It was a moment of mad impulse when John Humphrys decided to buy a semi-derelict cottage and a building site on a plot of land overlooking the Aegean. A few minutes gazing out over the most glorious bay he had ever seen was all it took to persuade him. After all, his son Christopher was already raising his family there so he would help build the beautiful villa that would soon rise there. What could possibly go wrong?Everything.John was to spend the next three years regretting his moment of madness.Some of it had its comic side. He learned to cope with a drunken peacock falling out of his favourite tree and even a colony of rats invading his bedroom. Some of the humans proved trickier: the old man demanding payment for olive trees in the middle of John's own land; the neighbour who dragged his lovely old fishing boat onto the beach and set fire to it after a row with his wife. And, of course, the builders. Was the plumber who electrocuted him in the shower vengeful or merely incompetent?John learned a lot about Greece in a short time. He grew to love it and loathe it in almost equal measures, but was never for a moment bored by it. And Christopher learned a bit more about John. Their shared experience revived keen memories for him of growing up with a father for whom patience was never the strongest virtue...Here father and son capture the idyll and the odyssey as paradise is found, lost and regained.
It was a moment of mad impulse when John Humphrys decided to buy a semi-derelict cottage and a building site on a plot of land overlooking the Aegean. A few minutes' gazing out over the most glorious bay he had ever seen was all it took to persuade him. After all, his son Christopher - a professional musician fluent in Greek - was already raising his family there so he would help build the beautiful villa that John dreamed of. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. John was to spend much of the next four years regretting his moment of madness. Some of it had its comic side. He learned to cope with the escaped peacock that took over his lemon grove and even a colony of rats that took over the cottage. Some of the humans proved trickier: the old man demanding payment for olive trees in the middle of John's own land; the unfriendly neighbour who tried to barricade him in and the friendly neighbour who dragged his lovely old fishing boat onto the beach and set fire to it after a row with his wife. And, of course, the builders. If you have ever struggled with builders, read this and be grateful. John learned a lot about Greece in a short time. He grew to love and lament the country and its people, but was never for a moment bored by them. And Christopher learned a bit more about John. Their shared experience revived keen memories for him of growing up with a father for whom patience was never the strongest virtue... Here father and son tell a story by turns hilarious and revealing about a country that intrigues and infuriates in equal measure.
This collection of short stories focuses on the Scottish civil war of 1644-45, in which the Marquis of Montrose led his royalist forces in a series of stunning victories against the odds before his final defeat at Philiphaugh. Each of Hogg's five tales centres on one of the five major battles of Montrose's brilliant but ultimately futile campaign. Each tale is utterly different from the others in genre and tone, but taken together they build up a composite picture of what it was like to experience the 'anarchy and confusion' of the time at first hand.
These guides are perfect companions for enthusiasts, who are keen to discover the many fascinating aspects of the natural world. They offer full-colour illustrations of around 100-200 different species per title, which have been reproduced from the original artwork using the latest technology. 8 yrs+
This collection of short stories focuses on the Scottish civil war of 1644-45, in which the Marquis of Montrose led his royalist forces in a series of stunning victories against the odds before his final defeat at Philiphaugh. Each of Hogg's five tales centres on one of the five major battles of Montrose's brilliant but ultimately futile campaign. Each tale is utterly different from the others in genre and tone, but taken together they build up a composite picture of what it was like to experience the 'anarchy and confusion' of the time at first hand.
The ideology of human rights protection has gained considerable momentum during the second half of the twentieth century at both national and international level and appears to be an effective lever for bringing about legal change. This book analyzes this strategy in economic and commercial policy and considers the transportation of the 'public law' discourse of basic human rights protection into the 'commercial law' context of economic policy, business activity and corporate behaviour. The volume will prove indispensable for anyone interested in human rights, international law, and business and commercial law.
Answers all the ancient philosophical questions: about the good, the right, the true, the nature of mind and soul, divinity, immortality, and free will.
Dauntless 'in the bone style' made Loulou de La Falaise one of the great fashion firebrands of the twentieth century. Descending in a direct line from Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, she was celebrated at her death in 2011, aged just sixty-four, as the 'highest of haute bohemia,' a feckless adventuress in the art of living--and the one person Yves Saint Laurent could not live without ... [She] was his creative right hand, muse, alter ego, and the virtuoso behind all the ... accessories that were a crucial component of the YSL 'look'"--Amazon.co
Character" has become a front-and-center topic in contemporary discourse, but this term does not have a fixed meaning. Character may be simply defined by what someone does not do, but a more active and thorough definition is necessary, one that addresses certain vital questions. Is character a singular characteristic of an individual, or is it composed of different aspects? Does character--however we define it--exist in degrees, or is it simply something one happens to have? How can character be developed? Can it be learned? Relatedly, can it be taught, and who might be the most effective teacher? What roles are played by family, schools, the media, religion, and the larger culture? This groundbreaking handbook of character strengths and virtues is the first progress report from a prestigious group of researchers who have undertaken the systematic classification and measurement of widely valued positive traits. They approach good character in terms of separate strengths-authenticity, persistence, kindness, gratitude, hope, humor, and so on-each of which exists in degrees. Character Strengths and Virtues classifies twenty-four specific strengths under six broad virtues that consistently emerge across history and culture: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each strength is thoroughly examined in its own chapter, with special attention to its meaning, explanation, measurement, causes, correlates, consequences, and development across the life span, as well as to strategies for its deliberate cultivation. This book demands the attention of anyone interested in psychology and what it can teach about the good life.
This title focuses on the best plants for a wide variety of garden styles and habitats, enabling gardeners to achieve a balance between natural harmony and ornamental beauty. Profiling 65 native shrubs and trees for your garden, it gives the information you need to choose the most suitable.
Tree lovers the world over will treasure this year-round handbook of facts to help in the identification and propagation of over 400 tree species. Close-up and full-growth drawings show common and rare species arranged according to their family systems, showing both their permanent and seasonal features, including details of their leaves and bark, flowers and seeds, fruits and nuts. Special feature: a 20-page chart summarizing over 350 at-a-glance checklists for easy identification of each species.
Philip's Guide to Trees is an easy-to-use identification guide to all the common European trees and many rare ones, including the more commonly grown imported varieties.Many separate seasonal as well as permanent features of common species are illustrated, making this book of practical value throughout the year. The quality of the artwork will enable tree-lovers to identify and appreciate trees while on field trips oe when studying the book at home.The text is thorough, accurate and authoritative, describing the distinctive features of genera as well as of individual species, according to the following plan: habit (growth pattern), bark, branches, buds, leaves, inflorescence, flowers, fruit, seeds, taxonomic notes, ecological notes, and distribution.There is a general key to the genera and species of tree at the beginning of the book and a key to the species incorporated into the text. This will enable the reader to find any tree in the book with ease. The text also includes an introduction, glossary and index containing both common and botanical names.The authors, Professor CJ Humphries, JR Press and Dr DA Sutton, are all botanists at the Natural History Museum, London.Main map scale:
Peasants have been despised, underrated, or disregarded in the past. Historians and archaeologists are now giving them a more positive assessment, and in Peasants Making History, Christopher Dyer sets a new agenda for this kind of study. Using as his example the peasants of the west midlands of England, Dyer examines peasant society in relation to their social superiors (their lords), their neighbours, and their households, and finds them making decisions and taking options to improve their lives. In their management of farming, both cultivation of fields and keeping of livestock, they made a series of modifications and some dramatic changes, not just reacting to shifts in circumstances but also devising creative initiatives. Peasants played an active role in the development of towns, both by migrating into urban settings, but also by trading actively in urban markets. Industry in the countryside was not imposed on the rural population, but often the result of peasant enterprise and flexibility. If we examine peasant attitudes and mentalities, we find them engaging in political life, making a major contribution to religion, recognizing the need to conserve the environment, and balancing the interests of individuals with those of the communities in which they lived. Many features of our world have medieval roots, and peasants played an important part in the development of the rural landscape, participation of ordinary people in government, parish church buildings, towns, and social welfare. The evidence to support this peasant-centred view has to be recovered by imaginative interpretation, and by using every type of source, including the testimony of archaeology and landscape.
A reinvestigation of brass inlaid furniture made between 1730-1760, usually attributed to the Channon workshop. Research indicates that there were five London cabinet makers specializing in this furniture. This is the catalogue for an exhibition in Leeds on 22nd September 1993 and later in London.
This book sets a new standard as a work of reference. It covers British and Irish art in public collections from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the end of the nineteenth, and it encompasses nearly 9,000 painters and 90,000 paintings in more than 1,700 separate collections. The book includes as well pictures that are now lost, some as a consequence of the Second World War and others because of de-accessioning, mostly from 1950 to about 1975 when Victorian art was out of fashion. By listing many tens of thousands of previously unpublished works, including around 13,000 which do not yet have any form of attribution, this book becomes a unique and indispensable work of reference, one that will transform the study of British and Irish painting.
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