The Routledge History of Literature in English - Britain and Ireland
This new guide to the main developments in the history of British and Irish Literature uniquely charts some of the main features of literary language development and highlights key language topics. Clearly structured and highly readable, unlike traditional histories of literature it spans over a thousand years of literary history from AD 600 to the present day. It emphasises the growth of literary writing, its traditions, conventions and changing characteristics, and includes literature from the margins, both geographical and cultural.
Key features of the book are:
* an up-to-date guide to the major periods of literature in English in Britain and Ireland
* extensive coverage of post-1945 literature
* language notes spanning AD 600 to the present
* extensive quotations from poetry, prose and drama
* a timeline of the important historical and political events
This will be essential reading for all students of English literature and language.

The New Illustrated History of the Nazis

Rare photographs of the Third Reich.

This illustrated volume documents the history of the Nazis, from their roots in World War I and their rise to power in 1933 to the end of the Cold War era and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, using many previously unseen images of Nazi Germany and World War II.

Illustrated History of the Nazis traces the roots of the movement from the early days of the Weimar Republic, through the rise to power of the charismatic Adolf Hitler, the dramatic downfall of Germany in 1945. Extra material follows the aftermath of the war through to the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the Cold War, and examines the consequences of the Wehrmacht. Paying particular attention to the holocaust, the policy of "total war", the state of German society and the systematic use of propaganda and terror.

Great Expectations Penguin Classics by Charles Dickens

My father’s family name being Pirrip, and my Christian name Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So, I called myself Pip, and came to becalled Pip. I give Pirrip as my father’s family name, on the authority of his tombstone and my sister – Mrs Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith. As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones. The shape of the letters on my father’s, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription

The Modern Middle East: A Political History since the First World War
Mehran Kamrava sets the stage with a concise discussion of the evolution of Islam and the religion's profound role in the region. He then looks at, in turn, the rise and fall of the Ottomans, the trials of independence and state-building, the emergence and fiery spread of nationalism, the two Arab-Israeli wars of 1967 and 1973, the Iranian Revolution, and the two Gulf Wars and beyond, including discussion of the invasion of Iraq by the United States. After tracing the consequences of these historical events for a host of political phenomena, Kamrava gives detailed attention to three pivotal issues: the challenges of economic development, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and the question of democracy. He also examines issues that will shape the future: population growth, environmental pollution, and water scarcity.

TIME Magazine
December 20, 2004 Vol. 164 No. 25

• COVER: Why We Sleep - You may think it's for your body, but it's really for your brain. The latest research is full of surprises
• SCIENCE: Adventures in the Sleep Lab - How was I to know I was suffering from sleep apnea? I was unconscious
• NATION: The Arnold Show - Most Californians love their Gubernator. But can he fix the state's problems by being a one-man band?
• WORLD: How Safe Are Our Troops? - Why the Pentagon ended up with a shortage of armored vehicles for U.S. soldiers in Iraq