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Representations of Classical Greece in Theme Parks (IMAGINES – Classical Receptions in the Visual and Performing Arts)
by Filippo Carlà-UhinkTheme park studies is a growing field in social and cultural studies. Nonetheless, until now little attention has been dedicated to the choice of the themes represented in the parks and the strategies of their representation. This is particularly interesting when the theme is a historical one, for example ancient Greece. Which elements of classical Greece find their way into a theme park and how are they chosen and represented? What is the “entertainment” element in ancient Greek history, culture and myth, which allows its presence in commercial structures aiming to people's fun? How does the representation of Greece change against different cultural backgrounds, e.g. in different European countries, in the USA, in China? This book frames a discussion of these representations within the current debates about immersive spaces, uses of history and postmodern aesthetics, and analyses how ancient Greece has been represented and made “enjoyable” in seven different theme parks across the world, providing an original and ground-breaking contribution to theme park studies and classical reception.
Heal Me: In Search of a Cure
by Julia BuckleyJulia Buckley needs a miracle. Like a third of the UK population, she has a chronic pain condition. According to her doctors, it can't be cured. She doesn't believe them. She does believe in miracles, though. It's just a question of tracking one down.Julia's search for a cure takes her on a global quest, exploring the boundaries between science, psychology and faith with practitioners on the fringes of conventional, traditional and alternative medicine. From neuroplastic brain rewiring in San Francisco to medical marijuana in Colorado, Haitian vodou rituals to Brazilian 'spiritual surgery', she's willing to try anything. Can miracles happen? And more importantly, what happens next if they do?Raising vital questions about the modern medical system, this is also a story about identity in a system historically skewed against 'hysterical' female patients, and the struggle to retain a sense of self under the medical gaze. Heal Me explains why modern medicine's current approach to chronic pain is failing patients. It explores the importance of faith, hope and cynicism, and examines our relationships with our doctors, our beliefs and ourselves.
Extremely Pale Rose: A Quest for the Palest Rose in France
by Jamie IveyA chance conversation with a Provençal vigneron leads to the most unlikely of quests - a hunt to find France's palest rosé. Extremely Pale Rosé is a richly entertaining and informative account of the travels of Jamie, his wife Tanya and their ebullient friend Peter, as they take up this challenge. Giving up their lives in London, they quickly discover an unfortunate truth - the French won't treat rosé or their quest seriously. Rosé is seen as a poor cousin to red and white wine, drunk as an aperitif or to wash away the taste of spicy food. In bars, boulangeries and boucheries from Bordeaux to Bandol, Jamie, Tanya and Peter are recommended diverse vineyards to visit, and as they travel they encounter the beginnings of a rosé revolution - French attitudes to pale pink wine appear to be changing, but is it too little too late to help them succeed in their quest? With wit, candour and wonderful storytelling, Jamie Ivey maintains a tradition of excellence in food and travel writing. Readers are left with dreams of France, summer days, baguettes, and . . . extremely pale rosé.
Rose En Marche: Running A Market Stall In Provence
by Jamie IveyRosé en Marché, the third title in the 'rosé' series by Jamie Ivey, involves Tanya and Jamie selling rosé in French markets. They rent a flat in Saint Remy de Provence and work in the town's market as well as three or four other local markets. There is, of course, the odd flying visit from their old friend Peter. The Iveys decide to set up their own market stall in the exquisite Provencal town of Saint Remy. But they quickly uncover a battleground. Artisan traders fight competitors selling imports of lavender from Bulgaria, rip-off tableware from China and wholesale vegetables artificially smattered with dirt. Rumours of bribery and corruption are ever present as traders scramble for the best pitches. But can the Iveys make a go of their own stall . . .?
La Vie en Rose
by Jamie IveyIn Jamie Ivey's sequel to Extremely Pale Rosé, he finds out whether it is possible to run a successful rosé bar in France. French friends think it's a crazy idea: bar customers are largely men and rosé is seen as a woman's drink; rosé is a seasonal drink and Jamie's trade will vanish come September - and rosé isn't supposed to accompany food. Yet France seems to be on the brink of a rosé revolution: rosé sales are booming. If Jamie can find a small bar in a pretty square and chalk up a selection of different rosés, a rosé bar could be a great success. Bars in Uzes, Aix en Provence and Nimes agree to help Jamie sell some rosé, and he discovers what the French attitude to rosé really is. Are gnarled old men discarding their pastis and sipping pale rosé? Is it just a myth that the French don't drink rosé with food? Are the young the real reason for booming sales? For readers who enjoyed Extremely Pale Rosé, and envied Jamie and Tanya Ivey's researches, La Vie En Rose is the perfect second glass.
Watling Street: Travels Through Britain and Its Ever-Present Past
by John HiggsA journey along one of Britain's oldest roads, from Dover to Anglesey, in search of the hidden history that makes us who we are today.'A bravura piece of writing - Bill Bryson on acid' Tom HollandWinding its way from the White Cliffs of Dover to the Druid groves of Anglesey, the ancient road of Watling Street has gone by many different names. It is a road of witches and ghosts, of queens and highwaymen, of history and myth, of Bletchley Park codebreakers, Chaucer, Boudicca, Dickens and James Bond. But Watling Street is not just the story of a route across our island. It is an acutely observed exploration of Britain and who we are today, told with wit and an unerring eye for the curious and surprising.
Question Time: A Journey Round Britain’s Quizzes
by Mark MasonWhich major UK retailer has the same name as Odysseus's dog in Greek mythology?In the original version of the Band Aid hit 'Do They Know It's Christmas?', who sang the opening line?Which is the only US state whose name can be typed on a single row of a QWERTY keyboard?Travel writer and quiz fan Mark Mason decided to combine two of his greatest loves by setting off on a tour of Britain's quizzes. From a pub quiz in Edinburgh to a charity quiz in Hampshire, from a corporate quiz in Birmingham to a journalists' quiz in Parliament, he finds answers aplenty while asking some questions of his own. Just what is it that attracts us to these tests of our knowledge? What are the ingredients of the perfect quiz question? And which is the only English city whose official name begins with H?The only travel book ever to discuss Winston Churchill's use of language and reveal Donald Duck's middle name, QUESTION TIME is an affectionate tribute to Britain and one of its most cherished institutions - the quiz.
Welcome to Hell?: In Search of the Real Turkish Football
by John McManusAsk a British football fan what they know about Turkish football, and they are unlikely to describe scenes of camaraderie, hospitality and humour. They are more likely to mention banners proclaiming 'Welcome to hell'. Or Leeds United supporters stabbed to death on an Istanbul street. Frustrated by the game's distorted image back home, John McManus set out to show the Turkish football that he knew - the rich, funny, obsessive, fan culture that he had encountered on the terraces. But he hadn't accounted for the politics. Travelling from the elite training facilities of Istanbul to dusty pitches on the Syrian border, taking in visits to far-flung clubs, encounters with characterful players and experiences at riotous matches along the way, Welcome to Hell? offers a unique perspective on an alluring yet troubled football culture.
Lines in the Sand: Collected Journalism
by Adrian Gill'By miles the most brilliant journalist of our age' Lynn Barber'A golden writer' Andrew MarrA. A. Gill was rightly hailed as one of the greatest journalists of our time. This selection of some of his recent pieces, which he made himself before his untimely death, spans the last five years from all corners of the world. It shows him at his most perceptive, brilliant and funny.His subjects range from the controversial - fur - to the heartfelt - a fantastic crystallisation of what it means to be European. He tackles life drawing, designs his own tweed, considers boyhood through the prism of the Museum of Childhood, and spends a day at Donald Trump's university. In his final two articles he wrote with characteristic wit and courage about his cancer diagnosis - 'the full English - and the limits of the NHS. But more than any other subject, a recurring theme emerges in the overwhelming story of our times: the refugee crisis. In the last few years A. A. Gill wrote with compassion and anger about the refugees' story, giving us both its human face and its appalling context. The resulting articles are journalism at its finest and fiercest.
Syria's Secret Library: The true story of how a besieged Syrian town found hope
by Mike ThomsonDaraya lies on the fringe of Damascus, just south west of the Syrian Capital. Yet it lives in another world. Besieged by Syrian government forces since 2011, its people were deprived of food, bombarded by bombs and missiles, and shot at by snipers. Its buildings lay in ruins; office buildings, shops and family homes shattered by the constant shelling from government forces. But deep beneath this scene of frightening devastation lay a secret library. No signs marked its presence. While the streets above echoed with rifle fire and shelling, the secret world below was a haven of peace and tranquillity. Books, long rows of them, lined almost every wall. Bloated volumes with grand leather covers. Tattered old tomes with barely readable spines. Pocket sized guides to Syrian poetry. Religious works with gaudy gold-lettering and no-nonsense reference books, all arranged in well-ordered lines. But this precious horde of books was not bought from publishers, book warehouses, or loaned by other libraries. Many people had risked their lives to save books from the devastation of war. Because to them, the secret library was a symbol of hope - of their determination to lead a meaningful existence and to rebuild their fractured society. This is the story of an extraordinary place and the people who made it happen. It is also a book about human resilience and values. And through it all is threaded the very wonderful, universal love for books and the hope they can bring. "Just like the body needs food the soul needs books." Anas Habib (library user)
Hometown Tales: Birmingham (Hometown Tales)
by Maria Whatton Stewart LeeOriginal tales by remarkable writersHometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of home.In these pages on Birmingham, you'll find two unique tales. 'Silver in the Quarter' is a vivid coming-of-age fiction about a boy who finds himself caught up in the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974 by Maria Whatton. 'In the Ape's Shadow' is a fascinating exploration of the music scene that inspired him growing up in Birmingham, by BAFTA Award-winning comedian and author Stewart Lee.
Hometown Tales: Glasgow (Hometown Tales)
by Kirsty Logan Paul McQuadeOriginal tales by remarkable writersHometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of home. In these pages on Glasgow, you'll find two unique memoirs. 'The Old Asylum in the Woods' is an intimate, intensely moving account of growing up in the shadow of Woodilee Hospital by author of The Gracekeepers and The Gloaming, Kirsty Logan. 'Glasgow Sang' is a deeply personal journey on foot through the city, from Kelvin Way Bridge to George Square to the statue of La Pasionaria, by Paul McQuade.
Hometown Tales: Yorkshire (Hometown Tales)
by Cathy Rentzenbrink Victoria HennisonOriginal tales by remarkable writers Hometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of homeIn these pages on Yorkshire, you'll find two unique memoirs. 'The Yorkshire Years' is Cathy Rentzenbrink's deeply moving account of returning to Snaith, where her brother Matty was knocked down by a car over twenty years before. 'The Island upon the Moor' traces a powerful journey - from a carefree childhood in the village of Holme-upon-Spalding Moor - to surviving dark periods of depression, by Victoria Hennison.
Building the Yellow Wall: The Incredible Rise and Cult Appeal of Borussia Dortmund: WINNER OF THE FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019
by Uli HesseWINNER OF THE TELEGRAPH FOOTBALL BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019Towards the beginning of the twenty-first century, Borussia Dortmund were on the verge of going out of business. Now they are an international phenomenon - one of the most popular clubs and fastest-growing football brands in the world. Every fortnight, an incredible number of foreigners eschew their own clubs and domestic leagues and travel to Dortmund to watch football, while people from all corners of the world dream of doing the same - of standing on the largest terrace in the world, the Yellow Wall.How did this happen? How could a club that hasn't won a European trophy in twenty years so thoroughly capture people's imaginations?Building the Yellow Wall tells the story of Dortmund's roller-coaster ride from humble beginnings and lean decades to the revolution under Jürgen Klopp and subsequent amazing success and popularity. But it also tells the story of those people who have done as much for the club's profile as any player, coach or chairman - Dortmund's unique supporters.
From Here to Eternity: Travelling the World to Find the Good Death
by Caitlin DoughtyAs a practising mortician, Caitlin Doughty has long been fascinated by our pervasive terror of dead bodies. In From Here to Eternity she sets out in search of cultures unburdened by such fears. With curiosity and morbid humour, Doughty introduces us to inspiring death-care innovators, participates in powerful death practices almost entirely unknown in the West and explores new spaces for mourning - including a futuristic glowing-Buddha columbarium in Japan, a candlelit Mexican cemetery, and America's only open-air pyre. In doing so she expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with 'dignity' and reveals unexpected possibilities for our own death rituals.
Wayfaring Stranger: A Musical Journey in the American South
by Emma JohnCan you feel nostalgic for a life you've never known?Suffused with her much-loved warmth and wit, Emma John's memoir follows her moving and memorable journey to master one of the hardest musical styles on earth - and to find her place in an alien world.Emma had fallen out of love with her violin when a chance trip to the American South introduced her to bluegrass music. Classically trained, highly strung and wedded to London life, Emma was about as country as a gin martini. So why did it feel like a homecoming?Answering that question takes Emma deep into the Appalachian mountains, where she uncovers a hidden culture that confounds every expectation - and learns some emotional truths of her own.
The Cove: A Cornish Haunting
by Beth LynchFor over five decades Beth Lynch has been drawn back, over and again, to a rocky spot on the North Cornwall coast. Her earliest memories of the cove are bound up with idyllic family holidays; as she grows older, however, her sense of connection with the place grows deeper and more complicated. This slippery interface of land and sea - a site of sheer edges and ledges, peculiar rock formations and eroding, tumbling slate - becomes her childhood refuge from anxiety and school bullying.Around the time of her parents' deaths, strange things start to happen in and around the cove, and Lynch is left wondering how well she really knows this minute section of coast that draws her so ineluctably. Is it the cove, or is it her? What secrets does the cove have to share? Is she safer staying away? Unfolding through a medium of salt and slate, the elemental indifference of Atlantic Cornwall, The Cove is a lyrical meditation on being a revenant, on haunting and being haunted. Through encounters with quarrymen, wartime women and a enigmatic archaeologist - along with JMW Turner, Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Anthony Trollope, and Thomas and Emma Hardy - Lynch contemplates what happens when our deepest fears materialise, reflecting on mortality and the nuanced ways in which we take leave of our dead. She explores the profound impacts of change - in ourselves, in places and in the transformative dance between the two.
Northern Spy: A Reese Witherspoon's Book Club Pick
by Flynn BerryA REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK'If you love a mystery, then you'll devour Northern Spy . . . I loved this thrill ride of a book'Reese Witherspoon A producer at the Belfast bureau of the BBC, Tessa is at work one day when the news of another raid comes on the air: the IRA may have gone underground after the Good Friday agreement, but they never really went away. As the anchor requests the public's help in locating those responsible for this latest attack - a robbery at a gas station - Tessa's sister Marian appears on the screen, pulling a black mask over her face.The police believe Marian has joined the IRA, but Tessa knows this is impossible. They were raised to oppose Republicanism, and the violence enacted in its name. They've attended peace vigils together. And besides, Marian is vacationing by the sea. Tessa just spoke to her yesterday.But when the truth of what has happened to Marian reveals itself, Tessa will be forced to choose: between her ideals and her family. Walking an increasingly perilous road, she fears nothing more than endangering the one person she loves more fiercely than her sister: her infant son, Finn. Praise for Flynn Berry'Breathtaking . . . Berry writes thrillingly'New York Times'Beautifully paced and satisfyingly ominous'Guardian'Mesmerizingly effective'The Times 'A thrilling page-turner'Paula Hawkins, author of The Girl on the Train'Berry's clever, thrilling writing wound me in and left me heartbroken when I turned the last page and realized it was over'Fiona Barton, author of The Widow'What a book! A skillful and compelling exploration of families, crime, and class'Clare Mackintosh, author of I Let You Go
Hit Factories: A Journey Through the Industrial Cities of British Pop
by Karl WhitneyAfter discovering a derelict record plant on the edge of a northern English city, and hearing that it was once visited by David Bowie, Karl Whitney embarks upon a journey to explore the industrial cities of British pop music.Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Hull, Glasgow, Belfast, Birmingham, Coventry, Bristol: at various points in the past these cities have all had distinctive and highly identifiable sounds. But how did this happen? What circumstances enabled those sounds to emerge? How did each particular city - its history, its physical form, its accent - influence its music? How were these cities and their music different from each other? And what did they have in common?Hit Factories tells the story of British pop through the cities that shaped it, tracking down the places where music was performed, recorded and sold, and the people - the performers, entrepreneurs, songwriters, producers and fans - who made it all happen. From the venues and recording studios that occupied disused cinemas, churches and abandoned factories to the terraced houses and back rooms of pubs where bands first rehearsed, the terrain of British pop can be retraced with a map in hand and a head filled with music and its many myths.
The Archers Quizbook: Join Ambridge treasure Lynda Snell on a quiz quest around Britain’s most loved village
by The Puzzle HouseWhich traditionally comes first in the Ambridge year, the Village Fete or the Flower and Produce Show?Which tool appears on the Pargetter coat of arms?Which member of the Archers clan has a first name where all the letters read in alphabetical order?Ambridge is a place many of us know almost as well as our own home towns. But while millions of people are invested in the goings-on in this picturesque village, few have had the privilege of walking its winding lanes. Now you can. Join Lynda Snell, a true pillar of this rural community, as she takes you on a guided tour of radio's most well-loved village.Starting at the summit of Lakey Hill, with its sweeping views of rural Borsetshire, Lynda will lead you around the village's landmarks and institutions imparting wisdom and gossip as she goes. Sun yourself in the beer garden of the Bull, watch the world go by from a bench on the village green and don your wellies for a wander around Brookfield. There are weddings to attend at St Stephen's, productions to enjoy at the Village Hall and deals to be done at the Dower House.Each chapter centres on key locations to challenge your knowledge in all manner of Ambridge affairs. Whether you're a lifelong listener of The Archers, have an ear for gossip, or are a relative newbie, you will be able to put your area of expertise to the test. With 70 years of rich rural history to explore, you might even learn something new.
The Best of A. A. Gill
by Adrian GillFor over twenty years, people turned to A. A. Gill's columns every Sunday - for his fearlessness, his perception, and the laughter-and-tear-provoking one-liners - but mostly because he was the best. 'By miles the most brilliant journalist of our age', as Lynn Barber put it. This is the definitive collection of a voice that was silenced too early but that can still make us look at the world in new and surprising ways.In the words of Andrew Marr, A.. A. Gill was 'a golden writer'. There was nothing that he couldn't illuminate with his dazzling prose. Wherever he was - at home or abroad - he found the human story, brought it to vivid life, and rendered it with fierce honesty and bracing compassion. And he was just as truthful about himself. There have been various collections of A. A. Gill's journalism - individual compilations of his restaurant and TV criticism, of his travel writing and his extraordinary feature articles. This book showcasesthe very best of his work: the peerlessly funny criticism, the extraordinarily knowledgeable food writing, assignments throughout the world, and reflections on life, love, and death. Drawn from a range of publications, including the Sunday Times, Vanity Fair, Tatler and Australian Gourmet Traveller, The Ivy Cookbook and his books on England and America, it is by turns hilarious, uplifting, controversial, unflinching, sad, funny and furious.
Impossible Owls: Essays from the Ends of the World
by Brian Phillips'Hilarious, nimble and thoroughly illuminating' Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground RailwayFrom its opening journey into remote Alaska for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Alaska, a quest that culminates on the frozen sea between the United States and Russia, Brian Phillips's Impossible Owls leads us on a kaleidoscopic exploration of contemporary reality. He takes us to a sumo tournament in Japan, where he becomes obsessed with the suicide of a famous writer; to the jungle in India, where he considers the intertwined histories of conservation movements and man-eating tigers; to the studio of a great Russian animator; to a royal tour of the Yukon Teritory with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge; and into the weird heart of America, where he visits the gates of Area 51.Exhilarating, moving and insightful, this remarkable debut visits borders both real and imagined, and asks what it means, in our age, to travel to the end of the map.
The Channel: The Remarkable Men and Women Who Made It the Most Fascinating Waterway in the World
by Charlie ConnellyA bulwark against invasion, a conduit for exchange and a challenge to be conquered, the English Channel has always been many things to many people. Today it's the busiest shipping lane in the world and hosts more than 30 million passenger crossings every year but this sliver of choppy brine, just 21 miles wide at its narrowest point, represents much more than a conductor of goods and people. Criss-crossing the Channel - not to mention regularly throwing himself into it for a bracing swim - Charlie Connelly collects its stories and brings them vividly to life, from tailing Oscar Wilde's shadow through the dark streets of Dieppe to unearthing Britain's first beauty pageant at the end of Folkestone pier (it was won by a bloke called Wally). We learn that Louis Bleriot was actually a terrible pilot, the tragic fate of the first successful Channel swimmer, and that if a man with a buttered head and pigs' bladders attached to his trousers hadn't fought off an attack by dogfish we might never have had a Channel Tunnel. Here is a cast of extraordinary characters - geniuses, cheats, dreamers, charlatans, visionaries, eccentrics and at least one pair of naked, cuddling balloonists - whose stories are all united by the English Channel to ensure the sea that makes us an island will never be the same again.
Hometown Tales: Midlands (Hometown Tales)
by Kerry Young Carolyn SandersonOriginal tales by remarkable writersHometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of home.In these pages on the Midlands, you'll find two unique works of fiction. A richly-imagined tale about a young girl adopted by a couple living in the village of Fleckney - 'Home Is Where the Heart Is' - by author of Costa-shortlisted Pao, Kerry Young. And 'Time and Seasons', a heartfelt, powerful story of young love across the ages in Milton Keynes by Carolyn Sanderson.
Hometown Tales: Lancashire (Hometown Tales)
by Jenn Ashworth Benjamin WebsterOriginal tales by remarkable writersHometown Tales is a series of books pairing exciting new voices with some of the most talented and important writers at work today. Some of the tales are fiction and some are narrative non-fiction - they are all powerful, fascinating and moving, and aim to celebrate regional diversity and explore the meaning of home. In these pages on Lancashire, you'll find two unique tales. 'After the Funeral, the Crawl' is an arresting portrait of a couple forced to confront a dark secret over the course of a pub crawl one night in Preston, by award-winning novelist Jenn Ashworth. 'JUDAS!' is a vivid, coming-of-age story that traces the political and cultural history of Manchester, from its industrial past to its eventual separation from the county, by Benjamin Webster.