Forests cover a third of our planet's land mass. They are home to more than three-quarters of the world's species. They absorb a quarter of the carbon dioxide that industries pump into the air. Their existence supports human life. We both treasure them and waste them. Illustrated with more than 180 photographs, Forests is a pictorial exploration of an ancient ecosystem that covers four billion hectares of the Earth's surface and whose maintenance is crucial to human survival. Divided into chapters by continent and arranged by country, Forests examines diverse forest environments, including: the weird and distinctive Dragon's Blood Forest, Socotra, Yemen; the Borneo rainforest, home to more than 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and the famous orangutan, or jungle man; the Crooked Forest near Nowe Czarnowo, Poland, where a grove of oddly-shaped pine trees have a mysterious origin; Cathedral Grove, an ancient Douglas fir ecosystem 9m (29ft) in circumference and 75m (250ft) in height on Vancouver Island in British Columbia; and the ancient German Black Forest, a place imbued with history and legend since ancient times. With more than 180 outstanding photographs of forests and their flora and fauna, Forests will excite and captivate those who love exploring the world's woodland environments.

Steam trains half-buried in the desert, roller coasters entangled in trees, hulks of ships perched high and dry miles from water - images like these are bound to make us wonder: what happened here?
From forgotten railway stations to flooded shopping malls, from secret Cold War bunkers to radiation zones, Abandoned Places explores more than 100 fascinating lost worlds from all around the globe. Surveying the ruins of industrial sites and military bases, ghost towns, holiday resorts and airports, the book explains the story of how each place came to be abandoned - whether through natural or chemical disaster, war, economic collapse, or changing tastes and customs. Throughout, though, a picture emerges, not only of what has been lost, but of what remains. Left to the elements but ignored by humanity, these ramshackle settlements and dilapidated structures illuminate times and designs that we thought were long gone.
With 150 outstanding colour photographs exploring hauntingly beautiful locations, Abandoned Places is a brilliant and moving pictorial examination of worlds we have left behind.

Although America proclaimed its neutrality when World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, in just a few years it would not only be forced into the bloodiest conflict in world history but would also determine the war's outcome. The unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust were revealed when U.S. and Allied troops liberated concentration camps. Then, in 1945, the United States gave birth to the nuclear age when it dropped atomic bombs on Japan. In the peace that followed, the cold war and the arms race escalated, the Korean War broke out, and, at home, the civil rights movement took hold, resulting in anti-black violence and hate crimes, race riots, and political assassinations. This bloody and transformative period of American history is told in vivid detail with the help of an abundance of primary source materials.

During the 1960s, America became embroiled in an increasingly unpopular war fighting communism in Vietnam. Antiwar sentiment led to mass youth protests, which occasionally turned deadly. With the Soviet Union breaking up in the late 1980s, the United States was the sole superpower. But it quickly became the target of Islamist terrorism, as 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the War on Terror came to define the first two decades of the new millennium. At home, violence convulsed Waco, Oklahoma City, and Los Angeles, while gun massacres became a numbingly familiar occurrence. The troubled recent history of the United States is told with great attention to historic detail and with the help of an abundance of primary source materials.

Although America proclaimed its neutrality when World War II broke out in Europe in 1939, in just a few years it would not only be forced into the bloodiest conflict in world history but would also determine the war's outcome. The unimaginable horrors of the Holocaust were revealed when U.S. and Allied troops liberated concentration camps. Then, in 1945, the United States gave birth to the nuclear age when it dropped atomic bombs on Japan. In the peace that followed, the cold war and the arms race escalated, the Korean War broke out, and, at home, the civil rights movement took hold, resulting in anti-black violence and hate crimes, race riots, and political assassinations. This bloody and transformative period of American history is told in vivid detail with the help of an abundance of primary source materials.

The United States was born in the violence of revolution, and it experienced equally violent growing pains that resulted in the Civil War. That conflict would be particularly bloody, with more American lives lost than in both World Wars combined. Following the end of the war, the violence of the Reconstruction era, the Jim Crow South, and ongoing Indian wars continued to convulse the former Confederacy. As a battered nation emerged into the twentieth century, World War I and the rise of organized crime awaited. This exceptionally bloody and difficult period of American history is told in vivid detail with the help of an abundance of primary source materials.

This volume, rich with primary sources, traces the story of the United States from the first contact between Europeans and Native Americans to the American Revolution and through the gold rush. This is a history often characterized by conflict and violence. It is the story of the religious hysteria and violence of the Salem witch trials, the gradual expansion of the country across the continent, the ill treatment of Native Americans, and slavery. It is about how the values of the Founding Fathers laid down in the Bill of Rights have made for a more peaceful and fair country, but one that has not always lived up to its promises and ideals.

During the 1960s, America became embroiled in an increasingly unpopular war fighting communism in Vietnam. Antiwar sentiment led to mass youth protests, which occasionally turned deadly. With the Soviet Union breaking up in the late 1980s, the United States was the sole superpower. But it quickly became the target of Islamist terrorism, as 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the War on Terror came to define the first two decades of the new millennium. At home, violence convulsed Waco, Oklahoma City, and Los Angeles, while gun massacres became a numbingly familiar occurrence. The troubled recent history of the United States is told with great attention to historic detail and with the help of an abundance of primary source materials.

The United States was born in the violence of revolution, and it experienced equally violent growing pains that resulted in the Civil War. That conflict would be particularly bloody, with more American lives lost than in both World Wars combined. Following the end of the war, the violence of the Reconstruction era, the Jim Crow South, and ongoing Indian wars continued to convulse the former Confederacy. As a battered nation emerged into the twentieth century, World War I and the rise of organized crime awaited. This exceptionally bloody and difficult period of American history is told in vivid detail with the help of an abundance of primary source materials.

This volume, rich with primary sources, traces the story of the United States from the first contact between Europeans and Native Americans to the American Revolution and through the gold rush. This is a history often characterized by conflict and violence. It is the story of the religious hysteria and violence of the Salem witch trials, the gradual expansion of the country across the continent, the ill treatment of Native Americans, and slavery. It is about how the values of the Founding Fathers laid down in the Bill of Rights have made for a more peaceful and fair country, but one that has not always lived up to its promises and ideals.

For schoolteacher Jenny her basement in the River House is the perfect home, while for divorced art restorer, Richard, his attic flat is an ideal studio. So, along with the other tenants, they are dismayed when a new landlord plans to redevelop the property, and, ignoring their legal rights, demands that they leave. When they refuse, the electricity is cut off and the locks are changed.

Soon the other tenants give in to the harassing and move out, leaving Jenny and Richard to fight for their homes. But how can they take on a crooked millionaire landlord?

Then one day a conman enters their lives, and an outlandish idea starts to form. Using the conman's expertise, could they trick the landlord into selling them the River House...using his own money?

Ingenious, charming and funny, Snakes & Ladders is a knowing take on our times.