A handbook for sufferers, those who treat them, and those who love them.What distinguishes a fear from a phobia? How do I know if I have one? What treatments for phobias have proven most effective? These and many other questions are addressed in this guide to the complex issue of phobias—which come in many forms and many degrees of severity. Based on scientific and clinical research as well as patients' experiences, Phobias and How to Overcome Them delves i...

What is the ultimate destiny of our universe? That is the striking question addressed by James Gardner in The Intelligent Universe. Traditionally, scientists (and Robert Frost) have offered two bleak answers to this profound issue: fire or ice. In The Intelligent Universe, James Gardner envisions a third dramatic alternative—a final state of the cosmos in which a highly evolved form of group intelligence engineers a cosmic renewal, the birth of a new universe.

The centuries-long history of the Louvre, from humble fortress to Royal palace to the world's greatest art museum—with photos and building maps.Some ten million people from all over the world flock to the Louvre each year to enjoy its incomparable art collection. Yet few of them are aware of the remarkable history of the site and buildings themselves—a fascinating story that historian James Gardner elegantly chronicles in this authoritative history.More than ...

When you look at me, what do you see? A young, vibrant entrepreneur helming her own fashion empire? A legacy socialite with a movie star boyfriend and access to everything?My perfect life is no accident; I designed it that way.Jealous? Don't be. My parents vanished when I was seven, leaving me the richest orphan in the world with my mother's movie star looks and zero love to go with it.People say vampires run LA. That's not quite true. They run the world.Ben...

Buenos Aires, Argentina, recognized for its European-style architecture and lively theater scene, is a truly special place. The second-largest city in South America, it has been the home of such renowned cultural and historical figures as Jorge Luis Borges and Astor Piazzola, Che Guevara and Eva Peron. Like every truly great city, New York, London and Prague; Buenos Aires is its own universe, with its own center of gravity, its own scents and flavors, its own architectural signature-in sho...

A love story that explores the changing dynamics between a husband and wife over their years of marriage.

Johnny Haynes: Portrait of a Football Genius is the biography of one of England's greatest ever footballers—a player described by Pele as "the greatest passer of a ball I have ever seen." He was capped 56 times, 22 as captain, including the 9-3 hammering of the Scots at Wembley in 1961. He succeeded Denis Compton as the "Brylcreem Boy." When he became the first £100-a-week player it cemented his celebrity superstar status as the David Beckham of his day. Haynes only ever played fo...

Almost nine million people from all over the world flock to the Louvre in Paris every year to see its incomparable art collection. Yet few, if any, are aware of the remarkable history of that location and of the buildings themselves, and how they chronicle the history of Paris itself-a fascinating story that historian James Gardner elegantly tells for the first time.Before the Louvre was a museum, it was a palace, and before that a fortress. But much earlier still, it was a place c...

This systematic history of Jamaica was written after the abolition of slavery by a man imbued with a sense of 18th-century liberalism. It is based on public records and archives, and the mass of pamphlet literature which had been published over the years.

The essays in this volume address the displacement of natural and cultural heritage caused by disasters, whether they be dramatic natural impacts or terrible events unleashed by humankind, including holocaust and genocide. Disasters can be natural or human-made, rapid or slow, great or small, yet the impact is effectively the same; nature, people and cultural heritage are displaced or lost. Yet while heritage and place are at risk from disasters, in time,sites of suffering are sometimes re...

The Goose Girl is a German fairy tale in which a widowed queen sends her daugther to her bridegroom in a faraway land, only accompanied by a waiting maid and a magical talking horse. But the evil maid rebels and forces the princess into trading clothes with her and swearing secrecy, effectively taking her place until they arrive at a foreign palace. There, the princess is made into a common goose girl while the maid is wooed as a princess herself. Bound by secrecy, the real princess seems ...

The myth of Echo and Narcissus appears in Ovid's Metamorphoses, a Latin mythological epic from the Augustan Age. It is one of the most touching stories ever written, and has inspired countless works of art through the centuries. The nymph Echo angers Hera, queen of the gods, who curses her: henceforth, Echo will only be able to repeat the last words that struck her ears. One day, the beautiful Narcissus, son of a nymph and a river god, passes through the forest...