Even the most unique and interesting characters will not engage readers if their journey—the plot—fails. In this book, bestselling author William Bernhardt reveals the secrets that will keep readers riveted to the page. He explains the importance of matching character to plot and the key distinction between surprise and coincidence. Bernhardt discusses how to enrich your story by layering three levels of conflict and, in the final chapter, analyzes the primary plot structures that have delighted readers since the first story was told.

Ireland in Conflict, 1922-1998 sets out the main political, economic and social developments in Ireland, north and south of the border, since the 1922 treaty.
This book explains the troubles in their context and examines the underlying tensions which led to prolonged violence after a period of relative civil peace and rising prosperity.

Hoffmann, among the greatest and most popular of the German Romantics, is renowned for his humorous and sometimes horrifying tales of supernatural beings. This selection, while stressing the variety of his work, focuses on those stories in which the real and the supernatural are brought into contact and conflict. This new translation includes The Golden Pot, The Sandman, Princess Brambilla, Master Flea, and My Cousin's Corner Window.

Why have 1500 separate languages developed in the Pacific region? Why do Danes understand Norwegians better than Norwegians understand Danish? Is Ebonics a language or a dialect?
This new edition incorporates new material on current issues in the study of gender as well as other topics such as the linguistic dimension to the ethnic conflict in the Balkans, and the controversy over Ebonics in the United States.

When first published, Daily Life in Civil War America shifted the spotlight from the conflict's military operations and famous leaders to its affect on day-to-day living. Now this popular, groundbreaking work returns in a thoroughly updated new edition, drawing on an expanded range of journals, journalism, diaries, and correspondence to capture the realities of wartime life for soldiers and citizens, slaves and free persons, women and children, on both sides of the conflict.