Could you disconnect from your phone for six weeks? An eccentric entrepreneur has challenged Esther's year group to do just that, and the winners will walk away with GBP1,000. For Esther, whose dad, sister and baby nephew live thousands of miles away in New York, the prize might be her only chance to afford flights for a visit ... But can she really stay disconnected for long enough to win? Particularly suitable for struggling, reluctant or dyslexic readers aged 13+

First Published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"Classic American Popular Song: The Second Half-Century, 1950-2000" addresses the question: "What happened to American popular song after 1950?" There are numerous books available on the so-called "Golden Age" of popular song, but none that follow the development of popular song styles in the second half of the 20th century. While 1950 is seen as the "end of an era," the tap of popular song creation hardly ran dry after that date. Many of the classic songwriters continued to work through the following decades: Porter was active until 1958; Rodgers until the later 1970s; Arlen until 1976. Some of the greatest lyricists of the classic era continued to do outstanding and successful work: Johnny Mercer and Dorothy Fields, for example, continued to produce lyrics through the early '70s. These works could be explained as simply the Golden Age's "last stand," a refusal of major figures to give in to a new reality. But then, how can we explain the outstanding careers of Frank Loesser, Cy Coleman, Jerry Herman, Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick, Fred Kander and John Ebb, Jule Styne, Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, and several other major figures? Where did Stephen Sondheim come from?
For anyone interested in the development of American popular song -- and its survival -- this book will make fascinating reading.

This introductory text covers all the major groups of microbes with most emphasis being placed on the bacteria and the fungi. The principles and practice of culture techniques are described, including isolation from the natural environment, methods for the safe handling of microbes in the laboratory and dealing with culture obtained from collections.

Henry VIII's Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, is credited with a pivotal role in the English Reformation. As well as playing a leading part, together with Henry's Chancellor, Thomas Cromwell, in securing the separation of the Church in England from the authority of the Roman Church and the Pope enabling Henry both to marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn, and to become Supreme Head of the Church of England, he also began, prior to Henry's death in 1547, to introduce liturgical reforms into the Church. In the reign of Henry's son, Edward VI, Cranmer was considered the prime creator of the 1549 Prayer Book, the first all-English service book with reformed tendencies. Within three years, a more radical and reformed book was produced and authorised at the end of 1552. the question and issue is whether Cranmer was directly responsible for this second book which took the Church of England in a more overtly protestant direction. Many argue that he was. This book suggests that he was not.

Can the Church of England survive the 21st century? What needs to change and what remains? How does the Church deal with contemporary challenges and how are these related to the situation it faced in 1966? This book is an evaluation of Bishop Ronald Williams' 1966 book What's Right with the Church of England identifying the issues of that time with reference to the issues still facing the Church of England today. These include perception and position, resources and finance, ethics, ecumenism, a liberal church in a liberal society, ministry for today, marketing, and a contemporary parochial ecclesiology. Many of the issues from 1966 have not changed but the context is significantly different requiring different responses.