Nineteen-year-old Thura al-Windawi traces the days leading up to the bombings in Iraq, the war, and the chaos that followed, describing her life and the reality of war for Iraqi families.
Douglas Hyde--a scholar, linguist, and lifelong promoter of Gaelic culture and heritage--was elected the first President of the Republic of Ireland in 1938. My American Journey provides a compelling firsthand account of a little-known chapter from the early life of this seminal Irish figure: the fundraising trip through the United States he undertook on behalf of the Gaelic League in 1905-6. This collection of journal and diary entries was originally published in the Irish language in 1937 and is now presented for the first time in a bilingual edition, complete with newly discovered archival material and extensive illustrations. Hyde's work on this voyage was both culturally and politically vital. The funds he raised contributed to the hiring and training of Irish-language teachers and organizers who traveled across Ireland spreading the Gaelic League message, helping to sustain a cultural revolution which, in turn, gave rise to the political uprising from which Irish sovereignty ultimately emerged. With a new foreword by current Irish President Michael D. Higgins and punctuated with numerous images, My American Journey sheds light on an important segment of the life of one of Ireland's most underappreciated leaders.
Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to travel writing as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet and heads for Europe. Travelling with Stephen Katz--also his wonderful sidekick in A Walk in the Woods--he wanders from Hammerfest in the far north, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia. As he makes his way round this incredibly varied continent, he retraces his travels as a student twenty years before with caustic hilarity.
'Meticulously researched debut' - Publishers Weekly 'An excellent source for anyone interested in the region.' - New York Journal of Books 'Brothers in Arms sheds a clear and indispensable, if troubling, light on a religious war that is far from over. ' Michael F. Scheuer, former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit and professor of security studies, Georgetown University 'Camille Tawil delivers a carefully reported assessment of al Qaeda and its affiliated Arab jihadist groups.' Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. Since 2001 America's War on Terror has achieved what Osama bin Laden could not: the unification of the jihad under al-Qa'ida's banner. Although today al-Qa'ida is seen as the epitome of jihad, when it first emerged other militant Islamists rejected its vision of a holy war against the West. Investigative journalist Camille Tawil charts the history of conflict and complicity between al-Qa'ida and its brothers in arms from the late 1980s to the present day. Drawing on a network of contacts in Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Algeria's Armed Islamic Group, and the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, he shows how the failure of their separate national struggles brought them increasingly under the influence of Osama bin Laden and his global agenda. From prison cells in Morocco to the caves of Tora Bora, Tawil gives us unique access to the key players behind the jihadist movement and the evolution of its violent ideology. Born in 1965, Camille Tawil is a Lebanese writer and investigative journalist. He has covered Islamic militant groups for al-Hayat Arabic daily in London since the early 1990s.
New York Times bestseller! The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid is a thrilling expedition to 100 of the most surprising, mysterious, and weird-but-true places on earth. For curious kids, this is the chance to embark on the journey of a lifetime—and see how faraway countries have more in common than you might expect! Hopscotch from country to country in a chain of connecting attractions: Explore Mexico’s glittering cave of crystals, then visit the world’s largest cave in Vietnam. Peer over a 355-foot waterfall in Zambia, then learn how Antarctica’s Blood Falls got their mysterious color. Or see mysterious mummies in Japan and France, then majestic ice caves in both Argentina and Austria. As you climb mountains, zip-line over forests, and dive into oceans, this book is your passport to a world of hidden wonders, illuminated by gorgeous art.
A New York Times and Los Angeles Times Bestseller “Doughty chronicles [death] practices with tenderheartedness, a technician’s fascination, and an unsentimental respect for grief.” —Jill Lepore, The New Yorker Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry—especially chemical embalming—and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased. Exquisitely illustrated by artist Landis Blair, From Here to Eternity is an adventure into the morbid unknown, a fascinating tour through the unique ways people everywhere confront mortality.
When the United States and its allies bombed Iraq on March 20, 2003, life changed overnight for 19-year-old Thura Al-Windawi. As the bombs continued to explode all around, she kept a diary to record the horrifying events.
It's time to get off the beaten path. Inspiring equal parts wonder and wanderlust, Atlas Obscura celebrates over 700 of the strangest and most curious places in the world. Talk about a bucket list: here are natural wonders—the dazzling glowworm caves in New Zealand, or a baobob tree in South Africa that's so large it has a pub inside where 15 people can drink comfortably. Architectural marvels, including the M.C. Escher-like stepwells in India. Mind-boggling events, like the Baby Jumping Festival in Spain, where men dressed as devils literally vault over rows of squirming infants. Not to mention the Great Stalacpipe Organ in Virginia, Turkmenistan's 40-year hole of fire called the Gates of Hell, a graveyard for decommissioned ships on the coast of Bangladesh, eccentric bone museums in Italy, or a weather-forecasting invention that was powered by leeches, still on display in Devon, England. Created by Joshua Foer, Dylan Thuras and Ella Morton, ATLAS OBSCURA revels in the weird, the unexpected, the overlooked, the hidden and the mysterious. Every page expands our sense of how strange and marvelous the world really is. And with its compelling descriptions, hundreds of photographs, surprising charts, maps for every region of the world, it is a book to enter anywhere, and will be as appealing to the armchair traveler as the die-hard adventurer. Anyone can be a tourist. ATLAS OBSCURA is for the explorer.
The book collates the latest innovations in cognitive behavioral therapy for child and adolescent anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Named a Best Gift Book/Best Travel Book of the Year by the New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, House Beautiful, Business Insider, The Daily Beast, Forbes, Fodor’s, The Points Guy, Seattle Times, and more “This is the comfort food of travel books. . . . This book will sweep you off your feet.”—New York Times Book Review “Gorgeous . . . breathtaking . . . spectacular.”—Publishers Weekly Patricia Schultz curates the world. When she published the original 1,000 Places to See Before You Die, she created not only a new kind of travel book but also a new way of thinking about our experiences and interests. Now Schultz captivates our hearts in the same compelling way her original book spoke to our minds. Moving from eloquent word to breathtaking image, she takes us on a visual journey of the best the world has to offer, and as we turn the pages and pore over these images, we feel it all: joy, curiosity, awe, passion, nostalgia (if we’ve been there), inspiration (because we want to go), and a profound and transforming sense of how lucky we are to live in a world filled with such beauty and wonder—to see tributaries of mist curling over the Great Wall, elephants grazing on the floor of the Ngorongoro Crater, the sun setting on the wild coast of Donegal, masked whirling dancers at a festival in Bhutan. The book itself is a thing of beauty, an oversize feast of more than 1,000 all-new photographs and 544 pages, every spread and page designed to showcase these mesmerizing photographs and hold just enough of Schultz’s lively text that we know why it is we’re looking at them. It is a perfect gift for every traveler, every fan of the original, every dreamer whose Instagram feed is filled with pictures of places near and far.