Search results for ""NOTORIOUS""

At the age of 18, Mansoor Adayfi left his home in Yemen for a cultural mission to Afghanistan. He never returned. Kidnapped by warlords and then sold to the US after 9/11, he was disappeared to Gauntánamo Bay, where he spent the next 15 years as Detainee #441.In the vein of Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone, Don't Forget Us Here tells two coming-of-age stories in parallel: a makeshift island outpost becoming the world's most notorious prison and an innocent young man emerging from its darkness. Arriving as a stubborn teenager, Mansoor survived the camp's infamous interrogation program and became a feared and hardened resistance fighter leading prison riots and hunger strikes. With time though, he grew into the man prisoners nicknamed "Smiley Troublemaker": a student, writer, historian, and dedicated pop culture fan. With unexpected warmth and empathy, he unwinds a narrative of fighting for hope and survival in unimaginable circumstances, illuminating the limitlessness of the human spirit.And through his own story as well as those who were there with him--detainees and guards--Mansoor also tells Gauntánamo's story, offering an unprecedented window into one of the most secretive places on earth. Putting a human face on the Gauntánamo we know from the news, as well as showing the side we never see--the art, the community, the joyful reclamation of stolen humanity--this book reconstructs the camp's history in human terms, bearing witness to the lives lost and destroyed there.Twenty years later, Gauntánamo remains open. At a moment of due reckoning, Mansoor helps us understand what actually happened there--both the horror and the beauty--offering a vital chronicle of an experience we cannot afford to forget.

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The cult of the female breast in contemporary American and European society is as pervasive as it is notorious. Our current fascination merely updates a long-standing obsession with the breast, which over the past twenty years has also become a subject of scholarly attention. Most historians and cultural theorists have focused on England and France, with virtually all research starting from the simple assumption that the breast is a signifier of the feminine and the female. With Missing the Breast, Simon Richter uses the texts of Enlightenment-era Germany to challenge that assumption, engaging instead the complexity of culturally constructed notions of the breast. Using the tools of medicine, literary theory, psychology, psychoanalysis, and etymology, Richter probes the breast-related fantasies underlying German culture and literature in the second half of the eighteenth century. His study reveals that, whereas in England and France and in the public imagination generally, the breast has been associated with the feminine and with abundance, the inherent “logic of the breast” in German culture unexpectedly pushes the breast toward masculinity and lack. Richter’s tour de force of textual and cultural analysis brings together the work of important German poets, writers, and dramatists, as well as major psychoanalysts and their critics, and writers and artists of the English-speaking world, to explore the tension between the plenitude of the breast and the implications of its absence. His engaging study draws the reader ineluctably toward a revolutionary possibility: the breast as an “unruly and uncontainable signifier,” the equal and more of what Lacan called the phallus. Missing the Breast will be an indispensable addition to the libraries of those interested in German textual studies, the history of sexuality, and theories of psychoanalysis. Its groundbreaking perspective will make a significant contribution to the fields of literary studies, gender studies, and women’s studies.

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THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER!"Ingeniously plotted, irresistibly readable, brimming with inside information about the high-stakes art world of theft, forgery, and murder...Also included are brilliantly rendered drawings by the author, who is as accomplished an artist as he is a writer of suspense thrillers." —Joyce Carol OatesFrom the author of the much-praised The Last Mona Lisa comes another thrilling story of masterpieces, masterminds, and mystery. For years, there have been whispers that, before his death, Van Gogh completed a final self-portrait. Curators and art historians have savored this rumor, hoping it could illuminate some of the troubled artist’s many secrets, but even they have to concede that the missing painting is likely lost forever.But when Luke Perrone, artist and great-grandson of the man who stole the Mona Lisa, and Alexis Verde, daughter of a notorious art thief, discover what may be the missing portrait, they are drawn into a most epic art puzzles. When only days later the painting disappears again, they are reunited with INTERPOL agent John Washington Smith in a dangerous and deadly search that will not only expose secrets of the artist’s last days but draws them into one of history’s darkest eras.Beneath the paint and canvas, beneath the beauty and the legend, the artwork has become linked with something evil, something that continues to flourish on the dark web and on the shadiest corridors of the underground art world.Alternating between Luke Perrone’s perilous hunt for the painting, and a history of stolen art and stolen lives, The Lost Van Gogh is an intricately layered historical thriller perfect for fans of The Last Mona Lisa and The Night Portrait.

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The extraordinary life and crimes of heiress-turned-revolutionary Rose Dugdale, who in 1974 became the only woman to pull off a major art heist.In the world of crime, there exists an unusual commonality between those who steal art and those who repeatedly kill: they are almost exclusively male. But, as with all things, there is always an outlier—someone who bucks the trend, defying the reliable profiles and leaving investigators and researchers scratching their heads. In the history of major art heists, that outlier is Rose Dugdale. Dugdale’s life is singularly notorious. Born into extreme wealth, she abandoned her life as an Oxford-trained PhD and heiress to join the cause of Irish Republicanism. While on the surface she appears to be the British version of Patricia Hearst, she is anything but. Dugdale ran head-first towards the action, spearheading the first aerial terrorist attack in British history and pulling off the biggest art theft of her time. In 1974, she led a gang into the opulent Russborough House in Ireland and made off with millions in prized paintings, including works by Goya, Gainsborough, and Rubens, as well as Lady Writing a Letter with her Maid by the mysterious master Johannes Vermeer. Dugdale thus became—to this day—the only woman to pull off a major art heist. And as Anthony Amore explores in The Woman Who Stole Vermeer, it’s likely that this was not her only such heist. The Woman Who Stole Vermeer is Rose Dugdale’s story, from her idyllic upbringing in Devonshire and her presentation to Elizabeth II as a debutante to her university years and her eventual radical lifestyle. Her life of crime and activism is at turns unbelievable and awe-inspiring, and sure to engross readers.

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The 3rd SS Panzer Regiment was part of the Totenkopf Division—one of the 38 Waffen-SS divisions active during World War II. Notorious for its brutality, most notably a mass execution of British prisoners in the battle of France, “Totenkopf” had a fearsome reputation. The 3rd SS Panzer Regiment was formed in France in late 1942, and transferred to the Eastern Front in early 1943 where it fought for the rest of the war.The regiment participated in a number of battles, and would be reduced and rebuilt a number of times. The panzers of 3rd SS Panzer Regiment fought at Kharkov, took part in Operation Citadel, fought in the battle of Krivoi Rog, and the relief of the Korsun Pocket. The regiment then retreated over the Dniester. They fought in Poland against the Russian advance, before being moved to Hungary where they participated in the attempt to relieve Budapest. They eventually surrendered in Czechoslovakia to the 11th US Armored Division.This Casemate Illustrated tells the story of the 3rd SS Panzer Regiment through the words of the veterans themselves, illustrated with a wealth of contemporary photographs, original documents and artifacts. Among the veterans whose accounts are included are Walter Weber, a member of a tank crew in 5. Kompanie who recounts their optimism and high spirits at the start of Operation Citadel as the Germans made initial advances, followed by retreat as winter set in and the Russians began to push them back. Unterscharführer Stettner recalls the fierce tank battles and the difficulties advancing across minefields and evading an often well-concealed foe. Corporal Fritz Edelmann records the attempts to relieve Budapest in 1945 that Totenkopf took part in, which ended in encirclement, defeat and surrender to the Americans on May 9, 1945.

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'The superb, funny, fascinating story of Lenin's trans-European rail journey and how it shook the world' Simon Sebag Montefiore, Evening Standard, Books of the Year'Splendid ... a jewel among histories, taking a single episode from the penultimate year of the Great War, illuminating a continent, a revolution and a series of psychologies in a moment of cataclysm and doing it with wit, judgment and an eye for telling detail' David Aaronovitch, The TimesBy 1917 the European war seemed to be endless. Both sides in the fighting looked to new weapons, tactics and ideas to break a stalemate that was itself destroying Europe. In the German government a small group of men had a brilliant idea: why not sow further confusion in an increasingly chaotic Russia by arranging for Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the most notorious of revolutionary extremists, currently safely bottled up in neutral Switzerland, to go home?Catherine Merridale's Lenin on the Train recreates Lenin's extraordinary journey from harmless exile in Zurich, across a Germany falling to pieces from the war's deprivations, and northwards to the edge of Lapland to his eventual ecstatic reception by the revolutionary crowds at Petrograd's Finland Station.With great skill and insight Merridale weaves the story of the train and its uniquely strange group of passengers with a gripping account of the now half-forgotten liberal Russian revolution and shows how these events intersected. She brilliantly uses a huge range of contemporary eyewitnesses, observing Lenin as he travelled back to a country he had not seen for many years. Many thought he was a mere 'useful idiot', others thought he would rapidly be imprisoned or killed, others that Lenin had in practice few followers and even less influence. They would all prove to be quite wrong.

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Mobile Cultures provides much-needed, empirically grounded studies of the connections between new media technologies, the globalization of sexual cultures, and the rise of queer Asia. The availability and use of new media—fax machines, mobile phones, the Internet, electronic message boards, pagers, and global television—have grown exponentially in Asia over the past decade. This explosion of information technology has sparked a revolution, transforming lives and lifestyles, enabling the creation of communities and the expression of sexual identities in a region notorious for the regulation of both information and sexual conduct. Whether looking at the hanging of toy cartoon characters like “Hello Kitty” from mobile phones to signify queer identity in Japan or at the development of queer identities in Indonesia or Singapore, the essays collected here emphasize the enormous variance in the appeal and uses of new media from one locale to another. Scholars, artists, and activists from a range of countries, the contributors chronicle the different ways new media galvanize Asian queer communities in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, India, and around the world. They consider phenomena such as the uses of the Internet among gay, lesbian, or queer individuals in Taiwan and South Korea; the international popularization of Japanese queer pop culture products such as Yaoi manga; and a Thai website’s reading of a scientific tract on gay genetics in light of Buddhist beliefs. Essays also explore the politically subversive possibilities opened up by the proliferation of media technologies, examining, for instance, the use of Cyberjaya—Malaysia’s government-backed online portal—to form online communities in the face of strict antigay laws.Contributors. Chris Berry, Tom Boellstorff, Larissa Hjorth, Katrien Jacobs, Olivia Khoo, Fran Martin, Mark McLelland, David Mullaly, Baden Offord, Sandip Roy, Veruska Sabucco, Audrey Yue

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From the frenetic atmosphere of Manhattan to the magnificent wide-open plains of Africa, The Sun Sister is the sixth epic tale in the Seven Sisters series by the number one bestseller Lucinda Riley. A breathtaking story of love and loss, inspired by the mythology of the famous star constellation.To the outside world Electra D’Aplièse, in her mid-twenties, seems to have it all: as one of the world’s top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous.Yet Electra’s already tenuous control over her state of mind has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters from across the globe. Struggling to cope, she turns to alcohol and drugs. As those around her fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a stranger claiming to be her grandmother . . .In 1939, Cecily Huntley-Morgan arrives in Kenya from New York to nurse a broken heart. Staying with her godmother, a member of the infamous Happy Valley set, she meets Bill Forsythe, a notorious bachelor and cattle farmer with close connections to the proud Maasai tribe. But after a shocking discovery, and with war looming, Cecily has few options. Moving up into the Wanjohi Valley, she is isolated and alone. That is, until she meets a young woman in the woods – and makes her a promise that will change the course of her life forever . . .The epic, multi-million selling series continues with The Missing Sister.Praise for the Seven Sisters:'A masterclass in beautiful writing' – The Sun'Heart-wrenching, uplifting and utterly enthralling' – Lucy Foley, author of The Hunting Party'A breathtaking adventure' – Lancashire Evening PostFive-Star Reader Reviews:'Absolutely incredible''Totally addictive''Ideal for when you need to escape'

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'Enthralling from beginning to shocking end' Hannah Whitten, bestselling author of For the WolfIn the luscious, dark conclusion to the series that began with One Dark Window, Elspeth must face the consequences of what she's wrought - perfect for readers of Hannah Whitten's For the Wolf and A Court of Thorns and Roses.Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.If they are going to find it before the Solstice and cure the kingdom of the dark magic infecting it, they will need to journey beyond the dangerous mist-cloaked forest that surrounds their kingdom. And the only one who can lead them there is the monster that shares Elspeth's head. The Nightmare. And he's not eager to share any longer.Praise for One Dark Window:'An enchanting tale with sharp claws and teeth - Gillig's prose will pull you in and won't let you sleep. Pulse-pounding, darkly whimsical and aglow with treacherous magic, One Dark Window is everything I love in fantasy and more' Allison Saft, author of A Far Wilder Magic'A beautifully dark fairy tale of blood, rage and bitter choice, that whisked me away to mist-wreathed woods ripe with romance and menace' Davinia Evans, author of Notorious Sorcerer'An evocative tale of romance, mystery and alluring monsters, told in beautifully lush prose' Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge'Steeped in brooding romance, twisted magic and nail-biting intrigue, One Dark Window snares readers in its deliciously dark spell and leaves them desperate for more. I couldn't put it down' Kat Delacorte, author of With Fire in their Blood 'The steamy romance that emerges between Elspeth and Ravyn delights' Publishers Weekly

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'Thick fog, shifting alliances and clever magic make the perfect backdrop for a sweeping romance - One Dark Window is enthralling from beginning to shocking end' Hannah Whitten, bestselling author of For the WolfELSPETH NEEDS A MONSTER. THE MONSTER MIGHT BE HER.An ancient, mercurial spirit is trapped inside Elspeth Spindle's head - she calls him the Nightmare. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic.When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, she is thrust into a world of shadow and deception. Together, they embark on a dangerous quest to cure the town of Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. As the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly, darkly, taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.For fans of Uprooted and For the Wolf comes a gothic fantasy romance about a maiden who must unleash the monster within to save her kingdom.Praise for One Dark Window:'An enchanting tale with sharp claws and teeth - Gillig's prose will pull you in and won't let you sleep. Pulse-pounding, darkly whimsical and aglow with treacherous magic, One Dark Window is everything I love in fantasy and more' Allison Saft, author of A Far Wilder Magic'An evocative tale of romance, mystery and alluring monsters, told in beautifully lush prose' Lyndall Clipstone, author of Lakesedge'The steamy romance that emerges between Elspeth and Ravyn delights' Publishers Weekly'A beautifully dark fairy tale of blood, rage and bitter choice, that whisked me away to mist-wreathed woods ripe with romance and menace' Davinia Evans, author of Notorious Sorcerer

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Unscrupulous bounty hunter. Cunning rogue trader, Sadistic interrogator. They're adversaries to avoid, but now they've found Jenna Stannis and Cally. The Amagons deceive enemies and allies alike. Dorian's glamour disguises his danger. And there's no hiding Shrinker's brutal intentions. These villains will have no mercy when they encounter our heroes. Contains three stories: 1. The Amagon Queen by Trevor Baxendale. Smugglers. Slave-traders. Bounty hunters. Jenna Stannis knows from personal experience that you just can’t trust the Amagons. So why has she delivered herself alone into the hands of the infamous Amagon Queen? And can Cally help her escape before a Federation commander and his ruthless mutoid track them all down? 2. The Deal with Dorian by Mark B Oliver. Jenna Stannis and Cally need supplies to repair the damaged Liberator, and treacherous dealer Dorian is the only one who can help. But he has dangerous plans of his own at a remote Federation research station. Will Cally and Jenna realise the danger they’re in before they fall under Dorian’s influence? 3. Everyone Talks to Shrinker by Andrew Smith. Captured and alone, Jenna Stannis is defenceless in the Federation’s clutches. Cally’s desperate to find her friend – and they are both far from the Liberator. In a hostile Federation battleground, Jenna discovers there can be no escape from her cruel interrogator, the notorious Shrinker. CAST: Sally Knyvette (Jenna Stannis), Jan Chappell (Cally), Laura Aikman (Mutoid/Pesh), Nicholas Asbury (Robard), Nigel Betts (Shrinker/Patrol Leader), Gabrielle Glaister (Skillane), Nicola Goodchild (Lana Tremayne), Matthew Gravelle (Dorian), Ahmed Hamad (Kelver/Young Shrinker), Alistair Lock (Zen/Orac), Tania Rodrigues (Mandala), Duncan Wisbey (Zander/Makavat), Shane Zaza (Spindler/Amagon King). Other parts played by members of the cast.

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'Atkinson on her finest form. A marvel of plate-spinning narrative knowhow, a peak performance of consummate control.' OBSERVER'This is the perfect novel for uncertain times.' THE TIMES'I can think of few writers other than Dickens who can match it' SUNDAY TIMES'Brilliant' RICHARD OSMAN'Kate Atkinson is simply one of the best writers working today, anywhere in the world' GILLIAN FLYNN____1926, and in a country still recovering from the Great War, London has become the focus for a delirious new nightlife. In the clubs of Soho, peers of the realm rub shoulders with starlets, foreign dignitaries with gangsters, and girls sell dances for a shilling a time.At the heart of this glittering world is notorious Nellie Coker, ruthless but also ambitious to advance her six children, including the enigmatic eldest, Niven whose character has been forged in the crucible of the Somme. But success breeds enemies, and Nellie's empire faces threats from without and within. For beneath the dazzle of Soho's gaiety, there is a dark underbelly, a world in which it is all too easy to become lost.With her unique Dickensian flair, Kate Atkinson brings together a glittering cast of characters in a truly mesmeric novel that captures the uncertainty and mutability of life; of a world in which nothing is quite as it seems._____'Seduction, betrayal, and larger-than-life characters that will have you hooked until the last page' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'This book is one to savour, for the energy, for the wit, for the tenderness of characterisation that make Atkinson enduringly popular' GUARDIAN'As vividly filthy, populous, dangerous as anything described by Dickens, but writing is closer to Thackeray's...Atkinson is a novelist of unrivalled immediacy, authority, and skill.' FINANCIAL TIMES

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A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Powerful, important, and searing." -General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (ret.), former commander, U.S. Central Command, former CIA directorIn 2015, the White House claimed triumphantly "the longest war in American history is over." But for some, it was just the beginning of a new and covert war, fought far from public view, with limited resources, little governmental oversight, and contradictory orders.Take Hutch, a battle-worn Green Beret on his fifth combat tour in 2015, tasked with a high-stakes mission: lead a small band of men into Kunduz, recapture the city from the Taliban, and turn it over to the Afghan government. The U.S. role was meant to be a secret-after all, the war was over. Then, disaster struck. He called in an airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital, killing dozens of doctors and patients.Or Caleb, who stepped on a bomb during a raid on a Taliban hideout in notorious Sangin. Or Andy, trapped in Marjah with a crashed Black Hawk and no air support. From Hutch to Caleb to Andy, Eagle Down is a dramatic and intimate portrayal of this ongoing forgotten war that moves from the desperate battlegrounds in muddy Afghan villages all the way to the White House.Pulitzer Prize Finalist Jessica Donati, with big picture insight and on-the-ground grit, reveals how America came to rely on U.S. Special Forces, through successive policy directives that ramped up the war under the Obama and Trump administrations. Donati shows how the covert war failed to stabilize Afghanistan, and undermined U.S. interests both at home and abroad.Relying on Donati's daring on-the-ground reporting, first-hand accounts from Special Forces, military documents, and declassified reports, Eagle Down is an account of the heroism, sacrifice, and tragedy experienced by those that fought America's longest war.

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'Drawing on the stories of the soldiers who were there, this dramatic history of the SAS is full of bravado. Forged to fight guerrillas in the sweltering jungles of Malaya... Ryan writes with the authority of a man familiar with every nuance of the regiment's tactics, training, weapons and equipment.' - Sunday Times CultureTasked with storming mountain strongholds in the desert. Trained to hunt down the world's most wanted terrorists. This is the extraordinary story of 22 SAS. The history of the modern SAS is one of the great successes of post-war Britain. Since it was revived in 1950 to combat Communist insurgents, the Regiment has gone from strength to strength, fighting covert wars in Oman, Borneo, Northern Ireland, the Falklands, the Persian Gulf and beyond. In the process, it has become one of the most indispensable, and at times controversial, units in the British armyToday, the SAS is regarded as the world's leading Special Forces unit, renowned for its demanding Selection course and its relentless ability to adapt to the changing nature of warfare. More than anything else, however, it is the determination and ingenuity of the SAS soldiers that has made the Regiment what it is today. Drawing on his extensive network of contacts and his own experiences, Chris Ryan tells the story of the men on the ground. From the earliest patrols in the Malayan jungle, through to the storming of the Iranian Embassy, the daring raids behind enemy lines in the Gulf War, and up-to-minute missions to capture or kill notorious terrorists - this is the gripping, no-holds-barred account of Regiment operations. Above all, it is a story of elite soldiers fighting, and triumphing, against seemingly impossible odds.

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From the detective who helped catch the Golden State Killer, a memoir about investigating America's toughest cold cases, and the rewards - and toll - of a life spent solving crime.For a decade, from 1973, The Golden State Killer stalked and murdered Californians in the dead of night, leaving entire communities afraid to turn off the lights. Then he vanished, and the case remained unsolved.In 1994, when cold-case investigator Paul Holes came across the old file, he swore he would unmask GSK and finally give these families closure. Twenty-four years later, Holes fulfilled that promise, identifying 73-year-old Joseph J. DeAngelo. Headlines blasted around the world: one of America's most prolific serial killers had been caught.That case launched Paul's career into the stratosphere, turning him into an icon in the true-crime world. But while many know the story of the capture of GSK, until now, no one has truly known the man behind it all.In UNMASKED, Paul takes us through his memories of a storied career and provides an insider account of some of the most notorious cases in contemporary American history, including Laci Peterson's murder and Jaycee Dugard's kidnapping. But this is also a revelatory profile of a complex man and what makes him tick: the drive to find closure for victims and their loved ones; the inability to walk away from a challenge - even at the expense of his own happiness. This is a story about the gritty truth of crime solving when there are no 'case closed' headlines. It is the story of a man and his commitment to his cases, and to the people who might have otherwise been forgotten.

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From the New York Times bestselling author of the beloved, million-copy selling Stark series, comes Dirtiest Secret, the provocative first book in the Stark S.I.N. series. For fans of Fifty Shades of Grey, Sylvia Day, Meredith Wild and Jodi Ellen Malpas.It was wrong for us to be together, but it was even harder to be apart.The memory of Dallas Sykes burns inside of me. Everyone knows him as a notorious playboy, a man for whom women and money are no object. But to me, he's still the one man I desperately crave - yet the one I can never have. Dallas knows me better than anyone else. We bear the same scars, the same darkness in our past. I thought I could move on by staying away, but now that we're drawn together once more, I can't fight the force of our attraction or the temptation to make him mine.We've tried to maintain control, not letting ourselves give in to desire. And for so long we've told ourselves no - but now it's finally time to say yes.Don't miss the entire sexy Stark S.I.N. series: Dirtiest Secret, Hottest Mess and Sweetest Taboo.Find out how it all began for Damien and Nikki Stark in J. Kenner's hot and addictive bestselling Stark series: Release Me, Claim Me, Complete Me, Take Me, Have Me, Play My Game, Seduce Me, Unwrap Me and Deepest Kiss.Return to the smoking hot Stark world with the Stark International trilogy: Say My Name, On My Knees and Under My Skin is the explosively emotional story of Jackson Steele and Sylvia Brooks.Don't miss J. Kenner's sizzling Most Wanted series of three enigmatic and powerful men, and the striking women who can bring them to their knees: Wanted, Heated and Ignited.

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The fourth book in Chris Ryan's Extreme series.The Chris Ryan Extreme books take you even further into the heart of the mission with more extreme action, more extreme language and more extreme pace. Like Call of Duty or Medal of Honour you'll feel part of the team.Chris Ryan Extreme: Silent Kill has previously been published as four separate shorter missions. Now in one book to keep you at the heart of the action. Northern Ireland, 1993. For high-flying MI5 officer Avery Chance the real war has only just begun. When Chance is abducted by the IRA's notorious Nutting Squad, her hopes lie in the hands of a young SAS recruit who must risk everything to bring her home. Twenty years after his act of self-sacrifice in Belfast ex-SAS legend John Bald is a scarred shadow of his former self. But when a face from the past appears and rescues him from deep trouble, Bald is offered one last shot at redemption. His target is Kurt Pretorius, a ruthless mercenary operating deep in the wilds of war-ravaged Somalia. In a world where rogue mercenaries operate beyond the reach of the law, Kurt Pretorius has transformed himself into a god. It is up to Bald to stop Pretorius before he turns Somalia into a terrorist haven. But Bald quickly finds himself sucked into a twisted game of survival, where the stakes could not be higher - and the price of failure is his life... With time running out, Bald must kill Pretorius before he brings down everyone around him. It's a mission Bald was born to do. Because sometimes, the only way to beat your deadliest enemy...is to be like your deadliest enemy.

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The Rape of the Lock and Other Major Writings is a collection of Alexander Pope's greatest works, edited with an introduction by Leo Damrosch in Penguin Classics.Alexander Pope was the greatest English poet of his age, whose acerbic insights into human nature have entered the language, and whose verse still astonishes with its energy and inventiveness centuries after his death. This new selection of Pope's work follows the path of his poetic genius over his lifetime. It contains early poems including the masterly mock-epic 'The Rape of the Lock', which satirizes a notorious society scandal through glorious heroic couplets, the brilliantly aphoristic 'An Essay on Criticism' and excerpts from his translation of the Iliad. Later poems represented include Pope's ironic adaptations of Horace's Epistles, Satires and Odes, and the remarkable 'Dunciad', a stinging attack on his literary rivals and the mediocrity of Grub Street hacks. Here too are selected prose works and letters from Pope to his contemporaries such as John Gay and Jonathan Swift.This edition contains a wide-ranging introduction that elucidates Pope's life, poetic art and contemporary contexts, as well as separate introductions to each piece, a chronology, further reading, a biography and extensive notes. Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was born in London in 1688, the son of a well-to-do Roman Catholic cloth merchant. In 1709 he launched his career with a set of four pastorals, followed by An Essay on Criticism, Windsor Forest and the mock-epic Rape of the Lock, which cemented his reputation as the greatest poet of the age. Later works included the Dunciad, Epistles to Several Persons and the ambitious Essay on Man.If you enjoyed The Rape of the Lock, you might like Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, also available in Penguin Classics.

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When the Emperor and his notorious apprentice, Darth Vader, find themselves stranded in the middle of insurgent action on an inhospitable planet, they must rely on each other, the Force, and their own ruthlessness to prevail.“It appears things are as you suspected, Lord Vader. We are indeed hunted.”Anakin Skywalker, Jedi Knight, is just a memory. Darth Vader, newly anointed Sith Lord, is ascendant. The Emperor’s chosen apprentice has swiftly proven his loyalty to the dark side. Still, the history of the Sith Order is one of duplicity, betrayal, and acolytes violently usurping their Masters—and the truest measure of Vader’s allegiance has yet to be taken. Until now.On Ryloth, a planet crucial to the growing Empire as a source of slave labor and the narcotic known as “spice,” an aggressive resistance movement has arisen, led by Cham Syndulla, an idealistic freedom fighter, and Isval, a vengeful former slave. But Emperor Palpatine means to control the embattled world and its precious resources—by political power or firepower—and he will be neither intimidated nor denied. Accompanied by his merciless disciple, Darth Vader, he sets out on a rare personal mission to ensure his will is done.For Syndulla and Isval, it’s the opportunity to strike at the very heart of the ruthless dictatorship sweeping the galaxy. And for the Emperor and Darth Vader, Ryloth becomes more than just a matter of putting down an insurrection: When an ambush sends them crashing to the planet’s surface, where inhospitable terrain and an army of resistance fighters await them, they will find their relationship tested as never before. With only their lightsabers, the dark side of the Force, and each other to depend on, the two Sith must decide if the brutal bond they share will make them victorious allies or lethal adversaries.

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***WINNER OF THE CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION***'Meticulous and gripping - a thriller that disturbs for revelations about a singular act of murder, and the national security state which we call home' Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetA groundbreaking examination of a terrifying murder and its aftermath by the bestselling author of Hanns and Rudolf and The House by the Lake.On 14 June 2006, police were called to 9 Downshire Hill in Hampstead. The owner, Allan Chappelow, was a writer and notorious recluse who had not been seen for several weeks. Inside the darkened house, officers found piles of rubbish, trees growing through the floor, and the body of Chappelow, battered to death, partially burned and buried under four feet of paper.The man eventually arrested on suspicion of his murder was a Chinese dissident named Wang Yam, who claimed to be the grandson of one of Mao’s closest aides. His trial was the first in modern British history to be held ‘in camera’: closed, carefully controlled, secret. Wang Yam was found guilty, but has always protested his innocence. Did Wang Yam do it? Or was he framed for a crime he didn't commit?When everything is hidden, how do we know what's really true?www.bloodonthepage.com_________________'An In Cold Blood for our time – a brilliant and unflinching anatomy of a murder that is both brutal true crime and heartbreaking human tragedy' Tony Parsons'A fine and fascinating read, bolstered by exemplary research and nuanced insights.' Observer‘A real-life procedural... which might have important implications for us all.’ Guardian'Reads like a thriller... a rigorous investigation... a revealing piece of social history.' Sunday Times'Detailed, painstaking and fascinating.' Evening Standard

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Rather than providing a dictionary of superstitions, of which there are already numerous excellent, exhaustive and, in many cases, academic works which list superstitions from A to Z, Bainton gives us an entertaining flight over the terrain, landing from time to time in more thought-provoking areas. He offers an overview of humanity's often illogical and irrational persistence in seeking good luck and avoiding misfortune. While Steve Roud's two excellent books - The Penguin Dictionary of Superstitions and his Pocket Guide - and Philippa Waring's 1970 Dictionary concentrate on the British Isles, Bainton casts his net much wider. There are many origins which warrant the full back story, such as Friday the thirteenth and the Knights Templar, or the demonisation of the domestic cat resulting in 'cat holocausts' throughout Europe led by the Popes and the Inquisition. The whole is presented as a comprehensive, entertaining narrative flow, though it is, of course, a book that could be dipped into, and includes a thorough bibliography. Schoenberg, who developed the twelve-tone technique in music, was a notorious triskaidekaphobe. When the title of his opera Moses und Aaron resulted in a title with thirteen letters, he renamed it Moses und Aron. He believed he would die in his seventy-sixth year (7 + 6 = 13) and he was correct; he also died on Friday the thirteenth at thirteen minutes before midnight.As Sigmund Freud wrote, 'Superstition is in large part the expectation of trouble; and a person who has harboured frequent evil wishes against others, but has been brought up to be good and has therefore repressed such wishes into the unconscious, will be especially ready to expect punishment for his unconscious wickedness in the form of trouble threatening him from without.'

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In the bestselling tradition of The Notorious RBG comes a lively, informative, and illustrated tribute to one of the most exceptional women in American history—Harriet Tubman—a heroine whose fearlessness and activism still resonate today.Harriet Tubman is best known as one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad. As a leading abolitionist, her bravery and selflessness has inspired generations in the continuing struggle for civil rights. Now, National Book Award nominee Erica Armstrong Dunbar presents a fresh take on this American icon blending traditional biography, illustrations, photos, and engaging sidebars that illuminate the life of Tubman as never before. Not only did Tubman help liberate hundreds of slaves, she was the first woman to lead an armed expedition during the Civil War, worked as a spy for the Union Army, was a fierce suffragist, and was an advocate for the aged. She Came to Slay reveals the many complexities and varied accomplishments of one of our nation’s true heroes and offers an accessible and modern interpretation of Tubman’s life that is both informative and engaging. Filled with rare outtakes of commentary, an expansive timeline of Tubman’s life, photos (both new and those in public domain), commissioned illustrations, and sections including “Harriet By the Numbers” (number of times she went back down south, approximately how many people she rescued, the bounty on her head) and “Harriet’s Homies” (those who supported her over the years), She Came to Slay is a stunning and powerful mix of pop culture and scholarship and proves that Harriet Tubman is well deserving of her permanent place in our nation’s history.

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In April 1858 the Fraser River Gold Rush hit, and the sleepy hamlet of Victoria on Vancouver Island got an economic boost. The population nearly doubled overnight, and suddenly locals were rubbing shoulders with prospectors on their way to the gold-fields of the interior, as well as the regular band of sailors, sealers, whalers and other seafarers who made up Victoria. In those days, a saloon could be found on practically every corner of the city. They were as numerous as coffee shops are today, and alcohol was cheaper and easier to come by than clean drinking water. Between 1851 and 1917 there were hundreds of saloons and hotel bars that dispensed alcohol on a regular basis and they did it twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. This book introduces you to the cast of colorful characters that regularly inhabited those saloons and hotel bars in their heyday. Read about how a young Emily Carr was saved from possible death by the quick actions of an employee of the Bee-hive saloon. Discover the gruesome secret uncovered by a startled worker who was prying up the floorboards of the Omineca saloon. Find out the circumstances surrounding the murder of Mike Powers, the proprietor of the Garrick's Head, a pub that still does a thriving business today. From the raunchy saloons that lined Victoria's notorious Johnson street to the lavish high-class hotel-bars like the Driard and the Empress, this book shares the true stories, both humorous and tragic, from the days of swinging doors, smoky bars and five-cent beers.

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The Tudors are England's most notorious royal family. But, as Leanda de Lisle's gripping new history reveals, they are a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew. The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before speeding on to Henry VIII and the Reformation. But this leaves out the family's obscure Welsh origins, the ordinary man known as Owen Tudor who would fall (literally) into a Queen's lap--and later her bed. It passes by the courage of Margaret Beaufort, the pregnant thirteen-year-old girl who would help found the Tudor dynasty, and the childhood and painful exile of her son, the future Henry VII. It ignores the fact that the Tudors were shaped by their past--those parts they wished to remember and those they wished to forget. By creating a full family portrait set against the background of this past, de Lisle enables us to see the Tudor dynasty in its own terms, and presents new perspectives and revelations on key figures and events. De Lisle discovers a family dominated by remarkable women doing everything possible to secure its future; shows why the princes in the Tower had to vanish; and reexamines the bloodiness of Mary's reign, Elizabeth's fraught relationships with her cousins, and the true significance of previously overlooked figures. Throughout the Tudor story, Leanda de Lisle emphasizes the supreme importance of achieving peace and stability in a violent and uncertain world, and of protecting and securing the bloodline. Tudor is bristling with religious and political intrigue but at heart is a thrilling story of one family's determined and flamboyant ambition.

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Born to be the center of attention Mel Brooks grew up learning the ropes of entertainment in the Catskills during its biggest days. He later emerged as a skilled comedy writer by literally muscling his way into television in the late 1940s. Brooks would be involved with some of the most notorious musicals on Broadway in the 1950s and 1960s before finally breaking through nearly 50 years later with a musical version of his first film ÊThe ProducersÊ (2001). With Carl Reiner he would create the Ê2000-Year-Old ManÊ and sold millions of comedy albums in the 1960s. He would cocreate the classic cult comedy television series ÊGet SmartÊ (1965-1970).ÞHis films ä which he wrote directed and sometimes starred in ä such as ÊThe ProducersÊ (1968) ÊBlazing SaddlesÊ (1974) ÊYoung FrankensteinÊ (1974) and ÊSpaceballsÊ (1987) äÿhave become certified classics to generations of fans and continuing well into the 1990s.ÞÊMel Brooks FAQÊ covers the entire career and life of a man who has won a Grammy an Emmy A Tony and multiple Oscars. Also covered are the intertwining career of Brooks with his wife Anne Bancroft the novelizations of Brooks' films and the projects that never came to be. Raunchy and intellectual at the same time with a career spanning over sixty years Brooks has also been involved with serious dramatic films through his Brooksfilms production company which are also discussed in the book. All this has made Brooks the creative genius that has shaped our understanding of comedy over these many decades as will be seen within the pages of ÊMel Brooks FAQÊ.

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Los Angeles rock generally conjures memories of surf music, The Doors, or Laurel Canyon folkies. But punk? L.A.'s punk scene, while not as notorious as that of New York City, emerged full-throated in 1977 and boasted bands like The Germs, X, and Black Flag. This book explores how, in the land of the Beach Boys, punk rock took hold.As a teenager, Dewar MacLeod witnessed firsthand the emergence of the punk subculture in Southern California. As a scholar, he reveals in this book the origins of an as-yet-uncharted revolution. Having combed countless fanzines and interviewed key participants, he shows how a marginal scene became a ""mass subculture"" that democratized performance art, and he captures the excitement and creativity of a neglected episode in rock history.Kids of the Black Hole tells how L.A. punk developed, fueled by youth unemployment and alienation, social conservatism, and the spare landscape of suburban sprawl communities; how it responded to the wider cultural influences of Southern California life, from freeways to architecture to getting high; and how L.A. punks borrowed from their New York and London forebears to create their own distinctive subculture. Along the way, MacLeod not only teases out the differences between the New York and L.A. scenes but also distinguishes between local styles, from Hollywood's avant-garde to Orange County's hardcore.With an intimate knowledge of bands, venues, and zines, MacLeod cuts to the heart of L.A. punk as no one has before. Told in lively prose that will satisfy fans, Kids of the Black Hole will also enlighten historians of American suburbia and of youth and popular culture.

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The Marquis de Condorcet (1743-94) was a founding father of social science. He believed that what he called the moral sciences could be studied by the same exacting methods as the natural sciences, and he developed many of the tools for doing so. Condorcet has had two quite unconnected reputations: as the doomed and foolish Enlightenment scholar, writing about the perfectibility of mankind while in hiding from the Terror that would shortly claim his own life; and as the incomprehensible founder of social choice, whose Essai of 1785 was not understood until the 1950s. This book shows that he was not so foolish, nor so incomprehensible, as even sympathetic treatments have made him sound. A long introduction uses the latest French and English sources to put his work into context, explains the unity of his thought and explicates his difficult arguments in probability theory and social choice. The extracts from Condorcet's work that follow are in two parts. Part I, 'The Theory of Voting', includes some extracts from the notorious Essai of 1785 but also later work which is more accessible and makes new points. Part II, 'Human Rights', shows Condorcet the passionate campaigner for rights for slaves and for women, and the American constitutionalist. His poignant 'Advice to his daughter' and 'Testament' show the spirit of a man who knew he was almost certain to be killed, and would never see his daughter again.Most of the works translated here have never appeared in English before. They will be an essential reference source for everybody working in social choice, the history of mathematics and human rights, and the Enlightenment.

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From journalist Chris Blackhurst, Too Big to Jail unveils how HSBC facilitated mass money laundering schemes for brutal drug kingpins and rogue nations – and thereby helped to grow one of the deadliest drugs empires the world has ever seen.'Packed with insights and details that will both amaze and appal you' - Oliver Bullough, author of Butler to the WorldWhile HSBC likes to sell itself as ‘the world’s local bank’ – the friendly face of corporate and personal finance – it was hit with a record US fine of $1.9 billion. In pursuit of their goal of becoming the biggest bank in the world, between 2003 and 2010, HSBC allowed El Chapo and the Sinaloa cartel, one of the most notorious and murderous criminal organizations in the world, to turn its ill-gotten money into clean dollars.How did a bank which boasts transparency, come to facilitate Mexico’s richest drug baron? And how did a bank that had been named ‘one of the best-run organizations in the world’ become so entwined with one of the most barbaric groups of gangsters on the planet?Too Big to Jail is an extraordinary story, brilliantly told by writer, commentator and former editor of The Independent, Chris Blackhurst, that starts in Hong Kong and ranges across London, Washington, the Cayman Islands and Mexico.It brings together an extraordinary cast of politicians, bankers, drug dealers, FBI officers and whistle-blowers, and asks what price does greed have? Whose job is it to police global finance? And why did not a single person go to prison for facilitating the murderous expansion of a global drug empire?

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'This is Baldacci at his formidable best, teasing the reader with hints and suggestions while pushing the story forward at breakneck pace. Do not miss it.' Sunday TimesKiller twists. Heroes to believe in. Trust Baldacci. Simply Lies is an intense thriller featuring Mickey Gibson, a former New Jersey detective, from the number one bestselling author David Baldacci.NO TRUTHFormer Jersey City detective and single mother of two, Mickey Gibson, now works for global investigation company, ProEye, to track down assets of the wealthy who have tried to avoid their creditors. One day she gets a call from a colleague, Arlene Robinson, asking her to visit the home of a notorious arms dealer who has cheated some of ProEye’s clients in the past. Mickey arrives at the mansion to discover the body of a man hidden in a secret room.NO LIMITSIt turns out that nothing is at it seems. The arms dealer did not exist, and nobody at ProEye knew of Arlene Robinson. Mickey had been tricked and now the cops were involved. The body was that of Harry Langhorne, who’d been in Witness Protection having had links with the mob.NO FEARNow begins a cat-and-mouse showdown between hardened ex-cop, Mickey, and a woman with sociopathic tendencies who has no name and a mysterious past. She intends to get what she wants and people who get in her way will die. For Mickey to stop her, she must first discover her true identity and what damaged her all those years ago. And the truth behind why she selected Micky to become her nemesis . . .

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An exploration of the explosive illegal trade in succulents and the passion that drives it Cacti and succulents are phenomenally popular worldwide among plant enthusiasts, despite being among the world’s most threatened species. The fervor driving the illegal trade in succulents might also be driving some species to extinction. Delving into the strange world of succulent collecting, The Cactus Hunters takes us to the heart of this conundrum: the mystery of how and why ardent lovers of these plants engage in their illicit trade. This is a world of alluring desires, where collectors and conservationists alike are animated by passions that at times exceed the limits of law. What inspires the desire for a plant? What kind of satisfaction does it promise? The answer, Jared D. Margulies suspects, might be traced through the roots and workings of the illegal succulent trade—an exploration that traverses the fields of botany and criminology, political ecology and human geography, and psychoanalysis. His globe-spanning inquiry leads Margulies from a spectacular series of succulent heists on a small island off the coast of Mexico to California law enforcement agents infiltrating a smuggling ring in South Korea, from scientists racing to discover new and rare species before poachers find them to a notorious Czech “cacto-explorer” who helped turn a landlocked European country into the epicenter of the illegal succulent trade. A heady blend of international intrigue, social theory, botanical lore, and ecological study, The Cactus Hunters offers complex insight into species extinction, conservation, and more-than-human care. Retail e-book files for this title are screen-reader friendly with images accompanied by short alt text and/or extended descriptions.

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The ninth and final Minnesota mystery, in which Shadwell Rafferty, with the inimitable Sherlock Holmes, may have solved his own murder​ Like many mysteries, this one begins with a murder. But in this case the victim happens to be the detective, on the verge of revealing the culprit in an earlier crime. Had Shadwell Rafferty identified his own murderer? When news of Rafferty’s death reaches Sherlock Holmes, in Chicago on the last leg of an American speaking tour, the world’s most famous detective and his redoubtable companion Watson rush to Minnesota to hunt for their friend’s killer. Set amid the glittering society and sordid underworld of 1928 St. Paul, Larry Millett’s ninth and final Shadwell Rafferty mystery takes readers through the serpentine twists of Rafferty’s fatal investigation, even as Holmes, following in Rafferty’s tracks, may be closing in on the answer to both cases. This ingenious double mystery takes us to every corner of St. Paul, from the city’s most notorious speakeasy to a home for unwed mothers to the mansions of Summit Avenue, and at every turn we find another suspect: an ambitious mayor and his devoted fixer-in-chief, a heartless blackmailer and a police detective mired in city hall connections, a poet-turned-mystery writer with a suspicious coterie, and a priest hiding a terrible secret. A mysterious woman in Minneapolis who makes certain illicit arrangements and a young man in possession of incriminating documents provide Holmes with vital clues that lead to a final confrontation with an exceptionally devious murderer worthy of the exceptionally devious plot that brings the Minnesota mystery series to a fitting and powerful conclusion.

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The ninth and final Minnesota mystery, in which Shadwell Rafferty, with the inimitable Sherlock Holmes, may have solved his own murder​ Like many mysteries, this one begins with a murder. But in this case the victim happens to be the detective, on the verge of revealing the culprit in an earlier crime. Had Shadwell Rafferty identified his own murderer? When news of Rafferty’s death reaches Sherlock Holmes, in Chicago on the last leg of an American speaking tour, the world’s most famous detective and his redoubtable companion Watson rush to Minnesota to hunt for their friend’s killer. Set amid the glittering society and sordid underworld of 1928 St. Paul, Larry Millett’s ninth and final Shadwell Rafferty mystery takes readers through the serpentine twists of Rafferty’s fatal investigation, even as Holmes, following in Rafferty’s tracks, may be closing in on the answer to both cases. This ingenious double mystery takes us to every corner of St. Paul, from the city’s most notorious speakeasy to a home for unwed mothers to the mansions of Summit Avenue, and at every turn we find another suspect: an ambitious mayor and his devoted fixer-in-chief, a heartless blackmailer and a police detective mired in city hall connections, a poet-turned-mystery writer with a suspicious coterie, and a priest hiding a terrible secret. A mysterious woman in Minneapolis who makes certain illicit arrangements and a young man in possession of incriminating documents provide Holmes with vital clues that lead to a final confrontation with an exceptionally devious murderer worthy of the exceptionally devious plot that brings the Minnesota mystery series to a fitting and powerful conclusion.

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A timely, powerful, and sweeping portrait of a company of men who went to war in Afghanistan, their troubled deployment, and their lives in the decade since returning home Ten years ago, the 100 soldiers of Bravo Company, a combat-hardened parachute infantry regiment, deployed to Afghanistan for a nine-month tour in Kandahar’s notorious Arghandab Valley. During the deployment, three soldiers were killed in action, and a dozen more lost limbs. By the time they went home, an astonishing half of the company had Purple Hearts.But Bravo Company’s story didn’t end when they came home. In the ten years since, two of their members have died by suicide, more than a dozen others have tried, and others admit they’ve considered it. Bravo Company’s traumatic tour and high suicide rate led to its veterans being declared by the Veterans Administration to be at “extraordinary risk” of succumbing to addiction, isolation, and suicide. As a result, the men were chosen as test subjects for a new approach to suicide prevention, focusing less on isolated individuals and more on the group. In Bravo Company, journalist and veteran Ben Kesling tells the story of war and its aftermath through this one representative unit and its men. Written with an insider’s eye and ear, and drawing on extensive interviews and original reporting, Bravo Company follows the men from their initial enlistment, training, and deployment through what has happened in the decade since; as some returned to combat, others moved on with their lives, while others struggled to. And it will chronicle the extraordinary public and private efforts to fix what’s broken, find peace, and build a future.

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Jean Baudrillard was perhaps the most controversial of all social and cultural theorists. He has been variously vilified as a 'postmodernist', an 'overrated French theorist' and one of the 'intellectual imposters'. In his seventies he survived global fame and a name check in The Matrix; he also contracted cancer. His comments on 9/11, Abu Ghraib and Europe's suburban riots have been eagerly sought and digested. However, his translated publications since his first book in 1968 have left a trail of confusion and misinterpretation. Jean Baudrillard is a notorious figure but few have read many examples of his entire oeuvre. There is now though a chance to read Baudrillard's texts in an overall historical, social and political context and for a cool re-assessment to be made of his life and work, after his death. This book is a central part of that project. It concentrates on what Baudrillard has written over five decades and the order in which he wrote it. The Reader comprises extracts of Baudrillard's writings from the sixties to the noughties, with an editorial introduction and a concluding reading guide. Key Features *Arranged chronologically in order of first publication in French, the Reader illustrates the development and interconnectedness of Baudrillard's work since the 1960s. *Each section has an extract of one of Jean Baudrillard's writings translated into English, prefaced by a short bibliographical introduction setting the scene. *The Reader will be of interest to students and staff in a range of university courses across the globe and to those general readers interested in public intellectuals, media events and contemporary theory.

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A groundbreaking biography of Milton’s formative years that provides a new account of the poet’s political radicalizationJohn Milton (1608–1674) has a unique claim on literary and intellectual history as the author of both Paradise Lost, the greatest narrative poem in English, and prose defences of the execution of Charles I that influenced the French and American revolutions. Tracing Milton’s literary, intellectual, and political development with unprecedented depth and understanding, Poet of Revolution is an unmatched biographical account of the formation of the mind that would go on to create Paradise Lost—but would first justify the killing of a king.Biographers of Milton have always struggled to explain how the young poet became a notorious defender of regicide and other radical ideas such as freedom of the press, religious toleration, and republicanism. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography of Milton’s formative years, Nicholas McDowell draws on recent archival discoveries to reconcile at last the poet and polemicist. He charts Milton’s development from his earliest days as a London schoolboy, through his university life and travels in Italy, to his emergence as a public writer during the English Civil War. At the same time, McDowell presents fresh, richly contextual readings of Milton’s best-known works from this period, including the “Nativity Ode,” “L’Allegro” and “Il Penseroso,” Comus, and “Lycidas.”Challenging biographers who claim that Milton was always a secret radical, Poet of Revolution shows how the events that provoked civil war in England combined with Milton’s astonishing programme of self-education to instil the beliefs that would shape not only his political prose but also his later epic masterpiece.

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The historiography of English Catholicism has grown enormously in the last generation, led by scholars such as Peter Lake, Michael Questier, Stefania Tutino, and others. In Suspicious Moderate, Anne Ashley Davenport makes a significant contribution to that literature by presenting a long overdue intellectual biography of the influential English Catholic theologian Francis à Sancta Clara (1598–1680). Born into a Protestant family in Coventry at the end of the sixteenth century, Sancta Clara joined the Franciscan order in 1617. He played key roles in reviving the English Franciscan province and in the efforts that were sponsored by Charles I to reunite the Church of England with Rome. In his voluminous Latin writings, he defended moderate Anglican doctrines, championed the separation of church and state, and called for state protection of freedom of conscience. Suspicious Moderate offers the first detailed analysis of Sancta Clara's works. In addition to his notorious Deus, natura, gratia (1634), Sancta Clara wrote a comprehensive defense of episcopacy (1640), a monumental treatise on ecumenical councils (1649), and a treatise on natural philosophy and miracles (1662). By carefully examining the context of Sancta Clara's ideas, Davenport argues that he aimed at educating English Roman Catholics into a depoliticized and capacious Catholicism suited to personal moral reasoning in a pluralistic world. In the course of her research, Davenport also discovered that "Philip Scot," the author of the earliest English discussions of Hobbes (a treatise published in 1650), was none other than Sancta Clara. Davenport demonstrates how Sancta Clara joined the effort to fight Hobbes's Erastianism by carefully reflecting on Hobbes's pioneering ideas and by attempting to find common ground with him, no matter how slight.

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'The Door Is Open' is a compassionate, reflective, and informative memoir about three-and-a-half years spent volunteering at a skid row drop-in centre in Vancouver's downtown eastside. In an area most renowned for its shocking social ills, and the notorious distinction of holding the country's "very poorest forward sortation area of all 7,000 postal prefixes," Bart Campbell dismantles our hard-held notions about poverty, the disenfranchised, substance abuse, and the nature of charity.'The Door Is Open' is one man's story of a transformative journey into the complicated and complex world of poverty. Finalist BC Book Prize Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize "His narrative reads like a 1930s 'noir' journey into the seamier sides of cities once prowled by the likes of Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. It is this straight-up style that is both the book's strength and, on occasion, its only weak link. Readers looking for a sense of hope will find little of it in Campbell'sgritty descriptions. Indeed, some readers might mistake his unrelenting portrayl of skid row inhabitants as representative of the homeless population across Canada, most of whom are not victims of addiction or mental illness, but of an economy that has been stacked against them for most of their lives, if not for generations before." - Quill & Quire "What is most refreshing about Campbell's memoir is that it neither self-aggrandizes nor propagates a misinformed political message. His work has an objective tone and each chapter is well researched...this is one of the best books I've read all year." - Discorder Finalist City of Vancouver Book Prize

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Orphaned young, Ming Tsu, the son of Chinese immigrants, is raised by the notorious leader of a California crime syndicate, who trains him to be his deadly enforcer. But when Ming falls in love with Ada, the daughter of a powerful railroad magnate, and the two elope, he seizes the opportunity to escape to a different life. Soon after, in a violent raid, the tycoon's henchmen kidnap Ada and conscript Ming into service for the Central Pacific Railroad.Battered, heartbroken, and yet defiant, Ming partners with a blind clairvoyant known only as the prophet. Together the two set out to rescue his wife and to exact revenge on the men who destroyed Ming, aided by a troupe of magic-show performers, some with supernatural powers, whom they meet on the journey. Ming blazes his way across the West, settling old scores with a single-minded devotion that culminates in an explosive and unexpected finale.Written with the violent ardor of Cormac McCarthy and the otherworldly inventiveness of Ted Chiang, The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu is at once a thriller, a romance, and a story of one man's quest for redemption in the face of a distinctly American brutality."In Tom Lin's novel, the atmosphere of Cormac McCarthy's West, or that of the Coen Brothers' True Grit, gives way to the phantasmagorical shades of Ray Bradbury, Charles Finney's The Circus of Dr. Lao, and Katherine Dunn's Geek Love. Yet The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu has a velocity and perspective all its own, and is a fierce new version of the Westward Dream." -Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn

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'The first thing that caught my eye was the geezer with the gold tooth - the second was that he was holding a shooter - and the third that he was pointing it at me.' Carlton Leach is a gangland legend - the mere mention of his name strikes fear into his enemies; yet to his friends he is as loyal and caring as they come. If trouble comes calling, Carlton isn't afraid to let his fists do the talking and woe betide anyone who crosses him, or those close to him. At last, in Rise of the Footsoldier, Carlton gives the full account of his life including how his story has been made into a hugely successful film. Born and raised in East London, Carlton was a key member of the notorious Essex Boys gang and the West Ham InterCity Firm, one of the most violent hooligan gangs to trouble the football terraces during the eighties. He's been shot at, stabbed, glassed - he's even had an axe in his head. Yet the event that really brought turmoil into his life was the murder of his best friend in the infamous Range Rover murders. Carlton vowed that he would find those responsible and make them pay. There isn't much that Carlton hasn't seen or experienced in his life and his tales of violence, gang wars and close calls with death will have you on the edge of your seat. He knows how close he has come to dying and has therefore shut the door on a gangland life. He may have changed but, as he himself says, 'I'll always need to exercise the Carlton Leach brand of justice. It's in me - '

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'FAST-PACED, DETAILED AND BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN [FOR] FANS OF BERNARD CORNWELL, GEORGE R.R. MARTIN AND THEODORE BRUN' HISTORICAL NOVEL SOCIETY. Einar Unnsson will be a great warrior, whether he wants it or not. AD 935 - Late Winter, City of Jorvik. Einar Unnsson is destined to be a great Icelandic warrior. He has already defeated the men sent to kill him by his notorious father, Jarl Thorfinn, the 'Skull Cleaver' of Orkney. He has a gift that makes him lethal in battle. Yet he has cast it all off to be a bard. When three men attack him, Einar's poetry provides little protection. Luckily, the skilled archer and Norse-Irish princess Affreca saves him. She'd assumed Einar had left to raise an army, challenge Thorfinn and seize the Jarldom of Orkney. Now she's determined to set him back onto his rightful path. Einar soon finds himself entangled on Affreca's own mission. She's seeking the Raven Banner for King Eirik. Legend has it that the banner is imbued with powerful magic. That it was a gift from the Norse God Odin and any army that marches behind it will be victorious. The quest sets events in motion that are beyond Einar's control. Einar has no choice but to face his fate and swing his sword once more... Praise for Tim Hodkinson: 'An excellently written page-turner, with a feel for the period which invites you into the era and keeps you there' Historical Writers Association. 'A gripping action adventure like the sagas of old; and once finished, you just want to go back and read it all over again' Melisende's Library.

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From the million-copy Sunday Times bestseller comes a thrilling novel about a woman with an extraordinary life, based on a true story. 'Fantastic… Exciting, impeccably researched and full of powerful period atmosphere' Daily MailMinnie Gray is an ordinary young woman.She is also a spy for the British government. It all began in the summer of 1928... Minnie is supposed to find a nice man, get married and have children. The problem is it doesn’t appeal to her at all. She is working as a secretary, but longs to make a difference. Then, one day, she gets her chance. She is recruited by the British government as a spy. Under strict instructions not to tell anyone, not even her family, she moves to London and begins her mission – to infiltrate the Communist movement. She soon gains the trust of important leaders. But as she grows more and more entangled in the workings of the movement, her job becomes increasingly dangerous. Leading a double life is starting to take its toll on her relationships and, feeling more isolated than ever, she starts to wonder how this is all going to end. The Russians are notorious for ruthlessly disposing of people given the slightest suspicion. What if they find out? Full of suspense, courage and love, A Beautiful Spy is a stunningly written story about resisting the norm and following your dreams, even if they come with sacrifices. Secrets from the past, unravelling in the present… Uncovering secrets that span generations, Rachel delivers intriguing, involving and emotive narrative reading group fiction like few other writers can.

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The legendary Renaissance math duel that ushered in the modern age of algebraThe Secret Formula tells the story of two Renaissance mathematicians whose jealousies, intrigues, and contentious debates led to the discovery of a formula for the solution of the cubic equation. Niccolò Tartaglia was a talented and ambitious teacher who possessed a secret formula—the key to unlocking a seemingly unsolvable, two-thousand-year-old mathematical problem. He wrote it down in the form of a poem to prevent other mathematicians from stealing it. Gerolamo Cardano was a physician, gifted scholar, and notorious gambler who would not hesitate to use flattery and even trickery to learn Tartaglia's secret.Set against the backdrop of sixteenth-century Italy, The Secret Formula provides new and compelling insights into the peculiarities of Renaissance mathematics while bringing a turbulent and culturally vibrant age to life. It was an era when mathematicians challenged each other in intellectual duels held outdoors before enthusiastic crowds. Success not only enhanced the winner's reputation, but could result in prize money and professional acclaim. After hearing of Tartaglia's spectacular victory in one such contest in Venice, Cardano invited him to Milan, determined to obtain his secret by whatever means necessary. Cardano's intrigues paid off. In 1545, he was the first to publish a general solution of the cubic equation. Tartaglia, eager to take his revenge by establishing his superiority as the most brilliant mathematician of the age, challenged Cardano to the ultimate mathematical duel.A lively account of genius, betrayal, and all-too-human failings, The Secret Formula reveals the epic rivalry behind one of the fundamental ideas of modern algebra.

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The manager who shepherded Van Halen from obscurity to rock stardom goes behind the scenes to tell the complete, unadulterated story of David Lee Roth, Eddie Van Halen, and the legendary band that changed rock music.Van Halen’s rise in the 1980s was one of the most thrilling the music world had ever seen—their mythos an epic party, a sweaty, sexy, never-ending rock extravaganza. During this unparalleled run of success, debauchery, and drama, no one was closer to the band than Noel Monk. A man who’d worked with some of rock’s biggest and most notorious names, Monk spent seven years with Van Halen, serving first as their tour manger then as their personal manager until 1985, when both he and David Lee Roth exited as controversy, backstabbing, and disappointment consumed the band.Throughout Van Halen’s meteoric rise and abrupt halt, this confidant, fixer, friend, and promoter saw it all and lived to tell. Now, for the first time, he shares the most outrageous escapades—from their coming of age to their most shocking behavior on the road; from Eddie’s courtship and high profile wedding to Valerie Bertinelli to the incredible drug use which would ultimately lead to everyone’s demise. Sharing never-before-told stories, Monk paints a compelling portrait of Eddie Van Halen, bringing into focus the unique combination of talent, vision, hardship, and naiveté that shaped one of the greatest rock guitarists of all time—and made him and his brother vulnerable to the trappings and failings of fame. Illustrated with dozens of rare photographs from Monk’s vaults, Runnin’ with the Devil is manna from rock heaven no Van Halen fan can miss.

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This release features a recreation of the first ever cast of Doctor Who, as seen on BBC TV in 2013's celebratory An Adventure in Space and Time, with David Bradley then appearing as the Doctor in 2017's Peter Capaldi finale. Contains two new adventures: 4.1 Return to Skaro by Andrew Smith. A new plan to return to Earth actually returns the TARDIS to another place its crew have recently visited - Skaro, home world of the Daleks. But it is some time after their previous visit. The Thals have moved on with developing their species - Yet the shadow of the Dalek city always looms large over them. Venturing into the abandoned metropolis, the Doctor and his friends discover the Daleks aren't as dead as they might have thought - and it isn't only their enemies who have secrets. 4.2 Last of the Romanovs by Jonathan Barnes. The TARDIS lands on Earth near to an eerie and familiar house... with the only witness a regal man watching from inside through a broken window. Leaving the ship, the crew immediately find themselves in trouble - because they have landed in Ekaterinburg early in the twentieth century. The man inside the house is Nicholas, the last Tsar of Russia, imprisoned with his family...and one of the most notorious crimes in history is just about to happen. CAST: David Bradley (The Doctor), Claudia Grant (Susan), Jemma Powell (Barbara Wright), Jamie Glover (Ian Chesterton), Nicholas Briggs (The Daleks), John Albasiny (Makerenkov), James Camp (Jyden), Nigel Hastings (Kreos), Leighton Pugh (Nicholas Alexandrovich Romano/Thomas Preston), Alisdair Simpson (Damadus), Dan Starkey (Yakov Yurovsky), Alex Tregear (Anastasia Romanov), George Weightman (Grigory Nikulin), Tracy Wiles (Tryana).

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'I am not a gangster,' I spat. 'I'm a businessman trying to make a hard-earned crust. Understood?'I didn't give him time to reply. I took the barrel out of his mouth and smashed him in the face with the butt. His lip split, but he wasn't a dead man. He seemed to appreciate that his life had been spared.He spluttered his thanks: 'Ok, you’re not a gangster. You are not a gangster.'This is the gripping true story of how one man ruled his north London manor with an iron fist – and a sawn-off shotgun called Kennedy. It’s a shocking insight into a society where the rules are made by gangland leaders and if anybody dare break them, they have to deal with the consequences. Bobby was sent to prison for the first time in 1967, aged 16, and over the next decade he established himself as a hardened criminal running protection rackets and robberies against a backdrop of all-out gang warfare, where doorstep slayings and bloody shoot-outs were common. Eventually Bobby was sentenced to 12 years in Britain’s most notorious prisons, along with the Krays, Charlie Richardson and the Yorkshire Ripper. Inside, he was introduced to the Open University and on his release he soon got down to business again. Only this time his efforts saw him go from custody of Her Majesty’s Prison Service to meeting with the Queen herself... I Am Not A Gangster is an explosive account of life in the criminal underworld by one of Britain’s most dangerous men, but above all it’s a remarkable tale of redemption with the biggest turnaround in gangland history.

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Upon the completion of the Sicily and Salerno Campaigns in 1943, the paratroopers of Colonel Reuben Tucker’s 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment were among the first Allied troops to enter Naples. A ghost town at first sight, the residents soon expressed their joy at being liberated. Four weeks later the 504th face=Calibri>– upon the special request of General Mark Clark face=Calibri>– spearheaded Fifth Army’s drive through the notorious Volturno Valley face=Calibri>– the Germans’ next stand.January 1944 seemed to promise a period of rest, but the landing at Anzio meant deployment for the paratroopers again, this time by ship. A bombing raid during their beach landing was a forecast of eight weeks of bitter fighting. Holding the right flank of the beachhead along the Mussolini Canal, the paratroopers earned their nickname “Devils in Baggy Pants” for their frontline incursions into enemy lines, as well as their stubborn defense of the Allied salient.In this work H Company’s attachment to the British 5th Grenadier Guards face=Calibri>– and the Victoria Cross action of Major William Sidney face=Calibri>– are painted in comprehensive light for the first time. Also the story of Honorary Member of the 504th P.I.R., Italian veteran Antonio Taurelli, is included. Using war diaries, personal journals, letters and interviews with nearly 80 veterans, a close-in view of the 504th P.I.R. in the Fifth Army’s Italy Campaign is here provided in unsurpassed detail.This work is the third by Van Lunteren on the 504th P.I.R. In World War II following The Battle of the Bridges and Blocking Kampfgruppe Peiper. As readers will see, however, the Italian theater held second place to none in terms of grueling combat and courage against formidable odds, and an extremely expert enemy.

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After the publication of his best-selling novel, Joseph Heller usually chose to deny that any of his richly drawn characters were based on his actual war mates. However, to those who served with Heller in the 340th Bomb Group the novel’s characters were indeed recognisable; from the hard-drinking, vengeful, and disillusioned Chief White Half Oat; young, sliced-in-half Kid Sampson; shrieking, frenzied Hungry Joe; to Colonel Cathcart, Doc Dreedle, Yossarian and that capitalist supreme, Milo Minderbinder.In this book we finally encounter the real men and combat missions on which the novel was based. Blending fact, fancy and history with full-blown original illustrations and rare, previously unpublished photos of these daring USAAF flyers and their Corsican-based B-25 Marauders, along with descriptions of the 340th’s real wartime events, the work includes twelve men of the Bomb Group relating twelve richly told tales of their own.Now all of the men upon whom Heller based his characters are gone. However, the last survivor, George L. Wells, was an extraordinary combat pilot and the model for Catch-22s Capt. Wren, and he is the common thread who weaves through this book, allowing the reader to truly feel the war and even thumb through George’s well-worn mission book describing attacks on Axis ports, ships, bridges, and the notorious Brenner Pass. Author Patricia Chapman Meder has been a professional artist in both fine and commercial art for the past 35 years,13 of them in Europe. When Catch-22 was published it was quickly apparent that this book was based on the Bomb Group her father commanded in World War II. This true-life parallel book thus begged to be written.

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In 2004 the world was first introduced to The Filthy Thirteen, a book describing the most notorious squad of fighting men in the 101st Airborne Division who were the inspiration for the movie The Dirty Dozen. This is the long awaited work of Jack Womer, one of the squad’s integral members, and probably its best soldier. Womer was originally a member of the 29th Infantry Division and selected to be part of its elite Ranger battalion until, after a year of gruelling training under the eyes of British Commando instructors, they were suddenly dissolved. Bitterly disappointed, Womer asked for transfer to another elite unit, the Screaming Eagles, where room was found for him among the division’s most miscreant squad of brawlers, drunkards and goof-offs. Beginning on June 6, 1944, however, the Filthy Thirteen began proving themselves more a menace to the German Army than they had been to their own officers and the good people of England, embarking on a year of ferocious combat at the very tip of the Allied advance in Europe. In this work, with the help of Steven DeVito, Womer provides an amazingly frank look at close-quarters combat in Europe, as well as the almost surreal experience of dust-bowl-era GI’s entering country after country in their grapple with the Wehrmacht, finally ending up in Hitler’s mountaintop lair in Germany itself. Throughout his fights, Jack Womer credited his Ranger/Commando training for helping him to survive, even though most of the rest of the Filthy Thirteen did not. And in the end he found the reward he had most coveted all along; being able to return to his fiancée Theresa back in the States.

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