Extreme Running Hardcover by Kym Mcconnell

Running is an inexpensive, convenient and increasingly popular sport, but some take it to the limit. From cold weather running in Alaska to the intense heat of the Sahara Marathon, a number of athletes choose to pit themselves against the elements. Extremes of environment, route and geography are another challenge, from trails through dense jungle to soaring mountain ranges. The rewards are the experiences of a lifetime, the sense of having been to largely unexplored places and the realisation of unique ambitions. Never before has there been a manual to pull together all the elements of this new, but fast growing sport. The book features over 150 stunning images and amusing, informative text.

Review

"Don't you just hate those hearty types who jog past your sun lounger as you're ordering your first poolside pina colada at 9am? Extreme Running is not for you, then. The book lists details of challenges such as the Marathon des Sables in Morocco, the Badwater Ultramarathon in California and the Antartic Ice Marathon among others, if you ever change your mind." The Times

About the Author

Kym McConnell has competed in extreme events for nearly 20 years. He has run an extreme foot race on every continent, including ultra-distance races in the Himalayas, Amazon, Antarctica, Arctic and the Sahara, and competed in various multi-disciplinary competitions including a 39th place in the World Multisport Championships – a 243km run/cycle/kayak race. Dave Horsley has always had a love for the outdoors and running, graduating from cross-country to the marathon.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Pavilion (July 9, 2010)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1862058865

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1862058866

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.16 pounds, 526 gr

Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 0.8 x 8 inches, 165 x 20 x 203 mm

Title: Episodes in the Mathematics of Medieval Islam

Subtitle: With 97 Figures and 20 Plates

Author: J. L. Berggren

Publisher: Springer Verlag

Publication Date: 2003

Number of Pages: 197

Format: Paperback

ISBN: 0-387-96318-9

Tags: History of Mathematics

Description

This book presents an account of selected topics from key mathematical works of medieval Islam, based on the Arabic texts themselves. Many of these works had a great influence on mathematics in Western Europe. Topics covered in the first edition include arithmetic, algebra, geometry, trigonometry, and numerical approximation; this second edition adds number theory and combinatorics. Additionally, the author has included selections from the western regions of medieval Islam—both North Africa and Spain. The author puts the works into their historical context and includes numerous examples of how mathematics interacted with Islamic society.

Tabele of Contents

Preface vii

1. Introduction     1

2. Islamic Arithmetic     29

3. Geometrical Constructions in the Islamic World       70

4. Algebra in Islam       99

5. Trigonometry in the Islamic World     127

6. Spherics in the Islamic World       157

Index     189

Review

[Reviewed by Glen van Brummelen, on 04/1/2004]

Teachers who use history to motivate mathematics are usually well aware of its power to transform the subject from alien symbol-pushing to an exciting human adventure. Judging by the popularity of "history in the classroom" sessions at mathematics meetings and the number of accessible books written on the subject in recent years, we are now witnessing a "historic" pedagogical shift. But while the sources are plentiful, they are not balanced — and material for non-Western cultures is often the most difficult to find. One popular history of mathematics textbook, in fact, relegates all of Islamic and Chinese mathematics to one section at the end of the chapter "Twilight of Greek Mathematics: Diophantus"!

This state of affairs is especially lamentable because much of the mathematics we teach has roots in and connections with these cultures. In the case of Islam there is extra cause for dismay, since Islam falls naturally between Greece and the Renaissance as part of our Western tradition. One admirable effort to make Islamic mathematics accessible to educators has been J. L. Berggren's Episodes in the Mathematics of Medieval Islam. (Full disclosure: the author was the reviewer's doctoral supervisor.) Written in 1986 and inspired by Asger Aaboe's classic Episodes in the Early History of Mathematics, this book contains a wealth of classroom-ready examples of much of the mathematics one finds in high school and early college: arithmetic, geometry, algebra, and trigonometry.

Why review an 18-year-old book? For one, Springer has just released a paperback edition, identical to the original (other than the plain cover) at about half the price. For another, Episodes remains the only book-length source of Arabic mathematics accessible to teachers, and the material has not been outdated. Springer has taken the right step by issuing a paperback edition to get the book into the hands of a more general readership.

Some episodes fare better than others in today's classroom; for instance, few modern students (alas) will have the opportunity and patience to gain the background required to understand spherical astronomy. However, most examples in this book, properly motivated, can enliven an otherwise pedestrian lecture. For instance, Jamshid al-Kashi's method of determining 5th roots, made obsolete by the likes of Texas Instruments, motivates the study of the binomial theorem by allowing the student to see the theorem work itself out in a practical numeric context. The uses of conic sections through sundials and applications of geometry to Islamic façades demonstrate that the world of geometry, so often portrayed as pure and unsullied by outside influences, interacted with culture in significant and diverse ways. In algebra, the descriptions of various computational and geometric approaches to the solutions of quadratic and cubic equations emphasize the validity of casting problems in different ways to achieve different insights. The arithmetization of algebra by al-Karaji and others is one of many ways in which Islam transformed our Greek mathematical heritage into something much more familiar to our students. The close historical partnership between trigonometry and astronomy is underscored well. In some of my course evaluations, students recall with amazement our attempt to reproduce al-Biruni's method for finding the circumference of the earth using nothing more than a yardstick and a large piece of cardboard.

The re-issue of this gem is significant and welcomed. It will enrich your classes and deepen your perspective on mathematics and culture.

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Product Details:

Title: Persuasion

Subtitle: With a Memoir of Jane Austen

Author: Jane Austen

Language: English

Format: Print

Edited: D. W. Harding

Publisher: Penguin

Place of publication: UK

Year Published: 2001

ISBN: 0140430059

Binding: Pocket

Pages: 400

Dimensions (mm): 182 x 110 x 19

Shipping Weight (g): 300

Synopsis:

She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older.
At twenty-seven, Anne Elliot is no longer young and has few romantic prospects. Eight years earlier, she had been persuaded by her friend Lady Russell to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a handsome naval captain with neither fortune nor rank. What happens when they encounter each other again is movingly told in Jane Austen’s last completed novel. Set in the fashionable societies of Lyme Regis and Bath, Persuasion is a brilliant satire of vanity and pretension, but, above all, it is a love story tinged with the heartache of missed opportunities.

Excerpt

Chapter I  Sir Walter Elliot, of Kellynch Hall, in Somersetshire, was a man who, for his own amusement, never took up any book but the Baronetage; there he found occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one; there his faculties were roused into admiration and respect, by contemplating the limited remnant of the earliest patents; there any unwelcome sensations, arising from domestic affairs changed naturally into pity and contempt. As he turned over the almost endless creations of the last centuryand there, if every other leaf were powerless, he could read his own history with an interest which never failedthis was the page at which the favourite volume always opened:
ELLIOT OF KELLYNCH HALL.
 Walter Elliot, born March 1, 1760, married, July 15, 1784, Elizabeth, daughter of James Stevenson, Esq. of South Park, in the county of Gloucester, by which lady (who died 1800) he has issue Elizabeth, born June 1, 1785; Anne, born August 9, 1787; a still-born son, November 5, 1789; Mary, born November 20, 1791.  Precisely such had the paragraph originally stood from the printer's hands; but Sir Walter had improved it by adding, for the information of himself and his family, these words, after the date of Mary's birth "Married, Dec 16, 1810, Charles, son and heir of Charles Musgrove, Esq. of Uppercross, in the county of Somerset," and by inserting most accurately the day of the month on which he had lost his wife.  Then followed the history and rise of the ancient and respectable family, in the usual terms: how it had been first settled in Cheshire; how mentioned in Dugdaleserving the office of High Sheriff, representing a borough in three successive parliaments, exertions of loyalty, and dignity of baronet, in the first year of Charles II, with all the Marys and Elizabeths they had married; forming altogether two handsome duodecimo pages, and concluding with the arms and motto:"Principal seat, Kellynch Hall, in the county of Somerset," and Sir Walter's hand-writing again in this finale:  "Heir presumptive, William Walter Elliot, Esq., great grandson of the second Sir Walter."  Vanity was the beginning and the end of Sir Walter Elliot's character; vanity of person and of situation. He had been remarkably handsome in his youth; and, at fifty-four, was still a very fine man. Few women could think more of their personal appearance than he did; nor could the valet of any new made lord be more delighted with the place he held in society. He considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy; and the Sir Walter Elliot, who united these gifts, was the constant object of his warmest respect and devotion.  His good looks and his rank had one fair claim on his attachment; since to them he must have owed a wife of very superior character to any thing deserved by his own. Lady Elliot had been an excellent woman, sensible and amiable; whose judgement and conduct, if they might be pardoned the youthful infatuation which made her Lady Elliot, had never required indulgence afterwards.She had humoured, or softened, or concealed his failings, and promoted his real respectability for seventeen years; and though not the very happiest being in the world herself, had found enough in her duties, her friends, and her children, to attach her to life, and make it no matter of indifference to her when she was called on to quit them. Three girls, the two eldest sixteen and fourteen, was an awful legacy for a mother to bequeath; an awful charge rather, to confide to the authority and guidance of a conceited, silly father. She had, however, one very intimate friend, a sensible, deserving woman, who had been brought, by strong attachment to herself, to settle close by her, in the village of Kellynch; and on her kindness and advice, Lady Elliot mainly relied for the best help and maintenance of the good principles and instruction which she had been anxiously giving her daughters.  This friend, and Sir Walter, did not marry, whatever might have been anticipated on that head by their acquaintance. Thirteen years had passed away since Lady Elliot's death, and they were still near neighbours and intimate friends; and one remained a widower, the other a widow.  That Lady Russell, of steady age and character, and extremely well provided for, should have no thought of a second marriage, needs no apology to the public, which is rather apt to be unreasonably discontented when a woman does marry again, than when she does not; but Sir Walter's continuing in singleness requires explanation. Be it known then, that Sir Walter, like a good father, (having met with one or two private disappointments in very unreasonable applications) prided himself on remaining single for his dear daughters' sake. For one daughter, his eldest, he would really have given up any thing, which he had not been very much tempted to do. Elizabeth had succeeded, at sixteen, to all that was possible, of her mother's rights and consequence; and being very handsome, and very like himself, her influence had always been great, and they had gone on together most happily. His two other children were of very inferior value. Mary had acquired a little artificial importance, by becoming Mrs Charles Musgrove; but Anne, with an elegance of mind and sweetness of character, which must have placed her high with any people of real understanding, was nobody with either father or sister; her word had no weight, her convenience was always to give way; she was only Anne.  To Lady Russell, indeed, she was a most dear and highly valued god-daughter, favourite, and friend. Lady Russell loved them all; but it was only in Anne that she could fancy the mother to revive again.  A few years before, Anne Elliot had been a very pretty girl, but her bloom had vanished early; and as even in its height, her father had found little to admire in her, (so totally different were her delicate features and mild dark eyes from his own); there could be nothing in them, now that she was faded and thin, to excite his esteem. He had never indulged much hope, he had now none, of ever reading her name in any other page of his favourite work. All equality of alliance must rest with Elizabeth; for Mary had merely connected herself with an old country family of respectability and large fortune, and had therefore given all the honour and received none: Elizabeth would, one day or other, marry suitably.  It sometimes happens, that a woman is handsomer at twenty-nine than she was ten years before; and, generally speaking, if there has been neither ill health nor anxiety, it is a time of life at which scarcely any charm is lost. It was so with Elizabeth, still the same handsome Miss Elliot that she had begun to be thirteen years ago; and Sir Walter might be excused, therefore, in forgetting her age, or, at least, be deemed only half a fool, for thinking himself and Elizabeth as blooming as ever, amidst the wreck of the good looks of every body else; for he could plainly see how old all the rest of his family and acquaintance were growing. Anne haggard, Mary coarse, every face in the neighbourhood worsting; and the rapid increase of the crow's foot about Lady Russell's temples had long been a distress to him.  Elizabeth did not quite equal her father in personal contentment. Thirteen years had seen her mistress of Kellynch Hall, presiding and directing with a self-possession and decision which could never have given the idea of her being younger than she was. For thirteen years had she been doing the honours, and laying down the domestic law at home, and leading the way to the chaise and four, and walking immediately after Lady Russell out of all the drawing-rooms and dining-rooms in the country. Thirteen winters' revolving frosts had seen her opening every ball of credit which a scanty neighbourhood afforded; and thirteen springs shewn their blossoms, as she travelled up to London with her father, for a few weeks' annual enjoyment of the great world. She had the remembrance of all this; she had the consciousness of being nine-and-twenty to give her some regrets and some apprehensions. She was fully satisfied of being still quite as handsome as ever; but she felt her approach to the years of danger, and would have rejoiced to be certain of being properly solicited by baronet-blood within the next twelvemonth or two. Then might she again take up the book of books with as much enjoyment as in her early youth, but now she liked it not. Always to be presented with the date of her own birth and see no marriage follow but that of a youngest sister, made the book an evil; and more than once, when her father had left it open on the table near her, had she closed it, with averted eyes, and pushed it away.  She had had a disappointment, moreover, which that book, and especially the history of her own family, must ever present the remembrance of. The heir presumptive, the very William Walter Elliot, Esq., whose rights had been so generously supported by her father, had disappointed her.  She had, while a very young girl, as soon as she had known him to be, in the event of her having no brother, the future baronet, meant to marry him, and her father had always meant that she should. He had not been known to them as a boy; but soon after Lady Elliot's death, Sir Walter had sought the acquaintance, and though his overtures had not been met with any warmth, he had persevered in seeking it, making allowance for the modest drawing-back of youth; and, in one of their spring excursions to London, when Elizabeth was in her first bloom, Mr Elliot had been forced into the introduction.  He was at that time a very young man, just engaged in the study of the law; and Elizabeth found him extremely agreeable, and every plan in his favour was confirmed. He was invited to Kellynch Hall; he was talked of and expected all the rest of the year; but he never came. The following spring he was seen again in town, found equally agreeable, again encouraged, invited, and expected, and again he did not come; and the next tidings were that he was married. Instead of pushing his fortune in the line marked out for the heir of the house of Elliot, he had purchased independence by uniting himself to a rich woman of inferior birth.  Sir Walter has resented it. As the head of the house, he felt that he ought to have been consulted, especially after taking the young man so publicly by the hand: "For they must have been seen together," he observed, "once at Tattersal's, and twice in the lobby of the House of Commons." His disapprobation was expressed, but apparently very little regarded. Mr Elliot had attempted no apology, and shewn himself as unsolicitous of being longer noticed by the family, as Sir Walter considered him unworthy of it: all acquaintance between them had ceased.  This very awkward history of Mr Elliot was still, after an interval of several years, felt with anger by Elizabeth, who had liked the man for himself, and still more for being her father's heir, and whose strong family pride could see only in him, a proper match for Sir Walter Elliot's eldest daughter. There was not a baronet from A to Z whom her feelings could have so willingly acknowledged as an equal. Yet so miserably had he conducted himself, that though she was at this present time (the summer of 1814) wearing black ribbons for his wife, she could not admit him to be worth thinking of again. The disgrace of his first marriage might, perhaps, as there was no reason to suppose it perpetuated by offspring, have been got over, had he not done worse; but he had, as by the accustomary intervention of kind friends, they had been informed, spoken most disrespectfully of them all, most slightingly and contemptuously of the very blood he belonged to, and the honours which were hereafter to be his own. This could not be pardoned.  Such were Elizabeth Elliot's sentiments and sensations; such the cares to alloy, the agitations to vary, the sameness and the elegance, the prosperity and the nothingness of her scene of lifesuch the feelings to give interest to a long, uneventful residence in one country circle, to fill the vacancies which there were no habits of utility abroad, no talents or accomplishments for home, to occupy.  But now, another occupation and solicitude of mind was beginning to be added to these. Her father was growing distressed for money. She knew, that when he now took up the Baronetage, it was to drive the heavy bills of his tradespeople, and the unwelcome hints of Mr Shepherd, his agent, from his thoughts. The Kellynch property was good, but not equal to Sir Walter's apprehension of the state required in its possessor. While Lady Elliot lived, there had been method, moderation, and economy, which had just kept him within his income; but with her had died all such right-mindedness, and from that period he had been constantly exceeding it. It had not been possible for him to spend less; he had done nothing but what Sir Walter Elliot was imperiously called on to do; but blameless as he was, he was not only growing dreadfully in debt, but was hearing of it so often, that it became vain to attempt concealing it longer, even partially, from his daughter. He had given her some hints of it the last spring in town; he had gone so far even as to say, "Can we retrench? Does it occur to you that there is any one article in which we can retrench?" and Elizabeth, to do her justice, had, in the first ardour of female alarm, set seriously to think what could be done, and had finally proposed these two branches of economy: to cut off some unnecessary charities, and to refrain from new furnishing the drawing-room; to which expedients she afterwards added the happy thought of their taking no present down to Anne, as had been the usual yearly custom. But these measures, however good in themselves, were insufficient for the real extent of the evil, the whole of which Sir Walter found himself obliged to confess to her soon afterwards. Elizabeth had nothing to propose of deeper efficacy. She felt herself ill-used and unfortunate, as did her father; and they were neither of them able to devise any means of lessening their expenses without compromising their dignity, or relinquishing their comforts in a way not to be borne.  There was only a small part of his estate that Sir Walter could dispose of; but had every acre been alienable, it would have made no difference. He had condescended to mortgage as far as he had the power, but he would never condescend to sell. No; he would never disgrace his name so far. The Kellynch estate should be transmitted whole and entire, as he had received it.  Their two confidential friends, Mr Shepherd, who lived in the neighbouring market town, and Lady Russell, were called to advise them; and both father and daughter seemed to expect that something should be struck out by one or the other to remove their embarrassments and reduce their expenditure, without involving the loss of any indulgence of taste or pride.

About the Author:

Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon near Basingstoke, the seventh child of the rector of the parish. She lived with her family at Steventon until they moved to Bath when her father retired in 1801. After his death in 1805, she moved around with her mother; in 1809, they settled in Chawton, near Alton, Hampshire. Here she remained, except for a few visits to London, until in May 1817 she moved to Winchester to be near her doctor. There she died on 18 July 1817.
As a girl Jane Austen wrote stories, including burlesques of popular romances. Her works were only published after much revision, four novels being published in her lifetime. These are Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), MansfieldPark (1814) and Emma (1816). Two other novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, were published posthumously in 1818 with a biographical notice by her brother, Henry Austen, the first formal announcement of her authorship. Persuasion was written in a race against failing health in 1815-16. She also left two earlier compositions, a short epistolary novel, Lady Susan, and an unfinished novel, The Watsons. At the time of her death, she was working on a new novel, Sanditon, a fragmentary draft of which survives.

Title: The Fallen

Author: T. Jefferson Parker

ISBN-10: 0007202555

ISBN-13: 9780007202553

Language: English

Publisher: Harper

Genre/Subject: Mystery, Thriller/Suspense, Police Procedurals

Place of publication: USA

Year Published: 01/03/2010

Binding: Paperback

Number of Pages: 470

Dimensions (mm):177 x 110 x 26 mm

Shipping Weight (g):250 g

Description:

A detective with a unique gift, a tragic suicide and big city corruption - The Fallen’ is the stunning new thriller from the author of The Blue Hour’: a great writer  he’s amazing’ Lee Child
What if you could tell someone was a killer just by looking at them?
Detective Robbie Brownlaw can. A six-storey plunge from a burning hotel leaves him with the usual broken bones and something different. Synesthesia. The ability to see words and emotions as colours makes Robbie a human lie detector.
It's a condition that might have helped Garrett Asplundth. Hired to look into rumours surrounding a certain madam's Little Black Book, Garrett found a lot more than the usual round of losers and sad husbands. But the dirt came at a high price.
Now he's dead and it's only when Robbie gets hold of the book that he finds out just why Garrett was so curious and why others will kill to get it back
A good cop, Robbie Brownlaw was thrown from a sixth-floor window of a downtown hotel and miraculously survived. The traumatic incident left Robbie with a fast-track career in the San Diego P.D.'s Homicide division . . . and a rare neurological condition that enables him to see people's emotional words as colored shapesgreen trapezoids of envy, red squares of deception . . .
Another good man lies dead in a blood-splattered Ford Exploreran ex-cop-turned-ethics investigator whose private life was torn open by unthinkable tragedy. Whether Garrett Asplundh's death was suicide or murder isn't immediately apparentbut it's soon clear to Robbie and his smart, tough partner, McKenzie Cortez, that Garrett had hard evidence of sex, scandal, and corruption spreading deep into local government. But pursuing the truth could prove more emotionally devastating than Robbie ever imagined.
Praise for The Fallen’:
Writes with intelligence, style and sensitivity, and he belongs in the first rank of American crime novelists.’ Washington Post
Excellent with his trademark psychological acuity and empathy, Parker creates a world of fully realized characters coping with obsession and loss compelling.’ Publisher’s Weekly
Deft his dialogue crackles and pops in an intricate and well-paced tale set in a city where shadowy characters lurk beneath sunny skies.’ Booklist

Praise for Jefferson Parker:
A great writer he’s amazing.’ Lee Child
Parker gets better and better.' Literary Review
Insanely imaginative.' New York Times
Parker has only one rival - Thomas Harris.’ Washington Post
One of our top writers.’ Harlan Coben
I rank the crime novels of Jefferson Parker up there with the best.’ Sue Grafton
About the Author:

Jefferson Parker (known as T Jefferson Parker in the States) was born in LA in 1953. He worked as a newspaper journalist in California, covering the crime beat, where his novels all reflect the sunny wickedness of his home state.
He is the author of twelve novels; both Silent Joe’ and California Girl’ won the prestigious Edgar award (the equivalent of our CWA Gold Dagger). His latest novel, set in San Diego, features a detective with synaesthesia. The Fallen’ is published in hardback in May 2006.
Jefferson lives in Laguna Beach, California. When not working on his books, he spends his time with his family, hiking, hunting and fishing, and haunting the public tennis courts.

Pertinent URL:
http://www.tjeffersonparker.com

If you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact Mezerah:
e-mail:  mezerah.eshop@gmail.com
Skaype ID:  mezerah.eshop

Silas Marner, The Lifted Veil, Brother Jacob and a Selection of Poems by George Eliot

Published by London: Collins (1953)

George Eliot's tale of a solitary miser gradually redeemed by the joy of fatherhood, Silas Marner is edited with an introduction by Winifred Mulley.

Wrongly accused of theft and exiled from a religious community many years before, the embittered weaver Silas Marner lives alone in Raveloe, living only for work and his precious hoard of money. But when his money is stolen and an orphaned child finds her way into his house, Silas is given the chance to transform his life. His fate, and that of Eppie, the little girl he adopts, is entwined with Godfrey Cass, son of the village Squire, who, like Silas, is trapped by his past. Silas Marner, George Eliot's favourite of her novels, combines humour, rich symbolism and pointed social criticism to create an unsentimental but affectionate portrait of rural life.

This text uses the Cabinet edition, revised by George Eliot in 1878. David Carroll's introduction is complemented by the original Penguin Classics edition introduction by Q.D. Leavis.

Mary Ann Evans (1819-80) began her literary career as a translator, and later editor, of the Westminster Review. In 1857, she published Scenes of Clerical Life, the first of eight novels she would publish under the name of 'George Eliot', including The Mill on the Floss, Middlemarch, and Daniel Deronda.

If you enjoyed Silas Marner, you might like Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, also available in Penguin Classics.

'I think Silas Marner holds a higher place than any of the author's works. It is more nearly a masterpiece; it has more of that simple, rounded, consummate aspect ... which marks a classical work'
Henry James

Mary Ann Evans, known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She was born in 1819 at a farmstead in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, where her father was estate manager. Mary Ann, the youngest child and a favorite of her father's, received a good education for a young woman of her day. Influenced by a favorite governess, she became a religious evangelical as an adolescent.

Her first published work was a religious poem. Through a family friend, she was exposed to Charles Hennell's "An Inquiry into the Origins of Christianity". Unable to believe, she conscientiously gave up religion and stopped attending church. Her father shunned her, sending the broken-hearted young dependent to live with a sister until she promised to reexamine her feelings. Her intellectual views did not, however, change. She translated "Das Leben Jesu", a monumental task, without signing her name to the 1846 work.

After her father's death in 1849, Mary Ann traveled, then accepted an unpaid position with The Westminster Review. Despite a heavy workload, she translated "The Essence of Christianity", the only book ever published under her real name. That year, the shy, respectable writer scandalized British society by sending notices to friends announcing she had entered a free "union" with George Henry Lewes, editor of The Leader, who was unable to divorce his first wife. They lived harmoniously together for the next 24 years, but suffered social ostracism and financial hardship. She became salaried and began writing essays and reviews for The Westminster Review.

Renaming herself "Marian" in private life and adopting the penname "George Eliot," she began her impressive fiction career, including: "Adam Bede" (1859), "The Mill on the Floss" (1860), "Silas Marner" (1861), "Romola" (1863), and "Middlemarch" (1871). Themes included her humanist vision and strong heroines. Her poem, "O May I Join the Choir Invisible" expressed her views about non supernatural immortality: "O may I join the choir invisible/ Of those immortal dead who live again/ In minds made better by their presence. . ." D. 1880.

Her 1872 work Middlemarch has been described by Martin Amis and Julian Barnes as the greatest novel in the English language.

Eleven Minutes is the story of Maria, a young girl from a Brazilian village, whose first innocent brushes with love leave her heartbroken.