A literary spellbinder about one man’s desperate attempt to deal with grief by unmasking the terrorists responsible for the act that killed his wife and daughter

Twenty-one years after his wife and daughter were killed in the bombing of a plane over Scotland, English lecturer Alan Tealing persists in trying to discover what really happened on that terrible night. Over the years, he obsessively amasses documents, tapes, and transcripts to prove that the man who was convicted was not actually responsible, and that the real culprit remains at large.

When a retired American intelligence officer arrives on Alan’s doorstep on a snowy night, claiming to have information about a key witness in the trial, a fateful sequence of events is set in motion. Alan decides he must confront this man, in the hope of uncovering what actually happened. While Robertson writes with the narrative thrust of a thriller, The Professor of Truth is also a graceful meditation on grief, and the lengths we may go to find meaning in loss.

The Gruffalo said it wid come tae nae guid If a gruffalo roamed in the deep mirk widd. 'How no, how no?' 'Because, hae nae doot, The Muckle Mad Moose will find ye oot.' This translation adds a special Scottish dimension that is suitable for weans and grown-ups alike.

Features Precious who befriends a new boy to her school called Pontsho and his sister Teb, and when she goes to their home, she discovers that they have an unusual pet, a very clever meerkat called Kosi. When Pontsho and Teb become very upset when their cow goes missing, Precious decides to use her detective skills to solve the mystery.

'A moose took a dauner through the deep, mirk widd. A tod saw the moose and the moose looked guid.' Come a wee bit further intae the deep, mirk widd, and find oot whit happens when the sleekit moose comes face tae face wi a hoolet, a snake and a hungry gruffalo. This children's classic presented in Scots.

Shahidullah (criminal justice and sociology, U. of North Carolina) provides a global comparative examination of criminal justice systems and philosophies around the world, with the thematic concern of the impacts of modernization and globalization providing a unifying thread throughout. He opens the text with discussion of the nature, theories, and methods of comparative criminal justice conducted in chapters that address the theoretical perspectives of modernization theory, civilization theory, world-systems theory, and globalization theory; the nature and sources of data on crime trends and patterns; performance indicators for criminal justice systems in different countries; the value of national and regional crime surveys; and comparative institutions and values of criminal justice as benchmarks of comparison across the world's societies. The remaining chapters explore the influence of the balance between sacred and secular sources of law in four models of criminal justice systems that he categorizes as modern systems (e.g., the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia); modernizing systems (e.g., select countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America); traditional systems (e.g., Saudi Arabia and Iran); and dual systems (e.g., China, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Nigeria). Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

“If the purpose is to create one of the best books on requirements yet written, the authors have succeeded.”

—Capers Jones 

Software can solve almost any problem. The trick is knowing what the problem is. With about half of all software errors originating in the requirements activity, it is clear that a better understanding of the problem is needed.

 

Getting the requirements right is crucial if we are to build systems that best meet our needs. We know, beyond doubt, that the right requirements produce an end result that is as innovative and beneficial as it can be, and that system development is both effective and efficient.

 

Mastering the Requirements Process, Third Edition, sets out an industry-proven process for gathering and verifying requirements, regardless of whether you work in a traditional or agile development environment. In this total update of the bestselling guide, the authors show how to discover precisely what the customer wants and needs, in the most efficient manner possible.

 

Features include 

• The Volere requirements process—completely specified, for use with both traditional and iterative environments
• A specification template that can be used as the basis for your own requirements specifications
• Formality guides that help you funnel your efforts into only the requirements work needed for your particular development environment and project
• How to make requirements testable using fit criteria
• Checklists to help identify stakeholders, users, non-functional requirements, and more
• Methods for reusing requirements and requirements patterns  

New features include 

• Strategy guides for different environments including outsourcing
• Strategies for gathering and implementing requirements for iterative releases
• “Thinking above the line” to find the real problem
• How to move from requirements to finding the right solution
• The Brown Cow model for clearer viewpoints of the system
• Using story cards as requirements
• Using the Volere Knowledge Model to help record and communicate requirements
• Fundamental truths about requirements and system development

By January 1865, most of Virginia's schools were closed, many newspapers had ceased publication, businesses suffered, and food was scarce. Having endured major defeats on their home soil and the loss of much of the state's territory to the Union army, Virginia's Confederate soldiers began to desert at higher rates than at any other time in the war, returning home to provide their families with whatever assistance they could muster. It was a dark year for Virginia.

Virginia at War, 1865 closely examines the end of the Civil War in the Old Dominion, delivering a striking depiction of a state ravaged by violence and destruction. In the final volume of the Virginia at War series, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. have once again assembled an impressive collection of essays covering topics that include land operations, women and families, wartime economy, music and entertainment, the demobilization of Lee's army, and the war's aftermath. The volume ends with the final installment of Judith Brockenbrough McGuire's popular and important Diary of a Southern Refugee during the War. Like the previous four volumes in the series, Virginia at War, 1865 provides valuable insights into the devastating effects of the war on citizens across the state.

Was Gettysburg a tactical success, or was the outcome determined by a far more mundane factor: access to fresh water? How did the need to spread information about the dead and wounded give rise to the U.S. Postal Service? Did President Lincoln really age so dramatically during the course of the war, or was a rare disease to blame for the shocking difference in images of him from before and during the war? From overlooked elements, such as the role of weather, health, and high emotions, to the world-changing effect of the rise of female workers, to the many 'firsts' including the introduction of standard time, pre-sized clothing, canned goods, toilets, and Santa Claus, The Untold Civil War reveals new facets of a seemingly well-known slice of American history, just in time to commemorate its 150th anniversary.
 
Dramatically illustrated with archival images and objects and compelling contemporary photography, this book delivers a surprise on every page: from precious personal mementos to forgotten battle sites; from newly recovered glass-plate negatives that reveal long-obscured photographic details to long-lost documents; this book adds a new dimension to our understanding of the Civil War and is a must-have for anyone with an interest in American history.
 
Six thematic chapters—such as 'Characters,' 'Connections,' and 'A War of Firsts'—present a short introductory essay followed by approximately 30 self-contained stories that detail surprising, little-known, and fresh aspects of the war. Themes both large and small will be explored and contextualized, painting a fascinating portrait of our national character and showcasing the enduring impact of the Civil War.

In July 1883, just a few days after the twentieth anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, a group of editors at The Century Magazine engaged in a lively argument: Which Civil War battle was the bloodiest battle of them all? One claimed it was Chickamauga, another Cold Harbor. The argument inspired a brainstorm: Why not let the magazine's 125,000 readers in on the conversation by offering “a series of papers on some of the great battles of the war to be written by officers in command on both sides.”

The articles would be written by generals, Union and Confederate alike, who had commanded the engagements two decades earlier—“or, if he were not living,” by “the person most entitled to speak for him or in his place.” The pieces would present both sides of each major battle, and would be fair and free of politics. In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the most enduring entries from the classic four-volume series Battles and Leaders of the Civil War have now been edited and merged into one definitive volume. Here are the best of the immortal first-person accounts of the Civil War originally published in the pages of The Century Magazine more than a hundred years ago.

Hearts Touched by Fire offers stunning accounts of the war's great battles written by the men who planned, fought, and witnessed them, from leaders such as General Ulysses S. Grant, General George McClellan, and Confederate captain Clement Sullivane to men of lesser rank. This collection also features new year-by-year introductions by esteemed historians, including James M. McPherson, Craig L. Symonds, and James I. Robertson, Jr., who cast wise modern eyes on the cataclysm that changed America and would go down as the bloodiest conflict in our nation's history.

No one interested in our country's past will want to be without this collection of the most popular and influential first-person Civil War memoirs ever published.

This slim travel guide provides information on battlefields and other Civil War historical sites in Virginia. Arranged by region, each section includes a keyed map along with individual entries providing a brief historical explanation of the location as well as driving directions. Numerous black and white photographs are included. Robertson is a professor of history at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Annotation ©2011 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Katie spends a day at the zoo, meeting some of the bonnie, braw animals and birds that stay there, among them the tiger 'in his strippit coat', the koalas with 'hairy lugs', and an array of bright and beautiful birds and reptiles. But Katie's favourite animals are kept till last... Who could that be bringing up the rear of the penguin parade?

Traces the story of a once-promising football athlete and imprisoned drug dealer who was offered his freedom in exchange for coaxing a confession out of a serial killer, an effort for which he risked his life and sparked heated controversy. Simultaneous.

The fourth book in the Virginia at War series casts a special light on vital home front matters in Virginia during 1864. Following a year in which only one major battle was fought on Virginia soil, 1864 brought military campaigning to the Old Dominion. For the first time during the Civil War, the majority of Virginia's forces fought inside the state's borders. Yet soldiers were a distinct minority among the Virginians affected by the war. In Virginia at War, 1864, scholars explore various aspects of the civilian experience in Virginia including transportation and communication, wartime literature, politics and the press, higher education, patriotic celebrations, and early efforts at reconstruction in Union-occupied Virginia. The volume focuses on the effects of war on the civilian infrastructure as well as efforts to maintain the Confederacy. As in previous volumes, the book concludes with an edited and annotated excerpt of the Judith Brockenbrough McGuire diary.

Recommended for ages 0-5 To mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland's National Bard, Itchy Coo is proud to publish this lift-the-flap board book in the format of the hugely successful Katie series. There will be many publications in 2009 to mark Burns's 250th birthday, but Rabbie's Rhymes is unique in bringing the best-loved lines of the poet to the very youngest readers.Children will love lifting the flaps to find out: • where the wee sleekit cowerin timorous moose is hiding • what the haggis is wearing on his head • what happens to the Highlander's kilt when the wind blows A simple, funny, colourful introduction to Burns, Rabbie's Rhymes will entertain the bairns and encourage parents and teachers not only to recite the lines from the poems but perhaps also to sing the tunes to songs like 'Ca the Yowes' and 'Ye Banks and Braes', 'A Red, Red Rose' and, as a grand finale, 'Auld Lang Syne'. Illustrated by the award-winning Karen Sutherland, Rabbie's Rhymes will be one of the highlights of the 2009 Burns celebrations for bairns everywhere.

Between the epic battles of 1862 and the grueling and violent military campaigns that would follow, the year 1863 was oddly quiet for the Confederate state of Virginia. Only one major battle was fought on its soil, at Chancellorsville, and the conflict was one of the Army of Northern Virginia's greatest victories. Yet the pressures of the Civil War turned the daily lives of Virginians -- young and old, men and women, civilians and soldiers -- into battles of their own. Despite minimal combat, 1863 was an eventful year in Virginia history -- Stonewall Jackson died within its borders and Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. In Virginia at War, 1863, editors William C. Davis and James I. Robertson Jr. present these and other key events, as well as a discussion of the year's military land operations to reveal the political, social, and cultural ramifications of the ongoing national conflict. By this time, the war had profoundly transformed nearly every aspect of Virginia life and culture, from education to religion to commerce. Mounting casualties and depleted resources made the citizens of the Commonwealth feel the deprivations of war more deeply than ever. Virginia at War, 1863 surveys these often overlooked elements of the conflict. Contributors focus on the war's impact on Virginia's children and its newly freed slaves. They shed light on the origins of the Hatfield-McCoy feud, explore the popularity of scrapbooking as a form of personal recordkeeping, and consider the changing role of religion during wartime and the uncertain faith of Virginia's Christians. The book concludes with the 1863 entries of the Diary of a Southern Refugee by Richmond's Judith Brockenbrough McGuire. At the midpoint of the Civil War, the hostility of this great American struggle had become an ingrained part of Virginia life. Virginia at War, 1863 is the third volume of a five-book series that reexamines the Commonwealth's history as an integral part of the Confederacy. The series looks beyond military campaigns and tactics to consider how the war forever changed the people, culture, and society of Virginia.

Doon in the glen there wis three ferms. The men that had these ferms were aboot as scunnersome and grippy as ony men ye could meet. They were cried Fermer Boggin, Fermer Boonce and Fermer Beek. On a brae above the glen steyed Mr Tod, Mrs Tod and the fower Wee Tods. Ilka nicht, Mr Tod wid jouk doon tae yin o the ferms and help himsel tae a meal for his wife and weans. Ad so the scene is set for a muckle battle between the scunnersome fermers and the tremendous tods. Following on from the success of The Eejits and Geordie's Mingin Medicine, Itchy Coo 's third Roald Dahl story in Scots sees Fantastic Mr Fox transformed into The Sleekit Mr Tod. He'll need all his wily wits to escape the fermers' wrath and find a new way to feed his faimlie. But is he sleekit enough to succeed?

In this companion to The Life of Johnny Reb, Bell Irvin Wiley explores the daily lives of the men in blue who fought to save the Union. With the help of many soldiers' letters and diaries, Wiley explains who these men were and why they fought, how they reacted to combat and the strain of prolonged conflict, and what they thought about the land and the people of Dixie. This fascinating social history reveals that while the Yanks and the Rebs fought for very different causes, the men on both sides were very much the same.

'This wonderfully interesting book is the finest memorial the Union soldier is ever likely to have.... [Wiley] has written about the Northern troops with an admirable objectivity, with sympathy and understanding and profound respect for their fighting abilities. He has also written about them with fabulous learning and considerable pace and humor.

In Adrenaline Junkies and Template Zombies, the six principal consultants of The Atlantic Systems Guild present the patterns of behavior they most often observe at the dozens of IT firms they transform each year, around the world. The result is a quick-read guide to identifying nearly ninety typical scenarios, drawing on a combined one-hundred-and-fifty years of project management experience. Project by project, you'll improve the accuracy of your hunches and your ability to act on them. The patterns are presented in an easy-reference format, with names designed to ease communication with your teammates. In just a few words, you can describe what's happening on your project. Citing the patterns of behavior can help you quickly move those above and below you to the next step on your project. Not every pattern will be evident in your organization, and not every pattern is necessarily good or bad. However, you'll find many patterns that will apply to your current and future assignments, even in the most ambiguous circumstances. When you assess your situation and follow your next hunch, you'll have the collective wisdom of six world-class consultants at your side.

In this companion to The Life of Johnny Reb, Bell Irvin Wiley explores the daily lives of the men in blue who fought to save the Union. With the help of many soldiers' letters and diaries, Wiley explains who these men were and why they fought, how they reacted to combat and the strain of prolonged conflict, and what they thought about the land and the people of Dixie. This fascinating social history reveals that while the Yanks and the Rebs fought for very different causes, the men on both sides were very much the same.

'This wonderfully interesting book is the finest memorial the Union soldier is ever likely to have.... [Wiley] has written about the Northern troops with an admirable objectivity, with sympathy and understanding and profound respect for their fighting abilities. He has also written about them with fabulous learning and considerable pace and humor.