Shaft sinking for the extraction of minerals has taken place for centuries, and for much of this time, coal mining was carried out in the North East of England. Various methods of pit sinking developed from the use of shallow bell pits to the excavation of deep shafts, in order to access rich seams of coal and other minerals for sale in rapidly urbanising areas such as London. In the close mining communities of Northumberland and Durham, those who dug the initial shafts, t...

Moving debates about ICT and higher education beyond a simple focus on e-learning, this book takes into consideration the provision of post-secondary education as a whole.Discussing what is meant by e-business, why e-business approaches are relevant to universities and colleges and the key issues this raises for post-secondary education, this book:examines emerging technologies and provides examples of what an e-institution for education might look likeexplo...

All Tarquin Jenkins wanted to do, was travel through space and time, solve some of the Universe’s more pressing problems, and lay hands on the Nerydire Book of Dreams.Unfortunately, nobody told him about the bloodsucking Leche, the leprechauns, the other leprechauns, the killer androids, the extremely rude waitress, Nostradamus, Leonardo da Vinci, the malfunctioning toaster, the Zargothian legal system, the Bloated Shagganat nightclub, the psychopathic Griddleback hordes, and a fla...

'A story to strike pity and terror into any heart' Times Literary SupplementJoseph Carey Merrick, born in Leicester on 5th August 1852, is better known as the Elephant Man. Through horrible physical deformities which were almost impossible to describe, he spent much of his life exhibited as a fairground freak until even nineteenth-century sensibilities could take no more.Hounded, persecuted and starving, he ended up one day at Liverpool Street Stat...

All Tarquin Jenkins wanted to do, was travel through space and time, solve some of the Universe's more pressing problems, and lay hands on the Nerydire Book of Dreams.Unfortunately, nobody told him about the bloodsucking Leche, the leprechauns, the other leprechauns, the killer androids, the extremely rude waitress, Nostradamus, Leonardo da Vinci, the malfunctioning toaster, the Zargothian legal system, the Bloated Shagganat nightclub, the psychopathic Griddleback hordes, and a fla...

Spies, Sadists and Sorcerers unveils the history you were never taught at school. With a breath-taking sweep spanning Rome to the modern day, popular historian and author Dominic Selwood challenges the traditional version of some of the best-known events of the past. From ancient Christianity to the voyages of Columbus, and from the medieval Crusades to ISIS and the modern Middle East, this book debunks dozens of historical myths.You will learn that:– Magna Carta was an inf...

Can an epic adventure succeed without a hero? Andra Watkins needs a wingman to help her become the first living person to walk the historic 444-mile Natchez Trace as the pioneers did. Fifteen miles of rugged highway each day for thirty-four days.After striking-out with everyone in her life, she settles upon her disinterested eighty-year-old father. And his gas. The sleep apnea machine and self-scratching. Sharing a bathroom with a man whose gut obliterates his aim. Her father is ev...

A New York Times BestsellerFrank Sinatra desperately wanted to be part of John F. Kennedy, Jr.’s gang. He had his own famed Rat Pack,” made up of hard drinking, womanizing individuals like himself-guys like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Peter Lawford-but the guy Ol’ Blue Eyes” really wanted to hang with was Lawford’s brother-in-law, the real chairman of the board, John F. Kennedy.In Sinatra and the Jack Pack, Michael Sheridan delves...

New York Times bestseller: A “detailed and informed” look at the history and tactics of the global terror group—and how to defeat it (Richard Engel, from the foreword).ISIS—the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria—has taken on the mantle of being the single most dangerous terrorist threat to global security since al-Qaeda. In Defeating ISIS, internationally renowned intelligence veteran and counterterrorism expert Malcolm Nance gives an insider’s view ...

A shocking exploration of America’s preferred method of capital punishment.In early 2013, Robert Gleason became the latest victim of the electric chair, a peculiarly American execution method. Shouting Póg mo thóin (Kiss my ass” in Gaelic), he grinned as electricity shot through his system. When the current was switched off, his body slumped against the leather restraints, and Gleeson, who had strangled two fellow inmates to ensure his execution was not p...

A gripping biography of Admiral Nelson, Napoleonic War hero and one of Britain's greatest naval tacticians.In the Battle of Trafalgar, Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson sent the signal from his flagship HMS Victory, "England expects that every man will do his duty." His defeat of the French that day in 1805 was a decisive turning point in the Napoleonic Wars, establishing British control of the seas. His death in that heroic battle gave those words immortal signi...

At 8am on 29 May, 1999, Cathy O’Dowd, a 30-year-old mountaineer from South Africa, stepped onto the summit of Everest and into history. She had become the first woman to climb the highest mountain in the world from both its south (Edmund Hillary) and north (George Mallory) sides. To achieve this, Cathy has had to face the ultimate risks of Everest.During her first ascent from the south in 1996, she and her team were trapped in the killer storm described in Jon Krakauer’s best selle...