Henry Taunt was one of the most prolific and innovative of Victorian photographers, working mainly in and around Oxford. The River Thames became his favourite subject, and he captured its astonishing variety in thousands of glass plate negatives. From the natural beauties of the river itself and its landscape, through the historic houses, bridges and other riverside buildings which mark its progress, to its place as a playground for Victorian oarsmen, fishermen, and outdoor lovers of all kinds, Taunt's photographs present a matchless picture of late Victorian Britain. The authors have selected some 75 of Taunt's finest photographs, and, revisiting the sites today, have recorded the same views with cutting edge digital technology. These they have woven in with the originals, which are reproducing with the greatest possible care, together with a commentary based on Taunt's own numerous guidebooks. The result is a book of extraordinary beauty and power, which both evokes a vanished world and at the same time captures the contemporary beauty of what in many ways is a timeless landscape.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the New York Times bestseller Homecoming—“An ambitious, compelling historical mystery with a fabulous cast of characters…Kate Morton at her very best.” —Kristin Hannah “An elaborate tapestry…Morton doesn’t disappoint.” —The Washington Post "Classic English country-house Goth at its finest." —New York Post In the depths of a 19th-century winter, a little girl is abandoned on the streets of Victorian London. She grows up to become in turn a thief, an artist’s muse, and a lover. In the summer of 1862, shortly after her eighteenth birthday, she travels with a group of artists to a beautiful house on a bend of the Upper Thames. Tensions simmer and one hot afternoon a gunshot rings out. A woman is killed, another disappears, and the truth of what happened slips through the cracks of time. It is not until over a century later, when another young woman is drawn to Birchwood Manor, that its secrets are finally revealed. Told by multiple voices across time, this is an intricately layered, richly atmospheric novel about art and passion, forgiveness and loss, that shows us that sometimes the way forward is through the past.

Vivid and intriguing, Murder Maps plots the nineteenth century’s most dramatic murders from around the world onto meticulous diagrams and period maps, and recounts the brilliant detective work that solved the cases. Elegant period maps and compelling crime analysis illuminate this disquieting volume, which reexamines the most captivating and intriguing homicides of the nineteenth century. Organized geographically, the elements of each murder—from the prior movements of both killer and victim to the eventual location of the body—are meticulously replotted using archival maps and bespoke plans, taking readers on a perilous journey around the murder hot spots of the world. From the “French Ripper,” Joseph Vacher, who roamed the French countryside brutally mutilating and murdering at least eleven people, to H. H. Holmes and his “Murder Castle” in Chicago, crime expert Dr. Drew Gray recounts the details of each case. His forensic examination uncovers both the horrifying details of the crimes themselves and the ingenious detective work that led to the capture of the murderers. Throughout the book, Gray highlights the development of police methods and technology, from the introduction of the police whistle to the standardization of the mug shot to the use of fingerprinting and radiotelegraphy in apprehending criminals. Vividly recreating over one hundred individual murder cases through historic maps, photographs, newspaper excerpts, court papers, and police reports, Murder Maps is perfect for everyone interested in criminal history, forensics, or the macabre.

The English explorer and author Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-90) began his long and adventurous career in India, where he arrived in 1842 to join the 18th regiment of Bombay infantry as a young commissioned officer. In 1844 Burton's regiment was posted to Sind, the province located in present-day southeastern Pakistan, at that time only recently annexed by the British. Burton lived in Sind for a number of years and published three early books based on his experiences and observations: Scinde, or, The Unhappy Valley (two volumes, 1851), Sindh, and the Races that Inhabit the Valley of the Indus (1851), and Falconry in the Valley of the Indus (1852). The "unhappy valley" of the title of his first book refers to the valley of the Indus, which, along with the Indus River delta, largely defines the geography of Sind. More than two decades later, in 1875-76, Burton and his wife Isabel made a return visit to the province. Sind Revisited, published in London in 1877, is a result of this later journey. The book contains Burton's observations on the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad; the state of the Anglo-Indian army; relations among Muslims and Hindus and, in particular, the relentless pressure on the Hindus to convert to Islam; Sindi men and women; the Indus Valley Railway; and many other topics. Throughout, Burton uses the literary device of a fictitious traveling companion, "Mr. John Bull," to whom he addresses comments and asides. He also includes translations of poems and summaries of colorful local tales and legends, for example, that of "the seven headless prophets." In concluding remarks, Burton judges British rule to have had a positive influence, by bringing improvements in health and access to education for the Sindi people. The book is indexed but has no maps or illustrations.

Packed with surprising and fascinating information, London's Lost Rivers uncovers a very different side to London - showing how waterways shaped our principal city and exploring the legacy they leave today. With individual maps to show the course of each river and over 100 colour photographs, it's essential browsing for any Londoner and the perfect gift for anyone who loves exploring the past... 'An amazing book' -- BBC Radio London 'Talling's highly visual, fact-packed, waffle-free account is the freshest take we've yet seen. A must-buy for anyone who enjoys the "hidden" side of London -- Londonist 'A fascinating and stylish guide to exploring the capital's forgotten brooks, waterways, canals and ditches ... it's a terrific book' - Walk 'Pocket-sized, beautifully designed, illustrated and informative - in short a joy to read, handle and use' -- ***** Reader review 'Delightful, informative and beautifully produced' -- ***** Reader review 'A small gem. A really great book. I can't put it down' -- ***** Reader review 'Fascinating from start to finish' -- ***** Reader review ************************************************************************************************ From the sources of the Fleet in Hampstead's ponds to the mouth of the Effra in Vauxhall, via the meander of the Westbourne through 'Knight's Bridge' and the Tyburn's curve along Marylebone Lane, London's Lost Rivers unearths the hidden waterways that flow beneath the streets of the capital. Paul Talling investigates how these rivers shaped the city - forming borough boundaries and transport networks, fashionable spas and stagnant slums - and how they all eventually gave way to railways, roads and sewers. Armed with his camera, he traces their routes and reveals their often overlooked remains: riverside pubs on the Old Kent Road, healing wells in King's Cross, 'stink pipes' in Hammersmith and gurgling gutters on streets across the city. Packed with maps and over 100 colour photographs, London's Lost Rivers uncovers the watery history of the city's most famous sights, bringing to life the very different London that lies beneath our feet.

Story of a young boy who discovers, at the age of eight, that he was a foundling. When his foster father sends him away he must find a way to survive and also discover his true identity.

We live in a profoundly spiritual age, but not in any good way. Huge swaths of American culture are driven by manic spiritual anxiety and relentless supernatural worry. Radicals and traditionalists, liberals and conservatives, together with politicians, artists, environmentalists, followers of food fads, and the chattering classes of television commentators: America is filled with people frantically seeking confirmation of their own essential goodness. We are a nation desperate to stand of the side of morality--to know that we are righteous and dwell in the light. In An Anxious Age, Joseph Bottum offers an account of modern America, presented as a morality tale formed by a collision of spiritual disturbances. And the cause, he claims, is the most significant and least noticed historical fact of the last fifty years: the collapse of the mainline Protestant churches that were the source of social consensus and cultural unity. Our dangerous spiritual anxieties, broken loose from the churches that once contained them, now madden everything in American life. Updating The Protestant Ethic and the Sprit of Capitalism, Max Weber's sociological classic, An Anxious Age undertakes two case studies of contemporary social classes adrift in a nation without the religious understandings that gave them meaning. Looking at the college-educated elite he calls "the Poster Children," Bottum sees the post-Protestant heirs of the old mainline Protestant domination of culture: dutiful descendants who claim the high social position of their Christian ancestors even while they reject their ancestors' Christianity. Turning to the Swallows of Capistrano, the Catholics formed by the pontificate of John Paul II, Bottum evaluates the early victories--and later defeats--of the attempt to substitute Catholicism for the dying mainline voice in public life. Sweeping across American intellectual and cultural history, An Anxious Age traces the course of national religion and warns about the strange angels and even stranger demons with which we now wrestle. Insightful and contrarian, wise and unexpected, An Anxious Age ranks among the great modern accounts of American culture.