National Network for Equitable Library Service

By the bestselling author of Just My Type: a “thoroughly enjoyable and illuminating” journey into the concept of time “stuffed with fascinating material” (Observer, UK). Timekeepers is a book about our obsession with time and our desire to measure it, control it, sell it, film it, perform it, immortalize it and make it meaningful. In this fascinating, anecdotal exploration, award-winning author Simon Garfield has two simple intentions: to tell some illuminating stories, and to ask whether we have all gone completely nuts.

A German skipper disappeared on Sunday, October 9, 2011, in a valley of Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. The international press accuses his Marquesan guide of having killed and eaten him. Zyla Tahi tells what went through the mind of the Marquesan guide of Nuku Hiva, a distant descendant of the anthropophagi who captured and ate passing sailors. A true story.

"Matyszak writes clearly and engagingly... nicely produced, with ample maps and illustrations." -Classical Outlook. This engrossing book looks at the growth and eventual demise of Rome from the viewpoint of the peoples who fought against it. Here is the reality behind such legends as Spartacus the gladiator, as well as the thrilling tales of Hannibal, the great Boudicca, the rebel leader and Mithridates, the connoisseur of poisons, among many others. Some enemies of Rome were noble heroes and others were murderous villains, but each has a unique and fascinating story.

The war between the Heike and Genji clans in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries is among the most compelling and significant moments in Japan's history, immortalized in The Tale of the Heike. Beyond the events recorded in this canonical text, the conflicts of the surrounding years are crucial to medieval Japanese culture and history. In 1156, power began to slip away from the court nobility in Kyoto. A shogunate was later founded in Kamakura, and in 1221, it won a decisive victory over the court.

The Cave Painters is a vivid introduction to the spectacular cave paintings of France and Spain-the individuals who rediscovered them, theories about their origins, their splendor and mystery. Gregory Curtis makes us see the astonishing sophistication and power of the paintings and tells us what is known about their creators, the Cro-Magnon people of some 40,000 years ago. He takes us through various theories-that the art was part of fertility or hunting rituals, or used for religious purposes, or was clan mythology-examining the ways interpretations have changed over time.

The most successful film franchise of all time, Star Wars thrillingly depicts an epic multigenerational conflict fought a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. But the Star Wars saga has as much to say about successful strategies and real-life warfare waged in our own time and place.

When Deborah Rudacille was a child growing up in the working-class town of Dundalk, Maryland, a worker at the local Sparrows Point steel mill made more than enough to comfortably support a family. But in the decades since, the decline of American manufacturing has put tens of thousands out of work and left the people of Dundalk pondering the broken promise of the American dream. In Roots of Steel, Rudacille combines personal narrative, interviews with workers, and extensive research to capture the character and history of this once-prosperous community.

"A compelling account... and a reminder that a true peace can be built only on justice." -Desmond M. Tutu. Tending one's fields, visiting a relative, going to the hospital: for ordinary Palestinians, such activities require negotiating permits and passes, curfews and closures, "sterile roads" and "seam zones"-bureaucratic hurdles ultimately as deadly as outright military incursion.

Explores the integral roles that Métis women assumed to ensure the survival of their communities during the fur trade era and onward. Métis Matriarchs examines the impact of prominent Métis women from across Western Canada from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, providing a rare glimpse into the everyday lives of these remarkable figures who were recognized as Matriarchs and respected for their knowledge, expertise, and authority within their families and communities.

An insider's guide: how to join the Roman legions, wield a gladius, storm cities, and conquer the world. Your emperor needs you for the Roman army! The year is AD 100 and Rome stands supreme and unconquerable from the desert sands of Mesopotamia to the misty highlands of Caledonia. Yet the might of Rome rests completely on the armored shoulders of the legionaries who hold back the barbarian hordes and push forward the frontiers of empire.