Search results for ""Oldcastle Books""

During his long and extraordinary life, Winston Churchill was a central figure in almost all of the tumultuous events of the first half of the twentieth century. He was a soldier, writer and politician and, after the Second World War, he became one of the world's greatest statesmen. But his reputation rests on his role as a war leader and, in particular, on the period between May 1940 and July 1941, when Britain stood alone against Nazi Germany. Since his death in 1965, a few dissenting voices have cast him as, amongst other things, an opportunist and war-monger. But, as flawed as he undoubtedly was, most modern historians and politicians still hold him in the highest regard. In order to gain a better understanding of this remarkable man, this book looks at some of the key moments in Churchill's life, including his role in the British Army's last cavalry charge in the Battle of Omdurman and his escape from a prisoner of war camp during the Boer War. It then focuses on those momentous times when Churchill's courage and force of character almost single-handedly dragged Britain back from the brink of defeat in the Second World War and onwards towards an eventual Allied victory, making him, in the eyes of many people, one of the greatest of all Great Britons...

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Not all who confess are guilty... The death of millionaire businessman Charles Parsons seems like a straightforward suicide. There's no sign of forced entry or struggle in his lavish New Jersey mansion - just a single gunshot wound from his own weapon. But days later, a different story emerges. Computer techs pick up a voice recording that incriminates Parsons's adoptive daughter, Ann, who duly confesses and pleads guilty. After the case is brought to her attention by an unlikely source, Erin McCabe and her law partner, Duane Swisher, soon realise that pieces of Ann's story don't fit together. Ann clearly knows more than she's willing to share, even if it means a life sentence. Who is she protecting, and why? As their investigation deepens, Erin and Swish find themselves caught in a web of human exploitation, unchecked greed, and murder - before learning the horrifying truth...

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Doors open at 7. The sacrifice is at 9. The dress code is, as usual, black tie. It's the winter solstice in a Philadelphia that has been eroded by extreme weather, economic collapse, and disease-carrying mosquitoes. The Saturnalia carnival is about to begin, an evening on which reality is suspended, and troubles forgotten. For tarot reader Nina, Saturnalia is simply a cruel reminder of the night that changed everything for her - the night she walked away from the elite Saturn Club, with its genteel debauchery, arcane pecking order, and winking interest in alchemy and the occult. But when she gets a chance call from Max, her last remaining friend from the Saturn Club, Nina will put on a dress of blackest black and attend the Club's wild solstice masquerade, the biggest party of the year, on a mysterious errand she can't refuse. Before the night is over, she will become the custodian of a horrifying secret - and prey to a mysterious hunter.

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Mallika is a painfully shy young woman growing up in the heart of a close-knit, sometimes stifling New Delhi colony. Though she is surrounded by love, her life is complicated by secrets that she, her mother and her aunt work hard to keep. After suffering a trauma aged nineteen, Mallika loses three days of her memory and slowly spirals into a deep depression. She must find a way out of this abyss, back to herself and those she cares about. But she must also hide her mental illness from her community. In a narrative that unfolds elliptically from the perspectives of Mallika and the seven people closest to her, the astonishing story of these characters' lives emerges. For Mallika's family, childhood friends and the two men she loves are also hiding truths. As each gives voice to contending with their own struggles, secrets and silences shatter. As irreverent and funny as it is serious and anguished, Fear and Lovely is a tender, character-driven story of love, longing, terror and healing that will keep you turning pages, and won't let you go.

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Ruby Mills is ruthlessly ambitious, strikingly beautiful - and one of the Forty Thieves' most talented members. Harriet Littlemore is an aspiring journalist from a 'good' family, engaged to a rising star of the Tory party - but she wants a successful career of her own. After witnessing Ruby fleeing the scene of a robbery, Harriet develops a fascination with the young thief that extends beyond journalistic interest, one which Ruby can use to her advantage. But both the Forties and London society have strict rules - and the fallout from Ruby and Harriet's unlikely acquaintance may be more than either woman is prepared for. The Dazzle of the Light tells a compulsive, cinematic story, fraught with envy and desire, about class, morality and the cost of being an independent woman in 1920.

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Telling a story is simple, right? You take a 'hero' and send them on a 'journey'. There's a beginning, middle and an end. But what if your story doesn't fit into that basic structure? In Beyond the Hero's Journey, BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Anthony Mullins champions one of the most powerful, yet most misunderstood, tools in a writer's toolkit - character arcs. Looking at celebrated films from around the world - including Moonlight, Lady Bird, The Social Network, The Godfather, A Fantastic Woman, Mulholland Drive, Shoplifters, Amour, Inside Llewyn Davis, Call Me By Your Name, Midsommar and The Father - he shows how character arcs not only create the 'emotional shape' of a story, but also offer writers of all levels an incredible variety of narratives that go far beyond the traditional, three-act Hero's Journey. For every writer who has ever felt frustrated by the neat confines of 'how to' guides, the book will teach you how to excel in telling more complex, original and authentic stories, and how to share your own distinctive voice with the world.

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From 1865 to 1950, the multi-faceted world of the American West, its rich, colorful characters, and its many faces - historical, mythic, and cinematic - are captured in the story of a reclusive, elderly photographer and her friend, a writer of Western comic books. Two characters dominate the novel's foreground: a Georgia O'Keeffe-like figure, photographer Susan Garth, shrewd, cantankerous, reclusive, and still self-reliant at 80, and her longtime friend Bark Blaylock, a western writer/filmmaker who may be Wyatt Earp's son. A subplot involves James Averill, a wealthy Easterner who sees his philandering as a frontiersman's quest for knowledge. As the time frame shuttles between 1950 and the late 1800s, we meet Susan's father, a gentlemanly cattle rancher who reads Thomas Hardy, and serves as a springboard to the Old West of Bat Masterson, Geronimo and Billy the Kid. The cast includes Willa Cather, Montgomery Clift, Charles Ives, Judge Roy Bean and numerous characters smuggled in from such movies as The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Silver Light artfully juxtaposes the brimming frontier of legend against a construct of the West as a constricted wilderness of the soul.

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People have been gambling, in one form or another, for as long as history itself. Why? Money, entertainment, escape and a desire to win are all traditional explanations. Arguably, however, these are secondary considerations to a higher order purpose: a craving for control. Gambling offers a means of gaining authority over the unknown, granting us a sense of control over uncertainty. Almost always that sense is illusory - gambling, including betting and investing, is essentially random - yet for many it is nonetheless profoundly rewarding. This book attempts to explore the reasons why. Along the way, it examines: The science of probability and uncertainty Why gambling is often condemned The difference between expectation and utility The irrationality of human beings Evolutionary perspectives on gambling Luck and skill Market efficiency and the wisdom of crowds Why winners take all Cheating Why the process matters more than the outcome

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Few fictional characters have proven to be as enduringly popular as the legendary Count Dracula. First published in 1897, Bram Stoker's gothic masterpiece thrilled and disturbed Victorian society with its dark and compelling themes of violence, lust, cruelty and death. For many, the elegant but threatening figure of Dracula has come to epitomise the concept of the vampire. It is thought that Stoker took the name Dracula from the real-life historical figure of Vlad the Impaler, a medieval Romanian prince with a dark and sinister reputation. However, Stoker was also influenced by European literary creations such as The Vampyre, written in 1819 by John Polidori, the personal physician of Lord Byron. Polidori based his central character on the personality of the infamous poet and in doing so did much to crystalise the modern concept of the vampire as a sophisticated and sensual aristocrat. It is arguably within the medium of film, however, that the figure of Dracula has achieved its greatest fame within popular culture. In Dracula: The Origins and Influence of the Legendary Vampire Count, author Giles Morgan examines the roots of the vampire myth and the creation of Bram Stoker's masterpiece of horror.

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This no-nonsense guide to one of our most enduring mysteries presents a short history of the strangest encounters, looks carefully at explanations from the blunt to the truly bizarre, offers insights into the strongest evidence that we are being visited by beings from another world and sources the best sceptical arguments that it can all be explained rationally. Concise, balanced and - occasionally - hilarious this is a story that has as much to tell you about the human race as it does about aliens.

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Having conquered the world's taste buds and established itself as a staple in our daily lives, coffee has mirrored the moods and movements of society for centuries - yet, how much do we know about its history? In his riveting new book, A Short History of Coffee, Gordon Kerr investigates the fascinating history behind the global obsession with coffee, from its Ethiopian origins, the legends, myths, geographical locations and somewhat eccentric characters that have helped make it the staple that it is today. Proliferating in high streets, towns and cities across Europe, coffee has become increasingly popular in recent years, and has succeeded in creating new and exciting hubs of commerce, news and debate, where deals could be done and revolution could be incited. Yet, despite coffee's very modern role, its origins stretch back to the days of intrepid travellers and merchants, who told tales of this new and exotic beverage that uplifted and enlivened the drinker. Following the growth in popularity through to the 21st century explosion of coffee shop culture, A Short History of Coffee lifts the Vegware lid on both the business of coffee, as well as the pleasures that it brings its drinkers. Gordon Kerr masterfully balances an exploration of the history of this iconic beverage, whilst also delving into the frothy brew of business, politics, and money that accompanies it.

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The legendary Georges Simenon was the most successful and influential writer of crime fiction in a language other than English; André Gide called him 'the greatest French novelist of our times'. Celebrated crime fiction expert Barry Forshaw's informed and lively study draws together Simenon's extraordinary life and his work on both page and screen. By the time of Simenon's death in 1989, his French detective Maigret had become an institution, rivalled only by Sherlock Holmes. The pipe-smoking Inspector of Police is a quietly spoken observer of human nature who uses the techniques of psychology on those he encounters (both the guilty and the innocent) - with no rush to moral condemnation. Simenon's non-Maigret standalone books are among the most commanding in the genre, and, as a trenchant picture of French society, his concise novels collectively offer up a fascinating analysis. And his influence on an army of later crime writers is incalculable. Alongside his own considerable insights, Barry Forshaw has interviewed people who worked either with Simenon or on his books: publishers, editors, translators, and other specialist writers. He has created a literary prism through which to appreciate one of the most distinctive achievements in the whole of crime fiction.

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A recently-discovered, long-lost novel and short stories from the 90s featuring private eye Nick Sharman Follow Sharman as he patrols his seedily glamorous South London beat, with its cast of villains, eccentrics, misfits and losers. A magnet for trouble, even when he is on holiday in the country, he has a habit of inadvertently ending up on the wrong side of the law and at the wrong end of a shotgun. In this high-risk world, people are seldom what they seem and nothing can be taken for granted.

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Shanghai in 1935 is a 20th century Babylon, an expatriate playground where fortunes are made and lost, where East and West collide, and the stakes include life itself. Into this cultural melting pot, Rowland Sinclair arrives from Sydney to represent his brother at international wool negotiations. The black sheep of the family, Rowland is under strict instructions to commit to nothing - but a brutal murder makes that impossible. As suspicion falls on him, Rowland enters a desperate bid to find answers in a city ruled by taipans and tycoons, where politics and vice are entwined with commerce, and where the only people he can truly trust are his long-term friends, an artist, a poet and a free-spirited sculptresss.

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A recently-discovered, long-lost novel and short stories from the 90s featuring private eye Nick Sharman Follow Sharman as he patrols his seedily glamorous South London beat, with its cast of villains, eccentrics, misfits and losers. A magnet for trouble, even when he is on holiday in the country, he has a habit of inadvertently ending up on the wrong side of the law and at the wrong end of a shotgun. In this high-risk world, people are seldom what they seem and nothing can be taken for granted.

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When Rowland Sinclair is invited to take his yellow Mercedes onto the Marouba Speedway, popularly known as the Killer Track, he agrees without caution or reserve. But then people start to die... The body of a journalist covering the race is found in a House of Horrors, an English blueblood with Blackshirt affiliations is killed on the race track... and it seems that someone has Rowland in their sights... With danger presenting at every turn, and the brakes long since disengaged, Rowland Sinclair hurtles towards disaster with an artist, a poet and brazen sculptress along for the ride.

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After narrowly escaping the terror of Nazi Germany, Rowland Sinclair and his companions land in London, believing they are safe ... but they are wrong. A bizzare murder plunges the hapless Australian into a queer world of British aristocracy, fascist Blackshirts, illicit love, scandal and spies. A world where gentlemen are not always what they are dressed up to be ...

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Crowdfunding is a major source of funding for independent films and over $250 million has been raised for films just on Kickstarter alone. This book will guide you through every stage of planning, creating and running your film crowdfunding campaign. This book is based on extensive data research and interviews which include: Data research on over 50,000 film crowdfunding campaigns Interviews with over 50 filmmakers who have run crowdfunding campaigns Interviews with some of the top people at major crowdfunding platforms and services

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The enormously puzzling TV series The Prisoner has developed a rapt cult following, and has often been described as 'surreal' or 'Kafkaesque.' Alex Cox watched all the episodes of The Prisoner on their first broadcast, at the ripe old age of thirteen. In I Am (Not) a Number, Cox believes he provides the answers to all the questions which have engrossed and confounded viewers including: Who is Number 6? Who runs The Village? Who - or what - is Number 1? According to Cox, the key to understanding The Prisoner is to view the series in the order in which the episodes were made - and not in the re-arranged order of the UK or US television screenings. In this book he provides an innovative and controversial 'explanation' for what is perhaps the best, the most original, and certainly the most perplexing, TV series of all time.

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We're living in a time of unprecedented diversity in produced media content, with more characters appearing who are Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME), Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT), disabled, or from other religions or classes. What's more, these characters are appearing more and more in genre pieces, accessible to the mainstream, instead of being hidden away in so-called 'worthier' pieces, as in the past. How to Write Diverse Characters discusses issues of all identities with specific reference to characterisation, not only in movies and TV, but also novel writing. It explores: How character role function really works What is the difference between stereotype and archetype? Why 'trope' does not mean what Twitter and Tumblr think it means How the burden of casting affects both box office and audience perception Why diversity is not about agendas, buzzwords or being 'politically correct' What authenticity truly means and why research is so important Why variety is key in ensuring true diversity in characterisation Writers have to catch up. Knowing not only what makes a 'good' diverse character doesn't always cut it; they need to know what publishers, producers and filmmakers and other creatives are looking for - and why. This book gives writers the tools to create three dimensional, authentic characters... Who just happen to be diverse.

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Charles and Kate are summoned to Scotland on a mysterious errand for the Crown. Upon their arrival, they discover they will be staying at Glamis Castle, the most historic castle in Scotland, a place haunted by shadows and dark secrets. They learn that Prince Eddy, who had been heir to the throne until his supposed death in 1892, is still alive, ten years later. Only now the prince has gone missing - on the very morning that the body of one of his servants was found, her throat slashed. Now, Charles and his clever Kate must find Eddy and clear him from suspicion of murder, while keeping his true identity a secret.

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Lord and Lady Sheridan (Charles is now Baron of Somersworth) have taken a house for a few quiet weeks in the late summer of 1897, in the sea-coast village of Rottingdean. Long known as Smugglers' Village, the hamlet sits on a labyrinth of ancient tunnels. When the body of a coast guard is pulled out of the Channel, Kate and Charles suspect that the town is still plying the illicit trades of its past. With the help of Rudyard Kipling (who is just beginning his novel Kim), they discover that something is rotten in Rottingdean...

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Kathryn Ardleigh is becoming accustomed to the high-society circles of her husband, Lord Charles Sheridan. She has found a kindred spirit in Jennie Jerome Churchill, an American who married the second son of the Duke of Marlborough. But Jennie faces a serious scandal that threatens the political future of her 23-year-old son Winston. She is being blackmailed by someone who claims to have proof that Winston's father was the notorious Jack the Ripper...

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In Death at Bishop's Keep, Kathryn Ardleigh captured the interest of amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan as they solved their first case together. Now the death of a local constable and the disappearance of a child have Kate and Charles once again on the trail of deadly greed and criminal mischief. They team up with the shy, uncertain (but tactful and deeply perceptive) Miss Beatrix Potter to discover who killed the constable in Mr McGregor's garden and kidnapped the constable's daughter. Helping with this urgent task or blundering clumsily into the way are Miss Potter's animal companions, Mrs Tiggywinkle and Jemima Puddleduck, as well as the beastly Mr Tod and Mr Brock.

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The first title in The Victorian Mysteries series, sure to delight fans of Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie Kathryn Ardleigh is everything the Victorian English gentlewoman is not: outspoken, free-thinking, Irish-American, and a writer of penny-dreadfuls, sensational tales of adventure, romance, and crime-and-detection. When she takes possession of Bishop's Keep, the Ardleigh estate in Essex England that she has inherited, she shocks the household and captures the attention of amateur detective Sir Charles Sheridan. Sir Charles is interested in the developing forensic sciences: toxicology, ballistics, fingerprints, X-ray, and crime scene photography. Soon there is something to interest both Kate and Sir Charles: a recently-dead body just uncovered at a nearby archaeological dig. The investigation provides the perfect research background for Kate's next novel. But the inquisitive writer may be digging too deep-especially when the trail leads her into a secret occult society known as the Order of the Golden Dawn.

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East End landlady Mrs Drabdump is alarmed when she cannot rouse her lodger Arthur Constant. She summons the assistance of her neighbour, retired Scotland Yard detective George Grodman. He breaks down the door to Constant's room, only to find the man lying dead on his bed, with a deep cut to his throat. No-one, it seems, could have got in or out of the locked room and there is no sign of the murder weapon. Who was the killer and how will he be identified? A man is condemned to death for the seemingly impossible crime but Grodman is unconvinced that he is guilty. With its sardonic style and vivid, Dickensian characters, Zangwill's short novel remains a cleverly plotted and ingenious murder mystery which will still appeal to readers today.

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The First in the Mr & Mrs Darcy Mystery Series When Caroline Bingley marries a rich, charismatic American, her future should be secure. But strange incidents soon follow: nocturnal wanderings, spooked horses, carriage accidents, an apparent suicide attempt. Soon the whole Bingley family seems to be the target of a sinister plot, with only their friends the Darcys recognizing the danger. A jilted lover, an estranged business partner, a financially desperate in-law, an eccentric supernaturalist - who is behind these events? Perhaps it is Caroline herself, who appears to be slowly sinking into madness... Pride and Prescience is the first novel in a series of romantic mysteries featuring Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as reluctant sleuths who become embroiled in intrigues surrounding their friends and family. The newlywed Darcys' courtship hasn't ended, and their adventures have just begun...

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Jersey fishing captain, Jean Cotterell is rescued by a French frigate - The Hortense - off the Grand Banks of Nova Scotia in May 1794. His fishing vessel has foundered and he is the sole survivor. The Hortense is part of Republican Admiral Jan Van Stabel's great fleet of over 100 ships bringing corn to France. Lord Howe's Channel Fleet is off Brest, hoping to intercept them. Life on The Hortense is like France under the Terror; chaotic, ungovernable, obsessed with savage, radical political theories. Separated from the French fleet in the Western Approaches she is intercepted by two British frigates and battle is joined... The Antigallican is the first in a series of novels set at the end of the 18th century at sea, in Britain, in the Channel Islands and in Revolutionary France. In Jean Cotterell we find a character that bears comparison with Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe, in a narrative that will delight fans of Patrick O'Brian.

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Robin Hood is England's greatest folk hero. Everyone knows the story of the outlaw who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor. Nick Rennison's highly entertaining book begins with the search for the historical Robin. Was there ever a real Robin Hood? Rennison looks at the candidates who have been proposed over the years, from petty thieves to Knights Templar, before moving on to examine the many ways in which Robin Hood has been portrayed in literature and on the screen. He began as the hero of dozens of late medieval ballads. He appeared in plays by contemporaries of Shakespeare. In the Romantic era Robin was reinvented by Walter Scott as a Saxon champion in the struggle against the Normans. During the nineteenth century, he emerged as a hero in children's literature. More recently he has been portrayed as everything from proto-socialist man of the people to anarchist thug. In the cinema he put in an appearance as early as 1908 and Douglas Fairbanks and then Errol Flynn turned him into the typical hero of Hollywood swashbucklers. In the last twenty years, Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe have provided their own very different interpretations of the character. On the small screen, Robin has been the hero of half-a-dozen TV shows from the 1950s series starring Richard Greene, which used many writers blacklisted by Hollywood, via the well-remembered Robin of Sherwood in the 1980s to the recent BBC series. As the twenty-first century nears the end of its second decade, Robin Hood is still very much with us. He is the subject of graphic novels and computer games and films, including the new Lionsgate release in November 2018.

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From popular fiction such as The Hobbit and Game of Thrones to the universality of the English language, the continuing influence of the Anglo-Saxons can be found throughout the world. But who were the Anglo-Saxons and where did they come from? A Short History of the Anglo-Saxons traces the fascinating 600 year history of the Anglo-Saxons, starting from the early European migrants in 410 A.D. and stretching through until the dramatic end at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. As well as their many victories, the Anglo-Saxons faced numerous attacks on the prosperity and the successes of its people, facing off challenges from the Danish and the Vikings, before meeting defeat at the hand of William the Conqueror. Remnants of these people can still be seen in modern day with hoards of Anglo-Saxon gold and silverwork being discovered throughout the country and popular fiction taking inspiration from this thrilling era. A Short History of the Anglo-Saxons provides an indispensable introduction to everything you need to know about the Anglo-Saxon period.

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The Triumphs of Eugene Valmont (1906) is a collection of lively, enjoyable stories about a French detective resident in London. Whether dealing with a gang of anarchists in 'The Siamese Twin of a Bomb-Thrower' or flirting with the supernatural in 'The Ghost with the Club-Foot', the resourceful M. Valmont rarely loses his sang-froid and self-confidence. He may not always catch the criminal but his sense of style and Poirot-like conceit remain intact.

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Kamera.co.uk, the self-styled 'intelligent film website' goes offline with the first issue of its new bi-monthly incarnation. Each issue leads with a themed section and also includes an extensive article on a major film-maker, regular columns on film festivals, documentary and short films, and a comprehensive reviews section featuring all the latest books, videos and DVDs...making kamera the essential companion to world cinema today.

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From the unbridled sensuality of silent Italian films, to the neorealist classic Bitter Rice, to the astonishing imagination of Fellini and the more cerebral and fascinating movies of Antonioni, Italy has a filmic legacy unlike that of any other nation. And then there are the popular movies: the lively sword and sandal epics of the peplum era through to the inextricable mix of sexuality and violence in the gialli of such directors as Mario Bava and Dario Argento. All the glory of Italian cinema is celebrated here in comprehensive essays, along with every key film in an easy-to-use reference format. This new and greatly expanded edition takes in major modern hits such as The Great Beauty/La Grande Bellezza. The new generation of Italian film and TV successes, important directors and movements of the past are are all given fresh and incisive evaluations, with every kind of film examined, from arthouse classics to the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone and co., and the stylish, blood-drenched thrillers and horror films that redefined their respective genres.

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Whoops! Apocalypse... The Horror! The Horror! Kurtz might be the apple of every brutish imperialist's eye, but his God complex is getting wildly out of hand in the depths of the jungle. What on earth will Marlow find when he finally gets downriver? Devil worship? Savages? Heads on sticks? Or just another nutty white man with his knickers in a twist?

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What happens when 'happy ever after' isn't quite so simple? Today's attitudes to love and romance are as varied and diverse as individuals, and audiences want and need more sophisticated, authentic films that show how we live and love now. So what does this mean for the screenwriter developing a romcom? And how do they write heart-warming stories for a genre that is constantly evolving, from bromcom to zomcom to famcom? Writing and Selling Romantic Comedy Screenplays offers a fresh approach to creating narratives for this ever-changing genre. Moving away from rigid and limited definitions that have evolved out of mainstream genre films, the book embraces a working definition that crosses cultural and national boundaries to give screenwriters around the world a truly international perspective on writing comedic love stories. It will be the first screenwriting guide to reflect the diversity of approaches in today's films that deal with the human need for emotional and physical intimacy using humour - the contemporary romantic comedy. Features of the book include: Illuminating, challenging and provocative about the state of the rom-com genre. Why do some films feel so dated, while others are perennially relevant? Explores and defines all subgenres of romcom, such as zomcom, bromedy, soromcom and famcom. Uniquely draws on creativity, screenwriting genre theory and film industry practice. Stimulating creative exercises at the end of every chapter, and 'hot tips' throughout. Adaptable concepts that can be applied to both feature films and short films. Encourages screenwriters to define their own values about love to ensure their voice and message is original - and commercial. Case studies and analyses of produced screenplays, including Dostana, Due Date, I Give it a Year, I love You, Man, Midnight in Paris, Ruby Sparks, Tamara Drewe, Ted and Warm Bodies. Interviews with writers, directors and producers. Genuine international perspective. Indispensible guide for both the student and the professional writer or filmmaker.

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A Racing Ready Reckoner One of the most comprehensive and useful ready reckoners ever published and, with a simple guide to settling bets which explains the short cuts and systems used by the professional bet settler, there is no bet that a Gentleman should not be able to calculate himself. This handy guide covers: � The settlement of all standard bets such as Singles, Doubles, Trebles, Accumulators, forecasts and much more � Details on how to calculate the newer and more esoteric bets � Short cuts to settling your bets � Chart which shows odds as a percentage � Achieving Value for Money � How to make a 'book' � Tic Tac 'sign language' chart of all the major prices - know what the bookies are 'saying' � Full glossary of bets and betting terms

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In Easy Money David Spanier studies the psychological motivation of gamblers, those who beat the system and those beaten by it, portraying the personalities and legends of the gambling world of the time. Spanier ranges widely over his subject, considering the motivations of gamesters, stressing the physical sensations they experience, the percentages and chances, heuristic principles, the differences in European and American gambling, and the criminal element in U.S. gaming, but concentrates primarily on the human side of gambling rather than the mathematical or theoretical. While he is comfortable discussing Freud's analysis of the compulsive gambler, his real emphasis is on the individuals: the mathematician who devised a way to beat the house advantage at blackjack; the London man-about-town who ran games for the upper class; the cleric who founded the British Gamblers Anonymous; the physician who established a 'gamblers' hospital' in Brecksville, Ohio. This is an insider's analysis of the thrills, action, and intense emotional involvement that makes up the world of gambling.

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Today, people can watch television shows, feature films, live sporting events, and just about anything they want on their computers, tablets or phones. As the new media marketplace continues to grow, so does demand for original content and opportunities for filmmakers. Online distributors - such as YouTube, Hulu, and Funny or Die - are interested in acquiring web series (episodic digital entertainment, like mini-TV shows) that attract audiences and appeal to advertisers. Web TV Series... How to Make and Market Them provides advice and expertise to help readers create their own original, successful online shows - projects that can be profitable, potentially developed into film or television properties, and help to start a career in the industry. Readers will learn how to develop characters and stories designed for new media platforms, and find tips for planning, shooting, and editing that are tailored specifically to web series production. This book also extensively covers the latest distribution platforms and social media marketing strategies, as well as examples of how to find financial sustainability through advertisers, branded content, and sponsorship partners. Web Series has all of the tools necessary for both aspiring and experienced filmmakers to make the most of this growing new medium.

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The Knights Templar were the most powerful military religious order of the Middle Ages. Formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land, they participated in the Crusades and rapidly gained wealth, lands and influence and were answerable to none save the Pope himself. In addition to having a fearful military reputation, they were also Christendom's first bankers, and played a large part in inventing the modern banking system. They were also involved in developments in navigation, architecture, medicine, and engineering, amongst others. Seemingly untouchable for nearly two centuries, the Templars fell from grace spectacularly after the loss of the Holy Land. In 1307, all Templars in France were arrested on charges of heresy, homosexuality, denial of the cross and devil worship. The order was suppressed by the Pope in 1312, and Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master, was burnt at the stake as a heretic two years later. The myth of the Templars was born and in the ensuing centuries, they have occupied a unique position in European history. Orthodox historians see them as nothing more than soldier-monks whose arrogance was their ultimate undoing, while others see them as occultists of the first order, the founders of Freemasonry, possessors of the Holy Grail and the Turin Shroud. Sean Martin considers both the orthodox and conspiratorial version of events, and includes the latest revelations from the Vatican Secret Archives.

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For more than 2,000 years utopian visionaries have sought to create a blueprint of the ideal society: from Plato to HG Wells, from Cloud cuckoo land to Shangri-La, the utopian impulse has generated a vast body of work, encompassing philosophy and political theory, classical literature and science fiction. And yet these utopian dreams have often turned to nightmare, as utopia gives way to its dark reflection, dystopia. Utopia takes the reader on a journey through these imaginary worlds, charting the progress of utopian ideas from their origins within the classical world, to the rebirth of utopian ideals in the Middle Ages. Later we see the emergence of socialist and feminist ideas; while the twentieth century was to be dominated by expressions of totalitarian oppression. From the novel to the political manifesto, from satire to science fiction, utopias have always reflected the age that gave rise to them, and this guide will explore this historical context, offering both an analysis of the key texts and an account of their political and cultural background. Today, it is claimed that we are witnessing the death of utopia, as increasingly the ideals that give rise to them are undermined or dismissed. These arguments are explored and evaluated here, and contemporary examples of utopian thought used to demonstrate the enduring relevance of the utopian tradition.

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For nearly forty years, from his earliest work in underground Arts Lab projects to his latest work as author of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Lost Girls, Moore has pushed the boundaries like few others, ranging from farce and high comedy to the dark, grim work that epitomised the comics revolution of the late eighties. This book examines the recurring themes and how Moore's work has evolved over the years from his early comic work in Captain Britain and 2000 AD, through milestone series like V for Vendetta, Marvelman, Swamp Thing and Watchmen, to his current genre-stretching work. On the way Moore has written definitive stories of America's greatest superheroes Batman and Superman, penned some of the most widely read graphic novels of all time, and helped turn comics into an indispensible art form. In this Pocket Essential you'll meet Moore the pop icon (everyone from the Simpsons to Transvision Vamp have hung out with Halo Jones), Moore the performance artist and magician, Moore the novelist, and above all Moore the writer who helped change the face of comics forever. As well as an introductory essay, this book is a comprehensive survey of Alan Moore's career. It also contains a complete list of his works, including projects that never saw the light of day.

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Risk everything, trust no one. Jen Shaw is climbing in the mountains near Alajar, Spain. And it's nothing to do with the fact that an old acquaintance suggested that she meet him there... But when things don't go as planned and her brother calls to voice concerns over the whereabouts of their mother, Morwenna, Jen finds herself travelling to a refugee camp on the south coast of Malta. Free-spirited and unpredictable as ever, Morwenna is working with a small NGO, helping her Libyan friend, Nahla, seek asylum for her family. Jen is instantly out of her depth, surrounded by stories of unimaginable suffering and increasing tensions within the camp. Within hours of Jen's arrival, Nahla is killed in suspicious circumstances, and Jen and Morwenna find themselves responsible for the safety of her daughters. But what if the safest option is to leave on a smuggler's boat?

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Erin McCabe is a New Jersey criminal defense attorney doing her best to live quietly in the wake of a profound personal change - until a newsworthy case puts her whole life at risk... Erin McCabe has been referred the biggest case of her career. Four months ago, the son of a New Jersey state senator was found fatally stabbed in a rundown motel near Atlantic City. Sharise Barnes, a nineteen-year-old transgender sex worker, is in custody, and, based on the evidence against her, there seems little doubt of a guilty verdict. As a transgender woman herself, Erin knows that defending Sharise will blow her own private life wide open and doubtless deepen her estrangement from her family. Yet she feels uniquely qualified to help Sharise and duty-bound to protect her from the possibility of a death sentence. While Erin works with her law partner, former-FBI-agent Duane Swisher, to show Sharise acted in self-defense, the senator begins using the full force of his influence to publicly discredit them and their efforts to mount a defense for Sharise. And behind the scenes, his tactics are even more dangerous. For his son had secrets that could destroy the senator's own political aspirations - secrets worth killing for...

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Jen Shaw has climbed all her life: daring ascents of sheer rock faces, crumbling buildings, cranes - the riskier the better. Both her work and personal life revolved around climbing, and the adrenaline high it gave her. Until she went too far and hurt the people she cares about. So she's given it all up now. Honestly, she has. And she's checked herself into a rehab centre to prove it. Yet, when Jen awakens to find herself drugged and dangling off the local lighthouse during a wild storm less than twenty-four hours after a 'family emergency' takes her home to Cornwall, she needs all her skill to battle her way to safety. Has Jen fallen back into her old risky ways, or is there a more sinister explanation hidden in her hometown? Only when she has navigated her fragmented memories and faced her troubled past will she be able to piece together what happened - and trust herself to fix it...

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The third novel in David Thomson's series inspired by movie genres - an enchanting yet haunting celebration of screwball romantic comedies. In 1985, with the acclaimed Suspects, and then in 1990 with the exhilarating Silver Light, David Thomson delivered unprecedented fictions in which the characters were figures from film noir and the Western. Now a trilogy is completed with Connecticut. Why Connecticut? Because that lovely, liberal state has been set aside as the resting place for every disturbed person in the nation! At first, this seems like an opportunity for meeting up with the merry ghosts of Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, William Powell and Margaret Sullavan. We get glimpses of Bringing Up Baby, My Man Godfrey and The Lady Eve. But then the wild comedy darkens as we realize that Connecticut itself is on the edge of a demented and cruel war that challenges all its inmates to keep seeing the comic side of mishap and madness. The trilogy is revealed not just as a set of dazzling stories. But a commentary on how far we have all been steered towards delightful but dangerous fantasies by the movies. Aren't we all screwball now? Is Connecticut safe to visit?

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Eighteen years have passed since ten countries from Central & Eastern Europe joined the European Union and more than three decades since the Berlin Wall was torn down in 1989 - but ignorance about what is popularly still called Eastern Europe is as widespread as ever. Slovenia still gets mixed up with Slovakia, the Slavs remain a mystery in a Europe apparently dominated by Romanic and Germanic nations and a country like the Czech Republic is labelled as Eastern European, although one needs to travel west to get from Vienna to Prague. First published in 2009 under the title What's so eastern about Eastern Europe?, this book is much more than a revised and updated version of the first edition. Its presentation of the political and cultural history of Central, Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, written in an accessible language is now complemented with recent developments in the region. The new edition digs into the reasons behind the illiberal turn in Poland, Hungary and elsewhere, putting the alleged democratic backslide into the wider context of European populism. Leon Marc offers a new and fresh perspective in explaining the roots of populism and social conservatism in the region, which the book sees in a mixture of historical factors, economic conditions, the heavy burden of Communist legacy, as well as a reaction to contemporary social developments in the West. Drawing on a wide range of literature, the book calls for more sensibility to these underlying causes, critical examination of the true European values, and for a coalition of defenders of Humanism and Judeo-Christian tradition as key pillars of its identity, in order to save Europe and its liberal democracy. This updated and expanded edition contains a brand new chapter bringing this book up to date with recent events, including Covid-19 and the Ukrainian conflict.

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Between 1967 and 1970 Italian auteur Giovanni 'Tinto' Brass directed four feature films in London, each starring a woman as the main character. Exploring the political, cultural and sexual ideas of their time, often in a deliberate pop-art style, they contain much priceless footage of now forgotten neighbourhoods, galleries, clubs and events as well as an abundance of contemporary music. Free Your Mind! describes the films, their stars, how they were made, and their influence on the social history, pop culture, cinema, music and TV of the time.

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\'Anyone interested in the challenges of housing policy will want to read this methodical analysis of what went well and what did not over much of the last century\' - LORD HESELTINE For nearly 150 years, living in a house in the country has been what many of us aspire to. This book explores how this idea was imported from the US by Ebenezer Howard, founder of the garden city movement, the impact it has had in the UK and why, on cost and environmental grounds, it\'s time to move on from this approach. House in the Country examines the developments in urban planning and residential architecture from 1815 to the present day and considers the legacy of Howard's garden city movement in twenty-first century Britain. An accessible and informative introduction, House in the Country presents a richly detailed narrative containing much historical, social and cultural commentary as well as interviews with key figures in this field.

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