Bantam Books strana 4 z 11

What are things made of? What is the sun? Why is there night and day, winter and summer? Why do bad things happen? Are we alone? Throughout history people all over the world have invented stories to answer profound questions such as these. Ha ve you heard the tale of how the sun hatched out of an emus egg? Or what about the great catfish that carries the world on its back? Has anyone ever told you that earthquakes are caused by a sneezing giant? These fantastical myths are fun but what is the real answer to such questions? The Magic of Reality, with its explanations of space, time, evolution and more, will inspire and amaze readers of all ages - young adults, adults, children, octogenarians. Teaming up with the renowned illust rator Dave McKean, Richard Dawkins answers all these questions and many more. In stunning words and pictures this book presents the real story of the world around us, taking us on an enthralling journey through scientific reality, and showing that it has an awe-inspiring beauty and thrilling magic which far exceed those of the ancient myths. We encounter rainbows, our genetic ancestors, tsunamis, shooting stars, plants, animals, and an intriguing cast of characters in this extraordinary scie ntific voyage of discovery. Richard Dawkins and Dave McKean have created a dazzling celebration of our planet that will entertain and inform for years to come.

Was there a beginning of time? Could time run backwards? Is the universe infinite or does it have boundaries? These are just some of the questions considered in an internationally acclaimed masterpiece by one of the world's greatest thinkers. It begins by reviewing the great theories of the cosmos from Newton to Einstein, before delving into the secrets which still lie at the heart of space and time, from the Big Bang to black holes, via spiral galaxies and strong theory. To this day "A Brief History of Time" remains a staple of the scientific canon, and its succinct and clear language continues to introduce millions to the universe and its wonders.

It is the middle of the 12th century . . . On the banks of the Nile, in a city alive with intrigue, Caliph Rashid al-Hasan rules as a figurehead over a crumbling empire. In the shadow of the Grey Mosque, generals vie for power and influence under the sch

Tie-in to the major motion picture, released on 12th March 2010. US Marshal Teddy Daniels has come to Shutter Island, home of Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, to find an escaped murderer named Rachel Solando. As a killer hurricane bears down on the island, the investigation deepens and the questions mount. How has a barefoot woman escaped from a locked room? Who is leaving them clues in the form of cryptic codes? And what really goes on in Ward C? The closer Teddy gets to the truth, the more elusive it becomes. And the more he begins to believe that he may never leave Shutter Island. Because someone is trying to drive him insane...

Ways to eat, ways to cheat. What to wear, what to ditch. Discover the secrets that really will make a difference to the way you look and feel about yourself. If you think it's time to free yourself from the tyranny of thin, this sassy, funny and practical book by style guru Mimi Spencer is for you. Like your ideal best friend, she'll help you release your thinner self without all the depressing self-denial, guilty weigh-ins and faddy food plans of conventional diets. Mimi will help you make the most of what you've got, and see that the woman you are now is just as fabulous as the woman you want to be.

The name Attila the Hun has become a byword for barbarism, savagery and violence. His is a truly household name, but what do we really know about the man himself, his position in history and the world in which he lived? This riveting biography reveals the man behind the myth.In the years 434-454AD the fate of Europe hung upon the actions of one man, Attila, king of the Huns. The decaying Roman Empire still stood astride the Western World from its twin capitals of Rome and Constantinople, but it was threatened by a new force, the much-feared Babarian horde. It was Attila who united the Barbarian tribes into a single, amazingly effective army and launched two violent attacks against the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire, attacks which earned him his reputation for mindless devastation, and brought an end to Rome’s pre-eminence in Europe.Attila was coarse, capricious, arrogant, ruthless and brilliant. An illiterate and predatory tribal chief, he had no interest in administration, but was a wily politician who, from his base in the grasslands of Hungary, used secretaries and ambassadors to bring him intelligence on his enemies. He was a leader whose unique qualities made him supreme among tribal leaders, but whose weaknesses ensured the collapse of his empire after his death.

Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is urgently summoned to the Cape Colony when he learns that the Zulu warrior King Shaka is about to wage war. Soon Hervey, his old friend Eyre Somervile and their escort of dragoons and mounted rifles are riding north. When they arrive at Shaka's kraal it is a horrifying place. The sentinels at the gates are corpses, and it quickly becomes apparent that he has slaughtered thousands of his subjects - warriors and women alike. When Shaka is killed by his own people, and the region plunged into civil war, Hervey and his men find themselves in the midst of terrible danger. Yet worse is to come. Separated from his troop, Hervey must lead Shaka's queen across a hostile land where sanctuary has never seemed further away...

The eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes with the aid of Dr. Watson investigates strange and baffling mysteries.

In her long awaited new novel, "Drums of Autumn," Diana Gabaldoncontinues the remarkable story of Claire and Jamie Fraser that began with theclassic "Outlander," and its bestselling sequels, "Dragonfly inAmber" and "Voyager."Cast ashore in the American colonies, the Frasers are faced with a bleakchoice: return to a Scotland fallen into famine and poverty, or seize the riskychance of a new life in the New World--menaced by Claire's certain knowledge ofthe coming Revolution.Still, a highlander is born to risk--and so is a time-traveler. Theirdaughter, Brianna, is safe--they think--on the other side of a dangerousfuture; their lives are their own to venture as they will. With faith inthemselves and in each other, they seek a new beginning among the exiledScottish Highlanders of the Cape Fear, in the fertile river valleys of theColony of North Carolina.Even in the New World, though, the Frasers find their hope of peace threatenedfrom without and within; by the British Crown and by Jamie's aunt, JocastaMacKenzie, last of the MacKenzies of Leoch.A hunger for freedom drives Jamie to a Highlander's only true refuge: themountains. And here at last, with no challenge to their peace--save wildanimals, Indians, and the threat of starvation--the Frasers establish aprecarious foothold in the wilderness, secure in the knowledge that even warcannot invade their mountain sanctuary.But history spares no one, and when Brianna follows her mother into the past, not even the mountains can shelter a Highlander. For Brianna too has an urgentquest: not only to find the mother she has lost and the father she has nevermet, but to save them both from a future that only she can see.

The eccentric detective Sherlock Holmes with the aid of Dr. Watson investigates strange and baffling mysteries.

Dan Simmons's Hyperion was an immediate sensation on its first publication in 1989. This staggering multifaceted tale of the far future heralded the conquest of the science fiction field by a man who had already won the World Fantasy Award for his first novel (Song of Kali) and had also published one of the most well-received horror novels in the field, Carrion Comfort. Hyperion went on to win the Hugo Award as Best Novel, and it and its companion volume, The Fall of Hyperion, took their rightful places in the science fiction pantheon of new classics. Now, six years later, Simmons returns to this richly imagined world of technological achievement, excitement, wonder and fear. Endymion is a story about love and memory, triumph and terror—an instant candidate for the field's highest honors.

Claire Randall is leading a double life. She has a husband in one century, anda lover in another...In 1945, Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is back from the war andreunited with her husband on a second honeymoon--when she innocently touches aboulder in one of the ancient stone circles that dot the British Isles.Suddenly she is a Sassenach--an "outlander"--in a Scotland torn by war andraiding border clans in the year of our Lord...1743.Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire's destiny in sooninextricably intertwined with Clan MacKenzie and the forbidden Castle Leoch.She is catapulted without warning into the intrigues of lairds and spies thatmay threaten her life ...and shatter her heart. For here, James Fraser, agallant young Scots warrior, shows her a passion so fierce and a love soabsolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire...andbetween two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives."Absorbing and heartwarming...lavishly evokes the land and lore ofScotland." "--Publishers Weekly" "Stunning!" "--Los Angeles Daily News" "It is a large canvas that Gabaldon paints, filled with strong passions andderring-do. Strong willed and sensual, Claire is an engaging modern heroineplopped down in a simpler, more primitive time.... Great fun ...marvelous andfantastic adventures, romance, sex ...perfect escape reading!" "--San Francisco Chronicle"

A collection of twenty-two fairy tales by the Nobel Prize-winning novelist, most translated into English for the first time, show the influence of German Romanticism, psychoanalysis, and Eastern religion on his development as an author.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • An essential volume for generations of writers young and old. The twenty-fifth anniversary edition of this modern classic will continue to spark creative minds for years to come. Anne Lamott is "a warm, generous, and hilarious guide through the writer’s world and its treacherous swamps" (Los Angeles Times). “Superb writing advice…. Hilarious, helpful, and provocative.” —The New York Times Book Review For a quarter century, more than a million readers—scribes and scribblers of all ages and abilities—have been inspired by Anne Lamott’s hilarious, big-hearted, homespun advice. Advice that begins with the simple words of wisdom passed down from Anne’s father—also a writer—in the iconic passage that gives the book its title: “Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he’d had three months to write. It was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, ‘Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.’”

In this powerful book, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Reclaiming Virtue shows how we can learn to nurture our inner child and offer ourselves the good parenting we needed and longed for. Are you outwardly successful but inwardly feel like a big kid? Do you aspire to be a loving parent but too often "lose it" in hurtful ways? Do you crave intimacy but sometimes wonder if it's worth the struggle? Are you plagued by constant, vague feelings of anxiety or depression? If any of this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing the hidden but damaging effects of a painful childhood-carrying within you a "wounded inner child" who is crying out for attention and healing. John Bradshaw's step-by-step process of exploring the un?nished business of each developmental stage helps us break away from destructive family rules and roles, freeing ourselves to live responsibly in the present. Then, says Bradshaw, the healed inner child becomes a source of vitality, inviting us to ?nd new joy and energy in living. Homecoming includes a wealth of unique case histories and interactive techniques, including questionnaires, guided meditations, af?rmations, and letter-writing to the inner child. These classic therapies, which were pioneering when introduced, continue to be validated by new discoveries in attachment research and neuroscience. No one has ever brought them to a popular audience more effectively and inspiringly than John Bradshaw.