Most so-called "epic" novels are the stuff of motion picture blockbusters: tragic love stories, diabolical villains, great battles with gigantic armies colliding upon endless fl at plains of death. Yet in the real world, for most people, the greatest battles of their lives are the ones fought inside their own heads--and the villains are creatures both self-created and self-nurtured.

Meet Charlie Barnes. Age 24, bright, college-educated, talented ... and a failure. Now he's back home in Los Angeles after a disastrous two-year pilgrimage to New York and back. No more time to fail. Time to give it one last shot.

Set against the backdrop of the 1980 Iranian Hostage Crisis and colored by panoramas of California's fabled Santa Anita Racetrack, "Where Gods Gamble" is Eastland's emotional dance through the history, hope, and failed promise of America.

A reluctant hero, young Barnes is a typical, willing victim of America's manufactured myths and sweet, seductive slogans. But now he has an important decision to make. Will he pursue the depressing, false security of a normal 9-to-5 job? Will he select the far more difficult--yet infinitely more fulfi lling--career of a professional gambler? Or will he succumb to his own internal demons in trying to sort it all out ...

There has always been a lot of confusion and misconception regarding the short-story. What exactly is it? What exactly defines it? And if a true "literary artiste" is capable of churning out a whole novel, why waste time on a bunch of stories in the first place?

C. Bradford Eastland, author of the groundbreaking novel "Where Gods Gamble," answers all these questions and more in his masterwork collection of short fiction, ""L.A. Journal"."

Throughout the twenty-two stories of this nostalgic, regionally driven volume, Eastland the artist's lifelong mission becomes clear; to leave behind a handful of powerful, original, timeless vignettes of the times and places in which he lived. Along the way, he takes a stab at making sense of many of the great issues-love, lust, war, religion, friendship, betrayal, craziness, joblessness, homelessness, homophobia, racism, patriotism, terrorism, and the Giants versus the Dodgers-we humans brush up against every day of our lives.

So take a look at Los Angeles through the eyes of a bum, a bartender, a disillusioned writer, an old Negro Leagues ballplayer, and a little boy angry at God-among others. You might wind up seeing one of the greatest and most mocked cities on Earth in a wholly different light.

Edgar Allan Poe notoriously identified "the death . . . of a beautiful woman" as "the most poetical topic in the world." Despite that cringeworthy claim, Poe drew creative inspiration from female authors, and women figure prominently among the artists and critics fascinated by the writer's creative legacy. A book-length work about the various ways in which women-Poe's female contemporaries, scholars, writers and artists, as well as women characters in Poe adaptations-have influenced perceptions of Poe is long overdue. Covering a time frame that extends from the mid-nineteenth century to the twenty-first, this collection features essays about all of these subjects. One goal of this book is recognizing how women have helped establish Poe's reputation in the U.S. and abroad. The other is drawing attention to ways that constructions of womanhood accepted by Poe are revised in popular culture, a sphere where artists-in film, fiction, and comics-build on the subversive potential of Poe's work while exposing its ideological limitations. Poe and Women will appeal not only to Poe specialists but also to anyone interested in his ongoing relevance to gender discussions inside and outside the academy.

Children grow up surrounded by stories, motifs, characters and themes which respond to the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages in Children's Literature explores the use and abuse of the medieval in children's literature, the many forms in which it appears, and its enduring capacity to enchant the young.

Children's texts are highly responsive to social change and to global politics, and are implicated in shaping the values of children and young people. "New World Orders," now in paperback for the first time, shows how texts for children and young people have responded to the cultural, economic and political movements of the last fifteen years. With a focus on international children's texts produced between 1988 and 2006, the authors discuss how utopian and dystopian tropes are pressed into service to project possible futures to child readers. The book considers what these texts have to say about globalization, neocolonialism, environmental issues, pressures on families and communities, and the idea of the posthuman. This fascinating volume is the first thorough study of how children's books imagine and propose possible worlds and societies.

This book demonstrates how contemporary children's texts draw on utopian and dystopian tropes in their projections of possible futures. The authors explore the ways in which children's texts respond to social change and global politics. The book argues that children's texts are crucially implicated in shaping the values of their readers.

"New World Orders" demonstrates how contemporary children's texts draw on utopian and dystopian tropes in their projections of possible futures. In examining a diverse range of international children's literature and film produced between 1988 and 2006, the authors explore the ways in which children's texts respond to social change and global politics, giving shape to children's perceived anxieties and desires. The book argues that children's texts are crucially implicated in shaping the values of their readers.

With its impressive breadth of coverage - both geographically and chronologically - the International Encyclopedia of Military History is the most up-to-date and inclusive A-Z resource on military history. From uniforms and military insignia worn by combatants to the brilliant military leaders and tacticians who commanded them, the campaigns and wars to the weapons and equipment used in them, this international and multi-cultural two-volume set is an accessible resource combining the latest scholarship in the field with a world perspective on military history.

With its impressive breadth of coverage a " both geographically and chronologically a " the International Encyclopedia of Military History is the most up-to-date and inclusive A-Z resource on military history. From uniforms and military insignia worn by combatants to the brilliant military leaders and tacticians who commanded them, the campaigns and wars to the weapons and equipment used in them, this international and multi-cultural two-volume set is an accessible resource combining the latest scholarship in the field with a world perspective on military history.

Through a collaboration among twenty legal scholars from eleven countries in North America, Europe and Asia, Patent Remedies and Complex Products presents an international consensus on the use of patent remedies for complex products such as smartphones, computer networks and the Internet of Things. It covers the application of both monetary remedies like reasonable royalties, lost profits, and enhanced damages, as well as injunctive relief. Readers will also learn about the effect of competition laws and agreements to license standards-essential patents on terms that are 'fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory' (FRAND) on patent remedies. Where national values and policy make consensus difficult, contributors discuss the nature and direction of further research required to resolve disagreements. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This is an invaluable reference to all the characters who appear in English drama from 1500 to 1660. The book indexes well over a thousand printed plays. In addition to characters' names it indexes character types (Dwarf, Gypsy), nationalities (Frenchman, American), military ranks, psychological states (Jealousy, Melancholy), occupations and professions. The accompanying Finding List provides a table of play titles, authors, dates of publication, dates of performance and short-title catalogue numbers. The book is a much revised and expanded version of An Index of Characters in English Printed Drama to the Restoration (1975). This edition indexes the names of characters in 180 plays which no longer survive in print and characters from Latin plays of the period. Further features are an alphabetical list of plays, an index of playwrights and an expanded bibliography.

This is an invaluable reference to all the characters who appear in English drama from 1500, when drama first appeared in print, to 1660. The book indexes well over a thousand printed plays. In addition to characters' names it indexes character types (Dwarf, Gypsy), nationalities, military ranks, psychological states (Jealousy, Melancholy), occupations and professions. The book is a revised and expanded version of An Index to Characters in English Printed Drama to the Restoration (Microcard Editions, 1975).