Showing titles in Customs & Traditions

Brought to you by Penguin. As featured on The Today Programme 'Wondering and wonderful. The nature book of the year.' JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL ______________________________ Come to the forest, sit by the fireside and listen to intoxicating song, as Sam Lee tells the story of the nightingale. Every...

The legend of King Arthur and his castle Camelot has gripped people’s imagination for centuries. In this classic study, drawing upon myriad sources both literary and historical, the world’s leading Arthurian scholar Geoffrey Ashe digs deep into the important 12th century chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth to trace the origins of the myth. Through brilliant historical detective work, he shows that much of Monmouth's history, which sets out to describe fifth-century Britain, was based on fact.

One of America's leading anthropolgists offers solutions to the perplexing question of why people behave the way they do. Why do Hindus worship cows? Why do Jews and Moslems refuse to eat pork? Why did so many people in post-medieval Europe believe in witches? Marvin Harris answers these and...

Hex is a visceral depiction of what happens when a society is consumed by fear and superstition, exploring how the terrible force of a king's violent crusade against ordinary women can still be felt, right up to the present day.

One girl's wild journey of strength, beauty and growth as she discovers who she really is. Lyrical wonder, spiritual revelation and revolution meet with epic mythical landscapes in this deeply intimate coming-of-age story, one that teaches us all, no matter how small we feel, to become the masters of our own destiny. Meet Paro. A girl with a strong will, a full heart and much to learn. Born into a family reeling from the ruptures of Partition, follow her as she crosses the precarious lines between childhood, teenage discovery and realising her adult self. 

It is said that a monument now stands before the high church of Caerleon: an anvil pierced through with a sword. It is said that the sword can only be taken by the Britons' rightful king... From Sunday Times bestseller Amy Jeffs', Arthur: A New Life mines the deep, elusive seams of a story we...

A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘An absolute joy to read and an early contender for every list of History Books of the Year’ Sunday Telegraph ‘On nearly every page a random passage takes one’s breath away’ The Times Have you ever heard the march of legions on a lonely country road? For two...

On the central and north coast of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest is the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world, containing more organic matter than any other terrestrial ecosystem on the planet. The area plays host to a wide range of species, from thousand-year-old western cedars to humpback whales to iconic white Spirit bears. According to local residents, another giant is said to live in these woods.

The ancient civilization of Mesopotamia thrived between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates over 4,000 years ago. The myths collected here, originally written in cuneiform on clay tablets, include parallels with the biblical stories of the Creation and the Flood, and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh, the tale of a man of great strength, whose heroic quest for immortality is dashed through one moment of weakness.

Bloomsbury presents The Land of the Green Man by Carolyne Larrington, read by Kim Hicks Beyond its housing estates and identikit high streets there is another Britain. This is the Britain of mist-drenched forests and unpredictable sea-frets: of wraith-like fog banks, druidic mistletoe and...

Ancient, time-tested wisdom: Okinawa, Japan, is a tiny, tiny island south of the Japanese mainland where people live their life's purpose every day. How is it possible for so many to live each day in such meaningful ways? The Okinawan concept of Ikigai. Magical reality come to life: David Michiels stuttered severely well into his adulthood. In clinical terms, his stutter was difficult to treat. But David started to work in a liquor store. Before long, his focus turned to one specific section of the sales floor: the scotch section.

When Ben Coates injures his leg and needs to rebuild his strength by walking, he finds himself presented with an exciting opportunity: to rediscover the city he has been working in for over a decade, at a slower pace. He devises ten walks, each demonstrating a different chapter of Amsterdam's history, from its humble beginnings in the early 1200s as a small fishing community through two Golden Ages, fueled by the growth of the Dutch colonial empire, two world wars, and countless reinventions.

Read by author, Seren Hawley-Plows Step into an ancient world of rituals and folklore in this stunning seasonal guide. Tales of gods and goddesses told around a crackling fire. The light of the rising sun streaming through an ancient site on a solstice morning. Hot cider poured over the roots of...

‘Impossible to summarise and delightfully absorbing, Hadley’s book is comfortably the most unexpected history book of the year’ Sunday Times A luminous journey through a thousand years of folklore and English history. Hollow Places begins with a Hertfordshire dragon-slayer named Piers...

You’ve seen the pyramids. You’ve heard of Anubis and mummies. But do you know the epic myths that gave them meaning? Whether you’re new to mythology or curious to go deeper, this guide invites you into a rich, symbolic world shaped by creation, death, resurrection, and cosmic order, a world that influenced over three thousand years of civilization.

A practical approach to traditional Polish folk practice. Polish Folk Magic is an introductory guide into the folk beliefs, seasonal practices, living ancestral traditions, and authentic folk magic of the West Slavic peoples. With the Polish and Slavic diasporas in mind, Joanna Tarnawska fills...

The great myths of Ancient Greece have inspired mankind for centuries. Each of the heroes has to undergo trials of strength and courage to prove his valor against a host of monsters - the Minotaur, half man, half bull; Hydra, the many-headed serpent; Medusa the Gorgon. Meanwhile, the gods, lead by Zeus the Thunderer from his seat on Mount Olympus, watch, encourage, help - and sometimes hinder.

Exploring the transformative impact of Native American spirituality on contemporary events, this is the third book in Ken Carey's trilogy.

Here in North America, there be monsters! Jason Offutt takes you on a thrilling adventure across all twenty-three countries―as well as every state and territory of the US, Canada, and Mexico―to meet one or more monsters in each location. This book travels to Alaska, the Caribbean, Greenland...

There's more magic in your life than you think. In We're All Witches, writer and magical practitioner Lida Pavlova reveals how ancient witchcraft practices live on in our daily routines—often without us realizing it.