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The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective
The dramatic story of the real-life murder that inspired the birth of modern detective fiction. In June of 1860 three-year-old Saville Kent was found at the bottom of an outdoor privy with his throat slit. The crime horrified all England and led to a national obsession with detection, ironically destroying, in the process, the career of perhaps the greatest detective in the land. At the time, the detective was a relatively new invention; there were only eight detectives in all of England and rarely were they called out of London, but this crime was so shocking, as Kate Summerscale relates in her scintillating new book, that Scotland Yard sent its best man to investigate, Inspector Jonathan Whicher. Whicher quickly believed the unbelievable—that someone within the family was responsible for the murder of young Saville Kent. Without sufficient evidence or a confession, though, his case was circumstantial and he returned to London a broken man. Though he would be vindicated five years later, the real legacy of Jonathan Whicher lives on in fiction: the tough, quirky, knowing, and all-seeing detective that we know and love today…from the cryptic Sgt. Cuff in Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone to Dashiell Hammett’s Sam Spade. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher is a provocative work of nonfiction that reads like a Victorian thriller, and in it Kate Summerscale has fashioned a brilliant, multilayered narrative that is as cleverly constructed as it is beautifully written. .
Price: $9.48
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Ripley's Believe It or Not: Expect the Unexpected
Celebrated for discovering the world’s most unusual oddities, Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!® uncovers its third collection of weird, wacky facts from around the globe. RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!® EXPECT…THE UNEXPECTED is the latest oversized hardcover book filled with hundreds of astonishing, true-to-life tales about eccentric people, unbelievable places and remarkable creatures unlike any seen before. Packed with striking colour and archival black-and-white photographs that will thoroughly surprise - you won’t believe your eyes when you EXPECT…THE UNEXPECTED!.
Price: $12.25
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Solving Stonehenge: The Key to an Ancient Enigma
A completely new and convincing solution to the key puzzles of Stonehenge As Anthony Johnson reveals in this astonishing book, patient detective work and detailed computer analysis of clues hidden within this famous monument can be made to yield remarkable new insights into how the earthwork and stone circle were conceived and laid out. The story begins with a reappraisal of over 250 years of fieldwork, excavation, and speculation, including John Wood's highly accurate but often overlooked survey of 1740. It is the most important record of Stonehenge ever made, and the only reliable plan of the monumentbefore the fall of several major stones and their subsequent re-erection in the twentieth century. The prehistoric engineering skills involved in the construction of Stonehenge have long been recognized, but Johnson presents for the first time tangible evidence to show that locked within the symmetry of the stones are precise formulae that determined their numbers, spacing, and relationships. He explains how the Neolithic surveyors set out the fifty-six Aubrey Holes, four Station Stones, and the thirty stones in the Sarsen Circle; and the significance of the horseshoe arrangement of massive trilithons at the heart of the monument. The implications are far reaching, demonstrating that the people who designed Stonehenge in all its phases of construction, spanning over 1,000 years, employed simple and elegant geometric rules. Elaborate sightline theories, alignments, and astronomical computations are questioned, allowing the rationale behind Stonehenge and other prehistoric sites, some of which conformed to the same model, to be reassessed. 135 illustrations, 35 in color..
Price: $19.98
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Stonehenge (Wonders of the World)
Welcoming 800,000 visitors each year, Stonehenge is the most famous pre-historic monument in all of Europe. It has inspired modern replicas throughout the world, including one constructed entirely of discarded refrigerators. This curious structure is the subject of cult worship, is a source of pride for Britons, and offers an intellectual challenge for academics. It has captured the imagination and the attention of thousands of people for thousands of years. Over the centuries, “experts” have tried to discover the meaning behind Stonehenge. While each new theory contradicts earlier speculation, every new proposal attributes a purpose to the site. From bards of the twelfth century to Black Sabbath, from William Blake to archaeologists of the twenty-first century, Stonehenge has embodied a wealth of intention. Was it designed for winter solstice, for goddess worship, or as a funerary temple? While all have been suggested, even “proven,” the mystery continues. Through the eyes of its most eloquent apologists, Rosemary Hill guides the reader on a tour of Stonehenge in all its cultural contexts, as a monument to many things—to Renaissance Humanism, Romantic despair, Victorian enterprise, and English Radicalism. In the end, the stones remain compelling because they remain mysterious—apparently simple yet incomprehensible—that is the wonder, the enchantment, of Stonehenge. (20080608).
Price: $9.96
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Stonehenge (Wooden Books)
Once part of a large culture of stone circles, Stonehenge-built around 3000 B.C. and developed over the next 1,500 years-is the most famous. The remains of a once-wealthy and evidently learned tribal community, it reflects the apparently disparate subjects of archaeology, astronomy, metrology, sacred geometry, and even shamanism. How were eclipses predicted at Stonehenge? Why were some stones brought all the way from Wales? What is the secret geometry of seven eights? These and many other questions are answered-and Stonehenge's secrets revealed-in this fascinating small book. Small Books, Big Ideas Historically, in all known cultures on Earth, wise men and women studied the four great unchanging liberal arts -numbers, music, geometry and cosmology-and used them to inform the practical and decorative arts like medicine, pottery, agriculture and building. At one time, the metaphysical fields of the liberal arts were considered utterly universal, even placed above physics and religion. Today no one knows them. Walker & Company is proud to launch Wooden Books, a collectable series of concise books offering simple introductions to timeless sciences and vanishing arts. Attractively simple in their appearance yet extremely informative in content, these unusual books are the perfect gift solution for all ages and occasions. The expanding title range is highly collectable and ensures continuing interest. In addition, the books are non-gloss and non-color, appealing to a greener book-buying public. Wooden Books are ideally suited to non-book outlets. Wooden Books are designed as timeless. Much of the information contained in them will be as true in five hundred years time as it was five hundred years ago. These books are designed as gifts, lovely to own. They are beautifully made, case-bound, printed using ultra-fine plates on the highest quality recycled laid paper, finished with thick recycled endpapers and sewn in sections. There are fine, hand drawn illustrations on every page. The fast-moving world of Wooden Books brings you a selection of fascinating titles. All hardcover, 64 pages, 100% recycled paper at $10.00 each..
Price: $4.50
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Japan for Kids: The Ultimate Guide for Parents and Their Children (Origami Classroom)
Every year, thousands of families visit or relocate to Japan. Fourteen years ago, Jeanne Huey and Diane Wiltshire made the crossing Five children and six years later they wrote the first complete guide to entertaining and raising children in this fascinating but often baffling land. Now, eight years on they offer a fully updated version, with hundreds of new additions on: o AMUSEMENTS festivals, theme parks, cultural centers, zoos, aquariums o OUTINGS museums, beaches, parks, playgrounds, gardens o TRAVEL TIPS moving, coping with jet lag, getting around town, day trips o SHOPPING where to buy anything, from food to fashions to futons o HEALTH CARE dentists and doctors, pregnancy and childbirth, medical emergencies o EDUCATION daycare, international schools, the Japanese system, bilingualism o ACTIVITIES talent agencies, sports, Japanese traditions, and extracurricular classes ? MAIL ORDER listings, catalogs, and the Internet...and much, much more Compact yet bulging with priceless information and hundreds of tips, the new Japan for Kids is essential reading for families heading for or living in this part of the Far East. From planetariums to petting zoos, educational materials to interactive museums, this handy reference book remains indispensable-a guide that no parent can go without..
Price: $4.20
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Stonehenge Complete, Third Edition
Since its first and prize-winning edition of 1983, Stonehenge Complete has established itself as the classic account of this most famous of ancient places. For this new edition, Christopher Chippindale has revised and updated the story to include the latest theories and discoveries. People have puzzled over Stonehenge for centuries, speculating and dreaming about it, drawing and painting it, trying to make sense of it. Here is the story of the one real Stonehenge, as well as the many unreal Stonehenges that archaeologists, tourists, mystics, astronomers, artists, poets, and visionaries have made out of it. New studies in the last decade have revolutionized our knowledge of the complex sequence of structures that make its celebrated profile; remarkably, these new discoveries have been made without new excavations. Stonehenge today is as lively as it ever was. After a period of dissent and confrontation, visitors are once again welcome to see the sun rise over the Heel stone on midsummer solstice day, and some 20,000 people are expected to gather at midsummer dawn this year. As the new edition explains, they are in error: although Stonehenge is indeed astronomically oriented, it is not aligned on the midsummer sunrise at all. 265 illustrations, 15 in color..
Price: $7.24
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Design with Japanese Obi
This volume illustrates the versatile and dramatic use of the obi, a Japanese kimono sash, in interior design. From table settings to wall art, from bed linens to freestanding sculptures, the obi's use in the home is virtually unlimited. Featuring over 90 colour photographs that show obis in a variety of settings, the authors offer an introduction to these beautiful kimono sashes..
Price: $11.22
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The British Museum Timeline of the Ancient World
Based on the unmatched collection of antiquities in the British Museum and the Museum's own Timeline Project, this authoritative reference book and timeline for readers of all ages spans the period from the earliest Neolithic settlements in 5000-6000 BC to the end of the Roman Empire. Illustrated from end to end with four-color photos of artifacts from the British Museum Collection, the fourteen page timeline allows readers to compare the developments of the four cultures at a glance and can be detached from the book to hang on the wall. The timeline is accompanied by a 32-page book that provides in-depth background information on the four main cultures--Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome--and features illustrated articles on the most important people, places, objects and events in the timeline. From the well-known, such as Tutankhamen, to the little-known female pharoah Hatshepsut, this timeline from the British Museum is an unparalleled visual tour through the ancient past.
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Price: $62.00
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