Four-volume collection featuring Marvel Comics superheroes. In 'X-Men Origins - Wolverine' (2009) Hugh Jackman reprises his role as clawed mutant Wolverine, formerly James Logan, in this blockbuster action prequel. The film, set over the years leading up to the events of the 2003 'X-Men' movie, follows the young Logan from the first awakenings of his mutant powers in childhood up to his amnesiac rebirth as Wolverine, and recounts his tumultuous relationship with his ferocious half-brother, Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), and the events that lead him to sign up to the ominous Weapon X programme. In 'Daredevil' (2003), Ben Affleck stars as Matt Murdock who, after being blinded by a spillage of toxic waste when he was a boy, develops his other senses to an incredible degree, allowing him to navigate the city with pinpoint accuracy. Now he works by day as a lawyer, and by night he becomes the Daredevil when he uses his supersenses to continue his fight against underworld supervillain Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan). In 'Elektra' (2005) Jennifer Garner plays Elektra Natchios, a hired assassin who is reunited with her old martial arts master, Stick (Terence Stamp). When she is given an assignment to kill Mark Miller (Goran Visnjic) and his daughter, Abby (Kristin Prout), her conscience gets the better of her and she decides to protect them instead, provoking the wrath of martial arts syndicate 'The Hand'. Finally, in 'Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer' (2007), the sequel to the 2005 adaptation of the comic book, Sue Storm, aka The Invisible Girl (Jessica Alba), and Reed Richards, aka Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd), prepare for their upcoming, superhero-studded wedding celebration. But Reed is preoccupied by reports of a bizarre, comet-like object hurtling toward the Earth with tremendous force. When the object hits the island of Manhattan, destroying much of the city in its wake, its identity becomes resoundingly clear: 'it' is actually a psychotic villain known as The Silver Surfer (voice of Laurence Fishburne) who aims to destroy the Earth. Sue and Reed decide to summon Ben Grimm, aka The Thing (Michael Chiklis), and Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch (Chris Evans), to take on the Surfer - and end up battling not only him, but an obnoxious army general (Andre Braugher) and the cantankerous Victor Von Doom (Julian MacMahon), who has broken out of the icy prison that held him captive at the end of the first movie.

Romantic comedy starring Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel and Danny DeVito. Beth Harper (Bell) is a young, career-driven New Yorker who has hitherto been very unlucky in love. While on a whirlwind trip to Rome for her sister's wedding, she is attracted to the best man, Nick (Duhamel), but is dismayed to see him with another woman and turns to drink to drown her disappointment. In her drunken state she delves for coins in the famed 'Fontana de Amore', and is amazed on her return to New York to find herself being pursued by not one but five love-crazed men - including the delectable Nick. But is he really in love with her, or simply under the fountain's spell?

In this nationally bestselling, compulsively readable account of what makes brain science a vital component of people's quest to know themselves, acclaimed science writer Steven Johnson subjects his own brain to a battery of tests to find out what's really going on inside. He asks:

• How do we "read" other people?
• 
  
• What is the neurochemistry behind love and sex?
• 
  
• What does it mean that the brain is teeming with powerful chemicals closely related to recreational drugs?
• 
  
• Why does music move us to tears?
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• Where do breakthrough ideas come from?

Johnson answers these and many more questions arising from the events of our everyday lives. You do not have to be a neuroscientist to wonder, for example, why do you smile? And why do you sometimes smile inappropriately, even if you don't want to? How do others read your inappropriate smile? How does such interplay occur neurochemically, and what, if anything, can you do about it?
Fascinating and rewarding, "Mind Wide Open" speaks to brain buffs, self-obsessed neurotics, barstool psychologists, mystified parents, grumpy spouses, exasperated managers, and anyone who enjoys speculating and gossiping about the motivations and behaviors of other human beings. Steven Johnson shows us the transformative power of understanding brain science and offers new modes of introspection and tools for better parenting, better relationships, and better living.

The legacy of Rome is still very much with us in Europe. It forms part of our cultural backdrop, and is enshrined in the European mind, whether through classical literature, education and jurisprudence, or spectacular ruins. In Rome and Its Empire, first published in 1989, Stephen Johnson examines our understanding of the archaeological aspects of Roman civilisation, and traces the development of archaeology from the earliest post-Roman times, through to its real discovery in the eighteenth century, and its burgeoning in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Various areas of modern archaeological thought and practice are examined with regard to the study of Roman archaeology. The emphasis is on how archaeologists examine and classify material, and the various ways in which valid historical conclusions are deduced from that evidence. Johnson concludes by exploring how techniques from other disciplines are now being applied to archaeological study, and indicates what we may yet learn from this.

This book provides a thorough analysis of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP), from a variety of perspectives including its factions, party presidential elections, the distribution of posts, national elections, local organisations, the policy making process and partner organisations. Drawing on comprehensive and up-to-date data, as well as a large number of interviews, internal party documents and quantitative data, The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan explains the machinery of the Japanese government and ruling party, exploring how policies are made. In so doing, the chapters also analyse the strengths and weaknesses of today's LDP through a comparison of Koizumi Juni'ichiro and Abe Shinzo, both having established long-lasting administrations through their strong leadership. Demonstrating how the LDP has changed significantly over recent years, particularly since the political reforms of 1994, this book will be extremely useful to students and scholars of Japanese and Asian politics.

Introduced and edited by broadcaster Stephen Johnson, a curated selection of chilling ghost stories from world literature. Why do people love ghost stories, even if they don't believe (or say they don't believe) in ghosts? Is it simply the adrenaline rush that comes from being mesmerized and terrified by a great storyteller, or do these tales yield deeper meanings-telling us things about our own inner shadows? Stephen Johnson brings together some of the most memorable encounters with ghosts in world literature, from Europe, Russia, the United States, and China. Recurring themes and imagery are noted, interpretations suggested-but only suggested, since ambiguity and resistance to rational interpretation are key elements in the best ghost stories. As the writer Robert Aickman observed, often the decisive moment comes when someone, somehow, makes a "wrong turning"-literally, perhaps, but at the same time psychologically, even morally-and some mysterious nemesis takes over. Old favorites by M. R. James, Ambrose Bierce, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman are interlaced with extracts from longer works by Emily Bronte, Henry James, and Alexander Pushkin,, along with slightly left-field apparitions from Tove Jansson and Flann O'Brien. With such expert guides, who knows what we will be led to encounter in the haunted chambers of our minds?

'Thrilling.' John Banville, Guardian The Eighth Symphony was going to be different from anything Mahler had ever done before: it would speak in different tones, and of a different kind of experience. The world premiere in Munich in the summer of 1910 was the artistic breakthrough for which the composer had yearned all his adult life. Stephen Johnson recounts the symphony's far-reaching effect on composers, conductors and writers of the time. Placing Mahler within his world, The Eighth reassesses Mahler's work in the context of the prevailing thought of his age, but also against the backdrop of that tumultuous summer, when Mahler worked desperately on his Tenth Symphony, was betrayed by his wife, and consulted Sigmund Freud. It is a story like no other.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK
A VOICE LITERARY SUPPLEMENT TOP 25 FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR
AN ESQUIRE MAGAZINE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

In the tradition of Being Digital and The Tipping Point, Steven Johnson, acclaimed as a "cultural critic with a poet's heart" (The Village Voice), takes readers on an eye-opening journey through emergence theory and its applications. Explaining why the whole is sometimes smarter than the sum of its parts, Johnson presents surprising examples of feedback, self-organization, and adaptive learning. How does a lively neighborhood evolve out of a disconnected group of shopkeepers, bartenders, and real estate developers? How does a media event take on a life of its own? How will new software programs create an intelligent World Wide Web?

In the coming years, the power of self-organization -- coupled with the connective technology of the Internet -- will usher in a revolution every bit as significant as the introduction of electricity. Provocative and engaging, Emergence puts you on the front lines of this exciting upheaval in science and thought.

The legacy of Rome is still very much with us in Europe. It forms part of our cultural backdrop, and is enshrined in the European mind, whether through classical literature, education and jurisprudence, or spectacular ruins. In Rome and Its Empire, first published in 1989, Stephen Johnson examines our understanding of the archaeological aspects of Roman civilisation, and traces the development of archaeology from the earliest post-Roman times, through to its real discovery in the eighteenth century, and its burgeoning in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Various areas of modern archaeological thought and practice are examined with regard to the study of Roman archaeology. The emphasis is on how archaeologists examine and classify material, and the various ways in which valid historical conclusions are deduced from that evidence. Johnson concludes by exploring how techniques from other disciplines are now being applied to archaeological study, and indicates what we may yet learn from this.

Later Roman Britain, first published in 1980, charts the end of Roman rule in Britain and gives an overall impression of the beginning of the so-called 'Dark Ages' of British history, the transitional period which saw the breakdown of Roman administration and the beginnings of Saxon settlement. Stephen Johnson traces the flourishing of Romano-British society and the pressures upon it which produced its eventual fragmentation, examining the province's barbarian neighbours and the way the defence was organised against the many threats to its security. The final chapters, using mainly the findings of recent archaeology, assess the initial arrival of the Saxon settlers, and indicate the continuity of life between late Roman and early Saxon England. Later Roman Britain gives a fascinating glimpse of a period scarce with historical sources, but during which changes fundamental to the formation of modern Britain began to take place.

Later Roman Britain, first published in 1980, charts the end of Roman rule in Britain and gives an overall impression of the beginning of the so-called 'Dark Ages' of British history, the transitional period which saw the breakdown of Roman administration and the beginnings of Saxon settlement. Stephen Johnson traces the flourishing of Romano-British society and the pressures upon it which produced its eventual fragmentation, examining the province's barbarian neighbours and the way the defence was organised against the many threats to its security. The final chapters, using mainly the findings of recent archaeology, assess the initial arrival of the Saxon settlers, and indicate the continuity of life between late Roman and early Saxon England. Later Roman Britain gives a fascinating glimpse of a period scarce with historical sources, but during which changes fundamental to the formation of modern Britain began to take place.

Based on the ancient Chinese concept of the unity of Heaven and Man (天人�一, ‘tian ren he yi’), guided by principles governing the connections and interdependencies between Heaven, Earth, Man, and the media, and in accord with the coexistence of these four elements in balance and in harmony, this monograph outlines the scope of the study, fundamental concepts and theories, and future directions of research in the interdisciplinary field of the geography of media. The author delves deeply into the themes of time, space, place, landscape, and scale to introduce readers to a wide array of intriguing concepts that add new dimensions to this relatively new academic field. In addition, this monograph presents a history of media geography as it has evolved in the West and in China over the past several decades, and introduces principles and values from traditional Chinese culture that shed light on the nature, direction, and significance of media studies and communication research now being conducted around the globe.    Intended readership: professional scholars, graduates, and general readers. 

This book provides a thorough analysis of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan (LDP), from a variety of perspectives including its factions, party presidential elections, the distribution of posts, national elections, local organisations, the policy making process and partner organisations. Drawing on comprehensive and up-to-date data, as well as a large number of interviews, internal party documents and quantitative data, The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan explains the machinery of the Japanese government and ruling party, exploring how policies are made. In so doing, the chapters also analyse the strengths and weaknesses of today's LDP through a comparison of Koizumi Juni'ichiro and Abe Shinzo, both having established long-lasting administrations through their strong leadership. Demonstrating how the LDP has changed significantly over recent years, particularly since the political reforms of 1994, this book will be extremely useful to students and scholars of Japanese and Asian politics.

The Liberal Democratic Party in Japan remained in power continuously between 1955 and 1993. In this groundbreaking study of the dominance of the LDP in Japanese politics over the last forty years, Opposition Politics in Japan examines the challenges which were mounted against this regime and explores why they failed. The subjects covered include opportunities for a united opposition during the 1970s, ideological, organisational and electoral aspects of the opposition's lack of response to such opportunities and the causes of opposition fragmentation. The book also looks at attempts at coalition, the influence of the trade unions, the importance of organisational factors and the influence, if any, of the oppositions's Marxist tendencies.
A highly original and thorough exploration of the issues, Opposition Politics in Japan is essential reading for all those interested in Japanese politics.

As the first comprehensive look at the ruffians, rascals, and rule breakers in the wrestling business, this history explains the rise of the wrestling villain, the reasons for his (or her) success, and the impact these sordid characters have had on the sport. Based on first-hand interviews with hundreds of wrestlers, managers, promoters, and historians, these entertaining profiles document wrestling's top rotten apples from the 1920s to today, providing plenty of support for the book's claim that fans love to hate the bad guys as much as they love to love the heroes. With remarkable candor, wrestling's troublemakers explain why they became villains and how they perceived and honed their roles; the sport is richer for the presence of the nefarious ones--and they know it. With more than 150 never-before-seen photos, this book will satisfy devoted fans and inspire everyone else to take a look at the exciting and often bizarre world of professional wrestling.

Through interviews conducted with surviving members of Soviet orchestras, through his reading of philosophers, psychoanalysts, and neurologists, Johnson paints a compelling picture of one man's music and its power to validate and sustain another man's life.

Plenty of books offer useful advice on how to get better at making quick-thinking, intuitive choices. But what about more consequential decisions, the ones that affect our lives for years, or centuries, to come? Our most powerful stories revolve around these kinds of decisions: where to live, whom to marry, what to believe, whether to start a company, how to end a war. Full of the beautifully crafted storytelling and novel insights that Steven Johnson's fans know to expect, Farsighted draws lessons from cognitive science, social psychology, military strategy, environmental planning, and great works of literature. Everyone thinks we are living in an age of short attention spans, but we've actually learned a lot about making long-term decisions over the past few decades. Johnson makes a compelling case for a smarter and more deliberative decision-making approach. He argues that we choose better when we break out of the myopia of single-scale thinking and develop methods for considering all the factors involved. There's no one-size-fits-all model for the important decisions that can alter the course of a life, an organization, or a civilization. But Farsighted explains how we can approach these choices more effectively, and how we can appreciate the subtle intelligence of choices that shaped our broader social history.

Stephen Johnson, compositor, dirige en la BBC un programa de música clásica y explora en este texto cómo la música de Shostakovich se fue gestando bajo la época del Terror de Stalin, y cómo logró dar forma a los miedos y esperanzas de un pueblo castigado por la guerra y la historia. Johnson escribe sobre el poder terapéutico de la música para quienes padecen desórdenes mentales y cuenta cómo la música de Shostakovich le insufló a él mismo una fuerza insospechada en su lucha contra el trastorno bipolar.El texto enlaza episodios autobiográficos con entrevistas realizadas a músicos rusos coetáneos de Shostakovich y con reflexiones sobre la particular lectura que hace Johnson de filósofos, psicoanalistas y neurólogos, hasta dibujar ante nosotros una imagen profunda y convincente de cómo la música concebida por una persona encierra el hechizo que permite salvar la vida de otra persona.

From the author of Emergence and The Ghost Map, Steven Johnson's Where Good Ideas Come From: The Seven Patterns of Innovation identifies key principles that are the driving force of creativity. Learn how: A slow hunch can be much more valuable than a Eureka moment The connected 'hive mind' is smarter than the lone thinker Where you think matters just as much as what you're thinking The best ideas come from building on the ideas and inventions of others From the Renaissance to satellites, medical breakthroughs to social media, Charles Darwin to Marconi, Steven Johnson shows how, by recognising where and how patterns of creativity occur, we can all discover the secrets of inspiration. 'Inspirational' - Independent 'Exhilarating ... An entirely new way of looking at almost everything' - Guardian 'A huge diversity of bright ideas' - Financial Times 'Johnson finds new and original things to say about the nature of innovation, and the different forms it can take' - Economist, Books of the Year 'An enthralling work full of counter-intuitive insights' - Daily Mail Steven Johnson is the author of the acclaimed books Everything Bad is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Emergence and Interface Culture. His writing appeared in the Guardian, the New Yorker, Nation and Harper's, as well as the op-ed pages of The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is a Distinguished Writer In Residence at NYU's School Of Journalism, and a Contributing Editor to Wired.

The printing press, the pencil, the flush toilet, the battery--these are all great ideas. But where do they come from? What kind of environment breeds them? What sparks the flash of brilliance? How do we generate the breakthrough technologies that push forward our lives, our society, our culture? Steven Johnson's answers are revelatory as he identifies the seven key patterns behind genuine innovation, and traces them across time and disciplines. From Darwin and Freud to the halls of Google and Apple, Johnson investigates the innovation hubs throughout modern time and pulls out the approaches and commonalities that seem to appear at moments of originality.

From the bestselling author of Everything Bad is Good For You, Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map vividly recreates Victorian London to show how huge populations live together, how cities can kill - and how they can save us. Steven Johnson is one of today's most exciting writers about popular culture, urban living and new technology. In The Ghost Map he tells the story of the terrifying cholera epidemic that engulfed London in 1854, and the two unlikely heroes - anesthetist Doctor John Snow and affable clergyman Reverend Henry Whitehead - who defeated the disease through a combination of local knowledge, scientific research and map-making. In telling their extraordinary story, Steven Johnson also explores a whole world of ideas and connections, from urban terror to microbes, ecosystems to the Great Stink, cultural phenomena to street life. 'A wonderful book' Mail on Sunday 'A thumping page-turner' Daily Telegraph 'Enthralling ... vivid and gripping' New Statesman 'Exhilarating' Spectator 'It is a rattling scientific mystery, but in the hands of Steven Johnson it becomes something much richer ... a vast, interconnected picture about urban and bacterial life ... it is difficult to do justice to the exuberance of Johnson's ideas' Scotland on Sunday Steven Johnson is the author of the acclaimed books Everything Bad is Good for You, Mind Wide Open, Where Good Ideas Come From, Emergence and Interface Culture. His writing appeared in the Guardian, the New Yorker, Nation and Harper's, as well as the op-ed pages of The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. He is a Distinguished Writer In Residence at NYU's School Of Journalism, and a Contributing Editor to Wired.

BBC music broadcaster Stephen Johnson explores the power of Shostakovich's music during Stalin's reign of terror, and writes of the extraordinary healing effect of music on sufferers of mental illness. Johnson looks at neurological, psychotherapeutic and philosophical findings, and reflects on his own experience, where he believes Shostakovich's music helped him survive the trials and assaults of bipolar disorder.'There's something about hearing your most painful emotions transformed into something beautiful...' The old Russian who uttered those words spoke for countless fellow survivors of Stalin's reign of terror. And the 'something beautiful' he had in mind was the music of Dmitri Shostakovich.Yet there is no escapism, no false consolation in Shostakovich's greatest music: this is some of the darkest, saddest, at times bitterest music ever composed. So why do so many feel grateful to Shostakovich for having created it - not just Russians, but westerners like Stephen Johnson, brought up in a very different, far safer kind of society? How is it that music that reflects pain, fear and desolation can help sufferers find - if not a way out, then a way to bear these feelings and ultimately rediscover pleasure in existence? Johnson draws on interviews with the members of the orchestra who performed Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony during the siege of Leningrad, during which almost a third of the population starved to death. In the end, this book is a reaffirmation of a kind of humanist miracle: that hope could be reborn in a time when, to quote the writer Nadezhda Mandelstam, there was only 'Hope against Hope'.