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The Mighty Slide
by Allan Ahlberg‘This is the storyOf Alison Hubble,Who went to bed single,And woke up double.’Here, in verse, are the hilariously original stories of a mighty slide, a man who fought crocodiles, a girl who doubled, a couple of baby skinners and a thing that lived under a school. A wonderful collection from Allan Ahlberg, author of ‘Please Mrs Butler, Woof!’ and ‘Happy Families’, illustrated throughout with delightful drawings by Charlotte Voake.
My Brother's Ghost
by Allan AhlbergFrances Foggarty, now in her fifties, remembers her childhood.. When she was nine her ten-year-old brother, Tom, was hit by a milk-float and killed. He returns after the funeral and Frances's story is of her new relationship with Tom, the ghost and 'guardian angel'. Frances wears a caliper as a result of polio and she and her young brother live with a rather tyrannical aunt. In this touching tale of loss, hardship and endurance Frances comes to terms with Tom's death and moves on in her life.
Please Mrs Butler
by Allan AhlbergThe bestselling and much-loved children's poetry classic, Please Mrs Butler by Allan Ahlberg is celebrating its 30th anniversary! With a fresh new look for a brand new generation of school children to take to its heart, every teacher, parent and child should have a copy.Nobody leave the room.Everyone listen to me.We had ten pairs of scissorsAt half-past two, And now there's only three.This witty collection of school poems by Allan Ahlberg, re-jacketed for its 30th anniversary and for a whole new generation of school children to fall in love with, is full of typical classroom events that will be recognized and enjoyed by everyone. From never-ending projects, reading tests, quarrelling, making-up, excuses and 'Please, Sir, it isn't fair.' Fritz Wegner's line drawings beautifully complement the hilarious and poignant verses.Please Mrs Butler was voted the most important twentieth-century children's poetry book in a Books for Keeps poll.Praise for Please Mrs Butler:'Hilarious and poignant school verses about primary school life. A real winner' - Guardian'Clever, funny and nostalgic, the collection is a delight' - Sunday TimesPLEASE MRS BUTLER - The most important 20th-century children's poetry book' - Books for Keeps pollPraise for Allan Ahlberg:'By far our best writer for the young,' - Telegraph
Woof!
by Allan AhlbergHe felt a curious tingling in his hands and feet. He felt his nose becoming cold and wet, his ears becoming flappy. The thought in his mind was: 'I'm turning into a dog!'Eric is a perfectly ordinary boy. Perfectly ordinary that is, until the night when, in fifteen seconds flat, he turns into a dog! Eric and his best friend are determined to sniff out the truth - what makes an ordinary boy go 'woof'?
Holistic Homesteading: A Guide to a Sustainable and Regenerative Lifestyle
by Roxanne AhernLearn to Live Holistically, Sustainably, and IntentionallyMake healthier life choices to heal yourself and the environment through self-sufficiency. The Happy Holistic Homestead by Roxanne Ahern provides the tools for living slowly, intentionally, and better through permaculture, edible gardening, and organic farming.Live the Homestead Life. Ahern’s book guides new and seasoned homesteaders in improving personal and environmental health. The Happy Holistic Homestead is geared toward people who are interested in pursuing intentional lifestyles and organic farming methods. It is both for those who have access to land and those who are interested in retrofitting urban and suburban lifestyles and landscapes to shift towards sustainability.Utilize Sustainable Organic Farming Techniques. Learn about permaculture design, holistic nutrition, and sustainable farming in rural and urban settings. The Happy Holistic Homestead covers how to use organic soil and zero chemicals to grow the best vegetables and fruits, responsible and humane animal husbandry that improves the ground and carbon sequestration, as well as the best canning and preserving techniques. Ahern also provides tips on safely foraging for flowers and mushrooms.Read The Happy Holistic Homestead and learn:Permaculture practices that can be used in rural and urban spaces How to get the most out of your food through holistic nutritionThe best techniques for canning and preserving your fruits and vegetablesHow to bake sourdough bread and how to create your own sourdough cultureIf you enjoyed books such as The Modern Homestead Garden, The Encyclopedia of Country Living, and Beginner's Guide to Preserving, your next read should be The Happy Holistic Homestead.
Pragmatics, Grammar and Meaning in SLA (Elements in Second Language Acquisition)
by null Aoife K. Ahern null José Amenós-Pons null Pedro Guijarro-FuentesThis Element explores the role of pragmatics, and its relationship with meaning and grammar, in second language acquisition. Specifically, this Element examines the generative paradigm, with its focus on purely linguistic aspects, in contrast with, and complemented by, the view of language adopted in the wider perspective on communication that Relevance Theory offers. It reviews several theoretical standpoints on how linguistic phenomena that require combining semantic, pragmatic and syntactic information are acquired and developed in second languages, illustrating how these perspectives are brought together in analysing data in different linguistic scenarios. It shows that the notion of procedural meaning casts light on the range of interpretative effects of grammatical features and how they vary across languages, suggesting ways to complete the picture of the interface factors that affect second language development.
Doctor Who: Time Trips (The Collection)
by Cecelia Ahern Jake Arnott Trudi Canavan Jenny T Colgan Stella Duffy Nick Harkaway Joanne Harris A.L. KennedyTime Trips is a unique and beautifully illustrated collection of Doctor Who adventures from bestselling and award-winning writers including Joanne Harris, Trudi Canavan, Nick Harkaway, A.L. Kennedy and more. Taking you from ancient Alexandria to nameless planets in the far future, these tales are at turns funny, frightening, moving and thought-provoking – short stories that are bigger on the inside.Time Trips includes:The Anti-Hero (featuring the Second Doctor) by Stella Duffy Salt of the Earth (featuring the Third Doctor) by Trudi CanavanThe Loneliness of the Long-Distance Time Traveller (featuring the Third Doctor) by Joanne HarrisThe Death Pit (featuring the Fourth Doctor) by A.L. KennedyA Handful of Stardust (featuring the Sixth Doctor) by Jake ArnottThe Bog Warrior (featuring the Tenth Doctor) by Cecelia AhernKeeping Up with the Joneses (featuring the Tenth Doctor) by Nick HarkawayInto the Nowhere (featuring the Eleventh Doctor) by Jenny T. Colgan
Doctor Who: The Bog Warrior (Time Trips)
by Cecelia AhernArriving on the planet Cashel, the Tenth Doctor witnesses a strange masked ball. To guarantee peace, Prince Zircon has to choose a bride from the Bog People – dead men and women who have been resurrected as slaves. Or as warriors. But Zircon is in love with the enslaved Princess Ash, whose parents were deposed and executed by the current Queen. As usual, the Doctor has walked right into trouble, and it's up to him to sort it out.
Bertie Ahern Autobiography: The Autobiography
by Bertie AhernBertie Ahern, three times Irish Taoiseach, is often described as an enigma. The Old IRA man's son who delivered peace in Northern Ireland. A working class boy responsible for the Celtic Tiger. The man of faith who ushered in progressive, cosmopolitan secular Ireland. An ardent nationalist admired by European leaders. 'I know 25 per cent of Bertie Ahern', said his finance minister, Charlie McCreevy, 'and that's 24 per cent more than anyone else.'Now in this frank and revealing autobiography, Ahern gives his own account of a remarkable political life and the personal story that accompanies it. He shows the cost to his family of a life played out in the public eye and, for the first time, discloses what really happened in his final weeks in power.Here for the first time is the truth behind the man who is Bertie.Ahern has been at the cutting edge of Irish politics for over three decades. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann in the Fianna Fáil landslide victory in 1977 that saw Jack Lynch returned as Taoiseach. In 1982, Charles Haughey appointed him Government Chief Whip. In volatile political times, he strongly supported Haughey during three challenges to his leadership of Fianna Fáil.In 1987, Bertie Ahern received his first cabinet portfolio as Minister for Labour. It was a time when the Irish economy was in crisis. Ireland had a higher debt per head than Ethiopia or Sudan. Unemployment stood at 16%. Ahern negotiated Ireland's first social partnership agreement, which underpinned economic recovery and put in place the foundations for a period of sustained growth. In 1991, he was appointed Minister for Finance. International commentators first began to refer to 'Ireland's Tiger economy' in this period. When Bertie Ahern left the Department of Finance in late 1994, for the first time in almost 30 years, Ireland had a budget surplus.Bertie Ahern succeeded Albert Reynolds as leader of Fianna Fáil in November 1994. Following the General Election in 1997, he became Ireland's youngest ever Taoiseach. The Ahern Era was a time of unprecedented progress in Irish society. Over the course of his tenure in office, Ireland's economy out-performed that of every other European country. For the first time ever, the number of people in employment in the State reached 2 million.Working closely with Bill Clinton and Tony Blair, Ahern won widespread acclaim for his perseverance and skill in negotiating the Good Friday Agreement, which has provided the political framework for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland.On the international stage, he was a respected figure who enjoyed an acclaimed Presidency of the European Council in 2004. He presided over the completion of the largest ever expansion of the EU and concluded negotiations on a European constitution. He is one of only five visiting statesmen to have addressed both the United States Congress and the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.At home, Ahern enjoyed phenomenal electoral support. He was the first Taoiseach since 1944 to win three successive General Elections.Bertie Ahern resigned on 6th May, 2008. He had served for ten years, ten months and ten days as Taoiseach.
Like Never and Always
by Ann Aguirre"An intense, emotional, compelling read." —Kate ElliottLiv Burnham thinks nobody knows Morgan Frost like she does, but a terrible accident pushes her down the rabbit hole where Morgan's secrets hide and she'll be lucky to make it out alive.... New York Times bestselling author Ann Aguirre shines light on the secrets we keep and asks how well we truly know the ones we love best in her riveting teen thriller, Like Never and Always On a hot summer night, Liv, Morgan, Clay and Nathan are on the way home from a party in Clay's convertible. Best friends dating brothers? It doesn't get better than that. But the joyride ends in sudden impact, a screech of brakes, and shattering glass. On that lonely country road, four lives change forever. Liv wakes in the hospital. At first she's confused when they call her Morgan, but she assumes it's a case of mistaken identity. Yet when the bandages come off, it's not her face in the mirror anymore. It's Morgan's. Morgan always seemed to have the perfect life. But as Liv tries to fit herself into Morgan's world, she discovers endlessly disturbing secrets of the criminal and murderous variety and a dark task to finish...if she doesn't lose her mind first. Forced to confront the disturbing truths that Morgan kept hidden in life, Liv must navigate a world of long-buried murder, a dangerous love affair—and a romance that feels like a betrayal.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Performance Management
by Herman AguinisFormerly published by Chicago Business Press, now published by Sage Performance Management, Fifth Edition covers the design and implementation of effective and successful performance management systems – the key tools that can be used to transform employee talent and motivation into a strategic business advantage. Author Herman Aguinis focuses on research-based findings and up-to-date applications that consider the changing nature of work and organizations. Hear the author share teaching strategies using content from the Fifth Edition.
Performance Management
by Herman AguinisFormerly published by Chicago Business Press, now published by Sage Performance Management, Fifth Edition covers the design and implementation of effective and successful performance management systems – the key tools that can be used to transform employee talent and motivation into a strategic business advantage. Author Herman Aguinis focuses on research-based findings and up-to-date applications that consider the changing nature of work and organizations. Hear the author share teaching strategies using content from the Fifth Edition.
Mexican American Boxing from the Golden State (Images of America)
by Gene AguileraThe Mexican American boxer is one who leaves it all in the ring. They have been described as devastating punchers, fearless fighters, and tough competitors by boxing fans, sportswriters, and commentators alike. Mexican American boxers have long carried a reputation in boxing circles as being the ultimate crowd-pleasers. In continuing that tradition, the dramatic testimonies of seven distinct, valiant, and dashing warriors from the Golden State of California are presented here in intricate detail: Aurelio Herrera, Art Aragon, Mando Ramos, Bobby Chacon, "Yaqui" Lopez, Arturo Frias, and Oscar Muniz. By exposing new generations to their action-packed stories, new life is breathed into these talented and gifted boxers, ensuring their fighting spirit and heartfelt memories will never die. This volume salutes these pioneers of Mexican American boxing for opening the doors for today's boxers.
Legal Culture, Sociopolitical Origins and Professional Careers of Judges in Mexico
by Azul A. Aguiar AguilarThis book explores the careers, professional trajectories and legal cultures of judges in the federal judiciary in Mexico. So far, there has been limited research on internal factors contributing to the understanding of judicial power dynamics in Mexico and other Latin American countries at large; this Work fills an important gap in the literature through its empirical investigation of internal legal cultures and judicial norms, offering new data, measurement strategies,and insights into the interactions between law, politics, norms, legal culture(s), as well as judicial behavior. Utilising an original survey, the chapters analyse judicial conceptualizations of role norms, legal cultures, proclivities for judicial activism, and judicial behavior. In so doing, this book contributes to understanding of underlying key internal factors of judicial activism or restraint, in turn moving forward the debate that seeks to explain judicial behavior reliant on internal and ideational perspectives. Complementing limited but existing studies of judicial politics in Mexico through its analysis of judges beyond those that sit at the Supreme Court, this book will be of particular interest to Latin-American judicial politics scholars due to its focus on the judicial power from internal perspectives as well as sub-national judges, filling a void in the literature vis-à-vis the study of courts in Latin America. This Work was originally written in Spanish, and the translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.
The Politics of Collaborative Public Management: A Primer (Public Administration and Public Policy)
by Robert Agranoff Aleksey KolpakovAlthough one often thinks of collaborative management and related group problem-solving as different interests coming together in "peaceful harmony," nothing could be further from reality. Collaboration in real-world action requires steering and negotiation in virtually every situation, with a considerable process that precedes agreement. This progression is, in effect, a "mini" political and managerial process we have come to know as collaborative politics and its management. This volume explores the process and operations of collaboration and collaborative politics, from routine transactions—or "small p" politics—to the significant issue forces, or "big P" politics. Collaboration is defined here as the process of facilitating and operating in multiorganizational arrangements for addressing problems and producing solutions through the contributions of several organizations and individuals. Throughout the book, readers are gradually exposed to analysis of key findings in collaborative politics from the long research tradition in policy and political science. This book adapts a series of stories to highlight some of the dynamics of collaborative politics from a range of jurisdictions. It further analyzes the efficacy of storytelling as a learning tool and contributor to practice in different contexts. With collaborative politics often associated with negotiations among administrative actors, authors Drs. Robert Agranoff and Aleksey Kolpakov demonstrate how interorganizational/interagency collaboration operates and is managed, as well as how it has been modified or adjusted in its fundamental core concepts of bureaucratic organization and hierarchy. The Politics of Collaborative Public Management is designed as a core text for undergraduate and graduate classes on collaborative management and governance.
History of Cenozoic Mammals from South America: A New Model (Springer Earth System Sciences)
by Federico AgnolinThe Cenozoic history of South America faunas mainly rests on the evidence yielded by the study of fossil mammals. Following the seminal work of William D. Matthew, George G. Simpson established the slogan “Splendid Isolation” for describing the evolutionary history of South American faunas. He envisaged South America (as well as other Southern Hemisphere landmasses) as dead ends in the evolution and geographical expansion of animals and plants that since the Mesozoic come in successive migratory waves from the North.More than 40 years passed away from the last important contribution by Simpson (1980). Since then, in spite to the exponential increase in biological, paleontological and geological knowledge, and an incredibly new number of fossils, his scheme remained almost unpolluted and most recent books regarding the palaeobiogeography of South American vertebrates follow this paradigm nearly without criticism.However, the factthat South America was joined to Africa, Australia, Antarctica and India during most of the Cretaceous, and that it was still connected Australia (via Antarctica) and probably Africa up to the Paleogene, together with the large number of shared biotic components between these landmasses, point in favor of a different paleobiogeographical scenario.The book aims to demonstrate that during the Paleogene (and most of the Neogene) the nature and evolutionary history of South American vertebrates is by far much more intricate than previously envisaged. As will be shown, new evidence suggests that southern landmasses may have played an important role in the early evolution and radiation of extant mammal clades. This book is not written to conform with the ideal of a technical manual or a review, and is not carried forward to collect all that has been said before. The main goals are to criticize the current Palaeobiogeographic Model of Vertebrate Settlement of South America, and to propose a new vision based on the evidence provided by the natural world in the last decades.
Forza Italia: The Fall and Rise of Italian Football
by Paddy AgnewWhen journalist Paddy Agnew and his girlfriend Dympna touched down in Rome in 1985 in search of adventure, sunshine and the soul of Italian football (well, Paddy was looking for that), they were travelling into the uncharted terrain of a country they did not know and a language they did not speak.It soon became clear that neither Italy nor Italian football would be boring. In that first week in Italy, Michel Platini and Juventus won the Intercontinental Cup, whilst just days later the PLO killed 13 people in a random shooting at Rome's Fiumicino airport. Paddy covered both stories. The coming years saw the rise of TV tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, as he became owner of AC Milan and then Prime Minister of Italy, naming his political party 'Forza Italia' after a football chant. In that same period, Argentine Diego Maradona became the uncrowned King of Naples, leading Napoli to a first ever Scudetto title in 1987, notwithstanding a hectic, Hollywood-esque lifestyle that mixed footballing genius with off-the-field excess.Forza Italia is a fascinating tale of inspired players, skilled coaches, rich tycoons, glitzy media coverage, Mafia corruption, allegations of drug taking and fan power - culminating in the 2006 World Cup victory that delighted a nation and a match-fixing scandal that shocked the world. It is also a personalised reflection on the consistent and continuing excellence of Italian football throughout a period of huge social, political and economic upheaval, offering a unique insight into a society where football has always been much more than just a game.
Test Match Special: Tall Tales – The Good The Bad and The Hilarious from the Commentary Box
by Jonathan Agnew Phil TufnellWho played the best pranks on his fellow team-mates? Which member of the TMS team terrorised his teachers in the annual staff-pupil game? And the truth behind 'the greatest sporting commentary of all time'...Between them, Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell have probably watched more cricket than anyone alive, and they have many stories to tell, both as players and as commentators for Test Match Special. From their days as schoolboy cricketers, learning the ropes, to the shenanigans of the county circuit, and now their careers as commentators, they have seen it all.Joined by colleagues from TMS such as Isa Guha, Ebony Rainford Brent, Alison Mitchell, Carlos Brathwaite and Aatif Nawaz, Aggers and Tuffers share the highlights, mishaps and moments of brilliance and emotion that they have witnessed and experienced on pitches around the world.
Junk Science: An Overdue Indictment of Government, Industry, and Faith Groups that Twist Science for Their Own Gain
by Dan AginAn overdue indictment of government, industry, and faith groups that twist science for their own gain.During the next thirty years, the American public will suffer from a rampage against reason by special interests in government, commerce, and the faith industry, and the rampage has already begun. In Junk Science, Dan Agin offers a response—a stinging condemnation of the egregious and constant warping of science for ideological gain.In this provocative, wide-ranging, and hard-hitting book, Agin argues from the center that we will pay a heavy price for the follies of people who consciously twist the public's understanding of the real world.In an entertaining but frank tone, Agin separates fact from conveniently "scientific" fiction and exposes the data faking, reality ignoring, fear mongering, and outright lying that contribute to intentionally manufactured public ignorance. Many factions twist scientific data to maintain riches and power, and Agin outs them all in sections like these:--"Buyer Beware" (genetically modified foods, aging, and tobacco companies)--"Medical Follies" (chiropractics, health care, talk therapy)--"Poison and Bombs in the Greenhouse" (pollution, warfare, global warming)--"Religion, Embryos, and Cloning"--"Genes, Behavior, and Race"We already pay a heavy price for many groups' conscious manipulation of the public's understanding of science, and Junk Science arms us with understanding, cutting through the fabric of lies and setting the record straight.
Life, Almost: Miscarriage, misconceptions and a search for answers from the brink of motherhood
by Jennie Agg'Vital and heart-wrenchingly intimate' Leah Hazard'Urgent, fascinating and thought-provoking' Julia Bueno'Thoughtfully researched and beautifully written' Pippa VosperAfter losing four pregnancies with no obvious cause, Jennie Agg set out to understand why miscarriage remains such a profoundly misunderstood, under-researched and under-acknowledged experience.Part-memoir, part-scientific investigation, Life, Almost documents Agg's path to motherhood and her search for answers. Tracing each tentative step of her fifth pregnancy - as her body becomes a creature she does not wish to spook - Agg dismantles the myths that we unquestioningly accept about our reproductive lives:· Why are we told miscarriage can't be prevented when half of all miscarriages are of perfectly healthy embryos?· Why is it normal not to tell anyone you're pregnant for the first three months? · Why don't we know why labour starts? Drawing on pioneering research and interviews with world-leading experts, Life, Almost is a ground-breaking book that will change how you think about miscarriage, and a moving reflection on grief and love at the edge of life as we understand it.
The Bones of Paradise: A Novel
by Jonis AgeeThe award-winning author of TheRiver Wife returns with a multigenerational family saga set in the unforgiving Nebraska Sand Hills in the years following the massacre at Wounded Knee—an ambitious tale of history, vengeance, race, guilt, betrayal, family, and belonging, filled with a vivid cast of characters shaped by violence, love, and a desperate loyalty to the land.Ten years after the Seventh Cavalry massacred more than two hundred Lakota men, women, and children at Wounded Knee, J.B. Bennett, a white rancher, and Star, a young Native American woman, are murdered in a remote meadow on J.B.’s land. The deaths bring together the scattered members of the Bennett family: J.B.’s cunning and hard father, Drum; his estranged wife, Dulcinea; and his teenage sons, Cullen and Hayward. As the mystery of these twin deaths unfolds, the history of the dysfunctional Bennetts and their damning secrets is revealed, exposing the conflicted heart of a nation caught between past and future.At the center of The Bones of Paradise are two remarkable women. Dulcinea, returned after bitter years of self-exile, yearns for redemption and the courage to mend her broken family and reclaim the land that is rightfully hers. Rose, scarred by the terrible slaughters that have decimated and dislocated her people, struggles to accept the death of her sister, Star, and refuses to rest until she is avenged.A kaleidoscopic portrait of misfits, schemers, chancers, and dreamers, Jonis Agee’s bold novel is a panorama of America at the dawn of a new century. A beautiful evocation of this magnificent, blood-soaked land—its sweeping prairies, seas of golden grass, and sandy hills, all at the mercy of two unpredictable and terrifying forces, weather and lawlessness—and the durable men and women who dared to tame it. Intimate and epic, The Bones of Paradise is a remarkable achievement: a mystery, a tragedy, a romance, and an unflagging exploration of the beauty and brutality, tenderness and cruelty that defined the settling of the American West.
First Philosophy Last Philosophy: Western Knowledge between Metaphysics and the Sciences
by Giorgio AgambenWhat is at stake in that form of inquiry that the western philosophical tradition has called “first philosophy” or “metaphysics”? Is it an abstract, now outmoded branch of philosophy, or does it address a problem that is still of great interest – namely the unity of western knowledge? In fact, metaphysics is “first” only in relation to the other two sciences that Aristotle called “theoretical”: the study of nature (phusikē) and mathematics. It is the strategic sense of this “primacy” that needs to be examined, because what is at issue here is nothing less than the relationship – of domination or subservience, conflict or harmony – between philosophy and science. The hypothesis of this book is that philosophy’s attempt to use metaphysics as a way of securing primacy among the sciences has resulted instead in its subservience: philosophy, once handmaiden to theology (ancilla theologiae), has now become more or less consciously handmaiden to the sciences (ancilla scientiarum). So it is all the more urgent to explore the nature and limits of this primacy and subservience, which is what the present book does through an archaeological investigation of metaphysics. This important rereading of the western philosophical tradition by a leading thinker will be of interest to students and scholars in philosophy, critical theory and the humanities more generally, and to anyone interested in contemporary philosophy and European thought.
The Prosecutor
by Nazir AfzalThe outsider who transformed our justice systemNazir Afzal knows a thing or two about justice. As a Chief Prosecutor, it was his job to make sure the most complex, violent and harrowing crimes made it to court, and that their perpetrators were convicted. From the Rochdale sex ring to the earliest prosecutions for honour killing and modern slavery, Nazir was at the forefront of the British legal system for decades.But his story begins in Birmingham, in the sixties, as a young boy facing racist violence and the tragic death of a young family member - and it's this that sets him on the path to his groundbreaking career, and which enables him to help communities that the conventional justice system ignores, giving a voice to the voiceless.A memoir of struggle and survival as well as crime and punishment, The Prosecutor is both a searing insight into the justice system and a powerful story of one man's pursuit of the truth.
The Cosmography and Geography of Africa
by Leo AfricanusThe first new translation in over 400 years of one of the great works of the RenaissanceIn 1518, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, a Moroccan diplomat, was seized by pirates while travelling in the Mediterranean. Brought before Pope Leo X, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity, in the process taking the name Johannes Leo Africanus. Acclaimed in the papal court for his learning, Leo would in time write his masterpiece, The Cosmography and the Geography of Africa.The Cosmography was the first book about Africa, and the first book written by a modern African, to reach print. It would remain central to the European understanding of Africa for over 300 years, with its descriptions of lands, cities and peoples giving a singular vision of the vast continent: its urban bustle and rural desolation, its culture, commerce and warfare, its magical herbs and strange animals.Yet it is not a mere catalogue of the exotic: Leo also invited his readers to acknowledge the similarity and relevance of these lands to the time and place they knew. For this reason, The Cosmography and Geography of Africa remains significant to our understanding not only of Africa, but of the world and how we perceive it. Translated by Anthony Ossa-Richardson and Richard Oosterhoff
