Editora: Planet editions
While on holiday on the Nile, the world-famous detective genius Hercule Poirot finds himself having to investigate the murder of a young heiress.
Frank Richard Stockton was born in Philadelphia on 5th April 1834. His father, a Methodist minister, discouraged Stockton’s literary career from an early age. Feeling unable to go against those wishes it was for many years that Stockton’s income was maintained as a wood engraver. His first work was published in 1867 and his first collection only appeared in 1870. Despite this late arrival Stockton’s innovative and often far-fetched stories, with a gentle ‘poking fun’ humour were very popular. Like his contemporary Mark Twain he avoided the scolding, hectoring and moral tones of many other authors and instead gently teased and cajoled his reader to open their eyes to the ills, the greed and the ambitions of the world around them. His sci-fi stories in particular were far-seeing and inventive including a tale of negative gravity and a bloodless Anglo-US war won by technological feats. Perhaps his most enduring tale though is ‘The Lady, or the Tiger?’ from 1882. A condemned man is given a choice of being eaten alive or marrying his princess lover. But he has to choose which door each is behind. Frank R Stockton died in Washington, DC, on 20th April 1902, of a cerebral haemorrhage. He is buried at The Woodlands in Philadelphia.Ver livro
The comprehensive critical biography of silent-screen star Marion Davies, who fittingly referred to herself as "the captain of my soul." From Marion Davies's humble days in Brooklyn to her rise to fame alongside press baron William Randolph Hearst, the public life story of the film star plays like a modern fairy tale shaped by gossip columnists, fan magazines, biopics, and documentaries. Yet the real Marion Davies remained largely hidden from view, as she trusted few with her true life story. In Captain of Her Soul, Lara Gabrielle pulls back layers of myth to show a complex and fiercely independent woman, ahead of her time, who carved her own path. Through meticulous research, unprecedented access to archives around the world, and interviews with those who knew Davies, Captain of Her Soul counters the public story. This book reveals a woman who navigated disability and social stigma to rise to the top of a young Hollywood dominated by powerful men. Davies took charge of her own career, negotiating with studio heads and establishing herself as a top-tier comedienne, but her proudest achievement was her philanthropy and advocacy for children. This biography brings Davies out of the shadows cast by the Hearst legacy, shedding light on a dynamic woman who lived life on her own terms and declared that she was "the captain of her soul."Ver livro
C.S. Lewis For Beginners is a thorough examination of C. S. Lewis, the greatest Christian apologist of the twentieth century, throughout his career as an author and as a professor at Oxford University. A Christian apologist defends Christianity as a consistent and coherent worldview that squares with human reason, history, and desire. It offers answers to every facet of our lives on earth as well as answers to our questions about what happens after we die. What makes C.S. Lewis unique as an apologist is the way he balanced so perfectly reason and imagination, logic and intuition, and head and heart. In addition to writing such non-fiction apologetics books as Mere Christianity, The Problem of Pain, and Miracles, he wrote eleven novels: the seven Chronicles of Narnia, a trilogy of science-fiction adventures, and a haunting retelling of an old myth set in the ancient world. All eleven tell wonderful, captivating stories that stand on their own as fiction but that also support and bring to life the kinds of apologetical arguments he makes in his non-fiction. He also wrote two utterly unique works of fiction, The Screwtape Letters and The Great Divorce, that offer a fresh, highly original take on sin and temptation, angels and devils, and heaven and hell. And that’s not all. Lewis the apologist and novelist had a day job. He was a celebrated English professor at Oxford, and then Cambridge, University who wrote works of literary criticism that are still famous today. C.S. Lewis For Beginners takes the reader through the wardrobe of his complete catalog of writing.Ver livro
A true friend is a paradox—both a mirror and a mystery, a presence that steadies yet unsettles. Emerson's Friendship is not a sentimental tribute but an exploration, as sharp as it is reverent. He does not merely celebrate companionship; he dissects it, questioning the forces that draw souls together and the invisible tensions that hold them apart. Friendship, in Emerson's vision, is not mere comfort—it is a force, a demand, a test. It requires space as much as closeness, silence as much as words. It thrives not in constant nearness but in the charged air of mutual respect, in the quiet certainty that the bond endures, even when distance stretches between. His words do not ask for easy agreement; they provoke. He suggests that the highest friendships are not found but forged, not effortless but exacting. The reader who enters Friendship expecting warmth may find, instead, a bracing clarity—a recognition that true companionship is both a gift and a discipline, an art as much as an affection. Emerson does not offer a guide to making friends; he offers something rarer: an insight into why, despite all risks, we seek them still.Ver livro
The story of Aboriginal resilience in Australian history is one of survival, adaptation, and unyielding strength in the face of immense challenges. For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal peoples thrived across the diverse landscapes of the continent, developing complex societies deeply connected to the land. However, with the arrival of European settlers, they faced an unprecedented upheaval that threatened not only their way of life but also their very existence. Despite this, Aboriginal communities endured, finding ways to resist, adapt, and preserve their cultural heritage against overwhelming odds. Colonization brought profound disruptions to Aboriginal societies. Traditional lands were seized, sacred sites were desecrated, and entire communities were forcibly removed from their ancestral homes. The introduction of foreign diseases, combined with violence and systematic dispossession, led to devastating population losses. European settlers viewed the land as something to be owned and exploited, disregarding the deep spiritual and cultural relationship that Aboriginal people had maintained with it for millennia. The introduction of colonial laws and policies further marginalized Aboriginal peoples, stripping them of autonomy and attempting to erase their identities through forced assimilation. Yet, even in the darkest periods of history, Aboriginal resilience remained steadfast. Many Aboriginal nations engaged in active resistance, fighting to defend their land and people. Leaders emerged to challenge European incursions, using knowledge of the terrain to their advantage in conflicts now known as the Frontier Wars. Others found ways to survive within the new colonial framework, forming alliances, working within the pastoral industry, or preserving their culture in secret despite government suppression.Ver livro
Breaking the Medicine Monopolies is a lawyer's personal narrative of the events that led to the widespread use of low-cost generic drugs and the current drug price crisis. Breaking the Medicine Monopolies is a personal narrative about Alfred Engelberg's fifty years of legal work in the drug industry. He takes you inside the mysterious world of patents to provide a basic understanding of how drug makers have gamed the laws governing brand and generic competition, misused patents to prolong monopolies, and delayed generic competition on old drugs instead of focusing on discovering new ones. In this book, Engelberg provides listeners with an understanding of how the growing use of low-cost generic drugs led to the highest prices in the world for new drugs, and how middlemen in the drug distribution chain have exploited a lack of price transparency in order to earn excessive profits. Breaking the Medicine Monopolies is a must-listen for anyone who wants to understand how ill-considered policy decisions and an inept patent system led to unaffordable prices for new drugs, and what can be done to correct the problem.Ver livro
