Samantha Evans – författare

The Correspondence of Charles Darwin provides, for the first time, full, authoritative texts of all known and available letters to and from Charles Darwin. The letters are accompanied by detailed explanatory footnotes and supplementary materials, and offer unparalleled insight into Darwin's experiments, thoughts, friendships, and family life. Volume 13 of this continuing series contains letters for 1865, when Darwin published his long paper on climbing plants and continued working on his book, The Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication. In this year, Robert FitzRoy, former captain of HMS Beagle, committed suicide; Darwin's great friend Joseph Dalton Hooker became director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; and Charles Lyell and John Lubbock quarrelled over an alleged incident of plagiarism. The volume also contains a supplement of over 100 letters discovered or redated since the series began publication, including a fascinating collection of letters written when Darwin was 12.

Charles Darwin's health improved substantially in 1866 under a dietary and exercise regime prescribed by his physician Henry Bence Jones. With renewed vigour, he worked steadily on his manuscript of Variation of Plants and Animals under Domestication, submitting all but the final chapter to his publisher in December. He also worked on the fourth, and much revised, edition of Origin which was delivered to printers in July, and preparations were begun for a third German edition of Origin. His improved health allowed him a more active social life. At Down, Darwin entertained a number of scientific colleagues whom he had known previously only through correspondence. He also made his first appearance in London scientific society in many years, touring the Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park, and appearing at a soirée at the Royal Society.

Darwin and Women focusses on Darwin''s correspondence with women and on the lives of the women he knew and wrote to. It includes a large number of hitherto unpublished letters between members of Darwin''s family and their friends that throw light on the lives of the women of his circle and their relationships, social and professional, with Darwin. The letters included are by turns entertaining, intriguing, and challenging, and are organised into thematic chapters, including botany and zoology as well as marriage and servants, that set them in an accessible narrative context. Darwin''s famous remarks on women''s intelligence in Descent of Man provide a recurring motif, and are discussed in the foreword by Gillian Beer, and in the introduction. The immediacy and variety of these texts make this an entertaining read which will suggest avenues for further research to students.

Darwin and Women focusses on Darwin''s correspondence with women and on the lives of the women he knew and wrote to. It includes a large number of hitherto unpublished letters between members of Darwin''s family and their friends that throw light on the lives of the women of his circle and their relationships, social and professional, with Darwin. The letters included are by turns entertaining, intriguing, and challenging, and are organised into thematic chapters, including botany and zoology as well as marriage and servants, that set them in an accessible narrative context. Darwin''s famous remarks on women''s intelligence in Descent of Man provide a recurring motif, and are discussed in the foreword by Gillian Beer, and in the introduction. The immediacy and variety of these texts make this an entertaining read which will suggest avenues for further research to students.

Barbecue is a serious business. And for anyone who thought barbecue was about big, bearded blokes toiling over hot coals, think again: the Hang Fire girls are the real experts.Sam and Shauna ditched their jobs and embarked on a 6-month road trip around the best barbecue joints in the southern United States. From Texas to Tallahassee, they learned the insider secrets of what makes barbecue great, were captivated by the thrill of smoke and fire, and back home in Cardiff they set out their meat manifesto in the form of Hang Fire Smokehouse. This cookbook reveals how they make their delicious recipes and the secrets behind the perfect smoke and BBQ, including stunning dishes like smoked brisket, ultimate pork 'n' slaw and tailgate hot-wings. Sam and Shauna explain the basics of getting started with a home smoker and different types of wood, and what rubs, cures and brines work best with certain types of meat. Hang Fire's approach is simple: get the best ingredients, cook them low 'n' slow, and tuck in.

Charles Darwin is a towering figure in the history of science, who changed the direction of modern thought by establishing the basis of evolutionary biology. With a Foreword by Sir David Attenborough, this is a fascinating insight into Darwin's life as he first directly addressed the issues of humanity's place in nature, and the consequences of his ideas for religious belief. Incorporating previously unpublished material, this volume includes letters written by Darwin, and also those written to him by friends and scientific colleagues world-wide, by critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and admirers who helped them to spread. They take up the story of Darwin's life in 1860, in the immediate aftermath of the publication of On the Origin of Species, and carry it through one of the most intense and productive decades of his career, to the eve of publication of Descent of Man in 1871.