The first ever collection of Iain Banks's short fiction, this volume includes the acclaimed novella, The State of the Art. This is a striking addition to the growing body of Culture lore, and adds definition and scale to the previous works by using the Earth of 1977 as contrast. The other stories in the collection range from science fiction to horror, dark-coated fantasy to morality tale. All bear the indefinable stamp of Iain Banks's staggering talent.

In an absorbing voyage as interesting to non-drinkers as to true whisky connoisseurs, sci-fi and literary author Iain Banks explores the rich heritage of Scottish whisky, from the most famous distilleries to the most obscure operations. Whisky is more than a drink: it's a culture that binds together people, places and products far across Scotland's rugged terrain. Switching from cars to ferries to bicycles, Banks criss-crosses his homeland, weaving an engrossing narrative full of fascinating traditions, peculiar people, and the downright bizarre places he encounters on his journey down Scotland's great golden road.

Iain Banks' daring new novel opens in a loft apartment in the East End, in a former factory due to be knocked down in a few days. Ken Nott is a devoutly contrarian vaguely left wing radio shock-jock living in London. After a wedding breakfast people start dropping fruits from a balcony on to a deserted carpark ten storeys below, then they start dropping other things; an old TV that doesn't work, a blown loudspeaker, beanbags, other unwanted furniture… Then they get carried away and start dropping things that are still working, while wrecking the rest of the apartment. But mobile phones start ringing and they're told to turn on a TV, because a plane has just crashed into the World Trade Centre… At ease with the volatility of modernity, Iain Banks is also our most accomplished literary writer of narrative-driven adventure stories that never ignore the injustices and moral conundrums of the real world. His new novel, displays his trademark dark wit, buoyancy and momentum.

Hackney, that Rose-Red Empire is Iain Sinclair's foray into one of London's most fascinating boroughs Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire is Iain Sinclair's personal record of his north-east London home in which he has lived for forty years. It is a documentary fiction, seeking to capture the spirit of place, before Hackney succumbs to mendacious green papers, eco boasts, sponsored public art and the Olympic Park gnawing at its edges. It is a message in a bottle, chucked into the flood of the future.

The war is ending, perhaps ended. For the castle and its occupants the troubles are just beginning. Armed gangs roam a lawless land where each farm and house supports a column of dark smoke. Taking to the roads with the other refugees, anonymous in their raggedness, seems safer than remaining in the ancient keep. However, the lieutenant of an outlaw band has other ideas and the castle becomes the focus for a dangerous game of desire, deceit and death. Iain Banks' masterly novel reveals his unique ability to combine gripping narrative with a relentlessly voyaging imagination. The narrative technique and sheer brio of A Song Of Stone reveal a great novelist at the height of his powers.

This is the first Guide to The State Tretyakov Gallery collections of modem art. The articles written by the researchers of the Department of Modern Art contain descriptions of the most representative works by prominent masters of the 20th century and analyses of the artists' legacies in the context of contemporary art life. This book offers many discoveries because most of these art works and artists have not been thoroughly explored before. This edition is intended for a general audience.

After Culloden, Iain MacGillivray Is left for dead on the battlefield. Severely wounded, his face brutally slashed, he survived by pretending to be dead as the Redcoats patrolled the corpses of his Jacobite comrades. Six years later, with the clan chiefs routed and the Highlands under British rule, Iain keeps a bookshop in Inverness. One day a stranger enters. He is searching for something but refuses to say what. Eventually he leaves when Iain locks up for the night. Next morning Iain finds the stranger dead, his throat cut, and the murder weapon beside him - a sword with a white cockade on its hilt, the emblem of the Jacobites. With no sign of the killer, Iain wonders whether the stranger discovered what he was looking for - and paid for it with his life. He soon finds himself embroiled in a web of deceit and a series of old scores to be settled in the ashes of war.

Cayce Pollard has a new job. She's been offered a special project: track down the makers of an addictive online film that's lighting up the internet. Hunting the source will take her to Tokyo and Moscow and put her in the sights of Japanese hackers and Russian Mafia. She's up against those who want to control the film, to own it - who figure breaking the law is just another business strategy. The kind of people who relish turning the hunter into the hunted . . . A gripping spy thriller by William Gibson, bestselling author of Neuromancer. Part prophesy, part satire, Pattern Recognition skewers the absurdity of modern life with the lightest and most engaging of touches. Readers of Neal Stephenson, Ray Bradbury and Iain M. Banks won't be able to put this book down.

The Russian Museum was opened in 1895, by a decree of Tsar Alexander III, and as such was the first state owned museum of art in Russia. Housed in the Mikhailovsky Palace (architect C.Rossi), the Museum numbers nearly 400.000 exhibits, and has a huge range of Russian art which rival that of the Tretiakov in Moscow. The exhibits date from ancient icons to the Avant-garde school of painting of the 20th century, and include many landmarks in the history of Russian art, such as Bruillov's 'The Last Day of Pompeii', and Repin's 'The Barge Haulers'.

Dreaming of freedom amid global revolution, war, and disestablishment, early nineteenth-century artists turned inward and found meaning. Many of these artists, stifled by reactionary push-back, fled to a burgeoning Romantic community in Italy, where their shared yearnings produced some of the greatest art of the century. Through opulent landscapes, German and Russian expatriates such as Caspar David Friedrich and Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov experimented with new forms of liberation, national identity, and religiosity. Lavishly illustrated with three hundred paintings from the State Tretyakov Gallery Moscow and the Albertinum of the State Art Collections Dresden, Dreams of Freedom showcases the remarkable fruit of this cultural encounter.

If all the time you have available is one hour, that's fine. Specially for you we have worked out the best possible routes that will take you to the most famous works of culture and art in the collection of Russia's foremost museum. In the Hermitage in 1 Hour series we invite you to take a variety of themed tours, such as: The State Rooms and Masterpieces of European Painting (14th-18th Centuries); 19th and 20th-century Painting. The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists; The Art and Culture of the Ancient and Classical World; The Art of the East.

If all the time you have available is one hour, that's fine. Specially for you we have worked out the best possible routes that will take you to the most famous works of culture and art in the collection of Russia's foremost museum. In the HERMITAGE IN ONE HOUR series we invite you to take a variety of themed tours, such as: - The State Rooms and Masterpieces of European Painting (14th-18th Centuries); - 19th- and 20th-century Painting. The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists; - The Art and Culture of the Ancient and Classical World; - The Art of the East.

Hubertus Bigend, the Machiavellian head of global ad-agency Blue Ant, wants to uncover the maker of an obscurely fashionable denim that is taking subculture by storm. Ex-musician Henry Hollis knows nothing about fashion, but Bigend decides she is the woman for the job anyway. Soon, though, it becomes clear that Bigend's interest in underground labels might have sinister applications. Powerful parties, who'll do anything to get what they want, are showing their hand. And Hollis is about to find herself in the crossfire. A gripping spy thriller by William Gibson, bestselling author of Neuromancer. Part prophesy, part satire, Zero History skewers the absurdity of modern life with the lightest and most engaging of touches. Readers of Neal Stephenson, Ray Bradbury and Iain M. Banks won't be able to put this book down.

In New York, a young Cuban called Tito is passing iPods to a mysterious old man. Such activities do not go unnoticed, however, in these early days of the War on Terror, and Tito's movements are being tracked. Meanwhile, in LA, journalist Hollis Henry is on the trail of Bobby Chombo, who appears to know too much about military systems for his own good. With Bobby missing and the trail cold, Hollis digs deeper and is drawn into the final moves of a chilling game . . . A gripping spy thriller by William Gibson, bestselling author of Neuromancer. Part prophesy, part satire, Spook Country skewers the absurdity of modern life with the lightest and most engaging of touches. Readers of Neal Stephenson, Ray Bradbury and Iain M. Banks won't be able to put this book down.

This is the first ABC book of the Russian art from the 12th to the 20th centuries. You will find true masterpieces relating to a broad variety of genres: painting, icons, mosaic, sculpture, applied arts, all from the State Tretyakov Gallery collection.

This is the first ABC book of the Russian art from the 12th to the 20th centuries. You will find true masterpieces relating to a broad variety of genres: painting, icons, mosaic, sculpture, applied arts, all from the State Tretyakov Gallery collection.