Why do some of nature's marvels have to wait millions of years for their time in the sun?
The ultimate pub quiz from a legendary quizmaster and Only Connect champion
'A gripping story filled with remarkable revelations.' Tom Bower, author of Revenge
WINNER OF SPAIN'S NATIONAL CRITICS AWARD The epic literary adventure that has transfixed readers and critics alike in Spain Almost four hundred passengers are on board the Boeing 747 en route from Los Angeles to Singapore. Only a handful will survive the crash. Washed ashore on a tiny island with no means of contacting the outside world, tension and fear threaten to overwhelm the group. But as they endeavour, day by day, to survive, they find themselves forced to confront the reality of the lives they left behind. Written in deftly cinematic prose, Andrs Ibez's stunning novel is already considered a modern classic in Spain, expertly translated here by Sophie Hughes. 'Ibez is, quite simply, a genius' La Vanguardia
';Surely you would like to be immortalised in art, fixed forever in perfection?' Sadler's Wells, 1933. I would kill to dance like her. Disciplined and dedicated, Olivia is the perfect ballerina. But no matter how hard she works, she can never match identical twin Clara's charm. I would kill to be with her. As rehearsals intensify for the ballet Copplia, the girls feel increasingly like they are being watched. And, as infatuation turns to obsession, everything begins to unravel.
In this crackerjack Cold War thriller, MI5 faces a deadly threat, one only Richard Knox can avert. But he only has six days and the clock is ticking fast.
A major event in religious publishing, Approaching the Qur¿an captures the complexity, power and poetry of the early suras of the Qur¿an, the sacred scripture of IslamIn this second edition, Michael Sells introduces important new translations of Qur¿anic suras and addresses in a new preface the ongoing controversy over teaching about Islam and the Qur¿an in American universities.Approaching the Qur¿an presents brilliant translations of the short, hymnic chapters, or suras, associated with the first revelations to the Prophet Muhammad. Most of these early revelations appear at the end of the written text and are commonly reached only by the most resolute reader of existing English translations. These suras contain some of the most powerful, prophetic and revelatory passages in religious history. They offer the vision of a meaningful and just life that anchors the religion of one-fifth of the world¿s inhabitants.The book includes Sells¿ `Introduction to the Qur¿an¿, commentaries of the suras, a glossary of technical terms, and chapters discussing the sound nature and gender aspects of the Arabic text. It is enriched by recordings of Qur¿anic reciters chanting several of the early suras, allowing readers an opportunity to hear the Qur¿an in its original form. These recordings are freely available as MP3 downloads.
'An utterly original and brilliant story' Reese Witherspoon Longlisted for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize A Most Anticipated Book according to The Millions, Ms. Magazine and Good Housekeeping Ruth, Esther and Chloe have been singing in harmony since before they could speak. Together they are The Salvations. Driven to success by their formidably ambitious mother, Vivian, they're soon the hottest jazz band in San Francisco. When the girls receive a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a renowned talent manager, Vivian knows this is the big break she has been praying for. She can see a different future for her girls, one that is a far cry from her childhood in racially segregated Louisiana. But somewhere between the grind of endless rehearsals on the rooftop and the glamour of weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Club, the girls grow up and start to imagine a life beyond their mother's reach. As Vivian's hold on her family begins to weaken, she must confront changes in The Salvations, in the San Francisco neighbourhood she has made her home, and even in her own family.
"e;Most of us will never experience K2. Mick Conefrey leaves readers with both tremendous admiration for and an appreciation of the consequences for those who succeed in an adventure so physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing. Kirkus Reviews At 28,251 ft, K2 might be almost 800 ft shorter than Everest, but its a far harder climb. In this definitive account, Mick Conefrey grippingly describes the early attempts to reach the summit and provides a fascinating exploration of the first ascents complex legacy. From the drug-addicted occultist Aleister Crowley to Achille Compagnoni and Lindo Lacedelli, the Italian duo who finally made it to the summit, The Ghosts of K2 charts how a slew of great men became fixated on this legendary mountain.Through exclusive interviews with surviving team members and their families, and unrivalled access to diaries and letters that have been archived around the world, Conefrey evokes the true atmosphere of the Savage Mountain and explores why it remains the mountaineers mountain, despite a history steeped in controversy and death. Wrought with tension, and populated by tragic heroes and eccentric dreamers, The Ghosts of K2 is a masterpiece of mountaineering literature.
The very purpose of history is to gather up what is about to be lost for ever.
It is commonly claimed that Islam is antiblack, even inherently bent on enslaving Black Africans. Western and African critics alike have contended that antiblack racism is in the faith's very scriptural foundations and its traditions of law, spirituality, and theology. But what is the basis for this accusation? Bestselling scholar Jonathan A.C. Brown examines Islamic scripture, law, Sufism, and history to comprehensively interrogate this claim and determine how and why it emerged. Locating its origins in conservative politics, modern Afrocentrism, and the old trope of Barbary enslavement, he explains how antiblackness arose in the Islamic world and became entangled with normative tradition. From the imagery of ';blackened faces' in the Quran to Shariah assessments of Black women as ';undesirable' and the assertion that Islam and Muslims are foreign to Africa, this work provides an in-depth study of the controversial knot that is Islam and Blackness, and identifies authoritative voices in Islam's past that are crucial for combatting antiblack racism today.
The model of marriage constructed in classical Islamic jurisprudence rests on patriarchal ethics that privilege men. This worldview persists in gender norms and family laws in many Muslim contexts, despite reforms introduced over the past few decades. In this volume, a diverse group of scholars explore how egalitarian marital relations can be supported from within Islamic tradition. Brought together by the Musawah movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, they examine ethics and laws related to marriage and gender relations from the perspective of the Qur'an, Sunna, Muslim legal tradition, historical practices and contemporary law reform processes. Collectively they conceptualize how Muslim marriages can be grounded in equality, mutual well-being and the core Qur'anic principles of ';adl (justice) and ihsan (goodness and beauty).
The master of the British pub quiz is here to delight and bamboozle us this Christmas
';A genuinely paradigm-shifting work by one of the most exciting and innovative scholars in the field... compelling and powerful...' Reza Aslan Arab noblewomen of late antiquity were instrumental in shaping the history of the world. Between Rome's intervention in the Arabian Peninsula and the Arab conquests, they ruled independently, conducting trade and making war. Their power was celebrated as queen, priestess and goddess. With time some even delegated authority to the most important holy men of their age, influencing Arabian paganism, Christianity and Islam. Empress Zenobia and Queen Mavia supported bishops Paul of Samosata and Moses of Sinai. Paul was declared a heretic by the Roman church, while Moses began the process of mass Arab conversion. The teachings of these men survived under their queens, setting in motion seismic debates that fractured the early churches and laid the groundwork for the rise of Islam. In sixth-century Mecca, Lady Khadijah used her wealth and political influence to employ a younger man then marry him against the wishes of dissenting noblemen. Her husband, whose religious and political career she influenced, was the Prophet Muhammad. A landmark exploration of the legacy of female power in late antique Arabia, Queens and Prophets is a corrective that is long overdue.
A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A small masterpiece. There is something funny, notable or awe-inspiring on every single page' Jenny Colgan, SpectatorA joyful celebration of books the perfect gift for bibliophiles, word lovers and anyone who's ever wondered, should you judge a book by its cover? We love the words in books but what about the words on them? How do they work their magic? Here is a book about the ways books entice us to read them: their titles, quotes, covers and, above all, blurbs via authors from Jane Austen to Zadie Smith, writing tricks, classic literature, bonkbusters, plot spoilers and publishing secrets. It's nothing less than the inside story of the outside of books.And it answers questions like: Why do some authors hate blurbs so much they burn their own books? Should all adjectives be murdered? Is blurbing sometimes maybe lying? Is it true that (checks jacket) you need an animal on a book's cover to make it a bestseller? What are the most terrible blurbs of all time? Join Penguin publishing word wizard Louise Willder five thousand blurbs written, mostly avoiding the phrase ';unputdownable tour-de-force' to discover why we should judge a book by its cover. Even this one. (It's an unputdownable tour-de-force.)';The bookiest book about books you'll ever read I loved it' Lucy Mangan ';Truly delightful...I couldn't have had more fun' Benjamin Dreyer ';Very funny, erudite and profound. A delight!' Nina Stibbe
'An astonishing debut, rich in both heartbreak and humour' Jendella Benson, author of Hope & Glory Stunningly honest and bursting with wit, Someday Maybe is the story of grief and resilience that you won't be able to stop talking about Here are three things you should know about my husband: 1. He was the great love of my life despite his penchant for going incommunicado 2. He was, as far as I and everyone else could tell, perfectly happy. 3. On New Year's Eve, he killed himselfAnd here is one thing you should know about me: 1. I found him. Bonus fact: No. I am not okayEve is left heartbroken by her husband's unexpected death, but everyone around her her friends, her boisterous British-Nigerian family, her toxic mother-in-law seems to be pushing her to move on. Unable to face the future, Eve begins looking back, delving through the history of her marriage in an attempt to understand where it went wrong. So begins an unconventional love story about loss, resilience, and a heroine bursting with rage and unexpected joy.
Join Katy, Cassie, Zia and Luca on an amazing adventure as they learn how light pollution impacts animals¿
A Times Best Book of 2021 From the very first dog to glowing fish and designer pigs the human history of remaking nature. Virus-free mosquitoes, resurrected dinosaurs, designer humans such is the power of the science of tomorrow. But this idea that we have only recently begun to manipulate the natural world is false. We've been meddling with nature since the last ice age. It's just that we're getting better at it a lot better. Drawing on decades of research, Beth Shapiro reveals the surprisingly long history of human intervention in evolution through hunting, domesticating, polluting, hybridizing, conserving and genetically modifying life on Earth. Looking ahead to the future, she casts aside the scaremongering myths on the dangers of interference, and outlines the true risks and incredible opportunities that new biotechnologies will offer us in the years ahead. Not only do they present us with the chance to improve our own lives, but they increase the likelihood that we will continue to live in a rich and biologically diverse world.
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