Natures Secret Agents

Burnette shares the true story of his interactions with and research into North Carolina's sasquatch--an ape-type creature also known as Bigfoot.

Is terrorism's violence essentially symbolic? Does it impact on culture primarily through the media? What kinds of performative effect do the various discourses surrounding terrorism have? Such questions have not only become increasingly important in terrorism studies, they have also been concerns for many literary writers. This book is the first extensive study of modern literature's engagement with terrorism. Ranging from the 1880s to the 1980s, the terrorism examined is as diverse as the literary writings on it: chapters include discussions of Joseph Conrad's novels on Anarchism and Russian Nihilism; Wyndham Lewis's avant-garde responses to Syndicalism and the militant Suffragettes; Ezra Pound's poetic entanglement with Segregationist violence; Walter Abish's fictions about West German urban guerrillas; and Seamus Heaney's and Ciaran Carson's poems on the 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland. In each instance, Alex Houen explores how the literary writer figures clashes or collusions between terrorist violence and discursive performativity. What is revealed is that writing on terrorism has frequently involved refiguring the force of literature itself. In terrorism studies the cultural impact of terrorism has often been accounted for with rigid, structural theories of its discursive roots. But what about the performative effects of violence on discourse? Addressing the issue of this mutual contagion, Terrorism and Modern Literature shows that the mediation and effects of terrorism have been historically variable. Referring to a variety of sources in addition to the literature—newspaper and journal articles, legislation, letters, manifestos—the book shows how terrorism and the literature on it have been embroiled in wider cultural fields. The result is not just a timely intervention in debates about terrorism's performativity. Drawing on literary/critical theory and philosophy, it is also a major contribution to debates about the historical and political dimensions of modernist and postmodernist literary practices.

'This book is a page-turner - endlessly fascinating, totally compelling, and incredibly informative. I could not put it down.''rory Freedman, Co-author of New York Times best seller Skinny Bitch. Enjoy the fun and intrigue of unraveling nature's clues that fill you with awe, inspiration, and healing. This fascinating book combines ancient wisdom with modern research, and science with imagination. Connect to the wonder you felt as a child, and emulate how Nature wisely deals with change and adversity. Nature is the ultimate example in how to live well and thrive. Albert Einstein said, ''look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.'' This fascinating book will arouse your curiosity by combining ancient wisdom with modern research, and imagination with science, to help you love Nature and your food in a whole new way. You'll discover how to . . .Recognize divine designs, hidden in plain sight, to forge a more profound mind-body-soul connection with the environment Look at food in new (actually, ancient) ways and choose self life over shelf life Cope with change, challenges, and time pressures by asking, What would Nature do? Become aware of what society is doing to the environment, and learn easy green solutions to save money and help the planet.Exercises throughout the book will empower you to tune in to Nature's wisdom in order to develop a healthier mind, body, soul, and planet.''With a dash of tongue-in-cheek cheer, actress and PhD-carrying naturopath Wilkes offers a thorough, clear-cut and well-illustrated introduction to holistic medicine, natural eating and the benefits of mindfulness.''''this wise, brave, magically simple and inspiring book will help us all reconnect with the soul of nature, and work together to preserve the environment and the human adventure.''- Andrew Harvey, New York Times best selling author Author of The Hope a Guide to Sacred Activism'.

‘[The student] should look at the world with keen, healthy senses and quickened power of observation, and then give himself up to the feeling that arises within him… This feeling penetrates the superficial aspect of things and in so doing touches their secrets.’ – Rudolf Steiner How can one progress from the ordinary, everyday vision of the senses to a perception of the subtle life- and spiritual forces around us – the very forces that shape nature? Basing his work on the research of both J. W. Goethe and Rudolf Steiner, Roger Druitt begins with the fundamental question, ‘What can you see?’ He presents a series of practical exercises for observing nature which, through diligent practise, allow for the maturation of subtle capacities of perception. Considering multiple species of leaves, for example, leads to the concept of ‘leaf’ itself. After this basic groundwork is established, steps can be taken towards a comprehension of further aspects, such as metamorphosis, gesture and type. Druitt demonstrates how this method – what he calls ‘anthroposophical phenomenology’ – can be applied in other fields of nature observation, opening the way for its use in all areas of life. In each case, whether working with bees, rocks, stars or colour, he shows how one can access the ‘individuality’ manifested in what is studied. Through a thorough step-by-step process we are led to the ultimate task: that of redeeming the beings of nature and of the earth itself.

Venice's Secret Service is the untold and arresting story of the world's earliest centrally-organised state intelligence service. Long before the inception of SIS and the CIA, in the period of the Renaissance, the Republic of Venice had masterminded a remarkable centrally-organised state intelligence organisation that played a pivotal role in the defence of the Venetian empire. Housed in the imposing Doge's Palace and under the direction of the Council of Ten, the notorious governmental committee that acted as Venice's spy chiefs, this 'proto-modern' organisation served prominent intelligence functions including operations (intelligence and covert action), analysis, cryptography and steganography, cryptanalysis, and even the development of lethal substances. Official informants and amateur spies were shipped across Europe, Anatolia, and Northern Africa, conducting Venice's stealthy intelligence operations. Revealing a plethora of secrets, their keepers, and their seekers, Venice's Secret Service explores the social and managerial processes that enabled their existence and that furnished the foundation for an extraordinary intelligence organisation created by one of the early modern world's most cosmopolitan states.

Gilbert White has been called the most renowned geographer internationally of the twentieth century, and one who personifies the ideal of a natural resources scientist committed to the stewardship of our planet. He has educated the nation and the world on how to change the ways we manage water resources, mitigate natural hazards, and assess the environment.