Facing unprecedented internal and external pressures, Israel today is at a moment of existential crisis. Through revealing stories of significant events and of ordinary individuals—pioneers, immigrants, entrepreneurs, scientists, army generals, peaceniks, settlers, and Palestinians—Israeli journalist Ari Shavit illuminates many of the pivotal moments of the Zionist century that led Israel to where it is today. We meet the youth group leader who recognized the potential of Masada as a powerful symbol for Zionism; the young farmer who bought an orange grove from his Arab neighbor in the 1920s, and with the Jaffa orange helped to create a booming economy in Palestine; the engineer who was instrumental in developing Israel’s nuclear program; the religious Zionists who started the settler movement. Over an illustrious career that has spanned almost thirty years, Shavit has had rare access to people from across the Israeli political, economic, and social spectrum, and in this ambitious work he tells a riveting story that is both deeply human and of profound historical dimension.As it examines the complexities and contradictions of the Israeli condition, My Promised Land asks difficult but important questions: Why did Israel come to be? How did it come to be? And can Israel survive? Culminating with an analysis of the issues and threats that Israel is currently facing, both internal and external, My Promised Land uses the defining events of the past to shed new light on the present. The result is a landmark portrait of a small, vibrant country living on the edge, whose identity and presence play a crucial role in today’s global political landscape.

    Written for Americans, but equally amusing to anyone visiting the shores of the Great Southern Land, this book examines the relationship between Australia and the U.S., including how Australians view their American cousins. The author has plenty of experience of working and dealing with Americans. He is married to an American nurse and has lived his life within the massive cultural influence that America has shared with Australia since the Second World War. The author’s stories are brimming with empathy and jokes for his American audience. The book is written from the opinion of an Aussie Bloke and the easy-to-digest chapters are just long enough to leave the reader smiling and well informed.Topics include Blokes and Sheilas, Bloody Foster’s, Dangerous Creatures, Talking to Dogs, The GAFA, Speaking Strail-yun and Working for the Queen. Confused? You won’t be after reading this book!

    When they returned the next year, they were met with sticks and stones, stripped naked and sent home with red cheeks.Mark Horrell and his two friends Mark and Ian shared a dream to climb an 8,000m peak, but it seemed the gods were against them too. They had made no fewer than eight attempts without success (though they had managed to return with their clothes on).With towering ice walls, monsoon rainstorms, arm-twisting crevasses and – most dangerous of all – welcoming teahouses ready to entrap them, would it be different this time?

    

    Where to find the cheapest Universal Orlando admission tickets, how to save big on Universal on-site hotel rooms and skip the regular lines in the parks, when to visit Universal Orlando for the lightest crowds, and everything else you need to know for a stress-free Universal Orlando experience.

    With Polo's book, The Travels of Marco Polo, as their guide, they journeyed over 25,000 miles becoming the first to retrace his entire path by land and sea without resorting to helicopters or airplanes. Surviving deadly skirmishes and capture in Afghanistan, they were the first Westerners in a generation to cross its ancient forgotten passageway to China, the Wakhan Corridor. Their camel caravan on the southern Silk Road encountered the deadly singing sands of the Taklamakan and Gobi deserts. In Sumatra, where Polo was stranded waiting for trade winds, they lived with the Mentawai tribes, whose culture has remained unchanged since the Bronze Age. They became among the first Americans granted visas to enter Iran, where Polo fulfilled an important mission for Kublai Khan. Accompanied by 200 stunning full-color photographs, the text provides a fascinating account of the lands and peoples the two hardy adventurers encountered during their perilous journey. The authors' experiences are remarkably similar to descriptions from Polo's account of his own travels and life. Laden with adventure, humor, diplomacy, history, and art, this book is compelling proof that travel is the enemy of bigotry--a truth that resonates from Marco Polo's time to our own.

     Fully updated April 2017, and now available in Kindle format! The Kindle book contains all the features included in the print edition as well as additional planning information. Now you can carry a full guidebook in the palm of your hand via a smart phone, e-reader or tablet! Both formats include: - Full-color detailed to-scale topographical stage maps of each day’s walk with free GPS files online. - The entire 800km Camino Francés and 90km Camino Finisterre. - 135 detailed stage, city and town maps (now easier to read). - Essential practical information on transport, accommodations and services. - Detailed listings of pilgrim hostels (albergues) and private accommodations in each town, including prices, amenities, number of beds, contact information, open seasons, and more. - Regional introductions to the different areas along the Camino including information about traditional foods, flora and fauna, and local culture. - Overviews of dozens of medieval pilgrim sites, with information about the historical context of the pilgrimage. - Expert advice on hiking gear, packing and daily Camino life. Extra planning topics included in the Kindle version: - Camino Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - Alternate itinerary suggestions for those who want a faster or slower pace - A list of places the serve vegetarian and or gluten free meals - Special considerations for women and traveling with children - More details about booking flights, trains and buses - A Spanish phrasebook and mini Basque (Euskara) phrasebook. - A timeline of the history of Spain with emphasis on the Camino history. - A list of recommended reading and films about the Camino de Santiago.

    For over 70 years, Aokigahara, Japan has been a source of mystery for both investigators and paranormal researchers. This beautiful stretch of unkempt woodland, while maintaining the illusion of beauty, harbours a secret which few people are willing to acknowledge. Aokigahara, known to many as the Sea of Trees, is the suicide capital of Japan. Every year, hundreds of people visit the forest with no intention of ever leaving. People who no longer wish to be a part of this world find solace in the isolation of Aokigahara, and willingly take their own lives against its backdrop of chaotic forestry. However, the legend of Aokigahara goes a lot further that simply being alluring scenery for suicide. Its lore is rooted in ancient legend, literature and a historical association with death. Its impact on Japanese culture has been so prominent that Japanese officials rarely acknowledge the forest’s existence in an effort to disassociate it from its macabre infamy. But despite this, Aokigahara’s prominence in not just Japanese culture, but world over, cannot be understated.

    Imagine stepping from a bush plane on to a frozen lake where the temperature is 60 degrees below zero. Three miles away sits a cabin that will be your home for the next year. Now, imagine not finding it for six bitter cold days. This is where the unforgettable true story begins for two young men in search of adventure in the Canadian wilderness. Share their struggle for survival, hunt moose for winter meat and build a cabin at Paradise Creek. Discover the joy and hardships of living for one year in a wilderness log cabin. This is a coming of age story. The range of emotions stretch from the pain of frostbite to the awesome splendor of Northern Lights. From the darkness and loneliness of a subarctic winter to the bliss of watching a sunset on a home-made swing. Journey with these two young men on an adventure you will never forget.

     1988 would prove to be the worst drought since the ‘dustbowl’ of the 1930’s.  Yellowstone would burn,  Ronald Reagan would shake his fist at the 'Evil Empire', and the author, oblivious to it all, hit the road and never looked back. That trip would consume the entire summer, logging over twelve thousand miles from sea to sea and back.  “Alone In The Wind” is the account of that trip, with pictures, maps, historical & geographical notes, and rolling narrative. A few selected excerpts: The early evening sun is bright red and except for wind slapping the tents, all is quiet.  Other campers are talking in subdued tones.  The  scene has a timeless quality I can’t explain.  Maybe it’s how I’d picture an Oregon Trail  camp.  Everybody too exhausted to do more than whisper, anticipating the day ahead, trying to forget the ones behind. Kurt Vonnegut might have written that the Custer annihilation occurred solely to provide me with a ranger to give advice on the coming storms.  That irony rattled around in my helmet for the next forty miles. Chewing mindlessly I stare at passing trucks with red eyes.  This has been an endless, grueling day.  A far cry from the mystical experience that other writers claim.  The bone numbing reality of motorcycle touring is exhaustion, dehydration, disorientation. Vacant eyes seem to be nothing more than rubber stoppers that keep my liquefied brains from spilling out over my face. Carved out by the tides, the cave is probably underwater for most of the day.  At the entrance is a rock with a well-formed depression at the top.  Without thinking I dump both bottles of Atlantic Ocean into that shallow basin, move deeper into the cave and sit.  There’s a lot on my mind, and it all seems to be demanding immediate attention.  The mission will be accomplished.  The oceans will unite.  It will take a few hours, and I won’t be here to see it, but this is a better way.  Letting the sea take it on its own terms seems more fitting. Heat was the real problem.  Both the heat of a western summer day and the heat thrown off an air-cooled engine that's being pushed to its limits.   While it was never transcendental, the passage was always very real, very immediate, and unforgettable.  Thinking back to the other riders that I met, it seemed the same for them as well.  They were all worn down with fatigue and loneliness - while at the same time brimming over with confidence and satisfaction. I won't forget them.

    The armies of North and South stand on the brink of America’s civil war. Nathanial Starbuck arrives in the capital of the Confederate South, where he enlists in an elite regiment. He is a northern boy fighting for the southern cause. But nothing can prepare him for the shocking violence to follow in the war which broke America in two.COPPERHEADNathanial Starbuck is a Copperhead: a northerner fighting for the rebel South in America’s Civil War. Expelled from the Faulconer Legion, Starbuck must travel a hard road before he can rejoin his comrades. His journey will take him through the savage prisons of Richmond, across the blood-sodden battlefields of Virginia, and into the deadly high command of the northern army.BATTLE FLAGThe epic battle for control of the Confederate capital continues through the hot summer of 1862. It’s a battle that Captain Nate Starbuck, a Yankee fighting for the Southern cause, has to survive and win.THE BLOODY GROUNDIt is late summer 1862 and the Confederacy is invading the United States of America.Nate Starbuck, a northern preacher’s son fighting for the rebel South, is given command of a punishment battalion – a despised unit of shirkers and cowards. His enemies expect it to be his downfall, as Starbuck must lead this ramshackle unit into a battle that will prove to be the bloodiest of the Civil War.

     Following an unfortunate encounter with Spanish gin measures and an enthusiastic estate agent, retired special effects engineer Terry England is the proud owner of a nearly completed villa in a new urbanisation in Southern Spain. Not quite how he’d intended to spend his enforced early retirement Terry nevertheless tries to make the best of his new life. If only the local council can work out which house he’s actually bought and the leaf blowers would please stop. Terry finds himself being sucked in to the English Expat community with their endless garden parties and quests for real bacon and Tetley’s Tea Bags. Of course, if it all gets too much he can always relax in the local English Bar with a nice pint of Guinness, a roast beef lunch and the Mail on Sunday. With a growing feeling that he might have moved to the ‘Wrong Spain’, Terry sets out to explore and finds himself tangled in the affairs of a small rustic village in the Alpujarras. It is here where he finds a different Spain. A Spain of loves and passions, a Spain of new hopes and a simpler way of life. A place where a moped is an acceptable means of family transport and a place where if you let your guard down for just a moment this land will never let you go again. Forever England is the tale of one man trying to redefine who he is and how he wants to live. It is a story of hope and humour with an array of eccentric characters and comic situations for which David Luddington is so well known and loved. "Overall, this is a very warm and funny book. It is filled with wonderful characters and many laugh out loud moments." book-reviewer.com "Genuinely funny, with many laugh out loud moment..." Matt Rothwell - author of Drunk In Charge Of A Foreign Language

    THE FIRST KILLER HARRY PUT BEHIND BARS IS OUT TO GET HIM. Harry is responsible for the many years Finne spent in prison but now he’s free and ready to pick up where he left off. A MAN LIKE HARRY BETTER WATCH HIS BACK. When Harry wakes up with blood on his hands, and no memory of what he did the night before, he knows everything is only going to get worse . . . *JO NESBO HAS SOLD OVER 40 MILLION BOOKS WORLDWIDE* The phenomenal twelfth instalment in Jo Nesbo’s internationally bestselling crime fiction series.

    No matter if you use your RV just a few weekends and holidays a year or make it your full time home, you will find tips that will make your RV travels easier, safer and more enjoyable. You'll find tips that will save you time and money. You will find tips on getting your mail while traveling, internet access, boondocking, and work camping. You'll learn how to save money on camping fees just by choosing where to stay and staying longer. You will get tips on how you can customize your RV to make your home.Chapter TitlesRV Care & Maintenance TipsRV Boondocking – Dry-Camping – Overnighting TipsRV Camping TipsRV Park Reservation & Check-In ChecklistsRV Travel & Destination TipsRV Driving TipsRV Lifestyle TipsWork Camping TipsRV Accessories TipsRV Battery TipsRV Holding Tanks & Toilet TipsRV Fresh Water System TipsRV Electrical System TipsRV Refrigerator TipsMiscellaneous RV TipsTips for RVing With Dogs This book includes over 400 tips. You pay pennies for tips that can save you hundreds of dollars.About the Editors: As most folks do, we started out tent camping. In the late 1970s we ventured across the country from northern California to western Pennsylvania and back through Washington and Oregon in Steven’s boxy old 1965 Chevy van.   Those were the days, my friends. That trip had a lasting effect and over time we realized we were destined to be full time RVers. In 1995 we sold our house and a Recreational Vehicle became our home. An RV has been our home every since.

    As well as journalism, Wallace wrote screen plays, poetry, historical non-fiction, 18 stage plays, 957 short stories and over 170 novels, 12 in 1929 alone. More than 160 films have been made of Wallace's work.Table of Contents: The Secret of the Moat Farm (1924) The Murder on Yarmouth Sands (1924)The Great Bank of England Frauds (1924)The Trial of the Seddons (1924)Herbert Armstrong - Poisoner (1924)The Suburban Lothario (1928)Excerpt:"There is no more dangerous criminal than a small larcenist who has escaped the consequence of his offences, through, as he believes, his own dexterity and skill. Having this good opinion of himself, he progresses from crime to crime, until there comes a moment when he finds no other escape from the consequences of his meanness and folly than the destruction of a human life which, as he believes, stands between himself and freedom. And so confident is he in his own genius for evasion that he will plan the most diabolical of crimes, perfectly satisfied in his mind that the success which has attended the commission of minor offences will not desert his efforts to evade the penalty of his supreme villainy."