Search results for ""author jack"

Jack Staff is Britain's Greatest Hero, or at least he used to be. Twenty years ago he disappeared, and everyone just forgot about him. Except for Becky Burdock, Girl Reporter for The World's Press. She's investigating a series of murders in Castletown, but finds a lot more than she expected, including a long forgotten super-hero and a secret that's been hidden for over sixty years.

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Ripper Murders From Old Photographs is not a standard retelling of the story of the Whitechapel Murders but the tale of historically important photographs connected to the case, discovered by the author in 2007. Half of the book deals with The Whitby Collection. This is a surviving series of 27 images taken by the amateur criminologist John Gordon Whitby in 1961. They show many of the murder locations and related streets as they looked at that time. The book will not only tell the known facts about the photographer, but will - for the first time - reproduce every one of the photographs, along with modern comparison shots in colour. The second half of the book deals with an image that some have described as the most important photographic discovery in the Jack the Ripper case for quarter of a century. Before the discovery of a unique image purchased on eBay for less than $5, no photographic image was known to exist of the murder location of supposed Ripper victim Elizabeth Stride. Not only will this book present the photograph to the world for the first time, it will also discuss in detail the vast amount of research that has been undertaken to authenticate and date the image and, with frequent reference to the photo album it came from, will try to close in on identifying the photographer.

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Exploring the vast urban legend surrounding this enigmatic figure, John Matthews explains how the Victorian fascination with strange phenomena and sinister figures paired with hysterical reports enabled Spring-Heeled Jack to be conjured into existence. Sharing original 19th-century newspaper accounts of Spring-Heeled Jack sightings and encounters, he also examines recent 20th and 21st-century reports, including a 1953 UFO-related sighting from Houston, Texas, and disturbing accounts of the Slender Man, who displays notable similarities with Jack. He traces Spring-Heeled Jack’s origins to earlier mythical beings from folklore, such as fairy creatures and land spirits, and explores the theory that Jack is an alien marooned on Earth whose leaping prowess is attributed to his home planet having far stronger gravity than ours.

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The adventure continues . . . At the time of his death, Patrick O'Brian had begun to write the twenty-first book in his famous and much-loved Aubrey–Maturin series. The chapters he left behind are presented here, both in printed version and a facsimile of his manuscript, which goes several pages beyond the end of the typescript and includes O’Brian’s own marginal notes. The story picks up from the end of Blue at the Mizzen when Jack Aubrey receives the news, in Chile, of his elevation to flag rank: Rear Admiral of the Blue Squadron, with orders to sail to the South Africa station. ‘This fragment is both delightful and tantalising, with hints of a plot that might have involved Jack and Stephen with St Helena or Napoleon himself.’ Literary Review

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Best known for catching wolves alive with his bare hands, John R. Abernathy (1876–1941) was born to Scottish ancestors in Texas. Raised in the burgeoning railroad town of Sweetwater, Abernathy considered himself a true son of the Wild West. In his amazing life he worked as a U.S. marshal, sheriff, Secret Service agent, and wildcat oil driller. But it was the accidental discovery of a bold means of catching wolves alive that made Abernathy famous and drew the attention of President Theodore Roosevelt. By forcing his hand deep enough into a wolf's mouth, he could stun the creature long enough to capture it, a service for which he was paid fifty dollars by eager ranchers. This Bison Books edition brings Abernathy's vivid account of his life into print for the first time since its original publication in 1936.

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Have you ever wondered what adventures fill a young child's imagination whilst they are sleeping? Join Jack on his exhilarating trip around the world! From a truck, to a bus, to a planeand eventually to a space rocket, Jack has the most exciting and fascinating journeys where he makes lots of new friends along the way.How does a little boy go from being tucked up safely in bed to travelling across countries and continents, to making deliveries, to making friends on holiday, to seeing the Queen ANDSanta Claus, to eating food with chopsticks and - eventually - flying to the moon?With illustrations by Ian R. Ward, this is an uplifting storytelling experience that will fill their imaginations with wonder and curiosity. Granny Jean writes a narrative bursting with detail thatchildren aged 4 - 7 will want to hear again and again!

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This is the first paperback edition of the revisionist work about Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, who won his battles at sea but lost the war of public opinion. A surface warrior, Fletcher led the carrier forces in the Pacific that won against all odds at Coral Sea, Midway, and the Eastern Solomon's. Despite these successes, during the post-war Fletcher had become one of the most controversial figures in U.S. naval history and was portrayed as a timid bungler who failed to relieve Wake Island and who deliberately abandoned the Marines at Guadalcanal.

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INSPIRATION FOR THE THRILLING AMAZON PRIME SERIES JACK RYAN . . . Jack Ryan Jr. returns in Dead or Alive, the gripping thriller from Tom Clancy. The world's number one terrorist is about to unleash a holy war. Only one agency, one man, can stop him . . . The Campus was secretly created by President Jack Ryan to covertly eliminate terrorists. Now it faces its greatest threat: a sadistic killer known as the Emir. Mastermind of countless horrific attacks, the Emir has eluded capture by every law enforcement agency in the world. And he is about to unleash a monumental strike at the heart of America.But on the Emir's trail is intelligence expert Jack Ryan Jr. Following in his legendary father's footsteps, he and his allies at the Campus are on a manhunt that will take them across the globe, into the shadowy arenas of political gamesmanship, in a race to prevent the fall of the West.Dead or Alive is the nerve-shredding second thriller in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan Jr. series. The Teeth of the Tiger was the first. Praise for Tom Clancy:'Heart-stopping action . . . entertaining and eminently topical' Washington Post'Classic Clancy . . . well-constructed tension and realistic action' Short List'Exhilarating. No other novelist is giving so full a picture of modern conflict' Sunday Times

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This unicorn-friendly twist on “This Is the House that Jack Built” will charm readers young and old This is Jack, all sparkly and white, whose magical horn shimmers bright, day and night. Inspired by the beloved rhyme “This Is the House that Jack Built,” this is the whimsical tale of Jack the unicorn and the magical glade where he lives! Full of fantastic creatures from fairies and mermaids to gnomes and trolls—even a dragon—this sweet and silly book is a wonderful read-aloud for creatures big and small.

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In 1952, John T. “Jack” Downey, a twenty-three-year-old CIA officer from Connecticut, was shot down over Manchuria during the Korean War. The pilots died in the crash, but Downey and his partner Richard “Dick” Fecteau were captured by the Chinese. For the next twenty years, they were harshly interrogated, put through show trials, held in solitary confinement, placed in reeducation camps, and toured around China as political pawns. Other prisoners of war came and went, but Downey and Fecteau’s release hinged on the United States acknowledging their status as CIA assets. Not until Nixon’s visit to China did Sino-American relations thaw enough to secure Fecteau’s release in 1971 and Downey’s in 1973.Lost in the Cold War is the never-before-told story of Downey’s decades as a prisoner of war and the efforts to bring him home. Downey’s lively and gripping memoir—written in secret late in life—interweaves horrors and deprivation with humor and the absurdities of captivity. He recounts his prison experiences: fearful interrogations, pantomime communications with his guards, a 3,000-page overstuffed confession designed to confuse his captors, and posing for “show” photographs for propaganda purposes. Through the eyes of his captors and during his tours around China, Downey watched the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and the drastic transformations of the Mao era. In interspersed chapters, Thomas J. Christensen, an expert on Sino-American relations, explores the international politics of the Cold War and tells the story of how Downey and Fecteau’s families, the CIA, the U.S. State Department, and successive presidential administrations worked to secure their release.

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The White Stripes were one of the breakout bands of the early 2000s 'rock revival'. They produced some of the most indelible songs of the 21st Century and reintroduced a sense of mystery and panache to the staid indie rock scene of the era. But that was only the beginning for singer-guitarist Jack White. From his humble origins in the fabled Detroit garage rock scene, via The White Stripes and his other bands, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather, to his ongoing solo career, Jack White has forged an extensive and eclectic body of work. Now, as the head of his own record label, he has achieved what most musicians dream of: the freedom to follow his idiosyncratic muse where it takes him, regardless of the whims of the record industry or popular taste. His music takes in all styles, from psychedelic power pop, to gothic swamp rock, to futuristic synth-funk, but he remains connected to the traditions of American roots music. He is always eager to cite his influences, and his collaborations and production work are an important part of his musical development. This is the first book that takes in the entire scope of Jack White's career: his bands, his solo work, and his work with other artists. By going through his discography track-by-track, this book will argue that Jack White is one of the great artists of the modern age. Perhaps, in fact, the last great rock star.

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From the author of NOMAD comes an action-packed thriller perfect for fans of Lee Child's Jack Reacher and Mark Dawson. Two million in cash. Nowhere to run. Nothing left to lose. Would you risk it? Today is the worst day of your life.The deal you risked it all for has fallen apart at the last minute.You're stranded at a remote airport as a storm rages outside.Then you discover an unattended bag. Inside is two million euros in cash.WHAT WOULD YOU DO? ___________PRAISE FOR JAMES SWALLOW:'Unputdownable' WILBUR SMITH'Frighteningly credible' BEN AARONOVITCH'Britain's answer to Jason Bourne' DAILY MAIL'Explosive' IRISH EXAMINER'Terrifyingly real' CLOSER

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***Pre-order David Nicholls' new novel YOU ARE HERE now - Coming April 2024***THE DEBUT NOVEL BY BELOVED BESTSELLER DAVID NICHOLLSA comedy about love, class, growing up and the all-important difference between knowledge and wisdom'Painfully funny'ELLE'Hugely entertaining'DAILY MAIL'Wincingly good'TIME OUT'Unrivalled'GLAMOUR'I laughed a lot'JEREMY PAXMANIt's 1985 and Brian Jackson has arrived at university with a burning ambition - to make it onto TV's foremost general knowledge quiz. But no sooner has he embarked on 'The Challenge' than he finds himself falling hopelessly in love with his teammate, the beautiful and charismatic would-be actress Alice Harbinson.When Alice fails to fall for his slightly over-eager charms, Brian comes up with a foolproof plan to capture her heart once and for all: he's going to win the game, at any cost. Because - after all - everyone knows that what a woman really wants from a man is a comprehensive grasp of general knowledge . . .ONE OF BRITAIN'S MOST ACCLAIMED WRITERS'One of the most astute chroniclers of England as it is now'FINANCIAL TIMES'An uncanny ability to make us laugh out loud, but also care passionately about his characters'DAILY TELEGRAPH'Nicholls writes with such tender precision about love'THE TIMES'No one else writes novels that are both relatable and revelatory in the way he does'EVENING STANDARD'Genuinely brilliant'NEW STATESMAN

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“One of the best books on the American presidency to appear in recent years” (The Wall Street Journal) and based on a decade of research and reporting—a delightful new window into the public and private lives America’s presidents as authors.Most Americans are familiar with Abraham Lincoln’s famous words in the Gettysburg Address and the Eman­cipation Proclamation. Yet few can name the work that helped him win the presidency: his published collection of speeches entitled Political Debates between Hon. Abraham Lincoln and Hon. Stephen A. Douglas. Lincoln labored in secret to get his book ready for the 1860 election, tracking down newspaper transcripts, editing them carefully for fairness, and hunting for a printer who would meet his specifications. Political Debates sold fifty thousand copies—the rough equivalent of half a million books in today’s market—and it reveals something about Lincoln’s presidential ambitions. But it also reveals something about his heart and mind. When voters asked about his beliefs, Lincoln liked to point them to his book. In Craig Fehrman’s “original, illuminating, and entertaining” (Jon Meacham) work of history, the story of America’s presidents and their books opens a rich new window into presidential biography. From volumes lost to history—Calvin Coolidge’s Autobiography, which was one of the most widely discussed titles of 1929—to ones we know and love—Barack Obama’s Dreams from My Father, which was very nearly never published—Fehrman unearths countless insights about the presidents through their literary works. Presidential books have made an enormous impact on American history, catapulting their authors to the national stage and even turning key elections. Beginning with Thomas Jefferson’s Notes on the State of Virginia, the first presidential book to influence a campaign, and John Adams’s Autobiography, the first score-settling presiden­tial memoir, Author in Chief draws on newly uncovered information—including never-before-published letters from Andrew Jackson, John F. Kennedy, and Ronald Reagan—to cast fresh light on the private drives and self-doubts that fueled our nation’s leaders. We see Teddy Roosevelt as a vulnerable first-time author, struggling to write the book that would become a classic of American history. We see Reagan painstakingly revising Where’s the Rest of Me?, and Donald Trump negotiating the deal for The Art of the Deal, the volume that made him synonymous with business savvy. Alongside each of these authors, we also glimpse the everyday Americans who read them. “If you’re a history buff, a presidential trivia aficionado, or just a lover of American literary history, this book will transfix you, inform you, and surprise you” (The Seattle Review of Books).

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A stunning thriller in the internationally bestselling series that inspired the smash-hit Amazon Prime TV Show JACK RYANJack Ryan Jr is in an assassin's sights . . .Sent to the Balkans on an analytical mission, Jack Ryan Jr visits Sarajevo to meet Aida, the girl his mother saved in the war. He finds a selfless, attractive woman helping refugees in a restless country where a new war is brewing.Coming to her aid, Jack is soon tangling with the Serbian mafia while dodging assassins from the mysterious Iron Syndicate. Alone and defying recall orders, he believes this is more than just local trouble.Has someone lit the fuse on the next world war?Is Jack endangering Aida trying to find out?And what can he alone do to stop it?Praise for Tom Clancy: 'He constantly taps the current world situation for its imminent dangers and spins them into an engrossing tale' New York Times'Heart-stopping action . . . entertaining and eminently topical' Washington Post'Exhilarating. No other novelist is giving so full a picture of modern conflict' Sunday Times'A brilliantly constructed thriller that packs a punch' Daily Mail'A virtuoso display of page-turning talent' Sunday Express

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Saved! meets Tim Federle with just a dash of A.S. King in this hilarious and poignant debut about a teen stuck at Jesus camp.It's bad enough that Nick's sister is dead, and, in some bizarre attempt to force him to confront his grief, his parents are shipping him off to Jesus camp. But he's also being followed around by Jack Kerouac, who's incredibly annoying for a genius.If arguing with a dead beat poet doesn't qualify him for antipsychotics already, Nick's pretty sure Eden Springs is going to drive him insane. The campers ride donkeys into the desert, snap selfies with counselors dressed as disciples, and replace song lyrics with Bible verses. And somehow, only Nick seems to find this strange.Worst of all is the PC Box, into which the campers gleefully place daily prayers and confessions. With Jack nagging him to do it, Nick scribbles down his darkest secret—about his sister's death—and drops it in the box.But then the box is stolen, with Nick's secret inside of it. And when campers' confessions start appearing around the camp, Nick is desperate to get the box back—before the world learns the truth about what he did. The truth he can't even face himself.Laugh-out-loud funny, surreal, and insightful, this is an unforgettable novel about the strangeness of life, death, and grief—and the even stranger things people do to cope.'Irreverent, poignant, and smart, Jacked Up turns Jesus camp on its head! A clever debut by a talented new author.' — Kimberly Derting, award-winning author of the Body Finder series and the Pledge trilogy 'With an unforgettable setting and a vibrant cast of characters, Erica Sage has delivered a poignant story of one boy's search for forgiveness in the face of loss. Hilarious and insightful, Jacked Up explores the complexities of both faith and grief with remarkable honesty, nuance, and grace. A captivating debut.' — Katie Henry, author of Heretics Anonymous'You can't help but think of Jack Kerouac's famous novel during this humorous and heartbreaking road trip of a book. Erica Sage's deft hand on the wheel makes the journey memorable.' — Mark Teppo, author of the Codex of Souls duology 'Spiritual without being didactic, laugh-out-loud funny without being slapstick, and heartwarming without being melodramatic, Jacked Uptakes us on a pilgrimage — both literal and allegorical — as Nick searches for healing and redemption.' — Patrick Swenson, author of The Ultra Thin Man'An impressive debut novel that entertains while encouraging the questioning of all assumptions.' — Kirkus Reviews'This story of tragedy and relationships reads quickly, and Nick is a sympathetic narrator...The author has created a small but well-crafted cast of characters [with] real-life issues that will resonate with young adults. A good selection for most YA collections.' — School Library Journal

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Exactly who ÊwasÊ Jack the Ripper the infamous Victorian serial killer? ÊJack the Ripper FAQÊ explores this question in depth with a thorough overview not only of the world's most notorious serial killer but also of the cultural impact that remains as powerful more than 130 years on from his murderous spree. Every murder attributed to him is discussed in depth together with a number more that may have been his work; the book also details the myriad different suspects that have been mentioned over the years.ÞÊJack the Ripper FAQÊ investigates the world in which the Ripper operated with chapters discussing the factors that made it possible for him to act with such apparent impunity. Also covered are the policemen who tried to capture him the journalists who tried to illustrate his motives and the private investigators who raised theories that are still being discussed today.ÞThe book also revisits the movies novels and comic books that have tried to solve the mystery. But still the inescapable fact is we still do we not know who the Ripper was!

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Set off on the eternal trail of the Beat experience in the city that inspired many of Jack Kerouac's best-loved novels including On the Road, Vanity of Duluoz, The Town and the City, and Desolation Angels. This is the ultimate guide to Kerouac's New York, packed with photos of the Beat Generation and filled with undercover information and little-known anecdotes. Eight easy-to-follow walking tours guide you to: Greenwich Village bars and cafes where Kerouac and his friends Allen Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, William Burroughs, Diane di Prima, Gregory Corso, Hettie and LeRoi Jones, John Clellon Holmes, Joyce Johnson, and others read poetry, drank, turned-on, and talked all night long. The Chelsea-district apartment where Jack wrote On the Road. Midtown clubs where Beat poets mingled with artists Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning and listened to jazz and blues greats Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday. Times Square, a magnet for Kerouac and the Beats. Columbia University, where the original Beats first met and began a revolution in American literature and culture. Each tour includes a map of the neighborhood, subway and bus information, and an insider's angle on Jack Kerouac's life in New York. A must for Beat enthusiasts and critics. Bill Morgan is a painter and archival consultant working in New York City. His previous publications include The Works of Allen Ginsberg 1941-1994: A Descriptive Bibliography and Lawrence Ferlinghetti: A Comprehensive Bibliography. He has worked as an archivist for Allen Ginsberg, Abbie Hoffman, and Timothy Leary.

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The campaign for racial equality in sports has both reflected and affected the campaign for racial equality in the United States. Some of the most significant and publicized stories in this campaign in the twentieth century have happened in sports, including, of course, Jackie Robinson in baseball; Jesse Owens, Tommie Smith, and John Carlos in track; Arthur Ashe in tennis; and Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, and Muhammad Ali in boxing. Long after the full integration of college and professional athletics, race continues to play a major role in sports. Not long ago, sportswriters and sportscasters ignored racial issues. They now contribute to the public’s evolving racial attitudes on issues both on and off the field, ranging from integration to self-determination to masculinity.From Jack Johnson to LeBron James examines the intersection of sports, race, and the media in the twentieth century and beyond. The essays are linked by a number of questions, including: How did the black and white media differ in content and context in their reporting of these stories? How did the media acknowledge race in their stories? Did the media recognize these stories as historically significant? Considering how media coverage has evolved over the years, the essays begin with the racially charged reporting of Jack Johnson’s reign as heavyweight champion and carry up to the present, covering the media narratives surrounding the Michael Vick dogfighting case in a supposedly post-racial era and the media’s handling of LeBron James’s announcement to leave Cleveland for Miami.

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A celebration of the extraordinary life of Ezra Jack Keats, creator of The Snowy Day.The story of The Snowy Day begins more than one hundred years ago, when Ezra Jack Keats was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. The family were struggling Polish immigrants, and despite Keats’s obvious talent, his father worried that Ezra’s dream of being an artist was an unrealistic one. But Ezra was determined. By high school he was winning prizes and scholarships. Later, jobs followed with the WPA and Marvel comics. But it was many years before Keats’s greatest dream was realized and he had the opportunity to write and illustrate his own book. For more than two decades, Ezra had kept pinned to his wall a series of photographs of an adorable African American child. In Keats’s hands, the boy morphed into Peter, a boy in a red snowsuit, out enjoying the pristine snow; the book became The Snowy Day, winner of the Caldecott Medal, the first mainstream book to feature an African American child. It was also the first of many books featuring Peter and the children of his — and Keats’s — neighborhood. Andrea Davis Pinkney’s lyrical narrative tells the inspiring story of a boy who pursued a dream, and who, in turn, inspired generations of other dreamers.

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In this riveting account of the 1975 Masters Tournament, acclaimed golf television veteran Gil Capps of NBC Sports and Golf Channel recaptures the thrilling excitement when three iconic heavyweights,Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, and Tom Weiskopf,battled back and forth, riveting the sports world and dramatically culminating in one of the greatest finishes in golf history.

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Peter Temple held crime writing up to the light and, with his poet's ear and eye, made it his own incomparable thing.Peter Temple started publishing novels late, when he was fifty, but then he got cracking. He wrote nine novels in thirteen years. Along the way he wrote screenplays, stories, dozens of reviews.When Temple died in March 2018 there was an unfinished Jack Irish novel in his drawer. It is included in The Red Hand, and it reveals the master at the peak of his powers. The Red Hand also includes the screenplay of Valentine's Day, an improbably delightful story about an ailing country football club, which in 2007 was adapted for television by the ABC. Also included are his short fiction, his reflections on the Australian idiom, a handful of autobiographical fragments, and a selection of his brilliant book reviews. .

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Truth and Beautiful Meaningful Lies is a collection of memorable quotes from one of the most quoted writers in American literature.One of the most celebrated writers in American literature, Jack Kerouac helped an entire generation of post-WWII Americans explore a purpose beyond the standard narrative values, spiritual ideologies, and economic materialism that was rampant throughout pre-war America. Alongside prominent beat writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S. Burroughs, Kerouac crafted a magnum opus that would later be connected to counterculture movements throughout the 1960s.His extensive collection of novels, short stories, poetry, journals, letters, and other writings are often littered with long-winded reflections, observations, proclamations, and other mad ramblings about life, love, loss, loneliness, and the search for a new American identity. Constantly pivoting from a recluse searching “...once and for all what is the meaning of all this existence and suffering and going to and fro in vain,” to a seasoned road-warrior exploring the country and sifting through the profound philosophies of Zen Buddhism, Taoism, and the meaning of Dharma, Kerouac’s spontaneous style of prose generates a kind of unpolished wisdom that leaves a lasting impression long after reading.The insights and quotes assembled in this book have been woven into a patchwork of reoccurring themes found throughout Kerouac’s writings, such as adventure, life, self-reflection, and spirituality are heavily featured, but more niche quotes around topics like cats, coffee, music, and sports can also be found. This collection pulls from prominent novels such as Big Sur, Desolation Angels, The Dharma Bums, On the Road: The Original Scroll, The Subterraneans, Tristessa, Vanity of Duluoz, and Visions of Cody, as well as some of his selected short stories, poems, letters, and journals.Whether you’re new to Kerouac, searching for inspiration in his words, or are a self-proclaimed “mad one” looking to make sense of it all, this quote book will undoubtedly serve as a go-to reference for the discerning Kerouac reader.

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**BBC Radio 4 Book at Bedtime** ________________________ A JOYFUL 40TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION OF A COMING-OF-AGE CLASSIC ________________________ ‘There are few modern tales of first love and its disillusions that are as thoroughly realised, as brilliantly lewd, and as hilariously satisfying to men and women of all ages as this one’ - Rachel Cusk Eighteen-year-old Katherine - bright, stylish, frustratedly suburban - doesn't know how her life will change when the brilliant Jacob Goldman first offers her a place at university. When she enters the Goldmans' rambling bohemian home, presided over by the beatific matriarch Jane, she realises that Jacob and his family are everything she has been waiting for. But when a romantic entanglement ends in tears, Katherine is forced into exile from the family she loves most. And her journey back into the fold, after more than a decade away, will yield all kinds of delightful surprises... ________________________ ‘The perfect book’ - Meg Mason ‘The best possible company in this difficult world’ - Ann Patchett ‘A daisy bomb of joy’ - Maria Semple ‘Funny, charming, teeming with life, and real’ - Nick Hornby ‘I adored it … Redolent of classics like The Constant Nymph with both its true voice and wonderfully sage and sanguine heroine’ - Sophie Dahl ‘One of those books that when people have read it, they just push it into your hands silently: "You have to read this book, you will love this book." There’s no other book I love more’ - Caroline O'Donoghue, Sentimental Garbage ‘Reading it again is as comforting as eating toast and Marmite between clean, fresh sheets’ - Rachel Cooke, Sunday Times ‘Think Brideshead Revisited set in the 1970s, only sexier and much funnier. It kills me that I didn’t read it at university, when I really needed it’ - Meg Rosoff, New Statesman

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Part of Rigby Star Guided series this is the only programme built specifically for guided reading. Its rich, multi-layered stories and non-fiction texts by top quality authors and illustrators are guarantreed to captivate children and facilitate discussion.

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Jostling for position in this cornucopia of the criminal and the curious are diverse tales of baby farmers, garrotters, murderers, poisoners, prostitutes, pimps, rioters and rebels. Other tales tell of those who walked the poverty-stricken streets of 'the abyss', trying to earn a few honest coppers by the most unusual and desperate occupations, from tater man to tosher. This colourful cast of characters is accompanied by accounts of prisons and punishments, as well as a liberal smattering of funerals, executions, disasters and bizarre events. If it's horrible, if it's ghastly, if it's strange, its here - and if you have the stomach for it, then read on.

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'Like all the best vintages Jack Lark has aged to perfection. Scarred, battered and bloody, his story continues to enthral' ANTHONY RICHESHistorical military fiction at its finest, for fans of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series, Matthew Harffy and Patrick O'Brian. South Africa, 1871. Jack Lark no longer walks alone. With the worldly Anna Baker by his side, he travels to the Cape Colony diamond fields determined to seek their fortune - and an adventurous new life together. The journey north soon turns violent as tensions erupt between other hopeful diggers and a gang of Boer men. Everyone has their eye on the same elusive prize - and some will stop at nothing to get it. For Jack and Anna, unearthing a diamond is only half the battle. Getting out of the mines alive will prove far more difficult - and dangerous. And when the worst happens, Jack finds himself tested as no enemy, no man and no war has ever before.Praise for the Jack Lark series:'Brilliant' Bernard Cornwell'Enthralling' The Times'Bullets fly, emotions run high and treachery abounds... exceptionally entertaining historical action adventure' Matthew Harffy'Expect ferocious, bloody action from the first page' Ben Kane'You feel and experience all the emotions and the blood, sweat and tears that Jack does... I devoured it in one sitting' Parmenion Books

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The fugitive slave known as “Three-Fingered Jack” terrorized colonial Jamaica from 1780 until vanquished by Maroons, self-emancipated Afro-Jamaicans bound by treaty to police the island for runaways and rebels. A thief and a killer, Jack was also a freedom fighter who sabotaged the colonial machine until his grisly death at its behest. Narratives about his exploits shed light on the problems of black rebellion and solutions administered by the colonial state, creating an occasion to consider counter-narratives about its methods of divide and conquer. For more than two centuries, writers, performers, and storytellers in England, Jamaica, and the United States have “thieved" Three Fingered Jack's riveting tale, defining black agency through and against representations of his resistance.Frances R. Botkin offers a literary and cultural history that explores the persistence of stories about this black rebel, his contributions to constructions of black masculinity in the Atlantic world, and his legacies in Jamaican and United States popular culture.

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The fugitive slave known as “Three-Fingered Jack” terrorized colonial Jamaica from 1780 until vanquished by Maroons, self-emancipated Afro-Jamaicans bound by treaty to police the island for runaways and rebels. A thief and a killer, Jack was also a freedom fighter who sabotaged the colonial machine until his grisly death at its behest. Narratives about his exploits shed light on the problems of black rebellion and solutions administered by the colonial state, creating an occasion to consider counter-narratives about its methods of divide and conquer. For more than two centuries, writers, performers, and storytellers in England, Jamaica, and the United States have “thieved" Three Fingered Jack's riveting tale, defining black agency through and against representations of his resistance.Frances R. Botkin offers a literary and cultural history that explores the persistence of stories about this black rebel, his contributions to constructions of black masculinity in the Atlantic world, and his legacies in Jamaican and United States popular culture.

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A LONG, STRANGE TRIPJack and Larry are busy dealing with the typical New York City troubles when an unusual drug case lands in their laps. The “flowers” drug not only gets users weirdly high, it also lets normal humans enter the faerie realm. Jack starts investigating, only to run right into the mysterious man in black again. What does he want to show Jack and Larry?

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In this thrilling and educational adventure series, nine-year-old secret agent Jack Stalwart travels to the farthest ends of the earth to solve international crimes and bring home his long-lost brother, Max.

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