Christmas has been all things to all people: a religious festival, a family celebration, a time of eating & drinking. Yet the origins of the customs which characterize the festive season are wreathed in myth. When did turkeys become the plat du jour? Is the commercialization of Christmas a recent phenomenon, or has the emphasis always been on spending? Just who is, or was, Santa Claus? & for how long have we been exchanging presents of underwear & socks? Food, drink & nostalgia for Christmases past seem to be almost as old as the holiday itself, far more central to the story of Christmas than religious worship. Thirty years after the first recorded Christmas, in the fourth century, the Archbishop of Constantinople was already warning that too many people were spending the day not in worship, but dancing & eating to excess. By 1616, the playwright Ben Jonson was nostalgically recalling the Christmases of yesteryear, confident that they had been better then. In Christmas: A Biography, acclaimed social historian & best-selling author Judith Flanders casts a sharp & revealing eye on the myths, legends & history of the season, from the origins of the holiday in the Roman empire to the emergence of Christmas trees in central Europe, to what might just possibly be the first appearance of Santa Claus
- in Switzerland!
- to draw a picture of the season as it has never been seen before.

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Christmas has been all things to all people: a religious festival, a family celebration, a time of eating & drinking. Yet the origins of the customs which characterize the festive season are wreathed in myth. When did turkeys become the plat du jour? Is the commercialization of Christmas a recent phenomenon, or has the emphasis always been on spending? Just who is, or was, Santa Claus? & for how long have we been exchanging presents of underwear & socks? Food, drink & nostalgia for Christmases past seem to be almost as old as the holiday itself, far more central to the story of Christmas than religious worship. Thirty years after the first recorded Christmas, in the fourth century, the Archbishop of Constantinople was already warning that too many people were spending the day not in worship, but dancing & eating to excess. By 1616, the playwright Ben Jonson was nostalgically recalling the Christmases of yesteryear, confident that they had been better then. In Christmas: A History, acclaimed social historian & bestselling author Judith Flanders casts a sharp & revealing eye on the myths, legends & history of the season, from the origins of the holiday in the Roman empire to the emergence of Christmas trees in central Europe, to what might just possibly be the first appearance of Santa Claus – in Switzerland! – to draw a picture of the season as it has never been seen before. ...

In this vivid & compelling novel, Tim Murphy follows a diverse set of characters whose fates intertwine in an iconic building in Manhattan`s East Village, the Christodora. The Christodora is home to Milly & Jared, a privileged young couple with artistic ambitions. Their neighbour, Hector, a Puerto Rican gay man who was once a celebrated AIDS activist but is now a lonely addict, becomes connected to Milly`s & Jared`s lives in ways none of them can anticipate. Meanwhile, the couple`s adopted son, Mateo, grows to appreciate the opportunities for both self-realization & oblivion that New York offers. As the junkies & protestors of the 1980s give way to the hipsters of the 2000s & they, in turn, to the wealthy residents of the crowded, glass-towered city of the 2020s, enormous changes rock the personal lives of Milly & Jared & the constellation of people around them. Moving kaleidoscopically from the Tompkins Square Riots & attempts by activists to galvanize a response to the AIDS epidemic, to the New York City of the future, Christodora recounts the heartbreak wrought by AIDS, illustrates the allure & destructive power of hard drugs, & brings to life the ever-changing city itself. ...

In November 1929, Christopher Isherwood
- determined to become a `permanent foreigner`
- packed a rucksack & two suitcases

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Christopher Nibble loves munching dandelion leaves. & he`s not alone. All the guinea pigs in Dandeville eat dandelion leaves for breakfast, lunch & dinner. But no-one seems to do anything when the dandelions begin to dwindle. They just carry on munching. In fact the guinea pigs of Dandeville are heading for eco-disaster.. . But that`s where Christopher Nibble steps in. He discovers the last dandelion growing outside his bedroom window &, rather than eat it, he does his horticultural research in the library & then nurtures the dandelion patiently until it has produced a perfect head of tiny seeds. Then he blows the seeds from a hill high over Dandeville so that each dandelion seedling takes root & grows into a new plant. Charlotte Middleton has illustrated her witty, quirky story with charming collage illustrations & her guinea pigs are the most endearing, funky little characters you are ever likely to meet. ...

This striking volume celebrates colour in photography. Hundreds of images by some of the biggest names in photography are organized into colour-coded chapters, each introduced by an essay from the historian Michel Pastoureau. Among the featured photographers are Steve Mc Curry, Martin Parr, Susan Meiselas, Bruno Barbey, Raghu Rai, Peter Marlow & many others. ...

When newly-wed Angela Vicario & Bayardo San Roman are left to their wedding night, Bayardo discovers that his new wife is no virgin. Disgusted, he returns Angela to her family home that very night, where her humiliated mother beats her savagely & her two brothers demand to know her violator, whom she names as Santiago Nasar. As he wakes to thoughts of the previous night's revelry, Santiago is unaware of the slurs that have been cast against him. But with Angela's brothers set on avenging their family honour, soon the whole town knows who they plan to kill, where, when & why. ...

A detailed account of an anthropologist`s year in Paraguay. As well as how the Indians live this book looks at the role of the anthropologist & how information is communicated to him. Paul Auster`s Translation ensures that none of the power of Pierre Clastres original work is lost. ” It is, I believe, nearly impossible not to love this book.”
- Paul Auster, from his translator`s note
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Published in 1542 to an astonished & captivated public, Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition tells the unforgettable story of a sixteenth-century soldier turned explorer who, along with three other survivors of a shipwreck, makes his way across an unknown geographic & cultural landscape. This Norton Critical Edition is based on David Frye`s new translation. It is accompanied by Ilan Stavan`s introduction, the translator`s preface, the editor`s detailed explanatory annotations, & a map tracing Cabeza de Vaca`s journey from Florida to California. ...