Follow Dutch barge Saul Trader on her voyages through the canals of Europe. Author Keith Harris and his merry crew journey from England to Belgium and Holland through the center of France to the southern extremities of the extensive French canal system. There are stories and anecdotes about the people that they meet along the way, and the amusing and sometimes frightening incidents that occur during their epic jaunt.

All of these stories or monologues explore the human condition. The lives of men and women are viewed through a microscope analysing self doubt, weakness, delusion, egotism and sheer vanity. At the same time most tales are peppered with irony and humour that allow us to laugh at ourselves. In ‘The Cube’ the intolerable demands of home and work begin to submerge the psyche of a woman committed to both, but collapsing under the constant weight of modern life. ‘Till Death’, a reversal of the ...

Boys, Boyz, Bois concerns questions of ethics, gender and race in popular American images, national discourse and cultural production by and about black men. The book proposes an ethics of masculinity, as ethnics refers to a system of morality and valuation and as ethics refers to a care of the self and ethical subject formation. The texts of analysis include recent films by black/African American filmmakers, gangsta rap and hip-hop and black star persona: texts ranging from Blaxp...

Between the end of May and the beginning of August 1864, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee oversaw the transition between the Overland Campaign—a remarkable saga of maneuvering and brutal combat—and what became a grueling siege of Petersburg that many months later compelled Confederates to abandon Richmond. Although many historians have marked Grant’s crossing of the James River on June 12 to June 15 as the close of the Overland Campaign, this volume interprets ...

Essential for all gardeners, horticulturists, teachers, students and naturalists, this is a practical guide to dealing with the pests, diseases and disorders that commonly affect fruit, vegetables, trees and ornamental garden plants.A revision of the highly acclaimed Collins Guide to Pests, Diseases and Disorders first published in 1981, the book now features completely updated text, the addition of several new pests and diseases that have become a threat in the last decade.

Long after the Civil War ended, one conflict raged on: the battle to define and shape the war's legacy. Across the Bloody Chasm deftly examines Civil War veterans' commemorative efforts and the concomitant -- and sometimes conflicting -- movement for reconciliation.Though former soldiers from both sides of the war celebrated the history and values of the newly reunited America, a deep divide remained between people in the North and South as to how the country's past should be remem...

Pioneering metal writer Keith Kahn-Harris presents a moving, visionary exploration of Ozzy Osbourne, and of metal music and culture: the potent legacy Ozzy left us.What is a ‘good death’?How about this: After years of terrible health, you gather friends and admirers for one last, glorious party. A couple of weeks later, you slip away, surrounded by your loving family. Then, the world comes to mourn. That is how Birmingham’s favourite son, Ozzy Osbourne, die...

The holocaust never happened. The planet isn't warming. Vaccines harm children. The Earth is flat. Denialism comes in many forms, often dressed in the garb of scholarship. It's certainly insidious, but what if, as Kahn-Harris asks, it actually cloaks much darker, unspeakable, desires? If denialists could speak from the heart, what would we hear? Kahn-Harris sets out to expose what lies at the heart of denialism. The conclusions he reaches are shocking. In a world of 'fake news', are the de...

Can Jews be allowed to become boring?With Israel and antisemitism constantly in the news, it seems as though the Jewish people - a fraction of a percentage of the world's population - have become synonymous with controversy, drama and anxiety. But what if there was another side to this persistently interesting people; one that non-Jews often don't know about and Jews rarely talk about? This is the stuff of 'everyday' Jewishness; the capacity to be ordinary, mundane and sometimes ju...

It is common to hear heavy metal music fans and musicians talk about the “metal community”. This concept, which is widely used when referencing this musical genre, encompasses multiple complex aspects that are seldom addressed in traditional academic endeavors including shared aesthetics, musical practices, geographies, and narratives. The idea of a “metal community” recognizes that fans and musicians frequently identify as part of a collective group, larger than any particular individual....

It says 'Judaism' on the front of this book, so perhaps you are expecting a book that explains the Jewish religion. But that would be selling you short.This is a book about the Jewish people - and the Jewish people with their long history and diversity, are bigger than the sum total of Jews' beliefs and rituals. Not all Jews share a common belief system and not all are religiously practicing. So this book will discuss the Jewish religion but it will also d...

Gunslingers. Lawmen. Snake-oil Salesmen. Cowboys. Mad Scientists. And a few monsters. The Old West has never been wilder! THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UNCANNY presents sixteen original and never-before-published adventures by some of today' s most visionary writers who have spun wildly offbeat tales of gunmen, lawmen, magic, and weird science. Saddle up with Josh Malerman, Scott Sigler, Keith DeCandido, Cullen Bunn, R.S. Belcher, Greg Cox, Jeffrey Mariotte, Laura Anne Gilman, Aaron Rosenberg...