Between 1900 and 1945, Britain and its empire experienced significant technological and social changes that altered its media and entertainment landscape. One aspect of British culture that underwent these changes was pornography. While illegal and socially reviled, the pornography trade adapted and flourished during this period. In The Thorny Path Jamie Stoops situates changes within the pornography trade in the context of an increasingly transnational world. Those who traded in pornography circled the globe, journeying from Britain to its colonies, from colonial holdings to continental Europe, from Europe to North America. In the process, pornographers and their customers developed new vocabularies and norms with which to negotiate their trade. Based on extensive archival research, this book grounds questions of transnationalism and heteronormativity in the day-to-day lives of low-level pornographers and consumers. Stoops’s focus on street-level interactions within the trade is balanced with an analysis of state policies, legal regulations, and debates about obscenity, illustrating the interplay between enforcers of mainstream moral standards and those who represented deviant sexual practices. Raising questions of queerness and sexual normativity, The Thorny Path links these issues to contemporary conversations about pornography, obscenity, and sexuality. It offers timely historical context for current and vibrant debates surrounding marginalized sexualities, gender roles, and pornography in a time of rapid technological and social change.

Not all trips to paradise are smooth sailing. 'Quest on the Thorny Path' is the second book of the Quest series. Leave the laid back cruiser hangout of Georgetown, Bahamas behind and hit the big ocean waves for the first time. From Georgetown we take the path less traveled through the deserted out islands of the Bahamas. After a short stay in the Turks and Caicos we follow a route along the north coast of Hispaniola that Christopher Columbus appropriately named the 'Thorny Path'. The book is a true adventure about overcoming fear and dangerous challenges in one of sailing's harshest proving grounds. Bashing through heavy seas and strong headwinds on a lee shore isn't for everyone. But at least you can read about it.

Reproduction of the original.

Traffic is piling up, and strange things are headed your way in this new story collection by World Fantasy Award-winning author Tobias S. Buckell. In these twenty-seven stories you’ll find inhabitants of a small town who won’t vaccinate against a zombie plague, a lone sentry keeping motorists from stumbling into something ancient and evil, a man who puts stranded ghosts to rest, an ex-soldier traveling the seas who trades his new life of hardship for a return to swords and blood, and many more tales of speculative fiction. ​Buckell’s fertile imagination is on display in Shoggoths in Traffic and Other Stories as he comments on edgy issues of injustice and offers a thorny path to discover the human heart and all the strange things humans do. All the while, he keeps you looking over your shoulder, waiting for rush hour to end.

Georg Ebers' riveting historical book "A Thorny Path" takes readers on an enthralling tour through ancient Egypt. The narrative, which is set during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II, centers on Hatasu, a young Egyptian noblewoman who encounters many difficulties along the way to finding love and repentance. The vivid landscapes, rich cultural traditions, and political intrigues of ancient Egypt are brought to life by Ebers' expert blending of historical fact and captivating narrative. The work examines issues of devotion, treachery, and personal development via Hatasu's challenges and victories. Ebers develops a vivid environment that enthralls readers and gives a look into the intriguing society of ancient Egypt with great attention to detail and thorough research. The story "A Thorny Path" brings readers to a bygone age characterized by love, intrigue, and the unwavering search of the truth.

Of the stories in this collection, three originally appeared in The Century Magazine (“Like Michael,” copyright, 1916; “The Emperor of Elam,” copyright, 1917; “The Emerald of Tamerlane,” copyright, 1918), two each in The Bookman (“Unto the Day,” copyright, 1904; “Studio Smoke,” copyright, 1905), in Scribner’s Magazine (“The Bathers,” copyright, 1903; “Henrietta Stackpole Rediviva,” copyright, 1904), and in The Smart Set (“Susannah and the Elder,” copyright, 1905; “The Undoing of Mrs. Derwall,” copyright, 1906), and one each in The Associated Sunday Magazines (“Martha Waring’s Elopement,” copyright, 1904), in The Outlook (“The Pagan,” copyright, 1905), in Short Stories (“Castello Montughi,” copyright, 1908), and in The Sunset Magazine (“The Bald Spot,” copyright, 1909). It may be added that the names of three of these stories are not the ones first copyrighted and that at least two of them have been completely recast, while not one of them has been left untouched in its earliest state. The writer nevertheless takes this occasion to express to the editors and publishers of the above periodicals, as well as to Mr. W. J. O’Brien and to Messrs. Small, Maynard and Company—who made use of “The Emperor of Elam” in The Best Short Stories of 1917—his thanks both for their former hospitality and for their present courtesy in permitting him to reassemble his work. Nor would this small payment of indebtedness be complete without mention of Colonel J. R. M. Taylor, who wrote the first draft of “The Emerald of Tamerlane,” and who generously allows it to be reprinted over the signature of his collaborator...FROM THE BOOKS.

A bizarre mix of broad comedy, fantasy, and social commentary, the title story offers an unforgettable depiction of a lunatic civil servant. Includes "Nevski Prospect" and "The Portrait."