Search results for ""author robert"

Discover this read-aloud adventure with a soothing, wind-down-to-bedtime ending. Somewhere near, a huge beast lies,with giant claws and great big eyes . . .DO NOT DISTURB THE DRAGON!Tiptoe over, under, round and through the book, just . . . don't disturb the DRAGON!Discover a brand new bedtime story from the bestselling author of the Ten Minutes To Bed series. With immersive and colourful illustrations on every page, join our heroes on their fairytale adventure.Perfect for toddlers, this rhyming adventure is perfect for banishing bedtime blues.Readers say: “Helps my very active toddler to wind down before bed!”“There is lovely repetition that your little ones will love to say over and over.”

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The Sunday Times bestselling author Allan Mallinson, brings us another enthralling Matthew Hervey adventure. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this!"What a hero! What an author! What a book! A joy for the lover of adventure and military buff alike" -- LYN MACDONALD, THE TIMES"Splendid...the tale is as historically stimulating as it is stirringly exciting" -- ANDREW ROBERTS, SUNDAY TELEGRAPH"Impeccably researched and rooted in both time and place" -- ***** Reader review"A thrilling tale" -- ***** Reader review"Allan Malinson tells an absorbing tale and gives a wonderful insight into life at that time." -- ***** Reader review********************************************************************India, 1824: Matthew Hervey and the 6th Light Dragoons are stationed in India, where conflagration looks set to flair.The usurper prince, Durjan Sal, has taken refuge in the infamous fortress of Bhurtpore. A deep ditch, which can be flooded at a moment's notice, runs round it - and as its notorious Tower of Victory - built with the skulls of defeated men - bears witness, it has withstood all attacks made on it.Until now. Hot and dangerous work lies ahead for Matthew Hervey and his courageous troop who know their fortunes will be decided by the sabre's edge.A Sabre's Edge is the fifth book in Allan Mallinson's Matthew Hervey series. His adventures continue in Rumours of War. Have you read his previous adventures A Close Run Thing, The Nizam's Daughters, A Regimental Affair and A Call to Arms?

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For fans of Katie Flynn and Sheila Jeffries, Angel's Secret is an uplifting novel from the Queen of family saga, and author of Bicycles and Blackberries, Sheila Newberry.Suffolk, 1924.After the death of her fiancé in the field hospitals of France, Angel becomes nurse to the MacDonald family in the small village of Uffasham.Taking residence at the appropriately named Angel Inn, she is met by many new faces - and old ones, too. Edith, a fellow nurse from the war, while taking great interest in Angel's new life, refuses to let her forget her old one.As Angel grows closer to her employer, Robert, Edith threatens to expose a secret that could ruin everything . . .Can Angel ever be free to move on with her new life and her new family, or will the secrets of her past finally be revealed?'Reading a Sheila Newberry book is like having dinner with your mother in her warm and cosy kitchen. You can feel the love and care put into every juicy morsel' - Diane Allen, bestselling author of For the Sake of Her Family'I have long been a fan of Sheila Newberry's novels. I love their wonderful warmth and charm.' Maureen Lee, bestselling author of The Seven Streets of Liverpool

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'The most addictive book I've read in ages - so slick and disquieting and clever. Just brilliant.'LISA JEWELL'I was obsessed with Everyone Here is Lying . . . Fast paced, tightly-plotted and with twists so well executed they floored me. Loved every word!'CLAIRE DOUGLAS'A smart, unguessable mystery set among a cast of satisfyingly flawed characters. Shari Lapena is an auto-buy for me - I always know I'll be in for a treat!'LOUISE CANDLISHThe gripping new thriller from the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of THE COUPLE NEXT DOORWelcome to Stanhope - a safe neighbourhood. A place for families.William Wooler is a family man, on the surface. But he's been having an affair, an affair that ended horribly this afternoon at a motel up the road. So when he returns to his house, devastated and angry, to find his difficult nine-year-old daughter Avery unexpectedly home from school, William loses his temper.Hours later, Avery's family declares her missing.Suddenly Stanhope doesn't feel so safe. And William isn't the only one on his street who's hiding a lie. As witnesses come forward with information that may or may not be true, Avery's neighbours become increasingly unhinged.Who took Avery Wooler?Nothing will prepare you for the truth.OUT NOW!_______Praise for Everyone Here is Lying:'Shari Lapena is a modern master of the psychological thriller, and all of her considerable talents are at work in Everyone Here Is Lying.' Steve Cavanagh 'A taut, clever, chilling ride of manipulation and family secrets . . . Prepare to be consumed!' Ashley Audrain'Shari Lapena is the queen of the "just one more chapter" read. A chilling exploration of the worst-case repercussions and extensive fallout of a brief affair.' Sarah Vaughan'I inhaled Everyone Here Is Lying. The pace never flags, the twists are fiendishly clever, and the writing is as perfect as can be.' Liz Nugent'Genius. I loved it.' Andrea Mara'You simply can't put it down' Robert Gold'I defy you to put it down until you know what happened to Avery Wooler' Gilly Macmillan'Shari Lapena is an expert in both pace and the placing of clues and misdirections' Literary Review'A fast-paced read with jaw-dropping twists' The i

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Sail the high seas between worlds with this first book in a new fantasy romance series from Katee Robert, the New York Times bestselling author of the TikTok smash-hit Neon Gods.'Sizzling chemistry . . . High stakes, taut pacing, and enticing characters' Publisher's Weekly on Neon GodsEvelyn is a witch with a perfect storm of bad impulses: terrible taste in bed partners, sticky fingers, and a lust for danger. After she steals from her vampire ex and falls through a portal to another realm, she's fished out of the waters by a band of seafarers and their telekinetic captain. She's immediately given a choice - join their group or die.Bowen and his crew are bound by vow to patrol through Threshold, the magical sea between realms, keeping the portals to other worlds safe. When he rescues Evelyn, he doesn't expect to be attracted to the unflappable pickpocket, but the longer he spends in her presence, the more he begins to question if his heart is the next thing she'll steal.As tension heats up between Bowen and Evelyn, the danger escalates as well. Because Evelyn has no intention of keeping her vows, and if she betrays the crew, both she and Bowen will pay the ultimate price . . .

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The perfect murder mystery for fans of Richard Osman and Robert Thorogood.'Spotswood understands that [...] spending time with unforgettable characters is paramount.' - New York Times'A loving, intricately plotted tribute to the great days of American noir.' - Daily MailNew York, 1946: The last time Will Parker let a case get personal, she walked away with a broken face, a bruised ego, and the solemn promise never again to let her heart get in the way of her job. But she called Hart and Halloway's Travelling Circus and Sideshow home for five years, and Ruby Donner, the circus's tattooed ingenue, was her friend. To make matters worse the prime suspect is Valentin Kalishenko, the man who taught Will everything she knows about putting a knife where it needs to go.To uncover the real killer and keep Kalishenko from a date with the electric chair, Will and Ms. Pentecost join the circus in sleepy Stoppard, Virginia, where the locals like their cocktails mild, the past buried, and big-city detectives not at all. The two swiftly find themselves lost in a funhouse of lies as Will begins to realize that her former circus compatriots aren't playing it straight, and that her murdered friend might have been hiding a lot of secrets beneath all that ink.Dodging fistfights, firebombs, and flying lead, Will puts a lot more than her heart on the line in the search of the truth. Can she find it before someone stops her ticker for good?Praise for Stephen Spotswood:'Razor-sharp, tons of flair. A really good noir novel.' Tana French'Spotswood's stellar debut puts a modern spin on classic hard-boiled fiction. . . The deep and sensitive characterization of the two protagonists, coupled with rich description and tonally spot-on humour, make this a novel to remember. Spotswood is definitely a writer to watch.' Publishers Weekly'This novel not only offers fun, offbeat characters and an exceptional flavour of the time, it's utterly charming too.' Woman's Weekly'This hugely enjoyable debut is a deft melange of Agatha Christie-style locked-room murder mystery and 1940s Chandler-esque pulp crime fiction with a feisty narrator' Irish Independent Review'Persuasive in its attention to period detail and dialogue, with well-constructed set piece scenes deftly staged, this is a highly accomplished, auspicious first entry in what we must hope will be a long-running series' The Irish Times

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*Picked as one of the best historical novels of 2023 by The Times!*'A creepy, chilling story - another Anna Mazzola triumph!' JENNIFER SAINT'Chilling and compelling, with echoes of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca' ESSIE FOXSometimes the secrets of the past are more dangerous than the present...Rome, 1938.As the world teeters on the brink of war, talented pianist Eva Valenti enters the house of widower Dante Cavallera to become his new wife.On the outside, the forces of Fascism are accelerating, but in her new home, Eva fears that something else is at work, whispering in the walls and leaving mysterious marks on Dante's young daughter.Soon she starts to wonder whether the house itself is trying to give up the secrets of its mysterious past - secrets that Dante seems so determined to keep hidden.However, Eva must also conceal the truth of her own identity, for if she is discovered, she will be in greater danger than she could ever have imagined...***Praise for The House of Whispers:'Mazzola builds up tension skilfully in a story that flirts with the supernatural as it moves towards a fiery conclusion' SUNDAY TIMES'This gothic ghost novel will keep you reading well into the night' GLAMOUR'Utterly brilliant. It's Rebecca meets Winter in Madrid with a sprinkling of Mazzola magic' LAURA SHEPHERD-ROBINSON'An atmospheric spine-tingler' HEAT'Packed with political and emotional intrigue, historically rich and deeply unsettling' SARAH HILARY'Deliciously creepy' WOMAN'S WEEKLY'Absolutely brilliant. Gripping, beautifully written and properly chilling' CAROLINE GREEN'Atmospheric and unsettling' DAILY RECORD'Beautiful, chilling, and darkly enchanting. Anna Mazzola is a truly gifted storyteller' CHRIS WHITAKER'A sinister gothic tale' COSMO'I ripped through The House of Whispers in double quick time' JAMES OSWALD'A deliciously creepy tale from the masterful Anna Mazzola' WOMAN'Robert Harris meets M.R. James in an evocative gothic tale' DAVID HEWSON'A gothic tale of political and psychological terror' GUARDIAN'The sense of place is impeccable, the sense of danger truly chilling' SINEAD CROWLEY'A delicately told ghost story set in the bright heat of 1930's Italy. Claustrophobic and compelling' AMANDA MASON

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Rupert Campbell-Black takes centre stage once more, this time in the cut-throat world of flat racing.Rupert is consumed by one obsession: that Love Rat, his adored grey horse, be proclaimed champion stallion. He longs to trounce Roberto's Revenge, the stallion owned by his detested rival Cosmo Rannaldini, which means abandoning his racing empire at Penscombe and his darling wife Taggie, and chasing winners in the richest races worldwide, from Dubai to Los Angeles to Melbourne.Luckily, the fort at home is held by Rupert's assistant Gav, a genius with horses, fancied by every stable lass, but damaged by alcoholism and a vile wife. When Gala, a grieving but ravishing Zimbabwean widow moves to Penscombe as carer for Rupert's wayward father, it is not just Gav who is attracted to her: a returning Rupert finds himself dangerously tempted.Gala adores horses, and when she switches to working in the yard, her carer's job is taken by a devastatingly handsome South African man who claims to be gay but seems far keener on caring for the angelic Taggie. And as increasingly sinister acts of sabotage strike at Penscombe, the game of musical loose boxes gathers apace . . .-----------------------------------'Packed with warmth, wit, and unforgettable characters, this is an utterly joyous read' Daily Express'Pure, unadulterated joy' Sophie Kinsella'It's Cooper doing what she does best ... it's a thoroughly enjoyable roll in the hay' The Times'Witty and wonderful, as always' Trisha Ashley'This endlessly fun humdinger of a novel is an absolute riot' Heat

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Frankenstein . . . his very name conjures up images of plundered graves, secret laboratories, electrical experiments and reviving the dead.Within these pages, the maddest doctor of them all and his demented disciples once again delve into the Secrets of Life, as science fiction meets horror when the world's most famous creature lives again!The Mammoth Book of Frankenstein collects together for the first time twenty-fourelectrifying tales of cursed creation that are guaranteed to spark your interest - with classics from the pulp magazines by Robert Bloch and Manly Wade Wellman, modern masterpieces from Ramsey Campbell, Dennis Etchison, Karl Edward Wagner, David J. Schow and R. Chetwynd-Hayes, and contributions from Graham Masterson, Basil Copper, John Brunner, Guy N. Smith, Kim Newman, Paul J. McAuley, Roberta Lannes, Michael Marshall Smith, Daniel Fox, Adrian Cole, Nancy Kilpatrick, Brian Mooney and Lisa Morton.Plus you're sure to get a charge from three complete novels: The Hound of Frankenstein by Peter Tremayne, The Dead End by David Case, and Mary W. Shelley's original masterpiece Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus.As an electrical storm rages overhead, the generators are charged up, and beneath the sheet a cold form awaits its miraculous rebirth. Now it's time to throw that switch and discover all that Man Was Never Meant to Know.

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From Giles Kristian, THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LANCELOT, comes this brutal, bloody and captivating Viking adventure, continuing the story begun in the bestselling Raven: Blood Eye. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Robert Low and Game of Thrones. "Kristian can really write...He weaves in rich historical detail with a light touch...His battle scenes are bone-crunchingly good, his descriptions of the Viking world bright and evocative...Giles Kristian is a great storyteller." -- BEN KANE"An all-action adventure...a brilliant story, beautifully told" -- SUNDAY EXPRESS"This was a brilliant read for me as a weathered historical fiction reader." -- ***** Reader review"The action oozes energy...so that for those precious hours you are happily lost within this book's own universe..." -- ***** Reader review***************************************************IF YOU BETRAY A FELLOWSHIP YOU ARE A DEAD MAN...Raven and the Wolfpack plough the sea-road in pursuit of the Saxon traitor, Ealdred, who has left the Fellowship for dead and fled to the Frankish Emperor Charlemagne and the promise of untold riches. Sailing in search of revenge, the pagan Norsemen venture into the heart of a Christian empire that would wipe their kind from the face of the earth, a place where danger lies in wait around every bend of the great river up which they travel.A young man with no memory and a blood-tainted eye, Raven has found friendship and purpose amongst this fierce band of warriors. Having proved himself in battle, he is now certain that Viking blood flows in his veins. But to survive this adventure, his cunning must be as sharp as his blade...Raven: Sons of Thunder is the second title in the Raven trilogy. The story continues in Raven: Odin's Wolves. Have you read Raven: Blood Eye, the first in the trilogy?

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For thousands of years, people have used nature to justify their political, moral, and social judgments. Such appeals to the moral authority of nature are still very much with us today, as heated debates over genetically modified organisms and human cloning testify.The Moral Authority of Nature offers a wide-ranging account of how people have used nature to think about what counts as good, beautiful, just, or valuable. The eighteen essays cover a diverse array of topics, including the connection of cosmic and human orders in ancient Greece, medieval notions of sexual disorder, early modern contexts for categorizing individuals and judging acts as "against nature," race and the origin of humans, ecological economics, and radical feminism. The essays also range widely in time and place, from archaic Greece to early twentieth-century China, medieval Europe to contemporary America.Scholars from a wide variety of fields will welcome The Moral Authority of Nature, which provides the first sustained historical survey of its topic.Contributors:Danielle Allen, Joan Cadden, Lorraine Daston, Fa-ti Fan, Eckhardt Fuchs, Valentin Groebner, Abigail J. Lustig, Gregg Mitman, Michelle Murphy, Katharine Park, Matt Price, Robert N. Proctor, Helmut Puff, Robert J. Richards, Londa Schiebinger, Laura Slatkin, Julia Adeney Thomas, Fernando Vidal

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Norwell Roberts, who became the Met's first Black police officer in 1967, found out he had a new job the same way the rest of the country did - from a Daily Telegraph headline that read 'MET TO HAVE FIRST COLOURED POLICEMAN'. From that day forward his face became a symbol - of acceptance, of a diverse police force, of a changing Britain. He was turned into the poster boy for progressive policing - but his day-to-day reality was anything but. Greeted with prejudice, ridicule, and rejection, he refused to quit. And thus began an extraordinary career that placed him on the frontlines for a tumultuous period in Britain's history. Stationed at embassies, anti-war protests, and riots, his race singled him out and landed him on front pages around the world. This is the story of the man behind the headlines, in his own words. Conversations about the police as an institution have never been more heated or more urgent than they are today, but to appreciate the present and how far we have come we sometimes need to revisit the past, no matter how painful. Honest, moving, and impossible to forget, I am Norwell Roberts is a story of resilience against the odds, and of one man's ability to make a difference.

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Although many of its stories originated centuries ago in the Middle East, the Arabian Nights is regarded as a classic of world literature by virtue of the seminal French and English translations produced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Supporting the suspicion that the story collection is more Parisian than Persian, some of its most famous tales, including the stories of Aladdin and Ali Baba, appear nowhere in the original sources. Yet as befits a world where magic lamps may conceal a jinni and fabulous treasures lie just beyond secret doors, the truth of the Arabian Nights is richer than standard criticism suggests.“Marvellous Thieves, which draws on hitherto neglected sources, is a brilliant, fluent and original work of literary scholarship.”—Robert Irwin, Literary Review“This fine book…cogently probes an influential period in the knotted and at times sordid history of the Arabian Nights, serving as a fine example to those unraveling this promiscuous and forever malleable set of stories.”—Charles Shafaieh, Wall Street Journal“Intelligent and engrossing…The great merit of Horta’s book is that its interest always lies in the story of the story, in mapping out the complex network of the translators, editors and travellers behind the Arabian Nights, in ways that enrich our sense of this remarkable text.”—Shahidha Bari, Times Higher Education

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"I am a writer because I was a reader first." Alison Gordon. "Nobody has ever written who never read." Mavis Gallant. "Reading is a connection, at once a way and a goal, a liberating destiny." Robert Kroetsch. Over 160 Canadian writers, in English and French, write about their experiences of reading. With striking photographs of each writer, Reading Writers Reading offers a sublime voyage into the heart of literary creation. Foreword by Russell Morton Brown.

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'The ultimate escapist read!' VERONICA HENRY on To Italy, with Love'Deliciously romantic' ERICA JAMES on P.S. Come to Italy 'Knowing, compassionate and moving' CATHERINE ROBERTSON The scenery is swoonsome' STEVE BRAUNIAS on P.S. Come to Italy Wish you were here?When Belle's quiet, idyllic life on the coast starts to crumble, it's a stranger - thousands of miles away in Italy - who provides a shoulder to cry on. And so, when Enrico sends her a beautiful gift with a note signed off 'P.S. Come to Italy!' she decides to follow her heart.Arriving at Enrico's palazzo in beautiful Puglia, it's clear that his life couldn't be more different than the one Belle's left behind. Yet despite his flashy cars and his glamorous, warring family, she starts to realise that perhaps Enrico needs her just as much as she needed him.Belle's holiday of a lifetime was never about falling in love - but under the sun-kissed olive trees, anything can happen...Readers are loving Nicky Pellegrino!'I could smell the fresh pasta, feel the sunshine, smell the sea breeze and feel my worries wash away. It was lovely to stumble down the cobbled paths and stroll along the beautiful scenery''Through Italy, through food, through heartbreak, through love, through family. Add in a pinch of karmic justice and you have the perfect read with a joyful ending!''Once again Nicky Pellegrino had me captivated with this amazing story. It made me laugh, made me cry. I read it in one afternoon''I will say that if you are a woman on the cusp of discovering who you are and what your heart desires...then you will devour this book as I did''Such a great escapism read, full of emotions and family drama with love'

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Tells the story of the building of the American Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium, a story of history, politics, science, and exploration, including the roles of American presidents, New York power brokers, museum presidents, planetarium directors, polar and African explorers, and German rocket scientists. The American Museum of Natural History is one of New York City’s most beloved institutions, and one of the largest, most celebrated museums in the world. Since 1869, generations of New Yorkers and tourists of all ages have been educated and entertained here. Located across from Central Park, the sprawling structure, spanning four city blocks, is a fascinating conglomeration of many buildings of diverse architectural styles built over a period of 150 years. The first book to tell the history of the museum from the point of view of these buildings, including the planned Gilder Center, The American Museum of Natural History and How It Got That Way contextualizes them within New York and American history and the history of science. Part II, “The Heavens in the Attic,” is the first detailed history of the Hayden Planetarium, from the museum’s earliest astronomy exhibits, to Clyde Fisher and the original planetarium, to Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and it features a photographic tour through the original Hayden Planetarium. Author Colin Davey spent much of his childhood literally and figuratively lost in the museum’s labyrinthine hallways. The museum grew in fits and starts according to the vicissitudes of backroom deals, personal agendas, two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Cold War. Chronicling its evolution―from the selection of a desolate, rocky, hilly, swampy site, known as Manhattan Square to the present day―the book includes some of the most important and colorful characters in the city’s history, including the notoriously corrupt and powerful “Boss” Tweed, “Father of New York City” Andrew Haswell Green, and twentieth-century powerbroker and master builder Robert Moses; museum presidents Morris K. Jesup, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Ellen Futter; and American presidents, polar and African explorers, dinosaur hunters, and German rocket scientists. Richly illustrated with period photos, The American Museum of Natural History and How It Got That Way is based on deep archival research and interviews.

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Focusing on language's political power, these essays discuss how representation, through language norms, plays and court spectacles, manipulations and adaptations of texts and images, both constitutes and reflects a cultural milieu. The volume brings together various disciplinary approaches, offering a complex appreciation of these questions. While a core of the essays focuses on France, the contributions engage a broad range of geographical contexts, from Byzantium to eastern Germany and England from the early centuries of the Common Era to the seventeenth century, revealing the prevalence and persistence of the key interconnected issues of images and authority. Contributors: Carla Bozzolo; Philippe Caron; Robert L. A. Clark; Paul Cohen; Thomas Conley; Jean-Philippe Genet; Douglas Kibbee; Gillette Labory; Nicole Pons; Mara R. Wade.

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The Italian Girl is an intoxicating tale of passion and destiny, from Lucinda Riley, #1 bestselling author of the Seven Sisters series. Nothing sings as sweetly as love, or burns quite like betrayal . . . Rosanna Menici is just a girl when she meets Roberto Rossini – the man who will change her life forever. In the years that follow, their destinies become bound together, both by their extraordinary talents as opera singers, and by their enduring, obsessive love.Their passion will ultimately affect the lives of all those closest to them. For, as Rosanna slowly discovers, their union is haunted by irreversible events of the past . . .** A version of this story has previously been published under the title Aria, under the name Lucinda Edmonds – now extensively rewritten as The Italian Girl. **

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FROM THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP FIVE, MILLION-COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR - be swept away by the Deverill Chronicles. It is 1939 and peace has flourished since the Great War ended. But much has changed for the Deverill family and now a new generation is waiting in the wings.Martha Wallace came to Dublin from her home in America to find her birth mother. But instead she has lost her heart to the impossibly charming JP Deverill. Then she discovers that her mother comes from the same place as JP, and her fate seems sealed.Bridie Doyle, now Countess di Marcantonio and mistress of Castle Deverill, is determined to make the castle she used to work in her home. But her flamboyant husband Cesare has other ideas. And as his eye strays away from his wife, those close to the couple start to wonder if he really is who he says he is.Kitty Deverill has come to terms with her life with her husband Robert, and their two children. But then Jack O’Leary, the love of her life, returns to Ballinakelly. And this time his heart belongs elsewhere…***What readers are saying about Santa Montefiore*** 'Nobody does epic romance like Santa Montefiore. Everything she writes, she writes from the heart' Jojo Moyes ‘I have a tendresse for sweeping and epic romantic sagas set around huge houses and aristocratic families and Santa Montefiore hits the spot for me like few other writers... Lush, vivid storytelling’ Sarra Manning ‘An ideal summer read. Laced with secrets and forbidden liaisons, it is sure to keep you turning the pages’ The Lady on The Beekeeper's Daughter ‘One of our personal favourites and bestselling authors, sweeping stories of love and families spanning continents and decades’ The Times

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This selection of plays by Luigi Pirandello contains some of his best-known works, such as Six Characters in Search of an Author – an absurdist piece in which the characters, actors and Pirandello himself interact during the rehearsal of a fictional play within the play – and Henry IV – a tragicomic tale of a man who falls from a horse and believes himself to be the eponymous Holy Roman Emperor. Preoccupied with the nature of truth and delusion, and treading dangerously on the borderline between sanity and madness, Pirandello’s plays are a daring exploration of human actions and the dark motives lying behind them, and the culmination of the naturalistic school of theatre inaugurated by authors such as Ibsen and Chekhov.

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An interdisciplinary approach to a crucial part of the systems of medieval authority and governance. In the medieval world, what happened when a figure of recognised authority was absent? What terminology, principles and solutions of proxy authority were developed and adopted? Did these solutions differ and change over time depending on whether the absence was short or long and caused by issues of incapacity, minority, disputed succession, geography or elective absenteeism? Did the models of proxy authority adopted by ruling dynasties and large institutions influence the proxy choices of lesser authority? The circumstances and consequences of absentee authority, a major aspect of the systems of medieval power, are the focus of this volume. Ranging across the realms of medieval Europe (but with a focus upon the British Isles and France), its essays embrace a wide variety of experience - royal, parliamentary, conciliar, magnatial, military, ecclesiastical (papal to parochial), burghal, household, minoror major, male or female, exiled, captive or infirm - and explore not merely political developments, but the dynastic, diplomatic, financial, ideological, religious and cultural ramifications of such episodes. Frédérique Lachaud is Professor of medieval history at the Université de Lorraine, France; Michael Penman is Senior Lecturer in history at the University of Stirling, Scotland. Contributors: James Bothwell Michelle Bubenicek, Léonard Dauphant , Bruno Dumézil, Laurent Hablot, Torsten Hiltmann, Tom Horler-Underwood, Robert Houghton, Olivier de Laborderie, Frédérique Lachaud, Hans Jacob Orning, Michael Penman. Norman Reid

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The perfect, feel-good, comforting read to cosy up with as the nights draw in. Escape to 1990, Notting Hill, first love, and hope.'Every time I have read one of Eva Rice’s books it has felt like a modern classic. Tender, and acutely observed, the characters of This Could Be Everything have stayed with me. Reading it every night felt like wrapping myself a comfort blanket' JOJO MOYES ‘The most gorgeous feel-good story about love and grief and how the smallest things can start a journey of healing.’ GEORGINA MOORE, author of The Garnett Girls'I finished it in a breathless emotional gulp. Truly wonderful, incredibly moving...funny, witty, wise and superbly written...The age beautifully evoked' STEPHEN FRY'You will rejoice as February gradually finds happiness again, consoled by two little canaries, the treadmill of the Top 40, the rare beauties of Nineties London and finally true love. Eva’s latest story HAS everything' JILLY COOPER ‘Exquisite. Enchanting. Quite possibly perfect. The next One Day/Me Before You’ VERONICA HENRY It’s 1990. The Happy Mondays are in the charts, a 15-year-old called Kate Moss is on the cover of the Face magazine, and Julia Roberts wears thigh-boots for the poster for a new movie called Pretty Woman. February Kingdom is nineteen years old when she is knocked sideways by family tragedy. Then one evening in May she finds an escaped canary in her kitchen and it sparks a glimmer of hope in her. With the help of the bird called Yellow, Feb starts to feel her way out of her own private darkness, just as her aunt embarks on a passionate and all-consuming affair with a married American drama teacher. THIS COULD BE EVERYTHING is a coming-of-age story with its roots under the pavements of a pre-Richard Curtis-era Notting Hill that has all but vanished. It’s about what happens when you start looking after something more important than you, and the hope a yellow bird can bring… Praise for This Could Be Everything: 'A beautiful, atmospheric, brilliantly observed thing of joy. Eva Rice is a fantastic observer and relayer of the human experience. Absolutely wonderful' Mel Giedroyc 'A beautiful balm of a book full of hope and possibility, This Could Be Everything will break your heart and piece it back together again with wit, warmth and magic. The way Rice weaves together fiction and reality is delicious, with details on every page that will have pop fans, Londoners and 90s nostalgics squealing with delight. Nobody captures the exhilaration of first love and teen fandom quite like her' Lauren Bravo ‘A reason to be cheerful - THIS COULD BE EVERYTHING is the book I've been waiting my whole life for, a perfect 90s period piece about sisters, it's glam, gorgeous, a little bit melancholic and a lot charming’ Daisy Buchanan ‘This moving, hopeful and brilliantly told story inhabits the West London of my youth. I loved it’ Betty Boo ‘A gorgeous story about first love and hope’ Red ‘A moving novel about sisterhood, grief and first love’ Good Housekeeping 'The story of loss, love - and ultimately hope - is beautifully told. You won't be able to put it down' Heat

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From Giles Kristian, THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LANCELOT, comes the final spellbinding and breathtaking instalment of the bestselling Raven trilogy. Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Robert Low and Game of Thrones."A great tale that held me spellbound" -- BERNARD CORNWELL"Giles Kristian spins a viking saga so evocative, so thrilling that no other author can surpass him" -- ***** Reader review"Bravo again. Odin's Wolves is a masterpiece" -- ***** Reader review"I simply did not want this book to end, Giles; you should be congratulated for producing a magnificent series and one which has had me glued from start to finish" -- ***** Reader review*********************************************WE LUSTED FOR AN EVEN GREATER PRIZE: ONE THAT CAN NEVER BE LOST OR STOLEN OR BURNT...Raven and his fellow Vikings have suffered: good men have died; hard-won treasure has been lost. But for these Norsemen, there is something more precious than gold or silver, and that is fame - for this is what a warrior leaves behind when he has breathed his last.And so the brotherhood sail for Constantinople, the city they call Miklagard. There, it is rumoured, both riches and glory are to be found...The journey takes them through unknown and dangerous waters - from the wind-whipped marshes of the Camargue to the treachery and faded glory of a once-mighty Rome.For Raven and the Wolfpack there is a high price to pay for the fame they seek. Miklagard's streets may seem paved with gold, but they also run with blood . . .Raven: Odin's Wolves is the third title in the Raven trilogy. Have you read Raven: Blood Eye and Raven: Sons of Thunder, the first two titles in the trilogy?

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See inside the gardens where literary giants from Tolstoy to Agatha Christie created some of their finest works in this visually stunning and fascinating book. Discover the flower gardens, vegetable plots, landscapes and writing hideaways of 30 great authors – from Louisa May Alcott’s ‘Orchard House’ where she wrote Little Women and Agatha Christie at Greenway, to Virginia Woolf at Monk’s House and the Massachusetts home of Edith Wharton.Fully illustrated with specially commissioned photography plus archive images, and spanning centuries and continents, this book visits the homes and gardens that inspired novelists, poets and playwrights. It shows how outdoor spaces were important to writers in many different ways and offers insight into the lives and creative processes of beloved authors. Writers featured include: Jane Austen in Kent and Hampshire, Agatha Christie in Devon, Beatrix Potter in the Lake District, Thomas Hardy in Dorset, Walter Scott and Robert Burns in Scotland, William Wordsworth in Cumbria, Virginia Woolf and Rudyard Kipling in Sussex, Frances Hodgson Burnett in Kent, Jack London in California, Edward James in Mexico, Jean Cocteau and George Sand in France and Goethe in Germany. This deeply insightful book sheds new light on some of literature's greatest works, offers rare glimpses into the lives of these brilliant minds, and showcases in stunning full colour the gardens in which these writers spent their time.

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Brilliant revision strategies for A-level English Literature that really work! Students often tell teacher Mark Roberts that they find it hard to revise for A Level English Literature. This guide will show you that all you need is an organised, step-by-step approach to your English revision to get the best grade possible. · Discover how to banish ineffective revision and use study skills that will help you to do brilliantly in your A Level exams · Understand what really successful students do to help them towards top grades in A Level English Literature · Implement practice methods that actually improve your memory Read this book to find out more! Chapter 1. Effective revision for English examsChapter 2. Organising your notes and annotationsChapter 3. Building up a bank of “killer quotes”Chapter 4. “Exploding” your quotesChapter 5. Applying critical viewpointsChapter 6. Using context successfullyChapter 7. Developing your academic styleChapter 8. Improving practice essaysChapter 9. Getting ready for the unseen textsChapter 10. Taking care of yourself and coping with exams

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When the Bush presidency began to collapse, pundits were quick to tell a tale of the “imperial presidency” gone awry, a story of secretive, power-hungry ideologues who guided an arrogant president down the road to ruin. But the inside story of the failures of the Bush administration is both much more complex and alarming, says leading policy analyst Alasdair Roberts. In the most comprehensive, balanced view of the Bush presidency to date, Roberts portrays a surprisingly weak president, hamstrung by bureaucratic, constitutional, cultural and economic barriers and strikingly unable to wield authority even within his own executive branch. The Collapse of Fortress Bush shows how the president fought—and lost—key battles with the defense and intelligence communities. From Homeland Security to Katrina, Bush could not coordinate agencies to meet domestic threats or disasters. Either the Bush administration refused to exercise authority, was thwarted in the attempt to exercise authority, or wielded authority but could not meet the test of legitimacy needed to enact their goals. Ultimately, the vaunted White House discipline gave way to public recriminations among key advisers. Condemned for secretiveness, the Bush administration became one of the most closely scrutinized presidencies in the modern era. Roberts links the collapse of the Bush presidency to deeper currents in American politics and culture, especially a new militarism and the supremacy of the Reagan-era consensus on low taxes, limited government, and free markets. Only in this setting was it possible to have a “total war on terrorism” in which taxes were reduced, private consumption was encouraged, and businesses were lightly regulated. A balanced, incisive account by a skilled observer of U.S. government, The Collapse of Fortress Bush turns the spotlight from the powerful cabal that launched the war in Iraq to tell a much more disturbing story about American power and the failure of executive leadership.

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Critics of globalization claim that economic integration drains political authority from states: devolving authority to newly empowered regions, delegating it to supranational organizations, and transferring it to multinational firms and nongovernmental organizations. Globalization is also attacked for forcing convergence of state institutions and policies and threatening the ability of societies to chart their own democratically determined courses. In Governance in a Global Economy, Miles Kahler and David Lake assemble the contributions of seventeen leading scholars who have systematically investigated how global economic integration produces changes of governance. These authors conclude that globalization has created a new and intricate fabric of governance, but one that fails to match the stark portrait of beleaguered states. Exploring changes in governance across several policy areas (such as tourism, trade, finance, and fiscal and monetary policy), the authors demonstrate that globalization changes the policy preferences of some actors, increases the bargaining power of others, and opens new institutional options for yet others. By reintroducing agency and choice into our understanding of globalization, this book provides important new insights into the complex and contingent effects of globalization on political authority and governance. The introduction and the conclusion are by the editors; the contributors are James A. Caporaso, Benjamin J. Cohen, Barry Eichengreen, Zachary Elkins, Geoffrey Garrett, Peter Gourevitch, Virginia Haufler, Michael J. Hiscox, Robert O. Keohane, Lisa L. Martin, Walter Mattli, Kathleen R. McNamara, Joseph S. Nye, Jr., Jonathan Rodden, Ronald Rogowski, Beth A. Simmons, and Peter Van Houten.

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Tells the story of the building of the American Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium, a story of history, politics, science, and exploration, including the roles of American presidents, New York power brokers, museum presidents, planetarium directors, polar and African explorers, and German rocket scientists. The American Museum of Natural History is one of New York City’s most beloved institutions, and one of the largest, most celebrated museums in the world. Since 1869, generations of New Yorkers and tourists of all ages have been educated and entertained here. Located across from Central Park, the sprawling structure, spanning four city blocks, is a fascinating conglomeration of many buildings of diverse architectural styles built over a period of 150 years. The first book to tell the history of the museum from the point of view of these buildings, including the planned Gilder Center, The American Museum of Natural History and How It Got That Way contextualizes them within New York and American history and the history of science. Part II, “The Heavens in the Attic,” is the first detailed history of the Hayden Planetarium, from the museum’s earliest astronomy exhibits, to Clyde Fisher and the original planetarium, to Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and it features a photographic tour through the original Hayden Planetarium. Author Colin Davey spent much of his childhood literally and figuratively lost in the museum’s labyrinthine hallways. The museum grew in fits and starts according to the vicissitudes of backroom deals, personal agendas, two world wars, the Great Depression, and the Cold War. Chronicling its evolution―from the selection of a desolate, rocky, hilly, swampy site, known as Manhattan Square to the present day―the book includes some of the most important and colorful characters in the city’s history, including the notoriously corrupt and powerful “Boss” Tweed, “Father of New York City” Andrew Haswell Green, and twentieth-century powerbroker and master builder Robert Moses; museum presidents Morris K. Jesup, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Ellen Futter; and American presidents, polar and African explorers, dinosaur hunters, and German rocket scientists. Richly illustrated with period photos, The American Museum of Natural History and How It Got That Way is based on deep archival research and interviews.

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A moving and inspiring anthology of masterful essays on stories that touch the hearts and minds of readers. “A writer,” Nobel Prize winner Saul Bellow once said, “is a reader who is moved to emulation.” New York Times bestselling novelist and memoirist Andre Dubus III took that idea and invited acclaimed authors to write about short stories that altered their view of life and their place in it—short stories that, ultimately, made them want to write something substantial themselves. Here is Richard Russo on Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery,” Joyce Carol Oates on John Updike’s “A&P,” Tobias Wolff on Hawthorne’s “Wakefield,” Michael Cunningham on James Joyce’s “The Dead.” Readers will gain new insight into these masterfully written stories but also on the contributors’ own lives and work. The fifty contributors are T.C. Boyle, Russell Banks, Richard Bausch, Robert Boswell, Charles Baxter, Ann Beattie, Madison Smartt Bell, Ron Carlson, Lan Samantha Chang, Michael Cunningham, Junot Diaz, Anthony Doerr, Emma Donoghue, Stuart Dybek, Dagoberto Gilb, Julia Glass, Mary Gordon, Lauren Groff, Jennifer Haigh, Jane Hamilton, Ron Hansen, Paul Harding, Ann Hood, Pam Houston, Gish Jen, Charles Johnson, Phil Klay, Dennis Lehane, Lois Lowry, Colum McCann, Sue Miller, Rick Moody, Antonya Nelson, Bich Nguyen, Joyce Carol Oates, Stewart O’Nan, Peter Orner, ZZ Packer, Ann Patchett, Edith Pearlman, Jayne Ann Phillips, Kirstin Valdez Quade, Anna Quindlen, Ron Rash, Richard Russo, Dani Shapiro, Mona Simpson, Jess Walter, Tobias Wolff, and Meg Wolitzer. Reaching Inside will remind you why you fell in love with reading.

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As long as there have been formal governments, there has been political contention, an interaction between ruler and subjects involving claims and counterclaims, compliance or resistance, cooperation, resignation, condescension, and resentment. Where political studies tend to focus on either those who rule or those who are ruled, the essays in this volume call our attention to the interaction between these forces at the very heart of contentious politics.Written by prominent scholars of political and social history, these essays introduce us to a variety of political actors: peasants and workers, tax resisters and religious visionaries, bandits and revolutionaries. From Brazil to Beijing, from the late Middle Ages to the present, all were or are challenging authority.The authors take a distinctly historical approach to their subject, writing both of specific circumstances and of larger processes. While tracing their origins to the social history and structural sociology approaches of the sixties and seventies, the contributors have also profited from subsequent critiques of these approaches. Taken together, their essays demonstrate that the relationship between mobilization for collective action and identity formation is a perennial problem for protest groups-a problem that the historical study of contentious politics, with its focus on political interaction, can do much to explain.Contributors: Risto Alapuro, U of Helsinki; Anton Blok, U of Amsterdam; William Christian; Sonia De Avelar; Roger V. Gould, U of Chicago; Marifeli Pérez-Stable, SUNY, Old Westbury; Robert M. Schwartz, Mount Holyoke; Marc W. Steinberg, Smith College; Carl Strikwerda, U of Kansas; Sidney Tarrow, Cornell U; Marjolein ‘t Hart, U of Amsterdam; Charles Tilly, Columbia U; Kim Voss, U of California, Berkeley; Andrew Walder, Stanford U; R. Bin Wong, U of California, Irvine.

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