By the bestselling author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Cat Out of Hell, a nail-biting tale of good versus evil involving one man, his dog and a group of 18th-century amateur scientific pioneers who just happen to be cats. When you are an inoffensive retired librarian with bitter personal experience of Evil Talking Cats, do you rescue a kitten from the cold on a December night? Do you follow up news items about cats digging in graveyards? Do you inquire into long-ago cats who voyaged around the world with Captain Cook? Well, yes. If you are Alec Charlesworth that is precisely what you do - with unexpected and terrifying consequences ...

When you are an inoffensive retired librarian with bitter personal experience of evil talking cats (or ETCs, for short), do you rescue a kitten from the cold on a December night? Do you follow up news items about cats digging in graveyards? Do you inquire into long-ago cats who voyaged around the world with Captain Cook? Well, yes. If you are Alec Charlesworth, that is precisely what you do - with unexpected and terrifying consequences...

From masks to the symbolic script of the Ashanti, symbols play an important role in all aspects of African life. These sacred items come in a breathtaking array of styles, and here, divided into six areas of cultural similarity, are some of the most beautiful, along with explanations of their meanings. Demons, for most Africans, are responsible for justice and retribution: the superb demon mask shown depicts Kponingo, who belongs to the mythical world of the Senufo in the Ivory Coast. A calabash with the beak of a hornbill, adorned with cowrie shells and made by medicine men, is a typical instrument of witchcraft. Other fascinating symbols include sculptures, cave paintings, status symbols, and art for everyday use.