Between the ninth and seventh centuries BC the small kingdom of Assyria in northern Iraq expanded through conquest to dominate the region from Egypt to Iran. The power of the Assyrian kings was reflected in the creation of a series of magnificent palaces in which the walls of principal rooms and courtyards were lined with huge panels of alabaster carved with images of the monarch as priest, victorious warrior and hunter. Together, the sculptures constitute some of the most impressive and eloquent witnesses of the ancient Middle East. This book serves as a superb visual introduction to what are undoubtedly some of the greatest works of art from the ancient world, showcasing a series of specially taken photographs of the British Museum's unrivalled collection of Assyrian sculptures. These stunning images capture the majesty of the Assyrian king, his magnificent court and its protecting divinities, through individual panels or extraordinary, often overlooked details, such as incised embroidery on robes, the contours of flesh and musculature, the turn of a horse's head or the order within the apparent chaos of battle. An introduction sets the sculptures in their cultural and art-historical context. A brief history of Assyria and the royal palaces is followed by an overview of their discovery, reception and understanding. These are the earliest examples of complex narrative art, and their multilayered meanings occupied entire rooms in which the raw emotion and energy of animals and humans was captured with remarkable vitality. Many of these exceptional carvings rank among the greatest achievements in the history of art.

Sumer was a region of the ancient world that today forms the southern part of Iraq. It is a vast, flat land of floodplains formed by the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates. It was here that some of the world's first cities arose and writing was invented. Archaeologists have explored the remains of some of Sumer's ancient settlements. They have made remarkable discoveries at places such as Uruk, Ur, Eridu, Nippur, Kish and Lagash. These show that the people of Sumer were great artists, builders, inventors, warriors and traders. By 3500 BC the population of some Sumerian towns had grown into cities. The largest was certainly Uruk, which had a population of at least 10,000. At this time this would have been the largest settlement on the planet. Writing was invented by the Sumerians around 3200 BC. This script is known as cunieform script and through it readers can learn about the Sumerians in their own words. Readers will discover what is meant by a ziggurat, how cunieform writing works, the importance of cylinder seals and stories of Sumerian kings, heroes and gods. This fascinating book is perfect for Key Stage 2 readers aged 9 and up to gain a picture of one of the earliest civilisations in the world.

The concept of stylus phantasticus (or 'fantastic style') as it was expressed in free keyboard music of the north German Baroque forms the focus of this book. Exploring both the theoretical background to the style and its application by composers and performers, Paul Collins surveys the development of Athanasius Kircher's original concept and its influence on music theorists such as Brossard, Janovka, Mattheson, and Walther. Turning specifically to fantasist composers of keyboard works, the book examines the keyboard toccatas of Merulo, Fresobaldi, Rossi and Froberger and their influence on north German organists Tunder, Weckmann, Reincken, Buxtehude, Bruhns, Lubeck, Bohm, and Leyding. The free keyboard music of this distinguished group highlights the intriguing relationship at this time between composition and performance, the concept of fantasy, and the understanding of originality and individuality in seventeenth-century culture.

Stimulating, encyclopaedic, and often downright funny, this is a book worth remembering." , Stephen O'Shea, Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) A lively, full-to-bursting history of the turbulent tenth century in Europe, . Collins presents chaotic upheaval across Europe in an organized and riveting fashion." , Kirkus (starred review)The tenth century dawned in violence and disorder. Charlemagne's empire was in ruins, most of Spain had been claimed by Moorish invaders, and even the papacy in Rome was embroiled in petty, provincial conflicts. The stability once provided by Imperial Rome had dissolved, leaving a perilous landscape behind. Yet the story of the tenth century is the story of our culture's birth. This was the moment that civilization emerged from the Dark Ages into the light of day.The Birth of the West tells the story of a transformation from chaos to order, exploring the alien landscape of Europe in transition. It thoroughly renovates older conceptions of feudalism and what medieval life was actually like. The result is a wholly-new vision of how civilization sprang from the unlikeliest of origins, and proof that our tenth-century ancestors are not as remote as we might think. The Birth of the West is a re-making of what we think we know about the end of the Dark Ages. It is also the gate to the utterly unexpected cosmos of European forebears., The characters who people The Birth of the West are as familiar as relatives,as indeed they are,groping their way to a cohesive Western culture. The Birth of the West is thus the tale of our birth, and Collins tells it with a narrative grace and elegance which will make readers cherish it." , Thomas Keneally, author of Schindler's Ark

Covering all aspects of the syllabus, Crash Course offers you a fast way to recap on all you need to know to get through the exams with ease! Styled in an easy-to-follow, readily accessible format, each book has been prepared by senior medical students or junior doctors - under faculty supervision - to give you the correct level of information exactly as you need it! Each book begins with 'The Patient Presents With..' whilst the second part covers the common diseases and disorders you are likely to see in the clinical situation. Richly illustrated throughout, each chapter commences with learning objectives and has ample use of 'Hints and Tips' boxes, 'Communication' boxes and other useful aide-memoires. Self-assessment material - closely reflecting current exam requirements - concludes each volume and provides you with an opportunity to perfect both your knowledge and exam technique! Fly through your exams with Crash Course - THE revision aid to get you the results you need! Provides the exam syllabus in one place! Written by senior medical students or junior doctors - authors who really understand today's exam situation! Senior Faculty Advisors ensure complete accuracy of the text! Full artwork programme, improved 'Hints and Tips' boxes, and 'Communication' boxes help you remember the key points! Self-Assessment section - fully updated to reflect new curriculum requirements - helps you maximise your grade! Solid, accurate, user-friendly coverage provides enough detail even for those aiming at distinction Fully updated self-assessment section - ideal for current examination practice! Includes useful 'Learning Objectives' at the start of each chapter. Pharmacological and disease management information updated in line with current best practice guidelines. Includes recent research findings. Discusses key aspects of patient communication - presented in easy 'Communication' boxes. Fully updated to include feedback from hundreds of students! Welcome to Crash Course - the revision aid to get you the results you need! Crash Course is a complete revision guide designed specifically to save you time by providing everything you could be asked in the exam in one place! Each book in the series has been specially written either by senior medical students or junior doctors - carefully supervised by faculty advisors - to ensure that it exactly matches your needs by having been prepared by someone who has just been in the exam situation! Fully updated with improved layout, the first part of each volume covers a comprehensive series of common presentations while the second part addresses specific diseases and disorders. The third part of the book is given to a detailed exploration of the role of history, examination, and common investigations in the relevant speciality providing all of the facts you need to get things right! New features include 'Learning Objectives' at the start of each chapter, improved 'Hints and Tips' boxes, 'Communication' boxes and a completely revised self-assessment section tailored to the current exam formats! Crash Course - an easier way to get through the exam!

The concept of stylus phantasticus (or 'fantastic style') as it was expressed in free keyboard music of the north German Baroque forms the focus of this book. Exploring both the theoretical background to the style and its application by composers and performers, Paul Collins surveys the development of Athanasius Kircher's original concept and its influence on music theorists such as Brossard, Janovka, Mattheson, and Walther. Turning specifically to fantasist composers of keyboard works, the book examines the keyboard toccatas of Merulo, Fresobaldi, Rossi and Froberger and their influence on north German organists Tunder, Weckmann, Reincken, Buxtehude, Bruhns, Lubeck, Bohm, and Leyding. The free keyboard music of this distinguished group highlights the intriguing relationship at this time between composition and performance, the concept of fantasy, and the understanding of originality and individuality in seventeenth-century culture.

On 23 November 1849, in the heart of Boston, one of the city's richest men vanished. Dr. George Parkman, who owned much of Boston's West End, was last seen that afternoon visiting his alma mater, Harvard Medical School. Police scoured city tenements and the harbour but a Harvard janitor held a much darker suspicion: that their ruthless benefactor had not left the Medical School building. His shocking discovery engulfed America in one of its most infamous trials, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts vs. John White Webster, Harvard's professor of chemistry. A baffling case of red herrings, grave robbing and dismemberment; it became a landmark in the use of medical forensics. Rich in characters and atmosphere, Blood & Ivy explores the fatal entanglement of new science and old money in one of America's greatest murder mysteries.

.Tells the story of the tomb of Tutankhamun, placing the discoveries in their historical context and includes many historical documents that are being published here for the first time .Includes painstaking recreations, in color, of a number of key contemporary photographs taken at the time by Harry Burton .Published to accompany an exhibition at The Ashmoleam Museum, Oxford, UK from July 24th to October 26th 2014 Howard Carter's excavation of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 was one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. The name of Egypt's 'boy king' is now synonymous with the glories of this ancient civilization, and the spectacular contents of his tomb continue to capture the public's imagination. This book tells the story of the search for Tutankhamun's tomb and its discovery using Howard Carter's original excavation records that were deposited in the archives of the Griffith Institute at the University of Oxford. The meticulous recording process and conservation work on the thousands of objects took Carter and his team an astonishing 10 years and for its time the entire enterprise was a model of archaeological investigation. Against this backdrop of painstaking scholarship, the book also explores the phenomenon of 'Tut-mania', when the world was gripped by all things Tutankhamun, from jewelry and clothing to dance music and curses. In the final section, the authors re-evaluate what the tomb's contents can tell us about the king and his time, and explore various projects that have in recent years sought to ensure the preservation of Tutankhamun's tomb and its contents for future generations. For all of these projects, the Howard Carter archive in the Griffith Institute remains an invaluable resource."

In 1799, the papacy was at rock bottom: The Papal States had been swept away and Rome seized by the revolutionary French armies. The cardinals were scattered across Europe, and Catholics feared they would be unable to elect the next pope. Even if Catholicism survived, it seemed the papacy was finished. And yet, just over two hundred years later, the pope still stands "at the very center of the central conversations of our time" (Time). His influence reaches across the world--from Cuban politics to gender equality to the refugee crisis--and the strength of his "soft power" is incomparable. In this gripping narrative of religious and political history, Paul Collins tells the improbable success story of the last 220 years of the papacy, from the unexalted death of Pope Pius VI in 1799 to the celebrity of Pope Francis today. As a historian, journalist, and theologian, Collins also poses pressing, critical questions to the Catholic Church: Does today's church governance stray from the teachings of the gospel? Is the papacy's internal power so great that it might be considered heretical? If so, what can be done to ensure a credible--and Christ-like--path forward? Absolute Power is required reading for anyone interested in the history of today's complex power structures--as well as anyone invested in religious, political, and social progress in the West.

Anyone who has read Dragonlinks will recognise Paul Collins as a writer who truly understands the power of high fantasy. It is the power to tease the imagination with worlds so exotic, yet so seemingly familiar, that we allow ourselves to recognise within them the best and worst that we can be. From the opening battle with the deadmoon warriors to the fi nal confrontation with the Preceptors fearsome legions, through the wonders and dangers of paraworlds, the Countess Jelindel, scholar, Adept and fi ghter, must call upon all her power, intelligence and courage and trust in the loyalty of friends to restore balance. Share the journey on the Dragonfang. The ride is exhilarating!

The Sumerians are widely believed to have created the world's earliest civilization on the fertile floodplains of southern Iraq from about 3500 to 2000 BC. They have been credited with the invention of nothing less than cities, writing and the wheel, and therefore hold an ancient mirror to our own urban, literate world. But is this picture correct? Paul Collins reveals how the idea of a Sumerian people was assembled from the archaeological and textual evidence uncovered in Iraq and Syria over the last 150 years. Reconstructed through the biases of those who unearthed them, the Sumerians were never simply lost and found, but reinvented a number of times, both in antiquity and in the more recent past.

This is a major re-evaluation of the life and legacy of Gertrude Lowthian Bell (1868-1926), the renowned scholar, explorer, writer, archaeologist, and British civil servant. The book examines Gertrude Bell's role in shaping British policy in the Middle East in the first part of the 20th century, her views of the cultures and peoples of the region, and her unusual position as a woman occupying a senior position in the British imperial administration. It focuses particularly on her involvement in Iraq and the part she played in the establishment of the Iraqi monarchy and the Iraqi state. In addition, the book examines her interests in Iraq's ancient past. She was instrumental in drawing up Iraq's first Antiquities Law in 1922 and in the foundation of the Iraq Museum in 1923. Gertrude Bell refused to be constrained by the expectations of the day, and was able to succeed in a man's world of high politics and diplomacy. She remains a controversial figure, however, especially in the context of the founding of the modern state of Iraq. Does she represent a more innocent age when the country was born out of the remnants of the Ottoman Empire, or does she personify the attitudes and decisions that have created today's divided Middle East? The volume's authors bring new insights to these questions.

There is no lower rank than cabin boy on the warship Invincible. But Dantar knows he is important, because anyone who threatens his life gets turned into a pile of ashes. His older sister Velza is a shapecasting warrior, in a world where only men fight. Until now. Together they must solve the mystery of broken magic and escape the dragon.

Dudley was connected by tram to various parts of the Black Country, first by steam trams and then by electric ones. This book takes a route-by-route look at the development, operation and run-down of the tramway system which once linked Dudley to Brierley Hill, Stourbridge, Netherton, Cradley Heath, Pensnett, Kingswinford, Wordsley, Kinver, Lye, Wollaston, Old Hill and Blackheath. After charting each line's history, the book recreates a ride along them using a plethora of historic photographs, many of which have not been published before, highlighting the many features and objects from the tramway that survive along the way.

Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds features exciting fiction and non-fiction decodable readers to enthuse and inspire children. They are fully aligned to Letters and Sounds Phases 1-6 and contain notes in the back. The Handbooks provide support in demonstration and modelling, monitoring comprehension and expanding vocabulary. Children do different yoga poses and show how to be mindful in this non-fiction book. Pink A/Band 1A offers emergent readers very simple, highly predictable texts and provides direct support through illustrations. The focus sounds in this book are: /s/ /a/ /t/ /p/ /i/ /n/ Pages 14 and 15 contain a fun "I Spy" Letters and Sounds activity, which uses visual support to help children embed phonic knowledge. Reading notes within the book provide practical support for reading Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds with children, including a list of all the sounds and words that the book will cover.

Discover a new way to train with dumbbells and add a new dimension to your exercise program for spectacular results. Every piece of exercise equipment serves a purpose, but none more so than the dumbbell, commonly referred to as 'free weights' or 'hand weights. Held in either one hand or as a pair in both hands whilst performing exercises, dumbbells can be used to create a highly effective and successful exercise program. Now, "Dumbbell Training" offers readers a revolutionary new way to get the most out of any exercise plan using the tried-and-tested 3-Stage Dumbbell Training System. Filled with full-colour photos and easy-to-follow instructions, readers will learn how to combine traditional strength training with more functional and dynamic movement patterns to achieve exceptional results.

Collins Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds features exciting fiction and non-fiction decodable readers to enthuse and inspire children. They are fully aligned to Letters and Sounds Phases 1-6 and contain notes in the back. The Handbooks provide support in demonstration and modelling, monitoring comprehension and expanding vocabulary. Join Jake and Jen on an exciting sailing trip across a stormy sea, filled with fraught dangers and scary sharks - or at least that's what they think they are...This exciting story was written by award-winning author Chris Bradford and illustrated by award-winning illustrator Korky Paul. Orange/Band 6 books offer varied text and characters, with action sustained over several pages. The focus sounds in this book are: /ai/ a, eigh /ee/ e, y /oo/ u /igh/ y /ch/ tch, t /c/ ch /j/ g, ge, dge /l/ le /f/ ph /w/ wh /v/ ve /s/ se /z/ se Pages 22 and 23 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall. Reading notes within the book provide practical support for reading Big Cat Phonics for Letters and Sounds with children, including a list of all the sounds and words that the book will cover.

Clara lives in her balanced world where everything is perfect. Her glasshouse is free of bugs, her prized pumpkins free of blemishes. But then one day a boy walks into her life and slowly Clara realises that her world is not perfect at all. Her paranoia spreads and she loses all her customers. Finally, she must face up to the realisation that her world is not perfect, and she must make allowances and compromise if she is to survive.

Big Cat Phonics for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised has been developed in collaboration with Wandle Learning Trust and Little Sutton Primary School. It comprises classroom resources to support the SSP programme and a range of phonic readers. The 7+ books are designed for children aged 7+ who need more practice to acquire phonics skills. Jake and Jen have been tasked with looking after the emperor's treasure, and they must protect it at all costs! But will they be able to stop the clever ninja before it gets its paws on the treasure? Find out how our favourite pair rises up to this challenge in this fun-filled experience written by Chris Bradford and illustrated by Korky Paul.

Big Cat Phonics for Little Wandle Letters and Sounds Revised has been developed in collaboration with Wandle Learning Trust and Little Sutton Primary School. It comprises classroom resources to support the SSP programme and a range of phonic readers that together provide a consistent and highly effective approach to teaching phonics. Jake and Jen have a high-flying adventure in a hot air balloon over the African savannah. But will they make a safe landing? Find out in this funny adventure story by award-winning author Chris Bradford. Illustrated by award-winning illustrator Korky Paul. Pages 22 and 23 allow children to re-visit the content of the book, supporting comprehension skills, vocabulary development and recall. Reading notes within the book provide practical support for reading with children, including a list of all the sounds and words that the book will cover.

A tale of the acceptance of change and loss; the importance of friends and family, and the uplifting strength that comes from hope. Harrys mum runs a boarding house for transient old men who are down on their luck. To counter his frustration and anger, Harry longs for the companionship of a dog. The Annual Gala at school features a dog hurdle race and more than anything in the world, Harry would love to enter a dog into that race and win it. Such a win would give him a sense of worth and belonging. A new lodger, Jack Ellis, befriends Harry and shares a wealth of outback adventure stories featuring dogs with him.