Showing results by author "MARTIN Gani" in All Categories

Twenty-six stories, for each letter of the alphabet, set in a different country taking us on tour around the world. Every story has a child protagonist, aged 6 to12, with a temporary super power, or is it vivid imagination? From Ayra in Switzerland who can talk to animals, to Cansu in Istanbul who can fly over the city sitting on a rug, to Hans in Berlin who can move furniture by telekinesis, to Zihnie in South Africa who concocts a magic tea that makes people colourblind.

Cyprus Revisited is part memoir, part travel literature and part solid journalism explaining the current issues in Cyprus regarding politics, lifestyle and economy but most of the book is focused on the cultural wealth of this fascinating Mediterranean island boasting a history that stretches back 12,000 years; Cyprus can easily be defined a cradle of civilisation.

This is a collection of 30 short stories with a decidedly Italian flavour, most are actually set in Italy but a few also unravel elsewhere, in London, New York, Istanbul and Cyprus to be precise, nevertheless maintaining a connection with Italy. It is a sequel to Violin-Maker's Secret that contained 25 stories; here most continue with the same characters but some new ones are also introduced such as the brilliant, and attractive, detective Leyla Leone based in Como and Luisa Dolce, a tour guide living in Milan. In this new series, the tales of mystery, romance and travel not only continue ...

This is a visual guide to the best of Italy's Veneto region illustrated with over 200 photos, however, Venice is not included as the unique city has already been published by the author as a separate book, Venice Today, illustrated with over 120 photos. Veneto is set in the north-east of Italy bordering with Lombardy to the west, Emilia-Romagna to the south, Friuli-Venezia Giulia to the east, Trentino - Alto Adige to the north even Austria in its northernmost corner. Around 57% of Veneto's territory is situated in the Po Valley, some 30% is made up of mountains in the north and the ...

Experiencing France is the result of numerous trips to this fascinating country in search of art, culture, breathtaking landscapes, culinary delights, eco-beaches and more. Included are over 120 photos, 95% of them by the author himself, that will help appreciate to the full what's being described. The book isn't meant to cover every inch of France but does take in the best of what the country offers: Paris, Provence, Loire Castles, Alsace-Lorraine, Bordeaux among them. There's also a chapter on learning French which is not as hard as it seems, there are some 4,000 words French and English ...

A visual guide to the best of Tuscany

The focus of this book is contemporary Cyprus, a visual exploration of the island's main cities both in the Turkish-speaking north and Greek-speaking south, namely capital Nicosia, Limassol, Larnaca, Paphos, Famagusta and Kyrenia as well as outstanding monuments, castles, monasteries and churches in their vicinity. In the prologue a brief history is given and why the island is still politically divided and physicallly separated into Turkish and Greek-speaking territories, explained

This is a photo essay, a picture story for adults, on the southern Italian region of Campania with Naples serving as capital. It is an attempt to highlight the vast cultural, artistic, architectural, archaeological treasures of the area blessed with a beautiful, varied countryside and scenic cities and townships dotting the coastline millions of tourists flock to see in all seasons. In 140 original photos aided by some 8,000 words the author gives a succinct, accurate account of this fascinating region exploring Naples, Salerno, the island of Capri, the archaeological sites, Pompeii and ...

A novel approach to poetry employing mostly rhyming but also freestyle writing to compose portraits, life stories of people from all backgrounds and social classes as imagined by the poet. What distinguishes the poems is the lightness, ease of language and surprising finale. After the very first poem the reader looks forward to the unexpected, entertaining at times moving, thought provoking, quirky endings. Alongside describing individuals through their jobs, be it a writer, filmmaker, busker, bartender, chef or factory worker, personality traits we'd expect of an optimist, pessimist, ...

A personal account of a road trip from Lake Como in the extreme north of Italy to Matera in the deep south, in the company of my wife and a couple of friends we've known for over three decades. I tried my best to narrate the car journey with uncompromising realism, what we see and experience is what you'll read, good or bad with entertaining anecdotes, interaction with the locals, detailing food experiences, nearly always good, often excellent. We drove for some 2,400 km there and back across seven regions, stopping in the cities: Bologna, Pescara, Matera, Ascoli Piceno, Arezzo, Barletta ...

A visual journey, guide, to Ticino, Switzerland’s Italian-speaking canton illustrated with some 280 original photos. Latin in culture and Mediterranean in atmosphere it is unlike any place in Switzerland. Home to 350,000 inhabitants squeezed into 2,800 sqkm, it has scenic lakes and rivers; its mountains and rolling hills are crowded by skiers in winter, hikers and sunbathers in summer. Its valleys are like time capsules with jealously restored ancient villages punctuating green green pastures and woods. Ticino also has myriad cultural events from a non-mainstream international film ...

A book for language lovers, 32 chapters focusing on topics like how the English language has become the lingua franca of the world today spoken by over two billion people; closely monitored by Oxford English Dictionary, it now counts some 60 million words with new ones added every year. How does UK English differ from US English and does this hinder communication between the Brits and Americans? How do learners perceive informal American English? A chapter deals with the verbification phenomenon, another questions the custom of creating acronyms like NIMBY and BAME, familiar to some but not...

Celebrities narrates the lives and works of 40 filmmakers, actors and writers the author has met over the last 20 years. Through interview-based, inter-linked profiles of these world-renowned personalities, the reader takes a cultural tour around the globe. The journey kicks off with charming Juliette Binoche of France and continues to Iran to meet two of Iran’s most prominent filmmakers. Briefly we return to France to listen to the vicissitudes of superstar Gérard Depardieu and call on Chiara Mastroianni to discover what it’s like to be the daughter of two superstars: Marcello ...

Authors third collection of poems this time focusing on the theme of love in all its manifestations not only romantic attachment. The poems are divided into five sections, first brings back voices from the past from well-known philosophers like Epicurus, to famed artists such as Raphael to sculptors with the calibre of Michelangelo not to mention poets Dante Alighieri and Shakespeare who express pearls of wisdom, an anecdote or an aspect of their life shedding light on the nature of love. The second section deals with living celebrities from Mick Jagger to Ed Sheeran to Mark Zuckerberg ...

Mostly fiction, autobiographical novel set in London narrating 18 years in the life of stand-up comic David Lion, alias Tevfik Aslan, from 1975 to 1993. Born in Cyprus Lion travels to London at the age of 18 to live with a father he barely knows, his parents separated when he was 6, and his father's English family he knows even less. The story develops along two parallel lines one recounting Lion's life on stage focusing on his performances, and the other his adaptation to life in a strange, cosmopolitan city with strange customs, food and abominable weather. He successfully attends school,...