Jane Shaw was working as a volunteer in Chelsea's famous Physic Garden when she earned a placement to work for a year on a very special organic garden in Greece. But this was to be no easy-going break in the Mediterranean. Nicknamed 'Alcatraz' by the outgoing assistant, the five-acre plot was devoid of creature comforts, perched on a steep, remote hillside that was blindingly hot in summer and freezing in winter, and overseen by a 74-year-old, passionate, mercurial eccentric English lady c...

In 1919, in the wake of the upheaval of World War I, a remarkable group of English women came up with their own solution to the world's grief:a new religion. At the heart of the Panacea Society was a charismatic and autocratic leader, a vicar's widow named Mabel Barltrop. Her followers called her Octavia, and believed that she was the daughter of God, sent to build the New Jerusalem in Bedford.Proclaiming the female aspects of God, Octavia attracted former suffragettes, middle-clas...

Biblical and poetic reflections on Lenten themes of salvation, forgiveness, sin.A Practical Christianity: Meditations for the Season of Lent is a devotional book that challenges readers to take up “practical Christianity”—proposing Christian faith as something we do, not something we merely believe in. The starting point for Christianity lies within its practice, says the author, and not in the blind acceptance of a chunk of undigested doctrine.The...

This book explores how poststructural theory can make an important contribution to the growing body of work on playwork as an academic field of practice and research.Drawing on theoretical concepts used by sociologists and philosophers, such as the sociological imagination (Mills); hauntings and the fictive (Derrida) and technologies of power and the self (Foucault), the text considers how these devices may be methodologically productive for playwork research. It reframes research ...

Developing Communication Skills for Veterinary Practice provides a thorough grounding in practical communication principles for client and team interactions, and helps veterinarians and staff take their communication skills to the next level through self-development and coaching colleagues. The book describes specific evidence-based techniques, gives examples of their use, and demonstrates how to use each skill in the clinical setting, with learning activities to put into practice...

A feverish expectation of the end of the world seems an unlikely accompaniment to middle-class respectability. But it was precisely her interest in millennial thinking that led Jane Shaw to a group of genteel terraced townhouses in the English county town of Bedford. Inside their unassuming grey-brick exteriors Shaw found something extraordinary. For here, within the 'Ark', lived two members of the Panacea Society, last survivors of the remaining Southcottian prophetic communities in Brita...

John Henry Newman's pulpit at St Mary's, Oxford, was a powerhouse of religious innovation and reinvigoration in English religion through the 1830s and 1840s. This towering neogothic structure gave platform to preachers who conveyed a new imagination for the life of faith, and whose vision of belief provoked personal and societal awakenings. Today, we are in need once again of reimagining the challenges of our world, and the meaning of Christian faith, in ways that cut through the religious...

"Paints an optimistic portrait of a much misunderstood generation that has never known a world without the internet." — ObserverBorn since the mid-1990s, members of Generation Z comprise the first generation never to know the world without the internet. As Gen Z starts to emerge into adulthood and enter the workforce, what do we really know about them? And what can we learn from them?Gen Z, Explained is the authoritative portrait of this sig...

The fully revised and updated fourth edition of the classic Common Sense Economics.As the global economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and debates over the future of work challenge our long-held preconceptions about what careers and the market can be, learning the basics of economics has never been more essential. Principles such as gains from trade, the role of profit and loss, and the secondary effects of government spending, taxes, and borrowing r...

Penguin Classics presents Jane Austen's Emma, adapted for audio and now available as a digital download as part of the Penguin English Library series. Read by the actress Fiona Shaw.'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall'Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her mor...

The second book from The Adventures of Johnny Magory series set amongst the flora and fauna of the raised bogs of Ireland.Johnny and Ruairi team up with their magical friends Lord Stag, Finn Hare, Ms Grouse and many more for a game of Rounders they’ll never forget. But in all the fun has Johnny forgotten about his work… And his Mammy and Daddy? Johnny Magory and the Game of Rounders was inspired by the beautiful bogs of Kildare.

This limited-edition hardback celebrates the first trilogy in the series. These three fun, exciting stories will educate and inspire children about the beautiful country of Ireland and the unique Irish heritage, wildlife, and culture. Includes the much loved first three stories from the Irish adventure series: Johnny Magory in the Magical Wild, Johnny Magory and the Game Rounders, and Johnny Magory and the Wild Water Race.