The annual celebrations of Plough Sunday, Rogation and Harvest are hugely important for churches serving rural communities and are a key way for those churches to engage in mission, usually seeing congregations swell at such times. Ploughshares and First Fruits draws on the inspired work being done by one rural church to celebrate rural living throughout the year and thereby grow its congregation. As well as providing many fresh ideas for keeping the established festivals, it provides ready-to-use, participative liturgies that engage all the senses, appeal to all ages and give small churches a round-the-year resource. Included are creative liturgies for: * A pet service for the Feast of St Francis * Walking and pilgrimage * Lambing season * Riders' Sunday * Lammas * A Summer Festival (an instant jam-jar flower festival)

Development studies in developing regions such as Southern Africa rely heavily on materials developed by Europeans with a European context. European dominance in development studies emanates from the fact that the discipline was first developed by Europeans. Some argue that this has led to distortions in theory and practice of development in Southern Africa. This book wishes to begin Africa's expedition to develop proper material to de-Westernize while Africanizing the context of the scholarship of rural development. African Perspectives on Reshaping Rural Development is an essential reference source that repositions the context of rural development studies from the Western-centric knowledge system into an African context in order to solve African-centered problems. Featuring research on topics such as food security, poverty reduction, and community engagement, this book is ideally designed for planners, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, government officials, academicians, and students seeking clarity on theory and practice of development in Africa.

At the outset of the twentieth century, the Nivkhi of Sakhalin Island were a small population of fishermen under Russian dominion and an Asian cultural sway. The turbulence of the decades that followed would transform them dramatically. While Russian missionaries hounded them for their pagan ways, Lenin praised them; while Stalin routed them in purges, Khrushchev gave them respite; and while Brezhnev organized complex resettlement campaigns, Gorbachev pronounced that they were free to resume a traditional life. But what is tradition after seven decades of building a Soviet world?

Based on years of research in the former Soviet Union, Bruce Grant's book draws upon Nivkh interviews, newly opened archives, and rarely translated Soviet ethnographic texts to examine the effects of this remarkable state venture in the construction of identity. With a keen sensitivity, Grant explores the often paradoxical participation by Nivkhi in these shifting waves of Sovietization and poses questions about how cultural identity is constituted and reconstituted, restructured and dismantled.

Part chronicle of modernization, part saga of memory and forgetting, "In the Soviet House of Culture" is an interpretive ethnography of one people's attempts to recapture the past as they look toward the future. This is a book that will appeal to anthropologists and historians alike, as well as to anyone who is interested in the people and politics of the former Soviet Union.

These reflective essays about Deon's life and experiences in the west of Ireland describe the colourful and varied personalities that the French novelist has come across since he and his family moved there in the mid 1970s. From his friendship with John McGahern and Ulick O'Connor to Tim, the sturdy old postman who prefers his wind-blown country round to retirement in sunny California, Horseman, Pass By! is peopled with fascinating characters and encounters. Taking its title from Yeats, this work is an affectionate portrait of the Irish and a lament for a fading country that has been changed by new wealth and altered values. Deon's Horseman, Pass By! is an elegant memoir about a beautiful landscape and its inhabitants and forms a touching and amusing tribute to his adopted country.

As the snowflakes fall, new love blossoms...When teacher Florence Ashton receives a surprise inheritance, she decides to make the life-changing decision to up sticks to the charming town of Willowbury in Somerset. With a new house and a new job, she's too busy putting down roots to think about love. Air Ambulance pilot Sam Ellis is definitely not looking for romance either, especially not on his doorstep. When Florence, his new neighbour, complains about his noisy housemate, he feels more cross than star-crossed. But as the nights draw in and both find themselves thrown together in Willowbury's seasonal drama production, will they overcome their differences and allow a little bit of winter magic to fall along with the snow? And what secrets will be revealed by the box of memories Florence finds in the attic at Bay Tree Terrace? Let Fay Keenan transport you to the perfect country winter wonderland, with roaring fires, spectacular scenery, and unforgettable characters. Perfect for all fans of Cathy Bramley, Fern Britton and Katie Fforde. What authors and readers say about Fay Keenan's novels: 'A gorgeous rural romance full of warmth and charm.' Victoria Connelly 'Guaranteed to put a spring in your step. Feel-good, frisky and great fun with a hearty dash of romance and intrigue.' Julie Houston 'Moving, funny, thoughtful and romantic. Bring on the next one!' Jenny Kane 'This is a lovely and heart-warming story, that has a serious side hidden within the romance.' Amazon reviewer 'It was a wonderful book, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.' Amazon reviewer 'I was so engrossed in the storyline, which is thoroughly heart-warming, that I read the entire book without stopping. I always enjoy Keenan's books and am looking forward to the next one!' Amazon reviewer What readers are saying about Snowflakes Over Bay Tree Terrace: 'This has been an absolutely gorgeous and perfect read.' 'A beautiful Christmassy romance with lovely characters and an easy to follow but well written plot loved it' 'I really enjoyed this Christmas read even though it is July, it makes you wish that Christmas was just around the corner' 'An entertaining and well written romance. Great plot and fun characters.' 'A great way to while away an afternoon' 'A perfect book for reading with a warming hot chocolate.'

As the snowflakes fall, new love blossoms...When teacher Florence Ashton receives a surprise inheritance, she decides to make the life-changing decision to up sticks to the charming town of Willowbury in Somerset. With a new house and a new job, she's too busy putting down roots to think about love. Air Ambulance pilot Sam Ellis is definitely not looking for romance either, especially not on his doorstep. When Florence, his new neighbour, complains about his noisy housemate, he feels more cross than star-crossed. But as the nights draw in and both find themselves thrown together in Willowbury's seasonal drama production, will they overcome their differences and allow a little bit of winter magic to fall along with the snow? And what secrets will be revealed by the box of memories Florence finds in the attic at Bay Tree Terrace? Let Fay Keenan transport you to the perfect country winter wonderland, with roaring fires, spectacular scenery, and unforgettable characters. Perfect for all fans of Cathy Bramley, Fern Britton and Katie Fforde. What authors and readers say about Fay Keenan's novels: 'A gorgeous rural romance full of warmth and charm.' Victoria Connelly 'Guaranteed to put a spring in your step. Feel-good, frisky and great fun with a hearty dash of romance and intrigue.' Julie Houston 'Moving, funny, thoughtful and romantic. Bring on the next one!' Jenny Kane 'This is a lovely and heart-warming story, that has a serious side hidden within the romance.' Amazon reviewer 'It was a wonderful book, guaranteed to put a smile on your face.' Amazon reviewer 'I was so engrossed in the storyline, which is thoroughly heart-warming, that I read the entire book without stopping. I always enjoy Keenan's books and am looking forward to the next one!' Amazon reviewer What readers are saying about Snowflakes Over Bay Tree Terrace: 'This has been an absolutely gorgeous and perfect read.' 'A beautiful Christmassy romance with lovely characters and an easy to follow but well written plot loved it' 'I really enjoyed this Christmas read even though it is July, it makes you wish that Christmas was just around the corner' 'An entertaining and well written romance. Great plot and fun characters.' 'A great way to while away an afternoon' 'A perfect book for reading with a warming hot chocolate.'

This is the first major history of the Himalaya: an epic story of peoples, cultures and adventures among the world’s highest mountains.

Spanning millennia, from its earliest inhabitants to the present conflicts over Tibet and Everest, Himalaya is a soaring account of resilience and conquest, discovery and plunder, oppression and enlightenment at the ‘roof of the world’.

From all around the globe, the unique and astonishing geography of the Himalaya has attracted those in search of spiritual and literal elevation: pilgrims, adventurers and mountaineers seeking to test themselves among the world’s most spectacular and challenging peaks. But far from being wild and barren, the Himalaya has throughout the ages been home to an astonishing diversity of indigenous and local cultures, as well as a crossroads for trade, and a meeting point and conflict zone for the world’s superpowers. Here Jesuit missionaries exchanged technologies with Tibetan Lamas, Mongol Khans employed Nepali craftsmen, Armenian merchants exchanged musk and gold with Mughals. Here too the East India Company grappled for dominance with China’s emperors, independent India has been locked in conflict with Mao’s Communists and their successors, and the ideological confrontation of the Cold War is now being buried beneath mass tourism and ecological transformation.

Featuring scholars and tyrants, bandits and CIA agents, go-betweens and revolutionaries, Himalaya is a panoramic, character-driven history on the grandest but also the most human scale, by far the most comprehensive yet written, encompassing geology and genetics, botany and art, and bursting with stories of courage and resourcefulness.