New Releases by Simon Winchester

An informative exploration of earthquakes places a particular focus on the San Francisco disaster of 1906, describing how it affected more than 200 miles of California, triggered a vast firestorm, and destroyed the gold-rush capital, in an account that reveals the geological underpinnings that caused the earthquake. (History)

Chronicle of the author''s adventures following the often difficult course of the Yangtze River in China, providing a portrait of the vast country, its history, politics, geography, climate, and culture.

Winchester has joined forces with his son Rupert in choosing his favorite writings that reflect on the crazy, captivating, and elusive Indian city, resulting in a uniquely personal view of one of the world''s most resonant destinations.

Simon Winchester travelled through the republic of Korea on foot to write this informal portrait. Along the way he befriended a variety of honeymooners, abalone divers, corporate executives, Buddhist nuns, American servicemen and many other interesting people who helped to shape his impressions. The result is an engaging, informed, and often humourous distillation of the writer''s observations on the culture, people, language, economy and politics of this rapidly changing country.

Winchester tells the fascinating story of an Oxfordshire blacksmith''s orphaned son who discovered an unmistakable pattern in the rocks. From this, William Smith developed the first true geographical map following fossils and rock patterns, earning him a place in history as the father of modern geology. Line drawings. Maps throughout, 2 in color.

From the author of the bestselling The Professor and the Madman comes the fascinating story of William Smith, the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world''s first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology. In 1793 William Smith, a canal digger, made a startling discovery that was to turn the fledgling science of the history of the earth -- and a central plank of established Christian religion -- on its head. He noticed that the rocks he was excavating were arranged in layers; more important, he could see quite clearly that the fossils found in one layer were very different from those found in another. And out of that realization came an epiphany: that by following the fossils, one could trace layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell -- clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world. Determined to publish his profoundly important discovery by creating a map that would display the hidden underside of England, he spent twenty years traveling the length and breadth of the kingdom by stagecoach and on foot, studying rock outcrops and fossils, piecing together the image of this unseen universe. In 1815 he published his epochal and remarkably beautiful hand-painted map, more than eight feet tall and six feet wide. But four years after its triumphant publication, and with his young wife going steadily mad to the point of nymphomania, Smith ended up in debtors'' prison, a victim of plagiarism, swindled out of his recognition and his profits. He left London for the north of England and remained homeless for ten long years as he searched for work. It wasn''t until 1831, when his employer, a sympathetic nobleman, brought him into contact with the Geological Society of London -- which had earlier denied him a fellowship -- that at last this quiet genius was showered with the honors long overdue him. He was summoned south to receive the society''s highest award, and King William IV offered him a lifetime pension. The Map That Changed the World is, at its foundation, a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man''s dedication in the face of ruin and homelessness. The world''s coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith''s first map.; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery.

The fascinating story of William Smith, the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world''s first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology. The Map That Changed the World is, at its foundation, a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man''s dedication in the face of ruin and homelessness. The world''s coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith''s first map.; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery.

The Professor and the Madman, masterfully researched and eloquently written, is an extraordinary tale of madness, genius, and the incredible obsessions of two remarkable men that led to the making of the Oxford English Dictionary -- and literary history. The compilation of the OED, begun in 1857, was one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken. As definitions were collected, the overseeing committee, led by Professor James Murray, discovered that one man, Dr. W.C. Minor, had submitted more than ten thousand. When the committee insisted on honoring him, a shocking truth came to light: Dr. Minor, an American Civil War veteran, was also an inmate at an asylum for the criminally insane. This audio also includes a conversation between Simon Winchester and John Simpson, editor of the Oxford English Dictionary

Mysterious (mistîe · ries), a. [f. L. mystérium Mysteryi + ous. Cf. F. mystérieux.] 1. Full of or fraught with mystery; wrapt in mystery; hidden from human knowledge or understanding; impossible or difficult to explain, solve, or discover; of obscure origin, nature, or purpose. It is known as one of the greatest literary achievements in the history of English letters. The creation of the Oxford English Dictionary began in 1857, took seventy years to complete, drew from tens of thousands of brilliant minds, and organized the sprawling language into 414,825 precise definitions. But hidden within the rituals of its creation is a fascinating and mysterious story--a story of two remarkable men whose strange twenty-year relationship lies at the core of this historic undertaking. Professor James Murray, an astonishingly learned former schoolmaster and bank clerk, was the distinguished editor of the OED project. Dr. William Chester Minor, an American surgeon from New Haven, Connecticut, who had served in the Civil War, was one of thousands of contributors who submitted illustrative quotations of words to be used in the dictionary. But Minor was no ordinary contributor. He was remarkably prolific, sending thousands of neat, handwritten quotations from his home in the small village of Crowthorne, fifty miles from Oxford. On numerous occasions Murray invited Minor to visit Oxford and celebrate his work, but Murray''s offer was regularly--and mysteriously--refused. Thus the two men, for two decades, maintained a close relationship only through correspondence. Finally, in 1896, after Minor had sent nearly ten thousand definitions to the dictionary but had still never traveled from his home, a puzzled Murray set out to visit him. It was then that Murray finally learned the truth about Minor--that, in addition to being a masterful wordsmith, Minor was also a murderer, clinically insane--and locked up in Broadmoor, England''s harshest asylum for criminal lunatics. The Professor and the Madman is an extraordinary tale of madness and genius, and the incredible obsessions of two men at the heart of the Oxford English Dictionary and literary history. With riveting insight and detail, Simon Winchester crafts a fascinating glimpse into one man''s tortured mind and his contribution to another man''s magnificent dictionary.

By the year 2000 tourism will be the biggest industry in the world. Even now an estimated 750 million "tourists" generate a massive $2,000 billion annual expenditure on accommodation, catering, transport and souvenirs. Parr''s timely investigation looks at tourism worldwide from the overcrowding of popular "honeypot" sites - famous locations whose success in attracting visitors ultimately diminishes the quality of the visitor''s experience - to the inevitable culture clashes as developing countries become tourist destinations.

For five years, Simon Winchester criss-crossed the vast expanses of the Pacific Ocean and the 56 countries that lie around and within it. The result is this encyclopaedic study which encompasses visits to the jungles of Sarawak and the satellite-factories of Los Angeles; drinking passion-fruit juice with the King of Tonga and gold-flavoured tea with the new rich of Tokyo. Each chapter forms an essay which examines a significant aspect of the Pacific, an area of the world that is only now emerging fully as a challenge to the dominance of the Atlantic nations.

Why has the Pacific region reached such preeminence? What links its disparate cultures? In a provocative analysis that combines politics and culture as well as economics, Winchester gives readers a remarkable new look at the people of this region, from Japan to Australia, Korea to the west coasts of North and South America. 25 maps.

In 1997, the colony of Hong Kong will be ceded to the People''s Republic of China. To capture Hong Kong in transition, 11 photojournalists spent two weeks on a shoot in Hong Kong. The result is this book which presents the many cultures and subcultures of a city about to undergo a radical change.