Spitsbergen is the largest island of the Svalbard archipelago which is situated between the Greenland and Barents Seas, approximately 600 miles from the North Pole.
Boom town, modern marvel, commercial hub, where middle-east meets wealthy west, playground for tourists, crawling with ex-pats, built by Indians, owned by Arabs, Dubai has risen from next to nothing to an awful lot in little more than thirty years.
Jane Shaw was working as a volunteer in Chelsea's famous Physic Garden when she earned a placement to work for a year on a very special organic garden in Greece.
In this stunning large-format book, British mountaineer Alan Hinkes describes for the first time in one place his experiences of climbing all 14 of the peaks over 8000m: the world's highest mountains, in the Himalaya and Karakoram.
On the south bank of the Thames, outside the jurisdiction of the ancient City of London, Bankside has long been known as a hotbed of creativity, dissent and loose living.
Shortlised for the Saltire Society Non Fiction Book of the Year Award Almost every adult and child is familiar with his Treasure Island, but few know that Robert Louis Stevenson lived out his last years on an equally remote island, which was squabbled over by colonial powers much as Captain Flint's treasure was contested by the mongrel crew of the Hispaniola.
From the French Abbey of St Wandrille to the abandoned and awesome Rock Monasteries of Cappadocia in Turkey, the celebrated travel writer Patrick Leigh Fermor studies the rigorous contemplative lives of the monks and the timeless beauty of their monastic surroundings.
Arguably the most fascinating but least known country in the Arab world, Yemen has a way of attracting comment that ranges from the superficial to the wildly fictitious.
After one too many late night discussions, football journalist Paul Watson and his mate Matthew Conrad decide to find the world's worst national team, become naturalised citizens of that country and play for them - achieving their joint boyhood dream of playing international football and winning a 'cap'.
'Whether or not the artistic quality of the bullfight outweighs the moral question of the animals' suffering is something that each person must decide for themselves - as they must decide whether the taste of a steak justifies the death of a cow.
'Every year, hundreds of books on the city are published, but none resembles this one' - Independent'This gem of a book offers practical advice but in a distinctly lyrical tone.
A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY THROUGH JAPAN'S MULTI-FACETED CUSTOMS AND CULTURE'An excellent book for anyone with an interest in Japanese culture' Sunday Telegraph'Takes in everything from the mythical roots of sumo to the ubiquity of Shinto shrines' The TimesAlan Macfarlane first encountered Japan full of certainty, confidence and unexamined assumptions.
