The sweeping epic novel of the founding of Hong Kong, by the #1 New York Times bestselling author and unparalleled master of historical fiction, James Clavell “There can only be one Tai-Pan.” Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also known as the Noble House, into the world’s largest Far East trading company. He is now the Tai-Pan—Supreme Leader—of all Tai-Pans in China. Along the way, however, he made a powerful enemy. Tyler Brock, Struan’s rival from their early opium-smuggling days, also heads a large trading fleet, second in size only to Struan’s. But it is not only silks and spices that drive their mutual companies’ wealth—the opium trade is still booming. War between England and China might be over, but the hostilities remain. Struan and Brock come to control much of England’s trade with China yet neither can control their desires or their hatred of each other. Over the years, their two families will cross paths, threatening to rip both apart, with reverberations that will echo across the generations. Struan must fight to save his company and his family, or risk seeing everything he has created destroyed at the hands of his sworn enemy. Ambition, political intrigue, and love and lust weave their way throughout the novel the New York Times called, “grand entertainment...packed with action...with blood and sin, treachery and conspiracy, sex and murder.” East and West come together in an opulent and intricately plotted narrative. A tour-de-force of historical fiction, rich in detail yet eminently readable, Tai-Pan will stay with you long after the final page.

Taipans are long, fast, and deadly, and Doug Wechsler brings them to life in this fast-paced and informative book. Students will love the brilliant photographs and the vivid descriptions of such scenes as the taipan “tiptoeing” through tall grass with its head and neck off the ground for a better view of its surroundings.

The Global Maritime distress and Safety System (GMDSS) is becoming the all-embracing term for communication and data transfer between ship and shore, and ship and ship. It's a highly automated system of terrestrial satellite communications technology whose primary role is to maintain safety of life at sea. Within the next five years all vessels over 300 tonnes will be required to carry GMDSS equipment. The seafaring nations of the world have together established the rules and regulations for good working practices within the system, and every serving and future navigating officer will be required to hold the GMDSS General Operator's Certificate. GMDSS for Navigators brings together in one publication the knowledge required by anyone who wants to become a qualified and competent operator of GMDSS communications equipment. It should prove to be the accepted universal reference for GMDSS training.

This open access two-volume set constitutes the proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Tools and Algorithms for the Construction and Analysis of Systems, TACAS 2020, which took place in Dublin, Ireland, in April 2020, and was held as Part of the European Joint Conferences on Theory and Practice of Software, ETAPS 2020. The total of 60 regular papers presented in these volumes was carefully reviewed and selected from 155 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections as follows: Part I: Program verification; SAT and SMT; Timed and Dynamical Systems; Verifying Concurrent Systems; Probabilistic Systems; Model Checking and Reachability; and Timed and Probabilistic Systems. Part II: Bisimulation; Verification and Efficiency; Logic and Proof; Tools and Case Studies; Games and Automata; and SV-COMP 2020.

“We travel the world,” writes Gregory McNamee, “and wherever we go there are snake stories to entertain us.” Here are some fifty diverse and unusual accounts of serpents from cultures across time and around the globe: snakes that talk, jump, and dance; snakes that transform into other creatures; snakes that just . . . watch. Many selections are drawn from the rich oral traditions of peoples in every clime that supports reptiles, from the Akimel O’odham of North America to the Mensa Bet-Abrahe of Africa to the Mungkjan of Australia. Included as well are such writings as prayers from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm, a poem by Emily Dickinson, and a journal entry by Charles Darwin. What we read about snakes in The Serpent’s Tale is just as fascinating for what it says about us, for there always will be something primordial about our connection to them. That bond is evident in these stories: in how we associate snakes with nature’s elemental forces, how we attribute special qualities to their eyes and skin, and how they preside over all phases of our existence, from creation to death to resurrection.

ZEUS is an international organization dedicated to the eradication of certain scientific advancements to keep its members part of the global elite. The group targets any researchers or whistleblowers that may topple its position at the top of the pharmaceutical industry. The members’ influence extends all the way to the top of the major world governments. One man holds the key to stopping them. Dr. Alex Bauman joined the Molecular Fat Studies Department at Queens University in Brisbane because he wanted to help the obese. Driven by unhappiness with his own weight, Bauman stumbles upon the knowledge to create a cure for obesity. This secret is dangerous to ZEUS. They don’t want anything to affect the trillions of dollars they make on bogus obesity treatments. Presidential hopeful and California senator Marc Thwane is one of ZEUS’s members. He can’t let anything get in the way of his dark plans for the United States. When Thwane sends a black-ops team after Bauman, the two men’s destinies collide in this global adventure. Russian cosmonauts, Saudi royals, and more will help and hinder Bauman’s search for the key to taking down ZEUS once and for all.

Torture. Killing. The child dies. And the other children's breathe taken. Herald are the echoes of an unknown and a dead future...The torture, abuse and, eventual death of the golden child, Baby P, should become the voice of every abused, tortured child all over the world, in the hope that they do not die before help gets to them, or the right attitudes in place by those bestowed with decision making...

A look at the most dangerous animals from around the world, from Indian red scorpions, giant centipedes and venomous spiders to bull sharks and Asian giant hornets. Animals that can all kill a human being in an unlucky encounter . . .

A surprising and absorbing new work of scientific, historical and environmental investigation, featuring one of Australia’s most misunderstood native animals, the long-haired rat.