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.

This awesome, true-life story begins with an unusual visit, by two most mysterious, yet very warm mannered, well-acknowledged catholic priests who enrolled in an astrology class I was teaching at Temple University

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and the surrounding region in 2005, the city debated whether to press on with Mardi Gras or cancel the parades. Ultimately, they decided to proceed. New Orleans's recovery certainly has resulted from a complex of factors, but the city's unique cultural life-perhaps its greatest capital-has been instrumental in bringing the city back from the brink of extinction. Voicing a civic fervor, local writer Chris Rose spoke for the importance of Carnival when he argued to carry on with the celebration of Mardi Gras following Katrina: "We are still New Orleans. We are the soul of America. We embody the triumph of the human spirit. Hell, we ARE Mardi Gras."" Since 2006, a number of new Mardi Gras practices have gained prominence. The new parade organizations or krewes, as they are called, interpret and revise the city's Carnival traditions but bring innovative practices to Mardi Gras. The history of each parade reveals the convergence of race, class, age, and gender dynamics in these new Carnival organizations. Downtown Mardi Gras: New Carnival Practices in Post-Katrina New Orleans examines six unique, offbeat, Downtown celebrations. Using ethnography, folklore, cultural, and performance studies, the authors analyze new Mardi Gras's connection to traditional Mardi Gras. The narrative of each krewe's development is fascinating and unique, illustrating participants' shared desire to contribute to New Orleans's rich and vibrant culture.

In August 1992 Robert Frank's good friend and antique dealer Reginald Rankin invited Frank on a trip to Pangnirtung, a village of around 1,300 Inuit inhabitants in the Arctic Circle. This book is Frank's documentation of the five-day sojourn. Curiously Frank depicts Pangnirtung void of its people: the still harbour, public housing, a convenience store, a telephone post. Sincere without being sentimental, the photos are shaped by a short text from Frank himself, "Prefabricated homes along the main road in Pangnirtung. At times a decorated window - reflections inside or outside. Stones - maybe the balance of a big sky above..." Robert Frank was born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1924 and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He is best known for his seminal book The Americans, first published in 1958, which gave rise to a distinct new form in the photo-book, and his experimental film Pull My Daisy, made in 1959. Frank's other important projects include the books Black White and Things, 1952, and The Lines of My Hand, 1972, and the film Cocksucker Blues for the Rolling Stones, 1972. He divides his time between New York City and Nova Scotia, Canada.

In 1950, Robert Frank left his job as a photographer in New York to travel through Europe with his family. That summer he arrived in Valencia, Spain, which was at the time a humble, bleak place enduring the austere conditions of the postwar period like the rest of the country. The pictures Frank took of Valencia depict the daily life of a fishing village. His portrayal is so natural and clear that further verbal explanation seems superfluous; they simply reflect, in the photo grapher's words, "the humanity of the moment". The photographs in this book, many of which have never been published before, allow dignity to override poverty. Robert Frank, a key figure in photographic history, was born in Zurich in 1924 and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He is best known for his seminal book The Americans, first published in 1959, which gave rise to a distinct new form in the photobook, and his experimental film Pull My Daisy (1959). Frank's other projects include the books Black White and Things (1954) and The Lines of My Hand (1972), and the film Cocksucker Blues (1972) documenting the Rolling Stones. His awards include the Erich Salomon Prize (1985), the Hasselblad Award (1996), the Cornell Capa Award (1999) and the PHotoEspana Award (2007) amongst others. Frank divides his time between New York City and Nova Scotia, Canada.

A simpler life. In a shadow cast by the jarring beginning of the new millennium, simplicity has an undeniable appeal. Global conflicts, domestic security concerns, and a stalling economy can make keeping up with the Joneses feel like, at best, a misguided luxury. Now is not a time for excess; it is a time, it would seem, to focus on 'what really matters.' Thus the appeal of voluntary simplicity, a notion that combines the freedom of modernity with certain comforts and virtues of the past. The authors in this volume speak to the what, why, and how of voluntary simplicity (and even to some extent the where, when, and who). Those included range from contemporary academics to thinkers from the turn of the last century, from ardent supporters to staunch critics. They approach the subject from a variety of perspectives-economic, psychological, sociological, historical, and theological. Each either implicitly or explicitly helps us explore the desirability and feasibility of voluntary simplicity.

In this riveting book, Wall Street Journal reporter Robert Frank explores the lives and lifestyles of a new breed of millionaires and billionaires - many of them self-made and from blue-collar backgrounds - and how this new gilded age is affecting wider society. Profiles of 'instapreneurs', dot-com billionaires, and eccentrics from the lower and upper reaches of Richistan take us into the rarified world of people like Ed Bazinet, who became a multi-millionaire by selling miniature ceramic villages, and Tim Blixseth, who earned billions by trading remote stretches of timberland. The influence wielded by the newly wealthy goes far beyond their earning power, and Frank also explores the lifestyles developing around them (butler schools and a new type of service employee, self-help groups for people worth $10 million or more) as well as where their money is going (the commodification of the art world, the rise of 'market-driven' philanthropy). As wealth creation becomes more and more globalised, Richistan looks behind the glitz to find the real story of new money and its impact on the world.

Robert Frank is a humble photographer who makes humble books. Despite this humility - or perhaps because of it - Frank has produced some of the most important books in the history of photography. Steidl has long been committed to producing with Frank the definitive editions of books such as The Americans and Black White and Things, which have gone through many re-printings over the years, often without Frank's approval or knowledge. This season sees the release of the next instalment of Frank's Complete Film Works, as well as two books that reveal Frank's approach to book-making now. The re-edition of 2010's Tal Uf Tal Ab and the new You Would combine recent photographs, classic images and autobiographical texts in two affordable softcover volumes which possess an unassuming authority.

In "Partida," Robert Frank continues the journey through his archives, presenting us with a new series of images of friends, colleagues, interiors, of quiet still lives and snap shots of both ordinary and unexpected objects and situations. Frank's visual diaries constitute an important part of both his later work and the ongoing art of the photo book.

Following its acclaimed predecessors Tal Uf Tal Ab (2010) and You Would (2012), Park / Sleep is the third in the series of Robert Franks late visual diaries. It takes up his familiar collage technique, combining new and old snapshots mainly of Frank's friends, family, and home/studio, but also scenic and urban settings and interiors. The images are accompanied by short textsnotes, pieces of conversations, poems, and thoughts. Robert Frank was born in Zurich, Switzerland, in 1924 and immigrated to the United States in 1947. He is best known for his seminal book The Americans, first published in 1959, which gave rise to a distinctly new form of photobooks, and his experimental film Pull My Daisy, made in 1959. Franks other important projects include the books Black White and Things (1954), Lines of My Hand (1972), and the film Cocksucker Blues for the Rolling Stones (1972). He divides his time between New York City and Nova Scotia, Canada.