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Autumn Light: Season of Fire and Farewells
by Pico IyerFrom one of our most astute observers of human nature, a far-reaching exploration of Japanese history and culture and a moving meditation on impermanence, mortality, and grief.For years, Pico Iyer has split his time between California and Nara, Japan, where he and his Japanese wife, Hiroko, have a small home. But when his father-in-law dies suddenly, calling him back to Japan earlier than expected, Iyer begins to grapple with the question we all have to live with: how to hold on to the things we love, even though we know that we and they are dying. In a country whose calendar is marked with occasions honoring the dead, this question is more urgent than anywhere else. Iyer leads us through the year following his father-in-law's death, introducing us to the people who populate his days: his ailing mother-in-law, who often forgets that her husband has died; his absent brother-in-law, who severed ties with his family years ago but to whom Hiroko still writes letters; and the men and women in his ping-pong club, who, many years his senior, traverse their autumn years in different ways. And as the maple leaves begin to redden and the heat begins to soften, Iyer offers us a singular view of Japan, in the season that reminds us to take nothing for granted.
Avalanche & Gorilla Jim: Appalachian Trail Adventures and Other Tales
by Al DragonAvalanche and Gorilla Jim is a true picture of what it's like to hike over 1,300 miles of fun-filled, gut-wrenching, awe inspiring trail. It is filled with the humor of two guys on a long trek over grueling terrain. You actually live and feel Appalachian trail life, its exciting adventures and fun . . . and, in a sometimes crappy world, meet people who enrich your faith in humanity. This is the Appalachian Trail with all its beauty and flaws, written in a style of fresh sharp adventure with a pleasing edge.
Avant-garde Orientalism: The Eastern 'Other' in Twentieth-Century Travel Narrative and Poetry
by David Lehardy SweetThis study explores the work of Western avant-garde writers who traveled to and wrote about Asia and North Africa. Though exoticist in outlook, many of these writers were also anti-colonialist and thus avoided some of the pitfalls of academic orientalism by assuming an aesthetics of diversity while employing strategies of provocation and reciprocity. As a survey of works on travel (including essays, novels, poems, and plays), the book challenges or modifies many postcolonial assumptions about Western writers on the Orient: from the French Surrealists to the American Beats and even transnational authors of the new millennium. Through a synthesis of avant-garde, postcolonial, and travel literature theories, Avant-garde Orientalism works in the best tradition of comparative literary study to identify and analyze a distinct category of world literature.
Una aventura griega: Tras los pasos de Patrick Leigh Fermor
by María José SolanoUn viaje apasionante al corazón de la Grecia contemporánea traslos pasos del intrépido escritor sir Patrick Leigh Fermor, amigo de Lawrence y Gerald Durrell. Solo aquellos que hayan vivido los ardientes fuegos de un amor irrefrenable podrán comprender las razones que llevaron a María José Solano a dejarlo todo y emprender en solitario Una aventura griega. Acompañada únicamente de una maleta de mano y los libros del objeto de su pasión, el héroe de guerra y cronista viajero Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011), la escritora abraza los restos de su legado en el país de los olivos. Camina por las mismas calles en las que él, célebre por aventuras épicas en el país heleno, había vivido mil correrías y affaires secretos; brinda con uzo y retsina en las tabernas en las que él se embriagó con su círculo bohemio y, acaso igual que él, sueña con la posibilidad de encapsular el pasado mágico de un país rebosante de tesoros arqueológicos. En este singular trayecto, que se puede leer casi como un romance con la obra fermoriana, Solano hace escala en lugares legendarios como Corinto, Micenas, Epidauro, Esparta o la isla de Hydra, donde Leigh Fermor (Paddy, para los amigos) pasó una larga temporada en una mansión ahora -cómo no- declarada en ruinas. Desde cada uno de esos enclaves, capitales para entender la figura del aventurero, la escritora sevillana declara su amor eterno a un personaje tan singular como enigmático, con sus luces y sus sombras, siempre impetuoso y, hasta su último aliento, impulsado por un hambre insaciable de acción y conocimiento.
Aventura no Laos - Terra dos Mil Elefantes
by Florbela Neto Erik LorenzLivro de viagem pelo Laos. Dois amigos aventuram-se pelas florestas e paisagens montanhosas. Dormem em casas nas árvores, descrevem-nos a vida dos habitantes, as suas casas , hábitos e desejos. Uma aventura para ler, pensar, divertir-se e sonhar viajar também até ao Laos.
Las Aventuras de Tamarita Rachel
by Andrea Gardiner Alfieri Louvier SilvaReconocimientos para “Las Aventuras de Tamarita Rachel”; “Andrea es una misionera médica en el Ecuador. Los niños leerán fascinados las aventuras del libro, pero también aprenderán las diferencias que tienen en su forma de vida los niños de países más pobres del mundo. Es una presentación bien gestionada de los problemas de dichos niños; un sensibilizador respecto a la pobreza infantil.” Jennifer Rees Larcombe, Autora, Conferencista.
Las aventuras de un faquir en el país de Ikea
by Romain PuértolasUna ingeniosa historia donde la brújula se volverá loca con las correrías de un estrafalario faquir. Una vivaz y tierna comedia filosófica sobre un mundo que, como un armario de Ikea, está lleno de falsas puertas y dobles fondos. Tras alcanzar la fama con un libro donde relataba sus aventuras al quedarse atrapado en un armario de Ikea, el faquir Dhjamal Mekhan Dooyeghas se ha aburguesado. Vive más como un marajá que como un verdadero faquir, y así se lo hace notar su editor, quien le recrimina que su nueva novela ha perdido autenticidad. <P><P> Dhajamal se da cuenta entonces que, para escribir historias originales, lo primero que tiene que hacer es recuperar su propia esencia. Así que decide cambiar las sábanas de seda que utiliza ahora por la mítica cama de clavos de Ikea, la Miskavlospikån, ¡pero resulta que está descatalogada! <P><P> Dhjamal no se da por vencido y toma un avión a Suecia para convencer al fundador de Ikea de que vuelvan a fabricar ese modelo de cama de clavos embarcándose así en una nueva y rocambolesca aventura que le ayudará a reencontrarse consigo mismo. Este increíble viaje le recordará las peripecias de cuando recorrió toda Europa como inmigrante ilegal al tiempo que le traerá a la memoria viejos recuerdos de su dura infancia como humilde aprendiz de faquir en Bombay.
Aventuras en familia
by Eva Cánovas María Victoria RodríguezUn sinfín de aventuras espectaculares y muy asequibles que encantarán por igual a toda la familia y fomentarán el crecimiento y la imaginación de nuestros hijos. Viajar con niños puede resultar una experiencia fantástica para toda la familia si la excursión se adapta a las necesidades de los más pequeños. Son múltiples las actividades con las que podemos pasar juntos una jornada muy divertida y enriquecedora mientras nos dejamos seducir por el entorno, descubrimos su historia y disfrutamos de los paisajes, sin la necesidad de que nuestros bolsillos queden completamente vacíos. En este libro encontrarás 181 planes para llevar a cabo con niños que puedes poner en práctica en las diferentes provincias de España, clasificados todos ellos según el tipo de turismo: cultural, natural o activo. Las propuestas incluyen desde trepar por los árboles, asomarnos al interior de un volcán, aprender los secretos de cómo se hace el pan, la miel o el vidrio hasta viajar en el tiempo para explorar la época de los dinosaurios o ¡simular un viaje a Marte!
Aviation in the Adirondacks (Images of Aviation)
by Aurora PfaffSince 1912, when a young man named George Gray landed an open-cockpit biplane on a farmer's field, aviation has played an important role in communities located throughout the 6 million-acre Adirondack Park. Through a range of historic images and postcards, Aurora Pfaff tells the story of pilots who linked communities by air, transported goods and people, and the small towns and airfields that they called home. From the novelty of planes landing on skis and daredevil flying circuses to forest fire patrols, exploration of the vast backcountry, and toy deliveries by Santa, airplanes have opened the Adirondack wilderness and made remote communities more easily accessible for tourists and adventurers. Yet this golden age for aviation would not last, for as car travel became easier and more affordable in the mid- to late-20th century, air travel in the Adirondacks would fade in importance and necessity. Aurora Pfaff is a writer and editor living and working in New York state's Adirondack Park. She has a master's degree in English from Harvard University, but as a child dreamed of becoming an astronaut. She finally took her first flying lesson in 2022. Images used in Aviation in the Adirondacks come from the Adirondack Experience: The Museum on Blue Mountain Lake, Historic Saranac Lake, Keene Valley Library, Piseco Lake Historical Society, Saranac Lake Free Library Adirondack Research Room, Town of Webb Historical Association, individuals, and other organizations.
Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals: Adventures in Love and Danger
by Wendy DaleFrom salsa dancing in a rum-induced haze and struggling to exercise in Colombia ("the guerrillas were using the track again today"), to crossing international borders unconventionally and dodging bombs in Lebanon ("the good news was that they were 'small bombs'"), Wendy somehow manages to find herself in the midst of hysterical, adventurous, and often illegal situations. Case in point--every time she heads to Costa Rica, she is forced to visit another prison. Although a jail may not be everyone's idea of a place to find a date, Wendy soon falls in love with a man, a country, and its people and risks everything she has to clear his name. Avoiding Prison and Other Noble Vacation Goals is a bumpy and hilarious ride in which Wendy discovers that a successful vacation--much like that elusive thing, happiness--can be found in some of the most unlikely places imaginable.
Avon
by Nora O. HowardAvon, located beside the Farmington River in the fertile Connecticut River Valley, was incorporated in 1830. The proud new town had 1,200 residents, two Congregational meetinghouses, the Farmington Canal, taverns, and a hotel. The busy Talcott Mountain Turnpike connected Avon with Hartford and Albany, New York. Avon shows the town's dynamic changes from 1830 to 1950, including dairy and tobacco farming, the town center, the railroad, the fuse factory, immigration, and Avon Old Farms School. The outstanding photographs in Avon, most published here for the first time, are from the collections of the Avon Historical Society, the Avon Free Public Library, the Avon Congregational Church, the West Avon Congregational Church, Avon Old Farms School, Heublein Tower, the Avon Police Department, and individuals. Of note are remarkable glass plate negatives by Clinton and Frank Hadsell. Featured are collections of lifelong residents John Anthony O'Neill and Carl Candels. The meticulously researched text of Avon fully explains each photograph. There are views of families, farms, and fires, Main Street, Secret Lake, St. Ann's Church, and an 1835 Avon map from the Connecticut Historical Society.
Avon
by Peter J. Wright Nora O. HowardOnce known as Northington, a northern parish of Farmington, Avon was incorporated in 1830 after the construction of the Farmington Canal. Located at the juncture of the Albany Turnpike, the Farmington Canal, and later the Farmington Canal Railroad, Avon became a transportation and commercial center of considerable importance through the 19th century. Avon Historical Society board member Peter J. Wright, with an introduction from town historian Nora O. Howard, illustrates Avon's past and present in vintage and contemporary images.
Away & Aware: A Field Guide to Mindful Travel
by Sara Clemence'Ideal for anyone looking to add a little more joy to their journeys' -- Woman's Way'A timely exhortation to slow down and become more mindful of what has been lost by trading in analog pleasures for digital ones' -- Perceptive TravelUnlike almost every travel book, this one is not about where to go, but how to go.As our daily lives are dominated by devices and an always-connected mentality, more people are using their precious vacation time as an excuse to unplug and re-engage with their surroundings?and themselves.Away & Aware is a beautifully illustrated guide to more mindful travel, with tips and advice for planning off-the-grid trips, minimalist packing, unplugging on the road, connecting with local culture, travelling with children, and easing back into the real world after returning from a trip.
Away Running
by David Wright Luc Bouchard<p>Matt, a white quarterback from Montreal, Quebec, flies to France (without his parents' permission) to play football and escape family pressure. <p>Freeman, a black football player from San Antonio, Texas, is in Paris on a school trip when he hears about a team playing American football in a rough, low-income suburb called Villeneuve-La-Grande. <p>Matt and Free join the Diables Rouges and make friends with the other players, who come from many different ethnic groups. Racial tension erupts into riots in Villeneuve when some of their Muslim teammates get in trouble with the police, and Matt and Free have to decide whether to get involved and face the very real risk of arrest and violence.</p>
Away with Words: The Daring Story of Isabella Bird
by Lori MortensenThis dashing picture book biography takes us around the world with a daring Victorian female explorer and author.Exploring was easier said than done for a young woman in nineteenth-century England. But somehow Isabella persisted, and with each journey, she breathed in new ways to see and describe everything around her. Question by question, word by word, Isabella bloomed. First, out in the English countryside. Then, off to America and Canada. And eventually, around the world, to Africa, Asia, Australia, and more. Always more—more places, more questions, more words—and all those experiences became books, in which she described the land she traveled, the people she met, and the dangers she experienced. And finally, Isabella returned home to England, where she became the first female member of the Royal Geographic Society and was presented to the Queen. But to wild-vine Isabella, the world was home. Back matter features an author's note, bibliography, and timeline.
Awesome Achievers in Science: Super and Strange Facts about 12 Almost Famous History Makers (Awesome Achievers #2)
by Alan Katz Chris JudgePart of a super fun middle grade series, Awesome Achievers in Science puts the spotlight on lesser-known heroes and their contributions in major scientific fields.Everyone has heard the names Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, but what about Michael Collins--the third brave Apollo 11 astronaut who didn't get to walk on the moon? Many of the most relevant figures in scientific history have remained in the shadows, but not any longer! From Alan Katz's new Awesome Achievers series, Awesome Achievers in Science gives kids a look behind the scenes at 12 lesser-known scientists whose contributions are personally relevant to their lives today. Each figure is given a traditional biography but is also subject to Katz's unique brand of silliness, with humorous elements such as imagined poems, song lyrics, and diary entries by or about the not-so-famous figure accompanying each bio. Spot illustrations throughout add to the lighthearted and appreciative humor each figure receives. Reluctant readers and budding scientists alike will delight in this imaginative and engaging continuation of a new series of laugh-out-loud biographies.
Awkwafina's NYC
by Nora LumWalking shoes? Check. Metrocard? Check. Sombrero? (Just a suggestion.) ONWARD! Let Awkwafina--the Queens-born rap artist of "NYC Bitches" fame--be your guide to the hidden gems of New York City (natives, we're talking to you, too.) with 10 walking tour adventures that you don't need a trust fund to enjoy. Travel back in time exploring revolutionary-era Tottenville or Louis Armstrong's house in Corona. Gorge yourself on the haute-cuisine of the street-savvy, from authentic pierogi in Little Poland to steam dumplings in Flushing. Roll with Awkwafina, and she'll show you the neighborhoods you never knew you were missing (and a few you were missing the point of). This edition includes enhaced features that allow you to connect to a map from each checkpoint and plot your next moves at the click of a button.
Awkward
by Mary CappelloLos Angeles Times Bestseller"Mary Cappello['s] inventive, associative taxonomy of discomfort . . . [is] revelatory indeed." -MARK DOTY, author of Dog Years: A Memoir and Fire to Fire: New and Selected Poems"A wonderful, multi-layered piece of writing, with all the insight of great cultural criticism and all the emotional pull of memoir. A fascinating book." -SARAH WATERS, author of The Night Watch and The Little StrangerWithout awkwardness we would not know grace, stability, or balance. Yet no one before Mary Cappello has turned such a penetrating gaze on this misunderstood condition. Fearlessly exploring the ambiguous borders of identity, she mines her own life journeys-from Russia, to Italy, to the far corners of her heart and the depths of a literary or cinematic text-to decipher the powerful messages that awkwardness can transmit.Mary Cappello is the author of four books of literary nonfiction, including Awkward: A Detour, which was a Los Angeles Times bestseller, Called Back: My Reply to Cancer, My Return to Life, which won a ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award and an Independent Publishers Prize, and Swallow: Swallow: Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration, and the Curious Doctor Who Extracted Them. Professor of English at the University of Rhode Island, she lives in Providence, Rhode Island and Lucerne-in-Maine, Maine.
The Awkward Squad (MacLehose Press Editions #3)
by Sophie HénaffSuspended from her job as a promising police officer for firing "one bullet too many", Anne Capestan is expecting the worst when she is summoned to H.Q. to learn her fate. Instead, she is surprised to be told that she is to head up a new police squad, working on solving old cold cases.Though relieved to still have a job, Capestan is not overjoyed by the prospect of her new role. Even less so when she meets her new team: a crowd of misfits, troublemakers and problem cases, none of whom are fit for purpose and yet none of whom can be fired.But from this inauspicious start, investigating the cold cases throws up a number a number of strange mysteries for Capestan and her team: was the old lady murdered seven years ago really just the victim of a botched robbery? Who was behind the dead sailor discovered in the Seine with three gunshot wounds? And why does there seem to be a curious link with a ferry that was shipwrecked off the Florida coast many years previously?Translated from the French by Sam Gordon
The Awkward Squad
by Sophie HénaffSuspended from her job as a promising police officer for firing "one bullet too many", Anne Capestan is expecting the worst when she is summoned to H.Q. to learn her fate. Instead, she is surprised to be told that she is to head up a new police squad, working on solving old cold cases.Though relieved to still have a job, Capestan is not overjoyed by the prospect of her new role. Even less so when she meets her new team: a crowd of misfits, troublemakers and problem cases, none of whom are fit for purpose and yet none of whom can be fired.But from this inauspicious start, investigating the cold cases throws up a number a number of strange mysteries for Capestan and her team: was the old lady murdered seven years ago really just the victim of a botched robbery? Who was behind the dead sailor discovered in the Seine with three gunshot wounds? And why does there seem to be a curious link with a ferry that was shipwrecked off the Florida coast many years previously?Translated from the French by Sam Gordon
AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds
by Amy Logan Jennifer BarclayAWOL: absent without leave; absent from one's post or duty without official permission but without intending to desert. Originally a military term, it gradually entered the vernacular for when someone goes missing unexpectedly. Jennifer Barclay and Amy Logan thought it fit well with the kind of travel pieces they wanted to publish--irreverent but thoughtful, emotionally honest and opinionated, bold and provocative. For those who dream of having no fixed address, and those happy simply to read about it, AWOL is filled with entertaining, enriching and edifying stories of people getting away from the familiar. AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds is dedicated to the perspectives we gain when away from our regular circumstances.f adventures -- the ones that are more by-the-seat-of-your-pants and that all of us can afford. It's about slowing down the way we travel, learning to observe and to relish all the moments." Inviting authors to contribute, they stressed they weren't looking for detached reportage, but unpublished true tales of pleasure or pain or hilarity that would move and inspire. "Travel has become an important aspect of our lives, and we felt it was important to explore what we get out of it: Whether it makes us better citizens of the planet or enriches our lives. How discovering the world can be about discovering yourself, or help you see life afresh." They wanted writing that was exciting and creative, that fired the imagination, dazzled with language, captured something emblematic or unique. The stories are full of telling details and do not shirk from emotion. The trips range from a short break close to home, to years living on the other side of the world. When Rick Maddocks leaves for Mexico, his father says "I hope you find what you're searching for." But you don't always find what you expect. "What was I expecting...?" asks Andrew Pyper on arriving in Brazil. Karen Connelly tries to switch off the chattering of her brain in Burma, so she can just "shut up and see." After a year in China, Rui Umezawa is utterly disoriented: "The world as I'd known it no longer existed. Neither did the man I believed myself to be." However far or near you travel, an AWOL destination is a place where, says Brad Smith, "the usual rules don't apply." Myrna Kostash muses, roaming through Greece, "I cannot be further away from the rest of my life." But when Camilla Gibb comes home from Ethiopia, her own culture seems bleak, "devoid of all colour, all meaning."The authors in AWOL have collectively won or been nominated for practically every literary prize in Canada, making it an extraordinary collection of original writing. The editors also decided to add another dimension to the book, a sense of fun and accessibility, by pasting in trip memorabilia -- tickets, snaps, sketches and odd mementoes -- to divide up the text and draw the reader into the stories. They wanted AWOL to feel a bit like a magazine: a reader-friendly paperback with big pages and great design, something to read on the bus for inspiration and escape, or to amble through at the cottage.The Toronto Star called AWOL a "decidedly quirky collection that follows no obvious theme or point of departure -- except the delicious need to go away." If travel is about broadening the mind and having fun, AWOL is to get us through the rest of the year. The Winnipeg Free Press called it "an all-encompassing armchair travel experience ... the kind of collection that, once read, will beckon from the bookshelf to fill a particular longing when it strikes." For those who dream of having no fixed address, and those happy simply to read about it, AWOL is filled with entertaining, enriching and edifying stories of people getting away from the familiar.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Ay, Cuba!: A Socio-Erotic Journey
by Andrei CodrescuA rare and intimate glimpse at life in Cuba at the end of the twentieth century For NPR commentator Andrei Codrescu, reporting from Cuba on the eve of Pope John Paul II's 1998 visit was an opportunity to understand the realities of life in a country that has long been the subject of stereotypes and misconceptions. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba was the last place to witness a "laboratory of pre-post-communism," as it toed the line between its socialist past and its uncertain future. On the streets of Havana and the beaches of Santiago de Cuba, Codrescu met people from all walks of life--from prostitutes and fortunetellers to bureaucrats and writers--eager to share their stories. Uncensored and compassionate, his interviews reveal a world where destruction and beauty, poverty and pride exist side by side. Traveling with photographer David Graham, whose powerful images illustrate the energy pulsing through everyday life in Cuba, Codrescu captures the humanity of a nation that is lost when it's reduced to a political symbol. With the United States resuming relations with Cuba for the first time in decades, Ay,Cuba! is more relevant now than ever before.
Aya Awakenings: A Shamanic Odyssey
by Rak Razam Dennis J. MckennaExperiential journalist Rak Razam sets out to document the thriving business of 21st-century hallucinogenic shamanism starting with a trip to the annual Amazonian Shaman Conference in Iquitos, Peru, where he meets a motley crew of "spiritual tourists," rogue scientists, black magicians, and indigenous and Western healers and guides, all in town to partake of the ritual--and the medicine--of ayahuasca, "the vine of souls." Combining his personal story with the history of Amazonian shamanism, Razam takes the reader along on an entertaining, enlightening adventure. In areas of Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, the traditional herbal brew known as ayahuasca or yajé is legally used to heal physical ailments and to cleanse and purify the spirit by connecting it to the web of life. Sting and Tori Amos have admitted sampling it in Latin America, as has Paul Simon, who chronicled the experience in his song "Spirit Voices." Aya Awakenings works as a cautionary tale, a travelogue, and a memoir, but primarily acts as a portal through which readers are able to gain more information about the perils and the promise of spiritual reconnection through ayahuasca. "A memorable--and deeply personal--journey into the hearts and minds of those who carry on the shamanic traditions of ayahuasca."--Rick Doblin, founder of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Contents Foreword by Dennis McKenna Preface by Rak Razam Departure 1 Seekers of the Mystery; 2 Wheel of Fortune; 3 Jungle Fever; 4 Space Cadets; 5 Cosmovision; 6 Hamburger Universe; 7 Surfing; 8 Ayahuasca Disco; 9 Logos; 10 Night of the Black Puma; 11 Downtime; 12 Seeds; 13 Beasts Initiation; 14 Shaman School; 15 Snakes and Ladders; 16 Heart of Darkness; 17 Return to the Source; 18 The Love Creek Session; 19 The High Frontier; 20 Stairway to Heaven; 21 Going Down to the River to Pray; 22 The Hero's Journey Return 23 Secret Women's Business; 24 The Prime Directive; 25 One River; 26 When Stones Dream; 27 Paying the Earth; 28 Talking with Kevin; 29 Illuminated; 30 Final Flight Index Bibliography Author's Note
Azerbaijan - Culture Smart!
by Nikki KazimovaFor Westerners, the modern state of Azerbaijan may be hard to pinpoint. This small, oil-rich country in the southern Caucasus, on the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea, only made its way on to the contemporary world map after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. As the world shrinks and competition for precious resources intensifies, the direction this strategically and economically important country takes will affect us all. The historically tolerant and pluralist Azeri people have an ancient history and a rich culture. Azerbaijan lay on the route of the Great Silk Road, the trade network that connected China with Europe, and its people have lived through centuries of conquests by different imperial powers. It was also situated in the heart of the Great Game, the struggle for control of Central Asia played out between Russia and the West at the turn on the nineteenth century, which seems to be going through a modern remake. Azerbaijan has been called "the quintessential borderland, many times over: between Europe and Asia, Islam and Christianity, Russia and the Middle East, Turks and Iranians, Shi'a and Sunni Islam." Azerbaijan was briefly independent after the First World War, when it was the first Muslim state to adopt progressive Western values. A democratic republic with full women's suffrage, it boasted the first women's high school, the first opera, and the first female opera composer, as well as the first ballet in the Muslim world. There followed seventy years of Soviet rule. After a bitter war in 1991-94, areas of Azerbaijan were occupied by neighboring Armenia, and the country has absorbed a huge number of refugees. At the same time, it is experiencing a new oil boom and the economy is growing. Among the people, there is a growing sense of national identity. Culture Smart! Azerbaijan looks at the many facets of this identity and explains the complex workings of Azerbaijani society. It will equip you with vital information and advice about the customs, practices, and sensibilities of a society poised on the brink of change.
B & B Know-How: How to make money from your spare room
by Amy WillcockNo one knows more about starting and running a bed and breakfast business than successful cook, author and hotel owner Amy Willcock. The hotel that she runs with her husband and their business partner, The George on the Isle of Wight, was described in the Daily Mail as being run 'in the way in which you imagine the hotel of your dreams to be run'. In this attractively packaged paperback, Amy reveals the secrets you need to know to make running your B&B fun and profitable. Her lively narrative takes you through all stages of the process: preparing your home, advertising, creating welcoming bedrooms and luxury bathrooms on a budget, laundering the sheets, preparing the ultimate breakfast (for even the most demanding guest) and managing bookings - all this, while keeping your profit margin healthy. Also featured are the best stockists for any products that you will need and the definitive answers to frequently asked questions. This book is the perfect guide for all aspiring B&B landlords and ladies.