'An absolute gem. Funny, incredible and brilliantly reported, in Ed Hawkins the sports world has its own Jon Ronson.' - Will Storr The bizarre true story about the cosmic side of sports Ever wondered if the mind tricks used by Luke Skywalker or his Star Wars brethren were real? Ed Hawkins did. A Jedi-wannabe and sports nut, he pondered: what if a coach or athlete had tried to harness such mysterious powers? They would be unstoppable. This set Ed off on an extraordinary adventure across the West Coast of America in search of a superhuman sports star. He discovers cosmic thinkers who, back in their 1960s heyday, believed that through the power of thought alone a superhuman could be created. One that could see into the future, slow down time and control minds. So successful were their tactics that they attracted the attention of the US government. Meanwhile in Russia their Soviet counterparts were employing equally bewildering brain power. Their goal? To win the Cold War. And so from the 1970s and into the Eighties the underground free-thinking movement became a fully-funded state secret in an 'inner space race' between the US and the Soviet Union. Both sides attempting to create the perfect human killing machine. It worked. Sort of. Instead of building a super soldier, the mystics from both sides came together to preach peace and love to their political paymasters. After the thaw, the search for the superhuman sports star began again and continues to this day. In The Men on Magic Carpets Ed goes deep into a secret network of supernatural sages and is told about a mysterious American football coach who made it to the top by teaching his players The Force. But can he be found? Will he admit to what he truly believes? And how does our intrepid author cope with his own brush with the Dark Side as the shadowy military once again attempt to use the mystical powers for ill?

The incorporation of mysticism and a belief in the superhuman in experiments towards the ultimate athlete conducted by Michael Murphy in the 1970s are investigated in terms of their wildest moments then, and in terms of their influence on ideas occasionally wild and occasionally credible throughout the sports world today

A hidden door. A magical staircase. Discover the world of Droon! Eric, Julie, and Neal have just found something magic in Eric's basement. They have discovered a staircase to another world! The world of Droon is amazing - full of magic, flying lizards, and fun, furry creatures. But how will Eric, Julie, and Neal find their way home? Maybe their new friend, Princess Keeah, can help?

Our foremost theorist of myth, fairytale, and folktale explores the magical realm of the imagination where carpets fly and genies grant prophetic wishes. Stranger Magic examines the profound impact of the Arabian Nights on the West, the progressive exoticization of magic, and the growing acceptance of myth and magic in contemporary experience.

Aladdin and his friends have to find outwho has taken the magic carpets, and why?

The Silk Road conjures images of the exotic and the unknown. Most travellers simply pass along it. Brit Chris Alexander chose to live there. Ostensibly writing a guidebook, Alexander found life at the heart of the glittering madrassahs, mosques and minarets of the walled city of Khiva - a remote desert oasis in Uzbekistan - immensely alluring, and stayed. Immersing himself in the language and rich cultural traditions Alexander discovers a world torn between Marx and Mohammed - a place where veils and vodka, pork and polygamy freely mingle - against a backdrop of forgotten carpet designs, crumbling but magnificent Islamic architecture and scenes drawn straight from "The Arabian Nights". Accompanied by a large green parrot, a ginger cat and his adoptive Uzbek family, Alexander recounts his efforts to rediscover the lost art of traditional weaving and dyeing, and the process establishing a self-sufficient carpet workshop, employing local women and disabled people to train as apprentices. A Carpet Ride to Khiva sees Alexander being stripped naked at a former Soviet youth camp, crawling through silkworm droppings in an attempt to record their life-cycle, holed up in the British Museum discovering carpet designs dormant for half a millennia, tackling a carpet-thieving mayor, distinguishing natural dyes from sacks of opium in Northern Afghanistan, bluffing his way through an impromptu version of "My Heart Will Go On" for national Uzbek TV and seeking sanctuary as an anti-Western riot consumed the Kabul carpet bazaar. It is an unforgettable true travel story of a journey to the heart of the unknown and the unexpected friendship one man found there.

A hidden door. A magical staircase. Discover the world of Droon! There's no place like home! Eric and his friends have finally restored the Rainbow Stairs, but that was the easy part. Now Gethwing is loose in the Upper World, and the Moon Dragon is causing big trouble. Eric, Julie, and Neal have to protect their town, but they're up against mysterious creatures, strangely-behaving parents, and powerful magic. Can the kids stop Gethwing before he destroys the Upper World -- for good?