{"title":"Charles Montgomery","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into the insightful works of Charles Montgomery, exploring themes of urban planning, happiness, and human connection. Discover how our surroundings shape our lives and find inspiration for a better future.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"shark-god-book-charles-montgomery-9780007202485","title":"The Shark God","description":"A daring journey to confront legend and sorcery in a forgotten corner of the South Pacific.             Deep in the stacks of the Bodleian Library, a young man opens a small packet of sand, buried among crates of notes from the first missionaries to the South Pacific. A memento from the scene of a century-old murder, that envelope and its dusty contents send Charles Montgomery on a remarkable quest to find its island source in the forgotten archipelago of Melanesia.             Retracing a voyage made by his missionary great-grandfather, Montgomery seeks out remote shores where gospel and empire never took hold. He discovers communities still steeped in ‘kastom’ – the indigenous religion of spirits, shamans and sorcery – and he meets a bizarre cast of barefoot prophets, witch doctors and gun-runners. Montgomery is confronted by the ongoing struggles between the old world and the new, as Christianity vies with shark spirits and sorcery for the salvation of souls.             By turns funny and profoundly moving, ‘The Shark God’ blends travelogue with history rich in tales of magic, mischief and violence, and it paints a vivid portrait of a place where the unseen world is every bit as powerful as the physical one. As the author is drawn into the world of miracles, his adventure becomes a quest for the origins of myth and faith, and a metaphor for the transforming power of story.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49529751503121,"sku":"GOR001950888","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0007202482.jpg?v=1751257782"},{"product_id":"happy-city-book-charles-montgomery-9781846143205","title":"Happy City","description":"Happy City is the story of how the solutions to this century's problems - from climate change to overpopulation - lie in unlocking the secrets to great city living   Why are some cities a joy to live in, and others chronically miserable? As award-winning journalist Charles Montgomery reveals, the answers lie in the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness. Journeying to dozens of cities - from Atlanta to Bogotá to Vancouver - he talks to the new champions of the happy city to discover the progressive movements already transforming people's lives. He meets the visionary Colombian mayor who used a \"sexy\" bus to ease status anxiety; a Danish architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan towns to modern-day Copenhagen; the activist who turned Paris's urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have transformed their own lives by hacking the design of their neighbourhoods.  In these stories, and in the fascinating realm of urban experimentation, Happy City finds new insights for better living. From how saying hello to neighbours is just as important to your mental health as contact with close friends and family, to how gardens make us kinder, and how simple changes in road design can alter the hormonal state of commuters, Happy City shows that simple changes can make all the difference. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: the green city, the low-carbon city and the happy city are the same place, and we can all help build it.  Charles Montgomery is a journalist and urban experimentalist from Vancouver, Canada. His writings on urban planning, psychology, culture, and history have appeared in magazines and journals on three continents. 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Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and condo towers an improvement on the car dependence of the suburbs?\u003cbr\u003e The award-winning journalist Charles Montgomery finds answers to such questions at the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, during an exhilarating journey through some of the world's most dynamic cities. He meets the visionary mayor who introduced a \"sexy\" bus to ease status anxiety in Bogotá; the architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan hill towns to modern-day New York City; the activist who turned Paris's urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have hacked the design of their own streets and neighborhoods.\u003cbr\u003e Rich with new insights from psychology, neuroscience, and Montgomery's own urban experiments, \u003ci\u003eHappy City\u003c\/i\u003e reveals how cities can shape our thoughts as well as our behavior. The message is ultimately as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting cities and our own lives for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city can save the world--and we can all help build it.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49632562512145,"sku":"GOR007504183","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49757933961489,"sku":"CIN0374534888G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49760530399505,"sku":"CIN0374534888VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49996870877457,"sku":"CIN0374534888A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50607024439569,"sku":"GOR009253943","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51001849250065,"sku":"NIN9780374534882","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0374534888.jpg?v=1751039063"},{"product_id":"last-heathan-book-charles-montgomery-9781553650720","title":"The Last Heathan","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1892, the Bishop of Tasmania set sail for Melanesia with the intent of rescuing islanders from lives of fear, black magic and cannibalism. 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Through confrontations with a bizarre cast of characters -- the randy ethnographer, the soft-talking assassin, the leper prophet -- the journey becomes a debate on the nature of magic, myth and faith, and a metaphor for the transforming power of story.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Last Heathen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e marks the debut of an exciting young writer who charts his adventures with passion, insight and grace.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49651305283857,"sku":"GOR013400916","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50291140559121,"sku":"CIN1553650727G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52958892458257,"sku":"CIN1553650727VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1553650727.jpg?v=1751212452"},{"product_id":"happy-city-book-charles-montgomery-9780141047546","title":"Happy City","description":"Tells the story of how the solutions to this century's problems lie in unlocking the secrets to great city living. 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Turning to colonial symbols of the conquistador, the Franciscan missionary, and the humble Spanish settler, they recast northern New Mexico and its people.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50355411517713,"sku":"CIN0520229711G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":53521287971089,"sku":"NLS9780520229716","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0520229711.jpg?v=1751230256"},{"product_id":"my-homework-ate-my-dog-book-charles-montgomery-9781088012888","title":"My Homework Ate My Dog","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51019224908049,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51019227136273,"sku":"NIN9781088012888","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1088012884.jpg?v=1751142845"},{"product_id":"sheila-gets-a-lesson-in-foster-care-book-charles-montgomery-9781480981454","title":"Sheila Gets a Lesson in Foster Care","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51029434958097,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51029437415697,"sku":"NIN9781480981454","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1480981451.jpg?v=1751306826"},{"product_id":"my-poems-book-charles-montgomery-9781636610061","title":"My Poems","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"- \/ - \/ -","offer_id":51234970960145,"sku":"","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51234971353361,"sku":"NIN9781636610061","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1636610064.jpg?v=1751278071"},{"product_id":"shark-god-book-charles-montgomery-9780060765163","title":"The Shark God","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Charles Montgomery was ten years old, he stumbled upon the memoirs of his great-grandfather, a seafaring missionary in the South Pacific. 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After confrontations with a bizarre cast of cult leaders, militants, and mystics, the author, in his quest for ancient magic, is led to an island in crisis -- and to a new myth with the power to destroy or to save its people forever.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAlternately terrifying, moving, and hilarious, with overtones of Melville and Conrad, The Shark God is Montgomery's extraordinary and piercingly intelligent account of both Melanesia's transformation and his own. 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