** The new novel from Oscar de Muriel, out now!** 1889. The Scottish Play is coming home. But before the darling couple of London theatre, Henry Irving & Ellen Terry, take their acclaimed Macbeth to the Edinburgh stage terror treads the boards. A grisly message found smeared across the cobbles in blood, foretelling someone`s demise. As the bloody prophecies continue to appear Edinburgh`s own beloved pair
- Detective ` Nine-Nails` Mc Gray & Inspector Ian Frey
- enter the scene. Frey scoffs at this blatant publicity stunt, while Mc Gray is convinced of supernatural affairs. As they scrutinise the key players, they discover that Terry, Irving, & his peculiar, preoccupied assistant (one Bram Stoker) all have reasons to kill, or be killed... But one thing is clear. By occult curse or human h&, death will take bow the night the curtain rises. Praise for the Frey & Mc Gray series: `I enjoyed this
- properly creepy & Gothic` Ian Rankin `A hugely entertaining Victorian mystery` New York Times ` This is wonderful. A brilliant, moving, clever, lyrical book
- I loved it. Oscar de Muriel is going to be a name to watch` Manda Scott ` Fun to read & a fast page-turner. Love & murder
- they go together like strawberries & cream` Independent `A brilliant mix of horror, history, & humour. Genuinely riveting with plenty of twists, this will keep you turning the pages. It`s clever, occasionally frightening & superbly written.. . Everything you need in a mystery thriller` Crime Review ` Fast-paced, well-researched & thoroughly spellbinding. The mismatched pair is as entertaining as Holmes & Watson at their best` Historical Novel Society




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John Berger was one of the most influential thinkers & writers of postwar Europe. As a novelist, he won the Booker Prize in 1972, donating half his prize money to the Black Panthers; as a TV presenter he changed the way we looked at art in Ways of Seeing; as a storyteller & political activist he defended the rights & dignity of workers, migrants & the oppressed around the world. In 1953 he wrote: ” Far from dragging politics into art, art has dragged me into politics.” He remained a revolutionary up to his death in January, 2017. In A Writer of Our Time, Joshua Sperling places Berger`s life & works within the historical narrative of postwar Britain & beyond. The book also explores, through the work, the larger questions that vexed a generation: the purpose of art, the nature of creative freedom, the meaning of commitment. Drawing on extensive interviews, close readings & a wealth of archival sources only recently made available, the book brings the many different faces of John Berger together & shows him as one of the most vital, & brilliant, thinkers & storytellers of our time. ...

Marital troubles? Sick of life? Suicide the answer? Why not get yourself a contract killer? Nothing easier, provided you communicate only by phone & box number. You give him your photograph, specify when & where to find you, then sit back & prepare to die. Murdered, you will be of greater interest than ever you were in life. More to him than met the eye will be the judgment. A mysterious killing lives long in the popular memory. Our hero meticulously plans his own demise, except for one detail: what if he suddenly decides he wants to live? ...

One morning, in the dead of winter, three German soldiers are dispatched into the frozen Polish countryside. They have been charged by their commanders to track down & bring back for execution `one of them`
- a Jew. Having flushed out the young man hiding in the woods, they decide to rest in an abandoned house before continuing their journey back to the camp. As they prepare food, they are joined by a passing Pole whose outspoken anti-Semitism adds tension to an already charged atmosphere. Before long, the group`s sympathies have splintered as they consider the moral implications of their murderous mission & confront their own consciences to ask themselves: should the Jew be offered food? &, having shared their meal, should he be taken back, or set free?
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One morning, in the dead of winter, three German soldiers head out into the frozen Polish countryside. They have been charged by their commanders to track down & bring back for execution `one of them`
- a Jew. Having flushed out a young man hiding in the woods, they decide to rest in an abandoned house before continuing their journey back to the camp. As they prepare food, they are joined by a passing Pole whose virulent anti-Semitism adds tension to an already charged atmosphere. Before long, the group`s sympathies begin to splinter as each man is forced to confront his own conscience as the moral implications of their murderous mission become clear.
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Inspired by the true story of Walter Tull, the first black officer in the British army, this is a stunning new novel of identity ...

A Meeting in Seville follows a couple whose marriage is on the rocks. They return to Seville on Semana Santa (Easter) for a `second honeymoon`, a gift from their daughter, only to encounter their own younger selves, on their first honeymoon exactly 30 years earlier. William Sutherland (53), is stressed, work-obsessed & alienated from his vibrant Spanish wife Luisa (52), whom he suspects of an affair with old friend & current business partner Sandy. He could do without a 30th anniversary gift from their concerned daughter. When they encounter their happily-honeymooning selves, (Will 23 & Lu 22) they think they`ve gone mad. Somehow two worlds have collided in this unchanging city
- yet the only element of the other era is that the two couples can see each other. William & Luisa recognise `themselves` but the youngsters think they`re simply a nice if fractious couple here in Seville in 1988. William is drawn to the appealing young woman his wife once was. Whilst Luisa looks in sadness at the couple these sweet lovers have become. But Sandy, William`s best-man was also in Seville that long-ago week. Was this when the fatal `attraction` took hold? When William accidentally discovers that he has the ability to tamper with history, he contrives to ease the young Sandy out of Luisa`s life but soon finds his efforts turning into something more potent...
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This is a reproduction of William Smith’s famous memoir that accompanies the 1815 geological map of ‘A Delineation of the Strata of England & Wales, with part of Scotland’ (series 53. issued between 2 November 1815 & 17 December 1815). Re-mastered from an original held in the British Geological Survey Library, A Memoir to the Map & Delineation of the Strata of England & Wales, with Part of Scotland (its full title) is a booklet explaining the homonymous geological map. It features a rather personal introduction by the author elaborating on the drive & methods he used to create the map, & the importance of producing such a detailed document. This is followed by a section with an explanation of the subject of strata, & of the colours by which they are represented on the map, & including two-page spread table representations. In the following chapter you will find a general account of soil & substrata in the respective counties, 41 plus part of Scotland (extending to Perth & north of Glasgow). The memoir ends with a section on the characteristic distinctions of soil & surface in the courses of the respective strata, described in the order in which their edges successively terminate, where you can read more about the location & the consistency of the soil, from clay & brick-earth to granite, sienite & gneiss. This is a beautifully bound reproduction which is a wonderful work to acquire on its own as well as a companion to the geological map. ...

Louisa May Alcott`s enchanting Christmas stories, presented in a beautiful hardcover edition perfect for giving as a gift. A Merry Christmas collects the best holiday stories of Louisa May Alcott, from the yuletide festivities of Marmee & her `little women` to the moving ` What Love Can Do`. Deeply influenced by real-life events, including characters based on Alcott`s family members & drawing from her experiences participating in the suffrage & abolitionist movements, these stories have the authentic texture & detail of Christmas in nineteenth-century America. Louisa May Alcott was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1832. Her family later moved to Concord, Massachusetts, where Alcott was influenced by their neighbours Nathaniel Hawthorne, Ralph Waldo Emerson, & Henry David Thoreau. At a young age, Louisa took on some of the family`s financial burdens, working as a domestic, a teacher, & a writer. In 1868 & 1869, fame & fortune came with the publication of Little Women. The author of many novels & an active campaigner for temperance & women`s suffrage, Alcott died in 1888. ...

A collection of writing from Britain`s best-loved travel writer, `A Merry Dance around the World` is the culmination of a lifetime of adventure. Covering everything from the birth of Eric Newby in 1919 at the `ghastly hour` of 3.45am, to Herculean cycling escapades in his seventies through the wiles of the Irish winter, this is an astonishing catalogue of disasters & misunderstandings. Newby`s compassionate grace & sharp wit ensure that every adventure is as charming, hilarious & wild as his last. Including extracts from his masterpiece of love & courage in wartime, ` Love & War in the Apennines`, travelling epiphanies against the breathtaking backdrop of `A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush` & the memorable excursions of the long-suffering & truly heroic Wanda Newby on bikes, in boats & planning daring prison escapes. A brilliant introduction for any Newby newcomer, or handy collection for the intrepid Newby veteran traveller, `A Merry Dance around the World` is a whirlwind tour around the globe, guided by the forefather of the modern comic travel book. ...