Julian Elfer
21) Opium: a history
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English
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Known to mankind since prehistoric times, opium is arguably the oldest and most widely used narcotic. Opium: A History traces the drug's astounding impact on world culture-from its religious use by prehistoric peoples to its influence on the imaginations of the Romantic writers; from the earliest medical science to the Sino-British opium wars. And, in the present day, as the addict population rises and penetrates every walk of life, Opium shows how...
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Famed as the ultimate penalty for traitors, heretics and royalty alike, being sent to the Tower is known to have been experienced by no less than 8,000 unfortunate souls. Many of those who were imprisoned in the Tower never returned to civilization and those who did, often did so without their head! It is hardly surprising that the Tower has earned itself a reputation among the most infamous buildings on the planet.
Beginning with the early tales...
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English
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The foundations upon which our democracies stand are inherently flawed, vulnerable to corrosion from within. What is the remedy?
A. C. Grayling makes the case for a clear, consistent, principled and written constitution, and sets out the reforms necessary - among them addressing the imbalance of power between government and Parliament, imposing fixed terms for MPs, introducing proportional representation and lowering the voting age to 16 (the age...
24) Impulse
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Lightship chronicles volume 1
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English
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Description
Lieutenant Peter Cochrane, assigned with secret orders to the lightship Impulse, newly repaired after a devastating attack, must cope with a different culture, a vengeful captain, and diplomatic and military challenges.
25) Starbound
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Series
Lightship chronicles volume 2
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English
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Description
The Lightship H.M.S. Impulse is gone, sacrificed in a battle against First Empire ships. And though the fragile galactic alliance has survived the unexpected invasion, the Union forces might not prove victorious against a full onslaught by this legendary enemy. For Peter Cochrane, serving as an officer aboard his world's flagship, H.M.S. Starbound is a dream come true. Tasked with investigating a mysterious space station in a rediscovered star system,...
26) The block
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Series
Loop (Ben Oliver) volume 2
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 5.6 - AR Pts: 12
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English
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Description
In the second book of The Loop trilogy, Luka is trapped in a fate worse than death. But now that he knows the truth about what him and his fellow inmates are being used for, it's more important than ever that he not only escapes, but that he builds an army. Luka in a prisoner once again. But this time it's a fate worse than death. In the Block, he must toggle between enduring an Energy Harvest for twelve hours of the day and surviving complete immobilization....
27) Seed
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Accelerated Reader
IL: MG - BL: 4.7 - AR Pts: 6
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English
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Life is tough at home for Marty, but his eccentric grandad has a plan up his sleeve to give him hope that involves wishes, a pumpkin, and a trip all the way from England to Paris.
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English
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"Libraries are much more than mere collections of volumes. The best are magical, fabled places whose fame has become part of the cultural wealth they are designed to preserve. Some still exist today; some are lost, like those of Herculaneum and Alexandria; some have been sold or dispersed; and some never existed, such as those libraries imagined by J.R.R Tolkien, Umberto Eco, and Jorge Luis Borges, among others. Ancient libraries, grand baroque libraries,...
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English
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"China's current leadership lays claim to a 5,000-year-old civilization, but "China" as a unified country and people, Bill Hayton argues, was created far more recently by a small group of intellectuals. In this compelling account, Hayton shows how China's present-day geopolitical problems--the fates of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Tibet, Xinjiang, and the South China Sea--were born in the struggle to create a modern nation-state. In the late nineteenth and...
30) Smoke and iron
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Series
Great library volume 4
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 5.6 - AR Pts: 17
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English
Appears on list
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"To save the Great Library, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone, Paper and Fire, and Ash and Quill put themselves in danger in the next thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series. The opening moves of a deadly game have begun. Jess Brightwell has put himself in direct peril, with only his wits and skill to aid him in a game of cat and mouse with the Archivist Magister of the Great Library. With the world catching fire,...
31) The arc
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Series
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 5.6 - AR Pts: 12
Language
English
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Description
In the final installment of critically acclaimed Loop trilogy, all of humanity hinges on the greatest escape yet.
Luka Kane is dead, executed in front of a crowd of Alts who cheered despite the fact that the truth of their oppressive leaders had been revealed to them.
But one Alt, Chester “Chilly” Beckett, did not celebrate; his eyes have been opened to the truth. Luka's corpse is dragged away, but Chester remains determined to find out what...
32) Sword and Pen
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Series
Great library volume 5
Accelerated Reader
IL: UG - BL: 5.4 - AR Pts: 17
Language
English
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With the future of the Great Library in doubt, the unforgettable characters from Ink and Bone must decide if it's worth saving in this thrilling adventure in the New York Times bestselling series. The corrupt leadership of the Great Library has fallen. But with the Archivist plotting his return to power, and the Library under siege from outside empires and kingdoms, its future is uncertain. Jess Brightwell and his friends must come together as never...
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English
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Princess Margaret was one of the most controversial royal figures of the twentieth century. Widely admired as a young woman, she was famous for her beauty and charisma, but also for her sense of loyalty and duty. The charismatic Princess not only brought color and sex appeal into an otherwise colorless royal family, but did much to help bring the monarchy and its attitudes into the modern world. In recent years, dogged by accidents and ill-health,...
34) The Demon
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Series
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English
Description
Award-winning poet and novelist Douglas Nicholas has captivated listeners with his stunning Something Red trilogy. In "The Demon," Sir Balthasar leads the men of Blanchefontaine against a mythical beast stalking the woods of England's wild North Country.
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English
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The story of Rome's richest man, who died a humiliating desert death in search of military glory
Marcus Licinius Crassus (115-53 BCE) was a modern man in an ancient world, a pioneer disrupter of finance and politics, and the richest man of the last years of the Roman republic. Without his catastrophic ambition, this trailblazing tycoon might have quietly entered history as Rome's first modern political financier. Instead, Crassus and his son led...
36) Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires, and the Conflict That Made the Modern World
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English
Description
Andrew Lambert, author of The Challenge-winner of the prestigious Anderson Medal-turns his attention to Athens, Carthage, Venice, the Dutch Republic, and Britain, examining how their identities as "seapowers" informed their actions and enabled them to achieve success disproportionate to their size. Lambert demonstrates how creating maritime identities made these states more dynamic, open, and inclusive than their lumbering continental rivals. Only...
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Enzymes are the astonishing, tiny molecular machines that make life possible. Each one of these small proteins speeds up a single chemical reaction inside a living organism many millionfold. Working together, teams of enzymes carry out all the processes that collectively we recognize as life, from making DNA to digesting food.
This Very Short Introduction explains the why and the how of speeding up these reactions-catalysis-before going on to reveal...
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English
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Described as the 'most beautiful princess in Europe', and a woman 'capable of arousing profane passion', this is the story of a woman whose life combined privilege and tragedy, love and riches, conviction and courage, humanity and inhumanity. A granddaughter of Queen Victoria, Ella was born Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine. At twenty, her marriage to the Grand Duke Serge Alexandrovich, who became the victim of terrorist assassination, like...
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English
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The story of an era shrouded in mystery, and the gradual changing of a nation's cultural identity.
We speak English today, because the Anglo-Saxons took over most of post-Roman Britain. How did that happen? There is little evidence: not much archaeology, and even less written history. There is, however, a huge amount of speculation. King Arthur's Wars brings an entirely new approach to the subject-the answers are out there, in the British countryside,...
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English
Description
Fierce warriors and skilled craftsmen, the Celts were famous throughout the Ancient Mediterranean World. They were the archetypal barbarians from the north and were feared by both Greeks and Romans. For two and a half thousand years they have continued to fascinate those who have come into contact with them, yet their origins have remained a mystery and even today are the subject of heated debate among historians and archaeologists.
Barry Cunliffe's...