The Round World is the first book to explore obesity from the perspective of the people who find it erotic and seek fat people as romantic partners. By discussing the prejudices, medical issues, sexual kink, as well as proposing new models for sexuality, the book is a primer on loving yourself as you are, fat or not.

George Forster's A Voyage Round the World presents a wealth of geographic, scientific, and ethnographic knowledge uncovered by Cook's second journey of exploration in the Pacific (1772-1775). Accompanying his father, the ship's naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster, on the voyage, George proved a knowledgeable and adept observer. The lively, elegant prose and critical detail of his account, based loosely on his father's journal, make it one of the finest works of eighteenth-century travel literature and an account of prime importance in the history of European contact with Pacific peoples. The Forsters' publications reveal the sophistication and enthusiasm they brought to their observation of Polynesian peoples as well as a sensitivity to the moral ambiguities of contact. The two volumes of George Forster's work include substantially richer descriptions of encounters with island inhabitants than either his father's classic work (Observations Made during a Voyage round the World, UH Press, 1996) or Cook's official narrative, and its confident, even visionary, style incorporates a good deal of polemic, particularly in its criticism of the treatment of islanders by Cook's crew. In addition to the range and depth of its anthropological considerations, it provides a thrilling account of life aboard one of Cook's vessels. In its author's German translation, this work becomes a classic of natural history writing, but its original English version has long been neglected by anglophone scholars. This new scholarly edition makes this important book readily available for the first time since its initial publication more than two centuries ago. But it also presents the work in fresh terms, making it more accessible and relevant to a contemporary audience. The valuable introduction and annotations draw on the wide range of anthropological and ethnohistorical scholarship published since the 1960s and contextualize the book in relation to both the cultures of Oceania documented by the Forsters and the history of European voyaging in the Pacific. Appendixes include a translation of the introduction to the German edition and the polemical pamphlets by George Forster and the ship's astronomer William Wales, in which some of the book's more controversial claims were debated. A Voyage Round the World brings the disciplines of history and anthropology to bear on Cook's voyages in an illuminating and readable fashion. This edition will help complete the corpus of basic documents on Cook's voyages--a crucial resource for researchers in cultural, Pacific, and maritime history; archaeologists, anthropologists, and art historians; and most recently for scholars engaged in revisionist interpretations of eighteenth-century exploration and colonization.

We all know the earth is round. But HOW do we know? Join intrepid young scientist-adventurer Joulia Copernicus as she takes readers on a historical journey through time and space. From jumping on board Columbus's ship to planet-hopping in the outer reaches of our solar system, Joulia explains with humor and wit the ins and outs of how we learned that the earth is round.

As Britain industrialized in the early nineteenth century, animal breeders faced the need to convert livestock into products while maintaining the distinctive character of their breeds. Thus they transformed cattle and sheep adapted to regional environments into bulky, quick-fattening beasts. Exploring the environmental and economic ramifications of imperial expansion on colonial environments and production practices, Rebecca J. H. Woods traces how global physiological and ecological diversity eroded under the technological, economic, and cultural system that grew up around the production of livestock by the British Empire. Attending to the relationship between type and place and what it means to call a particular breed of livestock "native," Woods highlights the inherent tension between consumer expectations in the metropole and the ecological reality at the periphery. Based on extensive archival work in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia, this study illuminates the connections between the biological consequences and the politics of imperialism. In tracing both the national origins and imperial expansion of British breeds, Woods uncovers the processes that laid the foundation for our livestock industry today.

Miles from Nowhere is the story of Barbara and Larry Savage’s sometimes dangerous, often zany, but ultimately rewarding 23,000-mile bicycle odyssey, which took them through 25 countries in two years. Along the way, these near-neophyte cyclists on their ten-speeds encountered warm-hearted strangers eager to share food and shelter, bicycle-hating drivers who ran them off the road, various wild animals (including an attack camel), rock-throwing Egyptians, overprotective Thai policeman, motherly New Zealanders, meteorological disasters, bodily indignities, and great personal joys. The stress of traveling together constantly tested yet strengthened the young couple's relationship and as their trip ends, you'll find yourself yearning for Barbara and Larry to jump back on their bikes and keep pedaling. Originally published in 1983, Miles from Nowhere has provided inspiration for legions of modern travel-adventurers and writers.

Sweet and full of wonder, from catchy to quiet, children's poems captivate readers of all ages. Here, familiar nursery rhymes and folk songs join poetry selections from many traditions. Recall old favorites and discover new poems, from Poland to Mozambique, Japan to Mexico, and every corner in between. Cheerful illustrations capture the beauty of diversity the world over.

Johann Reinhold Forster's Observations Made During A Voyage Round The World, first published in 1778, is the most significant and substantial analysis of non-Western cultures to have emerged from the Cook voyages. It derived from Forster's appointment as naturalist on Cook's second voyage of 1772-1775, which dramatically extended European cartographic and ethnographic knowledge in the Pacific and the Antarctic.