A collection of street plans of major cities printed on soft, very lightweight (approximately only 20g) & yet extremely tear-resistant & 100% waterproof material, specifically designed to be scrunched & crammed into pockets, handbags & backpacks, either on its own or in the pouch from the same material provided with each map. Creases are a fully intentional part of the quirkiness of the Crumpled City maps – the more battered they are they better they look. Parks & other green spaces are highlighted, as are metro stations, & important buildings are named. Each map also highlights 10 recommended “soulsights”, imaginatively chosen to present the essence of each city rather than the most obvious tourist destinations. The accompanying index placed next to the map lists locations of tourist interest: selected streets & squares, monuments & historical places, museums & galleries, parks, etc. Whilst cartographically these Crumpled City maps provide perhaps not the most precise representation of the street network, they are handy for sightseeing, light & durable, can be used as a table cloth when picnicking in the Luxembourg Gardens, Hyde Park, the Retiro or the Central Park, or just as an unusual decoration… Selected cities are also presented on more colourful ‘junior’ maps, specially designed for children. Drawings highlight not only important buildings & famous locations but also places which will specifically appeal to children: toy shops, bookshops, best ice cream, etc. Each title has a list of the recommended not-to-be missed locations with addresses &, where available, websites. ...

The Crumpled Sky is a soft map dedicated to starry skies & today’s dreamers, inviting them to look up & let themselves be thrilled. It just takes 2 seconds to open & close this map; it is very lightweight yet extremely resistant & perfectly waterproof. The map’s extra large size (nearly 1 meter X 1 meter) makes it easy to consult & identify the stars. Thanks to Glow- in – the – dark printing, the map is visible in the dark & designed to be quickly put away in the bag without folding! No technical knowledge or instruments are required. Just your eyes & a beautiful starry night around you. For Ages: 14+ ...

The Crumpled Sky is a soft glow-in-in-the-dark map for night sky dreamers featuring all the constellations & the main stars that are visible with the naked eye, in a beautiful starry night. The map is soft, very lightweight yet extremely resistant & waterproof, designed to be quickly put away in your bag without folding. Perfect for carrying around on camping or stars spotting trips. It is so beautiful that it can also be hung on the wall. It features the night sky at 45 degrees North during the spring/summer seasons. When open the map will measure 90x 90cm. ...

First published to accompany the acclaimed BBC television series, Crusades is a fascinating introduction to an era in which history & legend overlap. The Crusades brought together people of all ages & backgrounds, sworn to spread Christianity & wrest the Holy Land from the Infidel. Terry Jones & Alan Ereira here tell the compelling often horrific story of the fanatics & fantasists, knights & peasants, corrupt clergy & duplicitous leaders who were caught up in these fervent times. They reveal how not only Muslims but Jews & Christians also were massacred; how epidemics, starvation & mutinies weakened even the most devout foot soldiers; & how the Crusades sowed the seeds of jihad, the holy war for Islam, a legacy that endures today. Charismatic leaders & uncrowned kings, uneasy alliances & bloody assassinations, gruelling sieges & violent battles: all are brought vividly to life in this superb book. ...

900 years ago, Christian Europe was seized by a fever that changed the world forever. Inspired by a Pope who offered rewards on earth & a certain place in Paradise thereafter, tens of thousands of men, women & children
- knights & peasants, rich & poor, old & young
- set out for the Holy Land to recapture the Holy City Jerusalem & save their fellow Christians from persecution by the Infidel. Crusades, & the television series which this book accompanies, tells the dramatic story of these events, & the reality behind the myths: of Popes motivated by greed as well as faith; of power-hungry nobles & pilgrims on Crusade who murdered, robbed & raped not only Moslems but Jews & fellow Christians as well; of the great kings of the West, such as Richard the Lionheart of Engl&, Philip of France & Frederick Barbarossa of Germany, leaders of the Third Crusade, who became the very stuff of legends; & of the Arab heroes, Zengi, Nur ed-Din & of course Saladin, who faced the Christian, onslaught often with much greater tolerance than their enemies, until finally the Crusaders were driven out of the Holy L&. The authors show how the Europeans used the morality of the Crusades to justify the conquest & destruction of any society which stood in their way, sowing the seeds of fear, suspicion
- & even hatred
- in the Arab world. A legacy which remains to this day.



...

It is January 1719 & Daniel Defoe, almost sixty, sits at a table, writing. He is troubled with gout & debt, but for now is preoccupied with a younger man on a barren shore
- ” Robinson Crusoe, for which he will principally be remembered. Several miles south, an old man, Robert Knox, is bent over a heavy volume. It is Historical Relation, his account of being held captive on Ceylon, published forty years ago after he escaped & returned to Engl&. It has long been out of print, but a copy perhaps sits on the desk of Daniel Defoe as he writes. Where did Crusoe come from? & what is the secret of his endurance? ” Crusoe” explores the intertwined lives of two real men
- Daniel Defoe & Robert Knox
- & the character & book that emerged from their peculiar conjunction. It is the biography of a book & its hero, the story of Defoe, the man who wrote ” Robinson Crusoe”, & of Robert Knox, the man who was Crusoe.


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Originally named Juan Fernandez, the island of Robinson Crusoe in the South Pacific was the inspiration for Defoe`s classic novel about the adventures of a shipwrecked sailor. Yet the complex story of Britain`s relationship with this distant, tiny island is more surprising, more colourful & considerably darker. Drawing on voyage accounts, journal entries, maps & illustrations, acclaimed historian Andrew Lambert brings to life the voices of the visiting sailors, scientists, writers & artists, from the early encounters of the 1500s & the perilous journeys of the eighteenth-century explorers, to the naval conflicts of the First World War & the environmental concerns of more recent years. Crusoe`s Island explores why we are still not willing to give up on the specks of land at the far ends of the earth. ...

Under South Africa`s brutal apartheid regime, black activist Steve Biko has been working tirelessly for years to undermine the system when he meets white journalist Donald Woods. Initially suspicious of Biko & his motives, Woods finds himself united with Biko in common cause after Biko reveals to him the true extent of police atrocities in the black townships. & when tragedy strikes, the powerful bond that has been forged between them leads Woods to make a courageous stand on his friend`s behalf, risking everything to expose the horrors of this murderous regime. ...

Aged fifteen, as Franco`s forces begin their murderous purges & cities across Spain rise up against the old order, Montse has never heard the word fascista before. In any case, the villagers say facha (the ch is a real Spanish ch, by the way, with a real spit). Montse lives in a small village, high in the hills, where few people can read or write & fewer still ever leave. If everything goes according to her mother`s plan, Montse will never leave either. She will become a good, humble maid for the local landowners, muchisimas gracias, with every Sunday off to dance the jota in the church square. But Montse`s world is changing. Her brother Jose has just returned from Lerida with a red & black scarf & a new, dangerous vocabulary & his words are beginning to open up new realms to his little sister. She might not understand half of what he says, but how can anyone become a maid in the Burgos family when their head is ringing with shouts of Revolucion, Comunidad & Libertad? The war, it seems, has arrived in the nick of time. ...

Alan paton’s “ Cry, The Beloved Country” was first published in 1948, & today still stands as arguably the single most important novel in twentieth century South African literature.“ Cry, the Beloved Country” is the deeply moving story of the Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo & his son Absalom, set against the background of a land & a people riven by racial injustice. Remarkable for its immediacy, unforgettable for character & incident, “ Cry, the Beloved Country” is a classic work of love & hope, courage & endurance, born of the dignity of man. Paton was a strong vocal opponent of apartheid over a half a century before it came to a crashing end; in 1953 Paton founded the South African Liberal Party, which fought against the apartheid legislation introduced by the National Party. He died in 1988, just six years before apartheid would finally be over. ...