A Traveller's History of New Zealand and the South Pacific Islands gives the curious tourist not only a modern-day portrait of New Zealand and the... far-flung islands, their political systems, and economic diversity, but also looks at the early settling of this massive area which covers about a fifth of the surface of the earth. When European navigators first sailed into this region, they were astonished at the exotic shared culture and language of the natives, separated in some cases by terrifying stretches of open ocean. The story of the peopling of the South Pacific Islands and New Zealand is one of the world's great sagas. The book covers the whole scope of New Zealand's past and present history and allows the reader to make sense of what they see in a way that no other guidebook can.

During its "golden age," Spain was a political giant whose influence spanned the world from Germany to the Western Pacific. Rich on American gold and... silver, Spain was able to send the Armada against England, defeat the Turks and challenge France for the hegemony of Europe. This book will unlock the secrets of Spain's vibrant and colorful past, its people and culture for the interested traveller. It takes the reader on a journey from the earliest settlements on the Iberian Peninsula, through the influences of the Romans, the Goths and the Muslims, the traumas of expansion and the end of the Empire, right up to the present.

A concise and authoritative history of the entire region covering the large islands such as Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico,... Trinidad and Tobago, and the Bahamas as well as the smaller islands in the Netherlands Antilles, the islands of the Eastern Caribbean and the French and British dependencies.

This is the best-selling classic regularly featured by Glenn Beck to Fox TV viewers!The Real George Washington: The True Story of America s Most... Indispensable Man. There is properly no history; only biography, wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. If that is true of the general run of mankind, it is particularly true of George Washington. The story of his life is the story of the founding of America. His was the dominant personality in three of the most critical events in that founding: the Revolutionary War, the Constitutional Convention, and the first national administration. Had he not served as America's leader in those three events, all would likely have failed -- and America, as we know it today, would not exist.Why, after two centuries, does George Washington remain one of the most beloved figures in our history? The Real George Washington answers that question by giving us a close look at this man who became the father of our country and the first American President. But rather than focus on the interpretations of historians, much of his exciting story is told in his own words. The second part of this 928-page book brings together the most important and insightful passages from Washington's writings, conveniently arranged by subject.Published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to restoring Constitutional principles in the tradition of America's Founding Fathers. The National Center for Constitutional Studies...is doing a fine public service in educating Americans about the principles of the Constitution. -- Ronald Reagan, President of the United States

Nuestra "casa", mÁs que un lugar fÍsico, es un conjunto de recuredos que nos permite comprender mejor quienes Éramos, quienes somos, y puede... ayudarnos a comprender quienes seremos. Ese sentido de pertenencia es el que nos define. Algunos dejan su "casa", su hogar, muy pronto en sus vidas; para ellos es muy difÍcil encontrar su centro emocional. EstÁn, a veces, condenados a una vida sin equilibrio. Pero tambiÉn es una existencia con mucha libertad. Sin frontera alguna, estos eternos viajeros no dejan de buscar aventuras y experiencias lÍmite esperando encontrar algÚn dÍa, como Ulises, un lugar que puedan llamar su "casa". AsÍ empieza el viaje de la extraordinaria autobiografÍa de Jorge Ramos, un periodista que encarna este espÍritu aventurero a la perfecciÓn, y que espera, algÚn dÍa, encontrar un lugar en el cuÁl se sienta como en casa. Por primera vez, Jorge Ramos, el mÁs prestigioso presentador de noticias en espaÑol comparte su vida personal con sus lectores, televidentes y radioescuchas. Hable de lost amores de su vida, de su pasiÓn por el periodismo de sus viajes y entrevistas y de su propio concepto de realizaciÓn espiritual. Es, al mismo tiempo, una invitaciÓn a aprovechar al mÁximo cada instante de nuestra vida. En este libro conocemos al hombre de la televisiÓn al que millones de latinos e hispanoparlantes le han dado toda su confianza durante aÑos. AsÍ descubrimos que Ramos es alguien que comprende que para vivir plenamente, hay que tomar riesgos, y que sin riesgos no hay recompensa. Ramos cuenta de sus conflictos, de niÑo, con los sacerdotes benedictinos, de sus luchas como estudianted en Los Ángeles a principios de los ochentas, de su primera incursiÓn en el periodismo norteamericano y de las advertencias de las grandes cadenas de televisiÓn en inglÉs de que jamÁs llegarÍa a un puesto importante si no perdÍa su acento. Se equivocaron. De esta manera Ramos nos abre las puertas al mundo de los medios de comunicaciÓn en espaÑol, un mundo que muchos crÍticos veÍan como innecesario e irrelevante y que ahora se ha convertido en uno de los sectores mÁs poderosos de la cultura estadounidense. Con las historias de las muchas guerras que has cubierto, los lugares que has visitado y los poderosos y temidos lÍderes mundiales que ha entrevistado, Ramos cautiva a sus lectores contÁndoles la trayectoria y los altibajos de un periodista que llegÓ a un paÍs que quisiera llamar su casa, pero que no puede. Descubrimos tambiÉn, a un hombre cuya atracciÓn por las emociones fuertes lo han puesto en peligro de muerte y cuyo sentido del humor lo ha salvado de las situaciones mÁs incÓmodas. Padre, reportero, esposo e hijo, en su nuevo libro Atravesando Fronteras, Ramos nos muestra como cada uno de nosotros puede ser testigo de la historia, y que viajar sin cesar puede ser preferible a quedarse en un mismo lugar para siempre.

From the great and ancient cultures of Asia comes this fascinating collection of great prose, drama, poetry and scripture. Translated by scholars well... versed in the original languages, the contents range from selections from the holy books of the Confucian, Taoist, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic religions to a story from The Thousand and One Nights and verses from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

This one-volume library of classic children's literature contains nursery rhymes, poems, fables, and stories, and is lavishly illustrated with more than... two hundred full-color drawings by sixteen different artists.

“He was a good little monkey and always very curious.” This is how H. A. Rey and his wife, Margret, first introduced their now beloved... troublemaker-hero to young readers in 1941. In this hefty 192-page hardcover treasury, Curious George fans will find eight stories based on the popular primate, painted in Rey’s original watercolor and charcoal style: Curious George Takes a Train (2002), Curious George Visits a Toy Store (2002), Curious George and the Dump Truck (1999), Curious George and the Birthday Surprise (2003), Curious George Goes Camping (1999), Curious George Goes to a Costume Party (2001), Curious George Visits the Library (2003), and Curious George in the Big City (2001). A wonderful collection for your own mischievous monkey. For more monkey fun, investigate www.curiousgeorge.com and discover all the latest on Curious George books, promotions, games, activities, and more!

During the Middle Ages, kings and nobility frequently commissioned the greatest artists of their day to illustrate-or "illuminate"-their personal prayer... books. Intended for private reading and meditation, these so-called "books of hours" were arranged, in keeping with the practice of the Church, so that particular prayers were read at specific times of the day. To our enduring enchantment, the artists who illustrated these books entwined delicate flowers, beautiful fruits, and fanciful creatures with depictions of activities appropriate to each month of the year and with moving illustrations depicting stories from the lives of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints. Presented here are carefully selected pages from over a dozen precious fourteenth- and fifteenth-century manuscripts-most of which have never been published before-found in some of the world's leading museums and libraries. Arranged and described to guide the viewer's eye, these delightful and colorful illustrations invite readers, young and old, to immerse themselves in the medieval imagination. Also included are a glossary and a short history of the noble personages who commissioned the works and the artists who produced them.

From Nero's nagging mother (whom he found especially annoying after taking her as his lover) to Catherine's stable of studs (not of the equine variety),... here is a wickedly delightful look at the most scandalous royal doings you never learned about in history class. Gleeful, naughty, sometimes perverted-like so many of the crowned heads themselves-A Treasury of Royal Scandals presents the best (the worst?) of royal misbehavior through the ages. From ancient Rome to Edwardian England, from the lavish rooms of Versailles to the dankest corners of the Bastille, the great royals of Europe have excelled at savage parenting, deadly rivalry, pathological lust, and meeting death with the utmost indignity-or just very bad luck.