Search results for ""Methuen Publishing Ltd""

The founding of the welfare state in the 1940s was one of the crowning achievements of modern British history - or was it? In this robustly argued book James Bartholomew advances the hitherto sacrilegious argument that however well-meaning its founders, the welfare state has in reality done more harm than good: Do welfare benefits cause unemployment? How the NHS fails to deliver? Can state education ever be properly reformed? Does broken parenting matter? Is a low state pension better than none, and who pays for it? 'The welfare state has caused tens of thousands of people to live deprived and even depraved lives, and has undermined the very decency and kindness which first inspired it. Evidence will be brought forward to show that it has resulted in a generation of badly educated people...The thesis of this book is that Britain would have been better off without the welfare state.'

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THE LEGENDARY TEACHER OF STORY . . . Robert McKee's new book CHARACTER: The Art of Role and Cast Design for Page, Stage and Screen is an excellent companion volume to his hugely successful STORY: Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting and DIALOGUE: The Art of Verbal Action for Page, Stage and Screen. Divided into four parts (In praise of Character, Character Creation, The Character Universe and Character Relationships) CHARACTER has a primary purpose of enriching the reader's insight into the nature of a fictional character and sharpens the creative techniques necessary to invent a complex cast of personalities, starting with the protagonist then adding the cast of supporting roles. McKee uses scenes from classic films and television programmes, Sex and the City, Casablanca, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Fawlty Towers, and the works of classical dramatists, Homer, Shakespeare, Samuel Beckett, to demonstrate how characters are constructed and developed for page, stage and screen. Robert McKee is an author, lecturer and story consultant whose popular writing workshops have brought him international fame. His book STORY, is the basis for his programme and it has defined how we regard the art of story creation. In STORY's companion volume, DIALOGUE, McKee offers the same in-depth analysis of how actors speak on the screen, on the stage and on the page. CHARACTER is a masterly work with a primary purpose of enriching the reader's insight into the nature of a fictional character and sharpening the creative techniques necessary to invent a complex cast of personalities, starting with the protagonist then adding the first, second and third tiers of supporting roles. CHARACTER is a brilliant addition to the genre and is essential reading for all aspiring writers.

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Thelwell made a study of this strange phenomenon of human behaviour and set it all down in his BOOK OF LEISURE.

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Israel is under great threat from its neighbours without and traitors within... Its leaders can resort to use of nuclear weapons in self-defence but fear the catastrophe that would result. Samuel Dayan is the traitor who has orchestrated a number of atrocities in Europe and the Middle East, with blame falling on Israel. David Golightly, Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister is frantically trying to prevent the threatened conflict. Nick Hunter and his TIFAT team are brought in to help and after several bloody encounters, and assistance from Ruth Golightly, a Mossad agent, the TIFAT team finally confront Dayan and his followers.

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In Paul Henke's TIFAT novel Retribution, Nick Hunter and his TIFAT team are drawn into the human catastrophe sweeping Africa and the Middle East. Criminal gangs of people smugglers are orchestrating the migration of many thousands of Africans and Asians into Europe, threatening the stability of that continent. The criminal gangs trade on the fear of those fleeing poverty, oppression and genocide and, in return for large sums of money, arrange illegal entry into Europe. Many who survive the journey, hoping for a safer life, are sold into slavery and the sex trade. The criminals are well connected with the upper echelons of Arab society and channel their ill-gotten gains to spread terror across Europe in the name of Islam. The TIFAT team have the task of tracing the criminal gangs and their leaders and eliminating them. For TIFAT, danger is ever-present.

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Here H. V.Morton begins his wandering in the City, where Roman London began, and follows, westwards, the course of London's seventeenth and eighteenth-century expansion. Here is a lasting memento for the overseas visitor, for Londoners in their thousands, and for all those readers for whom H. V. Morton has long been the perfect guide and the most entertaining companion. In this remarkable, living picture of London past, present and timeless Morton explores the City and the Temple, Covent Garden, Soho and all the 'submerged villages beneath the flood of bricks and mortar', uncovering layer upon layer of London's history. Morton follows the leads of imagination and investigation back and forth across the city, tracing unforgettable scenes: the Emperor Claudius leading his war elephants across the Thames; the terrible executions at the Tower; the city that Shakespeare knew, and that of Pepys, and Nelson and Queen Victoria, and also the shattered yet defiant city of the Blitz and the post-war London of 'ruins and hatless crowds'. Morton's quest for the city's heart reveals how London's daily life is rooted in a past that is closer and more familiar than we might think, making In Search of London as informative, entertaining and rich in human colour today as when it was written fifty years ago.

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This is a mongrel mix of prose, poem, cartoon strip, letter, and limerick. Musings upon his mum, his chum, his love, his love's loss, and salvation at the paws of his chum's mum's Welsh Border Collie. This collection of verse and drawings from the man dubbed 'comedy's poet laureate' combines Hegley's skills as a stand-up poet, puppeteer, and cartoonist. The work is, by turns, both touching and funny.

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Part political inquiry, part travel journal, part-self exploration, "Seek" is a collection of essays by an award-winning novelist out to explore himself and his life in the company of those who live on the edges of society. Denis Johnson travels between the extremes of human behaviour, from a hippy convention in the Achoco Natinal Forest, to war-ravaged Liberia, where he is witness to horrifying acts of torture. Along the way he joins a "Bikers for Jesus" rally in Texas, hangs out with a gun-crazed militia group, finds himself stranded in Somalia, and swaps stories with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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Provincetown, Cape Cod: the last outpost of civilisation, the end of the earth. In the confused aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, Leonard English – pursuing a vague vision of redemption and an even vaguer offer of employment – finds himself in a Cape resort populated by religious zealots and promiscuous transvestites. Taking a position as a part-time disc jockey-cum-private investigator, he falls hopelessly in love with a beautiful young gay woman. As winter approaches Leonard’s anguish mounts, his search for an elusive artist proves as futile as his desire and his growing obsessions lead to a tragic discovery and unexpected personal satisfaction.

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The subversive songs of mathematics teacher Tom Lehrer, the sardonic piano-wielding fugitive from Harvard, have corrupted generations of Americans since he first began recording and performing in the 1950s. His uniquely depraved wit has been forced again on an unsuspecting public via 'Tomfoolery', the stage revue based on his ever-trenchant observation of the American scene, spawned in London in 1980 and which has since spread to many other Lehrer-speaking countries. This new songbook, with old favourites unavailable for years as well as never-before-published songs, is the most comprehensive ever assembled. It contains the words, tunes, piano accompaniments, and guitar chords for these thirty-four classics: The Irish Ballad, Fight Fiercely Harvard!, Be Prepared, The Old Dope Peddler, The Wild West Is Where I Want to Be, I Wanna Go Back to Dixie, Lobachevsky, The Hunting Song, I Hold Your Hand in Mine, My Home Town, L-Y, When You Are Old and Gray, The Wiener Schnitzel Waltz, Poisoning Pigeons in the Park, A Christmas Carol, Bright College Days, In Old Mexico, She's My Girl, The Elements, The Masochism Tango, National Brotherhood Week, MLF Lullaby, The Folk Song Army, Smut, Send the Marines, New Math, Pollution, So Long Mom, Who's Next?, Wernher Von Braun, We Will All Go Together When We Go, I Got It from Agnes, Silent E and The Vatican Rag.

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An hilarious canine compendium, essential for new and experienced dog owners alike. As all dog owners know, man's best friend is a complex bundle of appetites, instincts, and winsome wiles. Few first-time owners will realize, however, just what a responsibility they are taking on. So Norman Thelwell kindly provided them with this invaluable handbook full of advice on choosing, training, feeding, exercising, and caring for our four-legged friends. It also emphasizes the importance of protecting one's own interests – not to mention those of one's neighbours – for an ill-trained hound will soon develop a healthy disrespect for law and order. Here is a superb cartoon collection designed to give every dog owner a new leash of life in the canine world. From the business of choosing a puppy and the troubles of training to the foibles of different breeds, TOP DOG is an indispensable companion for all fans of man's best friend.

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The first feature film by the Monty Python team is a mock heroic tale set in medieval Britain with lots of silly things going on besides. In a series of sketches and animations, the Pythons recount scenes from the Grail legend in which the knights forsake their chorus line can-can dancing in Camelot for a higher aim. Typically, the Pythons set-up a 'historical' tale which is really a take on the modern world. Memorable scenes, like Graham Chapman's King Arthur battling with John Cleese's Black Knight until the latter is reduced limb by limb down to a speaking stump of a torso, capture both the hilarity and grotesque nature of brutality. In scene after scene King Arthur's men are led a merry chase through the countryside, encountering life on many different social levels. This screenplay edition contains just the script and is supplemented by stills from the film.

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'It's the Magna Carta and Valley of the Dolls all rolled into one...' Michael Palin Graham Chapman, who died in October 1989, reveals in his autobiography what it was like to be part of the revolutionary and zany Monty Python team. Required reading for Monty Python fans, this true and false memoir is Graham Chapman's own hilarious account of his life as a Python and as a homosexual. The book equals Joe Orton's famous Diaries in providing an unblushing account of a gay lifestyle linked to entertainment. Full of outrageous fictions and touching truths, in telling surreal and outrageous lies Graham Chapman often uncovers a truth about himself and colleagues. The stories it relates of the author - whether as mountaineer or medical student (he was a doctor); actor or alcoholic (he was both); heterosexual groupie-guzzler or homosexual coming to terms with himself (bit of both) - form a surreal and crowded mosaic that is funny, disturbing and moving by turns. A minor cult classic by a major comic talent.' It is, as one critic put it, an "intercoursingly good book".'(A Fleet Street Hack)

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From the master of STORY, DIALOGUE, and CHARACTER, ACTION offers writers the keys to powerful storytelling. ACTION explores the ways that a modern-day writer can successfully tell an action story that stands apart from all others. In collaboration with former co-host of The Story Toolkit, Bassim El-Wakil, legendary story lecturer Robert McKee guides writers to award-winning originality by analysing the action genre, highlighting the challenges and, more importantly, showing how to master the demands of plot creation through innovation and ingenuity. ACTION is a must-have addition to the McKee storytelling oeuvre.

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Dario Fo (1926–2016), actor, playwright, theatre director, stage designer, political activist, artist and author who, having attained international fame in theatre, produced the first of his six novels at the age of 88 – was there any limit to his versatile genius? He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1997, and works such as Accidental Death of an Anarchist or Can’t Pay? Won’t Pay secured his reputation as the outstanding political playwright of his age. Unlike other writers of a similar mind, Fo’s chosen genre was farce, so his drama is a uniquely engaging mixture of laughter and anger. In 1954 he married Franca Rame (1929–2013), a member of a family-company of touring players. The personal and professional partnership of the two over sixty years was probably unique in theatre history. Her inherited, instinctive knowledge of stagecraft was invaluable to him, but although she was always recognised as an actor of considerable talent, her contribution to the writing of the plays was long undervalued. With the emergence of the feminist movement she increasingly asserted herself, notably with a series of one-woman works she wrote and performed. She became one of Italy’s and Europe’s leading feminist campaigners, and as such a target for right-wing terrorist groups. In 1973, she was kidnapped and raped by neo-Fascist thugs. Although the subjects of their plays, with their fearless attacks on corruption and satire of Popes and politicians, were often taken from the headlines of the day, their theatre was deeply rooted in theatrical tradition. The Nobel Prize citation stated that Fo ‘emulated the jesters of the Middle Ages in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden’, but this political campaigning came at a cost. The couple’s militant reputation meant that they were for many years barred from Italian television and banned from entering the USA, but their plays were staged from London to Tokyo and they themselves were acclaimed wherever they toured. Joseph Farrell translated many of their works and knew Dario and Franca well. His biography is a complete account of the various activities and multifaceted lives of two extraordinary individuals.

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DIALOGUE is the follow-up title to Robert McKee's hugely successful STORY. Divided into four sections (The Art of Dialogue, Flaws & Fixes, Creating Dialogue & Dialogue Design) Dialogue teaches how to craft effective speeches for characters. McKee uses scenes from classic films and television programmes such as Sideways, Casablanca, The Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Frasier to demonstrate how dialogue is constructed and develops and covers the range of dialogue used on page, stage and screen. Readers and students are shown how to ensure dialogue holds the reader's or audience's attention, how to 'time' dialogue and how to retain motivation and to provide productive information within dialogue. The skills outlined allow writers in all spheres to create effective and functional speech. McKee dispels a few myths and shows writers how to eradicate bad habits, use emotion correctly and to avoid 'empty' dialogue which leads a character and a story into the equivalent of a writing 'cul-de-sac'. An insightful work from an author whose guidance can enhance a writer's style and achievements. (This is the UK edition.)

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"Hi! I'm Victoria Wood and I've proved that playing the piano and singing songs very inaccurately can help you to lose weight and more importantly keep that weight off on a permanent basis. No calorie counting! No faddy restrictions! No weird combinations! Just sing songs at the piano for several hours a day, then drink eight pints of distilled water and lock yourself in the lavatory. Try it! It worked for me."

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This omnibus edition - now in hardback - contains much of Norman Thelwell's invaluable advice to aspiring equestrians on how to get into the saddle and stay there; each item illustrated with inimitable and deadly clarity. From the first publication of Angels on Horseback in 1957, the Thelwell pony entered the language – and the libraries of horse-lovers everywhere. The angels in Angels on Horseback are children, but there is plenty here about their parents. Both for those who know Thelwell, and for those who have not met him before, this book is a savoury at all times – but especially after attending a gymkhana. Since their debut appearance in Punch over sixty years ago, Norman Thelwell's cartoons and drawings have delighted millions of people all over the world. His portrayals of sporting pursuits, human beings at play, the life of the countryside and, of course, ponies, are the products of a unique comic genius.

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The National Health Service is the most enduring of the institutions created by the first real Labour Government (1945-51). Before the NHS was created, treatment of ill health was provided by doctors in their surgeries and in hospitals, all of which had to be paid for by the patients. Many poorer families paid their GP's a monthly sum as they were usually in arrears with the fees. The Labour Government's vision was for a health service free for everybody and this was launched in 1948, with Aneurin Bevan as first Minister for Health. Now after nearly seventy years, with the costs of the NHS running at some GBP120 billions annually, and threatened by the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, the NHS is in danger of being classed as any other utility, gas, water, electricity and is imminent danger of marketization and commercialisation. In his book The Health of the Nation, David Owen has explained the consequences of the 2012 Act and the damage to the NHS that will result. Those most affected will be those who can least afford good health care. This book presents a powerful case for the repeal of the 2012 Act and for the restoration of the NHS to its traditional values.

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First published in Britain in 1985, In the Ruins of the Reich is a classic account of Nazi Germany after her fall to the Allies in May 1945. Douglas Botting concentrates on the defining events that took place in the period between the collapse of the Third Reich and the foundation of the new Germanys to create the prevailing atmosphere of a most unusual and little-charted time in history. This was a period when four of the strongest industrial nations to emerge from the Second World War attempted to work together to govern the once strong Germany, now prostate, impoverished and devastated by war and defeat. Telling the story of the dynamics between occupiers and occupied, the crimes perpetrated by both and the Imperial tendencies of the occupiers, Douglas Botting shows that the plan to bring democracy to Germany was far from flawless or straightforward.

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January 1957: girl meets boy on a blind date arranged by Allen Ginsberg. The girl was Joyce Johnson, the boy Jack Kerouac, and it was nine months before 'On The Road' became a permanent part of the American vocabulary. But like Robin Hood's and Peter Pan's, Jack's was a boy gang. Women were minor characters at best, though they risked much more to live as freely as the rebels they loved. Tender, observant and beautifully written, Joyce Johnson's award-winning 'Minor Characters' is both a personal memoir and an unforgettable portrait of that whole, near-mythical, generation: the Beats.

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One of the funniest writers of his generation, Michael Frayn has been writing humorous newspaper columns since 1959, principally for the "Guardian" and "Observer", and originally came to prominence as the thrice weekly purveyor of these short, surreal, razor-sharp explorations of human foibles, sex, politics, manners, and the events of the day. This volume brings together 110 of his finest and funniest pieces from over the years, selected and introduced by Michael Frayn himself, and is an unmissable treat for the many fans of his unique comic voice, as well as a revelation for fans of the award-winning literary novels and plays of his later career.

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This is a reissue of Bates's acclaimed novel of Burma. During World War II, a small English community are forced to flee when Japanese forces invade Burma. Paterson, the manager of a rice-mill, organises the evacuation and takes with him his Burmese mistress and her young brother. The rest of the party take along their prejudices, their pettiness and their squabbles, and a small enclave of English insularity moves north through Burma. Inevitably, as the journey continues, bitterness, tension and insoluble conflict unfold...Inspired by Bates' period of service in the Eastern theatre of war, "The Jacaranda Tree" skillfully evokes the atmosphere of Burma during the chaos of invasion. Reissued by Methuen along with "The Jacaranda Tree" and "The Purple Plain" and to coincide with the republication in one volume of Bates's acclaimed autobiographies - "The Vanished World", "The Blossoming World" and "World in Ripeness".

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Full of mounting suspense and masterly characterisation, Bates's popular wartime novel tells the story of three very different men who, after their aircraft crashes, are forced to trek across the Burmese wilderness to safety. It is reissued by Methuen along with "The Jacaranda Tree" and "The Purple Plain" and to coincide with the re-publication in one volume of Bates' acclaimed autobiographies - "The Vanished World", "The Blossoming World" and "World in Ripeness".

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This is a reissue of a Bates classic. Betrayed by her lover, Bella Ford sets out on a journey to find him and exact her revenge. Instead, however, her arduous search brings her to the home of the Wainwright family: the pious and good-natured Wainwright, his tough and uncompromising wife, their daughter, Nell and their three very different sons, sensitive Matty, quick-tempered Con and sedate Jedd. Slowly, and in their individual ways the Wainrights restore Bella's trust and, sharing the hardships and pleasure of their lives, she again finds happiness and love. Then, at the traditional Feast of July, the past comes crashing back into Bella's life, and with it, violent and terrible tragedy. First published in 1954, this timeless love story demonstrates Bates' richly lyrical prose and his literary relationship with the English countryside. Reissued by Methuen along with "The Jacaranda Tree" and "The Purple Plain" and to coincide with the republication in one volume of Bates's acclaimed autobiographies - "The Vanished World", "The Blossoming World" and "World in Ripeness".

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Winner of the 1961 National Book Award 'The Moviegoer' is the dazzling novel that established Walker Percy as one of the major voices in Southern literature. 'The Moviegoer' is Binx Bolling, a young New Orleans stockbroker who surveys the world with the detached gaze of a Bourbon Street dandy even as he yearns for a spiritual redemption he cannot bring himself to believe in. On the eve of his thirtieth birthday, Binx Bolling is adrift in New Orleans. He occupies himself with dallying with his secretaries and going to movies, which provide him with the 'treasurable moments' lacking in his real life. But one fateful Mardi Gras, Binx embarks on a hare-brained search for authenticity that outrages his family, endangers his fragile cousin, Kate, and sends him reeling through the chaos of the French Quarter. Wry and wrenching, rich in irony and romance, 'The Moviegoer' combines Bourbon Street elegance with the spiritual urgency of a Russian novel in a genuine American classic.

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Nevin Nollop left the islanders of Nollop with the treasured legacy of his pangram the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. But as the letters begin to crumble on the monumental inscription, the island's council forbids the use of the lost letters and silence threatens Ella and her family.

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What did Basil Fawlty fail to avoid mentioning? Why did Sybil keep snagging her cardies? Where was Polly on the night of the Great Wedding Anniversary disaster? This book presents the scripts for the show's classic episodes.

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"Ibadan" is the third volume in Wole Soyinka's series of memoirs, the sequel to "Ake and Isara". In a mixture of fact and fiction - to protect the innocent and nail the guilty and shape an often intolerable reality - it tells of the coming of age of a writer and political activist; and of a nation's betrayal. Linking national and international events with personal experience across 20 years, from confrontations with French immigration officers and the trauma of being black in Britain, to the direct experience of corruption, ballot-rigging, and power-mongering in his native Nigeria - a period otherwise known as the Penkelemes years - "Ibadan" is an exploration into themes of racism, politics and injustice.

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This is a collection of sporting prints lampooning the work of expert draughtsmen such as Stubbs, Rowlandson, Fernley and Pollard. Thelwell, the creator of the cartoon character Penelope, has a superb eye for detail and for the relationship between humans and animals.

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In Hubris: The Road to Donald Trump, David Owen analyses and describes the mental and physical condition of US Presidents and UK Prime Ministers with a particular view that what went before paved the way to President Trump. Of recent leaders there have been alcoholics, depressives, narcissists, populists and those affected by hubris syndrome and driven by their religious beliefs. But Donald Trump, a world class narcissist, presents a very different set of issues, as does Boris Johnson, the UK Prime Minister, also discussed in this revised edition. A trained physician and neuroscientist, David Owen is uniquely qualified to assess Trump and Johnson in their political, philosophical and medical contexts. Both are ‘populists’ and both have been economical with the truth. Trump is an inveterate user of social media and some of his ‘Tweets’ have been branded as outrageous and totally inappropriate for an American President. In 2020 he has faced an impeachment trial and in November will face the electorate as he seeks a second term. Boris Johnson’s premiership is in its infancy. He has concluded the UK’s exit from the EU but now has much to achieve to fulfil the promises made to the electorate in 2019, which gave an eighty seat majority to the Conservative party. Both Trump and Johnson have major roles to play in 2020. Trump’s Middle East initiative, his attempts to quell the tension with Iran and North Korea and his plans for trade with China, will define his first four years. Johnson’s focus must be on maintaining the United Kingdom, implementing new trade deals, worldwide, post Brexit and addressing the NHS, regional development and defence spending. The likely success of both President and Prime Minister is assessed by David Owen in his customarily incisive way and the book is an essential read for all with an interest in politics and the psychology of world leaders. David Owen is the author of several acclaimed books on politics, political history and the health of world leaders. He qualified as a doctor in 1962, was a Labour MP from 1966–81, an SDP MP from 1981–92 and from 1992 sat in the House of Lords as an Independent Social Democrat. He held several government posts under Wilson and Callaghan, the last as Foreign Secretary. Lord Owen continues to speak out on international affairs and to support research into hubris syndrome and other psychological conditions as there is ‘compelling evidence that the course of history has been changed … by the ill health of world leaders.’

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'There is nothing mysterious about voice work. We all breathe and use our voices daily and mostly do so without thinking about it. If we want to become skilled voice users, we need to start by learning how the voice works - and how we can work in tandem with that function.' Developing Your Voice bridges the gap between voice science and practical voice use where detailed and tangible exercises receive thoughtful scientific explanations. Developing Your Voice allows you, from any starting point, to systematically work with your own voice. The exercises have their basis in the foundation for all voice use - body awareness and breathing. This training will help you access a free, smooth and sustainable voice with the flexibility to express yourself, be it in your personal or professional life. Developing Your Voice concludes with a chapter showing how the vocal technique meets practical uses in text and acting. Harald Emgard started as an actor and later took an interest in teaching. He is a registered speech-language pathologist with a wealth of experience of teaching actors, musical actors and opera singers. Harald has held the position of Senior Lecturer in voice and speech at some of the most prestigious theatre academies in Sweden. You can see his former students on stage and screen in Sweden, Berlin, London's West End and Hollywood.

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Monty Python's Flying Circus was first broadcast in October 1969. This newly originated volume contains the complete unexpurgated scripts of the original television series (except for the animation bits) from Episode One to Episode Twenty-three inclusive. Everyone's favourite classic sketches - all eminently quotable - are here including the Architect's Sketch, Arthur 'Two Sheds' Jackson, Whicker Island, Working-class playwright, The Larch, Nudge Nudge, Hell's Grannies, It's the Arts, Albatross, Ministry of Silly Walks, Election Night Special [Silly and Sensible Parties], Epsom furniture race, Derby Council v. All Blacks rugby match, Dead Parrot, and - it is no exaggeration to say - many, many more.

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Nick Hunter, a senior officer in TIFAT, and his colleagues are brought in to protect an accountant who has stumbled upon evidence of EU corruption at the highest level and is targeted by assassins. TIFAT seek out the murderous thugs and eliminate them and to bring the corrupt EU officials to justice.

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In Mark Dunn’s new novel, his alter ego, Griffin Stoddard, a long-time admirer of Cranford author, Mrs Gaskell, chances upon her work called We Five. He comes to learn that the novel – unpublished in her lifetime – was subsequently adapted by three other writers. Stoddard draws together the four versions and writes his own to complement them. The result is a novel which spans five different historical periods – a small mill town near Manchester in 1859, San Francisco in the days before the 1906 earthquake, the fictional Zenith, Winnemac of 1923, autumn in 1940’s war torn London and a small town in Northern Mississippi in 1997 – and follows five childhood friends – Ruth, Jane, Molly, Maggie and Carrie – their encounters with five young men of differing intentions, the girls’ respective families together with their ever-changing occupations and exploits, concluding with an explosive unification of all five stories. This cleverly constructed novel’s style is faithful to each era, the vagaries of language and the bonds of friendship. Readers who have already discovered Ella Minnow Pea – a novel without letters, Ibid: A Life – a novel in footnotes and Welcome to Higby will recognise and enjoy the challenges in Mark Dunn’s new adventure Pentaptych.

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Charles Kennedy was found dead on 1 June 2015. He was only 55 years of age. His death was due to complications resulting from alcohol abuse over many years. Much has been written about his addiction to alcohol, with justification. The condition dominated his life for at least 25 years, brought about the breakdown of his marriage and caused him to lie repeatedly about the problem. Those closest to him, family and colleagues, tried to help him but as Kennedy could not help himself, all their efforts were in vain. However, this tragic flaw which resulted in his premature death should not obscure Kennedy's career in politics, which began in 1983, with his election to parliament as the SDP member for Ross, Cromarty and Skye. He was just 23 years of age. Kennedy's victory was a shock. The seat had been held for the Conservatives by Hamish Gray since 1970. Several prominent candidates failed to win seats in 1983, including Menzies Campbell and it was suggested Kennedy felt 'undeserving' of his success, which may have sown the first seeds of self-doubt that dogged him throughout his career. Tipped as a future leader of his party at an early stage, Kennedy supported the merger of the SDP with the Liberal party in 1988. The process caused much turbulence but once the dust had settled, Kennedy emerged with credit. When Paddy Ashdown resigned in 1999, Kennedy was a candidate to succeed him and after several tortuous rounds of voting, he emerged as the victor over Simon Hughes. Kennedy inherited a financially strong party with 46 MPs, 10 MEPs, 17 MSPs in Edinburgh and six AMs in Cardiff. When he resigned the leadership in 2006 the Lib Dem's strength in Westminster had risen to 62 MPs and Kennedy was described as the most successful third party leader for more than eighty years. During Kennedy's tenure of office, he abandoned the traditional Lib-Lab cooperation and followed an independent route to position his party as the natural party of opposition. He also showed strong conviction when opposing Britain's planned involvement in the Iraq war in 2003. But nemesis was near. Rumours of his addiction to alcohol began to leak out and further humiliating public appearances, when drunk, brought matters to a head and he was forced to resign the leadership. This biography is a frank account of Charles Kennedy's political career that began in triumph and ended in tragedy.

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The biography of Thomas Argyll Robertson who played a key role in Operation Mincemeat (the Second World War operation which suggested that an invasion of Greece was imminent) and masterminded the 1944 Operation Fortitude (which was designed to persuade the Germans that the invasion of France would not take place in Normandy but in Pas de Calais). Thomas Argyll Robertson, known universally as Tar, joined MI5 in March 1933, recruited by Vernon Kell, the organisation's founder. He was not formally interviewed for service but was recommended by Kell's son John, Tar's contemporary at Charterhouse. In the 1930s MI5 was Vernon Kell's personal fiefdom and with the help of his wife Constance, it was run very much as a 'family firm'. At first glance, Tar Robertson may not appear an inspired choice. After Charterhouse and Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders but resigned after two years. He had a spell in the City and somewhat unusually, served in the Birmingham Police Force. But all of these experiences served him well and as an MI5 officer he made an outstanding contribution to Britain's counter-espionage activities before and during the Second World War. Tar's deft handling of a widely disparate collection of Double Cross agents, among them criminals, drug addicts and drunks, brought some spectacular military advantages for Britain. The most important by far was Operation Fortitude which fooled the German High Command over the location of the landing of the Allied Invasion Force in June 1944. In another operation Tar's agents put out masses of false information concerning the hits scored by V1 and V2 rockets which led the Germans to change their target areas which prevented thousands of civilian casualties. Not only were Tar's agents successful in hundreds of missions, they also proved more than a match for their German counterparts in the Abwehr, who effectiveness was almost totally nullified. In Gentleman Spymaster, Geoffrey Elliott has captured Tar Robertson's character perfectly. He was at once determined, discreet and fiercely loyal. Equally he was ruthless in his handling of those who threatened the Double Cross system. He was one of Britain's unsung heroes, widely recognised by many of his contemporaries as one of MI5's greatest assets. This brilliantly researched and perceptive biography clearly shows why.

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Over the past sixty years the writings of Jean-Paul Sartre have probably been more influential in the West than those of any other philosopher and literary figure. In his theoretical writings, Sartre laid the foundation for an original doctrine of Existentialism. His concern, however, was to relate his theory to human response and the practical demands of living. To achieve this, he carried his philosophical concepts into his novels and plays, and there subjected them to the test of imagined experience. His uniqueness lies in the success with which he demonstrated the utility of Existentialist doctrine while creating, at the same time, works of the highest literary merit. Thus Sartre became the populariser of his own literary thought. Originally delivered as a lecture in Paris in 1945, "Existentialism and Humanism" is Jean-Paul Sartre's seminal defence of Existentialism as a doctrine true to Humanism, as opposed to a purely nihilistic creed, and a plan for its practical application to everyday human life. This exploration of one of the central tenets of his philosophical thought has become the essential introduction to his work, and a fundamental text for all students of philosophy.

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Michael Reed is a man going through the motions, numbed by the death of his wife and child. But when events force him to act as if he cares, he begins to find people who - against all expectation - help him through his private labyrinth. Poignant and beautiful, The Name of the World is a tour de force by one of the most astonishing writers at work today.

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Elizabeth Cook's mesmerising poetic voice weaves the interlocking stories of Achilles and the central figures of his legend into a many-layered exploration of achievement and loss, of choice and inescapable destiny. Born of the sea-nymph Thetis by the mortal King Peleus, hidden as a girl on Skiros until Odysseus discovers him, Achilles becomes the Greeks' greatest warrior at Troy. Into his story come others - among them Hector, Helen, Penthiseleia the Amazon Queen and the centaur Chiron; and finally John Keats, whose writings form the basis of a meditation on identity and shared experience. An unforgettable and deeply moving work of fiction, Achilles also affirms of the story's enduring power to reach across centuries and cultures to the core of our imagination.

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When The Life of Brian was first released in 1979 it was hailed by most as Monty Python's finest parody and denounced by a few as the most blasphemous film of all time. With its unforgettable song, 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life', and its infinitely quotable script The Life of Brian has since gone on to become an enduring cult classic.

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An omnibus edition of Hegley's performance poems, "The Brother-in-Law and Other Animals", together with two of his most popular books, "Can I Come Down Now Dad?" and "These Were Your Father's".

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