Download or read book Empire of the Clouds written by James Hamilton-Paterson and published by Faber & Faber. This book was released on 2010-10-07 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex. How did Britain so lose the plot that today there is not a single aircraft manufacturer of any significance in the country? What became of the great industry of de Havilland or Handley Page? And what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age? James Hamilton-Paterson captures that season of glory in a compelling book that fuses his own memories of being a schoolboy plane spotter with a ruefully realistic history of British decline - its loss of self confidence and power. It is the story of great and charismatic machines and the men who flew them: heroes such as Bill Waterton, Neville Duke, John Derry and Bill Beaumont who took inconceivable risks, so that we could fly without a second thought.
Download or read book The Pavilion in the Clouds written by Alexander McCall Smith and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2022-01-25 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “This is one of the most enjoyable of his many enjoyable novels” –The Scotsman It is 1938 and the final days of the British Empire. In a bungalow high up in the green hills above the plains of Ceylon, under a vast blue sky, live the Ferguson family: Bella, a precocious eight-year-old; her father, Henry, owner of a tea plantation; and her mother, Virginia, a woman out of step in her community. The story centers around their home, affectionately called “The Pavilion in the Clouds,” set in the idyllic grounds carved out of the wilderness. But all is not as serene as it seems. Bella is suspicious of the intentions of her governess, Miss White. Her suspicion ignites her mother’s imagination, causing an unfortunate series of eventsthat reverberate throughout the years.
Download or read book Cloud Empires written by Vili Lehdonvirta and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2022-09-13 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The rise of the platform economy into statelike dominance over the lives of entrepreneurs, users, and workers. The early Internet was a lawless place, populated by scam artists who made buying or selling anything online risky business. Then Amazon, eBay, Upwork, and Apple established secure digital platforms for selling physical goods, crowdsourcing labor, and downloading apps. These tech giants have gone on to rule the Internet like autocrats. How did this happen? How did users and workers become the hapless subjects of online economic empires? The Internet was supposed to liberate us from powerful institutions. In Cloud Empires, digital economy expert Vili Lehdonvirta explores the rise of the platform economy into statelike dominance over our lives and proposes a new way forward. Digital platforms create new marketplaces and prosperity on the Internet, Lehdonvirta explains, but they are ruled by Silicon Valley despots with little or no accountability. Neither workers nor users can “vote with their feet” and find another platform because in most cases there isn’t one. And yet using antitrust law and decentralization to rein in the big tech companies has proven difficult. Lehdonvirta tells the stories of pioneers who helped create—or resist—the new social order established by digital platform companies. The protagonists include the usual suspects—Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Travis Kalanick of Uber, and Bitcoin’s inventor Satoshi Nakamoto—as well as Kristy Milland, labor organizer of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, and GoFundMe, a crowdfunding platform that has emerged as an ersatz stand-in for the welfare state. Only if we understand digital platforms for what they are—institutions as powerful as the state—can we begin the work of democratizing them.
Download or read book Mountain in the Clouds written by Bruce Brown and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the struggle to protect Northwest salmon runs and the urgency of the fight against environmental deterioration escalates, Mountain in the Clouds remains an important and illuminating story, as timely now as when it was first written. The 1995 edition includes a selection of historical photographs.
Download or read book Warriors of the Clouds written by Keith Muscutt and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historians and archaeologists, suggest Keith Muscutt, must have done an excellent job of recording the achievements of great pre-Columbian civilisations such as that of the Inca, which at its height covered an area the size of its Roman counterpart. They have done less well in understanding the histories of the empires that came before, the local strongholds and fiefdoms swallowed up by the mighty civilisations that the Europeans encountered. Muscutt takes us into the heart of one such ancient civilisation, the Chachapoya, nestled in the high Andes of far eastern Peru. The area is remote and nearly inaccessible (one conquistador wrote that 'the natural difficulty of the countryside is so rugged that on some roads the Indians slide down great ropes a distance of eight or ten times the height of a man, for there is no other way of advancing') for which reason scholars have been late in coming to it. Muscutt's heavily illustrated, inviting text helps place the Chachapoya empire in the larger context of Andean prehistory.
Download or read book Iron Maiden written by Steve Pilkington and published by . This book was released on 2020-02-28 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mention the words 'heavy metal' with regards to the past four decades, and chances are one of the first names you'll get back is Iron Maiden. From their early days as front-runners of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal in 1980, through to their epic and progressive works of more recent times, via 30 years fronted by Bruce Dickinson broken up by a short period with Blaze Bayley, the band have been 'All Things To All Men' in the metal world. Such is their profile that even the non-metal fan would probably cite them as a key example of the genre. This book lifts the lid on every single track recorded by the band, album by album, from the punk-ish debut album with original vocalist Paul DiAnno through to the sprawling double disc epic Book Of Souls. By way of facts, anecdotes, analysis and a dollop of opinion, author Steve Pilkington provides both an informative companion for the die-hard fan and perfect road-map for the more casual listener to follow. From 'Prowler' to 'Empire Of The Clouds', through each and every line up change, this is every Number recorded by The Beast - the ultimate recording history of Iron Maiden.
Download or read book Sector 7 written by David Wiesner and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 1999 with total page 53 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A story in pictures about a boy who visits the Empire State Building in New York, and is magically taken to a place where clouds are made.
Download or read book The Empire of Ashes written by Anthony Ryan and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-07-03 with total page 646 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the White Drake's war, the price of freedom is paid in blood and fire.... For hundreds of years, the Ironship Trading Syndicate was fueled by drake blood—and protected by the Blood-blessed, those few who could drink it and wield fearsome powers. But now the very thing that sustained the corporate world threatens to destroy it. A drake of unimaginable power has risen, and it commands an army of both beasts and men. Rogue Blood-blessed Claydon Torcreek, Syndicate agent Lizanne Lethridge and Ironship captain Corrick Hilemore have been spread to disparate corners of the world, but they are united in their desire to defeat the White Drake and the Spoiled who follow it. Humanity itself is at stake, but with the aid of ancient knowledge, revolutionary technology and unexpected allies, all hope is not lost. Saving the world will require sacrifice, as Clay, Lizanne and Hilemore will see all they know either consumed by flames or reborn from the ashes.
Download or read book Empire of Ivory written by Naomi Novik and published by Del Rey. This book was released on 2007-09-25 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the New York Times bestselling author of A Deadly Education comes the fourth volume of the Temeraire series, as the Napoleonic Wars bring Will Laurence and Temeraire to Africa in search of aid. “Temeraire is a dragon for the ages.”—Terry Brooks Tragedy has struck His Majesty's Aerial Corps, whose magnificent fleet of fighting dragons and their human captains valiantly defends England’s shores against the encroaching armies of Napoleon Bonaparte. An epidemic of unknown origin and no known cure is decimating the noble dragons’ ranks—forcing the hopelessly stricken into quarantine. Now only Temeraire and a pack of newly recruited dragons remain uninfected—and stand as the only means of an airborne defense against France's ever bolder sorties. Bonaparte’s dragons are already harrowing Britain’s ships at sea. Only one recourse remains: Temeraire and his captain, Will Laurence, must take wing to Africa, whose shores may hold the cure for the mysterious and deadly contagion. On this mission there is no time to waste, and no telling what Don’t miss any of Naomi Novik’s magical Temeraire series HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON • THRONE OF JADE • BLACK POWDER WAR • EMPIRE OF IVORY • VICTORY OF EAGLES • TONGUES OF SERPENTS • CRUCIBLE OF GOLD • BLOOD OF TYRANTS • LEAGUE OF DRAGONS
Download or read book Losing the Clouds Gaining the Sky written by Doris Wolter and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2007-05-16 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This collection of thirty-one essays by contemporary teachers of Tibetan Buddhism, both Western teachers and Tibetan lamas, provides readers a multifaceted glimpse of the Buddhist practice within the Dzogchen tradition, from its biggest authorities. Sogyal Rinpoche, the author of the bestselling Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, is the primary contributor, contributing seven of the teachings included here, but the collection also includes teachings from the Dalai Lama, Ringu Tulku, Francesca Fremantle, Chökyi Nyima Rinpoche, Dzogchen Pönlop Rinpoche, Dzigar Kongtrul Rinpoche, and many others. From basic advice on turning the mind toward spiritual concerns through expressions of the highest insights on mind and reality, readers will discover how to integrate Buddhist ideas and practices with the activities and experiences that make up our day-to-day lives. "
Download or read book To Chart the Clouds written by Evan Dicken and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-02 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Border tensions between rival samurai clans escalate into war over a hidden valley, in this fantasy epic from the breathtaking world of Legend of the Five Rings When diligent yet unappreciated clerk, Miya Isami, develops a new triangulation technique for map- making, her traditionalist superiors at the Imperial Cartographic Bureau heap scorn upon her. But when her novel approach exposes a swathe of missing land on the border between Scorpion and Lion Clan territories, Isami stumbles onto something far more significant than a mere mapping error. Her discovery offers the prospect of resolution to the seemingly endless territorial squabbling between the proud, warlike Lion and the secretive Scorpion. In a bid to contain the conflict, an Imperial Treasurer dispatches Isami with her fresh insights to the Spine of the World. Yet she is far from welcome in the mountains. She must negotiate between the clans, uncover the truth, and discover the location of a hidden valley before the fragile peace is shattered by war.
Download or read book The Clouds Beneath the Sun written by Mackenzie Ford and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Kenya, 1961. When Natalie Nelson’s plane lands at a remote airstrip in the Serengeti, she knows she’s run just about as far as she can from home. Trained as an archeologist, she accepted an invitation to join a famous excavating team in order to escape England and the painful memories of her past. But before she can get her bearings, the dig is surrounded by controversy involving the local Maasai people, and Natalie is swept up in a passionate affair that threatens to spark even more violence and turmoil. The startling beauty of Africa, the tension of looming social upheaval, and the dizzying highs of a doomed love affair are all captured brilliantly in this extraordinary and utterly unforgettable novel.
Download or read book Empire written by Steven Saylor and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2010-08-31 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "May Steven Saylor's Roman empire never fall. A modern master of historical fiction, Saylor convincingly transports us into the ancient world...enthralling!" —USA Today on Roma Continuing the saga begun in his New York Times bestselling novel Roma, Steven Saylor charts the destinies of the aristocratic Pinarius family, from the reign of Augustus to height of Rome's empire. The Pinarii, generation after generation, are witness to greatest empire in the ancient world and of the emperors that ruled it—from the machinations of Tiberius and the madness of Caligula, to the decadence of Nero and the golden age of Trajan and Hadrian and more. Empire is filled with the dramatic, defining moments of the age, including the Great Fire, the persecution of the Christians, and the astounding opening games of the Colosseum. But at the novel's heart are the choices and temptations faced by each generation of the Pinarii. Steven Saylor once again brings the ancient world to vivid life in a novel that tells the story of a city and a people that has endured in the world's imagination like no other.
Download or read book Out of the Clouds written by Linda Carroll and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the bestselling tradition ofthe The Eighty-Dollar Champion, the propulsive, inspiring Cinderella story of Stymie, an unwanted Thoroughbred, and Hirsch Jacobs, the once dirt-poor trainer who bought the colt on the cheap and molded him into the most popular horse of his time and the richest racehorse the world had ever seen. In the wake of World War II, as turmoil and chaos were giving way to a spirit of optimism, Americans were looking for inspiration and role models showing that it was possible to start from the bottom and work your way up to the top-and they found it in Stymie, the failed racehorse plucked from the discard heap by trainer Hirsch Jacobs. Like Stymie, Jacobs was a commoner in "The Sport of Kings," a dirt-poor Brooklyn city slicker who forged an unlikely career as racing's winningest trainer by buying cheap, unsound nags and magically transforming them into winners. The $1,500 pittance Jacobs paid to claim Stymie became history's biggest bargain as the ultimate iron horse went on to run a whopping 131 races and win 25 stakes, becoming the first Thoroughbred ever to earn more than $900,000. The Cinderella champion nicknamed "The People's Horse" captivated the masses with his rousing charge-from-behind stretch runs, his gritty blue-collar work ethic, and his rags-to-riches success story. In a golden age when horse racing rivaled baseball and boxing as America's most popular pastime, he was every bit as inspiring a sports hero as Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. Taking readers on a crowd-pleasing ride with Stymie and Jacobs, Out of the Clouds -- the winner of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award -- unwinds a real-life Horatio Alger tale of a dauntless team and its working-class fans who lived vicariously through the stouthearted little colt they embraced as their own.
Download or read book Empire of the Clouds written by James Hamilton-Paterson and published by . This book was released on 2018-04-05 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1945 Britain was the world's leading designer and builder of aircraft - a world-class achievement that was not mere rhetoric. And what aircraft they were. The sleek Comet, the first jet airliner. The awesome delta-winged Vulcan, an intercontinental bomber that could be thrown about the sky like a fighter. The Hawker Hunter, the most beautiful fighter-jet ever built and the Lightning, which could zoom ten miles above the clouds in a couple of minutes and whose pilots rated flying it as better than sex. How did Britain so lose the plot that today there is not a single aircraft manufacturer of any significance in the country? What became of the great industry of de Havilland or Handley Page? And what was it like to be alive in that marvellous post-war moment when innovative new British aircraft made their debut, and pilots were the rock stars of the age?
Download or read book A Season of Clouds written by Alex Gerrick and published by . This book was released on 2022-04 with total page 486 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To his friends, family, and work colleagues, Alex is a successful senior bureaucrat, well respected and liked by those who view him as an inspirational leader. But behind the facade, Alexx is tormented by his past traumas, especially his betrayal of a young woman while on holiday in Greece in 1995. As Alex's mental health begins to rapidly deteriorate, he realises that his life has mostly been a lie and that the key to his immediate survival rests with several people he briefly met when he was a younger man. Can Alex use their belated wisdom to defeat his inner demons before he reaches the point of no return? Spanning several continents, A Season of Clouds is a book about love, conflict, friendship, redemption, and dealing with the tragic consequences of sexual assault and mental illness.
Download or read book Welsh Missionaries and British Imperialism written by Andrew J. May and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
