In the tradition of Dava Sobel's Longitude comes sailing expert David Barrie's compelling and dramatic tale of invention and discovery—an eloquent elegy to one of the most important navigational instruments ever created, and the daring mariners who used it to explore, conquer, and map the world.Since its invention in 1759, a mariner's most prized possession has been the sextant. A navigation tool that measures the angle between a celestial object and the horizon, the sextant allowe...

"Just astonishing . . . Our natural navigational capacities are no match for those of the supernavigators in this eye-opening book."—Frans de Waal, The New York Times Book ReviewPublisher's note: Supernavigators was published in the UK under the title Incredible Journeys.Animals plainly know where they're going, but how they know has remained a stubborn mystery—until now. Supernavigators is a globe-trotting voyage...

Do you love cinema and want to know more about its history? Are you a film fan looking for an informative yet light-hearted review of the last one hundred and thirty years of the silver screen? If so, you've found what you're looking for! In this book, TV and movie star David Barry takes us on a journey through the history of cinema, from the silent movies at the time of the birth of the industry all the way up to today's CGI-fuelled blockbusters. The author guides us through this huge sub...

"I was dramatically shaped by my grandmother and my aunts because they convinced me there was always a cookie available. Deep down inside I'm four years old, and I wake up and think out there, there's a cookie. Every morning I'm going, you know, either it can be baked or it's already been bought, but it's in a jar . . . somewhere. . . ." — Newt Gingrich in 1994,from his Renewing American Civilization Lecture SeriesPicking up where its hilarious predecessor left off, this wi...

Essays exploring Black women's experiences with slavery in the Americas.Gender was a decisive force in shaping slave society. Slave men's experiences differed from those of slave women, who were exploited both in reproductive as well as productive capacities. The women did not figure prominently in revolts, because they engaged in less confrontational resistance, emphasizing creative struggle to survive dehumanization and abuse.The contributors are Hilary Bec...

Weston and Turner, novice private detectives, are plunged into a nightmare world of murder when they are hired by a young millionairess to solve the triple murder of her family, a crime the police failed to solve more than eleven years ago. As they delve deeper into the case, they soon discover a hired assassin is always one step ahead of them and someone will do anything to stop them learning the terrible truth behind the crime, even if it means bumping off their witnesses. Not only does ...

"An interesting introduction to Victorian crimes, the people who committed them, and how effective rehabilitation may have been." — Ripperologist MagazineWhat was life like in the Victorian underworld—who were the criminals, what crimes did they commit, how did they come to a criminal career, and what happened to them after they were released from prison? Victorian Convicts, by telling the stories of a hundred criminal men and women, gives...

The study of police history in Scotland has largely been neglected. Little is known about the Scottish police's origins, development and character despite growing interest in the machinery of law enforcement in other parts of the United Kingdom. This book seeks to remedy this deficiency.Based on extensive archival research, its central aim is to provide an in-depth analysis of the economic, social, intellectual and political factors that shaped police reform, development and policy...

This is the first book specifically devoted to exploring one of the longest-running controversies in nineteenth-century Britain – the sixty-five-year campaign to legalise marriage between a man and his deceased wife’s sister. The issue captured the political, religious and literary imagination of the United Kingdom. It provoked huge parliamentary and religious debate and aroused national, ecclesiastical and sexual passions. The campaign to legalise such unions, and the widespread oppositio...

It has been said that science and religion aren't friends. Indeed, science and scientists are preferably shunned in conservative religious circles. Seeing God through Science, however, emphatically dispels that notion. This book compellingly shows how science is, in point of fact, a potent support for religious faith. From the powerful, universal, biological drives of living organisms to the unimaginable vastness of the universe, science cogently frames the fundamental questions of meaning...

The classic account of traditional Micronesian navigation and “the last navigator,” Mau Piailug, who fought to preserve it—now available in a revised edition illustrated in full colorAs a young man piloting a small sailboat across the Pacific, Steve Thomas developed a fascination with ancient methods of navigation. He learned that, for thousands of years, the peoples of Oceania had sailed unerringly across the Pacific without compass or charts, guided only by natur...

Mike, an itinerant hairdresser living in Tunbridge Wells, learns all the gossip of the town. He cuts the hair of holy hypocrite Nigel, who is seeking a new relationship, but disapproves of his new lover's daughters. And as Mike cuts deeper and deeper into this superficially respectable town, he soon learns it is a hotbed of vice, intrigue and gossip, and even his own family life, he realizes is not so very secure. By the end of a tempestuous year, many of his customers will become involved...