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Truth Conquers All
Reading Blue Coat School was opened in 1660 to teach twenty 'children of honest poore men', according to the bequest of merchant Richard Aldworth. Despite his and subsequent bequests, the school was initially housed in a dilapidated former inn, and it was a constant struggle to make ends meet and keep the school open. In the mid-nineteenth century the perseverance of the school was rewarded with a new home, 42 Bath Road, and the school began to thrive, with entrance examinations, new subjects, and day boys. The world wars and the inadequacies of the site for a growing school posed new challenges, culminating with the threat of closure if the school didn't meet the government's new criteria in 1944. But the school emerged in triumph with the move to Holme Park. Here the school has grown, offering more facilities and opportunities for pupils, ever raising standards, and creating a sixth form. While one may struggle to see a link between twenty blue-coated boys in an old inn and Reading Blue Coat School today, this history shows how the school has conquered every difficulty to continue to fulfil Aldworth's aim of creating 'good citizens'.
The Ascent of Birds
When and where did the ancestors of modern birds evolve? What enabled them to survive the meteoric impact that wiped out the dinosaurs? How did these early birds spread across the globe and give rise to the 10,600-plus species we recognise today ― from the largest ratites to the smallest hummingbirds? Based on the latest scientific discoveries and enriched by personal observations, The Ascent of Birds sets out to answer these fundamental questions. The Ascent of Birds is divided into self-contained chapters, or stories, that collectively encompass the evolution of modern birds from their origins in Gondwana, over 100 million years ago, to the present day. The stories are arranged in chrono...
Swingin' on Central Avenue
The development of jazz and swing in the African-American community in Los Angeles in the years before the second World War received a boost from the arrival of a significant numbers of musicians from Chicago and the southwestern states. In Swingin’ on Central: African-American Jazz in Los Angeles, a new study of that vibrant jazz community, music historian and jazz journalist Peter Vacher traveled between Los Angeles and London over several years in order to track down key figures and interview them for this oral history of one of the most swinging jazz scenes in the United States. Vacher recreates the energy and vibrancy of the Central Avenue scene through first-hand accounts from such W...
Mrs Moreau's Warbler
Swallow and starling, puffin and peregrine, blue tit and blackcap. We use these names so often that few of us ever pause to wonder about their origins. What do they mean? Where did they come from? And who created them? The words we use to name birds are some of the most lyrical and evocative in the English language. They also tell incredible stories: of epic expeditions, fierce battles between rival ornithologists, momentous historical events and touching romantic gestures. Through fascinating encounters with birds, and the rich cast of characters who came up with their names, in Mrs Moreau's Warbler Stephen Moss takes us on a remarkable journey through time. From when humans and birds first shared the earth to our fraught present-day coexistence, Moss shows how these names reveal as much about ourselves and our relationship with the natural world as about the creatures they describe.
Lapwings, Loons and Lousy Jacks
The Lapwing once had many regional names; the Loon has a British-American identity crisis and the respectable-sounding Apostlebird is often called a Lousy Jack. Why do bird names, both common and scientific, change over time and why do they vary so much between different parts of the English-speaking world? Wandering through the scientific and cultural history of ornithology takes us to the heart of understanding the long relationship between birds and people. Lapwings, Loons and Lousy Jacks uncovers the stories behind the incredible diversity of bird names, explains what many scientific names actually mean and takes a look at the history of the system by which we name birds. Ray Reedman explores the natural history and folklore behind bird names, in doing so unlocking the mystery of the name Scoter, the last unexplained common name of a British bird species.
