Publisher: libreka classics
The Miracle Mongers, an Exposé by Harry Houdini libreka classics – These are classics of literary history, reissued and made available to a wide audience. Immerse yourself in well-known and popular titles!
A collection of quirky and unusual facts about a variety of people, including Playboy cover models, humanity’s ancestors, and Catholic patron saints. From the genealogy of the Bach family to a complete listing of team mascots, here are some of the most surprising and quirky facts about people ever. Find out who topped the music charts most, which U.S. president liked to swim nude, and who the world’s greatest philosophers are. Who is . . . . . . Mother Shipton? A fifteenth-century witch who predicted the Great Fire of London and her own death. . . . Thomas Jennings? Abolitionist, inventor, and the first black man to hold a U.S. patent. . . . Jack C. Massey? One of only three people who knew Colonel Sanders’s secret recipe. . . . Saint Joseph of Cupertino? The patron saint of astronauts. . . . On a Friday? The band we know as Radiohead.Show book
Egon Schiele’s work is so distinctive that it resists categorisation. Admitted to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts at just sixteen, he was an extraordinarily precocious artist, whose consummate skill in the manipulation of line, above all, lent a taut expressivity to all his work. Profoundly convinced of his own significance as an artist, Schiele achieved more in his abruptly curtailed youth than many other artists achieved in a full lifetime. His roots were in the Jugendstil of the Viennese Secession movement. Like a whole generation, he came under the overwhelming influence of Vienna’s most charismatic and celebrated artist, Gustav Klimt. In turn, Klimt recognised Schiele’s outstanding talent and supported the young artist, who within just a couple of years, was already breaking away from his mentor’s decorative sensuality. Beginning with an intense period of creativity around 1910, Schiele embarked on an unflinching exposé of the human form – not the least his own – so penetrating that it is clear he was examining an anatomy more psychological, spiritual and emotional than physical. He painted many townscapes, landscapes, formal portraits and allegorical subjects, but it was his extremely candid works on paper, which are sometimes overtly erotic, together with his penchant for using under-age models that made Schiele vulnerable to censorious morality. In 1912, he was imprisoned on suspicion of a series of offences including kidnapping, rape and public immorality. The most serious charges (all but that of public immorality) were dropped, but Schiele spent around three despairing weeks in prison. Expressionist circles in Germany gave a lukewarm reception to Schiele’s work. His compatriot, Kokoschka, fared much better there. While he admired the Munich artists of Der Blaue Reiter, for example, they rebuffed him. Later, during the First World War, his work became better known and in 1916 he was featured in an issue of the left-wing, Berlin-based Expressionist magazine Die Aktion. Schiele was an acquired taste. From an early stage he was regarded as a genius. This won him the support of a small group of long-suffering collectors and admirers but, nonetheless, for several years of his life his finances were precarious. He was often in debt and sometimes he was forced to use cheap materials, painting on brown wrapping paper or cardboard instead of artists’ paper or canvas. It was only in 1918 that he enjoyed his first substantial public success in Vienna. Tragically, a short time later, he and his wife Edith were struck down by the massive influenza epidemic of 1918 that had just killed Klimt and millions of other victims, and they died within days of one another. Schiele was just twenty-eight years old.Show book
“Running for Women 101” is a complete handbook for women who run. It provides an overview of the unique aspects of women’s running and contains research-backed training advice for races of all distances. This how-to guide will teach women how to reach all of their running goals, and it touches on the following topics: • The History of Women’s Involvement in Running • Challenges and Benefits of Running for Women • Training for a 5K by Building Speed and Endurance • Increasing Distance to Run a 10K • Mastering the Half Marathon • Committing to Training for a Full Marathon • Optimizing Performance with Nutrition, Sleep, and Weight Training • Running Amidst Life’s Challenges Intermediate-level female runners who have been consistently running at least three days per week will find this book to be useful in their training. It includes specific training advice for 5k, 10k, half marathon, and marathon races and provides concrete examples of workouts that are beneficial for women who are training for races of each distance. The book also contains support from groundbreaking scientific studies that have proven the effectiveness of various training methods, so you can be sure the recommendations in this book are based on sound evidence. About the Expert: Jennifer Jacobsen is a wife and mother living in a small town in Northcentral Ohio, and she also happens to be a runner. She works fulltime for a public school but maintains a strong interest in running and physical fitness. She competes in local races throughout Ohio, and while she will run just about any distance, she specializes in the half marathon. Jennifer has won dozens of awards for being the top female finisher in local races, and she manages to keep up with her training while also balancing the demands of being a wife, mother, and professional. HowExpert publishes quick 'how to' guides on all topics from A to Z by everyday experts.Show book
If you want to learn how to make fabric accessories, then get "How To Make Fabric Accessories". Wanting to have those beautiful earrings and charming necklaces that you see on magazines and online stores, but you don’t have the budget? Read through this guide and find out how you can start making fabric accessories on your own. - Learn how to create fabric accessories that are affordable but are definitely high on charm. - Get ideas and techniques that you can use in designing your own accessories. - Use simple everyday items from your mother’s sewing kit that you never thought could be made into earrings, bracelets, and necklaces: fabrics, lace, cords, buttons, and ribbons. - Recycle those scrap fabrics and repurpose old clothes that you no longer use but you can’t bear to part with by turning them into pretty accessories that you can wear everyday. - Add surprise elements to boring accessories by using buttons, ribbons, and laces. - Make accessories for every outfit you own and for every occasion. A girl can never have too many earrings. - Make personalized gifts for family and friends that will show them your creativity and thoughtfulness. - Make jewelry sets and give them away as souvenirs on special occasions such as weddings. - Use your acquired skill in creating fabric accessories in starting a business. - Feed your creativity and fuel your imagination with design inspirations and never have a boring day anymore! About the Expert Khyria Cepe is a self-taught bead artist and jewelry designer. She started making simple dangle earrings in 2006. As she became more interested in her craft, she expanded and enhanced her knowledge by learning from “how-to-bead” books by English and Japanese authors. HowExpert publishes quick 'how to' guides on all topics from A to Z by everyday experts.Show book
One woman's journey through South America - and the devastating story of our planet's disappearing biodiversityPedalling hard for thirteen months, eco adventurer Kate Rawles cycled the length of the Andes on an eccentric bicycle she built herself. The Life Cycle charts her mission to find out why biodiversity is so important, what's happening to it, and what can be done to protect it.From the Pacific Ocean to rainforests and salt flats, Kate learns that armadillos can cross rivers by holding their breath, that Colombia has more species of birds than North America and Europe combined, and that in threatening species and ecosystems, we're tearing down our own life support system. En route, she witnesses the devastation of goldmining and oil drilling but finds hope in the incredible people working to regenerate habitats and communities. As she reaches the 'end of the world', she realises that to tackle biodiversity loss we all have a role to play.'A gripping read for anyone who cares about what we're doing to the planet and how we can change it' DAVID SHUKMAN, FORMER BBC NEWS SCIENCE EDITOR'Searing observations focused on our need to protect biodiversity - A tour de force' SIR TIM SMIT OBE, CO-FOUNDER OF THE EDEN PROJECT'An informative, uplifting and truly important book' JONATHON PORRITT, AUTHOR AND CAMPAIGNERShow book
For millions of people, travel by air is a confounding, uncomfortable, and even fearful experience. Patrick Smith, airline pilot and author of the Web's popular Ask the Pilot feature, separates fact from fallacy and tells you everything you need to know . . .How planes fly, and a revealing look at the men and women who fly themStraight talk on turbulence, pilot training, and safetyThe real story on congestion, delays, and the dysfunction of the modern airportThe myths and misconceptions of cabin air and cockpit automationTerrorism in perspective, and a provocative look at securityAirfares, seating woes, and the pitfalls of airline customer serviceCockpit Confidential covers not only the nuts and bolts of flying, but also the grand theater of air travel, from airport architecture to inflight service to the excitement of travel abroad. It's a thoughtful, funny, at times deeply personal look into the strange and misunderstood world of commercial flying.Show book
