In The Rose's Kiss, botanist Peter Bernhardt rekindles our sense of wonder at the plant life all around us. He presents a fascinating and wide-ranging look at the natural history of flowers - their forms and functions as well as their hidden interactions with the surrounding environment and the other living organisms upon which they depend for survival. The Rose's Kiss will hold wide appeal for nature lovers, garden enthusiasts, and anyone interested in learning more about the inner workings of the natural world.
In this book, Peter Bernhardt takes us on a grand tour of the botanical realm, weaving engaging descriptions of the lovely shapes and intriguing habits of flowering plants with considerations of broader questions, such as why there are only six basic shapes of flowers and why the orchid family is so numerous and so bizarre. Everyone from amateur naturalists and gardeners to plant scientists will find Wily Violets and Underground Orchids a lively guide to botanical lore.
Zeus, Medusa, Hercules, Aphrodite. Did you know that these and other dynamic deities, heroes, and monsters of Greek and Roman mythology live on in the names of trees and flowers? Some grow in your local woodlands or right in your own backyard garden. In this delightful book, botanist Peter Bernhardt reveals the rich history and mythology that underlie the origins of many scientific plant names. Unlike other books about botanical taxonomy that take the form of heavy and intimidating lexicons, Bernhardt's account comes together in a series of interlocking stories. Each chapter opens with a short version of a classical myth, then links the tale to plant names, showing how each plant "resembles" its mythological counterpart with regard to its history, anatomy, life cycle, and conservation. You will learn, for example, that as our garden acanthus wears nasty spines along its leaf margins, it is named for the nymph who scratched the face of Apollo. The shape-shifting god, Proteus, gives his name to a whole family of shrubs and trees that produce colorful flowering branches in an astonishing number of sizes and shapes. Amateur and professional gardeners, high school teachers and professors of biology, botanists and conservationists alike will appreciate this book's entertaining and informative entry to the otherwise daunting field of botanical names. Engaging, witty, and memorable, Gods and Goddesses in the Garden transcends the genre of natural history and makes taxonomy a topic equally at home in the classroom and at cocktail parties.
The riveting story of the rivalry between the two most renowned actresses of the nineteenth century: legendary Sarah Bernhardt, whose eccentricity on and off the stage made her the original diva, and mystical Eleonora Duse, who broke all the rules to popularize the natural style of acting we celebrate today. Audiences across Europe and the Americas clamored to see the divine Sarah Bernhardt swoon—and she gave them their money’s worth. The world’s first superstar, she traveled with a chimpanzee named Darwin and a pet alligator that drank champagne, shamelessly supplementing her income by endorsing everything from aperitifs to beef bouillon, and spreading rumors that she slept in a coffin to better understand the macabre heroines she played. Eleonora Duse shied away from the spotlight. Born to a penniless family of itinerant troubadours, she disappeared into the characters she portrayed—channeling their spirits, she claimed. Her new, empathetic style of acting revolutionized the theater—and earned her the ire of Sarah Bernhardt in what would become the most tumultuous theatrical showdown of the nineteenth century. Bernhardt and Duse seduced each other’s lovers, stole one another’s favorite playwrights, and took to the world’s stages to outperform their rival in her most iconic roles. A scandalous, enormously entertaining history full of high drama and low blows, Playing to the Gods is the perfect “book for all of us who binge-watched Feud” (Daniel de Visé, author of Andy & Don: The Making of a Friendship and a Classic American TV Show).
The summer of 1977 finds divided Germany locked in a fierce espionage battle. West Germany’s premier spy hunter, ambitious Sabine Maier, faces off against ruthless Stasi General Werner Heinrich. Sabine has filled half a prison with her prodigious arrests of communist spies. Heinrich is the mastermind behind a small army of spy gigolos who prey on lonely women working in the West German government’s most secret divisions. Caught in the middle is ladies’ man Stefan Malik, a reluctant Romeo, forced to do the general’s bidding or rot in a Stasi prison. Just as she thinks she’s gaining the upper hand, Sabine’s worst fears are realized. The Stasi has infiltrated the highest ranks of West German intelligence and Heinrich’s well-placed mole is watching her every move. With the number of women spying for love growing by the day, Sabine risks everything on a cutting-edge technology that promises to identify traitors. The ingenious system soon picks up the scent of Stefan, who is targeting the Chief of the Chancellery’s secretary. But when Sabine discovers that Stefan has an agenda of his own, she lays a risky trap. With the security of the West at stake and Stefan’s life hanging by a thread, she gives her all to unmask the mole and outwit the Stasi spymaster. German Edition: Roter Romeo What Bernie Silver, author of Nathan in Spite of Himself, says about Red Romeo: You’ve heard it all before but in Red Romeo’s case it’s true. The novel is fast-paced, suspenseful and features plenty of intrigue, to say nothing of intriguing characters. Plus it offers copious romance (though of a somewhat duplicitous nature). Suggestion: wear gloves so you don’t bite your nails off. Also by Peter Bernhardt: The Stasi File―Opera and Espionage: A Deadly Combination, 2011 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Quarterfinalist German Edition: Die Stasi-Akte―Oper und Spionage: Eine Tödliche Kombination Sequel: Kiss of the Shaman’s Daughter German Edition: Kuss der Schamanentochter
The botanist-author of Wily Violets and Underground Orchids explores the relationships between people and plants, documenting the life cycles of some unusual plants, as well as the individuals and societies who have become fascinated with them.
Against the backdrop of the rugged Sangre de Cristo Mountains, aspiring diva SYLVIA MAZZONI hopes to combine her Santa Fe Opera debut and a romantic reunion with her lover, Washington attorney ROLF KELLER. But Rolf's old nemesis from law school, CHARLES SLATER, now an archaeologist, intrudes on their tryst. He is on the run from ruthless antiquities traffickers, who are after his recent find of prehistoric Indian artifacts. After Slater vanishes under suspicious circumstances, Rolf plunges into the New Mexico wilderness to search for him and his priceless cache. Soon, he finds himself in desperate flight not only from the guns of the murderous smugglers, but from the FBI as well. When the soprano slated to sing Tosca develops vocal problems, opera management drafts Sylvia as a last-minute replacement. While struggling to convert the daunting challenge into the career triumph she has pursued all her life, she and Rolf are threatened by the smugglers who will stop at nothing to get their hands on Slater's hoard. As they unravel the twisted clues Slater left behind, Sylvia and Rolf stumble upon the intriguing legend of a shaman's young daughter, TEYA, who is said to have played a crucial role in the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680 against the Spanish oppressors and to have concealed the treasure of a lost pueblo. Now, three centuries later, the paths of Teya, Sylvia and Rolf are about to cross in this riveting historical thriller involving archaeological crime, southwestern history and grand opera.
Loose-Fit Architecture: Designing Buildings for Change September/October 2017 Profile 249 Volume 87 No 5 ISBN 978 1119 152644 Guest-Edited by Alex Lifschutz The idea that a building is 'finished' or 'complete' on the day it opens its doors is hardwired into existing thinking about design, planning and construction. But this ignores the unprecedented rate of social and technological change. A building only begins its life when the contractors leave. With resources at a premium and a greater need for a sustainable use of building materials, can we still afford to construct new housing or indeed any buildings that ignore the need for flexibility or the ability to evolve over time? Our design culture needs to move beyond the idealisation of a creative individual designer generating highly specific forms with fixed uses. The possibilities of adaptation and flexibility have often been overlooked, but they create hugely exciting 'loose-fit' architectures that emancipate users to create their own versatile and vibrant environments. Contributors include: Stewart Brand, Renee Chow, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, John Habraken, Edwin Heathcote, Despina Katsakakis, Stephen Kendall, Ian Lambot, Giorgio Macchi, Alexi Marmot, Andrea Martin, Kazunobu Minami, Peter Murray, Brett Steele, and Simon Sturgis.
Dust from the demolished Berlin Wall has barely settled, the East German police state is teetering on the edge of collapse, and Stasi General Holger Frantz will stop at nothing to save it. Caught in his intrigue are two unlikely heroes: American lawyer Rolf Keller, recently divorced, fresh off the bottle, and mysteriously dispatched by his senior partner to coordinate document drops by a defecting Stasi agent, and aspiring opera diva Sylvia Mazzoni, Rolf's former lover who has been coerced into acting as courier. When the document drop goes fatally awry, the reluctant recruits flee into the East German countryside. They manage to unearth the defector's secret document cache and uncover a covert assassination plot. Stalked by a Stasi killer, they struggle to decipher the plan, but when he marches them into the Bavarian woods, all seems lost-their effort to foil the assassins, German unification, and their very lives.
The third and final entry of the Bertie Prince of Wales mystery series, featuring future King Edward VII, Albert Edward, as an amateur sleuth solving suspicious murders in Victorian England. Bertie, amateur sleuth and the Crown Prince of Wales, loves food and women. This is why Bertie enjoys his frequent trips to Paris, a city that is known not only as the City of Lights, but also as the city of romance and fine cuisine. In 1891, however, Bertie’s yearly Paris vacation becomes much more eventful than he had anticipated when, soon after his arrival, he learns that the future son-in-law of his old friend, Jules d’ Agincourt, was recently murdered at the Moulin Rouge. Unable to resist practicing his detective skills, Bertie resolves to assist the Sûreté, the French police force, in solving the ongoing case. He enlists the help of the reluctant Sarah Bernhardt, renowned actress and Bertie’s long-time friend, and together, Bertie and Sarah travel around Paris following possible leads, questioning witnesses, and even apprehending the murder weapon. When the Sûreté discovers that the victim’s fiancée has a much older lover who was present at the scene of the murder, they immediately arrest him on the suspicion that the murder was a crime of passion. Bertie’s instincts tell him that this man is innocent, but the Sûreté is convinced he is the killer. With the threat of the guillotine looming over the innocent man’s head, it is up to Bertie to find the real killer and close the case before it is too late.
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