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G. K. Chesterton's surreal masterpiece is a psychological thriller that centers on seven anarchists in turn-of-the-century London who call themselves by the names of the days of the week. Chesterton explores the meanings of their disguised identities in what is a fascinating mystery and, ultimately, a spellbinding allegory. As Jonathan Lethem remarks in his Introduction, The real characters are the ideas. Chesterton's nutty agenda is really quite simple: to expose moral relativism and parlor nihilism for the devils he believes them to be. This wouldn't be interesting at all, though, if he didn't also show such passion for giving the devil his due. He animates the forces of chaos and anarchy with every ounce of imaginative verve and rhetorical force in his body.

»This Side of Paradise» is the book that established F. Scott Fitzgerald as the prophet and golden boy of the newly dawned Jazz Age. Published in 1920, when he was just twenty-three, the novel catapulted him to instant fame and financial success. The story of Amory Blaine, a privileged, aimless, and self-absorbed Princeton student, «This Side of Paradise» closely reflects Fitzgerald's own experiences as an undergraduate. Amory Blaine's journey from prep school to college to the First World War is an account of «the lost generation». The young «romantic egotist» symbolizes what Fitzgerald so memorably described as «a new generation grown up to find all Gods dead, all wars fought, all faiths in man shaken». A pastiche of literary styles, this dazzling chronicle of youth remains bitingly relevant decades later.

A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s. A Chinese proverb says, «Falling leaves return to their roots». In «Chinese Cinderella», Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair. Adeline's affluent, powerful family considers her bad luck after her mother dies giving birth to her. Life does not get any easier when her father remarries. She and her siblings are subjected to the disdain of her stepmother, while her stepbrother and stepsister are spoiled. Although Adeline wins prizes at school, they are not enough to compensate for what she really yearns for — the love and understanding of her family. Following the success of the critically acclaimed adult bestseller «Falling Leaves», this memoir is a moving telling of the classic Cinderella story, with Adeline Yen Mah providing her own courageous voice.

Searingly hot in the summer, bitterly cold in the winter, the ancestral estate of the Golovlyov family is the end of the road. There Anna Petrovna rules with an iron hand over her servants and family-until she loses power to the relentless scheming of her hypocritical son Judas. One of the great books of Russian literature, «The Golovlyov Family» is a vivid picture of a condemned and isolated outpost of civilization that, for contemporary readers, will recall the otherwordly reality of Macondo in Gabriel García Márquez's «One Hundred Years of Solitude».

Julia Lambert is in her prime, the greatest actress in England. Off stage, however, she is bored with her handsome husband, coquettish and undisciplined. She is at first flattered and amused by the attentions of a shy and eager young fan, but before long Julia is amazed to find herself falling wildly, dangerously, in love.

As the bloody Human-Covenant War rages on Halo, the fate of humankind may rest with one warrior, the lone SPARTAN survivor of another legendary battle... the desperate, take-no-prisoners struggle that led humanity to Halo — the fall of the planet Reach. Now, brought to life for the first time, here is the full story of that glorious, doomed conflict. While the brutal Covenant juggernaut sweeps inexorably through space, intent on wiping out humankind, only one stronghold remains — the planet Reach. Practically on Earth's doorstep, it is the last military fortress to defy the onslaught. But the personnel here have another, higher priority: to prevent the Covenant from discovering the location of Earth. Outnumbered and outgunned, the soldiers seem to have little chance against the Covenant, but Reach holds a closely guarded secret. It is the training ground for the very first «super soldiers». Code-named SPARTANs, these highly advanced warriors, specially bioengineered and technologically augmented, are the best in the universe — quiet, professional, and deadly. Now, as the ferocious Covenant attack begins, a handful of SPARTANs stand ready to wage ultimate war. They will kill, they will be destroyed, but they will never surrender. And at least one of them — the SPARTAN known as Master Chief — will live to fight another day on a mysterious and ancient, artificial world called Halo...

I can tell you that some force within me rejected death at the last moment and then guided me, blind and stumbling — quite literally a dead man walking — into camp and the shaky start of my return to life....” In 1996 Beck Weathers and a climbing team pushed toward the summit of Mount Everest. Then a storm exploded on the mountain, ripping the team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl for their lives. Rescuers who reached Weathers saw that he was dying, and left him. Twelve hours later, the inexplicable occurred. Weathers appeared, blinded, gloveless, caked with ice — coming down the mountain as a “dead man walking”. In this powerful memoir, Weather describes not only his escape from hypothermia and the murderous storm that killed nine climbers; he describes another journey, a life’s journey. This is the story of a man’s route to a dangerous sport and a fateful expedition, as well as the road of recovery he has traveled since. In Left for Dead, we are witness to survival in the face of certain death, the reclaiming of a family and a life, and the most remarkable adventure of all: what we can do when we’re offered a second chance.

For fifteen-year-old Martin, the summer of 1977 means punk rock, reggae music, disco girls, stolen cars, and a job picking cherries with the gypsies. Life is sweet — until he is beaten up and thrown in the Grand Union Canal with his best mate Smiles. Fast forward to 1988, and Joe is travelling home on the Trans-Siberian express after three years working in a Hong Kong bar, remembering the highs and lows of the intervening years as he comes to terms with catastrophe. Fast forward to 2000, and Joe is happy. Life is sweet again — until a face from the past forces him to re-live that night in 1977 and deal with the fall-out.

From post-war rationing to the glut of the Thatcher years, from Harold Macmillan's famous 'You've never had it so good' to the winter of discontent, this book contains the essential stuff of modern history. As Britain gets the bomb, CND starts up to ban it. As the cold war years roll on, many a politician is caught with a face as red as the Russian flag. Further afield there's trouble in Cyprus, a crisis over Suez and a serious argument brewing over Icelandic cod! At home the poor old royal family spirals inexorably towards their annus horribilis.

Alternate History is historical fiction that examines the ramifications of a change or changes in known history. Alternate History can use science-fiction devices — such as time-travel — to change history, or it can simply pick a point where, had things merely happened differently (for example: Abraham Lincoln decided not to go to the theater that night, or Henry VIII stayed married to his first wife), history might have taken another path altogether. These books take place 20 years after the Worldwar series. The story begins with the arrival of the alien colonization fleet, and a new phase of the invasion brings thousands of extraterrestrials to Earth.

A TOUCHING, ELEGIAC COLLECTION OF STORIES about infidelity, about the weight of family, about the dwindling of years, about the heart and other organs...works so slowly and carefully that you rarely see the emotional punches coming.

Crippled and disconsolate, sixteen-year-old Catalina is the one person unable to join in the festivities of the Feast of the Assumption. Yet that is when she miraculously meets and talks with the Blessed Virgin as though she were her own mother. But in the dark days of the Spanish Inquisition, the Church is apt to take a serious view of such an ostentatious claim. The last of Maugham's novels, Catalina is a romantic celebration of Spain and a delightfully mischievous satire on absolutism.

Following the events in The Phantom Menace, Obi-Wan Kenobi is entrusted by the Jedi Council to train Anakin Skywalker as a Jedi Knight. Obi-Wan, as did his slain Master Qui-Gon Jinn, believes Anakin is the Chosen One, destined to bring balance to the Force. But Obi-Wan must help his undisciplined apprentice find his own balance.

Sendak's hero Mickey falls through the dark into the Night Kitchen where three fat bakers are making the morning cake. So begins an intoxicating dream fantasy, described by the artist himself as 'a fantasy ten feet deep in reality'.

The 15th novel in the bestselling series finds Kinsey Milhone investigating why her ex-husband Mickey, the man she left years ago after his implication in a fatal beating, lies dying in an L.A. hospital. Kinsey uncovers evidence that Mickey was innocent of the beating charge, but as she searches those in Mickey's life, she must also search the blind spots of her own life, including one that hides a killer. A New York Times Notable Book.

The application of advanced philosophical techniques in a defence of historical materialism made the first edition of this book, published in 1978, a flagship for analytical Marxism. In this edition, the author re-constructs the theory, discussing the implictions and his reservations.

#1 «NEW YORK TIMES» BESTSELLER A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an evil legacy long believed dead is stirring. Now the dark side of the Force threatens to overwhelm the light, and only an ancient Jedi prophecy stands between hope and doom for the entire galaxy. On the green, unspoiled world of Naboo, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, arrive to protect the realm's young queen as she seeks a diplomatic solution to end the siege of her planet by Trade Federation warships. At the same time, on desert-swept Tatooine, a slave boy named Anakin Skywalker, who possesses a strange ability for understanding the «rightness» of things, toils by day and dreams by night--of becoming a Jedi Knight and finding a way to win freedom for himself and his beloved mother. It will be the unexpected meeting of Jedi, Queen, and a gifted boy that will mark the start of a drama that will become legend. This special edition features a brand-new Darth Maul short story by «New York Times» bestselling author James Luceno!

Ten rules for being human convey a universal wisdom to benefit all. The author explains there are no mistakes in life, only lessons that are repeated, offering insights on self-esteem, respect, acceptance, forgiveness, ethics, compassion, humility etc. Learn to create a more fulfilling life using the inner wisdom.

A group of people have elected ambiguous and fascinating Mischa Fox to be their God. While Mischa is charming his devotees, his alter ego Calvin Blick, is inspiring fear, and Rosa Keepe, a high-minded bluestocking under Mischa's spell (who also loves two Polish brothers) is swept into the battle between sturdy common sense and dangerous enchantment.

In the healing waters of Ennistone the townspeople seek health and regeneration, righteousness and ritual cleansing. To this town of subterranean inspiration the Philosopher returns. And there he exerts an almost magical influence, especially over George McCaffrey, his old pupil.

The facts about Pontius Pilate are very few — when he was born and when he died is unknown. Nor is anything known about his career before he became Governor of Judea, or after he was recalled by Tiberius. This book is about all the Pilates, real, half-real and invented.

Domestic travel is hot this season, as more and more Americans discover the pleasure of packing up and hitting the road. Fodor's has the guides for every traveler in every region. With Fodor's Road Guide USA to get them there, Compass American for the history of the region, and Gold Guides for dining, lodging, and shopping options, your customers will never make a wrong turn.

Somebody was in there. Somebody — or some thing... There is no room thirteen in the creepy Crow's Nest Hotel, where Fliss and her friends are staying on a school trip. Or is there? For at the stroke of midnight, something peculiar happens to the door of the linen cupboard next to room l2. And something is happening to Ellie-May Sunderland, too — something very sinister... This is a gripping page-turner from a master of spooky suspense, award-winning Robert Swindells. Don't read this under the covers at midnight!

This seductive and evocative epic tells the extraordinary story of a geisha girl. It reveals the cruelty and ugliness of life behind the rice-paper screens, and summons up more than 20 years of Japan's most dramatic history.