Inside stories, lurid tales, embarrassing incidents: soccer legend George Best has gathered together his favourite stories of his and his friends’ anecdotes and observations from their experiences in and out of the game over the last forty years.

    A large stone Venus. Nothing unusual about it_except that it was found on an island in the Pacific Northwest. Archaeologist Hannah Green and her shovelbum nephew find themselves in a tangled web of competing interests avaricious land owners, hungry media, and a cult of goddess worshippers while investigating one of the finds of the century. In untangling the mystery of the Washington Venus, Hannah and Sean have to confront questions of archaeological evidence, of ethics, of conflicting interpretation of data, and of the very nature of archaeological truths. Helping them are a cadre of disdainful graduate students who propose various theories processualist, marxist, feminist, postmodernist to explain the bizarre events. Teach your students archaeological theory in a fashion they'll enjoy, while they solve the mystery in Adrian Praetzellis's delightful textbook-as-novel.

    A changed world. A soldier through it all. The Turine army is on the brink of victory against the Geneshans. Sergeant Tyrus and his unit are tasked to steal an artifact from the enemy that some believe has the power to destroy the world. Taking such power from the Geneshans would end the decade long war. Upon their success, Tyrus’s unit is among the first wave of soldiers discharged from the army. War has robbed him of time with his wife and children, but now the life he has dreamed of every day for the last ten years is just a long journey away. Traveling home, Tyrus finds the world he left behind changed in ways he never expected. His own countrymen view returning soldiers as a threat. His own townsmen want to forget he even existed. Danger is everywhere. His dream is in jeopardy. Forgotten Soldiers is the first book in The Tyrus Chronicle.

    An audacious attack on the London to Birmingham mail train; an apparently motiveless murder on the Great Western Railway; and a body thrown from a speeding train on the Sankey Viaduct. The Railway Detective has his work cut out for him!

    These seven true stories show that drugs, deceit, scams and sordid ping pong shows have become an undeniable and accepted part of the most popular tourist destinations in Thailand, namely Pattaya, Bangkok and Phuket. Caught on Camera and Pattaya Youtuber are two gripping modern stories that show the old saying ‘what happens in Thialand, stays in Thailand’ no longer holds true. Visitors to Thailand beware!

    From fugitive to Medal of Honor winner, Mann carries on to rise above the ignorance and intolerance of those who seek to bring him down; somehow gaining strength from the unimaginable losses he suffers and his own self doubt. Troy Smith does a great job of telling this man's story; providing a real insight not only to the emotional struggle that made Alfred Mann the individual he was, but the era that forged his heroic character. – Kit Prate 2001 WWA Spur Award Winner for Best Original Paperback

    His only out is to undergo a complete physical makeover, get a rank and name change, and agree to take over a new platoon in the Segnal Space Marine Corps (SSMC). Mission 2: Angry Robots A group of antiquated robots have decided that they've had enough of being treated like second-class citizens. Working together, they take over the sewage plant on Segnal Prime and start pumping the sludge back up into the buildings. Mission 3: The SSMC Voyeur A space probe that was sent out 500 years ago has returned...sort of. It's actually a copy of the original model of The SSMC Voyeur, which begs the question: What happened to the original craft? The crew of The SSMC Reluctant is dispatched to learn about the originating planet that sent this cloned vehicle. And, if Rear Admiral Conster gets his way, they're also to blow the entire planet that it came from to smithereens. Mission 4: Earthlings After their last mission, the Segnal Space Marine Corps (SSMC) saw the value of the GONE Drive. The ability to move through space in a blink of an eye would be highly appealing to any military body, but specifically to Rear Admiral Parfait who has a bit of a thing for military bodies. Parfait sets a mission in place where The SSMC Reluctant must go to one of the planets that they briefly landed on during their last mission: Earth. Parfait sees the opportunity to...probe another society of human-like creatures and possibly build relations with them. Furthermore, and much to Captain Don Harr's chagrin, Parfait has put in for a title change to Senior Diplomat so that he can join the crew! Mission 5: Synthetic DNA After a close call in the year 2440 at the planet called "Earth," the crew of The SSMC Reluctant makes a quick escape back to their home of Segnal. However, Geezer didn't have time to set the clock on the GONE Drive to return them back to their own era, and things have changed greatly in the Segnal System over the past 500 years. The system is ruled by Synthetic Lifeforms now, and they find humans and standard robots an affront to their intellectual capacity. From their perspective, only Synthetic Lifeforms should be allowed to live.

    The other is forced to marry the man she hates as the 'dark ages' unfold.How can Dr Viv DuLac, medievalist and academic, unlock the secrets of the past? Traumatised by betrayal, she slips into 499 AD and into the body of Lady Vivianne, who is also battling treachery. Viv must uncover the mystery of the key that she unwittingly brings back with her to the present day, as echoes of the past resonate through time. But little does Viv realise just how much both their lives across the centuries will become so intertwined. And in the end, how can they help each other across the ages without changing the course of history?

    In her voyage from atheist to believer, she gradually discovers that while God's face may not be clearly seen, the brush of His fingertips is often felt. In a personal treasure hunt for infinite value, the search for God in the everyday occurrences of life is humorously depicted in sometimes eerily strange situations.The stories unfold from seemingly commonplace events to miraculous conclusions. Most of us won't find God in a burning bush, like Moses did, but like the author, we may find Him in a burning house...or perhaps, even driving a tow truck.

    Victor Selan fought one of those empires and lost. Abandoned after the defeat of his homeworld, Victor is rescued by the Old Man, an enigmatic figure in possession of the a fully operational First Civilization starship. A starship that the Old Man wants Victor to command. All he has to do in return is agree to reunify the Galaxy.

     LAST PLANE OUT OF SAIGON is a faithful reproduction of the journal he kept as a draftee working in the operating room of Vietnam's largest military hospital during the final year of the war. Supporting historical and political context is provided by award-winning scholar, John Hagan. Richard’s entries were written in real time and, as they chronicle the last desperate year of this tragic war, present readers with a better understanding of the complicated final year of the Vietnam War from the inside, looking out. A year that tragically remains unfamiliar to most Americans. This landmark book describes, in part, the hasty departure of American troops from Vietnam but is timely now as America again withdraws from war and is challenged with multiple global conflicts. It is a gripping real-time account of the anger, resistance and resilience forged in one man by the horrors of Vietnam witnessed up close, in graphically human terms, touching on mistakes that were made then and which our country continues to make today. The reader will feel the weight of this compelling account, as the Vietnam War continues to plague the consciousness of our country. All Americans should read this important piece of history, bound to leave them with chills. Richard Pena served in Vietnam as an Operating Room Specialist for the United States Army and left on the last day of American withdrawal. He is now a nationally renowned practicing attorney in Austin, Texas. He is a former President of the American Bar Foundation and State Bar of Texas and served on the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association. John Hagan is the John D. MacArthur Professor of Sociology and Law at Northwestern University and Co-Director of the Center of Law & Globalization at the American Bar Foundation in Chicago. He has published nine books and more than 150 articles in nationally renowned magazines and journals.

    All but one of the surviving women have conceived, and two students, plus their professor, are said to have died. In the glare of the world's media, every survivor sticks to the same unconvincing version of events. Piece-by-piece the narrator examines the evidence and conducts interviews with the survivors, to work out exactly what happened on the island during that year. Slowly, a disturbing picture emerges of feral humans driven by rivalry and sexual tension ...a 'Lord of the Flies' scenario for adults that suspiciously seems to test the dead professor's theory that by nature people are no different from apes in the wild.

    But encouraged by her best friend Tabitha, that’s exactly where she finds herself. Professor Duncan McDonald is the site director and his earnest pursuit of digging up the past makes him appear distant and unreachable. But when a woman on the site goes missing, it seems that his own past might be coming back to haunt him once again. As they dig deeper, Duncan and Grace get more than they bargained for – and come to realise that the past is much closer than either of them ever imagined …

    Its dazzling virtuosity and spectacular live concerts made it hugely popular with fans during the 1970s, who saw bands such as King Crimson, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull bring a new level of depth and sophistication to rock. On the other hand, critics branded the elaborate concerts of these bands as self- indulgent and materialistic. They viewed progressive rock's classical/rock fusion attempts as elitist, a betrayal of rock's populist origins. In Rocking the Classics, the first comprehensive study of progressive rock history, Edward Macan draws together cultural theory, musicology, and music criticism, illuminating how progressive rock served as a vital expression of the counterculture of the late 1960s and 1970s. Beginning with a description of the cultural conditions which gave birth to the progressive rock style, he examines how the hippies' fondness for hallucinogens, their contempt for Establishment-approved pop music, and their fascination with the music, art, and literature of high culture contributed to this exciting new genre. Covering a decade of music, Macan traces progressive rock's development from the mid- to late-sixties, when psychedelic bands such as the Moody Blues, Procol Harum, the Nice, and Pink Floyd laid the foundation of the progressive rock style, and proceeds to the emergence of the mature progressive rock style marked by the 1969 release of King Crimson's album In the Court of the Crimson King. This golden age reached its artistic and commercial zenith between 1970 and 1975 in the music of bands such as Jethro Tull, Yes, Genesis, ELP, Gentle Giant, Van der Graaf Generator, and Curved Air. In turn, Macan explores the conventions that govern progressive rock, including the visual dimensions of album cover art and concerts, lyrics and conceptual themes, and the importance of combining music, visual motif, and verbal expression to convey a coherent artistic vision. He examines the cultural history of progressive rock, considering its roots in a bohemian English subculture and its meteoric rise in popularity among a legion of fans in North America and continental Europe. Finally, he addresses issues of critical reception, arguing that the critics' largely negative reaction to progressive rock says far more about their own ambivalence to the legacy of the counterculture than it does about the music itself. An exciting tour through an era of extravagant, mind-bending, and culturally explosive music, Rocking the Classics sheds new light on the largely misunderstood genre of progressive rock.

    An ancient Biblical artifact. A mystery as old as humankind.In 1829, the Portuguese brig Dourado sank off the coast of Indonesia, losing its cargo of priceless treasures from the Holy Land. One of these lost relics holds the key to an ancient mystery. But someone does not want this treasure to come to light. When her father is murdered while searching for the Dourado, Kaylin Maxwell hires treasure hunter and former Navy Seal Dane Maddock and his partner Uriah “Bones” Bonebrake, to locate the wreckage and recover a lost Biblical artifact, the truth behind which could call into question the fundamentally held truths of human existence. Join Maddock and Bones on a perilous adventure that carries them from the depths of the Pacific to ancient cities of stone as they unravel the mystery of the Dourado.CIBOLADane Maddock returns in another unforgettable adventure! When Maddock rescues beautiful archaeologist Jade Ihara, he joins her on asearch for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. Cibola takes the reader on a journey across the American southwest, where the ruins of the mysterious Anasazi hide deadly secrets, and foes lurk around every corner. Maddock and his partner "Bones" Bonebrake must decipher clues from the fabled Copper Scroll, outwit their enemies, and be the first to unlock the secret of Cibola.QUESTDane Maddock is back. Deep in the Amazon, a university group encounters a horror beyond their darkest nightmares and vanishes without a trace. Called upon to undertake a daring rescue mission, Maddock and Bones must trace the true path of Percy Fawcett's final expedition, but the secret that lies at the end of the search might be even deadlier than the enemies who seek it. From the streets of London to remote islands in the Atlantic, to the deadly jungles of the Amazon, Maddock and Bones must penetrate a secret lost to history, on their deadliest Quest.AZTLANIn a remote area of the American Southwest Dane and Bones stumble upon a place out of legend that changes their world.PRAISE FOR DAVID WOOD AND THE DANE MADDOCK ADVENTURES!A great read that provides lots of action, and thoughtful insight as well, into strange realms that are sometimes best left unexplored." Paul Kemprecos, author of Cool Blue Tomb and the NUMA Files"Dane and Bones.... Together they're unstoppable. Rip roaring action from start to finish. Wit and humor throughout. Just one question - how soon until the next one? Because I can't wait."Graham Brown, author of Shadows of the Midnight Sun