Penguin The Story of the Stone. Volume 4 Cao Xueqin

When the Titanic sank, so did the Edwardian age that created it. In this brilliantly original history, Gareth Russell recasts a tragedy we think we know to explore an era of seismic change • With new research and previously unseen first-hand accounts, Gareth Russell peers through the most famous portholes in the world to follow six travellers. Amongst them, a Jewish-American immigrant, an American movie star, a member of the British nobility, and a titan of industry. Setting these lives against that of the Titanic, Russell investigates social class, technological advancement, political turmoil and pioneering ambition in an age that swang between folly and brilliance, hubris and triumph • A dramatic history of human endeavour told through extraordinary, diverse personalities, The Ship of Dreams dispels myth to revive the story of a ship that was to become symbolic of its own doomed era

GIGGED goes inside the Silicon Valley companies leading the way to this emerging ‘gig economy’. It tells the stories of the workers – from computer programmers to online comment moderators – who are getting by in a new wave of precarious, short-term employment. And it sketches out what tomorrow’s economy might look like: one where the fortunate get to work when they want, how they want, while the rest live lives of extraordinary hardship • It might just be the future of work for all of us

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

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

В триумфальной работе "Большой экран. История фильмов и того, что они с нами сделали" Дэвид Томсон, один из величайших ныне живущих экспертов в области кино и автор Нового биографического словаря кино, рассказывает захватывающую историю кино и о том, как оно сформировало нас • Путешествуя с нами по всему миру, во времени и в различных средствах массовой информации, Томсон отслеживает, как мы изначально были очарованы этой завораживающей имитацией жизни, и позволяет фильмам - историям, звездам, внешнему виду - показывать нам, как жить. Но в то же время он показывает нам, как фильмы, предлагающие соблазнительный побег от повседневной реальности и связанных с ней обязанностей, позволили нам полностью уйти от жизни • Книга на английском языке • In this triumphant work David Thomson, one of film's greatest living experts and author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, tells the enthralling story of the movies and how they have shaped us

The behind-the-scenes story of the making of The Godfather, fifty years after the classic film’s original release • The story of how The Godfather was made is as dramatic, operatic, and entertaining as the film itself. Over the years, many versions of various aspects of the movie’s fiery creation have been told—sometimes conflicting, but always compelling. Mark Seal sifts through the evidence, has extensive new conversations with director Francis Ford Coppola and several heretofore silent sources, and complements them with colorful interviews with key players including actors Al Pacino, James Caan, Talia Shire, and others for irresistible insights into how the movie whose success some initially doubted roared to glory • On top of the usual complications of filmmaking, the creators of The Godfather had to contend with the real-life members of its subject matter: the Mob

В историю мировой литературы английский писатель Артур Конан Дойл (1859-1930) вошел как создатель Шерлока Холмса, гениального сыщика с Бейкер-стрит, 221-6. Приключения Холмса и его друга доктора Уотсона вот уже более столетия приковывают внимание читателей всего мира. Само имя Шерлок Холмс стало нарицательным. И это не случайно - рассказы и повести об этом бессмертном герое отмечены всеми достоинствами первоклассной беллетристики: богатой выдумкой, безукоризненной интригой, точной и легкой манерой изложения, а сам герой являет собой идеал рыцарственного борца со злом, воплощенным в преступлении • Настоящий том включает повести "Собака Баскервилей" (1902) и "Долина Страха" (1915) • Книга на английском языке • The Hound of the Baskervilles is the classic detective chiller

The story of modern Australia begins in eighteenth-century Britain, where people were hanged for petty offences but crime was rife, and the gaols were bursting. From this situation was born the Sydney experiment, with criminals perceived to be damaging British society transported to Sydney, an 'open air prison with walls 14,000 miles thick' • Eleven ships were dispatched in 1781, and arrived in Australia after eight hellish months at sea. Tom Keneally describes the first four years of the 'thief colony' and how, despite the escapes, the floggings, the murders and the rebellions, it survived against the odds to create a culture which would never have been tolerated in its homeland but which, in Australia, became part of the identity of a new and audacious nation

This richly illustrated hardback chronicles the rise and fall of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, accompanied by full-colour images of artefacts, artwork, maps and more • From palace-based societies in Minoan Crete to the Germanic invasion of Rome, this beautiful jacketed hardback tells the story of these classical civilisations, covering their political development, the rise of the city state and the growth of their empires. Also included are insights into the architectural, artistic and cultural impact of early Greece and Rome and vignettes of key political and cultural figures • Accompanied by feature boxes, maps and superb photographs this is a fascinating introduction to the two great empires that shaped the modern world

Complete in five handsome volumes, each with an introduction by a Doyle scholar, a chronology, a selected bibliography, and explanatory notes, the Oxford Sherlock Holmes series offers a definitive collection of the famous detective's adventures. No home library is complete without it • Comprising the series of short stories that made the fortunes of the Strand, the magazine in which they were first published, this volume won even more popularity for Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. Holmes is at the height of his powers in many of his most famous cases, including The Yellow face, The Final Problem, The Crooked man and the famous The Sigh Of the Four