The Handbook of the Birds of the World is the first work ever to illustrate and deal in detail with all the living species of birds. It is the first work to verbally and visually portray each member of an entire Class of the Animal Kingdom. Material in each volume is grouped by families, with an introductory text on general aspects of the group, generously illustrated with colour photographs. This is followed by individual species accounts and their accompanying colour plates illustrating all species, including all significant sexual and subspecific differences, of all of the families...

This is an account of the world of birds, and this volume is 1st of 12. The introductory chapter is illustrated with detailed plates to complement the text, and deals with such diverse aspects as evolutionary history, anatomy, physiology, migration, and systematics. Each chapter covers a different family, headed by a summary box. Photographs illustrate more unusual features, such as courtship behaviour, thermoregulation or feeding techniques. Each chapter is subdivided into sections: systematics; morphological aspects; habitat; general habits; voice; food and feeding; breeding; movements;...

What does the new epic film now look like? How is it classified? Why has it returned?
The success of Gladiator re-launched a genre which had lain dormant for 35 years. The Return of the Epic Film is one of the first books to examine this return as a coherent body of films. Studying a range of films from Gladiator to Clash of the Titans, the various essays question how we define these new epics, their aesthetics, their relationship to history, and who decides which films should be in the canon. Over the course of 11 essays by key figures in the field, the book examines in what ways, why,...