As a nation, we like to think we know everything about our Kings and Queens. William I conquered in 1066, Henry VIII had six wives and Queen Victoria was ‘not amused’... But do these ‘pub-quiz facts’ provide a genuine picture of what our monarchs were really like as living, breathing people? As the reader shall find, there is a treasure-trove of wit, wisdom and wonder waiting to be discovered. Crowning Glory wipes away the cobwebs of fuddy-duddy facts and breathes new life into this surprisingly addictive aspect of history. It challenges our basic understanding of the subject by introducing readers to a colourful cast of characters and revealing little-known insights. This book reminds us that, behind the formality of the crown, are real human beings. Like you and me, they have known success, failure, sorrow, and laughter. The lives of our kings and queens are so much more vivid than boring, old dates, figures, and facts.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the essential role of trees and forests in cities and examines the creative approaches cities around the world are taking to protect trees and expand their urban forests. Moving beyond the view that trees are luxuries and therefore non-essential to the life of a city, the book examines urban tree policies and approaches that foster tree protection, including tree codes and bylaws, and calls for greater community engagement to preserve this important facet of urban life. Through an international range of examples and case studies, featuring cities in the United States, Canada, Singapore, the Netherlands, Australia, France, New Zealand, Mexico, Sierra Leone, and the United Kingdom. The book offers best practice examples where trees have been further integrated into the fabric of urban planning and design, including forested towers, interior rainforests, tiny urban forests, and metropolitan forests. Written by a leading authority in the field, this is a fascinating read for researchers, students, and practitioners in urban planning, landscape architecture, and environmental policy and planning.

Bill Helmreich walked every block of New York City--some six-thousand miles--to write the award-winning The New York Nobody Knows. Later, he re-walked most of Queens--1,012 miles in all--to create this one-of-a-kind walking guide to the city's largest borough, from hauntingly beautiful parks to hidden parts of Flushing's Chinese community. Drawing on hundreds of conversations he had with residents during his block-by-block journey through this fascinating, diverse, and underexplored borough, Helmreich highlights hundreds of facts and points of interest that you won't find in any other guide. In Bellerose, you'll explore a museum filled with soul-searing artwork created by people with mental illness. In Douglaston, you'll gaze up in awe at the city's tallest tree. In Corona, you'll discover the former synagogue where Madonna lived when she first came to New York. In St. Albans, you'll see the former homes of jazz greats, including Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday. In Woodhaven, you'll walk a block where recent immigrants from Mexico, Guyana, and China all proudly fly the American flag. And much, much more.

Includes index. 1 v.

Bronze Medal Winner - Readers' Favorite Awards 2019 A cosmic game of chess is underway, and the planet Elystra is the board. Earth pilot Maeve and her son Davin have joined the Ixtrayu, hoping to avert the destruction that their leader has foretold. But will Maeve's new Wielding powers be enough to thwart Elzor and his lightning-wielding sister, before everything the Ixtrayu have ever known is destroyed?

“I will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive” (Isa 41:19). This book explores pathways to renewal through the powerful metaphor of reforesting the desert places. The soul can sometimes be an arid, thirsty, desiccated place, becoming as exhausted and denuded as land that has been ravaged and stripped of its trees. God’s promise is to reforest the wilderness and renew our fruitfulness. This book is a guided retreat, simultaneously enabling attentiveness to the soul while resonating with urgent ecological concerns. The rich symbolism of different trees both in the Bible and in the Christian tradition, including hymnody and poetry, leads us into meditation, reflection, and action. As land that is reforested holds the promise of new beginnings, so this book heartens us with pointers towards spiritual rejuvenation.

From bestselling, Printz Award-winning author Libba Bray, the story of a plane of beauty pageant contestants that crashes on a desert island.Teen beauty queens. A "Lost"-like island. Mysteries and dangers. No access to emall. And the spirit of fierce, feral competition that lives underground in girls, a savage brutality that can only be revealed by a journey into the heart of non-exfoliated darkness. Oh, the horror, the horror! Only funnier. With evening gowns. And a body count.

Which is worse, a deadly threat or the method of eradicating the threat? The Scourge is a dynamic tale that recounts the snake attacks terrifying a Nigerian community. The first part of the three-part book, “The Spitting Cobra,” tells of a terrified woman who finds the bloodied remains of her dog. Weeks later, her daughter is trapped in the house with a snake. In book two, “Mysterious Deaths,” the story shifts to Lebdoa City University (LebCU), where a professor is considered a weirdo because of his love for snakes. Mysterious deaths suddenly start occurring on campus, and the carnival queen is struck dead by a snake during the students’ union week festival. The frightened students hold violent demonstrations, but many are killed when police move in to quell the uprising. In book three, “The Scourge,” the city’s snake scourge becomes full blown, and the people are drawn against the city council. Disappearances, incarceration without trial, arson and repression become the order of the day. People become doubly endangered, as they are caught between their fear of the snakes and of the city council that never took safety precautions, but is now committed to silencing those demanding action.