Penguin The Country of the Blind and other Selected Stories Уэллс Герберт Джордж

For centuries, scientists had only one way to study the brain: wait for misfortune to strike - strokes, seizures, infections, lobotomies, horrendous accidents, phantom limbs, Siamese twins - and see how the victims changed afterwards. In many cases their survival was miraculous, and observers marvelled at the transformations that took place when different parts of the brain were destroyed. Parents suddenly couldn't recognise their children. Pillars of the community became pathological liars and paedophiles. Some people couldn't speak but could still sing. Others couldn't read but could write • The stories of these people laid the foundations of modern neuroscience and, century by century, key cases taught scientists what every last region of the brain did

The second volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades • 'There was magic about. Saladin himself was troubled by terrible dreams...' • Steven Runciman's unrivalled history of the Crusades is a classic of learning and vivid, compelling storytelling, which brilliantly brings to life the personalities, battles, massacres, triumphs and follies of these epochal events. In this second volume of his trilogy Runciman tells the story of the foundation of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the disastrous, bloody Second Crusade and the inexorable rise of the crusaders' nemesis, Saladin

The third volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades • 'The whole tale is one of faith and folly, courage and greed, hope and disillusion' • Steven Runciman's triumphant three-volume A History of the Crusades remains an unsurpassed account of the events that changed the world and continue to resonate today. This final volume of the trilogy begins with the glamorous Third Crusade and ends with the ruinous collapse of the crusader states and the degeneration of their ideals, which reached its nadir in the tragic destruction of Byzantium

Edgar Allan Poe was a writer of uncommon talent; in The Murders in the Rue Morgue he created the genre of detective fiction while his genius for finding the strangeness lurking within us all has been an influence on everyone from Freud to Hollywood. This complete collection of all his short stories and novellas contains well-known tales 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' alongside hidden gems that both unsettle and enthrall the reader

The writings of one of the great woman adventurers of the twentieth century - the 'female Lawrence of Arabia' - and the subject of a new film starring Nicole Kidman • In the last century, few people lived more astounding - or influential - lives than Gertrude Bell. During World War I, she worked her way up from spy to army major to become one of the most powerful woman in the British Empire. After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, she was instrumental in drawing the borders that define the region today, including creating an independent Iraq. This is the epic story of Bell's life, told through her letters, military dispatches, diary entries, and other writings. It offers a unique and intimate look behind the public mask of a woman who shaped nations

The action of the saga takes place at the end of the tenth century, at about the time Scandinavia was converting from worship of Norse gods to Christianity. A masterpiece of medieval literature, the story focuses on two families — that of Hoskuld, a prominent farmer with several sons, and that of Gudrun, the most beautiful woman ever born in Iceland

As usual with the Sherlock Holmes stories it is very hard to say which are the best - but there are many stories here which would get the vote - ranging from The Boscombe Valley Mystery to the wonderful Adventure of Silver Blaze, from the Adventure of the Norwood Builder to A Case of Identity, but above to the uniquely strange and macabre Adventure of the Engineer's Thumb

В этом сборнике представлены некоторые из самых глубоких и трогательных аллегорических рассказов Джека Лондона • "Белый Клык" и "Зов предков" - пожалуй, наиболее известные повести Джека Лондона о волках, собаках и людях. Истории Белого Клыка, полупса-полуволка, и Бэка во многом схожи. Оба проходят суровую школу жизни, "выживают там, где может выжить только сильный" и оказываются перед выбором, каким законам следовать: дикой природы или человека. Выразительно, образно и метко писатель рассказывает о любви и преданности, хитрости и жестокости - людей и тех, кто называется их меньшими братьями • В этот том также входит "Батар", в котором обиженная собака мстит своему хозяину; и "Любовь к жизни", в которой раненый старатель, брошенный своим напарником, вынужден в одиночку пробираться домой через дикую местность, где за ним охотится волк-одиночка

Научная фантастика и фэнтези шли рука об руку с момента их появления в конце 19 века • Сборник содержит лучшие рассказы мастеров этих двух жанров. Эта книга объединяет выдающееся воображение таких писателей, как Герберт Уэллс, Джордж Гриффит, Роберт Э. Говард и Уильям Моррис • Издание на английском языке • Science fiction and fantasy have gone hand-in-hand since their emergence at the end of the 19th century. Containing the best short stories of the masters of the two genres, this collection brings together the outstanding imaginations of writers such as H.G. Wells, George Griffith, Robert E. Howard and William Morris

в "Убийце по ту сторону стола" легендарный специалист ФБР по составлению криминальных профилей и автор бестселлеров номер один Джон Дуглас углубляется в жизнь и преступления четырех сложных убийц-хищников,предлагая никогда ранее не раскрывавшиеся подробности о процессе составления его профилей и раскрывая стратегии,используемые для раскрытия некоторых из его самых сложных дел • В этой захватывающей работе о настоящем преступлении Дуглас рассказывает о четырех совершенно разных преступниках,с которыми он сталкивался на протяжении своей карьеры,и объясняет,как они помогли ему собрать воедино головоломку о том, как мыслят психопаты и хищники • Проводя нас в комнату для допросов и демонстрируя уникальные методы,которые он использует,чтобы понять работу самых страшных и непостижимых умов, "Убийца напротив" - это незабываемое путешествие в самые темные уголки криминалистики и поведенческой науки от человека,который знает серийных убийц лучше,чем кто-либо другой

The first volume of Steven Runciman's classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades • 'On a February day in the year AD 638 the Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem, riding upon a white camel' • An enthralling work of grand historical narrative, Steven Runciman's A History of the Crusades overturned the traditional view of the Crusades as a romantic Christian adventure, and instead shifted the focus of the story to the East. With verve and drama, volume one of Runciman's trilogy tells the story of the First Crusade - from its unlikely beginnings in pilgrimage to the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem and the carving out of new territory on the edge of the eastern Mediterranean

Published in 1872, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was a book at the very heart of Darwin's research interests - a central pillar of his 'human' series. This book engaged some of the hardest questions in the evolution debate, and it showed the ever-cautious Darwin at his boldest. If Darwin had one goal with Expression, it was to demonstrate the power of his theories for explaining the origin of our most cherished human qualities: morality and intellect. As Darwin explained, "He who admits, on general grounds, that the structure and habits of all animals have been gradually evolved, will look at the whole subject of Expression in a new and interesting light."