One of the premier novelists of the twentieth century, James A. Michener captures a frenzied time when sane men and women risked their very lives in a forbidding Arctic land to win a dazzling and elusive prize: Yukon gold. In 1897, gold fever sweeps the world. The promise of untold riches lures thousands of dreamers from all walks of life on a perilous trek toward fortune, failure--or death. Journey is an immersive account of the adventures of four English aristocrats and their Irish servant as they haul across cruel Canadian terrain toward the Klondike gold fields. Vivid and sweeping, featuring Michener's probing insights into the follies and grandeur of the human spirit, this is the kind of novel only he could write. Praise for Journey "Stunning . . . Michener at his best."--Houston Chronicle "Michener brings sharply into focus the hardships encountered by those who dreamed of... Views: 29
In these short stories the table is a scene of revenge and nostalgic memories, self-realisation and self-indulgence, separations and new beginnings. In turn warm and witty, acerbic and compassionate, sad and joyful, the stories in "Dining Alone" demonstrate the rich possibilities that food brings to fiction. "Champagne and truffles might mend a broken heart, but food cannot last. Writing about it does. Dining alone - with only wonderful (perhaps) food for company. And words. What bliss." - Marion Halligan Views: 29
Faster, Grittier, Darker, Deadlier…Chris Ryan Extreme A chance encounter with an agent from MI6 leads Joe Gardner into a perilous mission in Gibraltar. His objective: bust a major cocaine-smuggling ring involving former a Regiment operator and the Royal Navy. But Gardner isn’t alone. A mysterious killer with expert martial arts skills is shadowing his every move. And it’s about to get noisy. Views: 29
This is the game changing book reveals the blueprint for a second term that President Obama and his progressive backers don't want you to know. Months of painstaking research into thousands of documents have enabled investigative journalists and New York Times bestselling authors Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott to expose the secret template for Obama's next four years—the one actually created by Obama's own top advisers and strategists. Just as Obama concealed the true plans for his initial term behind rhetoric of ending partisan differences and cutting the Federal deficit, Obama's re-election theme of creating jobs conceals more than it reveals about his real agenda for a second term. All the main areas of domestic policy are covered—jobs, wages, health care, immigration overhaul, electoral reform, national energy policy. Each of the plans exposed seek to permanently remake America into a government-dominated socialist state.Here are just a few samples from... Views: 29
An untamed horse has run away—can Lily and Beware find him and bring him home? After a storm scatters all the livestock on her grandparents' farm, Lily discovers that Gramp's wild black Morgan is missing. Stogie's a horse with a mind of his own, and when he runs, no one can ever catch him. Stogie may be boss of the other animals on the farm, but he's afraid of people. And a frightened horse is a dangerous one. Lily's determined to find the black Morgan and bring him home before he ends up getting hurt—or shot. Since no one can catch Stogie, no one can lead him. But Lily brings a rope anyway. As she and Beware set off on their search, she tries to put herself in Stogie's shoes to figure out where he would go. Then she gets an idea . . . Can she and Beware find and catch Stogie before it's too late? Views: 29
Why did being Muslim mean that your allegiances were to other Muslims before the citizens of your country? Why did his father, despite claiming to be irreligious, describe himself as a 'cultural Muslim'? Why did Muslims see modernity as a threat? What made Islam a trump identity?As a child, all Aatish Taseer ever had of his father was a photograph in a browning silver frame. Raised by his Sikh mother in Delhi, his Muslim Pakistani father remained a distant figure, almost a figment of his imagination, until at twenty-one Aatish crossed the border to meet him.Stranger to History is the story Aatish's journey-from Istanbul, Islam's once greatest city, to Mecca, its most holy, and then home, through Iran and Pakistan. Ending in Lahore, on the night Benazir Bhutto was killed, it is also the story of Aatish's own divided family over the past fifty years. Part memoir, part travelogue, probing, stylish and troubling, Stranger to History is an outstanding... Views: 29
The immediate human toll of the 1994 Flight 427 disaster was staggering: all 132 people aboard died on a Pennsylvania hillside. The subsequent investigation was a maze of politics, bizarre theories, and shrouded answers. Bill Adair, an award-winning journalist, was granted special access to the five-year inquiry by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) while its investigators tried to determine if the world’s most widely used commercial jet, the Boeing 737, was really safe. Their findings have had wide-ranging effects on the airline industry, pilots, and even passengers. Adair takes readers behind the scenes to show who makes decisions about airline safety—and why. Views: 29
Bulgaria is slated to become a member of the European Union in 2007, yet its history is amongst the least well known in the rest of the continent. R. J. Crampton provides here a general introduction to this country at the cross-roads of Christendom and Islam. The text and illustrations trace the rich and dramatic story from pre-history, through the days when Bulgaria was the centre of a powerful medieval empire and the five centuries of Ottoman rule, to the cultural renaissance of the nineteenth century and the political upheavals of the twentieth, upheavals which led Bulgaria into three wars. The new and updated edition includes the years from 1995 to 2004, a vital period in which Bulgaria endured financial meltdown, set itself seriously on the road to reform, elected its former King as prime minister, and finally secured membership of NATO and admission to the European Union. Views: 28
"Spectacular and constantly surprising."-Ken Burns Written with the authority of a scholar and the vigor of a bestselling narrative historian, The War That Killed Achilles is a superb and utterly timely presentation of one of the timeless stories of Western civilization. As she did in The Endurance and The Bounty, New York Times bestselling author Caroline Alexander has taken apart a narrative we think we know and put it back together in a way that lets us see its true power. In the process, she reveals the intended theme of Homer's masterwork-the tragic lessons of war and its enduring devastation. Views: 28
