Despite a common heritage dating back centuries and mutual national interests, such as their joint fear of Soviet influence across the Mediterranean, it took 38 years after the establishment of the State of Israel (1948) and a decade after Franco's death (1975) for relations to be established between Jerusalem and Madrid (1986). The absence of ties between both countries prior to 1986 was an anomaly that requires explanation. There was no apparent reason why both countries should not have established full diplomatic ties prior. Indeed, during the first years of Israeli statehood until 1952, Spain sought unsuccessfully to establish official ties with Israel as a means to overcome international isolation. But adhering to a moral foreign policy standard, Israel refused formal ties with the former Axis supporter. By 1953, however, Israel began adopting a more pragmatic view. Five centuries after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain bilateral ties were formalised after Spain's successful transition from Franco's dictatorship to democracy and Madrid's ascension to the EEC in 1986. Once in the Community, Madrid had to align its foreign policy with Brussels which necessitated diplomatic relations with Israel. Without this systematic pressure on Madrid, the anomaly of Israeli-Spanish relations would have likely continued. Post 1986 the ties between the two countries were overshadowed by strong international political forces -- the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian struggle -- which delayed bilateral progress. Explaining the impact of these forces is key to understanding the relationship. Although many positive milestones have been reached there are substantive issues of concern for both sides, and a feeling that much work remains if the relationship, and indeed friendship, is to become worthy and rewarding.

1000 pieces Quality design & easy to handle pieces Finished puzzle 24 x 18 inches Features a woodblock print by well-known artist Toyohara Kunichika (1835--1900), dating from 1864 This lovely scene shows four beautiful courtesans dressed in expensive costumes in the Yoshiwara entertainment district of Old Tokyo

Test your 90s knowledge with this awesome trivia card game! Welcome to the Best of the '90s, a fun trivia game that will take you on a sentimental journey through an exceptionally unforgettable decade! In this game you'll find 60 trivia cards with over 470 questions on the following subjects: Movies, Television, Music, Popular Culture, Politics, Sports, and Toys & Games. The questions probe topics ranging from Britney Spears to the Clinton years, from Pocahontas to Pokemon, and from eBay to Y2K. So, gather your Friends around, break out the Crystal Pepsi, open the Dunkaroos and take a Quantum Leap back to The Wonder Years!

From Kerby Rosanes, the internationally bestselling artist who brought you the Morphia series, the next book in his brilliant new Worlds universe. Mythic World is 96 double-sided pages of pure mythical creation that colorists will love. Welcome to Kerby's mythic world. Mythic World is a new, fantastic, and super-detailed adult coloring book from the prodigious bestselling illustrator. Colorists will find Kerby Rosanes's new creations to be hypnotic, with spread after dizzying spread featuring mythic creatures, magical landscapes, and surprise after surprise in the details of Kerby's ultra-fine illustrations. This book blurs the line between familiar and magical, between reality and imagination. Fans and newcomers alike will be thrilled with this 96-page book, providing an apparently endless coloring challenge for even his most dedicated and enthusiastic followers.

From New York magazine, a spiral-bound collection of fifty recently published crosswords--plus a bonus one created by beloved American composer Stephen Sondheim, the magazine's original puzzle constructor, for its first issue in 1968. Every year, millions of people attempt to complete a crossword puzzle, whether in print or online. Recent studies have even shown that the actual number is growing, owing to a rising public desire for less screen time and more activities that keep brains active. A number of research trials have found that regular crossword activity is among the most effective ways to preserve memory and cognitive function, and a recent trial from the NIH found that these benefits can last as long as ten years. For fifty years, New York magazine has published some of the most entertaining, addictive crossword puzzles in America. This spiral-bound book collects fifty New York puzzles by master puzzle creator Cathy Allis; adds a classic from the New York archives, created by Stephen Sondheim in 1968; and puts them together with a covered spiral binding for easy, stay-flat solving and portability.

An exciting new take on a literary classic, The Jane Austen Escape Room Book is sure to delight and intrigue fans, old and new, of Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. This elegant book presents a chance to experience a classic piece of literature in an all-new way. The Jane Austen Escape Room Book combines the characters that you know and love with the intrigue of mystery as you solve puzzles and riddles to help Elizabeth find her way back to the arms of Mr. Darcy. This thrilling new take on the ever-adored Pride and Prejudice, exquisitely illustrated by Marjolein Bastin, is the perfect gift for the Jane Austen fan in your life!

This safari will send students on an expedition that will result in hours of good thinking and unbridled enthusiasm. As enthusiasm soars so do the levels of thinking skills engaged. Students love these deductive logic puzzles so much that they beg to do them, little realizing that they are building important reading comprehension and thinking skills. Teachers love these puzzles because of their ease of use in multicurricular parallels and their effortlessness in fitting into pullout programs of limited duration. Each motivating puzzle includes an introduction with student-related topics, clues, a grid, and an illustration. The goal in Logic Safari is to hunt down the clues, sort, analyze, and combine them into the correct solution. Each book represents an ever-increasing challenge to students while scenarios remain fresh, evoking renewed eagerness. The size of the grids is an indication of difficulty. This is the second in a three-book series of deductive logic puzzles. For alternate levels, see Logic Safari Book 1 and Logic Safari Book 3. Grades 3-4

This classic series will excite students' imaginations while enriching skills in logical thinking. Logic Countdown problems are easy to incorporate into lesson plans and are formatted to enhance the fullest spectrum of curriculum areas while sharpening thinking skills. Challenging and instructional, these thought-provoking books present sequential exercises in logical reasoning that include relationships, analogies, syllogisms, sequences, deductive reasoning, inference, truth-values, and logical notation. Simple grids coupled with intriguing problems evoke enthusiasm and inspire students to higher and higher levels of thinking. Each book builds on concepts presented previously in the series to offer a comprehensive logic adventure for young thinkers. The skills students build by using this book are applicable to several areas of the curriculum. Academic skills used for reading, math, writing, and science all depend on the ability to perceive and define relationships and to form inferences. But, beyond the academic world, students will find logical thinking an integral part of everyday life. This is the first in a three-book series designed to sharpen children's logical thinking skills. Once students master the skills presented in this book, they will be ready for new challenges in Logic Liftoff and Orbiting with Logic. Grades 3-4

You Watch Too Much TV is a Book of Lists for the television generation, offering fun facts and quizzes on Leave It To Beaver, Everybody Loves Raymond, and just about every show in between. Examples of a couple of debate-inspiring questions: Where in the city did Ralph Kramden's upstairs neighbor Ed Norton work on The Honeymooners? In the city's sewers; Who was the first to be voted off the island on the first episode of Survivor? Sonja Christopher

Go way beyond difficult, with the hardest, most brain-busting sudoku you've ever seen! Calling all sudoku-solving diehards: with every puzzle requiring upper-level strategies, this collection packs even more of a punch than our previous Beyond Black Belt Sudoku. Get ready, because you'll encounter common advanced techniques with curious-sounding names like XYZ-Wing, Finned X-Wing, Sashimi X-Wing, Swordfish, Jellyfish, Gordonian Rectangle, and Gordonian Polygon. And you might find some tricky new things here, too, from Grouped X-Cycle and Simple Grid Coloring to 3D Medusa and Bi-Value Universal Grave. The sudoku generally become increasingly difficult as the book goes along, from "pretty darn hard" to "excruciating." Are you up for the challenge?

What's the best book ever written? What would happen if we all stopped eating meat? What's the secret to living past 110? And what actually is the best thing since sliced bread? In An Answer For Everything, 200 of the world's most intriguing questions are settled once and for all through beautiful and brilliant infographics. The results will leave you shocked, informed and thoroughly entertained. Created by the team behind the award-winning Delayed Gratification magazine, these compelling, darkly funny data visualisations will change the way you think about ... everything

Kakuro is fun - but if the puzzles aren't just right, newcomers can feel frustrated. This collection will ease novices into solving kakuro puzzles, helping them improve and preparing them for the next level of difficulty.

Ever wondered how fat Henry VIII really was? Or what made Mary I 'Bloody'? Over many hundreds of years, British royalty has had its fair share of accidents, rumours, scandals, misrepresentations and misconceptions. For instance, could Richard III be innocent of the deaths of the 'Princes in the Tower'? And what really happened between Queen Victoria and her Highland servant John Brown? In today's world, where newspapers clamour to report new revelations about the Royal Family, this informative and quirky book gives the inquisitive reader an in-depth look at the secrets of our past royals. For anyone curious about what went on behind the palace walls, Raymond Lamont-Brown answers those intriguing, confusing and mysterious questions we might have about our monarchs.

So you're good at the pub quiz ... you always have the right answer ... you're known for the depth and breadth of your knowledge ... well, why not put those skills to the test with Think You Know It All? Genius Edition. In this fiendish and at times infuriating book of general knowledge questions, you'll find a vast range of topics are covered, to give you a real challenge on subjects from maths to history, music to literature, cinema to sport. With all sorts of different types of question to keep you on your toes (and all the answers at the back for when you need them) this book will give you entertainment and be head-scratchingly annoying in equal measure ... ... But then that's the thing about knowledge: if you know the answer, it's easy!

A NEW TWIST ON A POPULAR PUZZLE CUBE! Invented by Piet Hein, the Soma cube is one of the most famous mechanical puzzles in the world. The traditional challenge and outcome is to build a cube or other structures from all seven pieces.CHANGE THE RULES, CHANGE THE OUTCOME! The puzzles in this unique Soma-inspired collection are no longer predicated upon using all seven pieces at one time! By varying the number of pieces, there are many new and versatile puzzle challenges, from all types of recreational mathematics fields. For example, you will find symmetry puzzles, cover-up puzzles, and even fraction puzzles. The chapters are divided according to the number of pieces used; from single-piece puzzles to puzzles requiring a complete set.WHY USE THE SOMA CUBE? From the moment our creative team changed their rules of engagement for this new collection, the potential puzzle challenges and their solutions became nearly limitless! There is something magical and enchanting in those seven pieces that enabled us to find many puzzles and challenges!NEW CHALLENGES Most of the puzzles demonstrated within the book are original. Some are based on classic puzzles, as well as more modern ones, modified and presented by using the set of Soma pieces.LOW COST AND HIGH INTEREST FOR HOURS OF ENTERTAINMENT WITH INCREASING COMPLEXITY! This is a unique collection of puzzles - all you need is a set of the Soma cube. The puzzles range from easy to difficult and they appeal to a wide audience - all within the reach of the general public. It presents many geometrical and mathematical principles, and makes them easier to understand. However, no special knowledge in mathematics or geometry is required.

Part of an exciting series of sturdy, square-box 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles from Flame Tree, featuring powerful and popular works of art. This new jigsaw will satisfy your need for a challenge, with the beautiful Bex Parkin: Birds & Flowers. This 1000-piece jigsaw is intended for adults and children over 13 years. Not suitable for children under 3 years due to small parts. Finished Jigsaw size 735 x 510mm/29 x 20 ins. Includes an A4 poster for reference. Bex Parkin is an incredibly talented illustrator. Having spent many years based in London working in a range of artistic jobs, she now lives in rural Staffordshire. Her passion for print, pattern and colour was largely inspired by her work sourcing vintage and antique textiles for the fashion industry, which can be seen throughout her artworks.

Welcome to Nathalie Lete's Enchanted World In a garden bursting with wildflowers, magic mushrooms, luscious berries and vegetables that smell of the earth, three rabbits sit and watch . . . and watch and watch, like characters in an old fairy tale. Piece by piece, retrace the magic of Nathalie Lete's imagination and revel in her breathtaking colors and imagery. Featuring: 500 full-color interlocking pieces Art print with puzzle image Finished puzzle is 23 4/5" x 19"