend and colleague J. R. R. Tolkien, The Screwtape Letters is a timeless classic on spiritual conflict and the psychology of temptation which are part of our religious experience.

Both astonishing and prophetic, The Abolition of Man remains one of C. S. Lewis's most controversial works. Lewis sets out to persuade his audience of the ongoing importance and relevance of universal objective values, such as courage and honor, and the foundational necessity of natural law. He also makes a cogent case that a retreat from these pillars of our educational system, even if in the name of "scientism," would be catastrophic. National Review lists it as number seven on their "100 Best Nonfiction Books of the Twentieth Century."

Edith Grossman's definitive English translation of the Spanish masterpiece. Widely regarded as the world's first modern novel, and one of the funniest and most tragic books ever written, Don Quixote chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote of La Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they travel through sixteenth-century Spain. Unless you read Spanish, you've never read Don Quixote. "Though there have been many valuable English translations of Don Quixote, I would commend Edith Grossman's version for the extraordinarily high quality of her prose. The Knight and Sancho are so eloquently rendered by Grossman that the vitality of their characterization is more clearly conveyed than ever before. There is also an astonishing contextualization of Don Quixote and Sancho in Grossman's translation that I believe has not been achieved before. The spiritual atmosphere of a Spain already in steep decline can be felt throughout, thanks to her heightened quality of diction. Grossman might be called the Glenn Gould of translators, because she, too, articulates every note. Reading her amazing mode of finding equivalents in English for Cervantes's darkening vision is an entrance into a further understanding of why this great book contains within itself all the novels that have followed in its sublime wake." From the Introduction by Harold Bloom Miguel de Cervantes was born on September 29, 1547, in Alcala de Henares, Spain. At twenty-three he enlisted in the Spanish militia and in 1571 fought against the Turks in the battle of Lepanto, where a gunshot wound permanently crippled his left hand. He spent four more years at sea and then another five as a slave after being captured by Barbary pirates. Ransomed by his family, he returned to Madrid but his disability hampered him; it was in debtor's prison that he began to write Don Quixote. Cervantes wrote many other works, including poems and plays, but he remains best known as the author of Don Quixote. He died on April 23, 1616.

Robbed in Iran and imprisoned for over 100 days for suspected espionage, this is the true story of one woman's shocking ordeal in the country she called home. The morning of 30 December 2006 began routinely for Haleh Esfandiari. The Iranian-American academic was due to return home to the United States after visiting her ailing mother in Tehran. She got into a taxi to the airport, and was driven by the driver who she always used when in Iran. Fifteen minutes later, Haleh was robbed at knife point by three men, who threatened to kill her. Her baggage, two passports and identification cards were all stolen. Without her documentation, Haleh was unable to leave Iran. What appeared to be an ordinary theft was almost certainly a stage-managed robbery by agents of Iran's Intelligence Ministry, conducted to keep Haleh in the country. This was the beginning of her eight-month Iranian saga - starting with endless hours of interrogation, intimidation and threat, and ending with her release from prison after over 100 days in solitary confinement. Revealing, gripping and, at times, alarming, Haleh Esfandiari's ordeal acts as a microcosm of Iran's difficulties in dealing with the outside world and the modernity that the country only half-embraces.

Leading archaeologist Francis Pryor retells the story of King Arthur, legendary king of the Britons, tracing it back to its Bronze Age origins. The legend of King Arthur and Camelot is one of the most enduring in Britain's history, spanning centuries and surviving invasions by Angles, Vikings and Normans. In his latest book Francis Pryor – one of Britain’s most celebrated archaeologists and author of the acclaimed ‘Britain B.C.’ and ‘Seahenge’ – traces the story of Arthur back to its ancient origins. Putting forth the compelling idea that most of the key elements of the Arthurian legends are deeply rooted in Bronze and Iron Ages (the sword Excalibur, the Lady of the Lake, the Sword in the Stone and so on), Pryor argues that the legends' survival mirrors a flourishing, indigenous culture that endured through the Roman occupation of Britain, and the subsequent invasions of the so-called Dark Ages. As in ‘Britain B.C.’, Pryor roots his story in the very landscape, from Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, to South Cadbury Castle in Somerset and Tintagel in Cornwall. He traces the story back to the 5th-century King Arthur and beyond, all the time testing his ideas with archaeological evidence, and showing how the story was manipulated through the ages for various historical and literary purposes, by Geoffrey of Monmouth and Malory, among others. Delving into history, literary sources – ancient, medieval and romantic – and archaeological research, Francis Pryor creates an original, lively and illuminating account of this most British of legends.

Part of the ‘Making History Series’ – ‘Waterloo’ is an exciting retelling of one of the moments that shook the world – Waterloo, one of the truly decisive battles of history. The illustrious ‘Making History Series’, edited by Lisa Jardine and Amanda Foreman, explores an eclectic mix of history's tipping points. In ‘Waterloo’, Roberts provides not only a fizzing account of one of the most significant forty-eight hour periods of all time, but also a startling interrogation into the methodology of history – is it possible to create an accurate picture from a single standpoint? What we can say for certain about the battle is that it ended forever one of the great personal epics. The career of Napoleon was brought to a shuddering halt on the evening of 18 June 1815. Interwoven in the clear-cut narrative are exciting revelations brought to light by recent research: accident rather than design led to the crucial cavalry debacle that lost the battle. Amongst the all-too-human explanation for the blunder that cost Napoleon his throne, Roberts sets the political, strategic and historical scene, and finally shows why Waterloo was such an important historical punctuation mark. The generation after Waterloo saw the birth of the modern era: ghastly as the carnage here was, henceforth the wars of the future were fought with infinitely more ghastly methods of trenches, machine-guns, directed starvation, concentration camps, and aerial bombardment. By the time of the Great War, chivalry was utterly dead. The honour of bright uniform and tangible spirit of élan met their final dance at Waterloo.