If you mention the word ‘superhero’ these days, everyone and their mum can tell you a potted history of it all, because they’ve sat through numerous phases, extended TV series, and animated side-specials of expansive character-development, culminating in extraordinary final chapters, with the screen literally stacked full of characters battling one another while your eyes bleed with excitement and spectacle.  But before 1997, people would generally only think of a few things: Christopher Reeve smiling as he keeps a watchful eye over Earth’s atmosphere, Michael Keaton running around Gotham while dressed in moulded rubber. Nicholas Hammond's Spider-Man being hauled up a wall on a rope, pretending to grip it, while also being a foot away from it. Bill Bixby trying not to get angry, Flash Gordon arriving in another galaxy, that was essentially a soft porn film, Dolph Lundgren mumbling in broken English while Frank Langella hammed behind a mask, and how Michael Crawford dressed like a bird was the closest thing Disney had to a cinematic universe.  Despite starting on a high in 1978, by 1997 there could be no doubt that the genre was dead. Out was the sheen of verisimilitude, and in were Bat-credit-cards, ugly CGI, slashed budgets, rubber nipples and Martin Sheen in a girdle.  So, whatever happened to the heroes? Join John Rain as he walks through every film of note from 1978 to 1997, and examines just what went wrong, and how. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s SUPERBOOK. 

The 1980s. A time of fear: fear of the unknown, fear of your neighbours, fear of drugs, fear of sex, fear of strangers, fear of videos, and the very real fear that the world would end at any moment in an awful, and very sudden, nuclear attack. However, in those times of turmoil and worry, there was a comfort that soothed the mind, and acted as a quiet balm: action movies. Video shops were bursting at the seams with rampant gunfire, sex, drugs, rock, roll, cars on fire, people on fire, guns, bombs, and people dressed in army fatigues (and that was just the staff). Heroes were born shrouded in fire and violent revenge, they were not only armed with guns, but also red-hot quips, that served as a muscly arm around the shoulder, and a wink that everything was going to be okay. So thank you Arnold, Sylvester, Sigourney, Bruce, Eddie, Charles, Patrick, Mel, Chuck and everyone else that made it happen. You saved the world, in your own inimitable way. Join John Rain, the author of the critically-acclaimed Thunderbook: The World of Bond According to Smersh Pod, as he examines a choice selection of the greatest action movies from the decade when the explosion was king.

Volume 5 of Critical Perspectives in International Public Sector Management is comprised of three parts. The need for experimental learning in public management development, experimental learning formats and innovative teaching and transfer and value creation. This international, interdisciplinary volume is valuable for leadership, management, public management and education scholars.

This fully updated edition includes the 25th Bond film, No Time To Die, and also features a chapter covering Never Say Never Again, which starred Sean Connery as Bond but was not an official Eon film. The Bond films have entertained annoyed, excited, bored, aroused and invigorated cinemagoers (and ITV4 viewers) for more than fifty years. Who hasn't wanted to kick a big bloke with metal teeth in the groin? Fly a small plane out of a pretend horse's bottom? Or push a middle-aged man into space? No one, that's who. Thunderbook: The World of Bond According to Smersh Pod affectionately examines Bond with tongue firmly in cheek and elbow dug in ribs. Join John Rain as he goes film-by-film through the Bond saga as he points out all the good, the bad, and the double-taking pigeons contained within Bond's half-century of world domination. With one chapter for each of the twenty-five films, Thunderbook examines all the moments that are funny, silly, rubbish, nonsensical, bizarre and interesting, with the ultimate intention of celebrating Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and becoming the go-to companion book for the Bond fan at large.

This fully updated edition includes the 25th Bond film, No Time To Die, and also features a chapter covering Never Say Never Again, which starred Sean Connery as Bond but was not an official Eon film. The Bond films have entertained annoyed, excited, bored, aroused and invigorated cinemagoers (and ITV4 viewers) for more than fifty years. Who hasn't wanted to kick a big bloke with metal teeth in the groin? Fly a small plane out of a pretend horse's bottom? Or push a middle-aged man into space? No one, that's who. Thunderbook: The World of Bond According to Smersh Pod affectionately examines Bond with tongue firmly in cheek and elbow dug in ribs. Join John Rain as he goes film-by-film through the Bond saga as he points out all the good, the bad, and the double-taking pigeons contained within Bond's half-century of world domination. With one chapter for each of the twenty-five films, Thunderbook examines all the moments that are funny, silly, rubbish, nonsensical, bizarre and interesting, with the ultimate intention of celebrating Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and becoming the go-to companion book for the Bond fan at large.

Title: The History and Antiquities of the Parish of Blyth, in the counties of Nottingham and York, comprising accounts of the monastery, hospital, chapels ... together with biographical notices of Roger Mowbray ..., with introduction, notes, and appendix of documents.Publisher: British Library, Historical Print EditionsThe British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. It is one of the world's largest research libraries holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats: books, journals, newspapers, sound recordings, patents, maps, stamps, prints and much more. Its collections include around 14 million books, along with substantial additional collections of manuscripts and historical items dating back as far as 300 BC.The GEOGRAPHY & TOPOGRAPHY collection includes books from the British Library digitised by Microsoft. Offering some insights into the study and mapping of the natural world, this collection includes texts on Babylon, the geographies of China, and the medieval Islamic world. Also included are regional geographies and volumes on environmental determinism, topographical analyses of England, China, ancient Jerusalem, and significant tracts of North America. ++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ British Library Raine, John; 1860. 4 . 10358.h.12.

All the editors and contributors to this book are members of The University of Birmingham's 'Community and Criminal Justice Group' (BCCJ Group). Drawing on the different disciplines of law, criminology, forensic psychology, social work and public management, they explore the shifts and progress made in criminal justice in England and Wales over the past two decades and highlight the possibilities and pitfalls for the future. The overarching theme of the book is the balance between the role of central government in creating and shaping the regulatory framework of criminal justice and the potential for communities at local level to become more involved and to exercise more responsibility for themselves in responding to crime and anti-social behaviour in their midst. These twin dynamics are explored in the two main sections of the book. In Part I (The Regulatory State) through a series of case-studies, the authors examine how the central state has sought to address the risks and problems associated with crime and anti-social behaviour in modern times. They consider the new context for law and order which arose during the period under consideration and ask how and why new sanctions were put in place to regulate particular kinds of behaviour. They also highlight some of the unintended consequences, notably the criminalisation of more people. Then in Part II (Empowered Communities as Stakeholders in Criminal Justice) the book explores the potential for local communities playing a greater role in addressing the problems of crime and anti-social behaviour in their own neighbourhoods. In this section of the book the authors also consider the prospects for crime reduction through a more 'localist' approach in which citizens and communities play a more active part in a 'big society'. The book provides a timely and topical stock-taking of key issues and challenges within criminal justice. Through an exploration of the relative strengths and limitations of 'centrist' and 'localist' approaches to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour, it also offers a prescription of principles and priorities for a way forward. Reviews 'A riveting book which identifies the main criminal justice issues that need to be addressed by the government': Internet Law Book Reviews 'This is an extremely comprehensive text that has been written and constructed in an accessible way for students of this subject. The focus on risk, risk management and actuarialism in Chapter three provides a well-rounded and persuasive discussion over the extent of control and risk strategies. The issue of rights and liberties is maintained as a dominant thread throughout and readers are presented with a critical enagement with the practical, political and conceptual realities of modern criminal justice': Paul Taylor, University of Chester 'This collection represents a timely discussion of one of the key issues facing criminal justice over the next decade: namely how to reconcile the new drive for localism with the need to ensure fairness and efficiency in an increasingly complex criminal justice system': Stephen Shute, Head of Sussex University Law School 'Policy makers and practitioners would do well to reflect on the wisdom that is contained in this book': David Faulkner, University of Oxford Centre for Criminological Research.

Public Services Inspection in the UK provides a detailed account of the changing role of inspection in public services management. It analyses the key debates about the role that inspection plays in increasing public accountability and encouraging service improvement. Contributors describe current inspection methods across the key public sectors of education, social care, the criminal justice system, local government services and healthcare, and examine the underlying issues and tensions associated with public services inspection. They compare approaches adopted in different parts of the UK and present evidence that can be drawn on to develop more effective practice, as well as offering recommendations for future policy and research. Public Services Inspection in the UK is essential reading for public service managers, social workers, policy makers, researchers, academics, students and professionals working in public services who have an involvement in the inspection process.

Few people would ever expect that Karl Marx is the writer of the above statement. He not only wrote it, but he did so in the same breath of his more famous dictum that "religion is the opiate of the masses." How can one reconcile such different perspectives on the power and ubiquity of religion? In this compact reader of Marx's essential thought on religion, John Raines offers the full range of Marx's thoughts on religion and its relationship to the world of social relations. Through a careful selection of essays, articles, pamphlets, and letters, Raines shows that Marx had a far more complex understanding of religious belief. Equally important is how Marx's ideas on religion were intimately tied to his inquiries into political economy, revolution, social change, and the philosophical questions of the self. Raines offers an introduction that shows the continuing importance of the Marxist perspective on religion and its implications for the way religion continues to act in and respond to the momentous changes going on in our social and environmental worlds. Marx on Religion also includes a study guide to help professors and students--as well as the general reader--continue to understand the significance of this often under-examined component of Marx. Author note: John Raines is Professor of Religion at Temple University. He is the author of over a half-dozen books, including, most recently, What Men Owe to Women: Men's Voices from World Religions.

Making Peace In and With the World: The Gulen Movement and Eco-Justice is a representative study and working analysis of contemporary Islamic thought on eco-justice. It cuts through problems facing humanity today, ranging from inequality and violence in the smaller globalized world to "the end/death of nature" as signaled by various environmental and ecological crises. Addressing these problems, this volume sheds light on two dimensions of peace in the earth community - making peace between differing human communities, and making peace between humanity and nature. The phrase Eco-Justice in this volume signifies this dual reality, thereby offering a unique and insightful view that justice in the world must go hand in hand with ecological justice if "peace" is to be made.With its dual foci of peace, this volume contributes to multi-disciplinary academic areas. It adds to a burgeoning field of religious ecology, by exploring the dynamics at play in the interaction between religion, human communities and nature, and by providing natural scientific works with considerable theoretical, philosophical and ethical implications. This volume also corresponds to studies in the interdisciplinary field of "war and peace." Since it deals centrally with the question of religion and eco-justice, this volume challenges assumptions of exclusivist religion, religion-oriented violence and the religion-based "Clash of Civilizations."The contributors of this volume from diverse academic backgrounds take Gulen and the Gulen movement as the case study. Muhammed Fethullah Gulen is one of the most significant Islamic theologians in the contemporary world, and his inspired Gulen movement is the fastest growing Islamic civic movement worldwide. This volume provides a key reference to studies in Gulen and his movement for new discussions and criticisms. And, by taking this figure and his movement as a case, it reveals a new dimension of peace among differing human communities and between humanity and nature.