Since it was first published in 2005, A History of Thailand has been hailed as an authoritative, lively and readable account of Thailand's political, economic, social and cultural history. From the early settlements in the Chao Phraya basin to today, Baker and Phongpaichit trace how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree peasants was transformed by colonialism, the expansion of the rice frontier and the immigration of traders and labourers from southern China. This book examines how the mon...

    "An eleven-year-old girl and boy live in an isolated village with 258 other citizens. Nobody has a name, and everything is calculated to break their spirits so that they surrender to an existence of gray routine.     "But they have each other. They each have a passion: music and art. And a mysterious force is guiding them and protecting them.     "When the savagery of those in control finally transforms the girl, t...

A History of Thailand offers a lively and accessible account of Thailand's political, economic, social and cultural history. This book explores how a world of mandarin nobles and unfree peasants was transformed and examines how the monarchy managed the foundation of a new nation-state at the turn of the twentieth century. The authors capture the clashes between various groups in their attempts to take control of the nation-state in the twentieth century. They track Thailand's economic chan...

Once night falls, Weaver emerges from the rolled-up leaf she sleeps in during the day, and begins searching for the perfect place to spin her latest web. She climbs up and scurries down, and winds around and around until she’s created something perfect. But right after she catches her first crane fly, her web stretches and snaps and…Weaver is fallllllllling down. How will she catch bugs now?Follow along as Weaver scuttles through the night and, with a bit of help, finds the perfect...

The second of two Battelground Europe titles covering this highly significant battle of spring 1918.The German offensive in Flanders in April 1918 came close to catastrophe for the British Armies, but ultimately ended in strategic defeat for the Kaisers men. Following close on the heels of the devastating Operation Michael attack in March, which had been aimed against the British front on the Somme and Arras, this offensive, Operation Georgette, was aimed at strangling the vital railways a...

Sean is a survivor. Against the odds he has survived a nation-wide disaster. He is made aware that he must travel the length of Aotearoa for a purpose that is revealed late in the story. Amongst all the carnage, there is hope and friendship although evil lurks constantly.

The world needs changing – that much is clear. But how best to do it? Change how you vote? Get out and protest? Have an argument?The fact is that the power sits in your pocket. Changing how we spend our money has more potential to change the world than almost anything else we can do with our time on this planet.Consumer spending accounts for over 60% of GDP across the world and it will hit a staggering $77 trillion a year by 2029. But the v...

Swimming Sydney is a tale of 52 swims in and around Sydney that take place over the course of a calendar year. From Palm Beach to Cronulla, Mount Druitt to Bondi, Chris Baker swims at iconic beaches, municipal pools, harbour enclosures, hidden rivers, tidal rock pools, bushland lakes and in a backyard pool. Taking his weekly plunges, he swims with the many tribes of Sydney: a septuagenarian aqua aerobics class; a six-month-old baby learning to swim; a Saturday morning LGBTQIA+ swim squad; ...

In the hundreds of books written about battleships, the authors tend to draw down the curtain on the careers of these great vessels in September 1945, with the surrender of Japan. Yet, on that day some ninety-eight battleships or ex-battleships might be spotted around the world, and eleven of them were in or around Tokyo Bay for the surrender itself. What happened to all those ships? This new book takes a fresh look at the slow demise of the battleship. It examines the decisions made by th...

The sector north of Ypres is best known for the inundation of much of the ground to the east of the Yser that acted as a block to the German advance in the autumn of 1914. From that time on military activities were extremely limited. Much of this line was manned by Belgian troops, with some assistance from the French army at its southern end and of the British army on the Channel coast. The role of the Belgian army in the Great War is little known, apart from the opening months, when 'brav...

Spectacular nebulae where stars are born, beautiful star clusters from the early formation of the Milky Way, and galaxies as far as a billion light years away, all feature in this book of stunning images from astrophotographer Chris Baker.The author takes the reader on a journey through time and space to the Deep Sky, far beyond our Solar System. It is a pictorial description of the awe-inspiring wondrous objects that exist out there."The images are of objects from hundreds to many million...

A devastating epidemic due to the revenge of the Maeroero - creatures traditionally believed to have inhabited the hills and forests before the first waka arrived in New Zealand, has killed most of the population. Shadow Waters is a continuation of the survivors' struggle against the demons and fearful creatures that have taken over the landscape. Everything is broken down to elements, myths, and a kind of Wild West. Like The Lord of the Rings the quest aspect of Shadow Waters is strong, s...