Lawrence Beesley Knihy

"Britain’s Spiders is a photographic guide to all 37 of the British families, focussing on spiders that can be identified in the field. Illustrated with a remarkable collection of photographs, it is designed to be accessible to a wide audience, including those new to spider identification. This book pushes the boundaries of field identification for this challenging group by combining information on features that can be seen with the naked eye or a hand lens with additional evidence from webs, egg-sacs, behaviour, phenology, habitats and distributions. Individual accounts cover 395 of Britain’s approximately 670 species, with the limitations to field identification clearly explained. As the first photographic field guide to British spiders to be published since 1989, this book fills a major gap in the resources available to everyone with an interest in this fascinating, diverse and important group of animals"--Publisher's description

The circumstances surrounding the writing of this book began shortly after the Titanic disaster, when I was invited to share the survivors' experiences at a luncheon in New York. Following my account, Robert Lincoln O'Brien, editor of the Boston Herald, urged me to document a correct history of the tragedy, as he feared that other publications, based on hearsay, would misrepresent the event. His concerns were echoed by those present, leading me to visit Houghton Mifflin Company to discuss publication. Initially, we agreed it might be better to forget the details of the sinking, but upon further reflection, we recognized the importance of accurately chronicling the disaster. My earlier account, written on the Carpathia and published widely, had a calming effect on public opinion, reinforcing my belief in the value of this endeavor. Additionally, I felt a profound responsibility to honor those who perished by advocating for necessary reforms. The haunting cries of those lost in the icy waters serve as a reminder that it is our collective duty to ensure their voices are not forgotten and that meaningful changes are pursued to prevent such tragedies in the future.

'The best first-hand account of a passenger's experiences - a first-rate piece of descriptive writing' THE GUARDIAN

Der Untergang der Titanic am 15. April 1912 gilt auch heute noch als eine der größten Katastrophen in der Seefahrtsgeschichte. In seinem Augenzeugenbericht, der bereits acht Wochen nach der Katastrophe gedruckt wurde, beschreibt er packendund minutiös seine Erlebnisse während und nach dieser Tragödie.