On or about the 6th of April 2010, the Icelandic volcano known as Eyjafjallajkull began quietly churning and four days later, in an act of super-human magnanimity, Europe's governments opted en masse to close their air space indefinitely, marking the most-massive interruption to routine transportation in sixty five years and more poignantly, approximating the first time its many leaders had acted in unison against a common enemy, no less so quickly. Roughly 100,000 travelers were stranded, including you guessed it, us. Never has a plume of volcanic ash so punched above its weight, but when scientific expert after instant expert was paraded before TV 24 News, the universal response was "we just don't know." This is the story of near-freaking in the face of adversity and throwing caution to the wind, and getting back home by train, plane and virtually every other mode of transportation except pantomime circus elephant, while fighting against the Big Machine at every opportunity, mixed metaphors and all.

A broken heart and a moment of drunken bravado inspires middle-aged, and typically rather cautious, journalist Mike Carter to take off on a life-changing six month motorcycle trip around Europe. Never mind that he hadn't been on two wheels since an inglorious three-month teenage chapter involving a Lambretta, four crashes and an 18-month ban for drink-driving, a plan had begun to loosely form... And so, having completed a six day residential motorcycle course and hastily re-mortgaged his flat, Mike sets off alone, resolving to go wherever the road takes him and enjoy the adventure of heading off into the unknown. He ends up travelling almost 20,000 miles and reaching the four extremes of Europe: the Arctic Circle in the north, the Mediterranean coast in the south, the Portuguese Atlantic to the west and the Iraqi border of Turkey in the east. But really it's a journey inwards, as, on the way, Mike finds his post-divorce scars starting to heal and attempts to discover what he, as a man in his forties who hasn't quite found his place in the world, should be doing. Self-deprecating, poetic and utterly engaging, his is a heroic journey taken for the rest of us too scared to leave our 9 to 5 office-bound existence.

Why would anyone want to do something as dangerous as motorcycling? For those who love to ride, no explanation is necessary. For everyone else, there’s Why We Ride. Designed as both an explanation for outsiders and an anthem for those within the fold, this new book presents the insights of Mark Barnes, PhD, a motorcycling clinical psychologist. As a popular columnist at Motorcycle Consumer News for more than 20 years, Dr. Barnes articulates the elusive physical, emotional, and interpersonal elements that make the world of the motorcyclist such a rich and exciting place. His wide-ranging text covers both sports psychology and the psychoanalysis of common riding experiences, including the results of Dr. Barnes’ own empirical research. Heartfelt and thought provoking, here is a straightforward account of what makes real motorcyclists tick. Inside Why We Ride: What makes all the hazards and hardships of riding a motorcycle worthwhile to perfectly sane, intelligent, and responsible individuals Insights from clinical psychologist and moto-journalist Dr. Mark Barnes Examination of the complex gratifications, relentlessly compelling passions, and deeply personal experiences that motivate motorcyclists Sports psychology, psychoanalysis of common riding experiences, and reflections on the author’s personal journey as a rider Results of the author’s own empirical research on the motives of motorcyclists Thought-provoking exploration of the human dimension of motorcycling Special section on how riders achieve the quasi-mystical state of “Flow,” a concept currently at the center of modern sports psychology

Landon Carter, a Virginia planter, left behind one of the most revealing of all American diaries. In this astonishingly rich biography, Isaac mines this remarkable document--and many other sources--to reconstruct Carter's interior world as it plunged into revolution. The aging patriarch, though a fierce supporter of American liberty, was deeply troubled by the rebellion and its threat to established order. His diary, originally a record of plantation business, began to fill with angry stories of revolt in his own little kingdom. Carter writes at white heat, his words sputtering from his pen as he documents the terrible rupture that the Revolution meant to him. Indeed, Carter felt in his heart that he was chronicling a world in decline, the passing of the order that his revered father had bequeathed to him. Not only had Landon's king betrayed his subjects, but Landon's own household betrayed him: his son showed insolent defiance, his daughter Judith eloped with a forbidden suitor, all of his slaves conspired constantly, and eight of them made an armed exodus to freedom. The seismic upheaval he helped to start had crumbled the foundations of Carter's own home. In Landon Carter's Uneasy Kingdom Rhys Isaac unfolds not only the life, but also the mental world of our countrymen in a long-distant time. Moreover, in this presentation of Landon Carter's passionate narratives, the diarist becomes an arresting new character in the world's literature, a figure of Shakespearean proportions, the Lear of his own tragic kingdom. This long-awaited work will be seen both as a major contribution to Revolution history and a triumph of the art of biography.