BLOOMSBURY

Against a backdrop of rural Portuguese poverty, a handful of magical characters are living out their destiny: Jose, a shepherd, who is visited by a devil whispering violent words in his ear; Moises and Elias, Siamese twins joined at the tip of their little fingers; Gabriel, a wise man, who is over one hundred years old; and an unnamed character who sits writing alone in a windowless room. The characters are universal, and they are all at the mercy of fate - their lives are pulled in different directions and sometimes even suffocated and snuffed out.

• Forfatter: J. Luis Peixoto
• Publisert: 2008
• Antall sider: 248
• ISBN: 9780747592723

Congo Masquerade is about mismanagement, hypocrisy and powerlessness in what has proved to be one of Africa's most troublesome and volatile states. In this scathing study of catastrophic aid inefficiency, Trefon argues that whilst others have examined war and plunder in the Great Lakes region, none have yet evaluated the imported 'template format' reform package pieced together to introduce democracy and improve the well-being of ordinary Congolese. It has, the book demonstrates, been for years an almost unmitigated failure due to the ingrained political culture of corruption amongst the Congolese elite, abetted by the complicity and incompetence of international partners.

• Forfatter: Theodore Trefon
• Publisert: 2011
• Innbinding: Heftet
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9781848138360

Empires have collided here, cultures have clashed. Buddhist India claimed it from the south, Islam put down roots in its western approaches, Mongols and Manchus rode in from the north, and, from the east, China continues to absorb what it prefers not to call Tibet. Hunters have decimated its wildlife and mountaineers have bagged its peaks.

Today, machinery gouges minerals out of its rock. Roughly the size of Europe, the region is one of the most seismically active on the planet. Summers bring avalanches, rainfall triggers landslides and winters obliterate trails.

Glaciers retreat, rivers change course and whole lakes quietly evaporate. To some, Himalaya is an otherworldly realm, profoundly life-changing, yet forbidding and forbidden. It has mesmerised scholars and mystics, sportsmen and spies, pilgrims and mapmakers who have mingled with the farmers and traders on the Roof of the World.

Himalaya is the story of one of the last great wildernesses and, in particular, of the bizarre discoveries and improbable achievements of its pioneers. Ranging from botany to trade, from the Great Game to todays geopolitics, John Keay draws on a lifetime of exploration and study to enlighten and delight with this lively biography of a region in crisis.

• Forfatter: John Keay
• Publisert: Okt. 2023
• Antall sider: 432
• ISBN: 9781408891162

Our Earth is more beautiful and more diverse than we can possibly conceive of. The Book of Vanishing Species is a stunning homage to the planet's most mysterious, bizarre and wondrous creatures and plants. Their stories are captivating, from the eyeless and tiny dragonlike olm to the hawksbill turtle, whose gender will be determined by the temperature of the sand it is born in.

These species may have survived for hundreds of thousands of years by cleverly adapting to their environments, but their future remains far from certain. The book brings to life red cranes as they dance and bow for the sheer joy of movement, trees that breathe out a haze of misty atmosphere for insects that only feast on one kind of flower, a deep-ocean snail quietly building its shell from iron... and each one of them is illuminated with an exquisite illustration.

As you turn the pages, there emerges a network of life that stretches across and around the planet in a dazzling web of existence. This is both a love letter to life on Earth, and an urgent summons to protect what is precious and lovely in this world.

• Publisert: Oktober 2022
• Innbinding: Innbundet
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9781526623775

In this portrait of men and women swept along by great events, and determined to be on the side of the angels, Fuentes has invested the often colourless world of politics with romantic ardour' - Sunday Telegraph

An epic and heart-breaking love story that will leave no one untouched. Like Fuentes's masterpiece The Death of Artemio Cruz, the action in this novel begins in the state of Veracruz and moves to Mexico City. From 1905 to 1978, Fuentes traces the extraordinary Laura Díaz; a life filled with a multitude of witty, heart-breaking scenes and the sounds, colours, tastes and scents of Mexico.

Laura grows into a politically committed artist who is also a wife and mother, a lover of great men, and a complicated and alluring heroine whose bravery prevails despite her losing a brother, son, and grandson to the darkest forces of Mexico's turbulent, often corrupt politics. Hers is a life which has helped to affect the course of history, and it is the story of a woman who has loved and understood with unflinching honesty. 

Forfatter: Carlos Fuentes

Sider: 528

Learn how to de-stress, relax and connect with the wildness you can find on your doorstep even in urban and suburban settingsIncreasing workload, nervous tension, trouble sleeping? Wondering whether there is more to life? You're not having a mid-life crisis. Like so many others, you are feeling the call of the wild. Today's urban living makes it easy for us to feel divorced from nature.

This practical book is filled with 52 varied and inspiring activities illustrated with beautiful colour photographs that will get you out and about whatever the weather. Featuring a combination of creative, culinary, herbal and mindful projects, all with nature at their heart, you'll be surprised how much wildness you can find on your doorstep when you know where to look. Organised by month, Urban Wild's simple, seasonal, step-by-step activities open the door to nature in urban and suburban landscapes to help you increase your potential for health and wellbeing and take your first steps on a journey of discovery towards a lifelong connection with the natural world.

• Publisert: Februar 2022
• Innbinding: Innbundet
• Antall sider: 224
• Språk: Engelsk
• ISBN: 9781472990969