The Ramayana
- the Journey of Rama
- is India`s best-loved book, an inspiration to school-children, monks & moviemakers,

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The jaguar is one of the most mysterious & least-known big cats of the world. The largest cat in the Americas, it has survived an onslaught of environmental & human threats partly because of an evolutionary history unique among wild felines, but also because of a power & indomitable spirit so strong, the jaguar has shaped indigenous cultures & the beliefs of early civilizations on two continents. In An Indomitable Beast: The Remarkable Journey of the Jaguar, big-cat expert Alan Rabinowitz shares his own personal journey to conserve a species that, despite its past resilience, is now on a slide toward extinction if something is not done to preserve the pathways it prowls through an ever-changing, ever-shifting landscape dominated by humans. Rabinowitz reveals how he learned from newly available genetic data that the jaguar was a single species connected genetically throughout its entire range from Mexico to Argentina, making it unique among all other large carnivores in the world. In a mix of personal discovery & scientific inquiry, he sweeps his readers deep into the realm of the jaguar, offering fascinating accounts from the field. Enhanced with maps, tables, & colour plates, An Indomitable Beast brings important new research to life for scientists, anthropologists, & animal lovers alike. This book is not only about jaguars, but also about tenacity & survival. From the jaguar we can learn better strategies for saving other species & also how to save ourselves when faced with immediate & long-term catastrophic changes to our environment. ...

London is a modern, stylish & ever-changing city & this pocket-sized book takes you on a tour with a vibrant, bold & new approach to information that matches the capitol perfectly. Using infographics to bring the nuggets of information to life through images & graphics, you can read & enjoy hundreds of fascinating facts in a beautiful book that`s easy to read & ideal for children. Whether you`re visiting or curious from afar, you can tour London`s boroughs, ride its transport, look back at its disease-ridden history, meet the famous residents
- past & present
- & much more, all within this one packed book. This is non-fiction for the modern generation. With pages filled with vivid colours, graphic visuals & bold designs, this guide brings London`s facts, history & events to life like never before.

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Robert Louis Stevenson was not only a gifted writer; he was also an indefatigable traveller. His thirst for adventure was formed by his boyhood visits to remote Scottish lighthouses, & he spent much of his life fleeing the rigours of cold climes & social orthodoxy. Along the way he travelled through the Cevennes with a donkey, booked passage to & across America, & finally famously settled in Samoa in the South Pacific. The canoeing trip through Belgium & northern France that Stevenson describes in An Inland Voyage was taken in 1876, when the author was 26 years old. Stevenson & his companion, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, each had a kayak A-style wooden canoe, with a deck & rigged with a sail. Starting in Belgium & then travelling downriver in France from Maubeuge (near Mons) to Pontoise on the outskirts of Paris, the book paints a charming picture of Western Europe at a more innocent time. ...

Robert Louis Stevenson was not only a gifted writer; he was also an indefatigable traveller. His thirst for adventure was formed by his boyhood visits to remote Scottish lighthouses, & he spent much of his life fleeing the rigours of cold climes & social orthodoxy. Along the way he travelled through the Cevennes with a donkey, booked passage to & across America, & finally famously settled in Samoa in the South Pacific. The canoeing trip through Belgium & northern France that Stevenson describes in An Inland Voyage was taken in 1876, when the author was 26 years old. Stevenson & his companion, Sir Walter Grindlay Simpson, each had a kayak-style wooden canoe, with a deck & rigged with a sail. Starting in Belgium & then travelling downriver in France from Maubeuge (near Mons) to Pontoise on the outskirts of Paris, the book paints a charming picture of Western Europe at a more innocent time. About this series: Stanfords Travel Classics feature some of the finest historical travel writing in the English language, with authors hailing from both sides of the Atlantic. Every title has been reset in a contemporary typeface to create a series that every lover of fine travel literature will want to collect & keep. ...

An Intimate War tells the story of the last thirty-four years of conflict in Helmand Province, Afghanistan as seen through the eyes of the Helmandis. In the West, this period is often defined through different lenses
- the Soviet intervention, the civil war, the Taliban, & the post-2001 nation-building era. Yet, as experienced by local inhabitants, the Helmand conflict is a perennial one, involving the same individuals, families & groups, & driven by the same arguments over l&, water & power. This book
- based on both military & research experience in Helmand & 150 interviews in Pashto
- offers a very different view of Helmand from those in the media. It demonstrates how outsiders have most often misunderstood the ongoing struggle in Helmand & how, in doing so, they have exacerbated the conflict, perpetuated it & made it more violent
- precisely the opposite of what was intended when their interventions were launched. Mike Martin`s oral history of Helmand underscores the absolute imperative of understanding the highly local, personal, & non-ideological nature of internal conflict in much of the `third` world.



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This introductory textbook has been designed by a team of experts for elementary university courses in astronomy & astrophysics. It starts with a detailed discussion of the structure & history of our own Galaxy, the Milky Way, & goes on to give a general introduction to normal & active galaxies including models for their formation & evolution. The second part of the book provides an overview of the wide range of cosmological models & discusses the Big Bang & the expansion of the Universe. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, & illustrated in colour throughout, this book is suitable for self-study & will appeal to amateur astronomers as well as undergraduate students. It contains numerous helpful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, & a glossary of terms. The book is also supported by a website hosting further teaching materials. ...

RYA Introduction to Radar follows the syllabus of the RYA One Day Radar Course & is also a very handy reference for all who use marine radar sets. The RYA is the governing body representing sailing, windsurfing, motor boating, power boat racing & personal watercraft, at sea & on inland waters. It works for the good of all who enjoy these activities, campaigning for their interests at local, regional, national, European & world level. ...

Combining thematic with country-by-country analysis, this new book gives an overview of Middle Eastern history, religion, political economy & politics. Providing an accessible introduction to the politics of the Middle East, including the countries of the Persian Gulf, the eastern Mediterranean & North Africa, this text combines essential themes in the discipline of comparative politics with a country-by-country analysis of the Modern Middle East. While emphasizing politics, separate chapters also specifically address the history, religions & political economy of the region. Those introductory chapters together constitute a thematic overview essential to orienting students as they read each of the book's individual country chapters (including a chapter devoted to Palestine). In each country chapter, a brief political history is followed by discussions of democratization, religious politics, women's issues, civil society, economic development, privatization & foreign relations. Throughout the book, short vignettes based on the author's personal observations during his extensive travels in the Middle East offer students a chance for personal reflection on the topics discussed in each chapter. Each chapter concludes with a set of Suggested Readings, & terms are defined in a glossary. ...

Compiled by a team of experts, this textbook has been designed for introductory university courses in planetary science. It starts with a tour of the Solar System & an overview of its formation. The composition, internal structure, surface morphology & atmospheres of the terrestrial planets are then described. This leads naturally to a discussion of the giant planets & why they are compositionally different. Minor bodies are reviewed & the book concludes with a discussion of the origin of the Solar System & the evidence from meteorites. Written in an accessible style that avoids complex mathematics, & illustrated in colour throughout, this book is suitable for self-study & will appeal to amateur enthusiasts as well as undergraduate students. It contains numerous helpful learning features such as boxed summaries, student exercises with full solutions, & a glossary of terms. The book is also supported by a website hosting further teaching materials. ...