Kieron Connolly

Forget about the best of times. This is the worst of times. Two years on and Paul Rooney is still hurting from the loss of his beloved Jenny, going through the motions at work (prosecuting the fraudsters of Ireland for the Revenue) and at home (eating Pringles and dreaming the same dream night after night) and, all the time, going slightly mad. Two years on and Mary Conroy is still grieving for her beloved David, taking photographs that no one wants to print and trailing round after her best friend, the dynamic Deirdre, who's determined to pull her out of this slump some time soon. She wouldn't mind dreaming the same dream night after night if she could just work out what it means. Both looking for answers, but finding nothing but questions, Paul and Mary have a way to go before they realize what everyone else has known for a while: some things are just meant to be. This witty black comedy is Kieron Connolly's first novel.

Water Sign

Abandoned; Ruins, Wrecks, and Moments of a Forgotten Past

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves." - Abraham Lincoln Is the story of the United States that of George Washington, John Adams and Barack Obama? Or of slave rebel Nat Turner, of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King? Or Sitting Bull and Al Capone? Or Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and OJ Simpson? Of course, it is the story of all these, of both civil war and world war, of gold rush and dust bowl, of the Pilgrim Fathers and religious cults, of Prohibition and the Mafia, of the Salem Witch Trials and the McCarthy-era witch-hunts. From the Iroquois and early European settlers to the Revolutionary War and Civil War, from slavery to segregation, from the frontier to the Reservations, Bloody History of America is a chronological examination of the United States through politics, labour, big business, crime and culture. Featuring such varied characters as Thomas Jefferson and John Brown, Bugsy Siegel and J P Morgan, Calamity Jane, Chuck Berry and Bonnie & Clyde, it tells the story of the first 'new nation', the first major colony to revolt successfully against colonial rule, and how it became the world's most powerful country. Extensively researched and illustrated with 180 color and black & white artworks and illustrations, Bloody History of America is a lively and fascinating account of the darker side of the story of the United States.

Revolution, Race and War

Bloody History of America

How did the Great Bear get its name? Where can I find Orion in the sky? And why is the constellation of Cassiopeia hanging upside down? Stories of the Constellations collects 40 classic myths and legends of the night sky. Aries may be a ram, but why can it be found among the stars? How can you find the Big Dipper? What are the stories behind Cancer the Crab, Sagittarius the Centaur and Hydra the serpent? Explained in this book are the stories behind the 12 star signs (such as the Gemini twins, the Taurus bull), along with more than 25 other characters from mythology who also have a place in the heavens, such as Perseus carrying Medusa’s head of snakes, three-headed dog Cerberus and hero Hercules fighting the dragon Draco. Stories of the Constellations is illustrated throughout with outstanding new artworks for each character, showing how the constellation fits the character. There are also colour illustrations of one of the stories about each character and locator maps that allow the reader to find the constellations in the night sky. As well as explanations of how to read the sky at night, the story behind each featured character is explained and there are easy-to-read ‘Did you know?’ factboxes. Packed with educational and fun information on both classical mythology and astronomy, Stories of the Constellations is a colourful and exciting read.

Myths and Legends of the Night Skies

Stories of the Constellations

From ancient times to the end of the 19th century, this book explores more than 100 forts, castles and defensive strongholds from all around the globe.

Abandoned Castles

Abandoned Civilisations

"Featuring more than 100 locations, from ghost towns to amusement parks, roads to railways, hotels to hospitals. From war to chemical disasters, from grand follies to changing fashions, the story behind each striking image is explained."--Page [4] of cover.

A Photographic Exploration of More Than 100 Places We Have Left Behind

Abandoned Places

"Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul." – Marilyn Monroe It is over 100 years since Hollywood became the centre of American cinema and, while it has always presented itself as a place of glamour and home to the beautiful and talented, from its very creation there was a darker side to Tinseltown. Film-makers didn’t just move to southern California for its sunny weather, they went West to evade the patent laws restricting the use of movie cameras. From its earliest days, Hollywood, the home of fantasy, created a hothouse of excess – too much money, too much adulation, too much expectation and too much ego. Some actors would trade sex in the, often vain, hope of career advancement, mobsters muscled in on the unions and extorted the studios, while the accountants appear to be among Hollywood’s most creative people, managing to ensure that even the Star Wars films haven’t yet shown a profit. But while stars have always been indulged, once their moment in the limelight has passed, their fall can be cruel. From the setting up of the studios by the movie moguls to the corporations that run them today, from drug addictions to McCarthy-era witch-hunts to the Mob, Dark History of Hollywood is the story of sex and excess, murder and suicide, ambition and betrayal, and how money can make almost everyone compromise. Intensively researched and superbly entertaining, Dark History of Hollywood reveals that the stories behind the silver screen are at least as gripping as many of those on it.

A century of greed, corruption and scandal behind the movies

Dark History of Hollywood

Neil Powell

The I Ching is an ancient Chinese work of divination that examines the patterns, or hexagrams, traditionally formed by dropping bundles of dried grass stalks. This edition features interpretations of the 64 hexagrams, including the Judgment, written by King Wen in the 12th Century BCE; The Commentary and The Image (both attributed to Confucius); and The Lines, written by King Wen's son, and here enhanced by modern commentary.

Kieron Connolly

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