For one thousand years, the Milu - an exotic species of deer with the neck of a camel, horns of a stag, feet of a cow, and tail of a donkey - existed only in the Chinese emperors private park in Beijing. But in the nineteenth century, a Basque missionary risked his life to obtain a specimen, then embalmed it and sent it to Paris. The preserved remains caused quite a stir, and soon every major nation in Europe possessed a Milu. But most died quickly, and due to war - most notably the Boxer Rebellion - they became extinct in their native habitat as well. Yet the eleventh duke of Bedford was devoted to preserving the Milu. Under his care at Woburn Abbey, a herd flourished, and nearly a century later, in 1986, part of the British herd was returned to China. In his fascinating tale, Robert Twigger poignantly recounts the story of this strange and rare animal while providing a riveting meditation on evolution, truth-telling, extinction, myth-making, and survival.

The Extinction Club: A Tale of Deer, Lost Books, and a Rather Fine Canary Yellow Sweater

Humor & Entertainment

Twigger, Robert

Humor

Harper-perennial

Want to be a lifelong learner? Think small. Forget spending 10,000 hours in the pursuit of perfecting just one thing. The true path to success and achievement lies in the pursuit of perfecting lots and lots of small things--for a big payoff. Combining positive psychology, neuroscience, self-help and more, this delightfully illuminating book encourages us to circumvent all the reasons we "can't" learn and grow (we're too busy, it's too complicated, we're not experts, we didn't start when we were young) -- by tackling small, satisfying skills. Wish you were a seasoned chef? Learn to make a perfect omelette. Dream of being a racecar driver? Perfect a handbrake turn. Wish you could draw? Make Zen circles your first challenge. These small, doable tasks offer a big payoff -- and motivate us to keep learning and growing, with payoffs that include a boost in optimism, confidence, memory, cognitive skills, and more. Filled with surprising insights and even a compendium of micromastery skills to try yourself, this engaging and inspiring guide reminds us of the simple joy of learning -- and opens the door to limitless, lifelong achievement, one small step at a time. Micromasteries presented in the book (with illustrations) include: Learn How to Climb a Rope, Surf Standing Up, Talk for Fifteen Minutes about Any Subject, Bake Artisan Bread, Juggle Four Balls, Learn to Read Japanese in Three Hours, and more.

Micromastery: Learn Small, Learn Fast, and Unlock Your Potential to Achieve Anything

Self-Help

Happiness

TarcherPerigee

'Micromastery is a triumph. A brilliant idea, utterly convincing, and superbly carried through' - Philip Pullman We read that we must be passionate about only one thing, that 10,000 hours of hard practice is needed to achieve mastery. But in fact most successful people, including Nobel prize winners, nurture multiple areas of knowledge and activity that feed their central subject. Whether it's making a perfect soufflé, dancing a tango or lighting a fire, when we take the time to cultivate small and quantifiable areas of expertise, we change everything. We become faster and more fearless learners, spot more creative opportunities, improve our brain health and boost our happiness. We see knowledge itself completely differently. The skills acquired in painting a door flawlessly or growing delicious chillies will unexpectedly transform your life. So start small. Start specific. But start - and you'll be on the path to mastery.

Micromastery: Learn Small, Learn Fast, and Find the Hidden Path to Happiness

Success

Penguin Uk

Micromastery

Motivational

Penguin Life

White Mountain

A sweeping biography of the Himalayas by the acclaimed author of Angry White Pyjamas.Home to mythical kingdoms, wars and expeditions, and strange and magical beasts, the Himalayas have always loomed tall in our imagination.  These mountains, home to Buddhists, Bonpos, Jains, Muslims, Hindus, shamans and animists, to name only a few, are a place of pilgrimage and dreams, revelation and war, massacre and invasion, but also peace and unutterable calm. They are a central hub of the world’s religion, as well as a climber’s challenge and a traveler’s dream.  In an exploration of the region's seismic history, Robert Twigger, author of Red Nile and Angry White Pyjamas, unravels some of these seemingly disparate journeys and the unexpected links between them. Following a winding path across the Himalayas to its physical end in Nagaland on the Indian-Burmese border, Twigger encounters incredible stories from a unique cast of mountaineers and mystics, pundits and prophets. The result is a sweeping, enthralling and surprising journey through the history of the world's greatest mountain range. 8 pages of photographs

History

Asia

Fifteen years before Lewis and Clarke Scotsman Alexander Mackenzie, looking to open up a trade route, set out from Lake Athabasca in central Northern Canada in search of the Pacific Ocean. Mackenzie travelled by bark canoe and had a cache of rum and a crew of Canadian voyageurs, hard-living backwoodsmen, for company. Two centuries later, in a spirit of organic authenticity, Robert Twigger follows in Mackenzie's wake. He too travels the traditional way, having painstakingly built a canoe from birchbark sewn together with pine roots, and assembled a crew made up of fellow travelers, ex-tree-planters and a former sailor from the US Navy. After the ice has melted, Twigger and his crew of wandering spirits finally nose out into the Athabasca River . . . Three Years . . . two thousand miles . . .over one thousand painfully towing the canoe against the current . . . several had tried before them but they were the first people to successfully complete Mackenzie's diabolical route over the Rockies in a birchbark canoe since 1793. Subsisting on a diet of porridge, elk and jackfish, supplemented with whisky and a bag of grass for the treeplanters, and with an Indian medicine charm bestowed by the Cree People of Fox Lake, the voyageurs embark on an epic road trip by canoe . . . a journey to the remotest parts of the wilderness, through Native American reservations, over mountains, through rapids and across lakes, meeting descendants of Mackenzie and unhinged Canadian trappers, running out of food, getting lost and miraculously found again, disfigured for life (the ex-sailor loses his thumb), bears brown and black, docile and grizzly. Voyageur is a moving tale of contrasts from the bleak industrial backwaters of Canada to the desolate wonder of the Rocky Mountains.

Voyageur: Across the Rocky Mountains in a Birchbark Canoe

Travel

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Lost Oasis: In Search of Paradise

Africa

Dr Ragab's Universal Language

Charlatan. Guru. Master of disguise. Ahead of his time, wise beyond his years, a simple opportunist or the great pretender; however you choose to see him, one fact is certain: Dr Ragab is a mysterious man. Talked about by pretty much everyone in 1920s Cairo, only a few get the chance to make his acquaintance, and fewer still -- one person, in fact -- get to study his life lessons. Hertwig is that lucky soul. Or not so lucky, perhaps: not when he finds himself, at the very end of the second world war, imprisoned in a bunker in Germany by a gang of thugs. To make matters worse, it`s not just any bunker; it`s Hertwig`s own bunker, and he`s built it to be 100% escape-proof. And yet... there is a possible way out. Not in the conventional sense, it`s true, but when you`re holed up several feet underground, unsure of how long your captors plan to keep you alive, convention isn`t necessarily a good thing, as Dr Ragab would be the first to proclaim -- and it`s his universal language that may just provide Hertwig with the escape route he needs. 
As unconventional as the eponymous Ragab, Robert Twigger`s novel takes the reader on a surreal journey, exploring such diverse topics as far right ideologies, middle east mysticism and the art of communicating via food preparation and presentation. Clever, funny and thought-provoking, Dr Ragab`s Universal Language is, in every sense, beyond belief: part tall tale and part self-help manual, it is, like Dr R himself, impossible to pin down -- or, indeed, to put down.

Literature & Fiction

Picador Hardbacks

Clever, funny, and thought-provoking,this quirky tale about the power of the mind is both larger than life and beyond belief, it is, like Dr. R himself, impossible to pin down—or, indeed, to put downCharlatan, guru, master of disguise, a simple opportunist or the great pretender— however one chooses to see him, one fact is certain: Dr. Ragab is a mysterious man. Talked about by everyone in 1920s Cairo, only a few get the chance to make his acquaintance, and fewer still—one person, in fact—get to study his life lessons. Hertwig is that lucky soul—or not so lucky, perhaps, not when he finds himself, at the very end of the second world war, imprisoned in a bunker by a gang of thugs. And yet there is a possible way out. Not in the conventional sense, it's true, but when you're holed up several feet underground, unsure of how long your captors plan to keep you alive, convention isn't necessarily a good thing, as Dr. Ragab would be the first to proclaim—and it's his Universal Language that may just provide Hertwig with the escape route he needs. As unconventional as the eponymous Ragab, this novel takes the reader on a surreal journey from Ealing to Egypt, via Germany.

Literary

Picador

Stories of the thrills and hardships faced by modern expeditions that continue to enhance our understanding of the world around us, now in a compact edition. This book profiles forty modern explorers who have disproved the idea that there is nowhere left to discover. Some are experienced and celebrated worldwide, while others are just starting to make their mark. The Modern Explorers&nbsp;delves into challenging and extraordinary expeditions to the remotest parts of the world by explorers from the United States, Australia, China, France, and beyond. Nine thematic sections cover all terrains: Polar, Desert, Rainforest, Mountain, Ocean, River, Under Sea, Under Land, and Lost Worlds. Written mainly by the explorers themselves, these accounts provide unique insight into what it is like to join an expedition, from being dragged through the top of the rainforest canopy in an inflatable raft suspended from a balloon to pedaling a boat across the Pacific to standing on the edge of an erupting volcano.

Modern Explorers

HANBURY-TENISON, Robin

World

Thames&Hudson

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