Examining globally invasive alien birds, the first part of this book provides an account of 32 global avian invasive species (as listed by the Invasive Species Specialist Group, ISSG). It acts as a one stop reference volume; it assesses current invasive status for each bird species, including details of physical description, diet, introduction and invasion pathways, breeding behaviour, natural habitat. It also looks at the environmental impact of each species, as well as current and future...

A groundbreaking collection by leading scholars that spans a broad range of social situations, cultural contexts, and analytic perspectivesThe contemporary landscape of discourse analysis—which examines spoken, written, and multimodal communication—is so diverse that, as volume contributor Deborah Tannen observes, “discourse” has become almost synonymous with “language” and, for many scholars, extends well beyond it. The ways in which we communicate grow and change and so do approa...

In World War Two, the most effective fighting units were usually small submarine crews, infantry platoons, commandos, and bomber crews. Of these it could be said that the men who crewed the bombers caused more damage to the enemy and had a greater impact on the outcome of the conflict than any number of the rest. Most of the aircrews were volunteers (in the RAF, they all were), intelligent, fit, and highly trained. Each knew he was essential to the team; he knew that a mistake by anyone co...

The Chicago Food Encyclopedia is a far-ranging portrait of an American culinary paradise. Hundreds of entries deliver all of the visionary restauranteurs, Michelin superstars, beloved haunts, and food companies of today and yesterday. More than 100 sumptuous images include thirty full-color photographs that transport readers to dining rooms and food stands across the city. Throughout, a roster of writers, scholars, and industry experts pays tribute to an expansive--and still expanding--foo...

What do we see when we look at a building? From the classical Parthenon in Greece to the simple fisherman's shacks in New England to the post-modernist Pompidou Center in France, Philip Isaacson explores what gives buildings their character. From the materials, form, color, ornamentation, placement in the landscape and the way the light strikes them, there are so many elements that contribute to shaping architecture into art. This is a perfect introduction to the complexities and wonders o...

How treacherously the trains in America start! There is no warning given, so far as an ordinary passenger can see, that the start is under contemplation, and it takes him by surprise. The American understands that "All aboard" means "If you don't jump up at once you'll be left behind." But to those accustomed to a "first" and a "second" and a "third" bell—and accustomed, too, not to get up even then until the guard has begged them as a personal favour to take their seats—the sudden departu...

"Oh, Little Bun Rabbit, so soft and so shy,Say, what do you see with your big, round eye?""On Christmas we rabbits," says Bunny so shy,"Keep watch to see Santa go galloping by."This delightful story tells of the Little Bun Rabbit who is befriended by Dorothy, a little girl. She knows the rhyme and asks the little rabbit about it. Bun Rabbit tells her that indeed, he sees Santa every year as he drives by in his sleigh loaded with toys. One year Santa stopped ...

A Victorian family gathers round the hearth, and one by one they tell each other their Winter's tales. Charles Dickens begins 'the round of stories they were to relate, as they sat in a goodly circle by the Christmas fire', and then hands over to Elizabeth Gaskell, Samuel Sidney and other respected contributors to the Christmas 1852 number of Household Words. Read aloud as they were originally intended to be, these stories of The Host, the Mother and the Child are joined by the Grandfather...