Peter Lee

Nuneaton Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of Nuneaton, the famous streets and the famous faces, and what they meant to the people of this area throughout the 19th and into the 20th Century. Looking beyond the exquisite exterior of these well-kept photos, readers can see the historical context in which they are set, and through the author's factual captions for every picture, and carefully-selected choice of images, the reader can achieve a reliable view of this town's history. Readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and watch the changing face of this vibrant town, as Peter Lee guides us through the streets of Nuneaton. There is something for everyone here, whether they have lived in the area all their lives, or whether they are just visiting this Warwickshire town. It also shows how photography has continually evolved to keep up with an ever changing society.

A detailed study of the history and usage of opium. Opium. The very sound of the word conjures images of secret rooms in exotic lands, where languid smokers lounge dreamily in a blue haze of fragrant poppy smoke, inhaling from long bamboo pipes held over the ruby flame of the jade lamp. Yet today very little accurate information is available regarding a substance that for 300 years was central to the lives of millions of people throughout the world. In "Opium Culture", Peter Lee presents a fascinating narrative that covers every aspect of the art and craft of opium use. Starting with a concise account of opium's long and colourful history and the story of how it came to be smoked for pleasure in China, Lee offers detailed descriptions of the growing and harvesting process; the exotic inventory of tools and paraphernalia required to smoke opium as the Chinese did; its transitions from a major herb to a narcotic that has been suppressed by the modern; and art, culture, philosophy, pharmacology and psychology of this longstanding Asian custom. Highlighted throughout with interesting quotes from literary and artistic figures who were opium smokers, such as Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso, Herman Melville and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the text is studded with gems of long forgotten opium arcane and dispels many of the persistent myths and opium and its users.

Nuneaton is the most central town in England. The exact point has been triangulated to a patch of undergrowth at the foot of a railway embankment. It is not surprising that the town became an important junction on the north south trunk line, the Premier line of the London & North Western Railway, the West Coast line, as it is known today. Bedworth was, in its day, a very important coal-mining town. Its collieries fed vast quantities of coal to the railway system for onward transmission. Today Nuneaton and Bedworth are joined as a single metropolis. Both share in the value of their central location with passenger station and distribution depots. A pictorial review of the railway lines and features in the Nuneaton and Bedworth area. Over 200 images illustrate the development of the engines and railways, from the LNWR period, to more recent years. Peter Lee is an established author who has written two well-received books about Nuneaton.

This title is a collection of archive images accompanied by captions.

Well-traveled throughout China and well-published on its political, cultural, and business aspects, the editors of this unusual new book and their contributing authors give a systematic analysis of public sector management—as it is now and as it is emerging—in a country of massive size, now in retreat from a centrally planned economy. Many features of the new reforms parallel the movement toward new public management in the West. Functions have been transferred away from China's public sector, including the government, and into the private sector, and many of the managerial tools common in the private sector have been introduced into the public sector. The book thus analyzes the logic, mechanisms, and designs of new public management in China. It examines context-bound issues, in the light of the legacies of massive state intervention, the transition away from centralized planning, the structure of the Leninist party-state, and Chinese bureaucratic culture. Finally it discusses and illustrates events in a variety of policy areas, and in doing so, draws upon unique interviews and field studies developed personally by each contributor. The result is an important insight into China and how its public sector operates, one that will have special value for professionals in international development, finance, banking, government, economics, politics, and for their academic colleagues as well.

This book is part of the Images of England series, which uses old photographs and archived images to show the history of various local areas in England, through their streets, shops, pubs, and people.