Among the bright lights and comfortable surroundings, the hustle and bustle of embarkation and the petty dramas and excitements of exploring a new ship, how many could have foreseen that in a little over 100 hours' time three quarters of their number would be dead and adrift on the freezing Atlantic, and the world's largest moving object - the apotheosis of human engineering achievement, wrought in iron and crewed by master mariners - would like broken up in stone cold pitch darkness 12,000 feet down on the sea bed, never to reach her destination a thousand miles away? It is a story with all the elements of high drama, tragedy, heroism, hubris, humanity and at times grim comedy - at every stage the Titanic's story is a highly sensory tale. Discover which novel predicted the disaster a whole 14 years before the maiden voyage, how a bottle of whiskey saved one of the crew and was a fire burning within the ship the real cause of its downfall? Find the answers to many amazing aspects in this absorbing collection of stories and trivia from stowaways to kidnapping, conspiracy theories and wreckage. The story travels from Belfast, Liverpool, Southampton, America and the characters of Captain Smith, Chief Officer Henry Wilde, John Jacob Astor IV, bedroom steward Henry Etches and stories from steerage to dressing Guggenheim. And stories of the Carpathia to the rescue, Cunard collecting the casualties, the tragic inactivity of the Californian, US and British enquiries, the indomitable Violet Jessop to memorabilia and Titanic in the cinema, it is a story of tragedy, tourism and trade. 144pp, line art.

Native Americans make up less than one per cent of the total US population, but represent half the nation's languages and cultures. Here in one grand sweep is the full story of America's indigenous peoples, their society, culture and religion, everything from the land-based spirituality of their early creation myths, and the late rise of Indian Pride, to the 88 uses to which the Sioux put the flesh and bones of the buffalo, and the practice of berdache (men adopted as women). The book offers a chronological history of Native Americans and their emergence out of the now submerged continent of Beringia, the 'forgotten wars' of the 16th and 17th centuries which wiped many tribes from the East Coast. It finally describes to the last struggles of the Cheyenne and the Comanche. Celebrating these peoples' way of life rather than focusing on the manner of their genocide, it does not ignore uncomfortable facts of the Amerindian past including suspected cannibalism and their part in the decimation of North America's buffalo herds. Some remarkable success stories are now emerging. A compelling account of the truth, tragedy and magic of America's original inhabitants. 571pp in mammoth paperback.

A Spectator Book of the Year, this is sweeping and poetic, tracing the epic paths of wanderers across 12,000 years. Sattin weaves stories of mobile tribes who lived beyond imperial borders and created their own kingdoms and empires - Scythian, Xiongnu, Persian, Hun, Arab, Mongul, Mughal, Ottoman and others. With their embrace of multiculturalism, respect for nature's rhythms, and need for free movement, wandering peoples brought a glorious cultural flourishing to Eurasia, enabling the Renaissance and changing the human story. This is the untold history of civilisation, told through its outsiders, a sweeping narrative reconnecting us with our deepest mythology, unrecorded antiquity, and our natural world. 'He not only describes the nomadic way of life but evokes it in a book of beauty and beguiling rhythm' according to The Times. 'The story begins in the Zagros Mountains, Iran, a young man walking towards me with a stick slung across his shoulder and a flock at his feet...' A page-turning narrative and a brilliant piece of scholarship. 357pp, paperback with line art.

With gold embossed linen cover and magnificent design and presentation as befitting a Thames & Hudson publication and with marbled endpapers, Martin Rees Astronomer Royal introduces us to the starry sky, the 'Vault of Heaven' which has been viewed with awe throughout human history. Over the centuries geocentric cosmology was 'improved' to take account of successively more accurate data as proposed by the great Tycho Brahe and Nicolaus Copernicus with his heliocentric system which eventually triumphed, losing some of its complicity after Kepler (1571-1630) discovered planetary orbits to be ellipses rather than circles. In Atlas Coelestis, Johann Gabriel Doppelmayr (1677-1750) masterfully presents a panorama of what was believed about the cosmos in the early 18th century. The splendid ornamentation of his illustrations reflect the cultural breadth and intelligence of his intended readers. His sky maps portray the most prominent stars, the tracks of comets, and the orbits of Saturn's and Jupiter's moons, themselves 'cosmic clocks', observable in principle by navigators. Some of Doppelmayr's most remarkable illustrations depict how the solar system would appear if viewed not from Earth but from another planet. Today we are sending probes to these other worlds. Across 30 remarkable colour plates published by a great cartographic house in Nuremberg, Germany, in 1742, this spectacular outsized guide showcases the 1742 Map of the Cosmos and is a superb introduction to the fundamentals and history of astronomy. Charting constellations, planets, comets and moons, the Atlas presents the ideas of all the famous influential astronomers including Copernicus, Riccioli, Kepler, Newton and Halley. The intricate colour plates interweave annotated diagrams and tables with figurative drawings and ornamental features. At this size we can appreciate the beauty of these exquisite plates which are also presented in a step-by-step deconstructed form by astronomer Giles Sparrow who elucidates the scientific ideas inherent in each plate. He expertly decodes and analyses the complex information in them in this spectacular, revelatory celestial compendium of the cosmos. All in colour, 256 massive pages, 37.5 x 27cm.
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No country on earth has a higher concentration of churches and castles than Wales. The most famous date from the late 1200s and are rightly associated with Edward I of England who commissioned the construction of what is now often known as the 'Iron Ring' to act as a sign of dominance over the Kingdom of Gwynedd. Assisting Edward was his master mason, James of St George, probably of Crusader pedigree judging by the castles' appearance. It was in 1277 that Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Gwynedd, met with Edward I in Aberconwy to finalise a treaty that would change the fate of both nations. His hand forced by Edward's invasion earlier that year, the acceptance of the terms confirmed not only short-term peace, but also that the rule of Wales would pass to Edward on Llywelyn's death. Both before and simultaneous to William the Conqueror's establishment of timber and stone fortresses in the south and borderlands, a process continued by many of his descendants, native structures also existed. Though often more palatial than protective, such constructions proved decisive to the ongoing wars, and were often chosen as sites for future castles. Many had begun as Roman forts whereas others date from more modern times and many now are romantic ruins, and others cherished family homes, hotels or museums. From blood-soaked heroes to long-lost legends, violent pirates to despotic Marcher lords, the book offers a fresh investigation into 69 castles and an extra Best of the Rest chapter covering another 30 with a paragraph or two each and a further 16 where gatehouses and ruins remain. 246pp, 16 pages of archive photos.
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At the turn of the 20th century, the American photographer Edward Sheriff Curtis (1868-1952) started on his 30 year project to produce a monumental study of North American Indians. Using an approach that was both artistically and scientifically ambitious, he recorded, in words and pictures, the traces of the traditional Indian way of life that was already beginning to die out. With tireless personal commitment Curtis visited 80 American Indian tribes from the Mexican border to the Bering Strait in America and Canada, gaining their confidence through his patience and sensitivity. Tribes include the Apache, Navajo, Mohave, Atsina, Cheyenne, Klickitat, Nez Percés, Haida, Hopi, Yuki, Zuni, Sarsi and Comanche. Totem poles, squaws, cacti, teepees and famous chiefs like Spotted Bull and Little Sioux, Curtis photographed Indian faces, homes, agriculture, dress, warriors, cooking, hunting, clay making, fishing - every aspect of their nature, habitat and lifestyle. His work was printed in 20 volumes between 1907 and 1930 as The North American Indian, but with only 272 copies, originals became extremely rare. This book gathers Curtis' entire American Indian portfolio into one publication, offering renewed access to and appreciation of his extraordinary achievement, which is as much a precious historical document as a triumph of the photographic form. All in quality, atmospheric sepia. New from Taschen. 14 x 4.5 x 20.5 cm, 768 pages, pagemarker.

Superbly illustrated heavyweight edition of the most famous and influential work of English fantasy ever published, reimagined for a new generation of readers by John Matthews, one of the world's leading Arthurian experts, and illustrated by internationally acclaimed Tolkien artist, John Howe. The tales of how the boy Arthur drew the Sword from the Stone, or the love of Lancelot and Guinevere, or how the knights of the Round Table rode out in search of the Holy Grail are known and loved the world over. It all began when an obscure Celtic hero named Arthur stepped on to the stage of history, sometime in the 6th century, and oral tales led to a vast body of stories from which, 900 years later, Thomas Malory wrote the famous Le Morte D'Arthur. The Great Book of King Arthur presents these well-loved stories for a modern reader, for the first time collecting many tales of Arthur and his knights either unknown to Malory or written in other languages. Here, you will read of Avenable, the girl brought up as a boy who becomes a famous knight. You will learn of Gawain's strange birth, his upbringing amongst poor folk and his final rise to the highest possible rank - Emperor of Rome. There is also the story of Morien whose adventures are as fantastic and exciting as any to be found in the pages of Malory. In addition, there are some of the earliest tales of Arthur, deriving from the tradition of Celtic storytelling. Here is the original Arthur, represented in such powerful stories as 'The Adventures of Eagle-Boy', and 'The Coming of Merlin', based on the early medieval text Vita Merlini, which gives a completely new version of the great Enchanter's story. These age-old stories, still as popular today as they were from the Middle Ages onwards, are dramatically brought to life by the luminous paintings and delicate detailed line drawings of John Howe, whose work on the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film trilogies has brought him a world-wide following. Foreword by Neil Gaiman. Large 9.5 x 25.2cm, 406 glossy colourful pages.
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What is the secret that links the Great Pyramid of Giza to Chartres cathedral? How was ancient man, with use of sound, able to lift huge slabs of granite over 85 tonnes in weight? How and where is the body of Jesus to be seen in Egypt? Did you know that the term Nazarene relates to a mystical Order rather than the place Nazareth, and that long before Jesus, Pythagoras and Buddha were members of this Order? Why does it all lead back to the great pyramid at Giza and to strange patterns within the sand that respond to certain types of sound? The book reveals one of the greatest secrets to be told. It is the key to some of the most puzzling enigmas of world history, religion and mythology. Everything that exists does so because of vibration. But understand the science of vibration, learn how to use it and you will have the key to, well, everything. Knowledge like that would be worth a lot of money. The Templars became immensely wealthy after their search for knowledge in the Middle East. If we wish to know what knowledge they found, we only have to look at what happened next - cathedrals, scores of them, erected across Europe. The Ancients knew the science of vibration and also the power of names, holy names such as Jesus, Mary, Anna. Versions of these three names can be found world-wide, predating Christianity by several thousand years. Elkington's astonishing book will change the way we regard the world, its history - and its future. Rich with colour plates including the Eagle Nebula and other illus, 525 pages.

We may well have heard of the Mastersons and Earps, but what about the Rangers, Sheriffs and other lawmakers in the early American West during its 19th century heyday? 'Treadwell starts with the first US Marshal, Robert Forsyth, who was also the first to die in service and then Colonel Charles Lynch who gave his name to extra-judicial punishment. One of the most famous and intimidating lawmen was 'Wild Bill' Hickok who was far from the upstanding citizen of popular culture. The town of Tombstone features in a group of tales involving various Earp brothers including Wyatt. Other famous names include Pat Garrett and Bat Masterson, Tom Smith, William Breakenridge, former slaves Bass Reeves and Grant Johnson, and the wonderfully named John Slaughter. There were Marshals, City Marshals, Constables, and County Sheriffs elected by citizens to keep the peace within the county. There were also the Texas Rangers and Arizona Rangers who operated under the jurisdiction of their respective State Governors and later US Marshals who were appointed by the President of the United States and had the authority to operate anywhere in the USA and deal with federal crime. These lawmen had to deal with the likes of the Dalton Gang, the James Brothers and the Rufus Buck Gang who thought nothing of raping and murdering innocent people just for the hell of it. These outlaws would frequently hide in Indian Territory where there was no law to extradite them. There Judge Isacc Parker administered the rules with an iron fist - the gallows at Fort Smith laid testament to his work. Peace in the Wild West was often determined only by the individual's skill with a gun and their courage. 246pp, many historical photos.