The origins of the Scottish clans go back over a thousand years, and for centuries these extended networks of families dominated life in the Scottish Highlands and Islands. The warriors of the clan, fiercely loyal to each other and to their chief, were well known for their extraordinary courage and military skills. Retold by one of Scotland's most acclaimed storytellers, these stories illustrate the drama and the dynamism of a society which lived close to nature, had little in the way of material wealth but which boasted a remarkable treasure house of stories that were passed down over generations.

European Fairy Tales Series Vol 1 This series explores fairy tales from the European tradition. Each book begins with an opening discussion on the history, culture, and mythos that help us understand elements of the following fairy tale. "The Three Heads of the Well" explores an English fairy tale that retains a vestigial memory of the Norns, figures related to fate in Norse mythology. The introduction gives an explaination of Teutonic cultural heritage in Britain, discusses the figures of the Norns, and explores the Anglo-Saxon concept of "Wyrd," fate and destiny. Following the opening chapters, the fairy tale is retold by the author. The book is richly illustrated throughout.

When the King remarries, his beautiful daughter is forced to leave his castle by her mean-spirited stepfamily. Laden only with bread, cheese and kindness, the Princess seeks her fortune and finds three friendly heads in a well. When the stepsister follows, however, it is clear that the three heads may be either friend or foe . . . This story is a magic bean. It may not look much like a bean, but I can promise you that it is. For if you plant it in a young mind, it will grow into a love of story and reading. These beans are favourite fairytales and legends that will delight, thrill and thoroughly entertain. Each story has been brilliantly crafted by one of the best-loved writers for children. This story was published by David Fickling Books as part of the Magic Beans anthology. The complete anthology is available in hardback and in ebook format.

Our history is littered with heads. Over the centuries, they have decorated our churches, festooned our city walls and filled our museums; they have been props for artists and specimens for laboratory scientists, trophies for soldiers and items of barter. Today, as videos of decapitations circulate online and cryonicists promise that our heads may one day live on without our bodies, the severed head is as contentious and compelling as ever. From shrunken heads to trophies of war; from memento mori to Damien Hirst's With Dead Head; from grave-robbing phrenologists to enterprising scientists, Larson explores the bizarre, often gruesome and confounding history of the severed head. Its story is our story.

Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America uncovers a hidden history of the biggest psychedelic distribution and belief system the world has ever known. Through a collection of fast-paced interlocking narratives, it animates the tale of an alternate America and its wide-eyed citizens: the LSD-slinging graffiti writers of Central Park, the Dead-loving AI scientists of Stanford, utopian Whole Earth homesteaders, black market chemists, government-wanted Anonymous hackers, rogue explorers, East Village bluegrass pickers, spiritual seekers, Internet pioneers, entrepreneurs, pranksters, pioneering DJs, and a nation of Deadheads. WFMU DJ and veteran music writer Jesse Jarnow draws on extensive new firsthand accounts from many never-before-interviewed subjects and a wealth of deep archival research to create a comic-book-colored and panoramic American landscape, taking readers for a guided tour of the hippie highway filled with lit-up explorers, peak trips, big busts, and scenic vistas, from Vermont to the Pacific Northwest, from the old world head capitals of San Francisco and New York to the geodesic dome-dotted valleys of Colorado and New Mexico. And with the psychedelic research moving into the mainstream for the first time in decades, Heads also recounts the story of the quiet entheogenic revolution that for years has been brewing resiliently in the Dead's Technicolor shadow. Featuring over four dozen images, many never before seen-including pop artist Keith Haring's first publicly sold work-Heads weaves one of the 20th and 21st centuries' most misunderstood subcultures into the fabric of the nation's history. Written for anyone who wondered what happened to the heads after the Acid Tests, through the '70s, during the Drug War, and on to the psychedelic present, Heads collects the essential history of how LSD, Deadheads, tie-dye, and the occasional bad trip have become familiar features of the American experience.

The sweeping untold history of the American psychedelic underground, the Grateful Dead, and beyond... With 32 pages of photos