Atlantic The Age of Islands. In Search of New and Disappearing Islands Bonnett Alastair

Man has always been fascinated by Equus caballus, recasting horse power into many forms: a hunk of meat, an industrial and agricultural machine, a luxury good, a cherished dancer, a comrade in arms and a symbol of a mythical past. From the wild tarpans sought by the Nazis to jade-laden treasure steeds in Ancient China, broken-down nags recycled into sausages and furniture stuffing, stallions that face fighting bulls and brewery horses that charmed the founder of the Sikh Empire, The Age of the Horse knits the history of the horse into that of humans, through revolution, war, social change and uneasy peace. It also uncovers new roles for the horse in the twenty-first century as a tool in the fight against climate change and as a therapist for soldiers damaged in unwinnable conflicts

In the remote snow-covered mountains near Tibet lies a community long thought to be a mere myth called Shambhala, or Shangri-La. Here, in this place, is knowledge that has been kept hidden for centuries, and an insight that can have a profound impact on the way each of us lives our lives. Your search for Shambhala begins with the words of a child and the vision of an old friend. Those slender clues and a powerful synchronicity will lead to Kathmandu, Nepal, and then to Lhasa, Tibet • Amid blowing snows and perilous mountains, you will meet the members of the secret Tibetan sect that guards mysterious legends - the verbal instructions handed down for centuries that describe the inner changes one must undergo before entering Shambhala • Finally, with Chinese Agents in pursuit, you will pass through regions where anger and compassion struggle for ascendancy, and arrive at a place where the stunning reality about human prayer-energy - our underdeveloped ability to increase the synchronicity in our lives and influence what will happen to us in the future - is revealed

The Prince, a political treatise by the Florentine public servant and political theorist Niccolo Machiavelli, is widely regarded as the most important exploration of politics - and in particular the politics of power - ever written • In Garments of Court and Palace, Philip Bobbitt, a preeminent and original interpreter of modern statecraft, presents a vivid portrait of Machiavelli's Italy and demonstrates how The Prince articulates a new idea of government that emerged during the Renaissance. Bobbitt argues that when The Prince is read alongside the Discourses, modern readers can see clearly how Machiavelli prophesied the end of the feudal era and the birth of a recognizably modern polity. As this book shows, publication of The Prince in 1532 represents nothing less than a revolutionary moment in our understanding of the place of the law and war in the creation and maintenance of the modern state

Who is Theophrastus, and why should we care? • Once, he was the equal of Plato and Aristotle. Together he and Aristotle invented science. Alone he invented Botany. The character of the Wife of Bath is his invention, the Canterbury Tales as a whole, perhaps, the product of his inspiration. When Linnaeus was developing our modern system of plant taxonomy, it was Theophrastus’ work on plants that he used as a basis. So how could one man do so much and still sink almost without a trace? • This is the story of a journey to find him and bring him back from oblivion. Looking for Theophrastus, in all the places he must have walked and lived, it tells how he and Aristotle, his friend and tutor, broke with the philosophical conventions of the Academy and left on their own adventure; of how together they invented what we now take for granted as the Natural Sciences; how, not content with that, they made the great experiment of applying philosophy directly to the practicalities of government through the tutoring of Alexander the Great; how they were disappointed and how, in the end, they returned to Athens and founded the famous Lyceum

India joined the railway age late: the first line was not completed until 1853 but, by 1929, 41,000 miles of track served the country. However, the creation of this vast network was not intended to modernize India for the sake of its people but rather was a means for the colonial power to govern the huge country under its control, serving its British economic and military interests • Despite the dubious intentions behind the construction of the network, the Indian people quickly took to the railways, as the trains allowed them to travel easily for the first time. The Indian Railways network remains one of the largest in the world, serving over 25 million passengers each day • In this expertly told history, Christian Wolmar reveals the full story of India’s railways, from its very beginnings to the present day, and examines the chequered role they have played in Indian history and the creation of today’s modern state

Charles Dickens was a superb public performer, a great orator and one of the most famous of the Eminent Victorians. Slight of build, with a frenzied, hyper-energetic personality, Dickens looked much older than his fifty-eight years when he died. Although he specified an unpretentious funeral, it was inevitable that crowds flocked to his open grave in Westminster Abbey. Experiencing the worst and best of life during the Victorian Age, Dickens was not merely the conduit through whom some of the most beloved characters in literature came into the world. He was one of them • Filled with twists, pathos and unusual characters, The Mystery of Charles Dickens looks back from the legendary writer’s death to recall the key events in his life. In doing so, A

Was Harold Wilson a bigger figure than Denis Healey? Was John Major more ‘prime ministerial’ than Michael Heseltine? Would David Miliband have become prime minister if it were not for his brother Ed? Would Ed have become prime minister if it were not for David? How close did Jeremy Corbyn come to being prime minister? • In this piercing and original study, journalist and commentator Steve Richards looks at eleven prime ministers we never had, examining what made each of these illustrious figures unique and why they failed to make the final leap to the very top. Combining astute insights into the demands of leadership with compelling historical analysis, this fascinating exploration of failure and success sheds new light on some of the most compelling characters in British public life

Britain’s foremost astrobiologist offers an accessible and game-changing account of why life is like it is • The puzzles of life astound and confuse us like no other mystery. But in this revolutionary new book, Charles Cockell reveals how nature is far more understandable and predictable than we think. Refining Darwin’s theory of natural selection, Cockell puts forward a remarkable and elegant account of why evolution has taken the paths it has. From animals to atoms, he shows that is it not biology, but physics, which is the true touchstone for understanding life in all its extraordinary forms

We’re three decades into a global experiment: what happens when the major nations of the world weaken their control on the size and power of corporate giants and allow unrestricted expansion? • In The Curse of Bigness, Tim Wu exposes the threats monopolies pose to economic stability and social freedom around the world. Aided by the globalization of commerce and finance, in recent years we have seen takeovers galore that make a mockery of the ideals of competition and economic freedom. Such is the ‘curse of bigness’: stifled entrepreneurship, stalled productivity, dominant tech giants like Facebook and Google, and fewer choices for consumers • Urgent and persuasive, this bold manifesto argues that we need to rediscover the anti-monopoly traditions that brought great peace and prosperity in the past

It's not what you know, it's who you know. Or so the adage goes. Professor Matthew Jackson, world-leading researcher into social and economic networks, shows us why this is far truer than we'd like to believe • Based on his ground-breaking research, The Human Network reveals how our relationships in school, university, work and society have extraordinary implications throughout our lives and demonstrates that by understanding and taking advantage of these networks, we can boost our happiness, success and influence • But there are also wider lessons to be learnt. Drawing on concepts from economics, mathematics, sociology, and anthropology, Jackson reveals how the science of networks gives us a bold new framework to understand human interaction writ large - from banking crashes and viral marketing to racism and the spread of disease

Scruton argues that the tragedies and disasters of the history of the European continent have been the consequences of a false optimism and the fallacies that derive from it. In place of these fallacies, Scruton mounts a passionate defence of both civil society and freedom. He shows that the true legacy of European civilisation is not the false idealisms that have almost destroyed it – in the shapes of Nazism, fascism and communism – but the culture of forgiveness and irony which we must now protect from those whom it offends. The Uses of Pessimism is a passionate plea for reason and responsibility, written at a time of profound change

Christopher Hitchens goes straight for the jugular in The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Under his fearsome gaze, the former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor is accused of being a war criminal whose reckless actions and heinous disregard for international law have led to torture, kidnapping, and murder • This book is a polemical masterpiece by a man who, for forty years, was the Angloshpere’s preeminent man of letters. In The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Hitchens’ verve, style and firebrand wit are on show at the height of their potency