An alternative look at Japanese life, history and cultureYour Rough Guide or Lonely Planet book can tell who where to stay or what to see, but how do you really get under the skin of Japan? In this book Ben Stevens explores the serious and the frivolous, the history and the obsessions of a fascinating nation.Taking an A-Z walk through Japanese culture, A Gaijin's Guide To Japan looks at everything from akachochin bars to chikan (the weird blokes who touch you up on trains),...

In 1975, the unconsciously bigoted Archibald Kelly is busy celebrating his mayoral inauguration at Happyland Community Centre in Barretton when a young girl is seen being murdered behind the building. The witness, Iain McCune drunkenly panics and hops into his car, mowing down a nearby pedestrian. Hamish Milligan, Archibald's "friend" and a detective, is forced to return to town and make a decision about his family while Helen, Archibald's barely-of-age and Black girlfriend who sees the go...

We spend most of our lives in buildings and see new ones being created around us all the time. But the number of people and disciplines involved in a building's creation make it hard to understand the process as a whole. The Birth of a Building is an introduction to those aspects of finance, law, urban planning, architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate development which underlie this fascinating event.Part One focuses on the "birds and the bees," explaining the econ...

An A-Z guide to martial arts heroesWho gave Bruce Lee advice on kicking and taught Muhammad Ali how to punch? Which Welshman is revered in Japan as a karate expert, novelist and environmentalist? On which film did Jackie Chan fracture his skull and almost lose his life? All these questions and more are answered in From Lee To Li.Ben Stevens, a lifelong martial arts fan, has compiled a quirky and informative guide to the giants of martial arts history. From Bruce Lee to Jet L...

It is entirely possible that God could have existed without the universe, and without humans, for all eternity. But for some reason, He decided to create anyway. What inspired Him to start the human story in the first place, and how should the answer to that question affect the way we view our lives? Few Christians ever stop to seriously consider these deepest-of-all deep questions.Jonathan Edwards explains, in his original dissertation: God's inherent predisposition to spread out ...

Curtis Duncan makes an epic journey through the nation’s capital in pursuit of his most treacherous target yet, finding himself ensnared in a devious conspiracy that could lead to his demise.In the dangerous underbelly of Washington D.C., Curtis Duncan, “America's Baddest Bounty Hunter,” finds himself summoned to the nation’s capital on a million-dollar bounty that will test his grit and resolve like never before. A notorious Haitian crime boss nicknamed “Johnny Bo...

First published in 1881, the subtitle of this book tells us that it was written “for children and those who love children”. Heidi, a 5-year-old orphan, is handed off by her young Aunt Dete to live with her grandfather in the Swiss Alps. Though her new life is foreign, Heidi soon falls in love with her grandfather, and he with her. They share a contented life of goat-herding.But when Grandfather refuses to allow Heidi to attend school in the small village below, quarrels ensue. Heid...

'A triumph!' Harry Sidebottom | **'**Exceptional' Anthony Riches'One of our generation's most ambitious and engaging writers' Manda ScottWHEN A NEW EMPIRE RISES, AN OLD ONE MUST FALLAfter sixteen years of bloody war, Hannibal Barca is on the verge of defeat. On the plains of Zama, Felix and his brother Antonius stand in the formidable Roman legions, ready to deliver the dec...

ONE FINAL CLASHReeling from his defeat at the hands of the Macedonians, Rome's furious General Flamininus gathers his legions for the final strike on King Philip's mighty phalanx.AN EMPIRE ON THE EDGEBoth leaders know the victor will rule Greece, and both armies will do everything in their power to claim the ultimate prize.TWO HEROES PREPARED TO DIEFighting on opposing sides, Felix and Demetrios think t...

An entertaining, enlightening, and humorous graphic narrative of the dangerous thinkers who laid the foundation of modern thoughtThis entertaining and enlightening graphic narrative tells the exciting story of the seventeenth-century thinkers who challenged authority—sometimes risking excommunication, prison, and even death—to lay the foundations of modern philosophy and science and help usher in a new world. With masterful storytelling and color illustrations,

European tourists travel languidly along the Nile River to Abousir, at the southern frontier of Egypt, aboard “a turtle-bottomed, round-bowed stern-wheeler,” the Korosko. But Dervish warriors threaten danger and then attack and kidnap the tourists.In this novel, Doyle explores themes of British Imperialism and a defensive European perspective on North Africa; racial paternalism; and debates on interference with other countries’ politics and religions. This wonderful novel ...

'Yet another of history's most chapters given the five-star Ben Kane treatment' PAUL FINCH'A truly vibrant and gripping read' HELENA GUMLEY-MASON'Historical fiction has never been more visceral' JAMES ROLLINS'A tour de force on an epic scale' DOUGLAS JACKSONKING. POLITICIAN. WARRIOR. CONQUEROR.Richard the Lionheart's long-awaited goal comes true as...