Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Flirting with Mermaids - The...

  John Kretschmer

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  Over the course of twenty years of delivering sailboats to far-flung quaysides, John Kretschmer has had innumerable adventures, both humorous and terrifying. In Flirting with Mermaids, he recounts the most memorable of them. 
   
   
   
  He crosses the Western Caribbean with a crew of eccentric Swedes researching ancient Mayan mariners, lands in Aden at the outbreak of civil war, and endures a North Atlantic crossing during which he discovers the existence of Force 13 winds. Approaching Japan at the end of a particularly trying delivery, he finds himself sailing in "a high impact debris zone," but his resolve is unshaken. "If a piece of rocketship jetsam fell out of the sky and sank [me] after encounters with Hurricane Floyd, General Noriega, a tsunami, an erupting volcano, and Typhoon Roy, then it was meant to be."

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  Travellers Gazette Box Set - A...

  Mr Punch

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  We follow in the footsteps of the intrepid British traveller and explore the world both At Home and Abroad, told entirely in the words of those who were there. 
    
  The TRAVELLER at HOME Gazette 
  A fascinating ramble through the towns and villages of the British Isles during the last 400 years in the company of Jane Austen, William Cobbett, Daniel Defoe, James Lees Milne, Sir Walter Scott, Virginia Woolf and many more. 
    
  The TRAVELLER ABROAD Gazette 
  We explore the far-flung shores of the world alongside some of Britain’s finest Chroniclers. Join Charles Darwin, Kenneth Williams, Fanny Trollope, Sir Ernest Shackleton, Mungo Park, Horace Walpole, Wilfred Thesiger, James Boswell, Nancy Mitford and many others on your journey. 
    
  Performed by an outstanding company of award-winning actors including Dame Eileen Atkins, Cheryl Campbell, Nigel Davenport, Alex Jennings, Richard Johnson OBE, Hugh Laurie CBE, Michael Maloney, Geoffrey Palmer OBE, Michael Pennington, Prunella Scales CBE, Samuel West & John Wood CBE with a full supporting cast. 
      
  Also available as part of The Gazettes Box Set, a six-volume edition (Military, Sport & Travel) creating a vivid portrait of British life through the centuries. 
    
  It is a highly enjoyable collection. Some pieces are just dazzling. Independent on Sunday 
    
  An extraordinary series... deserves a medal. The readers are all excellent and many of them distinguished. The Spectator 
    
  From the same stable that produced The Chronicle, my favourite audio this year, I've just listened equally spellbound to a compilation of travellers' tales at home. The Guardian

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  The Midwest Survival Guide - How...

  Anonimo

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  Everything you need to know to survive in the greatest place on Earth 
  Have you ever had a goodbye lasting more than four hours? Do you lack the emotional capacity to say “I love you” so you just tell your loved ones to “watch out for deer”? Have you apologized to a stranger because she stepped on your foot? If you answered yes to any of these questions, there’s a good chance you’re a Midwesterner—or a Midwesterner at heart.  
  Even if you answered no, you probably know someone who held the door for you from two football fields away. He likely waved at you and said, “Hey there,” like you organized the church bar crawl together. That was a Midwesterner in the wild. We understand that your interaction was strange—but it’s likely to get stranger. Don’t wait until they stick their head in your second-floor window to invite you over for a perch fry because they climbed on your roof to clean your gutters. There’s no need to pull the pepper spray; this species is helpful by nature. And the relationship could be very symbiotic—but only if you let it happen. And that’s where this book comes into play. 
  Inspired by my comedy tours across the Midwest and life growing up in Wisconsin, this book is an exploration into my favorite region on Earth. Some may think the Midwest is just a bunch of bland flyover states filled with less diversity than a Monsanto monoculture. But scratch that surface with your buck knife and you’ll find rich cultures and traditions proving we’re more than just fifty shades of milk.  
  So whether you’re a born-and-bred Midwesterner looking to sharpen your skill at apologies or a costal elite visiting the in-laws for the holidays, this book will help you navigate the Midwest, with everything from the best flannel looks to dating and mating rituals (yes, casserole is involved) to climbing the corporate corn silo to how to handle a four-way stop—and every backyard brat fry in between.  
  And for those of you who don’t like reading, don’t worry—we’ve got pictures! Toss in illustrations, sidebars, quizzes, and jokes worthy of a supper club stall and The Midwest Survival Guide is just the walleye-deep look into this distinctive, beautiful, and bizarre American culture you’ve been looking for. 
  Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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  Tokugawa Shogunate - Peace...

  Rolf Hedger

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  The Tokugawa Shogunate, also known as the Edo period (1603–1868), was a time of unprecedented peace and stability in Japan, following centuries of war and political fragmentation. This era began with the victory of Tokugawa Ieyasu at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, a decisive conflict that allowed him to consolidate power over the warring daimyo. Three years later, in 1603, he was granted the title of shogun by the emperor, officially marking the beginning of Tokugawa rule. 
  Ieyasu’s triumph at Sekigahara was not merely a military success but also a demonstration of his strategic brilliance and political foresight. By carefully forging alliances and exploiting rivalries among the daimyo, he ensured that his Tokugawa clan would emerge as the dominant force in Japan. Once in power, Ieyasu took immediate steps to secure his family’s hold over the nation. He redistributed land among the daimyo, rewarding loyal vassals and weakening potential threats. This reorganization of landholdings laid the foundation for the centralized feudal system that would define the Tokugawa era. 
  Although Ieyasu formally retired in 1605, passing the title of shogun to his son Tokugawa Hidetada, he continued to wield significant influence from behind the scenes. His retirement was a strategic move designed to solidify the legitimacy of hereditary succession, ensuring that the Tokugawa family would maintain control for generations. This transition of power set a precedent for stability, preventing the kind of succession disputes that had plagued previous shogunates.

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  The Silk Road - Trade and...

  Jun Liu

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  The origins of the Silk Road trace back more than two thousand years, to a time when empires rose and sought to expand their influence through exploration, diplomacy, and commerce. The foundation of this vast trade network was laid during the Han Dynasty in China, around the 2nd century BCE. Under Emperor Wu of Han, the empire was looking to form alliances and open communication with regions to the west, particularly to counter nomadic threats like the Xiongnu. In pursuit of this goal, the emperor commissioned a young diplomat named Zhang Qian to journey westward, initiating one of the earliest formal missions that would lead to the opening of trade routes between East and West. 
  Zhang Qian’s expeditions proved to be pivotal. Although his initial mission was met with capture and delays, he eventually succeeded in reaching Central Asia and returning with valuable intelligence about distant peoples and lands. His reports detailed the cultures, resources, and military strength of regions far beyond China’s borders, sparking interest in trade and fostering diplomatic relationships. These journeys laid the groundwork for sustained interaction between distant civilizations and demonstrated the strategic and economic potential of linking east to west. 
  As the Han Dynasty expanded its territory and influence, it secured key routes and established military garrisons along the western frontier. These efforts ensured the safety of merchants and travelers, allowing goods to flow more freely across borders. The Silk Road was not a single road, but rather a network of interconnected paths that stretched from China through Central Asia, reaching all the way to the Mediterranean. It connected cities like Chang’an (modern-day Xi’an), Samarkand, and Antioch, forming a bridge between major civilizations of the time.

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  Tracing Florida Journeys -...

  Leslie Kemp Poole

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  How has Florida's land changed across five centuries? What has stayed the same, and what remains only in memory? In Tracing Florida Journeys, Leslie Poole delves into the stories of well-known explorers and travelers who came to the peninsula and wrote about their experiences, looking at their words and the paths they took from the perspective of today. 
   
   
   
  In this book, John Muir and Harriet Beecher Stowe write about their visits to Florida, reflecting their expectations of a place that was touted to be "paradise." John James Audubon finds riches of bird life in the Keys. Zora Neale Hurston travels to turpentine camps and sawmills documenting the stories and music of workers and residents. Jonathan Dickinson and Stephen Crane recount shipwrecks along a sparsely populated coastline. 
   
   
   
  Using journals and articles by these and other authors that date back to the early European exploration of the region, Poole retraces their steps. The land they write about is often hard to imagine in today's Florida, a top destination for tourists filled with almost twenty-two million residents. These stories show the evolving history of the state and the richness of its natural resources. Poole's comparisons also point to the people who have been displaced and the ecosystems that have been dramatically altered by exploration and development.

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