The Odditorium is a playful re-telling of history, told not through the lens of its victors, but through the fascinating stories of a wealth of individuals who, while lesser-known, are no less remarkable. Throughout its pages you`ll learn about the antics & adventures of tricksters, eccentrics, deviants & inventors. While their stories range from heroic failures to great hoaxes, one thing unites them
- they all carved their own path through life. Each protagonist exemplifies the human spirit through their dogged determination, willingness to take risks, their unflinching obsession &, often, a good dollop of eccentricity. Learn about Reginald Bray (1879-1939), a Victorian accountant who sent over 30, 000 singular objects through the mail, including himself; Cyril Hoskin (1910-1981), a Cornish plumber who reinvented himself as a Tibetan lama & went on to sell over a million books; & Elaine Morgan (1920-2013), a journalist who battled a tirade of prejudice to pursue an aquatic-based theory of human evolution, which is today being championed by David Attenborough. Elsewhere, we uncover the lesser-known obsessions of such historical giants as Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726), whose beloved alchemy led to a lifetime`s search for the philosopher`s stone & elixir of life; & philosopher Rene Descartes (1596-1650), whose obsession with cross-eyed ladies led him to seek a `cure` through the first recorded case of CBT. While many of us are content to lead a conventional life, with all of its comfort & security, The Odditorium reminds us of the characters who felt compelled to carve their own path, despite risking ostracism, failure, ridicule & madness. While history wouldn`t be the same without the likes of Shakespeare, Caesar & Einstein, it is when curiosity & compulsion meet that conventions are challenged, culture is re-invigorated & we find new ways to understand ourselves & the world around us.
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Stephen Fry believes that if you can speak & read English you can write poetry. But it is no fun if you don`t know where to start or have been led to believe that Anything Goes. Stephen, who has long written poems, & indeed has written long poems, for his own private pleasure, invites you to discover the incomparable delights of metre, rhyme & verse forms. Whether you want to write a Petrarchan sonnet for your lover`s birthday, an epithalamion for your sister`s wedding or a villanelle excoriating the government`s housing policy, The Ode Less Travelled will give you the tools & the confidence to do so. Brimful of enjoyable exercises, witty insights & simple step-by-step advice, ” The Ode Less Travelled” guides the reader towards mastery & confidence in the Mother of the Arts. ...

An epic & engrossing novel set at the beginning of the twentieth century, THE ODESSANS is the story of three families from Odessa in the Ukraine: the Russian Petrovs, the Jewish Geibers, & the Teslenkos, who are of Ukrainian & Polish descent. Throughout years of war, famine, political struggle & incredible hardship, their deep friendships sustain each of the families. Their lives are rent by tragedy; some friends are hounded by anti-Semites, while others join opposite sides in the Civil War or are forced to flee to Odessa. But through it all, their characteristic good humour & faith in each other enable their close circle to survive. ...

The epic tale of Odysseus & his ten-year journey home after the Trojan War forms one of the earliest & greatest works of Western literature. Confronted by natural & supernatural threats
- shipwrecks, battles, monsters & the implacable enmity of the sea-god Poseidon
- Odysseus must test his bravery & native cunning to the full if he is to reach his homeland safely & overcome the obstacles that, even there, await him.

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Penelope has been waiting for her husband Odysseus to return from Troy for many years. Little does she know that his path back to her has been blocked by astonishing & terrifying trials. Will he overcome the hideous monsters, beautiful witches & treacherous seas that confront him? This rich & beautiful adventure story is one of the most influential works of literature in the world. ...

By its evocation of a real or imaged heroic age, its contrasts of character & its variety of adventure, above all by its sheer narrative power, the Odyssey has won & preserved its place among the greatest tales in the world. It tells of Odysseus` adventurous wanderings as he returns from the long war at Troy to his home in the Greek island of Ithaca, where his wife Penelope & his son Telemachus have been waiting for him for twenty years. He meets a one-eyed giant, Polyphemus the Cyclops; he visits the underworld; he faces the terrible monsters Scylla & Charybdis; he extricates himself from the charms of Circe & Calypso. After these & numerous other legendary encounters he finally reaches home, where, disguised as a beggar, he begins to plan revenge on the suitors who have for years been besieging Penelope & feasting on his own meat & wine with insolent impunity. ...

This is the paperback of Walker`s magnificent edition of Homer`s epic story. It is illustrated with lavish full colour pictures & exquisite black & white silhouettes. Homer`s great story is retold with simplicity & style by award-winning children`s writer Gillian Cross, & vividly brought to life in Neil Packer`s stunning illustrations. It charts the ten year epic voyage of Odysseus as he returns from the Trojan War to the island of Ithaca. On his journey he encounters all manner of perils, from the man-eating Cyclops & the evil sorceress Circe, to the deadly lure of the Sirens & the wrath of the sea-god Poseidon. Neil Packer`s striking imagination, & his extraordinary use of colour & dramatic silhouettes, capture the terrors of Odysseus` travels as well as the dangers faced by his wife Penelope & his son Telemachus at home. The illustrations are a perfect complement to Gillian Cross`s beguiling narrative, which transports the reader effortlessly into Homer`s world. It
Includes:: one of the world`s great stories retold by a Carnegie Medal-winning author; over 45 full-colour illustrations; wonderfully evocative black-&-white silhouettes; & hardback featured on publication on National Public Radio`s ” Morning Edition”
- one of America`s furthest reaching radio programmes.

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Homer`s Odyssey is one of the supreme masterpieces of Western literature. Of this much acclaimed translation by Robert Fitzgerald, George Steiner has written, ` Fitzgerald is taking his place beside Chapman & Pope in the unbroken lineage of English Homeric translations...it has an economy & soar of a poet`. Introduced by Seamus Heaney ...

Homer`s great epic, The Odyssey, is perhaps Western literature`s first adventure story, & certainly remains one of its finest. It describes King Odysseus of Ithaca`s epic, ten-year quest to return home after the Trojan War. He encounters giants, sorceresses, sea-monsters & sirens, while his wife Penelope is forced to resist the suitors who besiege her on Ithaca. Both an enchanting fairy tale & a gripping drama, The Odyssey is immensely influential, not least for its rich complexity & the magnetism of its hero. This Macmillan Collector`s Library edition uses a translation by T. E. Lawrence, now remembered as ` Lawrence of Arabia` & the author of Seven Pillars of Wisdom. First published in 1932, his translation took four years to complete & has been continuously in print ever since. It is recognized as the first translation to be both faithful to the original text & written in accessible language. This edition also features an afterword by Ben Shaw. Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector`s Library is a series of beautiful special gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector`s Library are books to love & treasure. ...

Ibn Battuta was, without doubt, one of the world's truly great travellers. Born in fourteenth-century Morocco, & a contemporary of Marco Polo, Ibn Battuta has left us an account in his own words of his remarkable journeys throughout the Islamic world & beyond: journeys punctuated by adventure & peril, & stretching from his home in Tangiers to Zaytun in faraway China. Whether sojourning in Delhi & the Maldives, wandering through the mazy streets of Cairo & Damascus, or contesting with pirates & shipwreck, the indefatigable Ibn Battuta brings to vivid life a medieval world brimming with marvel & mystery. Carefully observing the great diversity of civilizations which he encountered, Ibn Battuta exhibits an omnivorous interest in such matters as food & drink, religious differences (between Christians, Hindus & Shi'a Muslims), ideas about purity & impurity, disease, women & sex. Recounting the many miracles which its author claims to have experienced personally, his al-rihla or Travelogue is a fascinating mosaic of mysticism & reportage offering a prototype magic realism. David Waines discusses the subtleties of the al-rihla, revealing all the wonders of Ibn Battuta's world to the modern reader. This is a gripping treatment of the life & times of one of history's most daring, & at the same time most human, discoverers. ...