Radstock in 1902 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. The map provides good coverage of Radstock & the surrounding area, stretching east to include Writhlington & west beyond Middle Pit Colliery & Wells Road. Features include Radstock town centre with its busy railway lines, the Collieries of Tyning, Ludlow`s, Upper Writhlington & Lower Writhlington, St Nicholas`s Church, St Mary Magdalen`s Church, Tramway, Radstock Mill, & Brewery. We do not think of Somerset as an industrial county, but the Radstock map is certainly an industrial one, with its 4 collieries, 2 wagon works, complex of railways, & miners` housing on the hillside. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25” OS Series Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. The plans have been taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). On the reverse most maps have historical notes & many also include extracts from contemporary directories. Most maps cover about one mile (1.6kms) north/south, one & a half miles (2.4kms) across; adjoining sheets can be combined to provide wider coverage.FOR MORE INFORMATION & A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE TITLES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK. ...

Radyr & Coryton in 1915 in a fascinating series of reproductions of old Ordnance Survey plans in the Alan Godfrey Editions, ideal for anyone interested in the history of their neighbourhood or family. The map covers the northern part of Radyr & western part of Whitchurch. Coverage stretches from Driscoll Road eastward to Kelston Road & from Velindra Road northward to part of Morganstown. Features include River Taff, Glamorganshire Canal, Melin-Griffith Feeder, Cardiff City Mental Hospital, Velindre, northern tip of Melin-Griffith Tin Works, Coryton, Forest Farm, Cardiff Railway with Coryton Halt, Taff Vale Railway with Radyr station, Penarth Junction, sidings, Mynydd Wood, Windsor Road area of Radyr, Ty-mynydd Farm, Melin-Griffith & Pentyrch Railway, St Dyfrig`s RC church, St Mary`s church, Dynea Colliery (disused), Glyn-Taf, old mineral tramway route, Treforest Junction, Electrical Works, etc. On the reverse are 1906 directories for Radyr & Whitchurch. About the Alan Godfrey Editions of the 25” OS Series: Selected towns in Great Britain & Ireland are covered by maps showing the extent of urban development in the last decades of the 19th & early 20th century. The plans have been taken from the Ordnance Survey mapping & reprinted at about 15 inches to one mile (1:4, 340). On the reverse most maps have historical notes & many also include extracts from contemporary directories. Most maps cover about one mile (1.6kms) north/south, one & a half miles (2.4kms) across; adjoining sheets can be combined to provide wider coverage.FOR MORE INFORMATION & A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL AVAILABLE TITLES PLEASE CLICK ON THE SERIES LINK. ...

On a hot August afternoon in 1811, an army of 10, 000 British redcoats splashed ashore through the muddy shallows off Batavia (the former name of Jakarta, Indonesia`s capital) to conquer the Dutch colony of Java. They would remain there for five turbulent years. Drawing on both British & Javanese archival sources, this entertaining & highly readable narrative history-cum-biography explores the bloody battles & furious controversies that marked British rule in Java, & reveals the future founder of Singapore, Thomas Stamford Raffles
- long celebrated as a hero, a liberal & a visionary
- in a shocking new light, showing how he crushed dissent, looted palaces & incited massacres to further his own insatiable ambitions. The book features the dramatic Battle of Batavia, the sinister British expedition to Palembang, the 1812 sacking & looting of Yogyakarta, & various fights between soldiers & civilians, buffaloes & tigers, & Englishmen & Javanese.

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By the time of his death, Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) was the founder of Singapore & Governor of Java, having left school in his early teens to become a clerk for the British East India Company. Charismatic & daring, Raffles forged an extraordinary path for himself in South East Asia
- refusing to be satisfied with the trading posts available to the British, he defied Dutch governors & wrangled with warring local rulers to establish what is now a world city. An ardent linguist & zoologist, Raffles spoke fluent Malay & found time to write The History of Java, as well as naming several species of flora & fauna he discovered on his travels. He founded London Zoo & promoted the study of Malay alongside European languages in Southeast Asia. Raffles remains a controversial figure
- a utopian imperialist, disobedient employee & knight of the realm who died deeply in debt, predeceased by all but one of his children. He built racial segregation into his urban planning, but was also a staunch abolitionist. Renowned biographer Victoria Glendinning charts Raffles` prodigious rise in this new edition, specially updated for the bicentenary of the foundation of Singapore in 1819. His life was short, complicated & shot through with tragedy, but Raffles` fame lives on.

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This is the first biography in decades of the ` Father of Singapore`. Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) was the charismatic & persuasive founder of Singapore & Governor of Java. An English adventurer, disobedient employee of the East India Company, utopian imperialist, linguist, zoologist & civil servant, he carved an extraordinary (though brief) life for himself in South East Asia. The tropical, disease-ridden settings of his story are as dramatic as his own trajectory
- an obscure young man with no advantages other than talent & obsessive drive, who changed history by establishing
- without authority
- on the wretchedly unpromising island of Singapore a settlement which has become a world city. After a turbulent time in the East Indies, Raffles returned to the UK & turned to his other great interests
- botany & zoology. He founded London Zoo in 1826, the year of his death. Raffles remains a controversial figure, & in the first biography for over forty years, Victoria Glendinning charts his prodigious rise within the social & historical contexts of his world. His domestic & personal life was vivid & shot through with tragedy. His own end was sad, but his fame immortal.



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Jose Maria, a construction worker, is in love with Rosa, a maid in an exclusive Buenos Aires mansion. Subjected to constant humiliation by his foreman, Jose Maria kills him. He hides on an empty floor in the mansion, & remains there for years without even raising Rosas` suspicion. Jose Maria silently observes his lover in her most intimate moments & watches the decadent behaviour of the owners & their hypocritical relationships. However, Jose Maria will also be privy to more humiliating experiences
- he watches as Rosa is raped by the young son of the family, & later becomes pregnant by a repulsive neighbour. Still, in the midst of all this & from his bizarre, self-imposed imprisonment, Jose Maria will, somehow, be able to reflect upon & understand the joys of fatherhood
- that is, before he meets his final fate. A metaphor for the decline of a social class, a country & the resentment that spreads like a plague penetrating to the core of its people, Rage is also a tale of love & suspense that raises the tension with each successive page until it unavoidably shifts toward an intimate, shattering catastrophe. Humour, misfortune, shrewd social commentary & thrilling erotic fantasy come together, offering the reader an inside vision of contemporary Argentina.

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Based on extensive research in primary sources, Ragged London traces the story of the London poor. It shows how they lived, worked, loved & died. Every aspect of their life is explored, from the homes in which they lived to the food they ate, the entertainment they enjoyed & the occupations in which they engaged. Crime & punishment, the harsh conditions they endured, their bravery, defiance, humour & sense of community are all examined. Many enlightened people were so horrified by the abject poverty, overcrowded & unsanitary accommodation that were the homes of London`s rookeries, that they began both to campaign for change & to assist them directly through private charity. Ultimately the efforts of these philanthropists & reformers led to the beginning of the welfare state. Ragged London shows the triumph of the human spirit over extreme conditions. In spite of their poverty, the insalubrious nature of their dwellings, the casual & dangerous nature of their employment & the ever-present fear of the workhouse, there was a rebelliousness of spirit, a dignity & sense of humour that helped them face a life which otherwise might have seemed unendurable. ...

Raghu Rai is India`s most famous & most lauded photographer. Here, he lends his creative genius to capturing the changing face of Delhi, the place of his birth & India`s capital city, over the last forty years. William Dalrymple says in his introduction to the book that [this is] the work of a sympathetic insider & has a tender & knowing intimacy that no outsider like myself can come close to. That quality is displayed to stunning effect in this spectacular, large format book, which will be prized by anyone with an interest in modern India or photography. ...

Raghu Rai`s ” India” is the India of the everyday
- the life of his rural childhood. His photographs talk about the simple people,
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Greedy, cruel & foolish, the Gods deserve to die.. . From the Booker Prize-winning author of Possession & The Children's Book comes a mesmerising tale of the end of the gods & the destruction of life on this planet. Into her version of Ragnarok, surely one of the most thrilling & apocalyptic of myths, A.S. Byatt weaves the story of a young girl evacuated to the British countryside during the Second World War. Struggling to make sense of her life, she is given a book of Norse myths, & her inner & outer worlds are transformed. ...