“Mr. Brunner’s winning book is a reassuring, nostalgic reminder that winter is the season of both play and regeneration.”—Wall Street JournalIn Winterlust, a farmer painstakingly photographs five thousand snowflakes, each one dramatically different from the next. Indigenous peoples thrive on frozen terrain, where famous explorers perish. Icicles reach deep underwater, then explode. Rooms warmed by crackling fires fill with scents of cinnamon, clov...

A captivating cultural and scientific history of orchards, for readers of Michael Pollan's The Botany of Desire and Mark Kurlansky’s Salt.Throughout history, orchards have nourished both body and soul: they are sites for worship and rest, inspiration for artists and writers, and places for people to gather. In Taming Fruit, award-winning writer Bernd Brunner interweaves evocative illustrations with masterful prose to show...

An entertaining and informative voyage through cultural fantasies of the North, from sea monsters and a mountain-sized magnet to racist mythmaking.Scholars and laymen alike have long projected their fantasies onto the great expanse of the global North, whether it be as a frozen no-man’s-land, an icy realm of marauding Vikings, or an unspoiled cradle of prehistoric human life. Bernd Brunner reconstructs the encounters of adventurers, colonists, and indigenous commun...

"An exquisitely beautiful book ...These stories about birds are ultimately reflections on the curious nature of humanity itself"—Helen Macdonald, author of H Is for HawkThere is no denying that many people are crazy for birds. Packed with intriguing facts and exquisite and rare artwork, Birdmania showcases an eclectic and fascinating selection of bird devotees who would do anything for their feathered friends.In addition to well-known enth...

Includes a biography of the author Thomas Wolfe. The great author Thomas Wolfe gives insight in his writing and feelings. Published after the completion of his second novel, he shares without arrogance his struggles. A personal reflection of a famous and successful writer, a book about writing a book.

A classic science fiction novel by Herbert G. WellsIncludes a biography of H. G. Wells and a bibliography of his novelsThe Martians invade the Earth. The human soldiers can’t do anything against their tripod fighting machines. Mankind seemed beyond help, but ....The story became famous in 1938. A radio play terrified America. Adapted for the screen several times e.g. 2005 by Steven Spielberg with Tom Cruise in a leading role.Published in 1898, this version of...

The mysterious world beneath the ocean’s surface and its inhabitants have captivated humanity for centuries - the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and ancient Chinese all kept fish in their homes to observe and admire. But it was not until the nineteenth-century invention of the aquarium that the deep was truly domesticated, offering the curious a chance to create an indoor exotic sea world in miniature.This compelling story of obsession, discovery and delight shows how aquariums have gon...

Scholars and laymen alike have long projected their fantasies onto the great expanse of the global North, whether it be as a frozen no-man's-land, an icy realm of marauding Vikings, or an unspoiled cradle of prehistoric human life. Bernd Brunner reconstructs the encounters of adventurers, colonists, and indigenous communities that led to the creation of a northern "cabinet of wonders" and imbued Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Arctic with a perennial mystique.Like the mythological sa...

The Time Machine is a 1895 science fiction novella by H. G. Wells. It is credited with popularizing the idea of time travel and is considered one of the greatest science fiction novels ever written.The story is about a scientist who builds a time machine and travels to the future. He discovers that humanity has devolved into two races: the childlike Eloi and the monstrous Morlocks.The Morlocks are a humanoid species that are descended from humans, particularly low-class unde...

One confidential evening, not three months ago, Lionel Wallace told me this story of the Door in the Wall. And at the time I thought that so far as he was concerned it was a true story.He told it me with such a direct simplicity of conviction that I could not do otherwise than believe in him. But in the morning, in my own flat, I woke to a different atmosphere, and as I lay in bed and recalled the things he had told me, stripped of the glamour of his earnest slow voice, denuded of t...

THE ISLANDOFDOCTOR MOREAUBYH.G. WELLSThe Island of Doctor Moreau is an 1896 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells, who called the novel "an exercise in youthful blasphemy." Wikipedia