The fictional Walker children, are much loved characters in Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons, a quintessentially English family in an archetypal English children's classic. However, it was an Anglo-Armenian family from Aleppo who were the catalyst and inspiration. Swallows and Armenians is a book of short stories and essays which firmly re-establishes the connection, using newly-appraised correspondence and diaries. 'With her beautifully researched complement to Arthur Ransome’s classic and still best-selling series, Karen Babayan has opened a much-loved children’s adventure epic, set in the iconically British Lake District, to an enriching cross-cultural re-worlding. By revealing the Anglo-Armenian identity of the children who inspired the gripping tale of sailing, piracy and intrigue, she has created new stories resonant in our own times of conflict, displacement, and dangerous nationalisms. Unveiling Ransome’s anglicization of the Altounyan children, Karen Babayan restores them to their central place in British literature. She also links their crossing of Syrian Aleppo and Armenian cuisine with a once-Viking Cumbria to her own bi-cultural identity and traumatic familial experience of displacement and migration, loss and adaptation, all shadowed by the terror of the Armenian genocide (1915-17). By creative storytelling, Swallows and Armenians intervenes as much in diasporic Armenian as British cultural memory by vibrantly reanimating the voices of these extraordinary children who speak back across her pages from a past she has recreated to a present that needs them now.' Professor Griselda Pollock, Laureate of the Holberg Prize for Arts and Humanities 2020

When their boat is burned and they are cast adrift in the South China Sea, Titty, Roger, Peggy, John, Nancy, Susan, and Captain Flint make their way to land only to find themselves the captives of the redoubtable Missee Lee, one of the last pirates operating off the China coast.

From the author of One Man Guy, Hold My Hand is a funny, smart, relatable take on the joy and challenges of teenage love, the boundaries of forgiveness, and what it really means to be honest. Alek Khederian thinks about his life B.E. and A.E.: Before Ethan and After Ethan. Before Ethan, Alek was just an average Armenian-American kid with a mess of curly dark hair, grades not nearly good enough for his parents, and no idea of who he was or what he wanted. After he got together with Ethan, Alek was a new man. Stylish. Confident. (And even if he wasn’t quite marching in LGBTQ parades), Gay and Out and Proud. With their six-month anniversary coming up, Alek and Ethan want to do something special to celebrate. Like, really special. Like, the most special thing two people in love can do with one another. But Alek’s not sure he’s ready for that. And then he learns something about Ethan that may not just change their relationship, but end it. Alek can't bear the thought of finding out who he'd be P.E.: Post-Ethan. But he also can't forgive or forget what Ethan did. Luckily, his best friend Becky and madcap Armenian family are there to help him figure out whether it’s time to just let Ethan go, or reach out and hold his hand.

Lonely Planet’s Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Hike in Tusheti, explore Goris, and discover Baku; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet’s Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan Travel Guide: Up-to-date information - all businesses were rechecked before publication to ensure they are still open after 2020’s COVID-19 outbreak NEW top experiences feature - a visually inspiring collection of Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan’s best experiences and where to have them What's NEW feature taps into cultural trends and helps you find fresh ideas and cool new areas NEW pull-out, passport-size 'Just Landed' card with wi-fi, ATM and transport info - all you need for a smooth journey from airport to hotel Colour maps and images throughout Highlights and itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sightseeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, cuisine, politics Over 65 maps Covers Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet’s Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, our most comprehensive guide to Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less travelled. About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and phrasebooks for 120 languages, and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, videos, 14 languages, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more, enabling you to explore every day. 'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' – New York Times 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' – Fairfax Media (Australia)

From the slums of Cape Town to the palaces of Algiers, through Pygmy villages where pineapples grow wild, to the Gulf of Guinea where the sea blazes with oil flares, across two continents and fourteen countries - this epic journey is nothing to swallows, they do it twice a year. But for Horatio Clare, writer and birdwatcher, it is the expedition of a lifetime. Along the way he discovers old empires and modern tribes, a witch-doctor's recipe for stewed swallow, explains how to travel without money or a passport, and describes a terrifying incident involving three Spanish soldiers and a tiny orange dog. By trains, motorbikes, canoes, one camel and three ships, Clare follows the swallows from reed beds in South Africa, where millions roost in February, to a barn in Wales, where a pair nest in May.