Faber and Faber An Artist of the Floating World Исигуро Кадзуо

1948. Japan is rebuilding her cities after the calami of WWII, her people putting defeat behind them and looking to the future. The celebrated painter Masuji Ono fills his days attending to his garden, his house repairs, his two grown daughters and his grandson, and his evenings drinking with old associates in quiet lantern-lit bars. His should be a tranquil retirement. But as his memories continually return to the past - to a life and a career deeply touched by the rise of Japanese militarism - a dark shadow begins to grow over his serenity

Selected from the work of soldiers killed in action - starting with Rupert Brooke in 1915 and ending with the tragic loss of Wilfred Owen seven days before the Armistice - the poems capture a broad range of emotions and states of mind, ranging from anthems about the brutality of war to wistful evocations of home and loved ones left behind • Few people alive today had direct experience of the First World War, and yet it seems embedded in the collective consciousness of the combatant nations as a warning to future generations of the futility of military conflict. Our awareness of the terror, loneliness and desperate hope endured by the men who fought this war we owe to the quality of the art that came out of it, not least the poetry. Despite the passage of time, its ability to move and inspire us remains undimmed, as this superb new compilation richly demonstrates

The second book by the bestselling author of Extraordinary Insects • Trees clean air and water; hoverflies and bees pollinate our crops; the kingfisher inspired the construction of high-speed trains. In Tapestries of Life, bestselling author Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson explains how closely we are all connected with the natural world, highlighting our indelible link with nature’s finely knit system and our everyday lives • In the heart of natural world is a life-support system like no other, a collective term that describes all the goods and services we receive – food, fresh water, medicine, pollination, pollution control, carbon sequestration, erosion prevention, recreation, spiritual health and so much more. In this utterly captivating book, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson sets out to explore these wonderful, supportive elements – taking the reader on a journey through the surprising characteristics of the natural world

From award-winning historian Saul David, an action-packed and powerful new narrative of the Battle of Okinawa - the last great clash of the Second World War, and one that had profound consequences for the modern world • For eighty-three blood-soaked days, the fighting on the island of Okinawa plumbed depths of savagery as bad as anything seen on the Eastern Front. When it was over, almost a quarter of a million people had lost their lives, making it by far the bloodiest US battle of the Pacific. In Okinawa, the death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide, convinced by Japanese propaganda that they would otherwise be raped and murdered by the enemy. On the US side, David argues that the horror of the battle ultimately determined President Truman's choice to use atomic bombs in August 1945

Uncover the stories of gods and goddesses from around the world, in this dynamic anthology of ancient myths • Discover 23 captivating stories of gods and goddesses from civilisations around the world in this book that introduces children to ancient cultures with colourful illustrations and incredible storytelling. Young readers will delight in myths that explain the beginning of the world, the way gods helped humans, the divine's power over weather and other natural phenomena, and much more • Gods of the Ancient World is a perfect global introduction to the most fascinating stories about gods and goddesses from ancient history • Further featuring • - The incredible myths and legends behind each god or goddess with real-world art references • - Illustrations bring each god and goddess to life for a young audience

In the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two great empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on, and one had vanished for ever, while the other was a dismembered, bleeding trunk. In their place, a new superpower had arisen: the empire of the Arabs. So profound was this upheaval that it spelled, in effect, the end of the ancient world • But the changes that marked the period were more than merely political or even cultural: there was also a transformation of human society with incalculable consequences for the future. Today, over half the world's population subscribes to one of the various religions that took on something like their final form during the last centuries of antiquity. Wherever men or women are inspired by belief in a single god to think or behave in a certain way, they bear witness to the abiding impact of this extraordinary, convulsive age - though as Tom Holland demonstrates, much of what Jews, Christians and Muslims believe about the origins of their religion is open to debate

From the sleek Nimbus 2000 to the speedy Firebolt, flying brooms are a beloved aspect of the Wizarding World. Harry Potter - The Broom Collection is a visual guide to the magical conveyances of the Harry Potter films, their makers, and of course, the characters who use them. Profiles of each broom feature stunning new photography of the original props; statistics; insights from the cast and crew; and other film-making secrets from the Warner Bros. archive. In addition to individual photographic profiles of each broom, this book also includes blueprints and concept art as well as entries on the high-flying game of Quidditch and related props. Delve deep into what makes flying brooms the beloved mode of transportation for witches and wizards everywhere! • Destined to be a must-have collectable for fans of Harry Potter, this book also includes a 6-page fold-out

By the end of the First World War, the whereabouts of more than half a million British soldiers were unknown. Most were presumed dead, lost forever under the battlefields of northern France and Flanders • In The Searchers, Robert Sackville-West brings together the extraordinary, moving accounts of those who dedicated their lives to the search for the missing. These stories reveal the remarkable lengths to which people will go to give meaning to their loss: Rudyard Kipling's quest for his son's grave; E.M. Forster's conversations with traumatised soldiers in hospital in Alexandria; desperate attempts to communicate with the spirits of the dead; the campaign to establish the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior; and the exhumation and reburial in military cemeteries of hundreds of thousands of bodies

Netherlandish, Flemish and Dutch Drawings of the XVI-XVIII Centuries. Belgian and Dutch Drawings of the XIX-XX Centuries, which has now been translated into English, is part of series of substantial scholary collection catalogues of the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow. One of a museum's most important tasks is to disclose its collection conscientiously and responsibly, a goal the Pushkin State Museum's staff has been steadily realising for years now. Издание на английском языке

Inspired by Hemingway’s adventures as a newspaper correspondent in Spain in the 1930s, The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War magnificently evokes life in a besieged city over a tumultuous decade. Featuring the author’s only full-length play, the works recount decadent parties and doomed love affairs amid the rubble, and effortlessly capture the devastating effects of the war on the inhabitants of the city