Because Thomas Hardy is so closely associated with the rural Wessex of his novels, stories, and poems, it is easy to forget that he was, in his own words, half a Londoner. Focusing on the formative five years in his early twenties when Hardy lived in the city, but also on his subsequent movement back and forth between Dorset and the capital, Mark Ford shows that the Dorset-London axis is critical to an understanding of his identity as a man and his achievement as a writer.Thoma...

Woman Much Missed is the first book-length study of the many poems (over 150) that Thomas Hardy composed in the wake of the death of his first wife Emma in November of 1912. Mark Ford uses these poems to develop a narrative of their four-year courtship on the remote and romantic coast of Cornwall where they met, and then follows Thomas's poetic recreation of the slow degeneration of their marriage and their embittered final decade. Ford shows how Emma's writings and experiences du...

Far From the Madding Crowd was the first of Hardy’s novels to give the name of Wessex to the landscape of south-west England and is set against the backdrop of the unchanging natural cycle of the year. The story both upholds and questions rural values with a startlingly modern sensibility.Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a...

What has the contemporary financial context meant for social policy, social work and the relationship between them? Examining the role of political, economic and societal forces, this lively book uses a full range of supportive features to encourage reflection on the impact of austerity on different social groups, social work and social care.

Port Aransas, known colloquially as Port A, is on Mustang Island, one of the Texas barrier islands. This community grew from the seed of El Mar Rancho, the homestead an Englishman established for his family in 1855�the name Port Aransas was adopted in 1910. The evolution of Port A includes the guiding of sport fishermen to the hard-fighting tarpon fish, bouncing back from five major hurricanes, and the development of tourism that has made the town a nationally sought out destination. Despi...

Salary surveys worldwide regularly place software architect in the top ten best jobs, yet no real guide exists to help developers become architects. Until now. This updated edition provides a comprehensive overview of software architecture's many aspects, with five new chapters covering the latest insights from the field. Aspiring and existing architects alike will examine architectural characteristics, architectural patterns, component determination, diagramming architecture, governance, ...

As software systems grow in complexity and scale, choosing the right architectural pattern is critical to meeting performance, agility, and operational demands. In this book, Mark Richards, Neal Ford, and Raju Gandhi detail modern software architecture patterns and the antipatterns and pitfalls to avoid. Unique star-chart ratings for each pattern let you see at a glance how well it supports scalability, resilience, and maintainability. You'll learn how your choices affect an architecture's...

There are no easy decisions in software architecture. Instead, there are many hard parts—difficult problems or issues with no best practices—that force you to choose among various compromises. With this book, you'll learn how to think critically about the trade-offs involved with distributed architectures.Architecture veterans and practicing consultants Neal Ford, Mark Richards, Pramod Sadalage, and Zhamak Dehghani discuss strategies for choosing an appropriate architecture. By int...

This casebook provides a concise yet comprehensive state-of-the art review of common stomach and small intestine disorders. The casebook is divided into five parts, each of which focuses on a major disorder, symptom, or clinical scenario related to the stomach and small intestine, including dyspepsia, small bowel disorders, nausea and vomiting, chronic abdominal pain, and post-operative GI surgery challenges. Each part is comprised of cases illustrating different aspects of the subject, wi...

The Last Heist Kiki Swinson Shannon Mitchell gambled that betraying her husband's biggest heist ever was her way out of the game for good. Losing that bet put her in lockdown--and at the top of Todd Mitchell's revenge-fueled hit list. Now she'll work every seductive move and lethal play to survive. 'Cause when it comes to wreaking her own vengeance, this devious beauty isn't taking any prisoners. . . Caked Up De'nesha Diamond Harlem Banks already has twenty-five million reasons to break ou...

"Body language and Behavioral Profiling" is a timely book on the vital roles of nonverbal communications and people reading in our everyday lives. We all use body language to communicate our innermost feelings, thoughts, and attitudes along with spoken words. Knowing the hints, clues, signals, and signs that people use in business and social settings helps people to interpret behavioral motives, and enables them to rapidly organize information for quick decisions that may be consequential....

'A revelation ... as well as being sympathetic to the plight of children, it is hilarious' A. N. WilsonThe hero of Dickens's flamboyantly exuberant novel, Nicholas Nickleby, is left penniless after his father's death and forced to make his own way in the world. His adventures give Dickens the opportunity to portray an extraordinary gallery of rogues and eccentrics: Wackford Squeers, the tyrannical headmaster of Dotheboys Hall; the tragic orphan Smike, rescued by Nicholas; and the g...