**`A masterpiece of evocative scientific storytelling.` BRIAN COX****` The best popular book on broad-sweep history since Guns, Germs & Steel` Peter Forbes** The extraordinary story of the species that became our allies. For hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors depended on wild plants & animals for survival. They were hunter-gatherers, consummate foraging experts, taking the world as they found it. Then a revolution occurred
- our ancestors` interaction with other species changed. They began to tame them. The human population boomed; civilisation began. In Tamed, Alice Roberts uncovers the deep history of ten familiar species with incredible wild pasts: dogs, apples & wheat; cattle, potatoes & chickens; rice, maize & horses
- &, finally, humans. She reveals how becoming part of our world changed these animals & plants, & shows how they became our allies, essential to the survival & success of our own species. Enlightening, wide-ranging & endlessly fascinating, Tamed encompasses thousands of years of history & archaeology alongside cutting-edge genetics & anthropology. Yet it is also a deeply personal journey that changes how we see ourselves & the species on which we have left our mark.

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A powerful account of the life of Tamerlane the Great (1336-1405), the last master nomadic power, one of history`s most extreme tyrants, & the subject of Marlowe`s famous play. Marozzi travelled in the footsteps of the great Mogul Emperor of Samarkland to write this wonderful combination of history & travelogue. The name of the last great warlord conjures up images of mystery & romance: medieval warfare on desert plains; the clash of swords on snow-clad mountains; the charge of elephants across the steppes of Asia; the legendary opulence & cruelty of the illiterate, chess-playing nemesis of Asia. He ranks alongside Alexander as one of the world`s great conquerors, yet the details of his life are scarcely known in the West. He was not born to a distinguished family, nor did he find his apprenticeship easy
- at one point his mobile army consisted only of himself, his wife, seven companions & four horses
- but his dominion grew with astonishing rapidity. In the last two decades of the fourteenth century & the beginning of the fifteenth, he blazed through Asia. Cities were razed to the ground, inhabitants tortured without mercy, sometimes enemies were buried alive
- more commonly they were decapitated. On the ruins of Baghdad, Tamerlane had his princes erect a pyramid of 90, 000 heads. During his lifetime he sought to foster a personal myth, exaggerating the difficulties of his youth, laying claim to supernatural powers & a connection to Genghis Khan. This myth was maintained after his death in legend, folklore, poetry, drama & even opera, nowhere more powerfully than in Marlowe`s play
- he is now as much a literary construct as a historical figure. Justin Marozzi follows in his path & evokes his legacy in telling the tale of this fabulously cruel, magnificent & romantic warrior.



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Uzbekistan is a country of contradictions. Where legality meets torture & Islam meets a secular state, Uzbekistan is torn between its historical roots, Soviet rule, & modern consumerism. As a vital ally in the ` War on Terror`, yet retaining a deeply troubling record on human rights, even the West is uncertain about how to approach it. In this vibrant account, respected journalist Robert Rand draws on three years living & travelling in the region to carefully deconstruct the cultural allegiances & tensions that color Uzbek life. From the heritage of the country`s beloved hero, Tamerlane, to the clash of cultures in Uzbek pop music, this lively book will captivate the historian, the traveller, & anyone who wishes to understand modern life in the ex-Soviet bloc. ...

Topographic mapping from Mexico’s national survey agency, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática. The maps have contours at 20m intervals with relief shading & indicate various types of terrain & vegetation, e.g. dense vegetation, cultivated areas, swamps, sand dunes, salt pans, etc. UTM grid is at 10km intervals, with latitude & longitude shown by margin ticks at intervals of 5`. Map legend is in Spanish only. To see the other titles in this series please click on the series link. ...

Tamil Nadu in a series of locally produced administrative maps of Indian states, each with a booklet providing a guide to the area. The maps show the division of each state into districts & have more small towns & villages than on more general maps of India available from other publishers. Presentation is now considerably enhanced with the districts shown in different colours. The maps indicate each district ...

Indian state of Tamil Nadu on road map from the Delhi-based International Publications, showing many small towns & villages, with a 40-page booklet describing the state & its sights. Additional features include street plans of Chennai, Coimbatore, Mudurai, & Tiruchchirappalli, all annotated with facilities & sights; a physical map of the state; a distance chart; plus a facts & figures table. The booklet

Includes:: notes on arts & crafts, cuisine, beaches, etc. Unless indicated to the contrary in the individual description, maps in this series present the state with its constituent districts in different colours & also show the division of districts into talukas. Town symbols indicate both district & taluka headquarters. Road network

Includes:: many local roads, some with driving distances, although sometimes locations are marked without road access to them shown on the map. Railway lines are included & local airports are marked. Symbols indicate various locations of interest, including historical sites, wildlife sanctuaries, beaches, etc. In many titles additional panels around the main map and/or in the accompanying booklet provide more information: enlargements with more detailed presentation of the road network, street plans of main cities, etc. The booklets, which also include a general introduction to the state & district-by-district descriptions, are published on high quality paper & are illustrated with numerous colour photos. To see the list of titles in this series please click on the series link.



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Two days before Christmas in 1987, at the age of seventeen, Niromi de Soyza found herself in an ambush as part of a small platoon of militant Tamil Tigers fighting government forces in the bloody civil war that was to engulf Sri Lanka for decades. With her was her lifelong friend Ajanthi, also aged seventeen. Leaving behind them their shocked middle-class families, the teenagers had become part of the Tamil Tigers` first female contingent. Equipped with little more than a rifle & a cyanide capsule each, Niromi`s group managed to survive on their wits in the jungle, facing not only the perils of war but starvation, illness & growing internal tensions among the militant Tigers. But then events erupted in ways that she could no longer bear. How was it that this well-educated, mixed-race, middle-class girl from a respectable family came to be fighting with the Tamil Tigers? Today she lives in Sydney with her husband & children, but Niromi de Soyza is not your ordinary woman & this is her compelling story. ...

In 2014 the Somerset Levels suffered from the worst flooding in over twenty years. Inevitably the residents asked for more drainage, more dredging & more money. This timely new edition of the acclaimed classic brings the story up-to-date as we wait for the winter floods to return, offering a blueprint for solving flooding forever. As a practical landscape architect working in the water industry, Jeremy Purseglove has been actively involved in building a wider brief for land drainage engineers so that they can enhance, rather than destroy, the heritage of our rivers & wetlands. Taming the Flood draws extensively on this experience, analysing many of the conflicting demands made on rivers & wetlands. Purseglove charts the conservation, agriculture & development, & outlines practical proposals for the protection & use of these sensitive ecological habitats. Beautifully written & magnificently illustrated with line drawings & maps, this book serves both as a celebration of the richness of the British countryside, & as a warning of the legacy of loss & destruction we could so easily leave to future generations. ...

` Exquisitely written` Sunday Times Beautifully written & magnificently illustrated with photographs, line drawings & maps, this book serves both as a celebration of the richness of the British countryside, & as a warning of the legacy of loss & destruction we could so easily leave to future generations. In recent years the Somerset Levels suffered from the worst flooding in over twenty years, & more recently, flooding in Cumbria & other parts of Britain have reached new levels of severity. Taming the Flood analyses many of the conflicting demands made on rivers & wetlands, offering practical solutions which aim to protect, rather than destroy, these important ecological habitats. Exploring the old arguments & new solutions raised over the last 400 years, this completely updated edition of the classic Taming the Flood reveals how harnessing nature, rather than attempting to repress it, is the only answer to the environmental disasters we are faced with today. As a practical landscape architect & ecologist working in the water industry, Jeremy Purseglove has been actively involved in land drainage engineering to try to enhance, rather than destroy, the heritage of our rivers & wetlands. He charts the conservation, agriculture & development of our rivers & wetlands, outlining practical proposals for the protection & use of these sensitive habitats. From the Lancashire mosses & the Derwent Ings, Otmoor & the Fens, to Romney Marsh & the Somerset Levels, he traces the history & natural history of our rivers & wetlands, describing in vivid detail both the beauty of these strange & ancient landscapes, & the often disastrous results of attempts to tame them. ...