Customs & Traditions

In which part of North London were wild beasts once thought to roam the sewers? Why did 1920s working-class Londoners wear necklaces of blue beads?Who was the original inspiration for the 'pearly king' costume?And did Spring-heeled Jack, scourge of...

Culture Smart guides help travellers have a more meaningful and successful time abroad through a better understanding of the local culture. Chapters on values, attitudes, customs, and daily life will help you make the most of your visit, while tips on...

Much of the modern-day vision of Santa Claus is owed to the Clement Moore poem "The Night Before Christmas." His description of Saint Nicholas personified the "jolly old elf" known to millions of children throughout the world. However, far from...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9789814423465Author Nigel BarleyFormat PaperbackPage Count 248Imprint monsoonPublisher Monsoon Books

This is a book for everyone who has ever wondered why pubs should be called The Cross Keys, The Dew Drop Inn or The Hope and Anchor. You'll be glad to know that there are very good - strange and memorable - reasons behind them all.After much research...

"...contains fascinating material on the social, political, nutritional, and evolutionary aspects of human food choice...Scholars and students in food studies will find Consuming the Inedible useful for its variety of approaches to 'unusual' eating...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781578268030Author Gerd de LeyFormat HardbackPage Count 336Imprint Hatherleigh Press,U.S.Publisher Hatherleigh Press,U.S.

Folklorist Arnold van Gennep's masterwork, The Rites of Passage, has been a staple of anthropological education for more than a century. First published in French in 1909, and translated into English by the University of Chicago Press in 1960, this...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780525575023Author Wayne CurtisFormat PaperbackPage Count 304Imprint Crown Publishing Group, Division of Random House IncPublisher Random House USA Inc

Since the Bolivian revolution in 1952, migrants have come to the city of Cochabamba, seeking opportunity and relief from rural poverty. They have settled in barrios on the city's outskirts only to find that the rights of citizens-basic rights of property...

No idea is as absurd as the idea of progress, which together with its corollary notion of the superiority of modern civilization, has created its own "positive" alibis by falsifying history, by insinuating harmful myths in people's minds, and by...

'A powerful celebration of common humanity and compassion . . . deserves to be read widely by people of all faiths and none' - Sunday TimesIn a series of personal and insightful letters to his sons, Omar Saif Ghobash offers a vital manifesto that tackles...

Two medieval chroniclers, William of Newburgh and Ralph of Coggeshall, reported the mysterious appearance of a pair of 'Green Children'-with green skins and speaking an unknown language-in the Suffolk village of Woolpit in the mid-twelfth century. The...

'Funny, touching and ludicrously British.' India Knight 'Makes Christmas slightly less awful' Al Murray A Very British Christmas is a twelve-stage sleigh ride through the best, worst, strangest and funniest aspects of the Christmas...

Travel around the globe with Vogue's most exotic fashion, travel, and lifestyle stories Have fashion, will travel. That's the vision behind Vogue on Location, a journey in itself through the many spectacular voyages that the magazine took over...

Following on in the same vain as The Joy of Sheds, The Joy of Pubs is an intoxicating publication detailing everything and anything you want to know about pubs. It celebrates the many facets of the traditional British pub over the years, with...

From the Charge of the Light Brigade to Scott of the Antarctic and beyond, it seems as if glorious disaster and valiant defeat have been essential aspects of the British national character for the past two centuries. In this fascinating book, historian...

A charming and witty history of the quirky - but surprisingly widespread - craft of embroidering kneeler cushions. The perfect gift book this Christmas, for those who love kneelers and those who don't!'A lovely look at a not-quite-vanishing craft that...

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. Grave takes a ground-level view of how burial sites have transformed over time and how they continue to change. As a cemetery tour guide,...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781101980514Author Bruce FeilerFormat PaperbackPage Count 368Imprint E P Dutton & Co IncPublisher Penguin Putnam Inc

From the crowning of Charles III, thirty-nine coronations have been held in Westminster Abbey since the Norman Conquest. Only two monarchs - Edward V and Edward VIII - were uncrowned, and a further twenty or so Scottish monarchs were crowned elsewhere,...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781915174062Author James Edward FrostFormat HardbackPage Count 186Imprint Ozaru BooksPublisher Ozaru BooksWeight(grams) 540gDimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm *...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780140195583Author Malidoma Patrice SomeFormat PaperbackPage Count 112Imprint J.P.Tarcher,U.S./Perigee Bks.,U.S.Publisher J.P.Tarcher,U.S./Perigee Bks.,U.S.

Captain Charles Johnson's celebrated A General History of the Pirates (1724) is the most famous book about pirates ever written. Buoyed by the volume's runaway success Johnson followed up with the equally engrossing The Lives and Adventures of the Most...

A new "farm-to-closet" vision for the clothes we wear--by a leader in the movement for local textile economies There is a major disconnect between what we wear and our knowledge of its impact on land, air, water, labor, and human health. Even those...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781917045032Author Faisal AbbasFormat HardbackPage Count 192Imprint Nomad PublishingPublisher Nomad PublishingWeight(grams) 750g

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781594774362Author Claude LecouteuxFormat PaperbackPage Count 320Imprint Inner Traditions Bear and CompanyPublisher Inner Traditions Bear and...

A stunning book on kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with precious metals to highlight its history beautifully. A broken pot is made whole again, and within its golden repair we see a world of meaning. Kintsugi is the art of...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781728297729Author Helen RussellFormat PaperbackPage Count 384Imprint SourcebooksPublisher Sourcebooks

Religions constrain the bodies of their members through dress. In many cases, dress immediately identifies a member of the community to the outside world and separates them from a society that members believe is threatened by evil forces. Dress...

What if meeting new people were a gift, not a burden? How might we transform our lives if we set aside our fear of outsiders? When Will Buckingham's partner died, the shock of his grief told him to withdraw. Instead, he sought solace in throwing...

The extreme diversity of Indian food culture-including the dizzying array of ingredients and dishes-is made manageable in this groundbreaking reference. India has no national dish or cuisine; however, certain ingredients, dishes, and cooking styles are...

An erudite and highly enjoyable exploration of the most intriguing of personal spaces, from Greek and Roman antiquity through today The winner of France's prestigious Prix Femina Essai (2009), this imaginative and captivating book explores the many...

A festive, delightfully-illustrated compendium that features holiday traditions from around the world. From Jolabokaflod (Christmas Book Flood) in Iceland to Festa dei sette pesci (Feast of Fishes) in Italy and Christmas lanterns in the Philippines, The...

Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan is a complete, two-volume set of one of the most outstanding books on 19th century Japanese history and culture.Though Lafcadio Hearn went on to write a dozen more books on Japan, this collection of first impressions remains...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9780874779912Author Malidoma Patrice SomeFormat PaperbackPage Count 352Imprint TarcherPerigeePublisher Penguin Putnam IncWeight(grams) 1g

Is Santa Claus really a magic mushroom in disguise? Was Alice in Wonderland a thinly veiled psychedelic mushroom odyssey? Did mushroom tea kick-start ancient Greek philosophy? The 'magic mushroom' was only rediscovered fifty years ago, but has...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.Book InformationISBN 9781614728382Author Ray OldenburgFormat PaperbackPage Count 140Imprint Berkshire Publishing GroupPublisher Berkshire Publishing GroupWeight(grams) 333g

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.AwardsWinner of National Book Awards (Nonfiction) 2022.Book InformationISBN 9780062977373Author Imani PerryFormat PaperbackPage Count 432Imprint CollinsPublisher HarperCollins...

For more than 25 years Noriko Morishita has studied and practised the intricate rules of the famous Japanese Tea Ceremony, trying to master its complexities in order to find inner peace. In this vivid account of her experience of the universal trials and...