The result of trips to Afghanistan since 1994, “A Darkness Visible” presents a selection of acclaimed photographer Seamus Murphy’s black & white photography from a changing l&. After the US-led invasion of 2001, the world’s attention shifted to Afghanistan but has since drifted away: not so with Murphy, one of the most celebrated photographers to work in the region, who has consistently & doggedly returned again & again. This portrait of Afghanistan captures the atmosphere of Afghanistan before, during & after the invasion.“A Darkness Visible” also features essays by Nancy Hatch Dupree on Afghanistan’s history, & by Anthony Lloyd on Murphy’s work & enduring attachment to the country. ...

Vaux-le-Vicomtes rich history began in 1641, when infamous Finance Minister Nicolas Fouquet bought the estate & enlisted architect Louis Le Vau, decorator Charles le Brun, & garden designer Andre Le Notre to transform it into a lavish residence. His extravagance piqued Louis XIVs jealousy, & he was thrown into prison for mishandling funds. The chateau inspired the design of Versailles, & was later home to the great chef Vatel, who famously died for his art. This volume traces the chateaus history from the seventeenth-century through the Belle Epoque, World War I, & its public opening in 1968. Exclusive photography & archival documents offer unprecedented access to the chateau, furnishings, & gardens, & illuminate the extraordinary secrets of court life & centuries of celebrations that include the enchanting candlelit tours held today. ...

For the first time, ”A Day at el Bulli: An Insight into the Ideas, Methods & Creativity of Ferran Adria” allows unprecedented access to one of the world`s most famous, sought-after & mysterious restaurants. Having held three Michelin stars since 1997, & regularly voted ` Best Restaurant in the World` by a panel of 500 industry professionals, el Bulli has been at the very forefront of the restaurant scene since Ferran Adria became sole head chef in 1987. Aimed at food enthusiasts as well as industry professionals, the book documents all the activities & processes that make up just one day of service with stunning colour photography of the kitchens, staff, creative workshop, dishes, the restaurant itself & its striking surroundings near the town of Roses, north east of Barcelona. The book starts with daybreak at 6.15 am, then shows visits to the local markets to source ingredients from 7.00 am, Ferran`s arrival at the workshop, his morning creative experimentation session, the arrival of the rest of the brigade at 2.30 pm to begin the mise-en-place for the evening, the preparations of each guest`s menu, the daily tasks of the front of house team, & the arrival of the first guests for dinner from 7.45 pm until the last guests` departure by 2.00 am. The menu is fully explained with detailed & technical recipes that reveal the full extent of the chefs` artistry. Innovative text inserts open the lid on the history of el Bulli & Ferran Adria, the creative methods, the secret workshops, the technical processes behind the creation of a dish, the network of sensations & interactions that take place between a restaurant & its guests & the sensory experiences of eating, as well as the formidable reservations procedure & the structure of a meal into four theatrical `acts`. ”A Day at el Bulli: An Insight into the Ideas, Methods & Creativity of Ferran Adria” allows all lovers of good food to experience this spectacular restaurant to the full. ...

Kai the koala is going on holiday with his family. It`s a very long way so they`re going to fly in a plane. Kai has a wonderful time discovering all the exciting features of the airport, from using his passport, to pushing trolleys & the x-ray machine. The family just have to be careful not to miss their flight! The brand new picture book in Sharon Rentta`s internationally award-winning A DAY WITH THE ANIMAL.. .series is guaranteed to enchant any child who is fascinated by planes & airports. ...

Step through the doors of this mysterious museum...and discover everything you wanted to know about dinosaurs! Open drawers, peek inside cabinets & explore behind the scenes with this fantastically interactive museum-inside-a-book. Each page has a door that leads to the next room...but what will you find there? ...

The world`s most iconic chateau has welcomed tourists the world over, yet this handsome slipcased volume offers up the charm of a thousand & one hidden places in the chateau, its gardens, & pavilions. All were designed to surprise & delight the eye & all the senses at every turn, their exquisite decoration forming an integral part of the elite lifestyle of the eighteenth-century. This comprehensive volume captures the exquisite setting & inimitable ambiance of Versailles & its gardens, from its intimate private spaces usually closed to the general public to the charming Petit Trianon & dairy farm created for the pure pleasure of Marie-Antoinette. Concise, informative, & evocative texts describe the practical, social, & aesthetic considerations that informed the creation of the home to three kings, while newly commissioned photography features the chateau`s architecture, gardens, paintings, drawings, & decorative arts that bring to life the beauty & the daily routines of this golden age of French culture. This jewel of a volume is a rich homage to Versailles & the perfect souvenir for visitors & armchair travelers alike who, while turning these pages, will embark on a private tour of the lavish chateau & grounds. ...

The island of the Great Blasket lies three miles off the Kerry coast of Irel&, at the westernmost tip of Europe. Virtually unknown before this century, it was to produce a rich & extraordinary flowering of literature that has made it famous throughout the world. The newest in the series of native chronicles on the Blaskets, A Day in the Life is something of an epilogue, telling how, in the island's dying days, the islanders settled on the nearby mainl&. O' Crohan provides vivid sketches of West Kerry after World War II, surveying the mainland scene with the ironical eye of the islander, & a robust humor & immediacy that derives from the oral tradition out of which he came. ...

A Day in the Death of Dorothea Cassidy is the third novel in the Inspector Ramsay series by Ann Cleeves, author of the Shetland & Vera Stanhope crime series. For Dorothea Cassidy Thursdays were special. Every week she would look forward to the one day she could call her own, & would plan to visit people she wanted to see as a welcome respite from the routine duties that being a vicar`s wife entailed. But one Thursday in June was to be more special than any other. It was the day that Dorothea Cassidy was strangled. As the small town of Otterbridge prepares for its summer carnival, Inspector Stephen Ramsay begins a painstaking reconstruction of Dorothea`s last hours. He soon discovers that she had taken on a number of deserving cases
- a sick & lonely old woman, a disturbed adolescent, a compulsive gambler, a single mother with a violent boyfriend & a child in care
- & even her close family have their secrets to hide. All these people are haunted, in one way or another, by Dorothea`s goodness. But which of them could have possibly wanted her dead? It is not until a second body is discovered that Ramsay starts to understand how Dorothea lived
- & why she died. With the carnival festivities in full swing & dusk falling in Otterbridge, Ramsay`s murder investigation reaches its chilling climax...


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On the night of 10-11 May 1996, eight climbers perished in what remains the worst disaster in Everest's history. Following the tragedy, numerous accounts were published, with Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air becoming an international bestseller. But has the whole story been told? A Day to Die For reveals for the first time the full, startling facts that led to the tragedy. Graham Ratcliffe, the first British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest twice, was a first-hand witness, having spent the night on Everest's South Col at 26, 000 ft, sheltering from the deadly storm. For years, he has shouldered a burden of guilt, feeling that he & his teammates could have saved lives that fateful night. His quest for answers has led to discoveries so important to an understanding of the disaster that he now questions why these facts were not made public sooner. History is dotted with highprofile disasters that both horrify & capture the attention of the public, but very rarely is our view of them revised to such devastating effect. ...

On the night of 10-11 May 1996, eight climbers perished in what remains the worst disaster in Everest`s history. Following the tragedy, numerous accounts were published, with Jon Krakauer`s ” Into Thin Air” becoming an international bestseller. But has the whole story been told? ”A Day to Die For” reveals the full, startling facts that led to the tragedy. Graham Ratcliffe, the first British climber to reach the summit of Mount Everest twice, was a first-hand witness, having spent the night on Everest`s South Col at 26, 000 ft, sheltering from the deadly storm. For years, he has shouldered a burden of guilt, feeling that he & his teammates could have saved lives that fateful night. His quest for answers has led to discoveries so important to an understanding of the disaster that he now questions why these facts were not made public sooner. History is dotted with high-profile disasters that both horrify & capture the attention of the public, but very rarely is our view of them revised to such devastating effect. ...