Wiltshire is one of the best counties in Britain for architectural fancy, for the county’s residents have expressed their passion for building in a plethora of styles including Gothic, Rustic, classical, Monumental, Chinese, Indian, Italianate and Japanese. We can see their ingenuity and eccentricity in an equally wide variety of building types, including shell houses, grottoes, pagodas, towers, temples, summer houses, tea houses, gazebos, belvederes, lodges, gatehouses, pavilions, arches,...

How does a Middle Eastern community create a modern image through its expression of heritage and authenticity? In Among the Jasmine Trees: Music and Modernity in Contemporary Syria, Jonathan H. Shannon investigates expressions of authenticity in Syria's musical culture, which is particularly known for embracing and preserving the Arab musical tradition, and which has seldom been researched in depth by Western scholars. Music plays a key role in the process of self-imaging by virtue of its ...

The substantially revised and updated third edition of Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East focuses on the experiences of ordinary men, women, and children from the region. Readers will gain a grassroots appreciation of Middle East life, culture, and society that recognizes the impact of wars and uprisings as well as changes to Islamic practice due to advances in technology. The book also explores the influence of social media on politics and labor relations and the changing status of w...

Why do people struggling with poverty often make decisions that seem to perpetuate their situation? The answer lies in the scarcity mindset – the cognitive burden that limits a person's ability to focus on long-term goals when their immediate needs are not being met. This book explores the science of cognitive load and provides insights into the behavior of individuals facing resource scarcity. The author reveals the "hidden mechanics" of how the scarcity mindset depletes our cognitive res...

The Abduction is the heart-pounding, adrenaline-fuelled follow up to Jonathan Holt's highly acclaimed international thriller The Abomination—a modern tale of mystery, treachery, and intrigue that moves between the physical and virtual worlds of Venice, Italy, blurring the boundary between dark fantasy and terrifying reality.An unlikely trio must form an alliance to save a kidnapped young girl and untangle a nefarious plot that reaches back decades.Second L...

Performing al-Andalus explores three musical cultures that claim a connection to the music of medieval Iberia, the Islamic kingdom of al-Andalus, known for its complex mix of Arab, North African, Christian, and Jewish influences. Jonathan Holt Shannon shows that the idea of a shared Andalusian heritage animates performers and aficionados in modern-day Syria, Morocco, and Spain, but with varying and sometimes contradictory meanings in different social and political contexts. As he traces th...

This volume reviews contemporary developments in the auditory cognitive neuroscience of speech perception, including both behavioral and neural contributions. It serves as an important update on the current state of research in speech perception.The Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience of Speech Perception in ContextLori L. Holt, and Jonathan E. PeelleSubcortical Processing of Speech SoundsBharath Chandrasekaran, Rachel Tessmer, ...

The internationally acclaimed crime thriller set in the Italian Alps: "Written in a style both colorful and ironic [by] a great storyteller" ( Suspense Magazine).Getting into serious trouble with the wrong people, deputy prefect of police Rocco Schiavone is exiled to Aosta, a small, touristy alpine town far from his beloved Rome. The sophisticated and crotchety Roman despises mountains and snow as much as he disdains his superiors and their petty rules. But...

How do you solve a murder when you can't ask any questions?The gripping new thriller from the bestselling, award-winning author of Stasi Child.East Germany, 1975. Karin Müller, sidelined from the murder squad in Berlin, jumps at the chance to be sent south to Halle-Neustadt, where a pair of infant twins have gone missing.But Müller soon finds her problems have followed her. Halle-Neustadt is a new town - the pride of the co...

Megan Scott/Michael Elliott Mystery Series Box Set—Books 1-3:Enjoy three suspenseful mysteries by award-winning author Sandra Nikolai!False Impressions – Book #1Her cheating husband was murdered and she’s the prime suspect. Proving her innocence is one thing; evading a killer who wants her dead is something else.Montreal ghostwriter Megan Scott falls under police suspicion when her husband and a female comp...

A Catalonian police detective struggles to stop a serial killer targeting unsavory victims in this atmospheric crime thriller series debut.A killer is targeting figures of corruption in the Catalan city of Girona, with each corpse posed in a way whose meaning no one can fathom.Elisenda Domenech, the head of Girona's newly-formed Serious Crime Unit, believes the attacker is drawing on the city's legends to choose his targets, but soon finds her investigation...

In her phenomenal #1 international bestseller—fifth in the critically acclaimed and award-winning Fredrika Bergman series—“one of Sweden’s best younger writers” (Los Angeles Times Magazine) delivers a tense, atmospheric mystery featuring an enigmatic killer rooted in folklore.On a cold winter’s day, a pre-school teacher is shot to death in front of parents and children at the Jewish Congregation in Stockholm. Just a few hours later, two Jewish boys go miss...