Stranded at Schiphol airport, Ben Coates called up a friendly Dutch girl he'd met some months earlier. He stayed for dinner. Actually, he stayed for good.In the first book to consider the hidden heart and history of the Netherlands from a modern perspective, the author explores the length and breadth of his adopted homeland and discovers why one of the world's smallest countries is also so significant and so fascinating. It is a self-made country, the Dutch national character shape...

From rowing the canals of Amsterdam to riding a cow through the Alps, via Cold War nuclear bunkers, raucous Gay Pride parades, tranquil Lake Constance and snowy mountain climbs, The Rhine blends travelogue and offbeat history to tell the fascinating story of how a great river helped shape a continent.SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDThe Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the ou...

An essential guide to one of the world’s most remarkable, and often misunderstood, cities by the author of Why the Dutch Are Different.When Ben Coates injures his leg and needs to rebuild his strength by walking, he finds himself presented with an exciting opportunity: to rediscover the city he has been working in for over a decade, at a slower pace. He devises ten walks, each demonstrating a different chapter of Amsterdam’s history, from its humble beginn...

Delve into the intriguing life of a rural vet battling personal challenges, including autism and depression, while navigating the complexities of human-animal bonds.In the pages of Farm Call Confessions, author Dr. Ben Coates, a large animal practitioner based in the heart of Virginia, peels back the professional veneer to reveal the human behind the white coat. More than just a dedicated veterinarian, he is a man with his unique set of challenges, as he e...

Stranded at Schiphol airport, Ben Coates called up a friendly Dutch girl he'd met some months earlier. He stayed for dinner. Actually, he stayed for good.In the first book to consider the hidden heart and history of the Netherlands from a modern perspective, the author explores the length and breadth of his adopted homeland and discovers why one of the world's smallest countries is also so significant and so fascinating.Ben Coates investigates what makes the Dutch the Dutch...

When the English Civil War broke out, London’s economy was diverse and dynamic, closely connected through commercial networks with the rest of England and with Europe, Asia and North America. As such it was uniquely vulnerable to hostile acts by supporters of the king, both those at large in the country and those within the capital. Yet despite numerous difficulties, the capital remained the economic powerhouse of the nation and was arguably the single most important element in Parliament’...

An essential guide to one of the world's most remarkable, and often misunderstood, cities by the author of Why the Dutch Are Different.When Ben Coates injures his leg and needs to rebuild his strength by walking, he finds himself presented with an exciting opportunity: to rediscover the city he has been working in for over a decade, at a slower pace. He devises ten walks, each demonstrating a different chapter of Amsterdam's history, from its humble beginn...

From rowing the canals of Amsterdam to riding a cow through the Alps, via Cold War nuclear bunkers, raucous Gay Pride parades, tranquil Lake Constance, and snowy mountain climbs, The Rhine blends travelogue and offbeat history to tell the fascinating story of how a great river helped shape a continent.SHORTLISTED FOR THE STANFORD DOLMAN TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARDThe Rhine is one of the world's greatest rivers. Once forming the o...

"A burst of delight on every page!"Mignon Fogarty, host of the Grammar Girl podcastDid you know that an "astronaut" is literally a "star sailor," that a thesaurus is, in fact, a "treasuretrove" of words, and that someone who is "sinister" is actually just "left-handed"?Have you ever wondered why English isn't considered a Romance language if 60% of ourwords are Latin-derived?Did Shakespeare really...

The radical, paradigm-shifting international bestseller that destroys our delusions about energy consumption and will change the way we talk about climate change.We have long been taught that humanity’s relationship with energy is one of progress, with wood superseded by coal, coal by oil, oil by nuclear—until at some future point everything will be replaced by “green” energy. But the long-held belief in transition and sustainability is completely untrue, Jean-Baptiste Fressoz argu...

Selected as one of NPR's Best Books of 2019Selected by National Geographic as one of 12 "great books for travelers"'The prose is colourful and vigorous ... Jubber's journeying has indeed been epic, in scale and in ambition. In this thoughtful travelogue he has woven together colourful ancient and modern threads into a European tapestry that combines the sombre and the sparkling' Spectator'A genuine ...

Selected as a Book of the Year by the Financial Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Spectator"Travel writing in excelsis." -Jan Morris, author of Venice"A thrilling and gorgeous tale, packed with meteorological wonder." -Amy Liptrot, author of The OutrunNick Hunt sets off on an unlikely quest: to follow four of Europe's winds across the continent....