Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

As a Spice Girl, TV talent show judge and Broadway star, Mel B a.k.a Scary Spice, has been a global icon since her twenties. But behind the glittering façade of fame, the struggles and pain of this working-class, mixed-race girl from Leeds are laid bare in her critically acclaimed best-selling memoir, Brutally Honest.

With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and trademark Yorkshire humour, the book tells how she went from Girl Power to girl powerless during her ten-year emotionally abusive marriage. Tracing a path through the key moments in her life, she reflects on her childhood, rise to fame and her chilling downward spiral before she finally broke free.

In this expanded edition, written with Louise Gannon, Mel brings her story up to date. With her trademark honesty, she tells the unfiltered story of piecing herself back together, dealing with trauma and new heartbreak whilst becoming a champion for survivors of abuse, performing once more with the Spice Girls and receiving her MBE from Prince William.

In 1527 Hector Boece, the first Principal of King's College Aberdeen, wrote in his extensive History of the Scottish People of an island of rocky crags and prehistoric sheep, which could only be reached through extreme danger to life. It was, he explained, 'the last and outmaist Ile' of Scotland. It was St Kilda. St Kilda breaks the waters of the Atlantic Ocean some 100 miles west of the mainland, and 40 miles west of the Outer Hebridean island of North Uist. On clear days it appears as a dark silhouette on a distant horizon. Approach it, and it resolves into seven shapes - the four islands of Hirta, Boreray, Soay and Dun, and three towering sea stacks. It is an enigmatic and awe-inspiring landscape, a starkly beautiful vision of 'life on the edge' which has fascinated everyone from travellers, antiquarians and conservationists to writers, film crews and tourists. And, perhaps as a result, it is one of the most mythologised and misunderstood places on earth. Archaeologists Angela Gannon and George Geddes have spent over nine months living and working on St Kilda, and have been part of a team which has been researching its complex and remarkable history for more than a decade. In this new book they turn the popular perception of the archipelago on its head. St Kilda, they argue, has never existed in total isolation, but has always been linked to a network of communities scattered across the north western seaboard and the Highlands of Scotland. The Last and Outmost Isle pulls St Kilda back from the 'end of the world' to tell a compelling story of triumph over geographical adversity. What makes these islands so special is not their distance from 'civilisation', but rather their enduring capacity to remain a living, connected part of Scotland over the course of some three thousand years.

Higher education has seen better days. Harsh budget cuts, the precarious nature of employment in colleague teaching, and political hostility to the entire enterprise of education have made for an increasingly fraught landscape. Radical Hope is an ambitious response to this state of affairs, at once political and practice - the work of an activist, teacher, and public intellectual grappling with some of the most pressing topics at the intersection of higher education and social justice. Kevin Gannon asks that the contemporary university's manifold problems be approached as opportunities for critical engagement, arguing that, when done effectively, teaching is by definition emancipatory and hopeful. Considering individual pedagogical practice, the students who are the primary audience and beneficiaries of teaching, and the institutions and systems within which teaching occurs, Radical Hope surveys the field, tackling everything from impostor syndrome to cell phones in class to allegations of a campus 'free speech crisis'. Throughout, Gannon translates ideals into tangible strategies and practices (including key takeaways at the conclusion of each chapter), with the goal of reclaiming teachers' essential role in the discourse of higher education.

That Indonesia's ongoing occupation of West Papua continues to be largely ignored by world governments is one of the great moral and political failures of our time. West Papuans have struggled for more than fifty years to find a way through the long night of Indonesian colonization. However, united in their pursuit of merdeka (freedom) in its many forms, what holds West Papuans together is greater than what divides them. Today, the Morning Star glimmers on the horizon, the supreme symbol of merdeka and a cherished sign of hope for the imminent arrival of peace and justice to West Papua. Morning Star Rising: The Politics of Decolonization in West Papua is an ethnographically framed account of the long, bitter fight for freedom that challenges the dominant international narrative that West Papuans' quest for political independence is fractured and futile. Camellia Webb-Gannon's extensive interviews with the decolonization movements' original architects and its more recent champions shed light on complex diasporic and inter-generational politics as well as social and cultural resurgence. In foregrounding West Papuans' perspectives, the author shows that it is the body politic's unflagging determination and hope, rather than military might or influential allies, that form the movement's most unifying and powerful force for independence. This book examines the many intertwining strands of decolonization in Melanesia. Differences in cultural performance and political diversity throughout the region are generating new, fruitful trajectories. Simultaneously, Black and Indigenous solidarity and a shared Melanesian identity have forged a transnational grassroots power-base from which the movement is gaining momentum. Relevant beyond its West Papua focus, this book is essential reading for those interested in Pacific studies, Native and Indigenous studies, development studies, activism, and decolonization.

An exquisite edition of The History of the World in 100 Animals by author and journalist Simon Barnes, adapted and abridged for younger readers, with superb illustrations by award-winning artist, Frann Preston-Gannon, illustrator of I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree. This outstanding gift book proposes the 100 animals who have had the greatest impact on humans and the way we view the world around us. From the bees who pollinate our food to the chimpanzees who share over 98% of our DNA, this book explores the unique and thought-provoking relationship between humans and animals throughout history. This fact-filled guide is sure to inspire and delight animal lovers young and old, and will make the perfect gift this Christmas.

I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree, named after the first line of Judith Nicholls' poem 'Windsong', is a lavishly illustrated collection of 366 nature poems - one for every day of the year, including leap years. Filled with familiar favourites and new discoveries, written by a wide variety of poets, including -

John Agard, William Blake, Emily Bronte, Charles Causley, Walter de la Mare, Emily Dickinson, Carol Ann Duffy, Eleanor Farjeon, Robert Frost, Thomas Hardy, Roger McGough, Christina Rossetti, William Shakespeare, John Updike, William Wordsworth and many more.

This is the perfect book for children (and grown-ups!) to share at the beginning or the end of the day, or just to dip into.

"I Am The Seed That Grew The Tree is a magical book for children and adults to enjoy together. A beautiful and unusual selection of poems boldly illustrated. It is a new favourite!" - Sarah Crossan, Irish Children's Laureate and CILIP Carnegie Medal Winner

"'A real Hymn to nature.' says Nosy Crow of this outstanding poetry anthology and I wholeheartedly agree. Award-winning anthologist Waters has selected a nature poem for every day of the year, spanning over 400 years of poetry. Each page is illustrated in full colour by rising star Preston-Gannon, stylish and distinctive but with real child appeal. My preview copy has enthusiastically been claimed by my daughter who is reading a poem each night. A book to share, educate, entertain and to treasure." - The Bookseller

"Stylish and distinctive but with real child appeal. This will make a gorgeous gift; a book to share, educate, entertain and treasure." - Fiona Noble, The Bookseller's Buyers Guide

"I am besotted with I am the Seed. It's the kind of book every household should own." - Florentyna Martin, Children's Book Buyer for Waterstones

Liberal media bias is an established fact, and Jeff Gannon witnessed it first hand while serving "behind enemy lines" in the White House press corps. Gannon's story of how he was driven out of the White House illustrates the challenges conservative journalists face in a profession that is institutionally and genetically liberal. Part of this book is an account of what members of the Old Media, Democrats and liberal activists will do to keep conservatives out of mainstream journalism. It serves as a warning to all journalists as to what can happen when politicians and activists object to their reporting.

What they said about Jeff Gannon:

U. S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi-"must be stopped" Vice President Al Gore-"pseudo-reporter" Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin-"non-journalist using a false name" House Judiciary Chairman Rep. John Conyers-"sham journalist" Clinton senior advisor Sidney Blumenthal-"a hireling and fraud" Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)-"mouthpiece for the White House" Veteran columnist and reporter Helen Thomas-"a propagandist, a flack for the White House" MSNBC Countdown host Keith Olbermann-"fake reporter" New York Times columnist Frank Rich-"lapdog reporter" PBS host Bill Moyers-"phony journalist"

This book offers a perspective decidedly different from that of the Bush Administration and its neoconservative supporters. Since the United Nations embraced the right of national self-determination in 1945, the historical odds have been unfavorable to great powers that impose military occupations on smaller nations. This point is bolstered by the evidence from history, and is particularly pertinent to the American occupation of Iraq, where a robust insurgency has delayed projected successes by the administration and wartime planners. Drawing on historical antecedents to the occupation of Iraq, Gannon examines events such as the British Struggles in Palestine, French enterprises in Algeria, the Soviet debacle in Afghanistan, and other instances in which occupying powers to demonstrate the struggles and failures of occupying powers in the face of determined insurgencies. Since the United Nations adopted the principle of national self-determination in 1945, great powers like the United States that occupy smaller nations like Iraq lose more often than not when confronted with credible insurgencies. The evidence is taken from recent history: the Zionist victory over Britain in Palestine, and the defeats of France in Algeria, America in Vietnam, the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, and Israel in Lebanon. On the surface these outcomes seem perverse-powerful modern armies brought down by rag-tag rebels. The explanation comes from the types of warfare fought. Great powers are equipped to fight other great powers in great battles over large territory. Rebels fight shadow wars, neutralizing the fire power and mobility of the occupying army. Insurgencies continue for years, allowing politicalconsiderations to come into play, including propaganda, international pressure, and the stream of dead and wounded returning from the war zone. The home front turns against the war, and new policymakers conclude that the nation's interests are best served by getting out. History is not an exact science, so the judgment here is expressed in probability, not certainty; witness the British defeat of insurgencies in Malaya and Kenya before giving up these colonies, and the four-decades-old Israeli occupation and partial colonization of the West Bank.

This CGP Study Guide explains everything students need to know for Key Stage Three Science. It's ideal for students working at a higher level. Every topic is explained with clear, friendly notes, diagrams and examples, and there are practice questions on most pages to test the crucial skills. For extra practice, a matching KS3 Science Workbook is also available (9781841462394).

If These Ears Could Sing is both an insightful journey and rollicking ride through the life of a profoundly deaf man.Mike Gannon was born without hearing in both ears, a condition that made it difficult to communicate with the outside world but opened his awareness to the world within. And that inner awareness eventually brought him to a place where reality is self-created and a person's wildest dreams can be manifested.You've read about the law of attraction; now see the law of attraction in action.If you are deaf, you will find both validation and humor in Mike Gannon's experiences-and you will open to explore what is possible. If you are not deaf, you will find his story an inspiration and proof that we are truly designers of our own future.

"The Water Lies" shares the true story of the Mucha family of Biloxi, Mississippi before, during, and after the hour when Hurricane Katrina tore their lives apart. Experience this family's love and dedication as they confronted and overcame a lack of trust and the brutal consequences of poor decisions. Broken dreams, broken hearts, and facing death at different times threatened this family in untold ways, until now.

In sixty minutes, Hurricane Katrina changed countless lives forever. This is one family's story that bares the raw emotions experienced by so many of the families of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. While the country and world embraced the tragic story of New Orleans, and justifiably so, the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast went about trying to rebuild their lives.

This region took the strongest part of Hurricane Katrina. Communities were literally erased. Hundreds of thousands of Mississippians lost their homes, churches, schools, employment- their very culture. While no two stories in "The Water Lies" are alike, they all represent the horror of losing everything and the tenacity of starting over. Choices can never be made without consequences and those consequences can be valuable learning opportunities.