This widely praised book chronicles Peter Laufer’s adventures within the butterfly industry and the butterfly underground. Laufer begins by examining the allure of butterflies throughout history, but his research soon veers into the high-stake realms of organized crime, ecological devastation, museum collections, and chaos theory. His ever-expanding journey of discovery throughout the Americas and beyond offers a rare look into a theater of intrigue, peopled with quirky and nefarious characters—all in pursuit of these delicate, beautiful creatures. Read this book, and your garden—and the world—will never quite look the same.

Butterflies animate our summers but the fifty-nine species found in the British Isles can be surprisingly elusive. Some bask unseen at the top of trees in London parks; others lurk at the bottom of damp bogs in Scotland. A few survive for months, while other ephemeral creatures only fly for three days. Several are virtually extinct. This bewitching book charts Patrick Barkham's quest to find each of them - from the Adonis Blue to the Dingy Skipper - in one unforgettable summer. Wry, attentive, full of infectious delight and curiosity, written with a beautifully light touch, The Butterfly Isles is a classic of British nature writing.

A mysterious package, a rumor about a missing painting, and a dangerous game of hide and seek… Zoe loves working as a consultant for a company that specializes in the recovery of stolen art. Her only complaint is that the jobs are few and far between, so when she meets an eccentric collector who is on the hunt for a painting of a blue butterfly that might—or might not—exist, she jumps at the chance to look for it. She comes across shady dealers and a confusion of clues as her search for the elusive painting takes her from tropical destinations to the cobblestone streets of Madrid. Treacherous is the sixth installment of the lighthearted On The Run series from USA Today bestselling author Sara Rosett, which features globetrotting art heists and international intrigue.

It is now widely agreed that the climate is changing, global resources are diminishing and biodiversity is suffering. These changes pose huge challenges on nations, organizations, businesses, communities and ultimately individuals. Developing countries, many of them considered by the World Tourism Organization to be Top Emerging Tourism Destinations (UNWTO, 2009), are already suffering the full frontal effect of environmental degradation with the UN recently reporting the existence of nearly half a million climate refugees in Africa and Asia in addition to huge swathes of the world's farming land and oceans becoming infertile. The challenge for developing countries is a triple-edged sword, how can economic prosperity be achieved without the perpetual depletion of nature's reserves, the destruction of rural habitat and the dislocation of traditional societies? Many emerging nations are looking increasingly to the tourism industry as the motor for economic development with hospitality businesses at the forefront. In line with this increasing economic necessity is the growth of concern in the West for environmental and societal stewardship. Expectations are high, Western consumers want classy lodgings and unspoilt landscapes in the knowledge that the room maid has enough money to feed and educate her family. This book is designed to give students and practitioners a guide for best practices of sustainable hospitality operations in developing countries. Based on case studies, it provides a road map of how to achieve the goals of sustainability giving benchmark examples. The book not only taps in a contemporary business subject but provides readers with a better understanding on how sustainable theories can be operationalized in hospitality and tourism business practices in developing countries. Provides an enhanced view on sustainability beyond the borders of developed countries Case studies include hands-on activities, creative business practices and applied sustainable development strategies Includes case study questions, advanced reading list and online resource features

An insight into the booming industry of insect leisure and tourism, using case studies and examples from around the world.

A fascinating exploration into the world of turtles across the globe; Laufer charts the lore, love, and peril to a beloved species. Dreaming in Turtle is a compelling story of a stalwart animal prized from prehistory through to today—an animal threatened by human greed, pragmatism, and rationalization. It stars turtles and shady and heroic human characters both, in settings ranging from luxury redoubts to degraded habitats, during a time when the confluence of easy global trade, limited supply, and inexhaustible demand has accelerated the stress on species. The growth of the middle class in high-population regions like China, where the turtle is particularly valued, feeds this perfect storm into which the turtle finds itself lashed. This is a tale not just of endangered turtles but also one of overall human failings, frailties, and vulnerabilities—all punctuated by optimistic hope for change fueled by dedicated turtle champions.

God's ultimate plan for His people is one of transformation. All of us are born in God's image, but His ultimate desire is for us to be transformed into His likeness. For this metamorphosis to occur, we must stop competing with God to be the master of our lives. Just as a butterfly changes from a larval caterpillar, all human beings are to be transformed into their mature form, a person possessing the nature and character of Jesus. Butterfly people see the world from God's perspective and experience more joy and peace in life. Caterpillars are left behind to see the world from man's perspective and suffer from immature, pathological thinking, dysfunctional relationships, and self-serving religions and governments. God designed our world for Christ-centered butterflies that can live in the light of His wisdom and truth, not caterpillars that stumble through life and remain lost in the darkness of their self-centered world. In Only God Can Make A Butterfly, David Delnostro, M.D. walks you through the psychological, interpersonal, political and medical advantages of soaring through life as a butterfly and the pathological consequences of crawling through life as a caterpillar. David J. Delnostro, M.D. is a graduate of Ohio State University College of Medicine. He began his medical career in 1980 in Savannah, Georgia as an emergency room physician at Candler Hospital. For the past twenty-six years, he has practiced family medicine and currently is a member of Southcoast Medical Group in Savannah. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the oldest of six children. Although he was raised by a Catholic father and a Jewish mother, he never practiced either religion. At age forty, he began his life-changing relationship with Jesus. Currently, he serves as a deacon and Divorce Recovery leader at Savannah Christian Church.

In Atmospheric Noise, Marina Peterson traces entanglements of environmental noise, atmosphere, sense, and matter that cohere in and through encounters with airport noise since the 1960s. Exploring spaces shaped by noise around Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), she shows how noise is a way of attuning toward the atmospheric: through noise we learn to listen to the sky and imagine the permeability of bodies and matter, sensing and conceiving that which is diffuse, indefinite, vague, and unformed. In her account, the “atmospheric” encompasses the physicality of the ephemeral, dynamic assemblages of matter as well as a logic of indeterminacy. It is audible as well as visible, heard as much as breathed. Peterson develops a theory of “indefinite urbanism” to refer to marginalized spaces of the city where concrete meets sky, windows resonate with the whine of departing planes, and endangered butterflies live under flight paths. Offering a conceptualization of sound as immanent and non-objectified, she demonstrates ways in which noise is central to how we know, feel, and think atmospherically.

Investigative journalist Peter Laufer is back with his third book in a trilogy that explores the way we humans interact with animals. The attack of a trainer at Sea World by a killer whale in February 2010 is the catalyst for this examination of the controversial role animals have played in the human arenas of entertainment and sports. From the Romans throwing Christians to lions to cock-fighting in present-day California, from abusive Mexican circuses to the thrills of a Hungarian counterpart, from dog training to shooting strays in the Baghdad streets, Laufer looks at the ways people have used animals for their pleasure. The reader travels with Laufer as he encounters fascinating people and places, and as he ponders the ethical questions that arise from his quest.