Engelska

<p>Comprising a vivid and varied series of miniature biographies, revealing profiles, thought-provoking essays and a multitude of previously unknown anecdotes and quotes, <i>Hercules!: The A to Z of Elton John</i> is the perfect compendium for the casual fan or devoted connoisseur, providing a funny, comprehensive and fully alphabetised overview of the star's life and music.<br/><br/>Charting all the highs and lows, the major record releases and the significant tours, the strokes of genius and the bottoms of barrels, this insightful portrait will cover serious subjects such as Elton's battle with the media, his highly publicised addictions, his route to sobriety, his tangled love life and his struggles to come to terms with his sexuality, hair loss and temper. But, as Elton himself always does so well in the hundreds of interviews he has given over the past half-century, his stories will also be told frankly and humorously, his demons now conquered and his success unrelenting.<br/><br/>And at the heart of this book is a joyride through one of the all-time greatest musical catalogues from a brilliant, versatile, glamorous and universally loved pop superstar.</p>

<p>In his foreword to <em>The Ways of Paradise</em>, Peter Cornell presents this so-called found manuscript, the work of a now-deceased, obscure researcher who spent three decades in the National Library of Sweden working on his magnum opus. Upon his death, no trace of this work remains aside from this set of notes and fragments which form an enigmatic set of texts on the connections between art, literature, spirituality and the occult through history, with a particular focus on spirals and labyrinths. Ranging from the Crusades to Ruskin, Freud to surrealism, cubism, automatic writing, Duchamp, the Manhattan Project, Pollock and Smithson, this cult book, first published in Sweden in 1987, is translated into English for the first time by Saskia Vogel. </p>

<p>'If a Louis Wain cat were reading this book, he would raise his topper in tribute' - <strong><em>The Times</em></strong></p> <p>'Excellent ... Hughes reveals a fascinating, forgotten aspect of late Victorian and Edwardian Britain: how the British fell in love with felines' -<strong><em>Daily Mail</em></strong></p> <p> <strong> Some called it a craze. To others it was a cult. Join prize-winning historian Kathryn Hughes to discover how Britain fell in love with cats and ushered in a new era.</strong> </p> <p><em>'He invented a whole cat world'</em> declared H. G. Wells of Louis Wain, the Edwardian artist whose anthropomorphic kittens made him a household name. His drawings were irresistible but <em>Catland</em> was more than the creation of one eccentric imagination. It was an attitude - a way of being in society while discreetly refusing to follow its rules.</p> <p>As cat capitalism boomed in the spectacular Edwardian age, prized animals changed hands for hundreds of pounds and a new industry sprung up to cater for their every need. Cats were no longer basement-dwelling pest-controllers, but stylish cultural subversives, more likely to flaunt a magnificent ruff and a pedigree from Persia. Wherever you found old conventions breaking down, there was a cat at the centre of the storm.</p> <p>Whether they were flying aeroplanes, sipping champagne or arguing about politics, Wain's feline cast offered a sly take on the restless and risky culture of the post-Victorian world. No-one experienced these uncertainties more acutely than Wain himself, confined to a mental asylum while creating his most iconic work. <em>Catland</em> is a fascinating and fabulous unravelling of our obsession with cats, and the man dedicated to chronicling them.</p> <p>'Hughes combines ingenuity, insight, and immense literary charm ... A perfect gift for cat lovers, art lovers, and readers of all persuasions' - Elaine Showalter</p> <p>'On Victorian and Edwardian terrain, Hughes is near-omniscient ... Through humour, elegance and sheer knowledge, Hughes builds something remarkable' - <em>Literary Review</em></p> <p>'An entertaining and often surprising cultural history ... typically delivered in an inviting spirit of delight, and [Hughes] is not above engaging in a little anthropomorphizing' - <em>New Yorker</em></p>

<p><b>From avant-garde accessories to directional red-carpet glamour, Loewe is the fashion house of the moment.</b><br/><br/>Modern twists bring an unbridled joy to its cult items, from surreal balloon heels to the coveted Puzzle bag, with every design underpinned by craftsmanship. Loewe's fashion-forward looks are worn by everyone from Anna Wintour to Zendaya while visionary creative director Jonathan Anderson continues the heritage house's legacy of reinvention.<br/><br/>With over 100 stunning photographs accompanied by engaging text, <i>Little Book of Loewe</i> uncovers the story of an iconic brand that continues to redefine the fashion landscape.</p>

<p>We know David Grossman&apos;s voice of ringing moral clarity from way back: since the late 1980s and The Yellow Wind, his classic work on the urgency of the two-state solution and the price paid by both occupier and occupied, he has been criticizing his country&apos;s government and pushing for paths to a lasting peace. Just after October 7th, 2023, he retreated inwards to ask himself anew these difficult and necessary questions about his beloved nation: How could this massacre have happened? How could the Netanyahu government, tangled in its web of scandals, have failed to protect its citizens? And did October 7 and the war that followed take with it the last hope of a two-state solution? In these eleven essays, which appeared in newspapers and journals at key moments when Grossman wanted to hold the government to account, he traces the failures leading up to that day and the ensuing war, enabled and abetted by a morally bankrupt party clinging to power. He documents the struggle being fought on both sides between those committed to conflict, and the many who want to live in peace and equality with their neighbors. He asks what the meaning and purpose of a Jewish state can be, when the core values of Judaism, with its reverence for the dignity of each human life, are cast aside, and how his people, so accustomed throughout history to being in the minority, have not proved able to exist as a majority with the dignity and humanity that the job demands. Ultimately, Grossman arrives at the most important question of all: Will there ever be a lasting peace in the region?</p>

<p>Wonderfully engaging, expansive and ambitious, <i>Sound Tracks</i> tells the history of our relationship with music in sixty detective stories, each focusing on the discovery of a musical instrument - or its fragments - in archaeological digs around the world. Taking us from the present day - finding a 100-year-old wax cylinder recording on a flea market - all the way back to the dawn of time - the thrilling discovery of a prehistoric flute - long-lost music is itself reconstructed as we enter the worlds of those who created it.<br/><br/>We feel the delight of a child in Peru in 700 AD, playing with a water-filled pot designed to chirp like a bird; we appreciate the difficult task of a soldier sending signals by trumpet to the next watchtower on Hadrian's Wall; we can almost hear the sounds of the sixty-four bells buried in a tomb in China in the 5th century BC.<br/><br/>Graeme Lawson takes us on a grand tour of the world's greatest musical discoveries, revealing that music is part of human DNA - not just in its role as pastime, entertainment or religious expression but also as a medium in which we commemorate our pasts, communicate with each other, and shape our identities, relationships and communities.<br/><br/>Written with verve and passion and brimming with astonishing insights, <i>Sound Tracks</i> is an enthralling alternative history of humanity in which the silences of the past are filled with a wonderful treasure hoard of forgotten sounds and voices.</p>

<p><b>'We're mysterious aliens in the crowd. We jump like fleas from future to past and back again, and float like clouds of gas between nebulae; in a flash, we can reach the edge of the universe, or tunnel into a quark, or swim within a star-core... We're as unassuming as fireflies, yet our numbers grow like grass in spring. We sci-fi fans are people from the future.' -</b> <b>Cixin Liu, from the essay 'Sci-Fi Fans'</b><br/><br/><i>A View from the Stars </i>features a range of short works from the past three decades of <i>New York Times</i> bestselling author Cixin Liu's prolific career, putting his nonfiction essays and short stories side-by-side for the first time. This collection includes essays and interviews that shed light on Liu's experiences as a reader, writer, and lover of science fiction throughout his life, as well as short fiction that gives glimpses into the evolution of his imaginative voice over the years.</p>