Emma, by Jane Austen, is a novel about youthful hubris and the perils of misconstrued romance. The novel was first published in December 1815. As in her other novels, Austen explores the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England; she also creates a lively comedy of manners among her characters. Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her. She was the youngest of the two daughters of a most affectionate, indulgent father; and had, in consequence of her sister's marriage, been mistress of his house from a very early period. Her mother had died too long ago for her to have more than an indistinct remembrance of her caresses; and her place had been supplied by an excellent woman as governess, who had fallen little short of a mother in affection. Sixteen years had Miss Taylor been in Mr. Woodhouse's family, less as a governess than a friend, very fond of both daughters, but particularly of Emma. Between them it was more the intimacy of sisters. Even before Miss Taylor had ceased to hold the nominal office of governess, the mildness of her temper had hardly allowed her to impose any restraint; and the shadow of authority being now long passed away, they had been living together as friend and friend very mutually attached, and Emma doing just what she liked; highly esteeming Miss Taylor's judgment, but directed chiefly by her own. The real evils, indeed, of Emma's situation were the power of having rather too much her own way, and a disposition to think a little too well of herself; these were the disadvantages which threatened alloy to her many enjoyments. The danger, however, was at present so unperceived, that they did not by any means rank as misfortunes with her.

On the Origin of Species, published on 24 November 1859, is a work of scientific literature by Charles Darwin which is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. Its full title was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. For the sixth edition of 1872, the short title was changed to The Origin of Species. Darwin's book introduced the scientific theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. It presented a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. Darwin included evidence that he had gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and his subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation. Various evolutionary ideas had already been proposed to explain new findings in biology. There was growing support for such ideas among dissident anatomists and the general public, but during the first half of the 19th century the English scientific establishment was closely tied to the Church of England, while science was part of natural theology. Ideas about the transmutation of species were controversial as they conflicted with the beliefs that species were unchanging parts of a designed hierarchy and that humans were unique, unrelated to other animals. The political and theological implications were intensely debated, but transmutation was not accepted by the scientific mainstream. The book was written for non-specialist readers and attracted widespread interest upon its publication. As Darwin was an eminent scientist, his findings were taken seriously and the evidence he presented generated scientific, philosophical, and religious discussion. The debate over the book contributed to the campaign by T. H. Huxley and his fellow members of the X Club to secularise science by promoting scientific naturalism. Within two decades there was widespread scientific agreement that evolution, with a branching pattern of common descent, had occurred, but scientists were slow to give natural selection the significance that Darwin thought appropriate. During the "eclipse of Darwinism" from the 1880s to the 1930s, various other mechanisms of evolution were given more credit. With the development of the modern evolutionary synthesis in the 1930s and 1940s, Darwin's concept of evolutionary adaptation through natural selection became central to modern evolutionary theory, and it has now become the unifying concept of the life sciences. Summary of Darwin's theory: Darwin's theory of evolution is based on key facts and the inferences drawn from them, which biologist Ernst Mayr summarised as follows: ? Every species is fertile enough that if all offspring survived to reproduce the population would grow (fact).? Despite periodic fluctuations, populations remain roughly the same size (fact).? Resources such as food are limited and are relatively stable over time (fact).? A struggle for survival ensues (inference).? Individuals in a population vary significantly from one another (fact).? Much of this variation is inheritable (fact).? Individuals less suited to the environment are less likely to survive and less likely to reproduce; individuals more suited to the environment are more likely to survive and more likely to reproduce and leave their inheritable traits to future generations, which produces the process of natural selection (inference).? This slowly effected process results in populations changing to adapt to their environments, and ultimately, these variations accumulate over time to form new species (inference).

Bowie and Hutch Story

Do you enjoy the music of Cockney rock duo Chas ＆ Dave? Maybe you know the lyrics to all their songs and can name their albums? Then what better way to pay tribute to the 'Rockney' singers than with this quiz book?The 100 questions in The Official Chas ＆ Dave Quiz Book are designed to test your memory of the events that have shaped the lives and music of two of the most popular musical entertainers to emerge from the '70s and '80s. Chas ＆ Dave have a string of hits to their credit all injected with their own particular brand of humour. This book covers the early years, career highlights and all those unforgettable best-selling songs bringing the Chas ＆ Dave story right up to the present day. Packed with so much information, you are certain to find out something you never knew about the popular entertainers. This book will appeal to Chas ＆ Dave fans of all ages and anyone who has ever sung along to one of their songs.

Are you a big fan of science fiction? Have you seen all the iconic sci-fi films and followed the many TV series? Do you know the names of all the famous characters from The Incredible Hulk to Catwoman? If you think you are an expert on science fiction why not test yourself with this new quiz book? Which husband and wife team created Thunderbirds and Space 1999? What is the name of Erin Gray's character in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century? Which 2010 film won Academy Awards in four categories for best visual effects, sound editing, sound mixing and cinematography? The answers to all these questions and more can be found in The Sci-Fi Film ＆ Television Quiz Book. Science fiction remains one of the most popular and enduring genres in film and TV and has produced several classic titles and memorable characters. With 100 challenging questions on some of the all time great films and TV series past and present, this is a must-have book for sci-fi fans of all ages.

Now retired and no longer silenced by a contract, Maggie Cotton presents an honest and long-overdue player's perspective of life inside a professional symphony orchestra, describing how she became the first female percussionist in what was initially a staunchly male-dominated world. Now retired after forty years with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Maggie gives a fascinating and humorous insight into every aspect of her working life, including tours, conductors, composers, soloists, colleagues, recording contracts and educational work, as well as her own family life and the social conditions of wartime England and post-war Eastern Europe. Bolstered by her gritty Yorkshire roots, and naively undeterred by overwhelming odds, Maggie overcame many hurdles in pursuit of her ambition to play percussion in a professional symphony orchestra, in so doing transforming the face of women in that field from one of novelty circus performer to respected professional and colleague.

Andrew-Henry Bowie is a passionate Heart of Midlothian Football Club supporter. He doggedly survived a tough childhood and found solace - sort of - in his overwhelming love of football. The author engages the reader with an energetic and animated account of his years as a Hearts fan and his early years growing up as an Edinburgh 'schemie'. Written with verve and a dry sense of humour Bowie entertains with recollections of a series of calamitous episodes; ironically these seemed to reflect the Hearts' ups and downs! The book is scattered with familiar references to the 80s and 90s; for anyone growing up during this period, this book will stir poignant memories.

So many books about the American West leave out the more intriguing details:When, in 1803, the young USA doubled its size with the purchase from France of an unexplored vastness called La Louisiane, it was a British bank which lent the Americans most of the $15 million that they didn't have. So the financial papers for the biggest real-estate deal in history are, to this day, held in a London vault. Not many people know that... If his ranching uncle-by-marriage had had his way, the teenaged Winston Churchill - a disappointing scholar - might have been sent west to Wyoming to train as a cowboy. Who knows but, in time, he himself might have become a rancher. How then would history have turned out? Another ranching Englishman played a key role in recruiting a small army of Texas gunmen to "e;invade"e; northern Wyoming and kill more than 40 small settlers, men who had too easily been accused of being rustlers. The plan went badly wrong. But the Englishman had slipped away - gone home on holiday... It seems unlikely that Butch Cassidy was killed in a Bolivian shoot-out. It seems that he returned, under a false name, to live out his days in the West. In 1935, he even submitted a autobiographical script to Hollywood - only to have it rejected as being "e;too preposterous to be believable"e;. He died two years later - penniless. "e;Royal tourist visits the Colonies"e; was the local headline. In her VC-10, the Queen had flown into the small town of Sheridan in Wyoming. First, she took an extended walkabout along Main Street and then she holidayed for several days on a friend's ranch in the shadow of the Big Horn Mountain ... Tim Slessor, a one-time BBC producer, has filmed "e;out West"e; for nearly 50 years. In this book, he picks out a selection of fascinating stories that range from the mountain men and their fur trade to the pioneers of the overland trail, from Custer and the disaster at the Little Big Horn to the last stand of the Sioux at Wounded Knee, from the early cow-towns and the railroads to the cattle barons and the emigrant sod-busters.

The Basque Country is a land of fascinating paradoxes and enigmas. Home to one of Europe's oldest peoples and most mysterious languages, with a living folklore rich in archaic rituals and dances, it also boasts a dynamic post-modern energy, with the reinvention of Bilbao creating a model for the twenty-first-century city of cultural services and information technologies. Hugging the elbow of the Bay of Biscay on both the French and Spanish sides of the Pyrenees, this small territory abounds in big contrasts, ranging from moist green valleys to semi-desert badlands, from snowy sierras to sandy beaches, from harsh industrial landscapes to bucolic beech woods.This often idyllic scenery is the stage for fierce political passions. Almost every aspect of the Basque Country generates passionate disagreement, even its precise location. Spanish and French centralism, often authoritarian and sometimes brutal, has met with resistance for two centuries. Most recently and notoriously ETA, a terrorist group with deep popular support, has engaged in a bloody 45-year conflict. But many Basques consider themselves full French or Spanish citizens, and fear political and linguistic exclusion under Basque nationalist rule.

Meet Robert Cameron. 'Cam' trained as a covert military operator for the British Army. A hardened ex-Special Forces veteran of Sierra Leone and other major actions including UK counter-terrorism operations. Now, with the military behind him, it seems Cam is living a quiet life in the English Lake District but between suffering flash-backs to his secret past that he would rather forget, he is planning. But planning for what? He may no longer be part of the covert world, but Cam still has his specialist skills and training - he is also armed with an archive of undealt with terrorist activists in the UK and their personal details and whereabouts... He is ready to start his crusade. However, as he discovers - a plan never survives first contact.

Dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, characterised by mental deterioration and degeneration of the brain, is distressing for both sufferers and those who care for them, and Celebrities' Favourite Books is dedicated to those affected.Containing around 100 letters from well-known people nominating their all-time favourite reads and explaining their choice, this book is designed both to stimulate an interest in reading novels and also to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease.With a fitting foreword by Princess Alexandra, the aim of the book is to highlight the plight of sufferers and raise awareness of, and funds for, the valuable work carried out by the Alzheimer's Society.

The Garifuna people today live all along the Caribbean littoral of Central America, from Belize, through Guatemala and Honduras down to Nicaragua, and also in some of the biggest cities of the United States. For more than two hundred years they have preserved their unique culture and language--the direct descendant of that spoken in the islands at the time of Columbus. All of them, however, trace their origin back to the island of St. Vincent--YouroumaA n in their own language--where shipwrecked and runaway slaves joined together with the local Carib Indians to form a distinct society, known to the European colonists as the Black Caribs. Relations with the French veered between conflict and cooperation but when a deal struck in Paris in 1763 ceded the island to Britain, the stage was set for the Black Caribs final, desperate struggle to preserve their freedom. What followed was a series of bloody wars punctuated by periods of wary coexistence in which a small but determined people stood up to the might of the British Empire. The product of extensive original research in St. Vincent, the United Kingdom and France, The Black Carib Wars combines a compelling narrative with new details of the Black Caribs' fight to stay free. It draws in characters such as Daniel Defoe, the first man to describe an eruption of St. Vincent's volcano, and Captain Bligh, who belatedly brought Tahitian breadfruit to the island after his mission was interrupted by the mutiny on The Bounty. It looks at who the Black Caribs were, why they fought so tenaciously and how leaders such as Tourouya, Bigot and Chatoyer managed to marshal a fiercely individualistic society against the external threat. In the wake of the revolutions in France and Haiti, the Black Caribs fought their last battle, ending in agonising defeat and decimation in British captivity. The Black Carib Wars recounts how the survivors were shipped off to the faraway shores of Central America and what became of those who escaped deportation from St. Vincent.

Are you a loyal Blues supporter? Never missed a match and think you know all there is to know about your favourite team? If so, have a go at tackling the 1,000 brain teasing questions in this quiz book, each one cleverly thought out to test your memory of the people and places that have shaped the history of Birmingham City Football Club. With sections on all aspects of the game including players, managers, scores, transfer fees, opponents, competitions, wins, draws and losses, you just won't be able to put this book down. Whether you want to impress your family with some little known facts or challenge your mates, The Official Birmingham City Quiz Book is a must have for football fans of all ages and is certain to provide hours of fun. This fitting tribute to the Blues is both educational and entertaining. So dip inside the cover and check up on all those important details about the team you didn't realise you had forgotten.

Compiled by acclaimed television scriptwriter and novelist Dean Wilkinson, The Classic Children's Television Quiz Book is packed with fascinating facts about the shows you loved as a child as well as those programmes currently capturing the imagination of today's young audiences. From timeless classics like Thunderbirds, Blue Peter and Dr Who to the thoroughly up-to-date Sponge Bob, the 1,000 questions in this book will not only test your memory of the characters you grew up with but your family's knowledge of their current favourites. With a fitting foreword by popular family TV presenters Ant and Dec this book is sure to prove a hit with television lovers of all ages and, in particular, those members of the older generation who have remained young at heart.

So you're a fan of motor racing, but just how wide is your knowledge and how far back does it go? You'll be tested to the limit with this Motor Racing Quiz Book and will soon be chugging into the pits to have your brain recharged when you reach the latter section designed specifically for the experts among you. However, you can console yourself that the wealth of information contained in this book will leave you a much wiser person. From the early days of Juan Manuel Fangio and Jackie Stewart to more recent personalities such as David Coulthard and Michael Schumacher, every decade is covered in this book, with questions on every conceivable Grand Prix, as well as teams, circuits, car manufacturers, pole positions, nationalities, final placings, world champions, drivers' numbers, sponsors, constructors' victories, engines and much more. Who was nicknamed 'Il Leone'? What does a black flag signify? Where is the Gilles Villeneuve circuit? Don't know? Well, buy this book and find out everything you've ever wanted to know about motor racing, and at the same time celebrate the wonderful personalities and memorable events that have moulded the sport of motor racing.

Are you a fan of rap and hip hop? Are you familiar with artists such as Snoop Dog, Ice T and Lil' Kim? Can you name all the trailblazing rappers and singers and their hits? If so, you will enjoy trying to answer the 100 quick questions in The Rap & Hip Hop Quiz Book. For which album did Dizzee Rascal win the 2003 Mercury Prize? What was the name of the rapper who was shot in Las Vegas in September 1996 and later died from his wounds? Which artist had a hit with the album 'Fear of a Black Planet' in 1990? The answers to all these questions and more can be found in this exciting new quiz book. With sections on rappers, hit singles, stage names and best-selling albums as well as more general questions, this book will find out how much you really know about the artists behind the best of rap and hip hop. This book is certain to appeal to anyone with an interest in this form of music culture.

Do you enjoy country music? Are you familiar with the names of all the best-loved country stars, past and present? Can you recall when your favourite country artists started their singing careers and sing along to their greatest hits? If you answered yes to any of these questions, this quiz book is certain to appeal to you. Which group reached the number 8 position in Billboard's Hot Country Songs in 1979 with 'Outside Lookin' In'? Who are Henry John Deutschendorf Jr and Eilleen Regina Edwards better known as? Who won an honorary award at the 2011 Academy of Country Music Awards? The answers to these questions and more can all be found in The Country Music Quiz Book. With 100 questions about the artists and their music, this book has something for everyone and you are bound to discover some fascinating facts about the legends of country. This is a must-have book for all country fans and anyone interested in finding out more about this popular genre of music.

Are you a loyal England supporter? Do you look forward to the World Cup and eagerly follow England's progress? Would you like to find out more about the history of your national team and their past performance in top flight football? If so, this book is certain to appeal to you. England's World Cup Story documents England's journey in the World Cup from 1950 under the guidance of Sir Walter Winterbottom up to 2010 with Fabio Capello at the helm as manager. Packed with fascinating facts, quotes and profiles of many of the all-time great players, this book tells the story of the England team through the years from the many near misses and disappointments to victory in 1966 and beyond. Who can forget the likes of Gordon Banks, Bobby Moore and Sir Stanley Matthews to name but a few? They are all in this book together with more recent heroes such as David Beckham, Alan Shearer and Wayne Rooney. As one of only eight national sides to have lifted the World Cup trophy, this book is a fitting tribute to the England team. This is a must-have for all fans of the beautiful game and anyone with an interest in the history of the World Cup.

Dragged from the deepest, darkest depths of the 'Very Peculiar History' vaults, this book collects tales of terror, morbid myths and frightening facts that will chill you witless. Introduced by everyone's favourite bloodsucker, Count Dracula, 'Vampires: A Very Peculiar History' features the origin of vampire-like creatures and a biological and mythological look at human blood (including the best places to bite if you were a vampire!) alongside tales of the real-life vampires that may have inspired the first vampire stories. It includes advice on how to spot a vampire as well as how to become one! Even vampires of film, graphic novel and manga get a taste of the action! Don't be scared, be prepared...with 'Vampires, A Very Peculiar History'!

Are you from Clacton-on-Sea? Is it your favourite holiday destination or maybe you visited there as a child? Whatever your memories of Clacton this book aims to find out just how much you know about the popular seaside resort. Which civil engineer, who has an avenue in the town named after him, founded Clacton-on-Sea during the early 1870s? In what year during the 1980s did Butlins in Clacton close? Which road in Clacton was built in 1920 to cope with the influx of holidaymakers? The answers to these questions can all be found in this quiz book together with many more interesting facts about Clacton-on-Sea. With 100 questions designed to test your knowledge of the Essex town The Clacton-on-Sea Quiz Book is guaranteed to get you thinking. So whether you want to have fun with family and friends or learn more about the town you grew up in, this book is guaranteed to be as entertaining as it is informative. This is a must-have book for anyone with an interest in Clacton-on-Sea and its history.

When Peter Broadbent entered HMS Ganges, the toughest training establishment for young recruits to the Royal Navy, he was a naive 15-year-old Yorkshire schoolboy, entranced with the idea of seeing the world, proud of his drainpipe trousers and DA hairstyle, and eager to meet girls. In other words, he was a 'Nozzer' - a raw and unsuspecting recruit. When he emerged 386 days later it was as a prospective 'Dabtoe', not quite a fully trained Seaman, but well on the way. This funny and vivid memoir accurately captures what it was like to climb the mast, have your kit trashed, learn to swear, develop a taste for Kye and Stickies, double around the parade-ground at dead of night in your pyjamas, endlessly run up and down Laundry Hill ... and to do it all and much more while being continually barracked by a demanding Petty Officer Instructor. Along the way, Peter relished learning the Navy lingo and how to sail. He consumed platefuls of Cheese Ush, won a boxing certificate, discovered a secret stash of Playboy magazines, smoked thousands of cigarettes, and convinced girls back home that his shorn hair was in fact the very latest fashion 'down south'.