Viking Birds and Us. A 12,000 Year History, from Cave Art to Conservation Birkhead Tim

In Birds and Us, award-winning writer and ornithologist Tim Birkhead takes us on an epic and dazzling journey through this mutual history with birds, from the ibises mummified and deified by Ancient Egyptians to Renaissance experiments on woodpecker anatomy, from Victorian obsessions with egg collecting to the present fight to save endangered species and restore their habitats • Weaving in stories from his own life as a scientist, including far-flung expeditions to wondrous Neolithic caves in Spain and the bustling guillemot colonies of the Faroe Islands, this rich and fascinating book is the culmination of a lifetime's research and unforgettably shows how birds shaped us, and how we have shaped them

Travel through time to discover the paintings, sculptures, and decorative objects that enrich our world • Are you seeking a lavishly illustrated timeline that showcases a glorious gallery of art from all around the world? Then Art Year By Year may be the book for you! • Over 500 images of art movements such as the Renaissance, Neoclassicism, Impressionism, and Pop Art are explored and explained, accompanied by striking visual detail that truly brings the artwork to life. Further featuring biographies of the key figures behind some of the world's best-known artworks, from Botticelli and Hiroshige to Goncharova and Morisot, Art Year By Year has something for everyone to admire • With passion in every page, you can explore • - Feature panels discussing artists, art movements, and techniques • - Specific works of art analysed, with details pulled out and explained • - Pages that explore a single theme through time and across different cultures • - Inspiring quotes from artists add insight • With every story plotted on a timeline, the pages give a snapshot of each era, and reveal the influences and connections behind the artworks and artistic movements that have reflected our world

Отличный подарок для поклонников Принса, Диккенса и многих других! В этой новой веселой и оригинальной книге Ника Хорнби на сцене находятся две великие личности: Чарльз Диккенс и Принс. Два совершенно разных художника, которые загорелись и осветили мир так, как не смог никто другой. Откуда взялась их магия? Как им удавалось так много работать и сотворить так много всего? Как им удавалось управлять интенсивностью своего творчества? Как они его использовали и не убило ли оно их? С остроумием, любопытством и глубоким восхищением Ник Хорнби показывает нам их необыкновенную жизнь - от трудного начала до женщин, в которых они влюблялись, до их безграничной энергии в работе, до их денег и кино - и блестяще освещает их особую гениальность. Книга на английском языке

In the summer of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy's legendary revolutionary hero, fled Rome and led 4,000 of his men hundreds of miles through Umbria and Tuscany, then across the Apennines, Italy's mountainous spine, toward the refuge of the Venetian Republic. After thirty-two exhausting days of skirmishes and adventures, only 250 survivors reached the Adriatic coast • This hair-raising journey is brought vividly to life by bestselling author Tim Parks, who in the blazing summer of 2019, followed in Garibaldi's footsteps. A fascinating portrait of Italy past and present, The Hero's Way is a celebration of determination, creativity and desperate courage

In 1981 Tim Parks moved from England to Italy and spent the next thirty years alongside hundreds of thousands of Italians on his adopted country’s vast, various and ever-changing networks of trains • Through memorable encounters with ordinary Italians – conductors and ticket collectors, priests and prostitutes, scholars and lovers, gypsies and immigrants – Tim Parks captures what makes Italian life distinctive. He explores how trains helped build Italy and how the railways reflect Italians’ sense of themselves from Garibaldi to Mussolini to Berlusconi and beyond

From award-winning writer Edward Wilson-Lee, this is a thrilling true historical detective story set in sixteenth-century Portugal • A History of Water follows the interconnected lives of two men across the Renaissance globe. One of them – an aficionado of mermen and Ethiopian culture, an art collector, historian and expert on water-music – returns home from witnessing the birth of the modern age to die in a mysterious incident, apparently the victim of a grisly and curious murder. The other – a ruffian, vagabond and braggart, chased across the globe from Mozambique to Japan – ends up as the national poet of Portugal • The stories of Damiao de Gois and Luis de Camoes capture the extraordinary wonders that awaited Europeans on their arrival in India and China, the challenges these marvels presented to longstanding beliefs, and the vast conspiracy to silence the questions these posed about the nature of history and of human life

From Giotto to David Hockney, this invaluable A-Z reference guide introduces some of the most celebrated artists in history • 100 Great Artists showcases the masterworks of one hundred painters who represent eight centuries of artistic tradition, ranging from the 13th century to the 21st. Featuring spectacular full-colour images and biographic timelines, this book is a wonderful resource to browse some of histories most iconic artists and why they remain influential today • Featured artists include • Michelangelo • William Blake • Francisco Goya • Katsushika Hokusai • James McNeill Whistler • The secrets of the masterpieces revealed: does Van Eyck's Arnolfini Marriage portray a secret sadness? What political purpose did Rubens' fat, rosy models serve? And did Seurat's pointillist experiment really work? • A must-have collection for general readers, art students and practitioners alike

From the bestselling author of Normandy '44 and Sicily '43, a brilliant new history of the last days of the war • It took a certain type of courage to serve in a tank in the Second World War. Encased in steel, surrounded by highly explosive shells, a big and slow-moving target, every crew member was utterly vulnerable to enemy attack from all sides. Living - and dying - in a tank was a brutal way to fight a war • The Sherwood Rangers were one of the great tank regiments. They had learned their trade the hard way, in the burning deserts of North Africa. From D-Day onwards, they were in the thick of the action til the war's end. They and their Sherman tanks covered thousands of miles and endured some of the fiercest fighting in Western Europe. Their engagements stretch from the Normandy beaches to the bridges at Eindhoven

A unique and compelling exploration of why humans need animal companions – from dogs and cats to horses, birds and reptiles – as seen through the eyes of bestselling author Jacky Colliss Harvey • In The Animal’s Companion, the acclaimed author of Red: A Natural History of the Redhead explores the human desire to share our everyday life with pets, a history that can be traced back to a cave in France where evidence has been unearthed of a boy and his dog taking a walk together, some 26,000 years ago • From those preserved foot and paw prints, Colliss Harvey draws on literary, artistic and archaeological artefacts to sweep readers through centuries and across continents to examine how our relationships with our pets have developed, but also stayed very much the same

Bumbling flying elephants, the demon serpent, a brash peacock, crafty jackals, a curious leopard, and even an evil, shape-shifting jinn, all make an appearance in this delightful collection of tales from India • Beautifully illustrated and imaginatively retold, Birds and Beasts, takes the reader on a fantastical journey into the wild and wonderful world of magical beasts and whimsical animals. These tales are drawn from classic texts, such as the Hitopadesha, the Kathasaritsagara, the Puranas, and the Quran. They include oral tales from Ladakh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, and Uttarakhand, and tribal folklore as well • Sourced from classic texts and collections of folk tales that date as far back as the 11th century, the stories range from the unusual to the familiar and bound to stir the imagination of every child

The follow-up autobiography to one of Britain’s best loved actors and national treasures • In his first book David Jason told us about himself from his early years training as an electrician through to making it as one of Britain's greatest actors • This autumn, in a follow up autobiography, he tells us about the many other lives he has lived – his characters. From Del Boy to Granville, Pop Larkin to Frost, he takes us behind the scenes and under the skins of some of the best loved acts of his career • And in the process he reflects on how those characters changed his life too. The result told with his characteristic charm and wit is both funny and poignant, honest and heart warming

Who were the gangster women who risked everything to stay with the men of the underworld? • This gripping account chronicles the history of gangsters' molls and mob queens, from harbouring criminals to life on the run. Susan McNicoll investigates these intriguing unions from the heady days of the 1930s flapper era and beyond. Had they abandoned everything for love, or did the idea of being with these hardened criminals seem glamorous and exciting? • Covers the life stories of • Bonnie Parker, from the infamous Bonnie and Clyde double act • Virginia Hill, the glamorous girlfriend of Bugsy Siegel who died mysteriously • Evelyn Frechette, who was charged with harbouring murderous mobster John Dillinger • Vi Mathis, the partner of Kansas City massacre gunman Verne Miller • With photographs to accompany these shocking tales, Gangster Women is an honest and gritty account of these "gun molls" and their criminal lovers