"A very funny sendup of Italian-cooking-holiday-romance novels" ( Publishers Weekly).Gerald Samper, an effete English snob, has his own private hilltop in Tuscany where he whiles away his time working as a ghostwriter for celebrities and inventing wholly original culinary concoctions––including ice cream made with garlic and the bitter, herb-based liqueur known as Fernet Branca. But Gerald's idyll is about to be shattered by the arrival of Marta, on the run...

"Life of Bunyan" by James Hamilton is a compelling biography that delves into the life and struggles of John Bunyan, the renowned author of "The Pilgrim's Progress." Hamilton paints a vivid portrait of Bunyan's early years, his spiritual awakening, and the profound impact of his imprisonment on his writing. The book explores Bunyan's unwavering faith and resilience in the face of adversity, providing readers with a deep understanding of his character and the historical context in which he ...

People hunting monkeys in the jungle once devised a simple yet effective trap: When the creature found a banana in a large jar with a narrow neck, it would plunge its paw in to retrieve it. But it couldn't let go. And unless the monkey released the banana, it was stuck.We are, of course, the stuck monkey, paralysed by our modern lifestyles and consumer habits: our constant stream of online shopping deliveries, our compulsive dependence on digital devices, our obses...

In Granada, on a thirty-five-acre plateau atop a last spur of the Sierra Nevada, Spanish Islam erected its last royal palace, the Alhambra. For two and half centuries, twenty sultans of the royal house of Nasrid - named for Nasr, the grandfather of its founder - enjoyed this majestic residence, the last and best-preserved monument of a long-lived culture. Today, it remains a place of perfection, redolent of spiritual balance, not decay. The Alhambra reveals in its structures and decoration...

A dramatic and fascinating account of aerial combat during World War I, revealing the terrible risks taken by the men who fought and died in the world's first war in the air.Little more than ten years after the first powered flight, aircraft were pressed into service in World War I. Nearly forgotten in the war's massive overall death toll, some 50,000 aircrew would die in the combatant nations' fledgling air forces.The romance of aviation had a remarkable g...

In 1787, delegates from the recently independent 13 colonies met in Philadelphia to try to forge a new, stronger Constitution. That summer, the representatives ironed out a document that had pluses and minuses for all involved, a point noted by Ben Franklin in explaining why he assented to it at the end of the process. Even after the final document was ready, it still had to be ratified by the colonies, which required the delegates to attempt to argue for or against it. Nobody did this better...

A few words of preface concerning a country so little known as that in which these pages were written may, perhaps, be useful to the reader. For the sake of those who may be interested in its past history or present condition, I shall indicate the sources which will supply further information.Cyrenaica, or, as it was called under the Ptolemys, Pentapolis, is situated on the northern coast of Africa, between Carthage and Egypt. In its commercial importance it once almost rivalled the...

The psalms are the inspired prayers and praises of God's people. When we study and pray the psalms, they change us--we are shaped by Scripture so that we think about God the way the psalmists did, and their words become the overflow of our hearts. This fresh translation of Psalms will help you encounter the richness inherent in their language and structure in ways you've probably never noticed before.Unlike many modern translations, which translate according to the conventions of E...

Publishing essays in the age of the tweet is a bit like selling buggywhips next to the car dealership. One would only expect such an activity to be pursued by old fuddy-duddies waving their canes at the kids on their lawns. We are actually huge proponents of social media. The restrictions of 140 characters have brought soul back to wit, and created surprisingly elegant moments of poignancy in the decade since first we tweeted. Still, sometimes, after consuming a cascade of snappy one-liner...

James' commitment to financial wellbeing led him to uncover options many financial advisors had access to but did not pursue with clients. He felt the information and strategies were too important not present to clients for consideration.

The original works of foreign classics, including the most representative literary masters and the most influential representative works.

ONE OF THE TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES' BEST BOOKS FOR 2022SHORTLISTED FOR THE POL ROGER DUFF COOPER PRIZE 2023'Eye-opening and full of surprises . . . A treasure' Sunday Times***'***A biography as rich with colourful characters as any novel' TelegraphJohn Constable, the revolutionary nineteenth-century painter of the landscapes and skies of southern England, is ...