How does a film script by an unknown writer get to be read by a Hollywood studio boss? What happens if he loves it? And what do his people do, if they have no idea who wrote it? Stuck in workaday London, rejected by the literary elite, wannabe screenwriter Milly has no idea of the pandemonium her script is causing Stateside. And so it falls to LA movie executive Mitch to cut through the Hollywood madness, save his own job, and rescue Milly from obscurity. All he has to do is find her. So begins a breathless romantic hunt, and a hilarious modern day fairytale from a sensational new voice in contemporary comic fiction.
An explanation of how a boy called Tom Holland who was never even in a school play, managed to become Marvel's new Spider-Man while still in his teens. Written with great humour and affection by his dad, the British comedian, Dominic Holland who is as proud as he is bemused at his son's burgeoning career.
One town under siege . . . One batch of doughnuts . . . One ripple of resentment. Profit-hungry developers are swarming over Middleton, determined to see the local football ground turned into luxury flats. But they haven't counted on the spirited resistance of local baker, Bill Baxter, who vents his frustration at the developers' plans by neglecting to put jam into a batch of doughnuts. Unbeknown to Bill, a rogue jamless doughnut sets in train a ripple of irrational anger that grows, wave upon wave, until finally it threatens to swamp the entire nation, leaving careers ruined, fortunes won and Parliament in turmoil. But where will it end? And what will become of Bill and his beloved Middleton? Stand up comedian Dominic Holland delivers another slick slice of comedy that will have you roaring with laughter, rooting for the good guys and relegating the villains to the bottom of the table.
A priceless violin is left on a London train. A hunt ensues and everyone wonders who the owner is and how come they ride the train? An affectionate comic love story written with wit, charm and a heap of warmth.
From the podcast legends who brought you The Rest is History comes The Rest is History Returns! This time Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook bring you an alphabetical miscellany, taking on some of history's best and most bizarre moments. Charge forth against the traitors of the American Revolution, journey through Baghdad to discover the origins of the Arabian Nights and head to Sicily to witness the first face-off between Carthage and Rome. Along the way you'll find the answers to questions like: - Who was Jesus's wife? - What would it have been like to live-tweet through the eruption of Vesuvius? - Why did the Romans inspire so much American science fiction? - Which Mitford sister tried to seduce her girlish crush, Adolf Hitler? - Who are history's top 10 monkeys? - Was Henry V's great-grandfather, Edward III, the biggest 'lad' in British history? But that's not all – this book also includes puzzles and a pub quiz. So dust off your tricorne hat, grab your lasso and get ready for a rollicking rollercoaster through the past . . . 'The world's most successful history podcast . . . Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' The Times
In this important new text, Holland seeks to explain, by means of social scientific and philosophical inquiry, the difficulties that researchers often experience when attempting to integrate knowledge from different academic disciplines, either individually or as part of a team of subject specialists. It is argued that the difficulty of integrating knowledge from different academic disciplines is the result of, firstly, an inadequate justification of the nature of scientific integration and differentiation and, secondly, the dominance of disciplinary specialization in scientific inquiry. By focusing on both the theoretical justification for, and the practical feasibility of, integrating knowledge through interdisciplinary research, this book asks what properties of reality make the integration of knowledge from different academic disciplines possible and to what extent it is feasible to integrate knowledge through interdisciplinary research within a traditional, disciplinary context. Accordingly the text is both philosophical and social scientific in content: philosophical in the sense that it presents a theory of causal determination, which will help researchers to understand how reality is both differentiated and interconnected; social scientific in the sense that it presents the results of three case studies of collaborative interdisciplinary research projects. The book is heavily informed by the philosophy of critical realism. The philosophical argument about the possibility of integration and specialization in science draws explicitly on some of the key concepts of critical realism – particularly those comprising the theory of ‘integrative pluralism’ – while critical realist assumptions underpin the social scientific argument about the causal influence of the social system of knowledge production. By exploring researchers’ conceptions of knowledge and of reality on the one hand and their decisions about what sort of knowledge to produce on the other, Holland shows how the difficulty of scientific integration is both a problem of knowledge and a problem of knowledge production. This book is essential reading for students and academics interested in the emerging topic of knowledge integration and interdisciplinarity.
Sometimes things just happen. Little things that appear incidental but go on to have life changing consequences; good and bad. The Fruit Bowl draws on this theme. Break-time at St. Edmunds School in the 1970's; two boys lives are about to be changed forever. Tom Harper is a twelve year old being picked on by a bully. An everyday scenario played out at every break-time. Paddy Porter is an older boy and sensing the mismatch, he intervenes and settles the dispute. Just a compulsion to act and in doing so, Tom and Paddy's futures become fused. An innocuous incident between two strangers but one that will reconnect them some thirty years later and set in motion a chain of events that completes and saves each of their lives. The Fruit Bowl is a life affirming story. A rare novel that evokes tears of laughter and sadness. A story that celebrates the human spirit and values love and kinship above all else. Holland has made his living observing human nature. He makes people laugh by reflecting people's lives in his own and he draws on this experience to tell this heart rending story. It has evolved over considerable time. Based on a series of real events in his own life, it is not a story that could be written quickly. A beautiful tale of love and loss. Holland shines a brilliant light on human nature and what it is that sustains us. Our vulnerability and our need for other people and their love to complete as human beings.
*NOW WITH A FUN PUB QUIZ* 'An idiosyncratic ride through history' Independent 'Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' The Times The nation's favourite historians, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, take on the most curious moments in history, answering the questions we didn't even think to ask . . . - What was the most disastrous party in history? - How did a hair appointment almost blow Churchill's cover? - Why did the Nazis believe they were descended from the people of Atlantis? - What made Alfred the Great so great? From a British political leader who allegedly plotted to feed his lover to alligators, to a Brazilian emperor whose subjects mistook him for a banana, there is nothing too big or too small for Tom and Dominic to unpick.
This book should prove an easy to use and accessible self-help handbook on employment rights. Designed to have as broad appeal as possible, it will be both authoritative and topical. The emphasis is on presenting readers with their rights in plain English, cutting through the jargon that so often surrounds the law.
In 1631, Sara de Vos is admitted as a master painter to the Guild of St. Luke's in Holland, the first woman to be so recognized. Three hundred years later, only one work attributed to de Vos is known to remain--a haunting winter scene, At the edge of a wood, which hangs over the bed of a wealthy descendant of the original owner. An Australian grad student, Ellie Shipley, struggling to stay afloat in New York, agrees to paint a forgery of the landscape, a decision that will haunt her. Because now, half a century later, she's curating an exhibit of female Dutch painters, and both versions threaten to arrive."--
Venice and its environment are perceived to be in peril due to rising sea levels, tourism, and modern development. Are these threats myths or reality? This book explores Venice's environmental risks based on interviews with Venetian environmental campaigners and draws on the mythology of the Venetian Republic. Campaigners' opinions about the mobile dams nearing completion to protect the city reveal that Venice now represents an environmentally-threatened retreat from modernity. This reputation has been established as sustainable development and climate change policies have risen to the top of political agendas in many cities and countries. The book investigates how environmentalism has been transformed from a theory underpinning counter-cultural movements to part of a dominant holistic culture in Western societies. Rather than constraining Venice in search of a mythical harmony with nature, this book offers a ten-point proposal to modernize the city while preserving its ancient heritage.
The French wife and muse of Charles I was central to the narrative of the English Civil War and the Stuart Restoration. Henrietta Maria was an exceptionally courageous and spirited woman and a misunderstood Queen of England
How has our understanding of sport been shaped by sociological ideas? How can the study of sport help sociologists to understand wider society? The sociology of sport is a sub-discipline approaching maturity. This is the first book to stand back and reflect upon the subject’s growth, to trace its developmental phases and to take stock of the current fund of knowledge. It offers a ‘state of the art’ review of the sociology of sport and investigates those areas where sport has come to influence the sociological mainstream. The book also examines how the sociology of sport has attempted to engage with a popular readership, and what the consequences of such engagement have been. Focusing on touchstone issues and concepts within sociological discourse such as race, gender, celebrity, the body and social theory, the book assesses the successes and failures of the sociology of sport in influencing the parent discipline, related sub-disciplines and the wider public. It also asks to what extent the sociology of sport can be said to be autonomous, distinctive and distinguished, and challenges students of sport to extend their work out of the narrow confines of the subdiscipline and across disciplinary divides. As the first book to provide a history of the sociology of sport and to clearly locate the contemporary discipline in the wider currents of sociological discourse, this is important reading for all students and scholars interested in the relationship between sport and society, whether they are working in sport studies or in the sociological mainstream.
The remote work revolution presents a unique opportunity for higher education institutions to reinvent themselves and become talent magnets. In Knowledge Towns, David J. Staley and Dominic D. J. Endicott argue that the location of a college or university is a necessary piece of any region's effort to attract remote knowledge workers and accelerate economic development and creative placemaking. Just as every town expects a church, bank branch, post office, and coffeehouse, Staley and Endicott write, we will see a decentralized network of institutions of higher education flourish, acting as cornerstones for the post-pandemic rebuilding of our society and economy. In calling for a "college in any town," they are not simply proposing placing a traditional college within a town or city, but envisioning instead a particular kind of higher education institution called a "knowledge enterprise." In addition to providing the services of a traditional college, a knowledge enterprise acts as a talent magnet, attracting workers looking to move to cheaper and more attractive destinations. With the post-COVID-19 shift to more remote work, and millions of people moving to more affordable and livable cities, a place that wants to attract talent will require a thriving academic environment. This represents a new opportunity for "town and gown" to create collaborative communities. The pandemic has accelerated existing trends that put at risk the viability of many colleges and universities, as well as that of many towns and cities. The talent magnet strategy outlined in this book offers colleges and towns a plan of action for regeneration.
First published in 1987. This book is about the processing of information. The central domain of interest is face-to-face communication in which the speaker makes available both audible and visible characteristics to the perceiver. Articulation by the speaker creates changes in atmospheric pressure for hearing and provides tongue, lip, jaw, and facial movements for seeing. These characteristics must be processed by the perceiver to recover the message conveyed by the speaker. The speaker and perceiver must share a language to make communication possible; some internal representation is necessarily functional for the perceiver to recover the message of the speaker. The current study integrates information-processing and psychophysical approaches in the analysis of speech perception by ear and eye.
Race. The mere mention of the R-word is a surefire conversation-stopper. In this book about AmericaÆs most divisive social issue, Dominic J. Pulera offers a compelling roadmap to our future. This accessible and penetrating analysis is the first to include detailed coverage of AmericaÆs five "racial" groups: whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. The author contends that race will matter to Americans during the twenty-first century because of visible differences, and that differences in physical appearance separating the races are the single most important factor shaping intergroup relations, in conjunction with the social, cultural, economic, and political ramifications that accompany them. Pulera shows how, why, when, and where race matters in the United States and who is affected by it. He explains the ongoing demographic transition of America from a predominantly white country to one where nonwhites are increasingly numerous and consequently more visible. The advent of a multiracial consciousness has tremendous implications for AmericaÆs future, because the racial significance of almost every part of the American experience is increasing as a result. The author concludes on a note of cautious optimism as he explores whether the visible differences dividing Americans are reconcilable.
These are the crews who think nothing of using tear gas, meat hooks, home-made bombs, and worse to make their point--these gangs of organized hooligans for whom their team is their life can be found globally: in Brazil and Croatia, Argentina and Italy, these soccer fans are everywhere. Meet the fans prepared to go to the furthest extremes to defend their team's honor. Actor Danny Dyer, star of the hit film The Football Factory, took a film crew with him to meet all of these gangs, and this is the full story of what happened when he did. Join him on a journey around the hooligan world in 90 days, visiting nine countries in 12 weeks to meet the nastiest, naughtiest European soccer hooligans on the planet. Shot at, stoned, glassed, and tear gassed, they survived gunfire in Brazil, a riot in Poland, and the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with the foreign teams as it all goes off. Full of spine-chilling encounters, extraordinary characters, and brutal clashes, this book shows that soccer hooliganism is alive and kicking--all over the world.
The United Nations estimate that by 2004, in excess of 75% of the world's population will live within the coastal zone. These regions are therefore of critical importance to a majority of the world's citizens. The coastal zone provides important economic, transport, residential and recreational functions, all of which depend upon its physical characteristics, appealing landscape, cultural heritage, natural resources and rich marine and terrestrial biodiversity. This resource is thus the foundation for the well being and economic viability of present and future generations of coastal zone residents The pressure on coastal environments is also being exacerbated by rapid changes in global climate. The value of the coastal zone to humanity, and the enormous pressure on it, provide strong incentives for a greater scientific understanding which can ensure effective coastal engineering practice and efficient and sustainable management. Coastal Engineering: Processes, Theory and Design Practice is the only book providing a thorough introduction to all aspects of coastal processes, morphology and design of coastal defences. The use of detailed and state-of-the art modelling techniques are an important theme of this book, and there are numerous case studies showing actual examples where mathematical modelling has been applied through engineering judgement. With thorough coverage of the theory, and practical demonstration of the applications, Coastal Engineering: Processes, Theory and Design Practice is a must have for all students and engineers working in coastal management and engineering. .
Americans love war. We've never run from a fight. Our triumphs from the American Revolution to World War II define who we are as a nation and a people. Americans hate war. Our leaders rush us into conflicts without knowing the facts or understanding the consequences. Korea, Vietnam, and now Iraq and Afghanistan define who we are as a nation and a people. How We Fight explores the extraordinary doublemindedness with which Americans approach war, and reveals the opposing mindsets that have governed our responses throughout history: the "crusade" tradition-our grand quests to defend democratic values and overthrow tyrants; and the "quagmire" tradition-our resistance to the work of nation-building and its inevitable cost in dollars and American lives. How can one nation be so split? Studying conflicts from the Civil War to the present, Dominic Tierney has created a secret history of American foreign policy and a frank and insightful look at how Americans respond to the ultimate challenge. And he shows how success is possible. His innovative model for tackling the challenges of modern war can mean longstanding victory in Iraq and Afghanistan, by rediscovering a lost American warrior tradition.
Kenneth Tynan (1927-1980) lived one of the most intriguing theatre lives of the twentieth century. A brilliant writer, critic and agent provocateur he made friends or enemies of nearly every major actor, playwright, impresario and movie mogul of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. Working on each side of the Atlantic during various periods in his career, Tynan wrote for the Evening Standard, the Observer, and the New Yorker; was lured by Laurence Olivier in the early 1960s to become dramaturg of Britain's newly formed National Theatre; and spent his final years in Los Angeles. This biography offers the first complete appraisal of Tynan's powerful contribution to post-war British theatre, set against the context of the fifties, sixties and seventies of his own turbulent life. Shellard proves beneath the celebrity myths to uncover Tynan the private man and theatre genius. He draws on Tynan's own extensive personal papers and diaries, taped interviews with theatre professionals who knew him and fascinating letters to such correspondents as Tennessee Williams, Marlene Dietrich, George Devine, Peter Brook, Alec Guiness and Terence Rattigan. Shellard highlights Tynan's early writings, when the brilliant young critic came to national prominence, and discusses how Tynan gained a left-wing readership, took his place at the vanguard of the new realist movement, and helped to establish subsidized theatre. He shows how, through indefatigable battles against theatre censorship and railings against the myopia of a politically and culturally insular Britain, Tynan helped create some of the most controversial theatrical events of the 1960s and 70s, including Oh Calcutta! Exploring the public and private sides of Tynan, Shellard reveals an outspoken, explicit and sometimes savage critic who ranks among the most influential theatre figures of the twentieth century.
A collection of chilling true crime stories that lift the lid on the world's most infamous serial killers, unpicking their means, motives and methods - and how they were finally brought to justice.
A secular regime is toppled by Western intervention, but an Islamic backlash turns the liberators into occupiers. Caught between interventionists at home and fundamentalists abroad, a prime minister flounders as his ministers betray him, alliances fall apart, and a runaway general makes policy in the field. As the media accuse Western soldiers of barbarity and a region slides into chaos, the armies of God clash on an ancient river and an accidental empire arises. This is not the Middle East of the early twenty-first century. It is Africa in the late nineteenth century, when the river Nile became the setting for an extraordinary collision between Europeans, Arabs, and Africans. A human and religious drama, the conflict defined the modern relationship between the West and the Islamic world. The story is not only essential for understanding the modern clash of civilizations but is also a gripping, epic, tragic adventure. Three Empires on the Nile tells of the rise of the first modern Islamic state and its fateful encounter with the British Empire of Queen Victoria. Ever since the self-proclaimed Islamic messiah known as the Mahdi gathered an army in the Sudan and besieged and captured Khartoum under its British overlord Charles Gordon, the dream of a new caliphate has haunted modern Islamists. Today, Shiite insurgents call themselves the Mahdi Army, and Sudan remains one of the great fault lines of battle between Muslims and Christians, blacks and Arabs. The nineteenth-century origins of it all were even more dramatic and strange than today's headlines. In the hands of Dominic Green, the story of the Nile's three empires is an epic in the tradition of Kipling, the bard of empire, and Winston Churchill, who fought in the final destruction of the Mahdi's army. It is a sweeping and very modern tale of God and globalization, slavers and strategists, missionaries and messianists. A pro-Western regime collapses from its own corruption, a jihad threatens the global economy, a liberation movement degenerates into a tyrannical cult, military intervention goes wrong, and a temporary occupation lasts for decades. In the rise and fall of empires, we see a parable for our own times and a reminder that, while American military involvement in the Islamic world is the beginning of a new era for America, it is only the latest chapter in an older story for the people of the region.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.