The Routledge Companion to Narrative Theory brings together top scholars in the field to explore the significance of narrative to pressing social, cultural, and theoretical issues. How does narrative both inform and limit the way we think today? From conspiracy theories and social media movements to racial politics and climate change future scenarios, the reach is broad. This volume is distinctive for addressing the complicated relations between the interdisciplinary narrative turn in the academy and the contemporary boom of instrumental storytelling in the public sphere. The scholars collected here explore new theories of causality, experientiality, and fictionality; challenge normative modes of storytelling; and offer polemical accounts of narrative fiction, nonfiction, and video games. Drawing upon the latest research in areas from cognitive sciences to complexity theory, the volume provides an accessible entry point for those new to the myriad applications of narrative theory and a point of departure for new scholarship.

Unthinkable is the first book on innovation to be written from the trenches. Expert Tom Hopkins explains why big companies so often fail to do new things, and clearly explores the solutions pioneered at product and service innovation company Fluxx. Identify with real-life stories of new product development gone wrong. Learn about the underlying human and business factors which can derail even the most well equipped teams. Understand new approaches that can deliver successful outcome for you today. Tom's examples are drawn from extensive experience working with many of the world's biggest brands at Fluxx, offering inspiration and enthusiasm for leaders embarking on the uphill struggle of innovation in established businesses. "Tom captures exactly what it's really like to try to do new things in a big company. There's no management textbook waffle here, just real lessons from the school of hard knocks and genuinely useful advice for leaders brave enough to look for a new way." -Rupert Howell, Founder of HHCL "Simply one of the most concise, common sense and useful books on the subject I've seen in ages." -Dominic Vallely, Former Deputy Controller of BBC2 and Founder of The Giving Lab "Read this if you like to be challenged. Read this if you don't like the hype about innovation. Read this if you want some hard-won lessons and plain-spoken explanations from someone who has worked at the sharp end of innovation and business." -Antony Mayfield, Founder of Brilliant Noise

Did You Just Eat That? provides the answers to perennial questions about food and germs, such as whether electric hand dryers spread fewer germs than paper towels or about picking a crisp off the ground within five seconds of dropping it. The authors show how they have determined everything from how much bacteria gets transferred from sharing utensils to how many microbes live on restaurant menus. They list their materials and methods, guide the reader through their results and offer explanations of food safety and microbiology. Written with humour, this fascinating book reveals surprising answers to the weirdest and most commonly debated questions about food and germs.

The Napoleonic Wars gripped Europe, and beyond, for over ten years at the beginning of the Nineteenth century. Hundreds of battles were fought between the armies of France (and its allies) and all those powers that wished to see Napoleon Bonaparte stopped in his tracks and an end to the French Empire. The battles and sieges of the Napoleonic Wars, which cost the lives of between 3 and 6 million men, made unprecedented use of large guns, and every participating army possessed a range of artillery. With the wars covering such a long period of time, and with so many armies involved, the subject of Napoleonic artillery is a complicated one, and no work has attempted to examine all the weapons involved in a single, detailed volume. Until now. The product of years of research, this book presents most of what is known about the artillery pieces of the Napoleonic Wars. Including numerous drawings, contemporary illustrations and modern photographs of surviving guns, it will be an invaluable addition to the library of historians, modellers, wargamers and re-enactors.

This book examines the institutional history and disciplinary future of creative writing in the contemporary academy, looking well beyond the perennial questions 'can writing be taught?' and 'should writing be taught?'.
Paul Dawson traces the emergence of creative writing alongside the new criticism in American universities; examines the writing workshop in relation to theories of creativity and literary criticism; and analyzes the evolution of creative writing pedagogy alongside and in response to the rise of 'theory' in America, England and Australia.
Dawson argues that the discipline of creative writing developed as a series of pedagogic responses to the long-standing 'crisis' in literary studies. His polemical account provides a fresh perspective on the importance of creative writing to the emergence of the 'new humanities' and makes a major contribution to current debates about the role of the writer as public intellectual.

In this bicentenary celebration of Wagner and his music, Paul Dawson-Bowling introduces, deepens and enriches the Wagner Experience for the newcomer and seasoned Wagnerian alike. Expounding in colourful style the stories, the sources and the lessons of Wagner's great dramas, he offers unusual insights into the man, his works and their meaning, while grappling with the music's almost occult power.