'This readable anthology is a good introduction to a civilization that fascinates like few others ... in this book there are animals who talk, princesses who are locked up at the top of towers, wicked stepmothers and many other themes ... An enjoyable book by a skilled author' Financial Times The civilization we know as Ancient Egypt stretched over three thousand years. What was life like for ancient Egyptians? What were their beliefs - and how different were they from ours? Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt uses Egypt's vivid narratives to create a panorama of its history, from the earliest settlers to the time of Cleopatra. Gathered from pyramid texts, archaeological finds and contemporary documents, these stories cover everything from why the Nile flooded annually to Egyptian beliefs about childbirth and what happened after death. They show us what life was really like for rich and poor, man and woman, farmer and pharaoh. Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt brings a long-dead culture back to life.
Beautiful young heiress Emily St Aubert is frightened when she finds herself orphaned and in the hands of her cold and distant aunt, Madame Cheron. But her fear turns to terror when Madame Cheron agrees to marry the haughty and brooding Signor Montoni, and she finds herself trapped in the castle Udolpho, threatened by Montoni's terrible greed.
From the first moment Vincentio di Vivaldi, a young nobleman, sets eyes on the veiled figure of Ellena, he is captivated by her enigmatic beauty and grace. But his haughty and manipulative mother is against the match and enlists the help of her confessor to come between them. Schedoni, previously a leading figure of the Inquisition, is a demonic, scheming monk with no qualms about the task, whether it entails abduction, torture - or even murder. The Italian secured Ann Radcliffe's position as the leading writer of Gothic romance of the age, for its atmosphere of supernatural and nightmarish horrors, combined with her evocation of sublime landscapes and chilling narrative.
Read Beth Ann Ditkoff's posts on the Penguin Blog.
Ever wondered what that small dewdrop thing is in the back of your throat? Or why you hiccup? Why Dont Your Eyelashes Grow? addresses every weird question about your body that you could think of--or didnt even think to ask. Prompted by the brain stumpers her own children and patients have asked her over the years, Dr. Beth Ann Ditkoff compiled a list of curious medical questions. In this book, she reveals the mysteries of the human body (gross, funny, or ugly!) to children and adults.
With eye-opening questions, like Why do toenails grow slower than fingernails? and Why do you have earwax? to weird oddities, like Why do some people have dimples? and Why do you get a headache when you eat ice cream too quickly? Ditkoff also explains hilarious and bizarre anatomy situations that every curious kid wonders, from If you put a pea up your nose, will it go into your brain? to If you eat Pop Rocks candy and drink soda at the same time, will your stomach explode? With expert explanations throughout, Why Dont Your Eyelashes Grow? is an entertaining potpourri of fun factoids packed with real information.
Knock is the Lourdes of Ireland, a busy place of pilgrimage in one of the richest countries in the world. Knock is also a small, ugly village in what is historically the poorest part of Ireland. In 1879, when the west of Ireland was racked by the Land War, several people reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary there. Today Knock offers Marian devotion on an industrial scale, and is also home to an international airport from which the newly prosperous people of the region fly to their holiday properties overseas. In Seasons of Devotion, Ann Marie Hourihane tells the stories of this extraordinary place. Sharp-eyed, witty and intelligent, this book will change the way we understand Ireland.
From America’s number one Cuba reporter, PEN award–winning investigative journalist Ann Louise Bardach, comes the big book on Cuba we’ve all been waiting for. An incisive and spirited portrait of the twentieth century’s wiliest political survivor and his fiefdom, Cuba Confidential is the gripping story of the shattered families and warring personalities that lie at the heart of the forty-three-year standoff between Miami and Havana.Famous to many Americans for her cover stories and media appearances, Ann Louise Bardach has been covering Cuba for a decade. She’s talked to the crooks, spooks and politicians who have made history, and to their hired assassins and confidants. Based on exclusive interviews with Fidel Castro, his sister Juanita, his former brother-in-law Rafael Díaz-Balart, the family of Elián González, the friends and family of the legendary American fugitive Robert Vesco, the intrepid terrorist Luis Posada Carriles, and the inner circles of Jeb Bush and the late exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa, Cuba Confidential exposes the hardball take-no-prisoners tactics of the Cuban exile leadership, and its manipulation and exploitation by ten American presidents.Bardach homes in on Fidel Castro and his cronies, taking us closer than we’ve ever been--and on the militant exiles who have devoted their lives, with CIA connivance, to trying to eliminate him. From Calle Ocho to Juan Miguel Gonález’s kitchen table in Cárdenas, from Guantánamo Bay to Union City to Washington, D.C., Ann Louise Bardach serves up an unforgettable portrait of Cuba and its exiles.
