The Booker Prize-winning author’s final short story collection “shows her at the top of her form…exquisite”—with an introduction by A.S. Byatt (The Guardian, UK). Penelope Fitzgerald was one of the United Kingdom’s most highly-regarded contemporary authors. Her last novel, ‘The Blue Flower’, was the book of its year, garnering extraordinary acclaim around the world. This posthumous collection of her short stories, originally published in anthologies and newspapers, shows Penelope Fitzgerald at her very best. From the tale of a young boy in 17th-century England who loses a precious keepsake and finds it frozen in a puddle of ice, to that of a group of buffoonish amateur Victorian painters on a trip to Brittany, these stories are characteristically wide ranging, enigmatic—and very funny. Each one is a miniature study of human behavior’s endless absurdity.

The provision of an adequate means of escape from fire is fundamental to the design of new buildings and to the alteration, change of use or extension of existing buildings. It is essential that means of escape are considered at the earliest stage of a project as mistakes are very expensive to correct later in the design. There is a great deal of legislation on means of escape design and control, but this is scattered throughout a large number of statutes, regulations and guidance documents. Many buildings need to be licensed and/or registered, as well as requiring certification and Building Regulation compliance. This book provides an invaluable reference on the subject for architects, surveyors and building control officers. It: ? identifies the legislation which applies to any particular building use ? describes the general principles of designing means of escape, together with a ten step approach for a range of residential and non-residential buildings ? considers alternative design options based on fire safety engineering ? outlines fire safety management in premises in use as an aid to employers, who have a statutory duty to undertake fire risk assessments.

In her final book--published posthumously--Fitzgerald presents several very strange pasts, her narratives ranging from the 17th century to the late 20th century. The title tale, set in New Zealand in 1852, resembles a cautionary fable about a spinster and an escaped con. But in Fitzgerald's hands, it is infinitely more.

A Nobel Prize–winning economist tells the remarkable story of how the world has grown healthier, wealthier, but also more unequal over the past two and half centuries The world is a better place than it used to be. People are healthier, wealthier, and live longer. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many has left gaping inequalities between people and nations. In The Great Escape, Nobel Prize–winning economist Angus Deaton—one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty—tells the remarkable story of how, beginning 250 years ago, some parts of the world experienced sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's disproportionately unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind. Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts—including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions—that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape. Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations.

"Escape Into Meaning is the debut essay collection by the creator of the highly addictive, deeply informative, always unconventional Nerdwriter channel, which has 3 million subscribers on YouTube. In this debut collection of eleven incisive, engaging, and humorous essays, readers are immersed in a fascinating and multifaceted montage of subjects-from the origins of Superman to the future of the city of Venice to the life of Ralph Waldo Emerson to the oeuvre of Quentin Tarantino"--

No one fought the war on drugs with as much determination as county prosecutor, Blake Ramsey, until he died of a cocaine overdose. His wife, Erin, and teenage daughter have to live with the shame of his hypocrisy until Erin starts digging up information that others in their small town do not want revealed. Suddenly she and her daughter are in great danger and forced to run. Their only ally is the last person Erin ever expected to trust, a man her husband once convicted of murder.