It is 1934. Winsome Manor is in financial difficulties and, with a heavy heart, the widowed Lady Winsome needs to fire long-standing servants Joe the gardener and James the chauffeur. However, unbeknown to Lady Winsome, James has been using the estate's Rolls Royce for a taxi business and Joe has been profiting from the garden produce. As the play unfolds, the two desperately attempt to prevent Lady Winsome from discovering their illicit dealings and from selling the Manor. But Lady Winsome is not so naive and with a final twist-in-the-tail this amusing one act play comes to a surprising conclusion.

Prepare to be infected with fun and fascinating knowledge. The Germ Lab tells the gruesome story of deadly diseases, told by the filthy pests that spread the germs! Discover history's worst epidemics and pandemics and see how and why they happened, including the "Black Death", polio and coronavirus. Hear the "eyewitness" accounts from the pesky rats, flies, ticks and creepy-crawlies who spread the most terrible viruses around the world and cause the most damage. Watch out for terrible typhoid, beware of malicious malaria and learn more about cruel Covid-19. Don't be too scared though. The Germ Lab explains how bacteria and other bad beasties are beaten through the work of genius scientists and with the development of vaccinations. Meet Jon Snow, whose careful observations of the slums of London led him to stop the spread of cholera , and see the world's leading scientists in action as they create life-saving vaccines. Written by Richard Platt and illustrated by John Kelly, the brilliantly humorous artworks and fun characters will entertain young readers with a cabinet war room showing the war on germs, a rogues' gallery highlighting the worst offenders, the very deadliest diseases examined under the microscope, and much more. So grab your lab coat and join forces with science to tackle the war on germs.

The Twilight of World Trotskyism analyzes the reasons behind the historic failure of the Trotskyist movement around the world. The book begins this assessment by briefly recapitulating the origins of Trotskyism, as a political current within the communist movement, and elaborating its major elements, before describing the historical development of Trotskyism in the four countries where it has sunk the deepest roots and which house the clear majority of the world's Fourth Internationals: Argentina, Britain, France and the USA. It then proceeds to map the current state of the global Trotskyist movement. Whatever their current size and status, Trotskyist organizations aspire to become mass political parties and lead revolutionary seizures of power. It is therefore appropriate to examine them through the metrics applied to mainstream parties, namely organization, membership and political influence. The author looks at the dynamics of the Trotskyist movement, focusing in particular on the supposedly harmful effects of the communist movement before then turning to examine the role of Trotskyist organizations in the many revolutionary situations that have appeared since the 1920s and in the various 'cycles of protest' that have occurred in the latter half of the 20th century and the early years of the 21st century. The final section examines the two success stories frequently cited in Trotskyist literature, namely the cases of Bolivia and Sri Lanka. The book concludes by setting out and examining a wide variety of explanations for the chronic and sustained weaknesses of the Trotskyist movement, including its flawed appraisals of contemporary politics and economics, ultra-radical programmes and policies, failures in understanding the dynamics of protest and the baleful legacy of Soviet communism. It is argued that these weaknesses are rooted in Trotskyist doctrine and are therefore integral, not peripheral, features of world Trotskyism. This volume will be essential reading for activists and scholars interested in the transnational history and politics of the radical left.

Social pacts - policy agreements between governments, labor unions and sometimes employer organizations - began to emerge in many countries in the 1980s. The most common explanations for social pacts tend to focus on economic factors, influenced by industrial relations institutions such as highly coordinated collective bargaining. This book presents, and tests, an alternative and complementary explanation highlighting the electoral calculations made by political parties in choosing pacts. Using a dataset covering 16 European countries for the years 1980-2006, as well as eight in-depth country case studies, the authors argue that governments' choice of social pacts or legislation is less influenced by economic problems, but is strongly influenced by electoral competition. Social pacts will be attractive when party leaders perceive them to be helpful in reducing the potential electoral costs of economic adjustment and wage restraint policies. Alternatively, parties may forgo negotiations with social partners and seek to impose such policies unilaterally if they believe that approach will yield electoral gain or minimize electoral costs. By combining the separate literatures on political economy and party politics, the book sheds new light on the dynamics of social pacts in Western Europe. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, economics, political economy, European Studies and comparative politics.

Introduction by John Banville
James Joyce was "the" singular figure of modernism, and to this day his grand vision looms large over contemporary literature and the entire Western canon. His stylistic innovations were revolutionary, yet nowhere is Joyce more accessible than in this volume of short stories, a brilliant collection that celebrates, critiques, and immortalizes the place that Joyce knew better than anyone else: Dublin. From the young boy encountering death in the opening story, "The Sisters," to the middle-aged protagonist of its haunting finale, "The Dead," considered one of the greatest short stories of all time, "Dubliners" is a vivid portrait of the city in all its glory and hardship, and a seminal work that redefined the short form. Featuring a new Introduction by acclaimed novelist John Banville, this edition is not only a breathless portal into Joyce's "dear dirty Dublin" but a vital literary treasure from one of the great masters of all time.

This book looks at the transfer and further development of value management procedures, as practised in North America, in a United Kingdom and Commonwealth construction industry context.

Every morning, FIXER robot,

trundles up the hill

To help the other robots as they

dig and push and drill.

A charming text that combines a truly heart-wrenching story with mechanical details, sure to enchant every young engineer.

Sport is frequently considered to be an aspect of popular culture that is, or should be, untainted by the political. However, there is a broad consensus among academics that sport is often at the heart of the political and the political is often central to sport. From the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany to the civil unrest that preceded the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, sport and politics have remained symbiotic bedfellows. The Routledge Handbook of Sport and Politics goes further than any other book in surveying the complex, embedded relationships between sport and politics. With sections addressing ideologies, nation and statehood, corporate politics, political activism, social justice, and the politics of sports events, it introduces the conceptual foundations that underpin our understanding of the sport-politics nexus and examines emergent issues in this field of study. Including in-depth case studies from North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia, this is an essential reference for anybody with an interest in the social scientific study of sport.

It's time for the most GRUESOME game ever . . . Don't miss the MONSTER BALL cup final THIS SATURDAY! The FANGTOWN FANTOMS vs the AWFUL ALL-STARS. Tickets on sale now! (Sadly tickets are not to be eaten.) When the ball eats the referee at the annual MonsterBowl competition, it's once again up to Ozzy and the monster doctor to save the day. The fourth in a howlingly hilarious series of monster adventures written and illustrated by John Kelly that will have you laughing your head off . . . literally. Don't miss Ozzy's adventures in Revolting Rescue and Slime Crime.

What Do You Do if Your House is a Zoo?

Oscar’s getting a pet! But which pet should he pick? And what on earth will he do when they all move in? His house is like a zoo! A book for animal lovers BIG and small.Quiet!

"Quiet!" roars Pa Lion. And all is quiet in the jungle. Not a rumble nor a grumble, not a chitter nor a chatter, not a pitter nor a patter, not a teeny, tiny squeak. Now Pa Lion must make sure it stays this way as baby Leo sleeps.Little Why

Little Why just can’t stay in line. There is so much to see – like Giraffe’s long-lofty leggy legs and Wildebeest’s spiny-spiky horns. Why can’t he have legs and horns like them? And then Little Why spots Crocodile’s snippy-snappy teeth… Look out!Squish Squash Squeeze!

Mouse’s new house seems perfect, with just enough room for his things. But who’s that growling by the piano? And who’s that sliding down the banister? Uh-oh! There are some VERY BIG animals living in the house. What a squish-squash-squeeze!Poo in the Zoo

There was tiger poo, lion poo, prickly porcupine poo, Plummeting giraffe poop that landed with a splat. Dollops of gnu poo, bouncy kangaroo poo, a trail of drippy droppings from a fat wombat!”Zoo Keeper Bob is exhausted. There’s too much poo in the zoo – and he’s the one who has to scoop it up. Then one day, a mysterious glowing poo appears! Could it be alien poop from outer space? And what on EARTH will Bob do with it?Hippobottymus

Plinkety-plonk! Tweetily-tweet! The jungle animals are making music to the sound of the bubbling creek! But – goodness me! – what is that naughty hippo up to? A bonkers, musical rhyming story with a laugh-out-loud, farting surprise! Dance and sing along to the musical noises – and bottoms - of the animals in this funny book.Mighty Mo

At the Golden Dodo Zoo, Mo the raccoon is bored, bored, bored. There must be something amazing he can do! It certainly isn’t making ice-creams or blowing up balloons… But when Big Ron the robber starts causing trouble, it’s up to mighty Mo to save the day! This hilarious story about an unlikely hero will appeal to any child with a sense of adventure.The Great Aaa-Ooo

As Mouse scampers homewards through the dark, rackety wood, he hears an awful AAA-OOO! What could be making that horrible howl? Could it be Owl, Moose, Bear or Goose? Or could it be . . . a monster? Perfect for reassuring children and toddlers who are scared of the dark or adjusting to sleeping in a big bed or in their own room.Can I Join Your Club?

Duck wants to join a club. But he needs to be able to ROAR to join Lion Club, or TRUMPET to join Elephant Club. And all he can do is QUACK! What’s a Duck to do? Why, set up his own club of course… where everyone is welcome to join!Hibernation Hotel

Can’t doze off? Cave too cramped? Friends too loud and whiffy? Then check into a hotel. The Hibernation Hotel! A hilarious book about getting what you want – then discovering what you need. Laura Brenlla brings Bear and his friends to life with gorgeous illustrations in this laugh-out-loud story about friendship from John Kelly (Can I Join Your Club?). Perfect for a bedtime chuckle with little ones who can’t get to sleep

A magisterial account of the worst disasters to strike humankind--the Great Irish Potato Famine--conveyed as lyrical narrative history from the acclaimed author of "The Great Mortality"

In this masterful, comprehensive account of the Irish Potato Famine, delivered with novelistic flair, Kelly gives us not only the startling facts of this disaster--one of the worst to strike mankind, killing twice as many lives as the American Civil War--but examines the intersection of political greed, bacterial infection, religious intolerance, and racism that made it possible. Kelly brings new material to his analysis of relevant political factors during the years leading up to the famine, and the extent to which Britain's nation-building policies exacerbated the mounting crisis. Despite the shocking, infuriating implications of his findings, "The Graves Are Walking" is ultimately a story of triumph--of one people's ability to remake themselves in a new land in the face of the unthinkable.

Social pacts - policy agreements between governments, labor unions and sometimes employer organizations - began to emerge in many countries in the 1980s. The most common explanations for social pacts tend to focus on economic factors, influenced by industrial relations institutions such as highly coordinated collective bargaining. This book presents, and tests, an alternative and complementary explanation highlighting the electoral calculations made by political parties in choosing pacts. Using a dataset covering 16 European countries for the years 1980-2006, as well as eight in-depth country case studies, the authors argue that governments' choice of social pacts or legislation is less influenced by economic problems, but is strongly influenced by electoral competition. Social pacts will be attractive when party leaders perceive them to be helpful in reducing the potential electoral costs of economic adjustment and wage restraint policies. Alternatively, parties may forgo negotiations with social partners and seek to impose such policies unilaterally if they believe that approach will yield electoral gain or minimize electoral costs. By combining the separate literatures on political economy and party politics, the book sheds new light on the dynamics of social pacts in Western Europe. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, economics, political economy, European Studies and comparative politics.

Allan Flanders was one of the leading British industrial relations academics and his ideas exerted a major influence on government labor policy in the 1960s and 1970s. But as well as being an Oxford academic with a strong interest in theory and labor reform, he was also a lifelong political activist. Originally trained in German revolutionary ethical socialism in the early 1930s, he was the founder and joint editor of Socialist Commentary, the leading outlet for 'revisionist' social democratic thinking in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the leading figure in the influential 1950s 'think tank' Socialist Union and played a key part in the bitter factional struggles inside the Labour Party. The main argument of the book is that Flanders' ethical socialist ideas constituted both his strength and his weakness. Their rigor, clarity and sweep enabled him to exert a major influence over government attempts to negotiate labor reforms with the trade unions. Yet he proved unable to explain the failure of the reforms amidst rising levels of industrial conflict, as his intellectual rigor turned into ideological rigidity. The failure of negotiated reform led to Margaret Thatcher's neo-liberal assault on trade union power in the 1980s.

Why are sport and exercise important? What can the study of sport and exercise tell us about wider society? Who holds the power in creating contemporary sport and exercise discourses? It is impossible to properly understand the role that sport and exercise play in contemporary society without knowing a little social theory. It is social theory that provides the vocabulary for our study of society, that helps us ask the right critical questions and that encourages us to look for the (real) story behind sport and exercise. Sport, Exercise and Social Theory is a concise and engaging introduction to the key theories that underpin the study of sport, exercise and society, including feminism, post-modernism, (Neo-)Marxism and the sociological imagination. Using vivid examples and descriptions of sport-related events and exercise practices, the book explains why social theories are important as well as how to use them, giving students the tools to navigate with confidence through any course in the sociology of sport and exercise. This book shows how theory can be used to debunk many of our traditional assumptions about sport and exercise and how they can be a useful window through which to observe wider society. Designed to be used by students who have never studied sociology before, and including a whole chapter on the practical application of social theory to their own study, it provides training in critical thinking and helps students to develop intellectual skills which will serve them throughout their professional and personal lives.

Allan Flanders was one of the leading British industrial relations academics and his ideas exerted a major influence on government labor policy in the 1960s and 1970s. But as well as being an Oxford academic with a strong interest in theory and labor reform, he was also a lifelong political activist. Originally trained in German revolutionary ethical socialism in the early 1930s, he was the founder and joint editor of Socialist Commentary, the leading outlet for ?revisionist? social democratic thinking in Britain in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also the leading figure in the influential 1950s ?think tank? Socialist Union and played a key part in the bitter factional struggles inside the Labour Party. The main argument of the book is that Flanders? ethical socialist ideas constituted both his strength and his weakness. Their rigor, clarity and sweep enabled him to exert a major influence over government attempts to negotiate labor reforms with the trade unions. Yet he proved unable to explain the failure of the reforms amidst rising levels of industrial conflict, as his intellectual rigor turned into ideological rigidity. The failure of negotiated reform led to Margaret Thatcher's neo-liberal assault on trade union power in the 1980s.

The second in The Future of Trade Unions in Britain series, this book covers the variety of ways in which unions are trying to revitalize themselves. There is a strong emphasis on organizing new workplaces and fresh evidence on the responses of employers to union presence. The impact of partnerships with employers, both in private and public sectors, is explored and so too are union innovations in structure, including use of the internet. An exciting new contribution.

The second in The Future of Trade Unions in Britain series, this book covers the variety of ways in which unions are trying to revitalize themselves. There is a strong emphasis on organizing new workplaces and fresh evidence on the responses of employers to union presence. The impact of partnerships with employers, both in private and public sectors, is explored and so too are union innovations in structure, including use of the internet. An exciting new contribution.

Duck wants to join a club. But he needs to be able to ROAR to join Lion Club, or TRUMPET to join Elephant Club. And all he can do is QUACK! What's a Duck to do? Why, set up his own club of course... where everyone is welcome to join! With a laugh-out-loud text from John Kelly and brilliantly quirky illustrations by Steph Laberis, Can I Join Your Club? is a heart-warming story which celebrates the importance of diversity and friendship. Perfect for little ones who are learning to make friends at a new school or nursery.

The Irish famine that began in 1845 was one of the nineteenth century's greatest disasters. By its end, the island's population of eight million had shrunk by a third through starvation, disease and emigration. This is a brilliant, compassionate retelling of that awful story for a new generation - the first account for the general reader for many years and a triumphant example of narrative non-fiction at its best. The immediate cause of the famine was a bacterial infection of the potato crop on which too many the Irish poor depended. What turned a natural disaster into a human disaster was the determination of senior British officials to use relief policy as an instrument of nation-building in their oldest and most recalcitrant colony. Well-meaning civil servants were eager to modernise Irish agriculture and to improve the Irish moral character, which was utterly lacking in the virtues of the new age of triumphant capitalism. The result was a relief programme more concerned with fostering change than of saving lives. This is history that resonates powerfully with our own times.

This book is a wide-ranging, radical and highly innovative critique of the prevailing orthodoxies within industrial relations and human resource management. It contains a detailed examination of the evolution of industrial relations arguing that the area is often under-theorised and influenced by the policy agenda of the state or employers. Subjects covered include:
* cenral problems in industrial relations
* the mobilisation theory of collective action
* the growth of non-union workplaces and the prospects and desirability of a new labour-management social partnership
* a historical account of worker collectivism, organization and militancy and state or employer countermobilisation
* a critique of postmodernism and accounts of the end of the labour movement.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415186722