Bizet's Carmen (eBook)

A Short Guide to a Great Opera

Michael Steen

The Paris audience in 1875 was shocked by the sexually explicit realism of Bizet’s exotic operatic masterpiece, its ‘verismo’ depiction of low life and brutal passion. But since the disastrous première – a sensational failure which hastened Bizet’s premature death – it has been the greatest operatic success. It led to a film opera, a jazz opera, a rock ballet and a Broadway musical. Equally, it impressed great composers including Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Vaughan Williams.

The story, written by Prosper Mérimée and adapted by librettists Meilhac and Halévy, is set in colourful Seville, in southern Spain, renowned for bullfights. The corporal Don José is seduced by Carmencita, a gypsy whore who works in a tobacco factory. With her Habanera (a Cuban dance like the tango) and Andalusian Seguidilla, she charms him, and escapes prison. She falls for Escamillo, a celebrity toreador associated with the famous tune Toréador en garde. Don José’s Flower Song fails to win her for long. We visit the haunt of Seville’s demi-monde, Lillas Pastia’s bodega, and a gypsy encampment in the mountains, before José stabs Carmen outside the bullring.

Written by Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, ‘Short Guides to Great Operas’ are concise, entertaining and easy to read. They are packed with useful information and informed opinion, helping to make you a truly knowledgeable opera-goer, and so maximising your enjoyment of a great musical experience.

Other ‘Short Guides to Great Operas’ that you may enjoy include Tosca, Madama Butterfly and Eugene Onegin.

Michael Steen, author of the acclaimed The Lives and Times of the Great Composers, provides a compendium of self-standing short guides to 25 of the world’s greatest and most popular operas.

Project Sunshine (eBook)

How science can use the sun to fuel and feed the world

Steve McKevitt

Tony Ryan

It’s an astonishing fact that capturing all the energy in just one hour’s worth of sunlight would enable us to meet the planet’s food and energy needs for an entire year.

Project Sunshine tells the story of how scientists are working to reconnect us to the ‘solar economy’, harnessing the power of the sun to provide sustainable food and energy for a global population of 10 billion people: an achievement that would end our dependence on ‘fossilised sunshine’ in the form of coal, oil and gas and remake our connection with the soil that grows our food.

Steve McKevitt and Tony Ryan describe the human race’s complex relationship with the sun and take us back through history to see how our world became the place it is today – chemically, geologically, ecologically, climatically and economically – before moving on to the cutting-edge science and technology that will enable us to live happily in a sustainable future.

Steve McKevitt is an expert in communications and consumerism. Over a 25-year career his clients have included Nike, Coca-Cola, Deutsche Bank, Sony PlayStation, Harvey Nichols, Motorola, Universal, Virgin, BT and Atari. Steve is chairman of Golden, an ideas agency with clients in the UK, Europe and the USA, and also works as an advisor to national and regional UK government on employment, skills, business innovation and international trade.

Professor Tony Ryan OBE is a polymer chemist at the University of Sheffield. He delivered the 2002 Royal Institution Christmas Lectures and regularly appears on Radio 4's Infinite Monkey Cage with Brian Cox and Robin Ince, and has been on In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg.

FREE Icon Books eBook Sampler (eBook)

Greg Grandin

James Hannam Jim Baggott

With extracts from twelve fantastic independently published books, this free ebook download provides the perfect introduction to the Icon Books catalogue.

Dice World (eBook)

Science and Life in a Random Universe

Brian Clegg

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2014 WINTON ROYAL SOCIETY PRIZE FOR SCIENCE BOOKS

As troubling as we pattern-seeking humans may find it, modern science has repeatedly shown us that randomness is the underlying heartbeat of nature.

In Dice World, acclaimed science writer Brian Clegg takes readers on an incredible trip around our random universe, uncovering the truths and lies behind probability and statistics, explaining how chaotic intervention is behind every great success in business, and demonstrating the possibilities quantum mechanics has given us for creating unbreakable ciphers and undergoing teleportation.

He explores how the ‘clockwork universe’ imagined by Newton, in which everything could be predicted given enough data, was disproved bit by bit, to be supplanted by chaos theory and quantum physics. Clegg reveals a world in which not only is accurate forecasting often impossible but probability is the only way for us to understand the fundamental nature of things.

Forget the clockwork universe. Welcome to Dice World, a unique portrait of a startlingly complex cosmos, from the bizarre microscopic world of the quantum to the unfathomable mechanics of planetary movements, where very little is as it seems…

Brian Clegg is a science journalist and author whose numerous books include Inflight Science and The Universe Inside You, both published by Icon. He also runs popularscience.co.uk

The First 20 Minutes Personal Trainer (eBook)

The right - and the wrong - workouts for everyone

Gretchen Reynolds

Much of what we thought we knew about fitness is turning out to be wrong. You should always stretch before exercising? Wrong! Sit-ups are good for you? Wrong!

In the ideal companion to her brilliant and bestselling The First 20 Minutes, Gretchen Reynolds identifies these common misconceptions and develops a health and fitness workout tailored to your own level of ability – and all based on the latest scientific discoveries.

Whether you have 2 minutes to spare, 10 minutes or 20 minutes, this ebook special will give you invaluable tips for optimising your fitness plan.

You will also find out how to exercise to benefit specific problem areas such as the shoulder, lower back and knees. And finally there are insider tips on hot topics such as when to eat before exercise, whether beetroot juice improves blood flow to the muscles, how running backwards can liven up your workout, and why unplugging your headset may help you enjoy exercise more.

Gretchen Reynolds writes the popular Phys Ed column for the New York Times and also contributes to the New York Times Magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, Men’s Journal and Popular Science. She has won a number of awards for her writing and reporting, including two nominations for the prestigious National Magazine Awards. She is also the author of The First 20 Minutes: The surprising science of how we can exercise better, train smarter and live longer (Icon Books, 2012).

The Nature Magpie (eBook)

A Cornucopia of Facts, Anecdotes, Folklore and Literature from the Natural World

Daniel Allen

A collection of anecdotes, facts, figures, folklore and literature, The Nature Magpie is a veritable treasure trove of humanity’s thoughts and feelings about nature.

With acclaimed nature writer Daniel Allen as your guide, join naturalists, novelists and poets as they explore the most isolated parts of the planet, choose your side – pineapple or durian – in the great 'king of fruits' debate and discover which plants can be used to predict the weather.

Meet the roadkill connoisseurs, learn to dance the Hippopotamus Polka, find out the likelihood of sharing your name with a hurricane – and much more.

Dr Daniel Allen is a British author making a name for himself in the world of animal/nature writing. His first book, Otter, was published in Reaktion Books' Animal series in September 2010. Virginia McKenna OBE described the book as 'the most brilliant mix of facts ancient and modern about the otter species'. A second title, Squirrel, will be published as part of the series in 2013. Daniel is also a columnist for Small Furry Pets and Practical Reptile Keeping magazines.

Pocket Guide to the Birds of Southern Africa (Paperback)

5th EDITION (Updated & Revised)

Burger Cillié

Ulrich Oberprieler

To both the beginner and the experienced
birdwatcher this compact guide will prove as
indispensable as binoculars.

Special features:

Fits your pocket
Practical and user-friendly
Over 400 bird species
Excellent colour photographs
Logical grouping of birds
Concise biological information
English & Afrikaans names
Southern African bird numbers
Distribution maps according to the new bird atlas
Index

 

An essential aid for nature-lovers and heavy-weight birders, you cannot afford to be without this book. 

Burger Cillié is a well-known wildlife photographer and the author of various field guides to the mammals of Southern Africa. He has co-authored three bird guides with Ulrich, and a book on the animals of Pilanesberg with both Ulrich and Christo. His photographs are not only used to illustrate his own books, but have been published in a variety of titles. He has also acted as advisor to a variety of nature related books published in South Africa and abroad.

Ulrich Oberprieler, a well-known ornithologist and wildlife photographer, has co-authored four bird and mammal guides with Burger and Christo. He is presently education manager at the National Zoological Gardens. Ulrich is an enthusiastic wildlife photographer and most well known for his superb courses on mammals, birds and the environment.

Imagine That – Technology (eBook)

Michael Sells

Technology’s most intriguing stories are the tales of what might have been, those seemingly insignificant incidents that would have had the largest unforeseen effects.

Imagine That…

Alexander Fleming cleans up his dishes … and penicillin is washed down the drain

Steve Jobs skips the company visit to Xerox PAR C … and computers never crack the commercial market

Nikola Tesla receives philanthropic support … and the 20th century is illuminated by space age energy and technology

Engaging, contentious and compulsively readable, each book in this new series takes the reader on a historical flight of fancy, imagining the consequences if history had gone just that little bit differently.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.

Imagine That – Technology (Paperback)

The History of Technology Rewritten

Michael Sells

Technology’s most intriguing stories are the tales of what might have been, those seemingly insignificant incidents that would have had the largest unforeseen effects.

Imagine That…

Alexander Fleming cleans up his dishes … and penicillin is washed down the drain

Steve Jobs skips the company visit to Xerox PAR C … and computers never crack the commercial market

Nikola Tesla receives philanthropic support … and the 20th century is illuminated by space age energy and technology

Engaging, contentious and compulsively readable, each book in this new series takes the reader on a historical flight of fancy, imagining the consequences if history had gone just that little bit differently.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.

Imagine That – Football (eBook)

The History of Football Rewritten

Michael Sells

International football’s most intriguing stories are the tales of what might have been, those seemingly insignificant incidents that would have had the largest unforeseen effects.

Imagine That…

Messi is unable to afford growth hormone treatment … and Spanish football loses its charitable nature

Technology helps prevent decades of human error in football … and West Germany claims victory at Wembley in 1966

Substitutions are never introduced to football … and the game is rid of greed and disloyalty

Engaging, contentious and compulsively readable, each book in this new series takes the reader on a historical flight of fancy, imagining the consequences if history had gone just that little bit differently.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.

Imagine That – Football (Paperback)

The History of Football Rewritten

Michael Sells

International football’s most intriguing stories are the tales of what might have been, those seemingly insignificant incidents that would have had the largest unforeseen effects.

Imagine That…

Messi is unable to afford growth hormone treatment … and Spanish football loses its charitable nature

Technology helps prevent decades of human error in football … and West Germany claims victory at Wembley in 1966

Substitutions are never introduced to football … and the game is rid of greed and disloyalty

Engaging, contentious and compulsively readable, each book in this new series takes the reader on a historical flight of fancy, imagining the consequences if history had gone just that little bit differently.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.

Imagine That – Film (eBook)

Michael Sells

The most intriguing stories from the history of cinema are the tales of what might have been, those seemingly insignificant incidents that would have had the largest unforeseen effects.

Imagine That…
The farmers of southern California revolt against plans for an aqueduct … and Chicago becomes the new home of American cinema

Casablanca’s writing committee takes total control … and the film’s greatest moments are whitewashed from history

Disney decides against collaborating with Hitler’s former engineer … and the USA never wins the ‘Space Race’

Engaging, contentious and compulsively readable, each book in this new series takes the reader on a historical flight of fancy, imagining the consequences if history had gone just that little bit differently.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.

Imagine That – Film (Paperback)

The History of Film Rewritten

Michael Sells

The most intriguing stories from the history of cinema are the tales of what might have been, those seemingly insignificant incidents that would have had the largest unforeseen effects.

Imagine That…
The farmers of southern California revolt against plans for an aqueduct … and Chicago becomes the new home of American cinema

Casablanca’s writing committee takes total control … and the film’s greatest moments are whitewashed from history

Disney decides against collaborating with Hitler’s former engineer … and the USA never wins the ‘Space Race’

Engaging, contentious and compulsively readable, each book in this new series takes the reader on a historical flight of fancy, imagining the consequences if history had gone just that little bit differently.

Michael Sells is a historian educated at the University of Chester. Captivated by history from a young age, he is especially interested in Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation and 1960s and 70s football. Outside of history, his passions include dystopian novels, animal sanctuaries and lower-league football. Born in the South East of England, he now lives in Cambridge and the Imagine That titles are his first books.

Welcome to the Jilted Generation (eBook)

Young Britain in 2013

Ed Howker

Shiv Malik

This the 44-page Preface to the 2013 edition of Ed Howker and Shiv Malik's Jilted Generation: How Britain Bankrupted Its Youth.

In 2010, 'Jilted Generation: How Britain Bankrupted It's Youth' revealed the plight of Britain's youngest adults for the first time while a new coalition government set out to solve them. The Tories said they would "fulfil a solemn promise to the next generation". The Liberal Democrats said they were "absolutely determined that we will be able to look our children and grandchildren in the eye and say we did the best we could for them". So how has that been working out?

In this trailblazing new analysis, the authors of Jilted Generation reveal the canyon between Britain's next generation and the politicians claiming to help them. In unemployment and homelessness rates, through the riots, student protests and workfare battles, a picture emerges of a generation in crisis, a government in stasis and an unprecedented opportunity to solve both problems.

Published here as an eBook Short, as well as in the fully updated new edition of Jilted Generation, this essay offers an insight into the issues – a clear and hard-hitting view of the situation in 2013 for Britain's young adults.

Ed Howker is a programme-maker for Channel 4’s Dispatches. Shiv Malik is an investigative journalist at the Guardian. Both live in London.

Hess, Hitler and Churchill (eBook)

The Real Turning Point of the Second World War - A Secret History

Peter Padfield

When Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess set off for Britain on a peace mission in May 1941, he launched one of the great mysteries of the Second World War. Had he really acted alone, without Hitler’s knowledge? Who were the British he had come to see? Was British intelligence involved?

Award-winning historian Peter Padfield presents striking new evidence that demands the wholesale reappraisal of the episode. For, allied to a powerful argument that Hess must have had both Hitler’s backing and considerable encouragement from Britain, Padfield demonstrates that he also brought with him a draft peace treaty committing Hitler to the evacuation of occupied European countries. Made public, this would have destroyed Churchill’s campaign to bring the United States into the war.

Expertly woven into a compelling narrative that touches on Lord (Victor) Rothschild and the Cambridge spy ring, possible British foreknowledge of Operation Barbarossa and the ‘final solution’, MI6’s use of Hess to prevent the bombing of London and the mysterious circumstances of his death in Spandau prison – including the previously unseen witness accounts from that day – Hess, Hitler and Churchill is among the most important history books of recent years.

Peter Padfield is an award-winning naval and Nazi-period historian whose most recent books were the Maritime Supremacy trilogy (John Murray), awarded the Mountbatten Maritime Prize.

A Broad Vision (eBook)

The Price Bailey Story

Peter Pugh

This is a book about the 75 years of a very successful accountancy practice.

They are 75 important years both in the history of the United Kingdom, encompassing the Second World War and all the recessions and periods of growth in the 60-year period following that war, and in the history of accountancy and how it has had to adapt to both the changes in accounting practices and in accounting technology.

As you will see, the Price Bailey story is one of growth from a single partner in one office to 22 partners in seven offices, not only in East Anglia but in the City and West End of London as well as in Guernsey in the Channel Islands. Price Bailey, which became a Limited Liability Partnership in 2004, is now the 29th biggest accountancy practice in the country. Its new Managing Director, Martin Clapson, is also Chairman of the European Board of the International Association of Professional Accountants (IAPA).

Many people view accountants as a necessary adjunct to their life because the law of the land demands that financial dealings, whether personal or corporate, be properly assessed and recorded and that the correct tax, if any is due, be paid.

There is no doubt that Price Bailey has always been meticulous in making sure this work is done properly and in due time. However, it has also always been the practice of the firm to carry out the above in an open and friendly manner and to offer more than the mere adding up of sums. As Richard Price, son of one of the original partners and a very long-serving member of Price Bailey, will tell you in the book, the firm has always made sure that they were close to the clients and often mixed with them socially.

As you will also see, Price Bailey, especially in the last twelve years under the leadership of Peter Gillman, has greatly increased the services it can offer. Most recently, it is now authorised to give legal advice.

PETER PUGH was educated at Oundle and Cambridge where he read History. He has written more than 40 books about companies including a three-volume history of Rolls- Royce. He also wrote a book on the Guinness Scandal, an Insider’s Guide to the City and guides to the philosophy of Maynard Keynes and the legacy of Margaret Thatcher in the well-known Introducing series. He is currently writing a book on Hunting plc.