The Far Land

The Far Land
Author: Brandon Presser
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2022-03-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1541758595

For fans of The Wager and Mutiny on the Bounty comes a thrilling true tale of power, obsession, and betrayal at the edge of the world. In 1808, an American merchant ship happened upon an uncharted island in the South Pacific and unwittingly solved the biggest nautical mystery of the era: the whereabouts of a band of fugitives who, after seizing their vessel, had disappeared into the night with their Tahitian companions. Pitcairn Island was the perfect hideaway from British authorities, but after nearly two decades of isolation its secret society had devolved into a tribalistic hellscape; a real-life Lord of the Flies, rife with depravity and deception. Seven generations later, the island’s diabolical past still looms over its 48 residents; descendants of the original mutineers, marooned like modern castaways. Only a rusty cargo ship connects Pitcairn with the rest of the world, just four times a year. In 2018, Brandon Presser rode the freighter to live among its present-day families; two clans bound by circumstance and secrets. While on the island, he pieced together Pitcairn’s full story: an operatic saga that holds all who have visited in its mortal clutch—even the author. Told through vivid historical and personal narrative, The Far Land goes beyond the infamous Mutiny on the Bounty, offering an unprecedented glimpse at life on the fringes of civilization, and how, perhaps, it’s not so different from our own.

Far from Land

Far from Land
Author: Michael Brooke
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2020-09
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0691210322

Seabirds evoke the spirit of the earth's wildest places. They spend large portions of their lives at sea, often far from land, and nest on remote islands that humans rarely visit. Thanks to increasingly sophisticated and miniaturized devices that can track their every movement and behavior, it is now possible to observe the mysterious lives of these remarkable creatures as never before. This book takes you on a breathtaking journey around the globe to provide an extraordinary up-close look at the activities of seabirds. Featuring stunning illustrations by renowned artist Bruce Pearson, Far from Land reveals that seabirds are not the aimless wind-tossed wanderers they may appear to be, and explains the observational innovations that are driving this exciting area of research.

In a Far-Off Land

In a Far-Off Land
Author: Stephanie Landsem
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2021-05-04
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1496450450

“Immersive, enchanting, and gripping, In A Far-Off Land is do-not-miss historical fiction.” —Patti Callahan, NYT Bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis It’s 1931 in Hollywood, and Minerva Sinclaire is on the run for a murder she didn’t commit. As the Great Depression hits the Midwest, Minerva Sinclaire runs away to Hollywood, determined to make it big and save the family farm. But beauty and moxie don’t pay the bills in Tinseltown, and she’s caught in a downward spiral of poverty, desperation, and compromise. Finally, she’s about to sign with a major studio and make up for it all. Instead, she wakes up next to a dead film star and is on the run for a murder she didn’t commit. Only two unwilling men―Oscar, a Mexican gardener in danger of deportation, and Max, a too-handsome agent battling his own demons―can help Mina escape corrupt police on the take and the studio big shots trying to frame her. But even her quick thinking and grit can't protect her from herself. Alone, penniless, and carrying a shameful secret, Mina faces the consequences of the heartbreaking choices that brought her to ruin . . . and just might bring her back to where she belongs.

In a Land Far from Home

In a Land Far from Home
Author: Syed Mujtaba Ali
Publisher: Speaking Tiger Books
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2015-04-10
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 9789385288487

An intrepid traveller and a true cosmopolitan, the legendary Bengali writer Syed Mujtaba Ali from Sylhet (in erstwhile East Bengal, now Bangladesh) spent a year and a half teaching in Kabul from 1927 to 1929. Drawing on this experience, he later wrote Deshe Bideshe which was published in 1948. Ali's young mind was curious to explore the Afghan society of the time and, with his impressive language skills, he had access to a cross-section of Kabul's population, whose ideas and experiences he chronicles with a keen eye and a wicked sense of humour. His account provides a fascinating first-hand insight into events at a critical point in Afghanistan's history, when the reformist King Amanullah tried to steer his country towards modernity by encouraging education for girls and giving them the choice of removing the burqa. Branded a 'kafir', Amanullah was overthrown by the bandit leader Bacha-e-Saqao. Deshe Bideshe is the only published eyewitness account of that tumultuous period by a non-Afghan, brought to life by the contact that Ali enjoyed with a colourful cast of characters at all levels of society-from the garrulous Pathan Dost Muhammed and the gentle Russian giant Bolshov, to his servant, Abdur Rahman and his partner in tennis, the Crown Prince Enayatullah.

The Land of Far Beyond

The Land of Far Beyond
Author: Enid Blyton
Publisher: Hodder Children's Books
Total Pages: 143
Release: 2016-10-06
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1444932845

A beautiful cloth-bound gift edition of Enid Blyton's The Land of Far Beyond - a retelling of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. A classic adventure of good versus evil, this book will never be forgotten by the children who read it. Peter, Anna and Patience live in the City of Turmoil, a noisy, dirty place where children can do whatever they like. It's all fun and games until they discover the heavy burdens they carry in their hearts from behaving so badly. The only way they can get rid of their burdens is by travelling to the Land of Far Beyond, a distant land that is found by taking a long, difficult path full of people who tempt them to lose their way. This beautiful cloth-bound hardback contains the original text first published in 1942.

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness

Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Darkness
Author: Ibn Fadlan
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 292
Release: 2012-07-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 0141975040

In 922 AD, an Arab envoy from Baghdad named Ibn Fadlan encountered a party of Viking traders on the upper reaches of the Volga River. In his subsequent report on his mission he gave a meticulous and astonishingly objective description of Viking customs, dress, table manners, religion and sexual practices, as well as the only eyewitness account ever written of a Viking ship cremation. Between the ninth and fourteenth centuries, Arab travellers such as Ibn Fadlan journeyed widely and frequently into the far north, crossing territories that now include Russia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Their fascinating accounts describe how the numerous tribes and peoples they encountered traded furs, paid tribute and waged wars. This accessible new translation offers an illuminating insight into the world of the Arab geographers, and the medieval lands of the far north.

A Cry from the Far Middle

A Cry from the Far Middle
Author: P. J. O'Rourke
Publisher: Grove Atlantic
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2020-09-15
Genre: Humor
ISBN: 0802157750

In a time of chaos, the #1 New York Times–bestselling political humorist asks his fellow Americans to take it down a notch. Is there an upside to being woke (and unable to get back to sleep)? If we license dentists, why don’t we license politicians? Is your juicer sending fake news to your FitBit about what’s in your refrigerator? The legendary P. J. O’Rourke addresses these questions and more in this hilarious new collection of essays about our nation’s propensity for anger and perplexity, which includes such gems as “An Inaugural Address I’d Like to Hear” (Ask not what your country can do for you, ask how I can get the hell out of here) and “Sympathy vs. Empathy,” which contemplates whether it’s better to hold people’s hands or bust into their heads. Also included is a handy quiz to find out where you stand on the Coastals-vs.-Heartlanders spectrum. From the author of Parliament of Whores, None of My Business, and other modern classics, this is a smart look at the current state of these United States, and a plea to everyone to take a deep breath, relax, and enjoy a few good laughs. “To say that P. J. O’Rourke is funny is like saying the Rocky Mountains are scenic—accurate but insufficient.” —Chicago Tribune “The funniest writer in America.” —The Wall Street Journal

Finding Family in a Far-Away Land

Finding Family in a Far-Away Land
Author: Amanda Wall
Publisher: Bookbaby
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2021-03-29
Genre: Family & Relationships
ISBN: 9781098358990

Every adoption experience is uniquely different but the yearning to have unconditional family love is universal. Indian sisters, Priya and Ari, experience what it's like to be adopted into a multi-cultural, interracial family. Walk alongside these two charming, dynamic girls as they journey through the adoption transition to a new country full of new experiences! Told from young Priya's perspective, she shares her fun times, challenges, difficult memories and cultural discoveries. Priya moves through her world with a cautious eye while little sister, Ari, jumps in head first. This makes for comical moments and demonstrates that children can experience the same journey quite differently. A glossary of cultural terms is included so that all can learn and enjoy what Ari and Priya cherish about their Indian roots. This book is meant to be a resource to those hoping to learn about one family's adoption experience and may even help a child process their own adoption story.

How Far the Promised Land?

How Far the Promised Land?
Author: Jonathan Rosenberg
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2018-06-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691187290

How Far the Promised Land? explores the relationship between overseas developments and the most important reform movement in modern American history, the struggle for racial justice. Interweaving civil rights history, U.S. foreign relations history, and twentieth-century international history, the book contributes to the emerging effort to reconceptualize the study of America's past by locating it in a global context. In examining the link between international developments and the quest for racial justice, Jonathan Rosenberg argues that civil rights leaders were profoundly interested in the world beyond America and incorporated their understanding of overseas matters into their reform program in order to fortify and legitimize the message they presented to their followers, the nation, and the international community. The book considers how a cosmopolitan group of black and white, male and female race reform leaders purposively deployed World War I and the peace settlement, the decolonization struggles in Africa and Asia, the emergence of communism and fascism, World War II, and the Cold War to help realize their domestic aspirations. Rosenberg sets this complex story against the backdrop of America's growing activism on the world stage, a development that would have significant positive implications for the domestic struggle. Central to the work is the notion that race reform leaders were animated by the idea of "color-conscious internationalism," a distinctive outlook that would affect the trajectory and momentum of the civil rights movement.