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Edge of Empire: Conquest and Collecting in the East 1750–1850
Edge of Empire: Conquest and Collecting in the East 1750–1850
Maya Jasanoff
¥78.38
Talented historian Maya Jasonoff offers an alternative history of the British Empire. It is not about conquest – but rather a collection of startling and fascinating personal accounts of cross-cultural exchange from those who found themselves on the edges of Empire. A Palladian mansion filled with Western art in the centre of old Calcutta, the Mughal Emperor’s letters in an archive in the French Alps, the names of Italian adventurers scratched into the walls of Egyptian temples: in this imaginative book, Maya Jasanoff delves into the stories behind artefacts like these to uncover the lives of collectors in India and Egypt who lived on the frontiers of European empire. ‘Edge of Empire’ traces their exploits to tell an intimate history of imperialism. Written and researched on four continents, ‘Edge of Empire’ tells a story about the making of European empires, ones that break away from the grand narratives of power, exploitation, and resistance, to delve into the personal dimensions of imperialism. She asks what people brought to imperial frontiers and what they took away, and what motives drove them, whether ambition, opportunism, curiosity or greed. This rich and compelling book enters a world where people lived, loved and died, and identified with each other across cultures much more than our prejudices about ‘Empire’ might suggest.
Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain
Consuming Passions: Leisure and Pleasure in Victorian Britain
Judith Flanders
¥80.25
A delightful and fascinating social history of Victorians at leisure, told through the letters, diaries, journals and novels of nineteenth-century men and women, from the author of the bestselling ‘The Victorian House’. Imagine a world where only one in five people owns a book, where just one in ten has a knife or a fork – a world where five people out of every six do not own a cup to hold a hot drink. That was what England was like in the early eighteenth century. Yet by the close of the nineteenth century, the Industrial Revolution had brought with it not just factories, railways, mines and machines but also fashion, travel, leisure and pleasure. Leisure became an industry – a cornucopia of excitement for the masses – and it was spread by newspapers, advertising, promotions and publicity – all of which were eighteenth-century creations. It was Josiah Wedgwood and his colleagues who invented money-back guarantees, free delivery and celebrity endorsements. New technology such as the railways brought audiences to ever-more-elaborate extravaganzas, whether it was theatrical spectaculars with breathtaking pyrotechnics and hundreds of extras – ‘hippodramas' recreating the battle of Waterloo – or the Great Exhibition itself, proudly displaying 'the products of all quarters of the globe' under twenty-two acres of the sparkling 'Crystal Palace'. In ‘Consuming Passions’, the bestselling author of ‘The Victorian House’ explores this dramatic revolution in science, technology and industry – and how a world of thrilling sensation, lavish spectacle and unimaginable theatricality was born.
Plant Pests (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 116)
Plant Pests (Collins New Naturalist Library, Book 116)
David V. Alford
¥273.90
Ever since man first cultivated plants and grew crops, insects, mites and other creatures have risen to prominence as pests, but it is only throughout the last two centuries that we have come to study them in any detail. Whereas in the past, emphasis has mainly been placed on ways to protect cultivated plants from attack or damage, nowadays our over-reliance on pesticides has been replaced by a far more enlightened approach to plant protection. Though chemical pesticides still have a role to play, environmental aspects and non-chemical means of pest control have become equally, if not more, important. This requires a greater appreciation of ecosystems, coupled with a greater understanding of individual pests, including their habits and their role in the environment. Drawing on a lifetime of experience, David V. Alford provides a fascinating account of the natural history of the insects and mites that inhabit our farms and gardens, and feed on our cultivated plants. He shows how and why the different operations of cultivation affect their world, and why plant pests should not be viewed as different from other wildlife. Coverage of pests includes aliens, and although emphasis is placed mainly on arable and horticultural field crops, pests of protected crops - both edible and non-edible - are also included. Details of pest life cycles, status, distribution and the damage they cause are given, and natural enemies of pests are examined. The author also explores the impact of pesticides, climate change and evolving crop management practices.
Nightwalk: A journey to the heart of nature
Nightwalk: A journey to the heart of nature
Chris Yates
¥66.22
Chris Yates, one of Britain’s most insightful and lyrical writers, raises his gaze from his beloved rivers and ponds and takes us on a mesmerizing tour of the British countryside. “Last November, the sudden appearance of a hundred wintering ravens in a wood in Cranborne Chase, where I have lived for twenty-five years without seeing more than a few solitary specimens, reminded me that there is always something ready to flame up again in the landscape, just when it seemed the fire had gone out.” In Nightwalk we accompany Chris Yates on the most magical of journeys into the very heart of the British countryside. His acute observation of the natural world and ability to transcend it exquisitely sets Chris apart from his contemporaries. Time slows down for a deeper intimacy with nature, and through Chris’s writing we hear every rustle of a leaf, every call of a bird. He widens the power of our imagination, heightening our senses and revealing beauty in the smallest details.
Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna
Rites of Peace: The Fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna
Adam Zamoyski
¥80.25
Following on from his epic ‘1812: Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow’, bestselling author Adam Zamoyski has written the dramatic story of the Congress of Vienna. In the wake of his disastrous Russian campaign of 1812, Napoleon's imperious grip on Europe began to weaken, raising the question of how the Continent was to be reconstructed after his defeat. There were many who dreamed of a peace to end all wars, in which the interests of peoples as well as those of rulers would be taken into account. But what followed was an unseemly and at times brutal scramble for territory by the most powerful states, in which countries were traded as if they had been private and their inhabitants counted like cattle. The results, fixed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, not only laid the foundations of the European world we know; it put in place a social order and a security system that lie at the root of many of the problems which dog the world today. Although the defining moments took place in Vienna, and the principle players included Tsar Alexander I of Russia, the Austrian Chancellor Metternich, the Duke of Wellington and the French master of diplomacy Talleyrand, as well as Napoleon himself, the accepted view of the gathering of statesmen reordering the Continent in elegant salons is a false one. Many of the crucial questions were decided on the battlefield or in squalid roadside cottages amid the vagaries of war. And the proceedings in Vienna itself were not as decorous as is usually represented. Drawing on a wide range of first-hand sources in six languages, which include not only official documents, private letters, diaries and first-hand accounts, but also the reports of police spies and informers, Adam Zamoyski gets below the thin veneer of courtliness and reveals that the new Europe was forged by men in thrall to fear, greed and lust, in an atmosphere of moral depravity in which sexual favours were traded as readily as provinces and the 'souls' who inhabited them. He has created a chilling account, full of menace as well as frivolity.
I Didn’t Do It For You: How the World Used and Abused a Small African Nation (Te
I Didn’t Do It For You: How the World Used and Abused a Small African Nation (Te
Michela Wrong
¥81.03
One small East African country embodies the battered history of the continent: patronised by colonialists, riven by civil war, confused by Cold War manoeuvring, proud, colorful, with Africa's best espresso and worst rail service. Michela Wrong brilliantly reveals the contradictions and comedy, past and present, of Eritrea. Just as the beat of a butterfly’s wings is said to cause hurricanes on the other side of the world, so the affairs of tiny Eritrea reverberate onto the agenda of superpower strategists. This new book on Africa is from the author of the critically acclaimed In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz. Eritrea is a little-known country scarred by decades of conflict and occupation. It has weathered the world's longest-running guerrilla war, and the dogged determination that secured victory against Ethiopia, its giant neighbour, is woven into the national psyche. Fascist Italy wanted Eritrea as the springboard for a new, racially-pure Roman empire, Britain sold off its industry for scrap, the US needed headquarters for its state-of-the-art spy station and the Soviet Union used it as a pawn in a proxy war. Michela Wrong reveals the breathtaking abuses this tiny nation has suffered and, with the sharp eye for detail that was the hallmark of her account of Mobutu's Congo, she tells the story of colonialism itself. Along the way, we meet a formidable Emperor, a guerrilla fighter who taught himself French cuisine in the bush, and a chemist who arranged the heist of his own laboratory. An arresting blend of travelogue and history, ‘I Didn't Do It For You’ pierces the dark heart of our colonial history.
LZ-’75: Across America with Led Zeppelin
LZ-’75: Across America with Led Zeppelin
Stephen Davis
¥18.74
Stephen Davis’s brilliantly-written personal account of criss-crossing America with Led Zeppelin on their 1975 tour. A warts-and-all snapshot of the world’s biggest hard-rock band at their peak. As a young rock writer Stephen Davis landed the ultimate commission – touring America with Led Zeppelin. This is a personal account by Davis of his journey, which saw him crossing the country with the band on board the Starship, their famous Boeing passenger jet, complete with deep shag purple carpet, electric pianos, girlfriends and star-struck hangers-on. This is also the story of one of the hardest-living bands in the world at their peak. For Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and John Bonham, the most beautiful women in America tear their spangled jackets from them and riots start outside their gigs. LZ-75 captures a few perfect months in rock, when Led Zeppelin epitomised the free-living rock dream, but, like Icarus, their wings were already beginning to melt. It wouldn't be long before John Bonham died of a vodka overdose, and punk killed their brand of monumental rock. With it's up-close-and-personal accounts of band members, managers, groupies, fans and drug-dealers, there's a lot of Almost Famous about this book – Led Zep's 1975 tour is in fact the very one on which Cameron Crowe's film was based. Stephen Davis was barely twenty in 1975, but now he is recognised as one of the best rock writers in the world. He is the author of the mega-selling Hammer of the Gods – a biography of Led Zeppelin. He recently unearthed his notebooks of the 1975 tour – which he didn't use for Hammer of the Gods – to write LZ-75. LZ-75: Across America with Led Zeppelin is a wonderful and unique thing – a beautifully succinct account of a single moment in rock, when no lyric was too far-fetched, no drink went undrunk and no expense was ever, ever spared. It's a moment that will never be repeated.
A Foreign Field (Text Only)
A Foreign Field (Text Only)
Ben Macintyre
¥57.09
This edition does not include illustrations. A wartime romance, survival saga and murder mystery set in rural France during the First World War. From the Number 1 bestselling author of ‘Agent ZigZag’ and ‘Operation Mincemeat’. Four young British soldiers find themselves trapped behind enemy lines at the height of the fighting on the Western Front in August 1914. Unable to get back to their units, they shelter in the tiny French village of Villeret, where they are fed, clothed and protected by the villagers, including the local matriarch Madame Dessenne, the baker and his wife. The self-styled leader of the band of fugitives, Private Robert Digby, falls in love with the 20-year-old daughter of one of his protectors, and in November 1915 she gives birth to a baby girl. The child is just six months old when someone betrays the men to the Germans. They are captured, tried as spies and summarily condemned to death. Using the testimonies of the daughter, the villagers, detailed town hall records and, most movingly, the soldiers’ last letters, Ben Macintyre reconstructs an extraordinary story of love, duplicity and shame – ultimately seeking to discover through decades of village rumour the answer to the question, ‘Who betrayed Private Digby and his men?’ In this new updated edition the mystery is finally solved. This edition does not include illustrations.
Arcadia: England and the Dream of Perfection (Text Only)
Arcadia: England and the Dream of Perfection (Text Only)
Adam Nicolson
¥81.03
Adam Nicolson is the author of many books on history, travel and the environment. He is the winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, the British Topography Prize and the WH Heinemann Award. He lives on a farm in Sussex. This is his fith book for HarperCollins – his previous four being ‘Men of Honour’, ‘Sea Room’, ‘Power and Glory’ and ‘Seamanship’.
To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape
To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape
Charles Spencer
¥73.58
Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBC’s Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of four books, including the Sunday Times bestseller Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier.
Tom’s Daily Plan: Over 80 fuss-free recipes for a happier, healthier you. All da
Tom’s Daily Plan: Over 80 fuss-free recipes for a happier, healthier you. All da
Tom Daley
¥125.18
Tom Daley is an Olympic athlete and TV presenter.
The Crossing Place: A Journey among the Armenians
The Crossing Place: A Journey among the Armenians
Philip Marsden
¥66.22
Philip Marsden is the author of The Bronski House, The Spirit-Wrestlers (winner of the Thomas Cook Travel Book of the Year Award), The Chains of Heaven, The Barefoot Emperor, The Levelling Sea and Rising Ground. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and his work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. He lives in Cornwall.
Truly Scrumptious Baby: My complete feeding and weaning plan for 6 months and be
Truly Scrumptious Baby: My complete feeding and weaning plan for 6 months and be
Holly Willoughby
¥124.59
Holly Willoughby is best known for her presenting roles on This Morning, Surprise Surprise and Celebrity Juice. After she was discovered by Storm Modelling Agency on a school trip at the age of 14, she quickly went on to land modelling jobs and presenting roles for various CiTV children’s programmes, all before becoming the co-presenter of Dancing on Ice with Philip Schofield. Juggling her busy television career with being a mum to her three small children, she is also the author of Truly Happy Baby and co-author of a series of children’s books with her sister, Kelly.
Bowland Beth: The Life of an English Hen Harrier
Bowland Beth: The Life of an English Hen Harrier
David Cobham,Dan Powell
¥125.18
David Cobham was an internationally renowned filmmaker, well known for his films Tarka the Otter and The Goshawk. Dan Powell is a wildlife artist best known for the field guide to The Dragonflies of Great Britain. His drawings and paintings have appeared in numerous wildlife books and publications.
The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain
The Rise of Respectable Society: A Social History of Victorian Britain
F. M. L. Thompson
¥73.48
By F. M. L. Thompson
Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive?
Is Shane MacGowan Still Alive?
Tim Bradford
¥53.76
TIM BRADFORD is a freelance writer and illustrator. He has written for the NME, When Saturday Comes, Empire and Amateur Photographer. His drawings have appeared in the Observer and the Express. He lives in London and is an enthusiastic trainee Celt.
King Dong
King Dong
Edgar Rider Ragged
¥53.76
A pseudonym for an established comedy author who is trying their hand at something more risquè than normal…
101 Ways to Win at Scrabble: Top tips for Scrabble success (Collins Little Books
101 Ways to Win at Scrabble: Top tips for Scrabble success (Collins Little Books
Barry Grossman
¥51.50
Barry Grossman is one of the UK's best Scrabble players, and former chairman of the influential London Scrabble League. Barry also writes for radio; his best-known work is the Radio 4 comedy “The Attractive Young Rabbi”, which ran for three series between 1999 and 2002.
Collins Scrabble Hints and Tips
Collins Scrabble Hints and Tips
Anonymous
¥44.24
Pioneers in dictionary publishing since 1819
The Mills & Boon Modern Girl’s Guide to:Happy Endings:Dating hacks for femin
The Mills & Boon Modern Girl’s Guide to:Happy Endings:Dating hacks for femin
Ada Adverse
¥51.50
Ada has been married eight times, including on one occasion in the early 90’s to a rock – a full twenty years, you’ll note, before Tracy Emin came up with the same idea. Unlucky in love, all of Ada’s partners have died in tragic circumstances, mostly unexplained fires. Ada’s interests include life insurance policies, petrol and topical poisons.
Irish birds (Collins Gem)
Irish birds (Collins Gem)
David Cabot
¥47.58
David Cabot is one of Ireland's foremost ornithologists and wildlife experts. A zoology graduate from Trinity College, Dublin, he completed his PhD at University College Galway, where he also taught and founded the Irish Wildfowl Conservancy. He worked for 20 years as head of Conservation and Amenity Reaseach in a State planning institute before becoming a special environmential advisor to the Irish Prime Minister. He is a well-known natural history film maker, broadcaster and writer.