All Books

An epic guide to the most intrepid mountaineers in historywritten in association with the royal geographical society and the alpine club, mountaineers tells the story of the pioneers who first conquered the giddy heights of our planet. full of great tales of endurance and perseverance, more than 100 of the top mountaineers are profiled, from hannibal to hillary. share in their triumphs and tragedies from the comfort of your living room as journal extracts and never-before-seen photographs and maps from the unpublished archives of the rgs and the alpine club help recreate history’s greatest ascents. mountaineers introduces you to a host of intriguing characters, from the brits who insisted on hauling cases of vintage champagne up to everest base camp in 1924, to the italian duke of the abruzzi who took 10 iron bedsteads up alaska’s malaspina glacier. along the way you’ll also find out about the important scientific discoveries that have shaped the course of human history and enjoy accounts of great bravery, fellowship and good humour in the face of adversity, all making mountaineers a fascinating read for anyone with a spirit of adventure.

See history as it happened – from the evolution of early humans to the space race – with 130 detailed maps that bring pivotal episodes of world history to life. including a foreword by renowned broadcaster and historian peter snow, this history atlas shows you the history of the world in thrilling action. follow napoleon as he conquers europe, explore the rise of the roman empire, or chart the progress of the russian revolution as each map presents an overview of the story then takes you, step by step, through how it developed, leaving its mark on land and ocean. with cutting-edge design and breathtaking scope, history of the world map by map charts ancient, medieval, and modern history in all corners of the world. discover how patterns of global trade, exploration, conflict, and technological advances shaped key moments in human civilization, such as the success of ancient egypt, the conquest of peru, the decolonization of africa and asia, the american civil war, and the energy and environmental challenges of the 21st century. alongside the maps are overviews and timelines of important periods such as the age of ancient greece, the renaissance, and world war 2, while paintings and photographs introduce overarching themes and epoch-defining moments such as fascism and communism, and the invention of printing.

A stunning visual encyclopedia that takes you on a global journey to offer a compelling insight into the religions of the world each of the world’s religions comes brilliantly to life through superb photography and informative graphics all the history, culture and practices of each religion in a uniquely accessible format researched and written by a team of experts

The core of this encyclopedia is an illustrated catalogue containing colour photographs of over 500 teddy bears. a 24-page directory charts the manufacturing history of teddy bears and comprehensive address lists supply information on museums, clubs and specialist shops. the book also covers such bear-related topics as manufacturing, collecting, care and repair, valuation, joining clubs and attending auctions.

This ambitious and colorful volume covers the history of the world from the beginnings of life on earth to the 1990’s in 384 pages of mostly pictures. the 20 chapters are arranged chronologically with catchy titles such as “conquest and plague” to go along with the dates included in the chapter heading. at the beginning of each chapter is a double-page world map with pictures illustrating some of the major developments during that particular era. a brief narrative introduces the chapter and a timeline, divided into regions-oceania, america, europe, asia and africa-covers the next two pages. the timeline is illustrated with pictures of models or artifacts. then a series of pages is devoted to narrative and illustration of some of the events of that chapter’s era in each of the regions. insert maps, photographs, biographical sketches, and drawings are prominent. there are supplementary reference pages which have more timelines featuring architecture, population, inventions, and the modern world, and some united states fact tables. there is a two-page glossary. the index is neither complete nor well-organized; the listing for czechoslovakia, for example, has a hard-to-find reference on a timeline, but does not mention more information on another page, no doubt because the heading there is a reference to the “prague spring” and is listed in the index only under prague. the issues discussed on these pages are never resolved by any reference in the index, or the text, for that matter, to the velvet revolution or the division of the country. students will be left thinking the intellectuals of “czechoslovakia” are still debating communism. the difficulties of sustaining continuity in this sort of work are obvious. the reference use of this history will be limited to browsing for a topic to research elsewhere. nonetheless, the volume will be visually appealing to many students in elementary and middle school.