«What if you were told that you could make a fortune just by pushing a button on a box? But pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world... someone you don’t know. Would you still push the button? «Button, Button», Richard Matheson’s chilling tale of greed and temptation, is now the basis of «The Box», the new film from the director of «Donnie Darko». In addition, this outstanding collection also contains many other unforgettable stories by Matheson, the award-winning author of «I Am Legend» and «What Dreams May Come».»

Trotsky was a hero to some, a ruthless demon to others. To Stalin, he was such a threat that he warranted murder by pickax. This polarizing figure set up a world conflict that lasted through the twentieth century, and in Trotsky: A Graphic Biography, the renowned comic artist Rick Geary uses his distinct style to depict the stark reality of the man and his times. Trotsky’s life becomes a guide to the creation of the Soviet Union, the horrors of World War I, and the establishment of international communism as he, Lenin, and their fellow Bolsheviks rise from persecution and a life underground to the height of political power. Ranging from his boyhood in the Ukraine to his fallout with Stalin and his moonlight romance with Frida Kahlo, Trotsky is a stunning look at one of the twentieth century’s most important thinkers and the far-reaching political trends that he launched.

America in the 'aughts — hilariously skewered, brilliantly dissected, and darkly diagnosed by one of the country's most prominent social critics Now in paperback, Barbara Ehrenreich's widely acclaimed This Land Is Their Land takes the measure of what we are left with after the cruelest decade in memory and finds lurid extremes all around. While members of the moneyed elite have bought up congressmen, many in the working class can barely buy lunch. While a wealthy minority obsessively consumes cosmetic surgery, the poor often go without health care for their children. And while the Masters of the Universe have thrown themselves into the casino economy, the less fortunate have been fed a diet of morality, marriage, and abstinence. With perfect satiric pitch, Ehrenreich reveals a country scarred by deepening inequality, corroded by distrust, and shamed by its official cruelty. Full of wit and generosity, these reports from a divided nation--including new and unpublished essays — confirm once again that Ehrenreich is, as the San Francisco Chronicle proclaims, essential reading.

Sometimes Arkady had the feeling that while he had been away God had lifted Moscow and turned it upside down... The night outside was still white. Arkady wasn’t sleepy or hungry. He felt like the perfect new Soviet man, designed for a land with no food or drink. He got up and left the office. Enough. It began with the unmourned death of Rosen, one of Moscow’s new breed of black marketeers; seemingly a clear-cut case of murder. Although Renko has been recently reinstated at the Moscow Prosecutor’s office, the case begins to slip from his grasp. But his determination never to let go leads him to Munich and Berlin — back into the life of Irina, a woman he thought he had lost forever... ‘Wonderfully entertaining... Red Square is streets ahead of most thrillers that claim to deal with the real world’ Independent ‘The best thriller to appear in several years... extraordinary’ Time ‘Dense with observation and atmosphere... Smith’s best book yet’ Cosmopolitan.

OpenMind Essentials combines the Student's Book and the Workbook into one volume. The audio for the Workbook element is packaged with it on an audio disc found at the back of the book. The combined Student’s Book/Workbook Pack also includes access to mindOnline, the companion Web site for openMind. This is accessed through a unique access code found at the back of the book. Each unit includes a six pages of language sections withOpener, Language Wrap-Up, and Communicative Wrap-Up and two pages of lifeSkills. MindOnline provides students with numerous additional resources including interactive wordlists, video pieces and langauge practice. mindOnline Essentials will be available from June 2011. KEY FEATURES: — MindOnline — a powerful and practical online component for both teachers and students. Teachers will benefit from tools such as e-planners and test generators and students from the videos and interactive wordlists; — LifeSkills — a special unit in each unit to develop life skills while recycling target language from the unit; — Thorough skills development — a carefully planned, graded four-skills syllabus with step-by-step development of sub-skills. Skills are integrated and practiced in 'Language Use' sections; — 4-step grrammar presentations — a clear, simple and memorable approach reinforced with lots of practice in the Workbook and mindOnline; — 4-step grrammar presentations — a clear, simple and memorable approach reinforced with lots of practice in the Workbook and mindOnline; — Transparent methodology — communicative approach with deductive/inductive work, learner training, and systematic skills development.

Tian Tian Zhongwen is a carefully graded, four-level Chinese reader series for upper-elementary to upper-intermediate Chinese language learners. Each book in the series contains 20 stories and the series is graded into one of four levels: Gold, Turquoise, Violet and Rose. Beijing’s Courtyards and other stories belongs to the Violet Level of the Tian Tian Zhongwen series and is designed for intermediate level learners. The vocabulary amount is limited to the most commonly used 2,000 Mandarin Chinese words.

Let me tell you who I am, on the chance that these scribblings do survive. I am Murgen, Standardbearer of the Black Company, though I bear the shame of having lost that standard in battle. I am keeping these Annals because Croaker is dead, One-Eye won't, and hardly anyone else can read or write. I will be your guide for however long it takes the Shadowlanders to force our present predicament to its inevitable end. This omnibus volume comprises the novels Bleak Seasons and She is the Darkness.

Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See is the final collaboration fromthis bestselling author-illustrator team.Young readers will enjoy Baby Bear's quest to find Mama, and they'll revel in identifying each of the native North American animals that appear along the way. The central focus on the special bond between mama and baby makes a fitting finale to a beloved series. Now in board-book format for the youngest readers.

Illustrations and rhyming text portray a young bear searching for its mother and meeting many North American animals along the way.

Twenty million podcast downloads say it all: Mignon Fogarty's kicky, practical, and easy-to-remember advice about style and usage has won her fans across the globe. Her first book, Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, hit the New York Times bestseller list, and her weekly grammar podcast has been hailed by USA Today as authoritative but warm. Now, in daily devotional form, Grammar Girl offers 365 lessons on language that are sure to inspire. Chock-full of bite-sized writing tips, fun quizzes, and efficient memory tricks, The Grammar Devotional gives you the tools you need to improve your grammar and become an even better communicator, one day at a time.

Some people have dreams that are so magnificent that if they were to achieve them, their place in history would be guaranteed. But what if one man had such a dream... and once he'd fulfilled it, there was no proof that he had achieved his ambition? This is the story of such a man: George Mallory. He once told an American reporter that he wanted to climb Mt. Everest because it's there. On his third attempt in 1924, at age thirty-seven, he was last seen six hundred feet from the top. His body was found in 1999. And it still remains a mystery whether he ever reached the summit

«This sumptuous volume takes readers on a fascinating journey that shows how architecture and nature can be seamlessly combined to create some of the most stunning, yet functional homes in the world.By way of a stunning portfolio of more than 200 full-colour photographs, «Country Houses» shows how natural surroundings can inspire, and give shape to innovative design — a place where mind, body and soul can be revitalised.This is a must-have volume for anyone who wants to combine the best of architecture with the best of nature.»

«Architecture and design has always been defined in terms of space, but now, more than ever, it is also being defined by time. Ways of living are rapidly evolving. Being driven by the onward march of technology and globalisation, architects and designers are constantly finding themselves faced with increasingly challenging and demanding horizons. «Spaces 9» brings together a collection of the most innovative and creative projects that showcase how the best architects of the day are coming to terms with these new challenges, and creating spaces that combine functionality, form, and aesthetic.»

Las Vegas. Lost Wages. Sin City. An artificial oasis of pleasure, spectacle, and entertainment, the gambling capital of America has reinvented itself so many times that its doubtful that anyone knows for sure what's real and what isn't in the miles of neon and scorching heat. Las Vegas is considered the ultimate players destination-no matter what your game. Almost anything is available-for a price, mind you, and sometimes losers walk away from the tables with even less than just an empty wallet or purse-sometimes they don't walk away at all. Now the International Association of Crime Writers and New York Times-bestselling author Michael Connelly have gathered twenty-two crime and mystery stories about the ultimate playground, Las Vegas, and what can happen behind the glitz and glamour. Come to the true city that never sleeps, where fortunes are made and lost every day, and where snake-eyes aren't found just on a pair of dice.

Lucky Santangelo's 16-year-old daughter Max goes looking for trouble when she hooks up with a guy she met on the Internet. Soon the beautiful, willful Max finds herself in deeper water than she could imagine.

Lefty and Desdemona must flee the Turks who are invading their crumbling city in the Ottoman Empire, and decide to head for America. What this unusual brother and sister do not realise is that a rare genetic mutation is following them. It secretly travels with them first to Detroit, and then to suburbia, through prohibition and the race riots of 1967. And in the spring of 1974, their granddaughter Calliope finds herself drawn to a chain-smoking, strawberry-blonde classmate with a gift for acting. The passion that furtively develops between them leads Callie to suspect that she is not like other girls. Through eight decades — and one unusually awkward adolescence — Jeffrey Eugenides' long-awaited second novel is a breathtaking vision of the American Dream and a modern fable of crossed bloodlines, immigration, the intricacies of gender, and deep, untidy desire.

«From the «New York Times» bestselling author of «Paranoia» and «Killer Instinct» comes a pulse-pounding, high-stakes thriller set in the cutthroat corporate world.»