Tajikistan is one of the last undiscovered tourist destinations. However, partly because of the legacy of civil war and its reputation as the poorest of the former Soviet Republics, it has received little attention from the guidebook market or from international tour operators. In recognition of Tajikistan's remarkable natural resources and tourism potential, trekking and mountaineering, wildlife, exceptional scenery, and tangible remnants of a history that stretches back over 10,000 years.

Marcus Hauser, cartographer, has travelled extensively in Tajikistan and the Pamirs. He is based in Switzerland.

Tajikistan and the High Pamirs: A companion and Guide includes contemporary photography, historical images and images of artefacts from the world's great museums, and is accompanied by a full complement of maps and city plans. The book contains full practical information for travellers, whether they are going on adventure and trekking holidays, or visiting the historical relics of the Silk Road, and the many civilisations that have left their mark on the territory of present-day Tajikistan. Furthermore, this book will also interest armchair travellers, with chapters on history, culture, and a section dedicated specifically to the history of the exploration and adventurers in the Pamirs from the earliest travellers to the Russian and Soviet presence. A selection of essays by academic experts on topics such as wildlife, botany, geology, archaeology and music will secure this publication a place not only as the most informative tourist guide available on Tajikistan, but also as an invaluable work of historical and cultural reference.

Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker's comic triumph is as relevant today as it was when first performed in 1611. With its helpful annotations, historical documents on cross-dressing and on the colorful Mary Frith (the real-life model for Cutpurse); and wealth of scholarly interpretations, this Norton Critical Edition brings The Roaring Girl to life for today's readers.

The text of The Roaring Girl is based on the text from English Renaissance Drama: A Norton Anthology It is accompanied by generous explanatory annotations, five illustrations, and a detailed introduction.

"Contexts" is thematically arranged to include almost all known documents from the period concerning Mary Frith (aka Moll Cutpurse), among them records of her court appearances, letters recounting the same, and her last will. Also reprinted are significant passages from her purported 1662 "autobiography," The Life and Death of Mrs. Mary Frith. While of dubious veracity the "autobiography" is useful for comparing the play's portrayal of Moll with later developments in Moll Cutpurse lore, which the Norton Critical Edition traces through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Perhaps most engaging for classroom discussion are substantial excerpts from the 1620 cross-dressing pamphletsùHic Mutter, or The Man-Woman and Haec Vir, or The Womanish Manùwhich appear in annotated, modern-spelling versions. Together they give insight into how gender-bending trends in clothing, similar to those practiced by Moll, were understood in the early seventeenth century; a related passage from A Sermon of Apparel adds another perspective on cross-dressing practices.

Thirteen critical essays chart the development of scholarly interest in The Roaring Girl, from the first half of the twentieth century, when the play received only passing reference, through the work on city comedy in the 1970's and 1980's, to the explosion of analyses through the late 1980's and 1990's when the play became a major focus for early modern gender studies. The more recent critical essays move beyond a strict focus on gender and cross-dressing to explore The Roaring Girl's depiction of other aspects of early modern London, including consumer culture and the contemporary fascination with the language of the criminal underworld.

The National Guardsman, the citizen soldier called upon to fight for this nation in a time of war, is one of the least understood -- and perhaps one of the most compelling -- figures of the Iraq War. Saber's Edge is the story of a middle-aged Vermont firefighter called upon to be a soldier in the worst place on earth -- Ramadi, Iraq. In a few short weeks Thomas A. Middleton went from being a suburban dad to a combat medic traveling between platoons, filling in for other medics and engaging in some of the fiercest and most crucial fighting of the war.

This is the war as experienced from the ground level: days of tedium interspersed with the adrenalin of combat; moments of lighthearted laughter broken by the sorrow of loss. This is also the story of the unique wartime perspective of our guardsmen. Unlike the raw, unformed young recruit, the mature guardsman often comes with the burdens of family, experience, and a developed sense of self. Accordingly, Sgt. Middleton's story chronicles the inner conflict created by his long-time professional role as a healer and his newfound life as a warrior in the urban battlefields of Iraq. Thrust into a culture and theater of war that he is little equipped or trained for, the author tries to make sense of his actions. Coarsened by combat and increasingly disdainful of the local population, he receives solace and insight from his life-long faith and ultimately emerges as a man who understands his role in the world.

Saber's Edge is also the story of the Green Mountain Boys of Task Force Saber: a story of comradeship and communion amid fierce street fighting in a crucial theater of the Iraq War (the eventual site of the "Al Anbar Awakening"). Based on the author's first-hand experiences and interviews with other soldiers, Saber's Edge presents a riveting account of modern urban warfare and the inspiring story of one man reconciling his actions in warfare.

Thomas Middleton (1580-1627) was a writer of great versatility, and his career as a London dramatist spans the most productive, innovative, and exciting period of theatrical activity in the history of English drama. Best known for his tragedies, he also wrote many successful comedies of city life. This volume offers the best of these comedies: A Mad World, My Masters; Michaelmas Term; A Trick to Catch the Old One; No Wit, No Help Like a Woman's.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

This volume contains Thomas Middletons four greatest plays, "A Chaste Maid in Cheapside," "Women Beware Women," "The Changeling," and "A Game at Chess." "A Chaste Maid in Cheapside" is the most complex and effective of the city comedies. "Women Beware Women" and "The Changeling" (with William Rowley) are two of the most powerful Jacobean tragedies aside from Shakespeare, studies in lust, power, violence, and self-delusive psychology. "A Game at Chess" was the single most popular play of the whole Shakespearean era, a satirical expose of Jesuit plotting and Anglo-Spanish politics which played to packed houses at the Globe until King James and his ministers banned it. With the most up-to-date introduction available, this volume offers all the play texts newly edited with richly informative annotation.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

Timon of Athens is a bitterly intriguing study of a fabulously rich man who wastes his wealth on his friends, and, when he is finally impoverished, learns to despise humanity with a hatred that drives him to his grave. The play's plot structure is schematically clear, and the poetry of Timon's rage is arresting in its savage intensity. Yet readers have often detected loose ends, and the tone of writing is uneven. In his introduction, John Jowett explains how these characteristics arise because the play was written as a collaboration between Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton. This edition pays full justice to Middleton's presence, explaining how his contribution gave the play its distinctive edge. Readers need to read this play as a dialogue between writers of different temperaments, and this edition is the first to make such a reading possible.

The introduction provides the fullest account of the play's performance history available. The commentary is the most detailed ever to have been published. Appendices include source materials and a listing of major productions worldwide.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

The Revenger's Tragedy is an intense tragic burlesque. Its hero, Vindice, desires to avenge the death of his betrothed. Operating in disguises he provokes discord among his enemies so that they plot against each other. It is an anonymous masterpiece (the play was entered in the Stationer's Register on 7th October 1607 without an author being named) produced at a crucial phase in Jacobean theatre with Hamlet, The Malcontent, Measure for Measure, Volpone, and King Lear all recently performed. Written with vivid imagery, the play contains energetic, high-spirited action and brooding, slow-paced scenes on the subjects of death, revenge and evil, culminating in an unexpected ironic climax.
This new student edition contains a completely re-edited text of the play and a new introduction examining this unique combination of poetic tragedy, macabre farce and satire, focused on the dark brilliance of the hero Vindice. It also views the play in wider contexts - of contemporary attitudes to women, as well as contemporary debates concerning rebellion against tyranny.

Beatrice, volubile, capricciosa e incapace di comprendere se stessa e gli altri, si innamora di Anselmo alla vigilia delle proprie nozze con il fidanzato Alonzo. Promettendogli molto denaro, ricorre all'aiuto dell'avido, perverso e passionale De Flores, che ucciderà Alonzo, ma pretenderà poi lei come ricompensa. Beatrice è costretta a cedere a De Flores e insieme, ormai intimamente complici, commettono un altro omicidio. Quando Beatrice sposa Anselmo c'è bisogno di una vergine che prenda il posto della sposa, al buio, nel letto nuziale, la vergine verrà poi uccisa affinché non riveli l'inganno. I due amanti diabolici, smascherati e chiamati a rispondere dei loro atti, si tolgono la vita. Un testo importante del teatro elisabettiano inglese.

Crostic Connoisseurs, It's Time to Meet Your Match!

Simon & Schuster presents a stunning new collection of 185 classic crostic puzzles from the legendary Thomas Middleton series! Selected from out-of-print books, these delightful brainteasers will challenge even the savviest crostic aficionados.

Crostics are a lot like crosswords, but even more fun. The clues are somewhat trickier. And then there's the treat at the end of each puzzle: when you've completely filled in the grid, a passage from a well-known author is revealed.

So sharpen your pencil, put on your thinking cap, and get ready for hours of exciting puzzling. Simon & Schuster's Super Crostics Series #6 is guaranteed to break your brain and leave you smarting for more.

Three more editions of some of the world's greatest plays.