Many of Britain's finest walks are along tracks that have been in use for thousands of years. From the tip of Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotl&, the island is criss-crossed by ancient paths. The 17 routes selected by Dee Hannigan include prehistoric ridgeways, Roman roads such as Ackling Dyke in Dorset, & routes with religious origins such as the Saint's Way across Cornwall & the Monk's Trod across the North York Moors. In each case the book describes how the route came into being, who used it & why, the glory of the lanscape it traverses, & the historical relics that can still be seen. It supplies detailed instructions for following the routes on Ordnance Survey maps, & shorter, circular walks that can be accomplished in a day or half-day's walking. ...

Many of Britain's finest walks are along tracks that have been in use for thousands of years. From the tip of Cornwall to the Highlands of Scotl&, the island is criss-crossed by ancient paths. The 18 routes selected by Dee Hannigan include prehistoric ridgeways, Roman roads such as Ackling Dyke in Dorset, & routes with religious origins such as the Saint's Way across Cornwall & the Monk's Trod across the North York Moors. In each case the book describes how the route came into being, who used it & why, the glory of the lanscape it traverses, & the historical relics that can still be seen. It supplies detailed instructions for following the routes on Ordnance Survey maps, & shorter, circular walks that can be accomplished in a day or half-day's walking. ...

The National Trust is one of the largest private custodians of ancient trees in Europe. Amidst its properties are oak trees that support entire ecosystems, yew trees that were fully grown before the Romans arrived in Britain, & woodland that has remained virtually unchanged since the last ice age. It is possible to stand under the yew tree that witnessed the sealing of Magna Carta & to picnic near the tree that changed scientific history by dropping an apple on the young Isaac Newton. Ancient Trees of the National Trust is a love letter to Britain`s venerable trees. Author Edward Parker is a highly commended nature photographer & an expert on his subject, & his enchanting book explores the historical & cultural associations of ancient trees & their biological importance, as well as their sheer beauty. It encourages us to pause & look up at their gnarled branches & appreciate these silent witnesses which have remained rooted & constant as the centuries have flickered by & the world around them has changed. ...

` Among all the varied productions with which Nature has adorned the surfaces of the earth, none awakens our sympathies, or interests our imagination so powerfully as those venerable trees, which seem to have stood the lapse of ages...` John Muir, 1868 A fascinating celebration of the some of the oldest living organisms on the planet, from the grand Oaks of Europe & mighty Redwoods of California to Africa`s `upside-down` Baobab tree, & from the Ginkgos of China & Korea to the Olive tree, the worldwide symbol of peace. Ancient Trees covers those species of tree that have lived for more than a thousand years: the Redwood, Bristlecone pine, Montezuma Cypress, the Monkey Puzzle, Amazonian Ancients, Yew, Oak, Sweet Chestnut, Lime, Olive, Welwitschia, the Baobab, Kauri, Totara, Antarctic Beech, the Fig, Cedar, & Ginkgo. Anna Lewington, the well-known writer on all things botanical, & leading wildlife photographer Edward Parker provide an illuminating & visually striking history of each tree species, including where the long-living species can still be found, the tree`s botanical details, & its mythical associations. ...

The history of Vietnam is one of spectacular confrontations, both cultural & ideological between the world of the Chinese
- a
...

This title deals with ancient Asian practices of cooking with healing herbs & other therapeutic foods to Western palates & kitchens. ” Ancient Wisdom, Modern Kitchen” reveals how easy it is to tap into the 3, 000-year-old secrets of East Asian healing arts. This entertaining & easy-to-use book provides scores of delicious recipes, anecdotes about various herbs & foods, & all you need to know about acquiring ingredients-even if you don`t know the difference between a lotus seed & the lotus position. The recipes are simple, easy-to-prepare, & healthy East Asian dishes-still largely unknown in the West, but begging to cross the cultural divide-as well as recipes that might seem familiar, but with an unexpected twist, such as oatmeal with walnuts & goji berries or chicken soup with ginseng. Drawing on family recipes, years of study of traditional Chinese medicine at institutions in China & in the United States, & experience treating patients in the traditional Chinese medical clinic, Wang, Sheir, & Ono put healthy recipes using Chinese herbs at your fingertips to enhance your life, promote a sense of wellbeing, & increase your longevity. ...

` Intensely alive to the landscape; its pasts, people & creatures` Robert Macfarlane Take a journey into our ancient past. Explore a long-lost landscape & gradually discover the minds, beliefs & cultural practices of those souls who lived on these lands thousands of years before you. Travelling the length & breadth of Britain, James Canton pursues his obsession with the physical traces of the ancient world: stone circles, flint arrowheads, sacred stones, gold, & a lost Roman road. He ponders the features of the natural world that occupied ancient minds: the night sky, shooting stars, the rising & setting sun. Wandering to the furthest reaches of the islands, he finds an undeciphered standing stone north of Aberdeen & follows the first footsteps on the edge of a long-lost Ice Age land in the North Sea. As Canton walks the modern terrain, slowly understanding the ancient signs that lie within & beneath it, he weaves a gentle tale of discovery, showing how, beyond the superficial differences of life-style & culture, the ancient inhabitants of the British Isles were much closer to the present-day one than we might imagine. ...

Ancient Wonders
- Then & Now introduces children to some of history`s most famous civilisations & the amazing palaces, temples
...

Accompanying the major BBC TV series, Richard Miles` ” Ancient Worlds” tells the epic story of civilization, & the cities that made us who we are. The path of human progress is one of enlightenment & cruelty, achievement & bloodshed, creation & destruction. Here Richard Miles reaches back into our distant past to bring alive its most glorious & terrible people & places: from the first ever city in Mesopotamia to the death cults of Egypt, from the Phoenician seafarers who invented the alphabet to the brutal Assyrian empire, & on to the great city-states of Athens & Rome. By choosing to live together with strangers in vast urban settings, Miles shows, humans harnessed the very best & the worst of ourselves, setting civilization in motion & forging the modern world. ” Epic & compelling”. (” Daily Mail”). ” An epic, spanning five millennia & half the globe”. (” Daily Telegraph”). ” Engaging.. .full of interesting things about the radical social experiment of the city-state, & the new ways of living it permitted”. (” Independent”). ”” Ancient Worlds” really does put flesh on the bones of history & Richard Miles brings long lost cities to life”. (” Observer”). Richard Miles is the author of ” Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise & Fall of an Ancient Civilization”. A six-part TV series of ” Ancient Worlds” was broadcast on BBC2 in 2011. He teaches classics at the University of Sydney & was previously a Newton Trust Lecturer in the Faculty of Classics & Fellow & Director of Studies at Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. ...

”A bold & imaginative page-turner that challenges ideas about the world of antiquity.” (Peter Frankopan (The Silk Roads)). ” This vivid & engaging book brings to life some of the most important moments in ancient history, moments that have shaped not only the politics & culture of bygone eras, but the institutions, thoughts & fantasies of our time.” (Yuval Noah Harari (Sapiens)). ” As panoramic as it is learned, this is ancient history for our globalised world.” (Tom Holland (Dynasty, Rubicon)). Acclaimed historian & TV presenter Michael Scott guides us through an epic story spanning ten centuries to create a bold new reading of the classical era for our globalised world. Scott challenges our traditionally western-focused perception of the past, connecting Greco-Roman civilisation to the great rulers & empires that swept across Central Asia to India & China
- resulting in a truly global vision of ancient history. With stunning range & richness Ancient Worlds illustrates how the great powers & characters of antiquity shared ambitions & crises, ways of thinking & forms of governing: connections that only grew stronger over the centuries as political systems evolved, mighty armies clashed, universal religions were born & our modern world was foreshadowed. Scott focuses on three epochal `moments` across the ancient globe, & their profound wider significance: from 509-8 BCE (birth of Athenian democracy & Rome`s republic, also the age of Confucius` teachings in China); to 218 BCE (when Hannibal of Carthage challenged Rome & China saw its first emperor); to 312 CE, when Constantine sought to impose Christianity on the Roman world even as Buddhism was pervading China via the vast trading routes we now know as the ` Silk Roads.` A major work of global history, Michael Scott`s enthralling journey challenges the way we think about our past, re-draws the map of the classical age to reveal its hidden connections, & shows us how ancient history has lessons for our own times.
...