Michael Tanner

Reach for the stars in this exciting graphic novel about three ambitious, space-loving kids who must put their differences aside to save their summer camp before it closes...for good.Welcome to Camp Launchpad! Summer is in full swing, which means a new class of kids has arrived to attend the best space camp in Florida...or at least, it used to be. With growing competition from the trendy rival camp next door, Camp Launchpad needs all the help it can get to keep its doors open.Campers Val, Mark, and Pete are here for very different reasons: following in the footsteps of an astronaut mom, living up to expectations as a vice president's son, or getting a once-in-a-lifetime scholarship. But they all have one huge thing in common: Their future in the stars launches from here...if there's still a camp to launch from.When the hotshot owner of the rival space camp makes a ten-million-dollar bet that could turn Camp Launchpad around, this unlikely trio must band together to pull off a miracle. If they don't, this could be Camp Launchpad's last summer ever!

Mayhem ensues! Volume 2 of Justin Roiland’s hilarious series Orcs in Space finds Gor, Kravis, and Mongtar making new allies and enemies across the greater Galactigon. With the help of an increasingly sapient D.O.N.A., the orcs face off with an eccentric scrapper bot, a cantankerous cat mechanic, and incur the wrath of a biker gang called the Fuzzballs to discover the truth about D.O.N.A.’s mysterious creator. Will they survive the standoff with evil scientist Dr. Smedley before Starbleep, the Space Rats, and the rest of the orc-hating universe hunt them down?

Steve Cauthen commenced his 14-year 'English Odyssey' in April 1979. The erstwhile 'Kentucky Kid' had taken American racing by storm. A champion jockey at 17 and a Triple Crown winner at 18, the teenage prodigy became a bona fide celebrity but a slump of 110 consecutive losers saw him cross the Atlantic seeking to resurrect his career. Within weeks of his arrival 'The Kid' won an English Classic, the 2000 Guineas. He'd go on to become the only jockey to win both the Derby and the Kentucky Derby (plus those of Ireland, France and Italy); be the most recent jockey to win an English Triple Crown courtesy of Oh So Sharp in 1985; and secure three jockeys' championships - making him the only man to win titles in both America and England. Moreover, Cauthen was a supreme stylist who transformed English race-riding: his streamlined American toe-in-the-iron seat and clock-in-the-head judgement of pace sparking widespread imitation. The list of household names benefiting from his sublime talents are legion and this most articulate of jockeys recalls every one of them in his own inimitable style along with all the attendant highs and lows in this first complete retelling of his 'English Odyssey'.

The Family Legacy Journal is the journal that will build the family legacy parents dream of in just ten minutes each day. Most families are caught up in a whirlwind of busyness that leaves them feeling disconnected. Without a method to slow the pace of everyday life, families drift apart. The Family Legacy Journal equips men and women to reconnect with their family or spouse with just ten minutes of journaling each day. Through the power of gratitude, reflection, and affirmation, parents are empowered to resist the typical whirlwind of activity and establish thriving family relationships.

This is the story of how a boy from a disadvantaged background on the outskirts of Oxford overcame all obstacles through an alliance of self-belief and inspirational grammar school teachers to fight his way into Oxford University.

"This series opener is a solid alternative for young readers who may be intrigued by popular zombie comics written for adults and might not be ready for Walking Dead or Jonathan Maberry's "Rot & Ruin" books." - School Library Journal"For teens who like to watch zombie movies and The Walking Dead." - VOYA

Richard Wagner remains, almost 130 years after his death, the most controversial composer in the history of music. Creator of huge and hugely ambitious operas, which have an immense immediate impact, as well as providing food for endless thought and discussion, Wagner has had an influence on many fields outside music. In this lively pocket guide, Michael Tanner gives concise accounts of all his operas - the likes of Parsifal, Lohengrin and Tristan und Isolde - showing how important it is to grasp the dramatic situations at every point, and indicating some of the key musical features. He also provides an outline of Wagner's astonishing life, and shows that he has often been unfairly criticised and made a scapegoat, especially for political events which took place long after his death.Key features include:- Wagner: his life year by year- Wagner: his music work by work- Things people said about Wagner- Essential Wagner: ten great moments- Wagner on CD and DVD- Wagner bibliographyThis indispensable Faber Pocket Guide provides a wealth of insights into Wagner and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in both and the man and his music. '[P]robably the best introduction ever written to this most complex of composers.' Simon Heffer, Telegraph

‘A fine, intellectually sparkling and always engaging little book – a welcome addition to any Wagner library’Hans Vaget, Opera Quarterly Whilst no one would dispute Wagner’s ranking among the most significant composers in the history of Western music, his works have been more fiercely attacked than those of any other composer. His supposed personal defects have provoked intense hostility which has translated into a mistrust and abhorrence of his music. Tanner’s fascination for the relationship between music, text and plot generates and illuminating discussion of the operas, in which he persuades us to see many of Wagner’s best-know works afresh. His passionate and unconventional analyses are accessible to all lovers of music, be they listeners or performers.

While no one would dispute Wagner's ranking among the most significant composers in the history of Western music, his works have been more fiercely attacked than those of any other composer. Alleged to be an unscrupulous womanizer and megalomaniac, undeniably a racist, Wagner's personal qualities and attitudes have often provoked, and continue to provoke, intense hostility that has translated into a mistrust and abhorrence of his music. In this emphatic, lucid book, Michael Tanner discusses why people feel so passionately about Wagner, for or against, in a way that they do not about other artists who had personal traits no less lamentable than those he is thought to have possessed. Tanner lays out the various arguments made by Wagner's detractors and admirers, and challenges most of them. The author's fascination for the relationships among music, text, and plot generates an illuminating discussion of the operas, in which he persuades us to see many of Wagner's best-known works anew--The Ring Cycle, Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal. He refrains from lengthy and detailed musical examination, giving instead passionate and unconventional analyses that are accessible to all lovers of music, be they listeners or performers. In this fiery reassessment of one of the greatest composers in the history of opera, Tanner presents one of the most intelligent and controversial portraits of Wagner to emerge for many years.

German Philosophers contains studies of four of the most important German theorists: Kant, arguably the most influential modern philosopher; Hegel, whose philosophy inspired an enduring vision of a communist society; Schopenhauer, renowned for his pessimistic preference for non-existence; and Nietzsche, who has been appropriated as an icon by an astonishingly diverse spectrum of people.

The philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was almost wholly neglected during his sane life, which came to an abrupt end in 1889. Since then he has been appropriated as an icon by an astonishingly diverse spectrum of people, whose interpretations of his thought range from the highly irrational to the firmly analytical. Thus Spoke Zarathustra introduced the 'superman' and The Twilight of the Idols developed the 'Will to Power' concept; these term, together with 'Sklavenmoral' and 'Herrenmoral', became confused with the rise of nationalism in Germany. Idiosyncratic and aphoristic, Nietzsche is always bracing and provocative, and temptingly easy to dip into. Michael Tanner's readable introduction to the philosopher's life and work examines the numerous ambiguities inherent in his writings. It also explodes the many misconceptions fostered in the hundred years since Nietzsche wrote, prophetically: 'Do not, above all, confound me with what I am not!' ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.