Penguin Books strana 163 z 485

The master of contemporary travel writing, Paul Theroux, immerses himself in the beautiful and troubled heart of modern Mexico Nogales is a border town caught between Mexico and the United States of America. A forty-foot steel fence runs through its centre, separating the prosperous US side from the impoverished Mexican side. It is a fascinating site of tension, now more than ever, as the town fills with hopeful border crossers and the deportees who have been caught and brought back. And it is here that Paul Theroux will begin his journey into the culturally rich but troubled heart of modern Mexico. Moving through the deserts just south of the Arizona border, Theroux finds a place brimming with charm, yet visibly marked by both the US border patrol looming to the north and mounting discord from within. Attending local language and culinary schools, driving through the country and meeting its people, Paul Theroux gets under the skin of Mexico. From the writer praised for his 'curiosity and affection for humanity in all its forms' (New York Times Book Review), On The Plain of Snakes is an urgent and mesmerising exploration of a region in conflict. Praise for Paul Theroux: 'As cool as Maugham... as observant, intuitive, wry, inventive and eloquent as Graham Greene' Sunday Times 'Theroux's work remains the standard by which other travel writing must be judged' Observer 'The world's most perceptive travel writer' Daily Mail 'One of the most accomplished and worldly-wise writers of his generation' The Times

LONDON: a settlement founded by the Romans, occupied by the Saxons, conquered by the Danes and ruled by the Normans. This changeful place became a medieval maze of alleys and courtyards, later to be chequered with grand estates of Georgian splendour. It swelled with industry and became the centre of the largest empire in history. And having risen from the rubble of the Blitz, it is now one of the greatest cities in the world. From the prehistoric occupants of the Thames Valley to the preoccupied commuters of today, Simon Jenkins brings together the key events, individuals and trends in London's history to create a matchless portrait of the capital. He masterfully explains the battles that determined how London was conceived and built - and especially the perennial conflict between money and power. Based in part on his experiences of and involvement in the events that shaped the post-war city, and with his trademark colour and authority, Jenkins shows above all how London has taken shape over more than two thousand years. Fascinating for locals and visitors alike, this is narrative history at its finest, from the most ardent protector of our heritage. 'Jenkins's handling of the preceding two millennia is clear and informative . . . there are also nuggets and insights . . . accessible, clear and readable' Rowan Moore, The Observer 'A handsome book ... full of the good judgements one might hope for from such a sensible and readable commentator, and they alone are worth perusing for pleasure and food for thought' Michael Wood, New Statesman on A Short History of England 'Any passably cultured inhabitant of the British Isles should ask for, say, three or four copies of this book for Christmas...I can imagine no better companion on a voyage across England' Max Hastings, Daily Telegraph on England's Thousand Best Houses

With an introduction from Michael Morpurgo The boy untied the sack and, to everyone's amazement, out tumbled a little furry bear cub... Have you ever heard of mountain-climbing elephants? Could a brave dog make a parachute jump? Featuring over thirty true tales of incredible animal heroes, uncover the stories of: Heroic bears Drone-catching eagles Diving dolphins Sassy cats And much, MUCH more! This book brings you the heart-wrenching real stories of the animals who traversed treacherous paths, made daring rescues and went above and beyond to save human lives. When caught in human conflicts, these animals have all shown bravery, friendship, or brought comfort. Journey throughout history from Hannibal's elephants, to a guide dog in the Twin Towers - and uncover 34 amazing animal stories.

Radical and inspiring ... Yanagi's vision puts the connection between heart and hand before the transient and commercial" - Edmund de Waal The daily lives of ordinary people are replete with objects, common things used in commonplace settings. These objects are our constant companions in life. As such, writes Soetsu Yanagi, they should be made with care and built to last, treated with respect and even affection. They should be natural and simple, sturdy and safe - the aesthetic result of wholeheartedly fulfilling utilitarian needs. They should, in short, be things of beauty. In an age of feeble and ugly machine-made things, these essays call for us to deepen and transform our relationship with the objects that surround us. Inspired by the work of the simple, humble craftsmen Yanagi encountered during his lifelong travels through Japan and Korea, they are an earnest defence of modest, honest, handcrafted things - from traditional teacups to jars to cloth and paper. Objects like these exemplify the enduring appeal of simplicity and function: the beauty of everyday things.

"The most important book I have read in quite some time" (Daniel Kahneman); "A must-read" (Max Tegmark); "The book we've all been waiting for" (Sam Harris) LONGLISTED FOR THE 2019 FINANCIAL TIMES AND MCKINSEY BUSINESS BOOK OF THE YEAR; A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019 Humans dream of super-intelligent machines. But what happens if we actually succeed? Creating superior intelligence would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, according to the world's pre-eminent AI expert, it could also be the last. In this groundbreaking book on the biggest question facing humanity, Stuart Russell explains why he has come to consider his own discipline an existential threat to our species, and lays out how we can change course before it's too late. There is no one better placed to assess the promise and perils of the dominant technology of the future than Russell, who has spent decades at the forefront of AI research. Through brilliant analogies and crisp, lucid prose, he explains how AI actually works, how it has an enormous capacity to improve our lives - but why we must ensure that we never lose control of machines more powerful than we are. Here Russell shows how we can avert the worst threats by reshaping the foundations of AI to guarantee that machines pursue our objectives, not theirs. Profound, urgent and visionary, Human Compatible is the one book everyone needs to read to understand a future that is coming sooner than we think.

The award-winning, best-selling Baby Touch series is back with a sleek and playful design. In the first few years of life, babies' vision is still developing. They see first of all in black and white, and in bright, high contrast colours such as yellow and red. Designed to develop babies' eyesight, this book of friendly farm animals will stimulate vision from birth. With clearly-defined simple images that even the youngest children will respond to, it provides a fun multi-sensory experience. Includes black and white patterns throughout to help focus a baby's attention and concentration. Also available: Baby Touch: Faces, a black and white book

Welcome to the Museum of Dead Things! Your expert guides are here to introduce you to the exhibits, from FIERCE DINOSAURS to EXPLODING DEAD STARS. The Big Book of Dead Things is a funny, stylishly-illustrated non-fiction guide to all things dead and gone. Meet Ancient Egyptian mummies and learn their secrets; romp through prehistoric worlds with dinosaurs, and learn all about the death of stars as you travel through the Museum of Dead Things! Longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 'Best Book with Facts' 2020

Welcome to the world of Fairy Tales, Millennial style... Inside you'll find Sleeping Beauty waking up Woke, the Nanny Goats Gruff getting trolled, and three little pigs explaining that - realistically - a house of straw is really the only way a first time buyer can get on the property ladder. Goldilocks discovers a darling little Porridge pop-up, the Pied Piper shifts his content strategy to attract more followers, and Hansel and Gretel meet a witch with a disruptive approach to clean eating.

'Funny, kind, generous and smart - I could have done with the wisdom of Flo Perry far sooner' Dolly Alderton We talk about feminism in the workplace and we talk about dating after #MeToo, but women's own patriarchal conditioning can be the hardest enemy to defeat. When it comes to our sex lives, few of us are free of niggling fears and body image insecurities. Rather than enjoying and exploring our bodies uninhibited, we worry about our bikini lines, bulging tummies and whether we're doing it 'right'. Flo broaches everything from faking it to consent, stress to kink, and how losing your virginity isn't so different to eating your first chocolate croissant. Her mission is to get more people talking openly about what they do and don't want from every romantic encounter.

This lockable journal is full of magical discoveries, waiting to be explored. Meet the mermaids of the oceans, bake some of their favourite food and uncover the facts about these secret, mystical creatures. Read about their secret skills, their special pets and how to seek out a mermaid in the big wide ocean blue. Learn how to become a mermaid seeker, how to care for these creatures and join Ruby, Head Mermaid Seeker, as you promise to look after your mermaid companion and protect their secret and their home. With mermaids to colour, stories to read, secrets to learn and much more, this is the perfect book for mermaid believers everywhere.

*PRE-ORDER YOUR PAPERBACK COPY OF SEA OF GREED TODAY!* Kurt Austin and the NUMA crew are back in the latest action-packed adventure from Sunday Times bestselling author Clive Cussler. A biological disaster is looming and the key to saving the future seems to be locating a submarine which has been missing for decades - can they crack it before it's too late? 'Sea of Greed will have readers turning pages. With a wonderful cast of characters and relentless action, this is classic Cussler' Mail Online After an explosion in the Gulf of Mexico destroys three oil rigs trying to revive a dying field, Kurt Austin and the NUMA Special Projects Team are tapped by the President of the United States to find out what's gone wrong. The trail leads them to a brilliant billionaire in the alternative energy field. Her goal is the end of the oil age; her company has spent billions developing the worlds' most advanced fuel-cell systems. But is she an environmental hero...or a rogue genetic engineer? The NUMA crew discovers that the oil fields are infected with a bacteria that is consuming the oil before it can be pumped out of the earth-a bacteria originally lost decades ago when two submarines vanished in the Mediterranean. With hired killers on his trail, can Kurt Austin locate a submarine that's remained hidden for more than fifty years? And even if he can, can the biological terror that's been unleashed be stopped? Praise for Clive Cussler 'The Adventure King' - Sunday Express 'Cussler is hard to beat' - Daily Mail 'Just about the best in the business' - New York Post 'Oceanography's answer to Indiana Jones. Exotic locations, ruthless villains, and many narrow escapes - Cussler's fans come for swashbuckling and he delivers' - Associated Press 'Nobody does it better . . . nobody!' - Stephen Coonts

A SUNDAY TIMES, FINANCIAL TIMES, THE TIMES AND BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR From the award-winning author of The Great Sea, a magnificent new global history of the oceans and of humankind's relationship with the sea For most of human history, the seas and oceans have been the main means of long-distance trade and communication between peoples - for the spread of ideas and religion as well as commerce. This book traces the history of human movement and interaction around and across the world's greatest bodies of water, charting our relationship with the oceans from the time of the first voyagers. David Abulafia begins with the earliest of seafaring societies - the Polynesians of the Pacific, the possessors of intuitive navigational skills long before the invention of the compass, who by the first century were trading between their far-flung islands. By the seventh century, trading routes stretched from the coasts of Arabia and Africa to southern China and Japan, bringing together the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific and linking half the world through the international spice trade. In the Atlantic, centuries before the little kingdom of Portugal carved out its powerful, seaborne empire, many peoples sought new lands across the sea - the Bretons, the Frisians and, most notably, the Vikings, now known to be the first Europeans to reach North America. As Portuguese supremacy dwindled in the late sixteenth century, the Spanish, the Dutch and then the British each successively ruled the waves. Following merchants, explorers, pirates, cartographers and travellers in their quests for spices, gold, ivory, slaves, lands for settlement and knowledge of what lay beyond, Abulafia has created an extraordinary narrative of humanity and the oceans. From the earliest forays of peoples in hand-hewn canoes through uncharted waters to the routes now taken daily by supertankers in their thousands, The Boundless Sea shows how maritime networks came to form a continuum of interaction and interconnection across the globe: 90 per cent of global trade is still conducted by sea. This is history of the grandest scale and scope, and from a bracingly different perspective - not, as in most global histories, from the land, but from the boundless seas.

Welcome to the Museum of Dead Things! Your expert guides are here to introduce you to the exhibits, from FIERCE DINOSAURS to EXPLODING DEAD STARS. The Big Book of Dead Things is a funny, stylishly-illustrated non-fiction guide to all things dead and gone. Meet Ancient Egyptian mummies and learn their secrets; romp through prehistoric worlds with dinosaurs, and learn all about the death of stars as you travel through the Museum of Dead Things! Longlisted for the Blue Peter Book Awards 'Best Book with Facts' 2020

An all-new collection of short stories from the world of Magnus Chase! Travel the Nine Worlds with your favourite characters from the world of Magnus Chase in a brand-new series of adventures. Find out why Amir Fadlan hates clothes shopping in Midgard, see how Mallory Keen learns in icy Niflheim that insulting a dragon can be a good idea, and join Alex Fierro as they play with fire (and a disco sword) in the home of the fire giants, Muspellheim. But watch out for Thor, who is jogging through all Nine Worlds so he can log his million steps - and is raising quite a stink . . .

The award-winning, best-selling Baby Touch series is back with a sleek and playful design. In the first few years of life, babies' vision is still developing. They see first of all in black and white, and in bright, high contrast colours such as yellow and red. Designed to develop babies' eyesight, this book of large, friendly faces will stimulate vision from birth. With clearly-defined simple images that even the youngest children will respond to, it provides a multi-sensory experience that will help focus a baby's attention and concentration. Wave to mummy, daddy, the animals, the sun, the flower... and who's that in the mirror? Also available: Baby Touch: Farm Animals, a black and white book

A riveting story of World War II from the author of Chernobyl, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction In November 1943, with the outcome of the Second World War hanging in the balance, the Allies needed a new plan. The Americans' audacious suggestion to the Soviets was to open a second air front, with the US Air Force establishing bases in Soviet-controlled territory. Despite Stalin's obvious reservations about the presence of foreign troops in Russia, he was persuaded. Operation Baseball and then Frantic were initiated in early 1944 as B-17 Superfortresses were flown from bases in Italy to the Poltova region in today's Ukraine. Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy tells the gripping, little-known story of this encounter between American and Soviet soldiers and how their collaboration quickly fell apart, mirroring the transition from the Grand Alliance to the Cold War. Soviet secret policemen watched over the Americans, shadowing their every move. A catastrophic air raid by the Germans revealed the limitations of Soviet air defences. As their initial enthusiasm turned into disappointment, the American soldiers started calling themselves the Forgotten Bastards of Ukraine. Ultimately, no common purpose could overcome their cultural and political differences. Drawing on newly opened Russian archives as well as CIA records, Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front offers a riveting bottom-up history of one of the Second World War's most unlikely alliances.