“In the globe-trotting spirit of Indiana Jones, Brian Haughton has circled the earth, trying to get to the bottom of some of history’s greatest mysteries.”
BBC Online

History’s Mysteries is an absorbing and meticulously researched exploration of the archaeology, history, and mysteries of 35 ancient places worldwide.

Haughton’s book takes the reader on an unforgettable journey, from the 8,000-year-old stone circle of Nabta Playa to India’s magical Taj Mahal; from Rhode Island’s controversial Newport Tower to the enigmatic Royston Cave in the UK; from the strange medieval castle-village of Rennes-le-Château to the massive ancient walled city of Great Zimbabwe.

Using the latest archaeological evidence, History’s Mysteries
explores:
The incredible archaeological discoveries at the 11,000 year-old sanctuary of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey.
The heated debate over the 47-million-year-old ‘Ida Fossil’—could it be the missing link in our evolutionary history?
The reality behind controversial ancient artifacts such as the Iron Pillar of Delhi, the Oak Island Treasure, and Egypt’s “Dendera Lamps.”
What really happened to the Neanderthals?

With 36 photographs and illustrations, this is the perfect reference work for those fascinated by the great mysteries of ancient history.

Summer 2005 finally sees the release of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy movie from Touchstone Pictures”. Stars include Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Bill Nighy as Slartibartfast, supercool hip-hop artist Mos Def as Ford Prefect and the gorgeous Zooey Deschanel as Trillian. Completely new characters were developed specially for the film by Douglas Adams before his death and will be played by John Malkovich and Anna Chancellor. Pan’s tie-in edition of this cult classic will include substantial extras from Executive Producer, Robbie Stamp: exclusive cast interviews, stories and photographs from the set.

We've all done it — misheard a song lyric and sung along with the wrong words for months or years before being corrected. Whether you heard "Even if you're Ted Danson in the dark," instead of "Even if we're just dancin' in the dark," or confused "Jamie's out of gum" with "Janie's got a gun," this book is an ode to faulty hearing and mumbled lyrics everywhere. The artists presented here vary from pop idols Britney Spears, Billy Joel, and the Backstreet Boys to hard rockers like Def Leppard to urban groups such as Destiny's Child and Black Eyed Peas. Including parodies, fantasy duets, potential commercial soundtracks, and humorous tidbits, this book is perfect for both trivia lovers and those in search of a laugh.

Ring in the holidays with this international collection of cakes, pastries, breads, coffee cakes, cookies, pies, and tarts for all festive occasions. From Gingerbread Men to Steamed Plum Pudding, the recipes are fun and easy to follow, and all the basics are covered. Color photos throughout.

Appealing to experts and amatuers alike, this cookbook features six acclaimed chefs offering complete menus for Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and New Year's Eve and Day. Unique as well as updated traditional recipes, preparation strategies, and ideas for elegant party favors and centerpieces are included in this cookobook that is a perfect gift for any cook. Includes full-color photo of each mouth-watering dish.

Home Comforts is something new. For the first time in nearly a century, a sole author has written a comprehensive book about housekeeping. This is not a dry how-to manual, nor a collection of odd tips and hints, a cleaning book, a history book, or an arid encyclopedia compiled by a committee or an institute. Home Comforts is a readable explanation for both beginners and experts of all the domestic arts — choosing fabrics, keeping the piano in tune, caring for books, making a good fire in the fireplace and avoiding chimney fires, ironing and folding, setting up a good reading light, keeping surfaces free of food pathogens, and everything else that modern people might want to do for themselves in their homes. But this reliable and thorough book on the practicalities of housekeeping is also an argument for the importance of private life and the comforts offered by housekeeping.

Cheryl Mendelson is a philosopher, lawyer, sometime professor, and a homemaker, wife, and mother. Home Comforts is based on her domestic education, which she acquired while growing up on a farm in the hills of Greene County, in southwestern Pennsylvania, from her grandmothers, aunts, and mother. Learning from the distinct domestic styles of her native Appalachian relatives and her Italian immigrant relatives, she appreciated early on how important domestic customs are to a sense of comfort and identity in life. She writes out of love and respect for her subject, and hopes to inspire others to develop the affection and respect for home life and housework she was fortunate to have learned.

Mendelson addresses the meanings as well as the methods of housekeeping with a keen sense of the history and values involved. The result is a warm, good-humored, engagingly written book with a message and a point of view, one that is overflowing with useful reflections and information. The clarity, breadth, and depth of the information collected here are unparalleled. You can read Home Comforts for thoughtful entertainment or use its ample index to help you find the answers to practical domestic questions. There is nothing quite like it.

Among this book's unique features:

· A skeptical discussion of the excessive use of disinfectants in the home. · How to iron a dress shirt and how to fold sheets. · How to make up a bed with hospital corners. · How to do all basic sewing stitches. · How to choose proper sizes for sheets, tablecloths, and other household linens. · How to set the table for informal and formal meals. · Expert recommendations for safe food storage. · The most exhaustive and reliable information on fabrics, textile fibers, and their laundering, drying, and other care that exists for nonprofessionals. · A thorough explanation of care labels and why and how you should often (carefully) disregard them. · Housekeeping guidelines for people with pets or with allergies. · What to do about dust mites. · How to clean and care for wood, china and crystal, jewelry, ceramic tile, metals, and more. · Guides to stain and spot removal. · Extensive recommendations for improving home safety. · A summary of laws applicable to the home, including privacy, accident liability, contracts, and domestic employees.·

· 200 Elegant, Clear Drawings ·

Share the unsurpassed pleasures of discovering, cooking, and eating good, simple food with this beloved book. Equal parts cookbook and memoir, Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking combines her insightful, good-humored writing style with her lifelong passion for wonderful cuisine in essays such as "Alone in the Kitchen with an Eggplant," "Repulsive Dinners: A Memoir," and "Stuffed Breast of Veal: A Bad Idea." Home Cooking is truly a feast for body and soul.

The Venetian courtesan has long captured the imagination as a female symbol of sexual license, elegance, beauty, and unruliness. What then to make of the cortigiana onesta—the honest courtesan who recast virtue as intellectual integrity and offered wit and refinement in return for patronage and a place in public life? Veronica Franco (1546-1591) was such a woman, a writer and citizen of Venice, whose published poems and familiar letters offer rich testimony to the complexity of the honest courtesan's position.

Margaret F. Rosenthal draws a compelling portrait of Veronica Franco in her cultural social, and economic world. Rosenthal reveals in Franco's writing a passionate support of defenseless women, strong convictions about inequality, and, in the eroticized language of her epistolary verses, the seductive political nature of all poetic contests. It is Veronica Franco's insight into the power conflicts between men and women—and her awareness of the threat she posed to her male contemporaries—that makes her literary works and her dealings with Venetian intellectuals so pertinent today. Combining the resources of biography, history, literary theory, and cultural criticism, this sophisticated interdisciplinary work presents an eloquent and often moving account of one woman's life as an act of self-creation and as a complex response to social forces and cultural conditions.

"A book . . . pleasurably redolent of Venice in the 16th-century. Rosenthal gives a vivid sense of a world of salons and coteries, of intricate networks of family and patronage, and of literary exchanges both intellectual and erotic."—Helen Hackett, Times Higher Education Supplement

The Honest Courtesan is the basis for the film Dangerous Beauty (1998) directed by Marshall Herskovitz. (The film was re-titled The Honest Courtesan for release in the UK and Europe in 1999.)

Make any party or meal a special celebration with a selection of easily prepared, colorful, delicious hors d'oeuvres or appetizers. Dazzle your guests with Mozzarella and Tomato Crostini. Sesame Shrimp. Guacamole. Endive Boats with Smoked Salmon. Chinese Spareribs. Mini Pizzas with Spicy Meat Topping. Tandoori-Style Chicken. The array of possibilities is a festive as it is tempting. Filled with kitchen-tested recipes from popular French food experts the Scotto Sisters - each recipe shown in a glorious full-color photograph - this beautiful, practical book makes it easier than ever to select and prepare hors d'oeuvres and appetizers for any occasion. All the basics are covered, from choosing basic tools to preparing the doughs, pastries and breads that are part of so many of these dishes. And an illustrated glossary provides you with a quick, convenient reference to essential terms. Hors d'Oeuvres & Appetizers is part of the Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library, an all-new series of books written by outstanding international food authorities and created under the general editorship of Chuck Williams, founder of Williams-Sonoma, America's leading cookware stores and catalog. Each volume of the series concentrates on a single main ingredient or kind of food, and is expressly designed for practical, everyday use in the home kitchen.

A collection of 27 quick and easy recipes for cocoas and hot chocolates, mulled wines and ciders, steamed and flavoured milk, wassails, punches, toddies and grogs. The book also offers serving tips and creative garnishes for each beverage.