Croatia, quite simply, is blessed with some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet and in recent years has become a favorite tourist destination. A Traveller’s History of Croatia offers tourists and travellers an inside look at the complex roots of Croatian history and the many influences they will see on its towns, ports and islands. The country has been a melting-pot of Mediterranean, Central European and Italian cultures. After a look at how its geography and geology have shaped the nation, a fascinating story unfolds explaining its past: why there are so many Greek and Roman archaeological remains, the coming of Christianity, the sad tale of how the early blooming of the Croatian state in the 9th century was thwarted by its subsequent partition and absorption into the Venetian, Habsburg and Ottoman Empires and the tortuous struggle for sovereignty in the nineteenth century. The twentieth century brought new solutions in the founding of Yugoslavia, problems with Croatian nationalism and the horrors of invasion in World War II. Under Tito a new stability came to the region until the battles of the 1990s, which were finally resolved with the international recognition of an independent state in 1992. One definite conclusion can be drawn about Croatia in the early twenty-first century: this is the best time in all of Croatian history. The country is after all independent, democratic, with a stable economy, and it has established itself as one of the world’s most coveted tourist destinations.

    

    A title guaranteed to generate "No, wait, read this one!" responses, "The Armpit of Doom" is more mayhem from one of the masters. (J. Patrick Lewis, US Children's Poet Laureate, author of "Please Bury Me in the Library")Kenn Nesbitt wrote a book of poems A funny one I think. And though it's colored black and white Watch it tickle you PINK! (Douglas Florian, author and illustrator of "Comets, Stars, the Moon, and Mars: Space Poems and Paintings")Kenn Nesbitt's brain is the clown car of children's poetry. I don't know how they all fit in there, but they keep tumbling out, one after another, each one funnier than the one before it. (Eric Ode, poet and songwriter. Author of "When You're a Pirate Dog and Other Pirate Poems")I liked "Armpit" (the book) a lot. Armpits aren't my favorite body part. (Bruce Lansky, author of "If Pigs Could Fly... And Other Deep Thoughts" and "My Dog Ate My Homework")Despite the many warnings ("Please Don't Read This Poem!") kids cannot escape the odorous allure of Nesbitt's THE ARMPIT OF DOOM! No problem. They won't want to! Instead they will find "There's only one solution. Here's what you'll have to do: Tell all your friends and family they shouldn't read it too!" (Charles Ghigna, AKA "Father Goose," author of "Score! 50 Poems to Motivate and Inspire")What makes this collection most special are the contemporary details sprinkled throughout (the iPod, XBox, and Kindle, Red Bull, J.K. Rowling, scrunchies, computer woes). Kids will really love the clever nonsense in poems like "On the Thirty-Third of Januaugust" and "It's Fun to Leave the Spaces Out." Teachers, beware: theirsentencesmightlooklikethisforafewdaysafterreadingthisbook!" (Janet Wong, author of "You Have to Write")Fans of Kenn Nesbitt will gobble up this new offering, which combines his infallible command of rhyme scheme with the hilarious--yet oddly contemplative--wisdom of a child pondering the world. (Joyce Sidman, author of "Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature")

    The death of young Will Douglas's father plunged him into a world where might prevailed and the end justified the means.

    Tasting profiles from the booklet get the ball rolling they break down beer into style categories and include information on each variety's background, flavors, aromas, and unique character."

    Kennedy, Groucho Marx, Charles Dickens, Katharine Hepburn, Mick Jagger, Steve Martin, Clementine Churchill, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut and many more.

    Now, for the first time, the story of the love of these two glamorous and hugely talented writers can be given in their own letters. Introduced by an extensive narrative of the Fitzgeralds' marriage, the 333 letters - three-quarters of them previously unpublished or out of print - have been edited by noted Fitzgerald scholars, Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy W. Barks. They are illustrated throughout with a generous selection of familiar and unpublished photographs.

    But this disproportion can make their crimes seem all the more shocking. In this chilling casebook, Al Cimino explores 34 female murderers. We meet 'Angel of Death' Kristen Gilbert who induced multiple cardiac arrests among her patients while working as a hospital nurse, Enriqueta Mart�, the 'Vampire of Barcelona' who killed children to make cosmetics, and many more. These case studies give riveting insight into the lives and motives of women who decided to commit the ultimate transgression. In many of these cases, the women had suffered years of abuse and psychological breakdown before their eventual crimes. Other times their heinous acts seemed to spring from nowhere, with an unpredictability that is haunting. The gruesome details within these pages are not for the faint hearted.

    Drawing on fourteen years of research; more than a hundred letters unknown to prior biographers; exclusive interviews with Lorca's friends, family, and acquaintances; and dozens of newly discovered archival material, Stainton has brought her subject to Life as few writers can. She describes his carefree childhood in rural Andalusia; his residencies in Madrid and Granada, then in New York, Havana, and Buenos Aires; his potent interaction with other Spanish artists, such as Salvador Dali, Luis Bunuel, and the composer Manuel de Falla; and, finally, Stainton shows how Lorca's marginal political activity during the Spanish Civil War still cost him his life.Throughout, Stainton meticulously but unobtrusively relates the oeuvre to the life. Her biography is quickly becoming the standard one-volume work on the poet.

     Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the Meditations as a source for his own guidance and self-improvement. These books have been carefully adapted into a contemporary form to allow for easy reading.

    – Shubhangi Swarup (Latitudes of Longing)

     For the next four years they would become instrumental in the secret war against Germany, developing a wide array of armaments to give Britain the upper hand against the might of the Axis forces. Under the guidance of Charles Goodeve, a remarkable Canadian with a flair for picking out which invention could tip the war in the Allies’ favor, these scientists and inventors worked tirelessly, and even put their lives on the line, in the quest to give Churchill’s military the knockout weapon. As Nevil Shute, who was an engineer with the Wheezers and Dodgers stated, “If any one quality was a common requirement for the officers in this unusual department I would say it was imagination — the imagination to look forward and to visualize what might happen.” Not all of their inventions were successful, indeed Sir Charles Madden, who served as staff officer to the Director of the Department stated that during his time there he dealt with “a medley of suggestions ranging from the impractical to the lunatic.” Yet, despite some mishaps, the Wheezers and Dodgers were instrumental in aiding the Allies to victory, with their degaussing method of protecting ships from mines to their Hedgehog weapon that destroyed over forty-five enemy submarines. Secret Weapons of World War II records all of the Department’s developments through the course of the conflict, both successful and not, and is written with humor and insight. “Their story has the fascination of the unexpected, in a British well-played spirit.” Kirkus Reviews Gerald Pawle worked with the Wheezers and Dodgers through the course of World War Two. This work was first published under the title The Secret War: 1939-1945 in 1957. Pawle passed away in 1991.

    An encounter with grace. A restoration of the heart. A healing of wounds. An anthem of freedom. All Along You Were Blooming is the ultimate love letter from the pen of popular Instagram poet Morgan Harper Nichols to your mind, heart, soul, and body.On Instagram @morganharpernicols, Morgan has over a million followers. Fans can add Morgan's beautiful artwork and thoughts for boundless living to their library.All Along You Were Blooming is a striking collection of illustrated poetry and prose, inviting you to "stumble into the sunlight" and delight in the wild and boundless grace you've been given. Morgan reminds you:There is a purpose in every seasonNo matter how you want to race through this day or run away from this place, you are invited to live fully--right here, right nowLight will always find you, even when the sun sets and you sit awaiting the dawnThat you are always blooming in the way you were meant toAll Along You Were Blooming is perfect:For men and women of all agesFor teachers to share with classrooms during poetry focused lessonsValentine's Day, Mother's Day, National Best Friend Day, birthdays, and holiday giftingIn each small moment, whether in the light or the dark, you can make room for becoming, for breathing, for stumbling, and for simply being--for there is grace, today and every day.

    / The elms made tents of solace over grimy / streets and alley cats purred me to sleep.” She writes in graphic, unflinching language about the poor, banished now by politicians because they are no longer “real people like corporations.” There are elegies for her peer group of poets, gone now, whose work she cherishes but from whom she cannot help but want more. There are laments for the suicide of dolphins and for her beloved cats, as she remembers “exactly how I loved each.” She continues to celebrate Jewish holidays in compellingly original ways and sings praises of her marriage and the small pleasures of daily life.This is a stunning collection that will please those who already know Marge Piercy’s work and offer a splendid introduction to it for those who don’t.

    There was a time when the stock market was a mechanism for growing businesses to raise money, playing a large role in the industrial revolution-boosting America to a global superpower. Today the stock market has morphed into a high-tech system of fluctuating arbitrary numbers which are used by individuals and industries alike to find profit opportunities by placing bets, masqueraded as sophisticated financial maneuvers with fancy labels and acronyms. Nowhere is this more evident than with the tendencies observed today. There is a shocking trend by today's Millennial generation to shamelessly and unapologetically find ways to use the stock market to place very high-risk bets. And unlike formal Wall Street investment institutions, these gamblers, of sorts, don't attempt to disguise the game: they are proud to call Wall Street a casino. Jaime Rogozinski combs through various elements of how reckless investors play Wall Street similar to a casino. He illustrates these often in playful ways, using entertaining and compelling real-world anecdotes. His stories are taken straight from Reddit's r/wallstreetbets community which Jaime founded in 2012, and currently has more than 800,000 followers in addition to 3 million unique visitors a month. WallStreetBets is a forum based gathering where people are notoriously known for taking a brazen and public approach at gambling with the stock market.