Alumni in Print

BOOKSHELF

The Parables Retold

Dr Gervase Vernon (BB, 1966-69)

A collection of short stories whose punch lines are those of the parables of Jesus. Not a work of theology, but a book to make you think.

The Novels of Justinian: A Complete Annotated English Translation

Peter Sarris and David J. D. Miller (KS, 1949-54)

The novels comprise a series of laws issued in the sixth century by the famous Emperor Justinian (r.527-65), along with a number of measures issued by his immediate successors on the throne of Constantinople. They reveal the evolution of Roman law at the end of antiquity and how imperial law was transmitted to both the Byzantine East and Latin West in the Early Middle Ages. Crucially, the texts cast fascinating light on how litigants of all social backgrounds sought to appropriate the Law and turn it to their advantage, as well as on topics ranging from the changing status of women to the persecution of homosexuals, and from the spread of heresy to the economic impact of the first known outbreak of bubonic plague. This work represents the first English translation of the novels based on the original Greek, and comes with an extensive historical and legal commentary.

Effective Project Management: Guidance and Checklists for Engineering and Construction

Garth Ward (BB, 1953-59)

Effective Project Management is based around an activities and action check list approach to project management. It provides a guide to the basic principles and the disciplines that managers need to master in order to be successful. The author’s check lists approach (based on his years of practical experience on projects) ensure that project managers are following valid processes, helping them to be innovative in their approach to developing plans and resolving problems. In addition, the author’s check list pick and mix format is designed to be flexible in order to meet the individual needs of the reader.

Effective Project Management also contains some information on the theories underpinning project management. Knowledge of the theory helps in the understanding of how project management works in practice. In addition to the book’s check lists of what activities need to be performed, the author offers suggestions on how tasks could be carried out. This important resource: • Covers a wide range of project management topics including the project management process, programme and portfolio management, initiating and contracting a project, personal skills and more • Offers a highly accessible guide to the author’s verified check list approach • Presents flexible guidelines applicable for a wide range projects • Includes guidance for project managers at all levels of experience Written for project managers working on engineering or construction projects, Effective Project Management reviews all aspects of a project from initiation and execution to project completion together with the specialist topics and personal skills needed to manage projects effectively.

Abandoned Civilizations

Kieron Connolly (GG, 1985-90)

If just the thought of visiting the pyramids makes you feel a touch of sunstroke, if the grandeur of the Acropolis or the Colosseum spells images of queues and crowds, if Angkor is too humid, Machu Picchu too high and Palmyra possibly too dangerous, then let us bring the wonders of lost worlds to you. Temples hidden deep in the jungle, cities half-buried in desert sands, and carved slabs from ancient monuments scattered carelessly on the ground… Images like these are bound to make us wonder: Who built these places? What kind of societies lived here? And how could such once mighty civilisations have collapsed?

From Mesoamerican pyramids to the giant statues of Easter Island, from the Great Sphinx of Giza to the circle of Stonehenge and on to Pompeii, Persepolis and Petra, Abandoned Civilisations explores more than 90 lost worlds around the globe. In surveying these temples and tombs, cave paintings and sculptures, cities and citadels, the book explains how great civilisations fell into decline. The story though, does not end there. Engulfed in dense jungle or buried in burning desert, many of these places were forgotten or ignored for hundreds or even thousands of years. But, wrapped in nature’s protective cape, they kept their secrets at which we now wonder.

With 150 hauntingly beautiful colour photographs from more than 30 countries, Abandoned Civilisations is a brilliant pictorial examination of extraordinary worlds, lost and found again.

Abandoned Civilisations follows my earlier books Abandoned Places and Abandoned Castles. My other books include Dark History of Hollywood and Bloody History of America.