This beautifully written, heartfelt memoir touched a nerve among both readers and reviewers. Elizabeth Gilbert tells how she made the difficult choice to leave behind all the trappings of modern American success (marriage, house in the country, career) and find, instead, what she truly wanted from life. Setting out for a year to study three different aspects of her nature amid three different cultures, Gilbert explored the art of pleasure in Italy and the art of devotion in India, and then a balance between the two on the Indonesian island of Bali. By turns rapturous and rueful, this wise and funny author (whom Booklist calls Anne Lamott’s hip, yoga- practicing, footloose younger sister) is poised to garner yet more adoring fans.

The deepest cave on earth was a prize that had remained unclaimed for centuries, long after every other ultimate discovery had been made: both poles by 1912, Everest in 1958, the Challenger Deep in 1961. In 1969 we even walked on the moon. And yet as late as 2000, the earth’s deepest cave—the supercave—remained undiscovered. This is the story of the men and women who risked everything to find it, earning their place in history beside the likes of Peary, Amundsen, Hillary, and Armstrong.
 
In 2004, two great scientist-explorers are attempting to find the bottom of the world. Bold, heroic American Bill Stone is committed to the vast Cheve Cave, located in southern Mexico and deadly even by supercave standards. On the other side of the globe, legendary Ukrainian explorer Alexander Klimchouk—Stone’s polar opposite in temperament and style, but every bit his equal in scientific expertise, physical bravery, and sheer determination—has targeted Krubera, a freezing nightmare of a supercave in the Republic of Georgia, where underground dangers are compounded by the horrors of separatist war in this former Soviet republic.

Blind Descent explores both the brightest and darkest aspects of the timeless human urge to discover—to be first. It is also a thrilling epic about a pursuit that makes even extreme mountaineering and ocean exploration pale by comparison. These supercavers spent months in multiple camps almost two vertical miles deep and many more miles from their caves’ exits. They had to contend with thousand-foot drops, deadly flooded tunnels, raging whitewater rivers, monstrous waterfalls, mile-long belly crawls, and much more. Perhaps even worse were the psychological horrors produced by weeks plunged into absolute, perpetual darkness, beyond all hope of rescue, including a particularly insidious derangement called The Rapture.

James M. Tabor was granted unprecedented access to logs, journals, photographs, and video footage of these expeditions, as well as many hours of personal interviews with surviving participants. Blind Descent is an unforgettable addition to the classic literature of discovery and adventure. It is also a testament to human survival and endurance—and to two extraordinary men whose relentless pursuit of greatness led them to heights of triumph and depths of tragedy neither could have imagined.

Includes a 16-pg full-color insert


From the Hardcover edition.

• In 2008, combined Walt Disney World Resort theme park attendance reached over 51 million, with the Magic Kingdom alone drawing over 17 million visitors. (Orlando Convention and Visitor Bureau)
• Despite signifcant downturns in the economy Disney theme parks have maintained attendance rates and made gains in attendance at some parks.
• Walt Disney World Resort theme parks are rated best in the world. earning high marks for things outside of the traditional theme park experience. Epcot's International Food & Wine Festival, which takes place for six weeks every fall and showcases food from twenty-five countries, was rated by Forbes Traveler as one of the Best U.S. Food and Wine Festivals.
• Unofficial Guides field tested touring plans can save as much as four hours of standing in line in a single day.

Streetwise Paris Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Paris, France - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro map including lines & stations

This map covers the following areas:
Main Paris Map 1:14,000
Paris Metro Map
Map of France

There are more clichés about Paris than there are tourists at the Louvre, but the fact is that underneath each overused hackneyed cliché is a glistening kernel of truth. The City of Light, the City of Love and the City of Romance, familiar platitudes, but once you experience it for yourself you understand why. There is a je ne sais quoi allure to this city that beguiles, but never completely reveals what makes it so universally appealing. Artists, poets, writers, and composers have tried to define exactly what it is about this place, and yet they succeed only to a point. Perhaps it is as elusive as defining love, for to be in Paris entails experiencing love, about someone, something, some place.

There is so much to do - you know the big ones, the Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, Sacre Coeur, St. Germain des Pres, the Left Bank, the Right Bank, the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysées, the Opéra- but don’t miss the fun of discovering the small ones, the ones off the beaten path. Nothing like taking your time strolling thru the turn of the century mansion that houses Musée Marmottan then enjoying a café and patisserie in the museums jewel box café.

Wandering aimlessly is romantic. Getting lost isn’t romantic. In fact there are few things that can drain the romance out of a situation faster than realizing that you’re hopelessly lost. So take your travel map and put it away if you want to wander, but have no fear that your wandering will turn into a lost odyssey. You can always pull out the STREETWISE® Paris Map and get yourself pointed back in the right direction.

Paris is not without faults. Sometimes people can be rude, but that’s the case anywhere in the world - be it a large city or small village. You get what you give. And in the case of Paris, as with any true love, you accept the flaws with the charms, the weaknesses with the strengths. In the end the true beauty of Paris will surpass any blemish. Life from a Parisian perspective is beautiful. But that’s another cliché, isn’t it?

Our pocket size map of Paris is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Paris map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Paris map today and you too can navigate Paris, France like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

From Hollywood to Marseille with delicious stops in between, Peter Mayle’s latest novel is filled with the culinary delights and entertaining characters that make him our treasured chronicler of French food and life.
 
The story begins high above Los Angeles at the impressive wine cellar of lawyer Danny Roth. Unfortunately, after inviting the Los Angeles Times to write an extensive profile extolling the liquid treasures of his collection, Roth finds himself the victim of a world-class wine heist. Enter Sam Levitt, former lawyer and wine connoisseur, who follows leads to Bordeaux and Provence. The unraveling of the ingenious crime is threaded through with Mayle’s seductive rendering of France’s sensory delights—even the most sophisticated of oenophiles will learn a thing or two from this vintage work by a beloved author.

Streetwise Manhattan Map - Laminated City Street Map of Manhattan, New York - Folding pocket size NYC travel map with integrated subway lines & stations - bus map

This map covers the following areas:
Main Manhattan Map 1:27,000
Manhattan Bus Map

Some people think Manhattan and New York City are synonymous, but technically they are not. Manhattan is one of the five boroughs that make up New York City. The others are Brooklyn, The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. It’s a persnickety detail, but detail is what STREETWISE® is about. For example, the architectural details drawn on the Manhattan New York map are in outline form. A solid drawing would obscure the streets surrounding the location, and therefore hamper the usability of the map. Only in unobstructed locations will you find a solid drawing.

You may not notice this or any of the many other details that combine to make a NY city map that has been called the best selling map on earth*. The STREETWISE® Manhattan Map is detailed from lower tip to upper tip. It is layered with information about sites and mass transit routes. The New York City Subway system is one of the most important and vital rail networks in the world. It is also the fastest and cheapest way to travel north-south in New York. Our Manhattan street map has the best designed diagram of the Subway system ever produced on a street map. An inset of Manhattan bus routes complements the Subway system. You are now prepared to travel the length and breadth of Manhattan. From shopping in SOHO, dining in the Village, working in Midtown, visiting the Met on the Upper East Side or strolling thru Central Park, you’re covered with the STREETWISE® Manhattan Map of NYC. From the Staten Island Ferry up to the rediscovered realm of Harlem, you can navigate like a native New Yorker with this pocket size Manhattan Map.

Good city maps, like the STREETWISE® map of Manhattan, will guide you in the right direction and directly impact your experience of New York. A good Manhattan map will also keep you grounded, relaxed and confident in your decisions about where to go and how to get there. Whether by car, train, bus or on foot you are confident because you carry the most knowledgeable travel companion when you carry our NYC street map, the best laminated Manhattan Map on the market.

Our pocket size map of Manhattan is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Manhattan map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Manhattan map today and you too can navigate Manhattan, New York like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

* Publishers Weekly January 2004

The fifth in a series of pocket-sized paperbacks answers the question, What would it be like to walk through Disney's Hollywood Studios with an Imagineer by your side? The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Hollywood Studios provides that experience: pointing out details and telling stories, back stories, and Imagineering insights never before heard, condensed into a portable, easily-referenced park guide. You'll never spend time at the Studios the same way again.

Each spread contains fascinating textual information and related images (drawings, photos, graphics) such as:

¨ Set-up, backgrounds, and origins of each park/land/mini-land

¨ Concept art to compare to the finished show

¨ Timeline information (opening dates, previous shows in the same venue, alterations and updates)

- Photography of the details and big pictures being discussed

¨ Special props, design sources, artistic inspirations, nomenclature gags

Streetwise Rome Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of Rome, Italy - Folding pocket size travel map with integrated metro map including subway & railway lines, stations

This map covers the following areas:
Main Rome Map 1:17,000
Rome Historic District Map 1:8,700
Rome Metro Map

As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day. It took hundreds of years to create the great Roman Empire, but it shouldn’t take as long to find your way around the ancient ruins that remain. With a STREETWISE® Map of Rome Italy, you have the ultimate guide to navigating Italy’s most famous and most historic city.

Throughout the city of Rome, past and present are intertwined as modern-day Italians and visiting tourists walk and drive through the remnants of one of history’s greatest civilizations. Whether it’s your first time or another return visit to your favorite destination, there’s always something new to see in Rome. A great map can be the key to discovering all the city has to offer.

Our STREETWISE® Rome Map provides a comprehensive and fully detailed map of Rome to aid you in finding your way to all there is to do and see in this great center of history and culture. From Vatican City to the southeast corner of Palatine, the STREETWISE® Rome Map covers the entire city in full-color, including graphic representations of the major buildings and historic sites. Our STREETWISE® Rome City Map is fully indexed, including streets, piazzas, gardens, and important places of interest. The STREETWISE® Rome Map also features a map of the Rome Metro system, including subway lines, railways, and the airport.

Our pocket size map of Rome is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® Rome map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® Rome map today and you too can navigate Rome, Italy like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

Streetwise London Map - Laminated City Center Street Map of London, England - Folding pocket size travel map with London Underground map including tube lines & stations

This map covers the following areas:
Main London City Map 1:20,000
London Underground Map - London Tube Map

London is one of the most popular, populated and accessible cites on earth. People love London. And why not? Londoners are charming and helpful, and their city operates on such a high dosage of civility that it could be considered an art form. London is an urban oasis where you can search out cutting edge design, cuisine, fashion, chic neighborhoods, or traditional culture.

When visiting London, be prepared to walk. Whether its basic window shopping, advanced people watching, or the rewarding task of locating restaurants and museums, London is urban roaming at its best. Days can be spent just visiting London's neighborhoods, each with its own character, atmosphere and unique offerings.

The STREETWISE® Map of London UK will enable you to go anywhere in central London. The detailed and indexed depiction of streets, tube stations, sites and hotels will enable you to spend more time making new urban discoveries than less time complaining about disorientation. Say you choose Mayfair, for its refined and cultured demeanor. Take an afternoon stroll wandering through Berkeley Square, Grovesnor Square and Green Park then finish with an espresso at Rochaux’s cafe. You’ll briefly feel exclusive. Wander the back alleys in Soho and you will never know what or who you’ll run across. The very trendy Covent Garden is dense with human interaction packed into a small area. Walk up to Bloomsbury with its literary heritage to be amazed by the vast holdings within the British Museum.

The original city of London is the square mile of the city center, now the financial center as well. Immerse yourself in history and architecture with its many fantastic buildings beginning with St Paul’s Cathedral on the western edge and ending at the Tower of London to the eastside. Hike over the Thames on the Tower Bridge to see the Design Museum and the HMS Belfast.

You are now on the South Bank dominated by Waterloo Station and its surrounding shopping and dining area. The London Eye will provide an interesting overhead perspective of greater London. Come back to earth and walk the Thames along Queen’s walk pedestrian path and you'll be rewarded upon finding Gabriel’s Wharf, the Tate Modern, the famous wobbly Millennium Bridge and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Walk South through Hyde Park and you encounter Knightsbridge. It is one of London’s most fashionable neighborhoods, the home of Harrod’s (the Vatican of department stores) and Beauchamp Place, one of London’s most fashionable shopping streets. If shopping is not on the agenda, there are museums like the Victoria & Albert, the Science Museum, and the Natural History Museum. South of Knightsbridge is Belgravia. This area has long been the aristocratic section of London, rivaling Mayfair in grandeur and tranquility.

Our London street map is fully indexed with streets, concert halls, hotels, museums and galleries, parks, points of interest, shopping areas and transportation terminals. A separate inset map of the London Underground, the Tube, is also included to facilitate your travel around the city.

Our pocket size map of London is laminated for durability and accordion folding for effortless use. The STREETWISE® London map is one of many detailed and easy-to-read city street maps designed and published by STREETWISE®. Buy your STREETWISE® London map today and you too can navigate London, England like a native. For a larger selection of our detailed travel maps simply type STREETWISE MAPS into the Amazon search bar.

From the author of The Last Mughal (“A compulsively readable masterpiece” —The New York Review of Books), an exquisite, mesmerizing book that illuminates the remarkable ways in which traditional forms of religious life in India have been transformed in the vortex of the region’s rapid change—a book that distills the author’s twenty-five years of travel in India, taking us deep into ways of life that we might otherwise never have known exist.

A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet—and spends the rest of his life atoning for the violence by hand printing the finest prayer flags in India . . . A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her closest friend ritually starve herself to death . . . A woman leaves her middle-class life in Calcutta and finds unexpected fulfillment living as a Tantric in an isolated, skull-filled cremation ground . . . A prison warder from Kerala is worshipped as an incarnate deity for three months of every year . . . An idol carver, the twenty-third in a long line of sculptors, must reconcile himself to his son’s desire to study computer engineering . . . An illiterate goatherd from Rajasthan keeps alive in his memory an ancient four-thousand-stanza sacred epic . . . A temple prostitute, who initially resisted her own initiation into sex work, pushes both her daughters into a trade she nonetheless regards as a sacred calling.

William Dalrymple chronicles these lives with expansive insight and a spellbinding evocation of circumstance. And while the stories reveal the vigorous resilience of individuals in the face of the relentless onslaught of modernity, they reveal as well the continuity of ancient traditions that endure to this day. A dazzling travelogue of both place and spirit.


From the Hardcover edition.