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Poems of Robert Burns Selected by Ian Rankin
by Robert BurnsThe farmer’s boy from Ayrshire who went on to be the most acclaimed of all Scottish poets, celebrated around the world, Robert Burns is a greater and more varied artist than those that know him only through annual Burns’ Suppers and choruses of his ‘Auld Lang Syne’ at New Year could imagine. This new selection by Ian Rankin of verses and lyrics from Scotland’s national poet, the ‘Heaven-taught ploughman’, reveals a writer capable of evoking tremendous sympathetic power from his readers and with an easy, astonishing command of the sounds and rhythms of both standard English and the evocative Scots tongue. It also reveals an artist of incredible range. His ‘Tam O’ Shanter’, with its midnight pursuit of witches from a grisly graveyard dance, is gripping, fantastical and funny in equal measure, ‘Is there for honest poverty’ beautifully expresses the egalitarian spirit by which Burns became a political hero for so many, and sentiments both romantic (‘Ae Fond Kiss’) and bawdy (‘The Fornicator’) co-exist in this canny selection of the best of the Scottish Bard.
Poems of Thomas Hardy
by Thomas HardyThomas Hardy wrote some of the most moving and personal poems in his era and this collection brings together the best of his verse on life and love.Hardy's poems are by turn haunting, intense, songlike humerous and tender. From snatched lovers' meetings to the wreck of the Titanic from the death of a Dorest drummer boy in the Boer War to memories of his dead wife Emma, from ghosts, loss and longing to pleasure in landscape and weather, they tell the story of one of our best-loved writers, and the people and places that inspired him.
Poems on the Underground
by Gerard Benson, Judith Chernaik and Cicely Herbert Gerard Benson Judith Chernaik Cicely HerbertThis wonderful new edition of Poems on the Underground is published to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Underground in 2013. Here 230 poems old and new, romantic, comic and sublime explore such diverse topics as love, London, exile, families, dreams, war, music and the seasons, and feature poets from Sappho to Carol Ann Duffy and Wendy Cope, including Chaucer and Shakespeare, Milton, Blake and Shelley, Whitman and Dickinson, Yeats and Auden, Seamus Heaney and Derek Walcott and a host of younger poets. It includes a new foreword and over two dozen poems not included in previous anthologies.
Poetics
by AristotleOne of the most powerful, perceptive and influential works of criticism in Western literary history In his near-contemporary account of classical Greek tragedy, Aristotle examines the dramatic elements of plot, character, language and spectacle that combine to produce pity and fear in the audience, and asks why we derive pleasure from this apparently painful process. Taking examples from the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, the Poetics introduced into literary criticism such central concepts as mimesis ('imitation'), hamartia ('error') and katharsis ('purification'). Aristotle explains how the most effective tragedies rely on complication and resolution, recognition and reversals. The Poetics has informed thinking about drama ever since.Translated with an Introduction and Notes by Malcolm Heath
Poetry by Heart: Poems for Learning and Reciting
by Andrew MotionPoetry by Heart - based on the hugely successful nationwide schools competition, 200 magical poems to learn by heart'The poems we learn stay with us for the rest of our lives. They become personal and invaluable, and what's more they are free gifts - there for the taking' Simon ArmitageTwo years ago former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion had the idea of setting up Poetry by Heart - a nationwide annual competition for secondary schools which asked contestants to learn two or three poems and be judged on their recitations, first at school level, then regional, then in a national final held at London's National Portrait Gallery. It's proved a huge success, with hundreds of schools participating in the first year, and numbers up by 20% in the second. Coinciding with the start of the third year of competition, and published on National Poetry Day whose theme coincidentally in 2014 is Recitation, this Poetry by Heart anthology brings together the pool of poems - 200 altogether - from which contestants make their choices. Specially picked by Motion and his three co-editors, these poems make up a treasure house - of almost-unknown poems and familiar poems from the mainstream; love poems and war poems; funny poems and heartbroken poems; poems that recreate the world we know and poems written on the dark side of the moon. And all chosen with a view to their being recited out loud.From William Wordsworth to Wilfred Owen, Emily Brontë to Elizabeth Bishop this wonderfully enjoyable anthology will be enjoyed by all ages and includes the best poets from the past to the present day. In a groundbreaking feature, the book includes QR codes which allow readers to use their mobile phones to listen to recordings of the poems - many of them specially recorded by the poets themselves. Sir Andrew Motion was Poet Laureate from 1999 till 2009, and is Professor of Creative Writing at Royal Holloway College, London. Jean Sprackland'sTilt won the Costa Poetry award in 2008. She is a Reader in Poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University. Julie Blake is co-Founder and Director of The Full English, an organization based in Bristol which provides support to teachers of English Literature. Mike Dixon is an educational consultant specializing in English in the classroom.
Poetry from the Future: Why a Global Liberation Movement Is Our Civilisation's Last Chance
by Srecko Horvat'A compelling vision, an urgent necessity, and not beyond reach' Noam ChomskyThe past is forgotten, and the future is without hope. Dystopia has become a reality. This is the new normal in our apocalyptic politics - but if we accept it, our helplessness is guaranteed. To bring about real change, argues activist and political philosopher Srecko Horvat, we must first transform our mindset.Ranging through time and space, from the partisan liberation movements of Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia to the contemporary culture, refugee camps and political frontlines of 21st century Europe, Horvat shows that the problems we face today are of an unprecedented nature. To solve them, he argues in this passionate call for a new radical internationalism, we must move beyond existing ways of thinking: beyond borders, national identities and the redundant narratives of the past. Only in this way can we create new models for living and, together, shape a more open and optimistic future.
The Poetry Of Edward Thomas
by Andrew MotionWhen Edward Thomas died at Arras in 1917 few people thought of him as a poet. Yet in the two years before his death, after a lifetime writing prose, Thomas wrote some of the most enduring poems of his day: poems of war, nature, friendship, despair and exultation. Andrew Motion's pioneering study of Thomas' life and achievement is scholarly yet utterly absorbing, combining an account of his struggles as a writer with perceptive readings of individual poems.Andrew Motion's books include a biography, The Lamberts, George, Constant and Kil, and several prize-winning collections of poetry, the most recent of which is Love in a Life. He is currently writing the authorized biography of Philip Larkin.
Poetry Of The Second World War
by Desmond GrahamPoetry of the Second World War brings to light a neglected chapter in world literature. In its chorus of haunting poetic voices, over a hundred of the most articulate minds of their generation record the true experience of the 1939-45 conflict, and its unending consequences. In keeping with its subject, it has an international scope, with poems from over twenty countries, including Japan, Australia, Europe, America and Russia; poems in which human responses echo each other across boundaries of culture and state. Auden, Brecht, Stevie Smith, Primo Levi, Zbigniew Herbert and Anna Akhmatova are set alongside the eloquence of unknown poets. The anthology has been arranged to bring out the chronological and cumulative human experience of the war: pre-war fears, air raids, the boredom, fear and camaraderie of military life; battle, occupation and resistance; surviving and the aftermath. Here at last, are the poems of the Holocaust, the Blitz, Hiroshima; of soldiers, refugees and disrupted lives. What emerges is a poetry capable of conveying the vast and terrible sweep of war.
The Poetry of Sex
by Sophie HannahThe Poetry of Sex - a raucous, highly enjoyable anthology by acclaimed poet Sophie Hannah 'We've been at it all summer, from the Canadian border to the edge of Mexico . . .'It's hard to imagine a more fruitful subject for poets than sex, in all its glorious manifestations: from desire and hope, through disappointment and confusion, to conclusion and consequence. And little has changed over the centuries, as Sophie Hannah's anthology vividly demonstrates, from Catullus pleading with Lesbos to Walt Whitman singing the body electric. Moods and attitudes may vary but the drive persists as does the desire to write about it.Sophie Hannah's selection ranges from ancient Rome to modern New York, from gay to straight, but her principle has been to go low on the sugar and high on the excitement. It is essential reading for poetry lovers and romantics everywhere. Sophie Hannah has published five collections of poetry. Her fifth Pessimism for Beginners was shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Award in 2007. Her Selected Poems is published by Penguin (revised edition, 2013). She is also the writer of bestselling psychological crime fiction, most recently The Carrier. Her novels have been translated into 24 languages. Born in Manchester, she now lives in Cambridge with her husband and children, and is a Fellow Commoner of Lucy Cavendish College.
A Poet's Guide to Britain
by Owen SheersIntroduced and selected by the poet-presenter Owen Sheers, A Poet's Guide to Britain is a major poetry anthology that ties in with the BBC series of the same name.Owen Sheers passionately believes that poems, and particularly poems of place, not only affect us as individuals, but can have the power to mark and define a collective experience - our identities, our country, our land. He has chosen six powerful poems, all personal favourites, and all poems that have become part of the way we see our landscape. The anthology follows a similar format to the BBC series itself, while also offering paper chains of poems about the landscape and nature of Britain, transcripts of contemporary poet interviews, and a short introduction to each lead poem.
Poles Apart: Why People Turn Against Each Other, and How to Bring Them Together
by Alison Goldsworthy Laura Osborne Alexandra ChesterfieldWhy do people become divided?What steps can we all take to reduce hostility and bring about understanding?Poles Apart has the answers.In Poles Apart, an expert on polarisation, a behavioural scientist and a professional communicator explain why we are so prone to be drawn into rival, often deeply antagonistic factions. They explore the shaping force of our genetic make-up on our fundamental views and the nature of the influences that family, friends and peers exert. They pinpoint the economic and political triggers that tip people from healthy disagreement to dangerous hostility, and the part played by social media in spreading entrenched opinions. And they help us to understand why outlooks that can seem so bizarre and extreme to us seem so eminently sensible to those who hold them.Above all, they show what practical and effective steps we can all take to narrow divisions, build respect for others, and create a greater degree of common understanding.____________________________________________________'Poles Apart is an extraordinary achievement: fresh, deeply authoritative, and entertaining on every page. Everyone talks about polarisation, but no one does it like Goldsworthy, Osborne, and Chesterfield. You'll finish this book wiser, kinder, and more hopeful than when you started it.' Jamie Susskind, author of Future Politics'A fascinating and thought-provoking analysis of the divisions between us, how we bridge them, how we reshape the world - and ourselves too. Essential reading.' Cathy Newman, presenter of Channel 4 News and author'Asks the best question I have ever heard. And, critically, offers solutions. A must read.' Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK, and author of Alchemy'Technology may have connected the world, but it's now being exploited to divide and polarise us. This is a pivotal moment for this book to be written, read and understood.' Peter Gabriel, musician
Police Ladies
by Yolanda CelbridgeDeep in the Scottish Highlands a curious training academy teaches young women how to pound a beat. Young miscreant Jean Welsh hopes to quell her submissive, promiscuous sexuality by donning their strict uniform. Instruction in the use of restraints, training in the art of flagellation and practical experience in the special use of truncheons characterise the Glenlassie approach to police training - but the recruits are solely being siphoned off by a nearby pony-girl training establishment and a unique medical clinic.
A Political History of the World: Three Thousand Years of War and Peace (Pelican Books)
by Jonathan HolslagA three-thousand year history of the world that examines the causes of war and the search for peaceIn three thousand years of history, China has spent at least eleven centuries at war. The Roman Empire was in conflict during at least 50 per cent of its lifetime. Since 1776, the United States has spent over one hundred years at war. The dream of peace has been universal in the history of humanity. So why have we so rarely been able to achieve it? In A Political History of the World, Jonathan Holslag has produced a sweeping history of the world, from the Iron Age to the present, that investigates the causes of conflict between empires, nations and peoples and the attempts at diplomacy and cosmopolitanism. A birds-eye view of three thousand years of history, the book illuminates the forces shaping world politics from Ancient Egypt to the Han Dynasty, the Pax Romana to the rise of Islam, the Peace of Westphalia to the creation of the United Nations.This truly global approach enables Holslag to search for patterns across different eras and regions, and explore larger questions about war, diplomacy, and power. Has trade fostered peace? What are the limits of diplomacy? How does environmental change affect stability? Is war a universal sin of power? At a time when the threat of nuclear war looms again, this is a much-needed history intended for students of international politics, and anyone looking for a background on current events.
The Politics: Introduction To The Politics
by AristotleTwenty-three centuries after its compilation, 'The Politics' still has much to contribute to this central question of political science. Aristotle's thorough and carefully argued analysis is based on a study of over 150 city constitutions, covering a huge range of political issues in order to establish which types of constitution are best - both ideally and in particular circumstances - and how they may be maintained. Aristotle's opinions form an essential background to the thinking of philosophers such as Thomas Aquinas, Machiavelli and Jean Bodin and both his premises and arguments raise questions that are as relevant to modern society as they were to the ancient world.
Pollyanna
by Eleanor H. PorterTHE COMPLETE AND UNABRIDGED TEXT'Most generally there is something about everything that you can be glad about, if you keep hunting long enough to find it'When her father dies, Pollyanna is sent to live with her stern Aunt Polly. She is poor, orphaned and alone but Pollyanna just feels lucky to have an aunt at all. The truth is that her dear father, before he died, taught her a trick for life – the 'Glad Game' – the aim of which is to find the good in every bad situation. Before long, Pollyanna’s sunny outlook has brightened up the whole town. But when a horrible accident occurs can the Game save Pollyanna?Includes exclusive material: In The Backstory you can test your knowledge of the book and find out if you’re as optimistic as Pollyanna! Vintage Children’s Classics is a twenty-first century classics list aimed at 8-12 year olds and the adults in their lives. Discover timeless favourites from The Jungle Book and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to modern classics such as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Pollyanna (Puffin Classics)
by Eleanor H. PorterAs soon as Pollyanna arrives in Beldingsville to live with her strict and dutiful maiden aunt, she begins to brighten up everybody's life. The 'glad game' she plays, of finding a silver lining in every cloud, transforms the sick, the lonely and the plain miserable - until one day something so terrible happens that even Pollyanna doesn't know how ot feel glad about it.
Pollyanna Grows Up
by Eleanor H. PorterHer crippled legs cured, Pollyanna takes her glad heart to cheer new friends in Boston before travelling to Europe with Aunt Polly and Dr chilton. But growing up brings sorrows as well as joys, and when she returns after six years, with Dr Chilton dead and Aunt Polly fallen on hard times, even Pollyanna has trouble maintaining her usual cheerful outlook.
Polly's Angel
by Katie FlynnLiverpool, 1936Polly's guardian angel has to work overtime when her large family is forced to move to central Liverpool. With a hardworking mother, a sick father and her family close to ruin, Polly is easily led astray by the handsome, Sunny Anderson.But soon war looms, and Sunny joins the navy to train as a signaller. After the horrors of the May blitz, Polly decides she too wants to help her country and goes into the WRNS. She hears that an old flame, Tad Donoghue, is now in the Royal Air Force. Tad hopes to be reunited with his Polly, but she is in love with Sunny . . . isn't she?
Polo: The lavish and racy classic from Sunday Times bestseller Jilly Cooper
by Jilly Cooper OBEIn Jilly Cooper's third Rutshire chronicle we meet Ricky France-Lynch, who is moody, macho, and magnificent. He had a large crumbling estate, a nine-goal polo handicap, and a beautiful wife who was fair game for anyone with a cheque book. He also had the adoration of fourteen-year-old Perdita MacLeod. Perdita couldn't wait to leave her dreary school and become a polo player.The polo set were ritzy, wild, and gloriously promiscuous.Perdita thought she'd get along with them very well.But before she had time to grow up, Ricky's life exploded into tragedy, and Perdita turned into a brat who loved only her horses - and Ricky France-Lynch.Ricky's obsession to win back his wife, and Perdita's to win both Ricky and a place as a top class polo player, take the reader on a wildly exciting journey - to the estancias of Argentina, to Palm Beach and Deauville, and on to the royal polo fields of England and the glamorous pitches of California where the most heroic battle of all is destined to be fought - a match that is about far more than just the winning of a huge silver cup...------------------------------'Compulsively readable and funny...the irrepressible Jilly remains irresistible' The Times'Polo is the best thing she's ever done' Daily Mail 'A work of towering genius' Evening Standard
The Pomegranates of Kandahar
by Sarah MaguireSarah Maguire's rich and lyrical poems have been highly praised for the ease with which they ground precise, sensual detail within the wider context of world events. In this remarkable new collection, her poems travel greater distances than ever before. The title poem laments the devastation visited upon Afghanistan following decades of war. Other poems consider the casualties of political unrest: would-be migrants in Tangiers gazing northwards at the longed-for phantasmagoria of 'Europe'; and packs of wolves on the loose in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. But there are intimate poems too, often using scientific vocabularies to offset a personal moment, as in 'Landscape, with Dead Sea' where the erosion of the poet's skin is connected to geological transformations at the earth's core.
The Pony Girl Collection
by Penny BirchPony-girls is a collection of three classic erotic novels, all on the same theme and from the pen of Penny Birch, who is not only one of the most imaginative writers in her genre but has first-hand experience as a pony-girl. A Taste of Amber, Penny in Harness and Tie & Tease are all drawn from that experience and combine a true feast of fetish erotica, with not only the most vivid and realistic descriptions of pony-girl play ever written.
Pony Stories (3 Book Bind-Up)
by VariousA Summer of Horses by Carol Fenner - Faith battle with her fear of horses as she learns to ride on a farm holiday. Fly-By-Night by K. M. Peyton - Ruth learns that keeping a pony is harder than she'd thought. Three to Ride by Christine Pullein-Thompson - David discovers that making it to the top as a show-jumper is going to be a bumpy ride.
Poor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief
by Katriona O'SullivanThe No. 1 BestsellerBiography of the Year, Irish Book Awards 2023The Last Word Listeners' Choice Award, Irish Book Awards 2023'One of the best [books] I have read about the complexities of poverty . . . one of the most remarkable people you will ever meet' GuardianLike young girls everywhere Katriona O’Sullivan grew up bright, enthusiastic, curious. But she was also surrounded by abject poverty and chaos, and after she became pregnant and homeless at 15, what followed was five years of barely surviving. Yet today Katriona is an award-winning academic whose work explores barriers to education for girls like her.What set Katriona on this unexpected path were the mentors and supporters who truly saw her. The teachers who showed her how to wash in the school toilets or turned up at her door to convince her to sit at least one GCSE. The community worker who encouraged her to apply for training schemes. The friend who introduced Katriona to Trinity College’s access program while she was a cleaner. Simple acts that would help her turn her life around.Told with warmth, clarity and compassion – compassion for her parents, for her younger self, for others – Poor is both an astonishing personal testimony and an impassioned plea for the future of our children. ‘Powerful – Katriona is a legend’ Barry Keoghan‘Raw, passionate and resolutely honest – I’ll never forget it’ Annie Mac'Full of insight . . . so important' Fi Glover, Times Radio 'I read poor in one sitting I found it so compelling . . . moving, uplifting, brave, heroic' Nuala McGovern, Woman's Hour, BBC Radio Four'Moving, funny, brave and original - just like the author . . . absolutely incredible' Roísín Ingle, Irish Times Women's Podcast‘One of the books of the year’ Patrick Kielty, Late Late Show, RTÉ One'One of the most important books I have ever read … a beautiful telling of determination despite the odds' Lynn Ruane, Irish Times 'Fearless, funny and searingly honest' Adil Ray OBE'Raw and remarkable' Irish Independent 'A book of empowerment and hope' Patricia Scanlan ‘Remarkable . . . a vivid retelling of Katriona flourishing, despite her beginnings’ BBC News West Midlands
Poor Badger
by K M PeytonRos falls instantly in love with the beautiful black and white pony that she discovers tethered in a field near her home. She has always longed for a pony of her own. If only he belonged to her . . .But Badger (as Ros and her friend, Leo, name the pony) belongs to someone else, and Ros watches with mounting horror as she sees the way his real owners treat him. At first it is just neglect, but worse is to come and, as the long cold winter nights draw in, Ros knows that she can no longer bear to stand by and see the once-beautiful pony suffer. Together with Leo she hatches a desperate plan – a plan to rescue poor Badger . . .A heartwarming and dramatic tale from award-winning author K. M. Peyton.
Poor Folk and Other Stories
by Fyodor DostoyevskyWith their penetrating psychological insight and their emphasis on human dignity, respect and forgiveness, Dostoyevsky's early short stories contain the seeds of the themes that came to his major novels. Poor Folk, the author's first great literary triumph, is the story of a tragic relationship between an impoverished copy clerk and a young seamstress, told through their passionate letters to each other. In The Landlady Dostoyevsky portrays a dreamer hero who is captivated by a curious couple and becomes their lodger. Mr Prokharchin, inspired by a true story, is a sly comedy centring on an eccentric miser, and Polzunkov is a powerful character sketch which, in common with the other tales in this volume, questions the very nature of existence.