Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 37447 items
The great hill stations of Asia
By Barbara Crossette. 1998
In 1997 this New York Times journalist traveled across Asia, visiting the classic hill towns built by several colonial powers.…
She recalls her journeys to these remote locations, discusses their history, and describes how each has evolved since being inherited by an independent nation. 1998.The ghost walker
By R. D Lawrence. 1983
Lawrence lived in a wilderness region of the Selkirk Mountains to study the life habits of the cougar. Ghost Walker…
is the name he gave to a large mountain lion with whom he developed an amazing affinity. 1983.The follow: a true story
By Linda Spalding. 1998
The author recounts her expedition into the forests of Borneo in search of a reclusive primatologist, who has devoted her…
life to protecting orphaned orangutans. Describes the beauty of the island, the local society, and the despoilment of natural resources through poaching, deforestation, and misguided ecotourism. 1998.The first days of life
By Russell Freedman, Joseph Cellini. 1974
The fate of Rome: climate, disease, and the end of an empire (ITK audio)
By Kyle Harper. 2017
The Fate of Rome is the first book to examine the catastrophic role that climate change and infectious diseases played…
in the collapse of Rome's power -- a story of nature's triumph over human ambition. Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. He takes readers from Rome's pinnacle in the second century, when the empire seemed an invincible superpower, to its unraveling by the seventh century, when Rome was politically fragmented and materially depleted. Harper describes how the Romans were resilient in the face of enormous environmental stress, until the besieged empire could no longer withstand the combined challenges of a "little ice age" and recurrent outbreaks of bubonic plague. A poignant reflection on humanity's intimate relationship with the environment, The Fate of Rome provides a sweeping account of how one of history's greatest civilizations encountered, endured, yet ultimately succumbed to the cumulative burden of nature's violence. 2017.Ten essays investigating curiosities and oddities in natural history. A research physician presents his findings on real phenomena, such as…
odd showers of fish or frogs falling with rain; and unreal specimens, such as the Feejee mermaid--a fraudulent creature assembled from fish and animal parts. 1999.The feather quest: a North American birder's year
By Pete Dunne. 1992
This book chronicles a year spent birding. The author and his wife embarked on their adventure before dawn on New…
Year's Day, crossing North America and joining the Christmas Bird Count twelve months hence. Dunne keeps an eye on more than birds; he observes humans and the world at large. Brief foreword contributed by Roger Tory Peterson. 1992.The far-off hills
By Rita Anton. 1979
Following her husband's death in 1976, Anton spent several years in India as a volunteer Jesuit Lay Missionary. Having travelled…
extensively in India, she presents a realistic look at this nation in transition. 1979.The family dog: its choice and training : a practical guide for every dog owner
By John Holmes. 1991
The text aims to answer all the questions that the dog owner may have about finding the right dog and…
training it successfully. The author provides his own insights into the instincts, behaviour and temperament of the domestic dog, and uses his up-to-date experience as a professional trainer to show the principles that help to build a happy and harmonious relationship between dog and owner. 1991.The cuckoo on the kettle
By Joan Grant. 1993
Joan Grant cares for around 250 injured and immature wild birds each year, releasing many back into the wild and…
giving a permanent home to those unable to fend for themselves. Some of her patients return, after release, often years later. The starling returning for bread and milk for her family, the tufted duck who came to ask for help in getting her ducklings to water, the moorhen who preferred Joan's kitchen to the lake where she'd been taken - these are just some of the bird characters in Joan's crammed bungalow. 1993.The end of elsewhere: travels among the tourists
By Taras Grescoe. 2003
Taras Grescoe plunges into the ruts where the tourists are thickest, starting at the tip of Spain's Land's End and…
finishing, nine months later, on the soldier-patrolled beaches of China's End of the Earth. Along the way, he crosses the entire Eurasian landmass, experiencing all sorts of travel such as all-inclusive resorts, pilgrimages, and bus tours. Some descriptions of sex and violence, some strong language. 2003.The eyes that lead: the story of guide dogs for the blind
By Michael Tucker. 1984
The author has spent many years as a trainer of guide dogs. He explains how the dogs are selected and…
trained, how they are matched with their new owners, and the training that the owner receives. 1984.The Etruscans
By Michael Grant. 1980
Author reviews the latest scholarly thinking about the Bronze Age origins and subsequent development of civilization in Etruria. A major…
section of the book deals with the geographical and cultural history of the major Etruscan city-states and their territories at the height of their power. 1980.The chimps of Fauna Sanctuary: a true story of resilience and recovery
By Andrew Westoll. 2011
In 1997 Gloria Grow started a sanctuary for chimps retired from biomedical research on her farm outside Montreal. For Gloria,…
caring for thirteen great apes is like presiding over a maximum security prison, a Zen sanctuary and an old folks' home all rolled into one. But she is first and foremost creating a refuge for her troubled charges -- a place where they can recover and begin to trust humans again. Canada Reads 2012. 2011.The devil and the disappearing sea: a true story about the Aral Sea catastrophe
By Robert W Ferguson. 2003
The Aral Sea, once the fourth-largest inland body of water, has lost over half its surface area and 80 percent…
of its volume since 1960, due to poorly planned irrigation systems. In January 2000, Canadian Rob Ferguson went to Uzbekistan to work on an environmental project to save the Aral Sea. After a year of dealing with corrupt officials, not only had the project gone nowhere, but Ferguson was under suspicion of murder. Some strong language. 2003.The elephant whisperer: learning about life, loyalty and freedom from a remarkable herd of elephants
By Lawrence Anthony, Graham Spence. 2009
When South African conservationist Lawrence Anthony was asked to accept a herd of 'rogue' elephants on his reserve at Thula…
Thula, his common sense told him to refuse. But he was the herd's last chance of survival - notorious escape artists, they would all be killed if Lawrence wouldn't take them. 2009.The holy blood and the holy grail
By Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, Henry Lincoln. 1982
Three BBC filmmakers offer a controversial and unorthodox view of the life of Christ, based on cryptic documents discovered by…
a French priest in 1891. The authors infer that Jesus married Mary Magdalen and fathered children whose descendents became European royalty, and that the bloodline of Jesus, in the Merovingian dynasty of France, continues to the present. Bestseller 1982.The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: Volume 3
By Edward Gibbon. 2008
A major literary achievement of the 18th century published in six volumes. Volume I was published in 1776; Volumes II…
and III were published in 1781; volumes IV, V, VI in 1788-89. The books cover the period of the Roman Empire after Marcus Aurelius, from just before 180 to 1453 and beyond, concluding in 1590. They take as their material the behaviour and decisions that led to the decay and eventual fall of the Roman Empire in the East and West, offering an explanation for why the Roman Empire fell. Volume 3 contains chapters 27 to 38. 2008.The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: volume the first (1776) and volume the second (1781)
By Edward Gibbon, David Womersley. 2005
Edward Gibbon's six-volume History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776-88) is among the great narratives in…
European literature. Its subject is the fate of one of the world's greatest civilizations over thirteen centuries - its rulers, wars and society, and the events that led to its disastrous collapse. Here, in volumes one and two, Gibbon charts the vast extent and constitution of the Empire from the reign of Augustus to 395 A.D. And in a controversial critique, he examines the early Church, with accounts of the first Christian and last pagan emperors, Constantine and Julian. 2005. If you request this book on CD it will be on 2 or more CDs. You must play the first CD to the end before playing the next CD.The heart of the world: a journey to Tibet's lost paradise
By Ian Baker. 2004
Recounts an extraordinary journey into one of the most inaccessible places on earth, and a pilgrimage to the heart of…
Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan prophecies proclaim that the greatest of beyul, or mystical sanctuaries, lies at the eastern edge of the Himalayas, veiled by a colossal waterfall in the forbidding Tsangpo gorge. After years of investigation, world-class climber and Buddhist scholar Ian Baker and his National Geographic-sponsored team made worldwide news by finding a magnificent 108-foot-high waterfall-the legendary grail of both Western explorers and Tibetan pilgrims. 2004.