Найти книгу: "The Crocodile and the Crane"

The Crocodile and the Crane translates an ancient, hugely popular, and authentic literary tradition to the setting of a near-future apocalypse, while conveying insights into Asian philosophy, history, and martial arts tradition. PRACTITIONERS OF A SECRET ART that bestows immortality and more, Sanfeng and Zetian are brother and sister and have lived together in China for more than 3000 years. Now, in the near future of 2009, they face an enemy they recognize from their childhood, a terrifying disease that left them orphaned and alone in the world. The disease kills quickly and without mercy—victims die grimacing grotesquely—and as it spreads, it brings the siblings to the edge of apocalypse and pits them against each other in a battle for the world. They are joined in their global struggle by a famous American selfhelp guru, a naive but smart young publishing executive, a bitter Australian cop, and a beautiful Indonesian nurse with a secret the whole world wants to steal from her. This thrilling race against time offers a smorgasbord of Chinese history, an epic love story, and the trenchant tale of one very special, intimate, and gifted family. It is a warning against the pitfalls and perils of the modern world, and a clarion call to heed the wisdom of the ancients in new and ever more relevant ways—before it is too late.

This Edition does not include illustrations.A hilariously funny history of a bizarre 19th-century life of the woman who was a proto-type Pankhurst. The non-fiction debut of one of the most talented comic historians of social manners.Georgina Weldon was born in 1837 and, although almost no one will have heard of her, the only talent she really had was for self-advertisement. She is one of the great undiscovered and unsung eccentrics of the 19th-century.Her ego was monstrous and manifested itself in the 6-volume record of her life which she sold through a spiritualistic medium. Her garrulous work was composed in a convent cell in Gisors where she lived with her pet monkey Titilehee. She was born to parents on the margins of aristocracy and spent her early life in Florence. After a string of liaisons which ‘ruined her reputation’ she had an affair with a penniless Hussar officer called Harry Weldon and eloped with him to a two-bedroom cottage in Beaumaris. She opened a singing academy in a house formerly owned by Dickens but, with things going characteristically awry, she met the composer Gounod, who came to live with them. The singing ladies were dumped in favour of orphans who drove around the West End of London in a converted milk float advertising their weekly concerts at the Langham Hotel. With her husband trying to commit her for lunacy, Georgina fled to France, only to flee back again when Harry threatened divorce. It was at this point that she discovered her metier – dragging people through courts. She published pamphlets, embraced spirtualism, had a lesbian affair with a French lady and eventually lived out her days in Gisors surrounded by 37 tea chests and many trunks filled with paper.Brian Thompson’s gift is as a narrative historian. He excels at writing human-interest stories which embrace both his love of social history and his warm embrace of the eccentric, original, bizarre aspects of human nature.There was no other Victorian woman like Georgina Weldon. With this book Brian Thompson will establish himself as a new original and utterly sublime commercial and hilariously funny historian.

The first in a line of adventures within the National Geographic Kids Chapters series, Crocodile Encounters will surely prove to be one of the most exciting.Follow along with National Geographic explorer Brady Barr as he crawls into a muddy hole just barely big enough for his shoulders, and comes face to face with thirteen crocodiles! Laugh out loud as you learn how to catch a crocodile using shoe laces and underpants. Read in anticipation to find out what happens when you put a 600-lb crocodile on an airplane in just a flimsy wooden crate. These action-packed stories and more will engage readers and inspire them to go out and explore their own world.Stories include: • «Undercover Croc,» in which Brady «becomes a crocodile,» by donning a specially-designed protective croc suit, and infiltrates a group of Nile crocodiles in Tanzania. • «Toy Story,» in which he uses (and loses) a radio-controlled car with video camera, in a hilarious failed attempt to capture a Nile crocodile in South Africa. • «Deep Dark Den»–in an attempt to relocate a group of crocodiles causing problems to neighboring villagers in Costa Rica, Brady finds himself underground in a deep muddy hole with thirteen angry crocs. • «Croc in a Box,» Brady tries to move a giant, troublesome croc from Uganda safely to an American zoo, but discovers the croc is much stronger than the «sturdy wooden box» that has been built to contain him.National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources.Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.From the Trade Paperback edition.