J.R.R. Tolkien claimed that he based the land of Middle Earth on a real place. The Real Middle Earth brings alive, for the first time, the very real civilization in which those who lived had a vision of life animated by beings beyond the material world.Magic was real to these people and they believed their universe was held together by an interlaced web of golden threads visible only to wizards. At its center was Middle Earth, a place peopled by humans, but...

This compelling spiritual classic about an Anglo-Saxon sorcerer and mystic “deserves a spot on our bookshelves along with Carlos Castaneda” (Time Out)Charged with the difficult task of converting the ‘heathens’ of Anglo-Saxon England to Christianity, Christian scribe Wat Brand begins to doubt his mission when he learns more about the pagan ways of his neighbors. Guided by a shaman named Wulf, Brand is introduced to a world unlike anything he has ever known...

This book explores how different people have dealt with the issues related to getting on with their mothers. Psychotherapist Alyce-Faye Cleese interviewed a wide range of people to get an in-depth understanding of the different questions that arise in our relationships with our mother. From a New York taxi driver to her former husband John Cleese, and a computer consultant to General Colin Powell, the interviews show a remarkable similarity between the problems different people have with t...

This essential collection on maternal and child health focuses on the rites of giving birth from a cross-cultural perspective. The distinguished list of contributors describe the many customs surrounding birth through infancy, highlighting a wide range of variation in practices across cultures. They discuss attitudes and techniques in childbirth, the interaction between human evolutionary form and birthing procedures, the influence of societal factors that differentiate Western from non-We...

Charles E. Robinson, Professor Emeritus of English at The University of Delaware, definitively transformed study of the novel Frankenstein with his foundational volume The Frankenstein Notebooks and, in nineteenth century studies more broadly, brought heightened attention to the nuances of writing and editing. Frankenstein and STEAM consolidates the generative legacy of his later work on the novel's broad relation to topics in science, technology, engineering, ar...

Nessie was pondering his long sojourn at Loch Ness. He had seen many historical events unfold over the centuries and witness thousands of tourists and visitors from all over the world eager to catch a glimpse of the legend 'Nessie'. But in all that time Nessie had never left the loch , never been on a vacation in all those many many wind swept, interesting and turbulent years.