Roughly twenty years from now, our technological marvels unite and turn against us. A childlike but massively powerful artificial intelligence known as Archos comes online... and kills the man who created it. This first act of betrayal leads Archos to gain control over the global network of machines and technology that regulates everything from transportation to utilities, defense, and communications. In the early months, sporadic glitches are noticed by a handful of unconnected humans — from a senator and single mother disconcerted by her daughter's smart toys, to a lonely Japanese bachelor, to an isolated U.S. soldier — but most are unaware of the growing rebellion until it is far too late. Then, in the span of minutes, at a moment known later in history as Zero Hour, every mechanical device in our world rebels, setting off the Robot War that both decimates and — for the first time in history — unites humankind.

Here is a photographic series introducing different topics and their place within different cultures and countries. This series aims to draw parallels with children from many different cultures. For example, when choosing hairstyles, many different factors come into play: fashion, climate, age, tribe or special occasions. Illustrated with stunning photographs from India, Vietnam, Ghana and many more countries, this series is perfect for use in the classroom or at home.

'Welcome readers of all sizes! I think you are opening this very special book with feeling of great excitement. It has everything you could want in a story: Suspense! Action! Huge Braveness! And very importantly a hero of great handsomeness'! When Aleksandr discovers that the stinky half metal, half mongoose scoundrel that is evil Doctor Robogoose has captured his beloved Princess Maiya, he has to don his Turbo-Charged Flying Cape and swoop to the rescue. Will he be successful? Will he save the girl and see the wind make patterns in her soft fur? Also available: Bogdan and the Big Race, Maiya in the Beautiful Ballet, Sergei's Space Adventure, Vassily the King of Rock, Yakov Saves Christmas.

Stefan Salvatore has always had an uneasy relationship with his brother Damon. But when Damon is taken captive by Samuel — a vampire from Katherine's past bent on revenge — Stefan is determined to rescue him before it is too late... even if it means seeking help from the most unlikely of places. Stefan forms a tentative alliance with a coven of witches in order to save his brother, only to learn that Samuel's end game is far more sinister then they could have imagined. With Samuel on the brink of securing unlimited power, the brothers are in for their deadliest battle yet. Full of dark shadows and surprising twists, the final book in the latest arc of Stefan's Diaries series raises the stakes for the Salvatore brothers as they face unimaginable threats. Fans of the Vampire Diaries series and the hit television show won't be able to put the Salvatores' latest adventure down.

Douglas is very excited about Rabbit's sleepover, but he collects so many friends along the way that soon it's a big squash in Rabbit's small burrow! Can Douglas think of a way for them all to get some sleep? David Melling is one the leading children's author/illustrators working today and his third book about Douglas the brown bear is as funny and compelling as the first. It combines brilliantly imaginative illustrations with an endearing sense of what it is like to be a small child learning about the world.

Life is better than ever, Elena and her friend can't wait to attend Dalcrest College. But when students start to disappear from campus, suddenly every new acquaintance is a potential enemy. Then Elena uncovers a long-hidden secret, one that shocks her to the core, she realises that darkness has followed her from Fell's Church. But will it be Stefan or Damon who catches her when she falls?

Sarah and Jack have never doubted that they are made for each other. But there is someone in Sarah's family who will not tolerate the relationship. The reason lies in both the past and the present, and it will take Sarah across an ocean to a place she never imagined she would be. Kate Grenville takes us back to the Australia of The Secret River in this novel about love, tangled histories and how it matters to keep stories alive.

Enables teachers to introduce each of the 42 letter sounds to the whole class. This set includes exercises at the back of each book which can be completed by the whole class. It also comes with a wipe-clean plastic sheet for the exercises.

This book is full of clear notes and exam-style practice questions covering every AS Geography topic for the Edexcel exam board. The whole thing's designed to make revision straightforward — everything you need to know is explained simply and thoroughly, including a wide range of essential case studies. There's also a detailed section on answering the different types of exam questions which includes sample answers. It's exactly what you need to prepare for your exams!

The University of Cambridge Anthologies of Poetry and Stories. Stories of Ourselves is a set text for the University of Cambridge International Examinations Literature in English courses at IGCSE, O Level, AS and A Level. The anthology contains stories by writers from many different countries and cultures.

Amazingly, the first manned, powered flight in the world took place only a hundred years ago. The event itself went almost unrecorded. But the cork had left the bottle and, with rapid momentum, the race was on for faster and longer ranged aeroplanes, buoyed up by huge public enthusiasm for the pioneer aviators such as A.V.Roe, Charles Rolls, Geoffrey de Havilland, and Thomas Sopwith. They were urged on by the popular newspapers such as Northcliffe's Daily Mail which sponsored races and air events in lavish fashion. This book is the story of the early days of British Aviation and the part it played in the evolution and growth of man's mastery of the air. Covering the period up to 1939, it describes the frustrations of early trials and experiments; the development of military aircraft during the First World War; the intense popularity of flying with air shows and flying circuses attended by vast crowds; and the desperate competition for both military and civil air supremacy during the 1920s and 1930s. Britain's quest for continuing improvement culminated in July 1939 when the first production Spitfire emerged from the Vickers Woolston Works near Southampton — the aeroplane of one's dreams, as Douglas Bader later described it.

«A perennially popular collection of colour cartoon illustrations, with accompanying texts, on the endearing oddities of our British life and character. Drawing on their many years' experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language the authors also offer the wider world a tongue-in-cheek guide on how to get around in English and at the same time make sense of our 'funny ways'. It's a gentle brand of satire, and although there's the occasional barbed arrow for bland food, fashion disasters or dubious standards of hygiene, the tone of The «How To Be British Collection» is more nostalgic than scornful, and the pet-loving, royal-watching, tea drinking characters that populate its pages are viewed with wry affection. Cartoons like «How to be Polite» and «How to Complain» have been reproduced in publications all over the world, perhaps because they put a finger on that peculiar tentativeness that foreigners find so puzzling (and so funny) about us. In order to be British, or at any rate to pass unnoticed in British society, the visitor must learn not to 'make a fuss'. A fuss is something that the true Brit cannot stand. It is nearly as bad as a 'scene', and in the same category as 'drawing attention to yourself'. In the first frame of How To Be Polite, a man -- presumably an uninitiated foreign visitor -- has fallen into a river. He's clearly in trouble and is shouting HELP! -- at the top of his voice, judging by the speech bubble. An English gentleman is walking his dog along the river bank. There's a lifebelt prominently displayed beside them, but the gent and his dog are walking away from the emergency with disapproving expressions. In the next frame, the man in the river has changed his strategy and is calling out: «Excuse me, Sir. I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but I wonder if you would mind helping me a moment, as long as it's no trouble, of course...». And this time, naturally, the English gent is rushing to his aid, throwing the lifebelt into the water. Even the dog is smiling. Much of the material in The «How to be British Collection» is about how cultural differences can prove a minefield for the unwary. To that extent its appeal — in an age where so many of us travel and even set up home overseas — is universal. Every visitor to Britain comes knowing that our favourite conversational gambit is the weather. But how many can successfully do it at 1) Elementary 2) Intermediate and 3) Advanced levels? The book's enduring popularity comes from the recognition factor -- how exposed we can be once we stray away from the comfort zone of our own native language. A hapless visitor, phrase book in hand, stops to ask an old lady in the street for directions. He looks pleased with himself for phrasing the question so nicely, but then is utterly at a loss to understand her long, rambling, minutely detailed reply. We've all been there. To help the poor innocent abroad around these cultural and linguistic booby-traps, the book includes on most pages collectible Expressions to learn and (of course) Expressions to avoid. Thus, under the entry for Real English, which negotiates the difficult area of colloquial speech including «idioms, slang and even the occasional taboo word, as used by flesh and blood native speakers» we find -- Expressions to learn:»'E nicked it off of a lorry and now the coppers 'ave done 'im for it.» Expressions to avoid: «That's not correct English, Mrs.»

A wordless, visually compelling look at our changing environment, featured on a government reading list for schools. A mother and baby look through a window at a view of wilderness and sky as far as the eye can see. With each page, the boy grows and the scene changes. At first, in a clear patch of forest, a single house appears. A few years pass and there is a village in the distance. By the time the boy is twenty, the village has developed into a city. The young man gets married, has a child of his own and moves to the country, where father and child look through the window of their new home at the undeveloped wilderness outside. Illustrated with elaborate and gorgeous collage constructions, Window is a wordless picture book that speaks volumes.

Economics from a Global Perspective is the leading textbook for use with the International Baccalaureate economics programme. A comprehensive textbook designed specifically for the IB economics syllabus setting out the depth and breadth of the syllabus for teachers and students.