A delightful illustrated history of the umbrella—protector against rain and sun, weapon, and fashion accessory Culturally ubiquitous and multi-functional, the umbrella comes in many colors, shapes, and sizes, and its significance in different forms and throughout time is explored here. Its use in the ancient cultures of Egypt is discussed, where it was often made of palm leaves and colored feathers, denoted rank, and even had a religious significance. The place of umbrellas in Roman times is also explained, where it was commonly used by women of fashion—and supposedly by effeminate men to defend themselves. This entertaining history also covers the Edwardian times, the Duke of Wellington, London stockbrokers, and the KGB.

A fun, illustrated history of the umbrella's surprising place in life and literature Humans have been making, using, perfecting, and decorating umbrellas for millennia--holding them over the heads of rulers, signalling class distinctions, and exploring their full imaginative potential in folk tales and novels. In the spirit of the best literary gift books, Brolliology is a beautifully designed and illustrated tour through literature and history. It surprises us with the crucial role that the oft-overlooked umbrella has played over centuries--and not just in keeping us dry. Marion Rankine elevates umbrellas to their rightful place as an object worthy of philosophical inquiry. As Rankine points out, many others have tried. Derrida sought to find the meaning (or lack thereof) behind an umbrella mentioned in Nietzsche's notes, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote essays on the handy object, and Dickens used umbrellas as a narrative device for just about everything. She tackles the gender, class, and social connotations of carrying an umbrella and helps us realize our deep connection to this most forgettable everyday object--which we only think of when we don't have one.

A man enters an abandoned movie theater and emerges in the wonderland of 1920s Los Angeles in this “ingeniously plotted” time travel adventure (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Alys is a wealthy young dilettante in 1980s Los Angeles when he runs into the mysterious Nesselrode—who leads him into the catacombs of an empty movie house, from which he emerges in a black-and-white fantasia. This is a Los Angeles on the verge of becoming itself, a place where silent films dominate the landscape, and Alys soon finds his home in the pictures and falls in love with the seductive siren Moira Silver. But as he becomes bewitched by old Hollywood, his previous life grows more and more distant, and Alys may soon wind up trapped. Alys’s journey down the rabbit hole makes for an enthralling literary adventure from the author of The Balloonist, a National Book Award finalist and “an elegant and fastidious writer” (The New York Times Book Review). “Life and art become strangely and gloriously confused when Harris’ narrator, Alys, does some time traveling and falls in love with a star of the silent screen . . . Lyrically written.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Furze the Cruel" by John Trevena is a captivating portrayal of Cornwall's rural life, delving deep into the intricacies of human nature amidst its breathtaking landscape. Through the lens of love, betrayal, and redemption, Trevena intricately weaves a tale of character development, highlighting the clash between tradition and progress in a community bound by loyalty and adversity. Set against the backdrop of Cornwall's rugged terrain, the novel explores themes of resilience and cruelty, as characters navigate the challenges of their environment while grappling with their own inner conflicts. Trevena's masterful storytelling captures the essence of rural life, painting a vivid picture of a community shaped by its traditions and the ever-changing forces of modernity. As the characters confront betrayal and hardship, they are forced to confront their own limitations and prejudices, ultimately finding redemption in acts of courage and compassion. Through its richly drawn characters and evocative landscape, "Furze the Cruel" offers readers a poignant reflection on the complexities of human nature and the enduring power of love and loyalty in the face of adversity.

"I ask for your pardon. Even now, I hesitate to put pen to paper. During my years chronicling the many amazing adventures of Sherlock Holmes, I have never doubted their veracity. But this time, were it not for the results of my own feeble efforts at detection, I would wholly attribute the events described as phantasms of a fevered dream suffered by Holmes or one of his more elaborate jests. Flipping through my notes from that day leaves me perplexed. Was any of it real? That is for you, the reader, to decide." - J. Watson On concluding a long day of house calls, Dr. Watson receives an urgent summons to attend his friend, Sherlock Holmes. He arrives at 221B Baker Street to find Holmes in a state of deep shock and wearing scorched clothing that reeks of excrement. Fearing his friend may have been exposed to a virulent contagion, Watson must race against time to retrace Holmes' movements and discover the source of his debility, a race that leads him to a cesspit amid the ruins of a fire-gutted warehouse, and a mysterious unburned area amid the charred timbers. Back in his apartment, a convalescing Holmes unravels the mystery by relating his encounter in the riverside warehouse with a time traveler, who recounts his amazing exploits in the world's far future. After promising to contact Holmes in two years, the Time Traveler attempts to return to his own time, but his time machine malfunctions, resulting in a fire that eliminates all evidence of his existence. Dazed and in deep shock, Holmes manages to escape the flames and make his way back to his lodgings. While Holmes' recounting of the Time Traveler's adventures at first astonish and excite Watson, the stream of strange events?the Eloi, the Morlocks, the Palace of Green Porcelain, world-wide cataclysms, and a far-flung future devoid of human life?make him doubt the story. With the lack of physical evidence and only Holmes' account of what transpired, Watson?hounded by demons from his own troubled past?must determine if Holmes met an actual time traveler, or if the related events are a fabrication of Holmes' fevered imagination. A Question of Time pays homage to three great Victorian characters of literary fiction: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes and Dr. James Watson-with a sly aside to a nefarious criminal-and the Time Traveler of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine.