Catalogue of an exhibition of original and early editions of Italian books selected from a collection designed to illustrate the development of Italian literature Книга по Требованию

For 312 years the rotstorm has blighted the ruins of the Ferron Empire • Born of an unholy war between gods themselves, it scours the land with acid mists and deadly lightning, spawning twisted monstrosities from its nightmarish depths • On the Stormwall, the men and women of the Stormguard maintain their vigil - eyes sharp, blades sharper - defending the Undal Protectorate from the worst of the rotstorm's corruption • But behind the stormfront, something is stirring, kindling the embers of an ancient conflict and a plan to kill a god • Will Stormguard steel be enough to meet the coming tempest? • *** • As the children of the storm carve a bloody swathe across the Northern Marches, the whitestaffs - the Protectorate's healers and sages - have fled, retreating to their island citadel of Riven

For 312 years the rotstorm has blighted the ruins of the Ferron Empire • Born of an unholy war between gods themselves, it scours the land with acid mists and deadly lightning, spawning twisted monstrosities from its nightmarish depths • On the Stormwall, the men and women of the Stormguard maintain their vigil - eyes sharp, blade sharper - defending the Undal Protectorate from the worst of the rotstorm's corruption • But behind the stormfront, something is stirring, kindling the embers of an ancient conflict and a plan to kill a god • Will Stormguard steel be enough to meet the coming tempest? • *** • Sergeant Flore Artollen patrols the wind-gnarled pines of Hookstone Forest for the Watch. But it wasn't always so • She spent years on the wall with the Stormguard, face to face with the bloodshed and horror of the rotstorm

From her experience as a survivor of the 900-day siege of Leningrad, Lidiya Ginzburg has created a remarkable hero in whom she distills the experience of life under siege. Though she depicts the harrowing conditions, the reader takes away an impression of the dignity, vitality, and intellectual resilience of the thinking mind as it makes sense of extreme experience. This classic work of documentary fiction, reminiscent of Primo Levi and Albert Camus, will be the first introduction of a major 20th-century Russian writer to many English-language readers

Covering the second half of Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro's career, these are some of the best, most touching and powerful short stories ever written • 'Munro is still one of our most fearless explorers of the human being' • The Times • Spanning her last five collections and bringing together her finest work from the past fifteen years, this new selection of Alice Munro's stories infuses everyday lives with a wealth of nuance and insight • Beautifully observed and remarkably crafted, written with emotion and empathy, these stories are nothing short of perfection. A masterclass in the genre, from an author who deservedly lays claim to being one of the major fiction writers of our time

The articles which Stendhal contributed as French correspondent for the London Magazine, New Monthly Magazine and other English reviews of the 1820s are here brought together in a single volume, the only edition available in English. In them Stendhal – defying fashion and giving proof of the bold originality of his creative writing – provides an illuminating and often entertaining commentary on the politics and mores of post-Napoleonic France and Italy, and reveals his outstanding and all too rarely acknowledged gifts as a reviewer and literary critic • Together with the articles from the English reviews, this edition includes translations of articles, essays and notes on Corneille, Scott and Lord Byron, who was on terms of close acquaintance with Stendhal during his stay in Milan in 1816

Between 1892 and 1895, Oscar Wilde’s drawing-room comedies Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest made his name as a playwright who fearlessly mocked the hypocrisy and snobbery of Victorian society and took gleeful delight in appearing to trivialize its most sacred institutions. With its premiere on Valentine’s Day 1895, The Importance of Being Earnest – a hilarious comedy of mistaken identities and coruscating language – was a phenomenal success, but its run was cut short prematurely by Wilde’s court case and subsequent incarceration, and the play was not published until 1899, after Wilde had been released from prison • Also including the powerful Salome, originally written in French and banned by the British censor, this collection displays Wilde at his provocative and witty best, and demonstrates why he was a playwright who delighted audiences and infuriated critics in equal measure

Selection includes The Portrait of Mr W.H., Wilde's defence of Dorian Gray, reviews, and the writings from 'Intentions' (1891): 'The Decay of Lying, 'Pen, Pencil, Poison', and 'The Critic as Artist' • Wilde is familiar to us as the ironic critic behind the social comedies, as the creator of the beautiful and doomed Dorian Gray, as the flamboyant aesthete and the demonised homosexual. This volume presents us with a different Wilde. Wilde emerges here as a deep and serious reader of literature and philosophy, and an eloquent and original thinker about society and art

Covering the first half of Nobel Prize winner Alice Munro's career, these are some of the best, most touching and powerful short stories ever written • This first-ever selection of Alice Munro's stories sums up her genius. Her territory is the secrets that cackle beneath the facade of everyday lives, the pain and promises, loves and fears of apparently ordinary men and women whom she renders extraordinary and unforgettable • This volume brings together the best of Munro's stories, from 1968 through to 1994. The second selected volume of her stories, 1995-2009 is also published by Vintage Classics

A groundbreaking history of architecture told through the relationship between buildings and energy • Reducing energy use is the single biggest challenge facing architecture today. From the humblest prehistoric hut to the imposing monuments of Rome or Egypt to super-connected modern airports, buildings in every era and place have been shaped by the energy available for their construction and running. This original and compelling survey tells the story of our buildings from our hunter-gatherer origins to the age of fossil-fuel dependence, and shows how architecture has been influenced by designers, builders and societies adapting to changing energy contexts • Architecture is a fascinating celebration of human ingenuity and creativity, and a timely reminder of the scale of the task ahead in our search for truly sustainable architecture

Scenes from Provincial Life brings together, in one volume, J.M. Coetzee’s majestic trilogy of fictionalised memoir, Boyhood, Youth and Summertime • It opens in a small town in the South Africa of the 1940s. We meet a young boy who, at home, is ill at ease with his father and stifled by his mother’s unconditional love. At school he passes every test that is set for him, but he remains wary of his fellow pupils. Later, as a student of mathematics in Cape Town he prepares to escape to Europe and turn himself into an artist. Once in London, however, the reality is dispiriting. Decades on, an English biographer researches a book about the late writer, John Coetzee. As he interviews important figures in Coetzee’s life, a portrait emerges of an awkward outsider who – even after death – remains dogged by rumours

For many fans, David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust era remains the most extraordinarily creative period in his career. As a member of Bowie's legendary band at the time - The Spiders From Mars - Woody Woodmansey played drums on four seminal albums: The Man Who Sold The World, Hunky Dory, The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars and Aladdin Sane • Woody's memoir, which he started work on in 2014, focuses on this key period and brings it to glorious life. With the confidence of youth, Woody always thought he'd be in a famous band but the nineteen-year-old rocker from Hull never expected to be thrust into London's burgeoning glam rock scene, and also into a bottle-green velvet suit and girl's shoes. Playing with Bowie took him on an eye-opening and transformative journey

Along our shores, towering cliffs from the age of the dinosaurs rise beside wide estuaries teeming with wildlife, while Victorian ports share waterfronts with imposing fortifications • And the people who have lived, worked and played on this spectacular coast - from Stone Age fishermen to seafarers, chart-makers and surfers - have an incredible tale to tell • Coast: Our Island Story is an enthralling account, sparkling with geography, history, adventure and eccentric characters, told with Nick Crane's trademark charisma and wit