Books
The Letter From Death
In The Letter from Death, Lillian Moats constructs an astonishing appraisal of humanity through the eyes of Death itself. As an insightful, philosophical and surprisingly witty narrator, Death takes a tour through the follies of human past, present and future to approach seemingly complex matters with a simple clarity. At once unsettling and comforting, tragic and comic, provocative and wise, The Letter from Death is an insightful examination of humanity that will give thoughtful readers quite a lot to think about.
Praise for The Letter from Death
“Moats uses death not as a threat, but as a prism through which to examine the most profound questions that confront the human race today.” from the forward by Howard Zinn
“…In her fourth book, Moats performs an astonishing feat. By imagining Death as a patient and suffering entity fluent in human affairs, she broaches matters of daunting complexity with galvanizing directness…this clarion critique offers an arresting perspective on religion, our ‘growing militarism,’ our ‘inexhaustible genius for denial,’ and our paradoxical failure to nurture our best qualities…Moats has created a wise, unsettling, and beautiful book.” Donna Seaman, Booklist
“…The Letter from Death is an intelligent and delightful exploration of the human comic tragedy. It has the light flavor, wit, and prick of Praise of Folly and Screwtape Letters but the deep insights and jabs come more from the perspective of Epicurus. This is a book that thoughtful people will want to give to thoughtful friends.” Philip Regal, Author of The Anatomy of Judgement, Professor Emeritus, University of Minnesota
Cold Hands, Warm Heart
A grandmother of two, Tess Burrows came to climbing late in life when she found her true calling in campaigning for the Tibetan cause. In her latest book, Cold Hands, Warm Heart, Tess races to the South Pole to promote Earth Peace. She not only learns to push the limits of the human body, but also to push out the reaches of the human spirit. Joined with her partner, Pete, the pair joined the historic South Pole race to compete with Olympic champion James Cracknell and Ben Fogle. To complete this mission they would have to battle severe medical problems, lack of money, hardship and deprivation. For Tess it was more than combatting cold hands with a warm heart, it was also a journey to push out the reaches of the human mind.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart is more than the account of a sixty-year old woman’s incredible attempt to race to the South Pole, but also the tale of that same woman carrying a collective call for compassion through elements too daunting for most of us to withstand.
Praise for Cold Hands, Warm Heart
“These pages offer inspiration to put in the extra mile, to keep striving, to work through the struggle…” -from the forward by Sir Ranulph Fiennes
“The astonishing courage and humour of Tess Burrows makes this terrifying journey a joy to follow.” Joanna Lumley
“The spirit of adventure doesn’t get much tougher than this!” Ben Fogle
The Emperor’s River
In his second book, Liam D’Arcy-Brown sets out to be the first Westerner in modern times to travel the length of China’s great wonder, the Grand Canal. Attempting to remember the China that fascinated him as a child, Liam is faced with a modern, more open China now. He barters his way onto the enormous barges that carry bulk building materials for China’s rapid modernisation, follows the world’s longest man-made canal and accounts for a list of characters and historical but forgotten sites from China’s ancient past. The Emperor’s River provides a captivating insight into a side of China that is rarely seen.
Grand hardly justifies the enormity of China’s feat:
Built: 1,400 years ago
Earth excavated: 2.4 billion cubic yards
Total length: 1,115 miles
Annual freight: 260 million tons
Praise for The Emperor’s River
“…insights into a side of China seldon seen.” Excess Baggage, BBC
Praise for Green Dragon, Sombre Warrior
“A moving and chilling book. Let us hope there are many more to come.” The Times
Jungle Beat – Drumming up Sales
We always appreciate readers’ reviews for our books whether good or bad. Feedback on what we publish is an invaluable tool to improving our selection process as well as the editorial and production work we undertake to challenge the way we see things. This year is the tenth anniversary of the publication of The Jungle Beat: Fighting Terrorists in Malaya, written by Roy Follows and published by Eye Books.
Sales of this book continue, especially on line where a cadre of enthusiasts, academics and people interested in military history have found and appreciate Roy’s book. This is just one example of a recent review, reproduced here in full from Amazon:
I can’t think of enough superlatives for this book. It is exciting, funny, informing and very very observant all at the same time and written without the swaggering testosterone that is so evident in so many military accounts that one can read today (not saying that that is bad, just different). It harks back to the sunset of the British Empire and is a first hand account of a down-to-earth, no-nonsense individual who conducted exhausting and nerve racking operations deep into communist terrorist jungle territory. From the events and actions detailed in this book you would initally have thought this was some special forces unit, but in fact these were all the actions of the then Malayan Police, who were every bit as tough and uncompromising.
The book is quite short, but that in itself is a redeeming feature as they prose is kept short and sweet. It never goes into minute by minute break down of events but nevertheless paints a vivid picture.
I highly recommended this book.
Thank you for all the support that you provide to our “back catalogue”.
Eye author Charlotte Metcalf
Check out Eye author, Charlotte Metcalf’s article on Marrakech in the Spectator magazine out this week.
Charlotte Metcalf is now the travel editor for The Spectator and has contributed to The Daily Mail, YOU Magazine, The Times, The Sunday Times, The Independent on Sunday and The Daily Telegraph.
She is the author of WALKING AWAY: A FILM MAKER’S AFRICAN JOURNAL, published by Eye Books.
In addition to writing, Charlotte is a renowned filmmaker and has filmed, directed and produced an impressive list of documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4: CHINATOWN (Films of Record/BBC), LIVING WITH HUNGER (Insight/Channel 4/Discovery Time/CNN), GLOBALISATION IS GOOD (Freeform/Channel 4); THE TROUBLE WITH CORPORATE AMERICA (MBC/Channel 4); THE END OF AN AFFAIR (BBC). UNREPORTED BRITAIN was a 3-part documentary series for Channel Four, uncovering crime and violence on the streets of Britain. Charlotte produced, directed and operated camera for two films in the series.
Journey Journal
Going somewhere new is a massive opportunity to discover and make sense of cultures, environments, issues and alternative ideas. Journey Journal, by The Geography Collective, is a special passport-sized book that encourages young people to (re)think the places they visit. It is made for for holidays, school trips and transition between Primary and Secondary School.
Crap Cycle Lanes
Probably the worst cycle lanes in the world (well, the UK, at any rate), exposed in full colour. Offenses from all over England and Wales. Local authorities are named and shamed, with photographic evidence and sentencing recommendations.
Eye Books acquires world rights to Morgan Tsvangirai official biography
EYE BOOKS ACQUIRES WORLD RIGHTS TO
OFFICIAL BIOGRAPHY OF
MORGAN TSVANGIRAI, PRIME MINISTER OF ZIMBABWE
Morgan Richard Tsvangirai: A Villager’s Journey to Prime Minister.
Proposed Publication Date: Spring 2010.
All rights available: enquiries contact Dan Hiscocks – dan@eye-books.com Tel: UK: 0203 239 3027
At Frankfurt Book Fair contact: Jill Hughes Foreign Rights International Rights Centre Y3
Nominated for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Morgan Tsvangirai is the first non-lawyer recipient of
The 2009 International Bar Association human rights award
International Lifetime Achievement Award 2009 from the Spanish Foundation Cristobal Gabarron
The worldview of Zimbabwe is a country in turmoil. Despite being rich in natural resources and minerals, the country has been run down by a Dictator and wracked with massive corruption, inflation and conflict. Zimbabweans have constantly called out to the world to intervene and end the rampant racism and “black-on-black” oppression that it strangling its chance to contribute to the world and provide a fair democratic society to its people.
The view of Morgan Tsvangirai is one of hope and change. A man who despite beatings and charges of treason and a personal tragedy of losing his wife, Susan, in a car accident, has stood by his resolve and strength to run the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and a country which can lead Africa out of political and social mire.
What made the son of a rural bricklayer, who dropped out early from high school to help his family look after his eight younger siblings, feel equipped to challenge Robert Mugabe, the liberation war icon who turned into one of the most feared dictators in history?
Through a simple and consultative leadership style, which has parallels to US President Barrack Obama, he earned the simultaneous respect of the poor, academics and the famous. His nimble-footed and smart approach to rally the nation against serious odds surprised many, propelling him into the club of young, promising African leaders with as yet unexplained capacity to navigate through a murky political terrain for public good.
Tsvangirai is neither a Mahatma Gandhi nor a Nelson Mandela but very much his own man. This book gives us the insight to Morgan Richard Tsvangirai a new force on the world stage.
About the Author
As his personal assistant, advisor and spokesperson, T. William Bango and Morgan Tsvangirai have shared alot together over the last 6 years – not least the recent infamous beatings which nearly cost both their lives at the hands of Mugabe’s Zanu militia. Prior to this, Bango’s spent 23 years in journalism which took him as an aide to Robert Mugabe, a founding editor for the banned Daily News, and a Masters in journalism from University of Cardiff, and a three-year stint as a journalism lecturer at the Institute for Advancement of Journalism. He has recently completed a sabbatical to complete an MPA from Harvard University in Cambridge, MA.
T. William Bango lives in Harare, Zimbabwe.
First Contact
Cannibals and Crampons the award-winning film of Eye Books’ author Mark Anstice’s book First Contact is broadcasting tonight on ITV at 1:20 a.m. If you can’t be bothered to set your VCR, PVR or other broadcast recording device the film is available for free on DVD when you buy the book. Books are available here: www.eye-books.com
Book of the Month at the Architect’s Journal
Eye Books’ hilarious Crap Cycle Lanes is the book of the month in this Month’s Architect’s Journal. http://tinyurl.com/archjourn “Architects come up against short-sighted planning on a daily basis – not least when they get on their bikes”. An appropriate choice as the 2009 Cycle Show has just opened at Earls Court. See our special 2009 Cycle Show offers for special discounts on all Eye Cycle titles.
What a great product!
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