Search results for ""author peter miles""

'The Jago had got him, and it held him fast.' In the worst of London's East End slums, in an area called the Jago, young Dicky Perrott is used to a life of poverty, crime, and violence. Gang warfare is the order of the day, deaths are commonplace, and thieving the only way to survive. At first Dicky dreams of becoming a High Mobsman - one of the aristocrats of Jago crime - but the efforts of Father Sturt to improve conditions offer him a different path. Dicky's journey takes him through a savage but colourful community of pickpockets and cosh-carriers, where the police only enter in threes, and where murder erupts with an unusual horror and intimacy. Morrison's portrayal of the Victorian underclass and its underworld drew attention to the bleak prospects for children living in such surroundings, and it is a classic of slum-fiction. In this edition Peter Miles provides a rich contextual background to the creation of the novel, and the social debates to which it contributed. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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'The present system means joyless drudgery, semi-starvation, rags and premature death; and they vote for it and uphold it. Let them have what they vote for! Let them drudge and let them starve!' There is no other novel quite like The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists. George Orwell called it 'a wonderful book'; its readers have become a living part of its remarkable history. Tressell's novel is about survival on the underside of the Edwardian Twilight, about exploitative employment when the only safety nets are charity, workhouse, and grave. Following the fortunes of a group of painters and decorators and their families, and the attempts to rouse their political will by the Socialist visionary Frank Owen, the book is both a highly entertaining story and a passionate appeal for a fairer way of life. It asks questions that are still being asked today: why do your wages bear no relation to the value of your work? Why do fat cats get richer when you don't? Tressell's answers are 'The Great Money Trick' and the 'philanthropy' of an unenlightened workforce, who give away their rights and aspirations to a decent life so freely. Intellectually enlightening, deeply moving and gloriously funny (complete with exploding clergyman), The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists is a book that changes lives. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

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As football enters the twenty-first century, it is an ideal time for supporters to reflect on the players and personalities who have made Southend United Football Club such a widely-respected name in professional football during the last century. These pages feature 100 of the greatest names in the club's long history. Those selected include stalwarts noted for their longevity and record breaking, such as Sandy Anderson, Alan Moody, Billy Best and Roy Hollis. Gifted players who spent only a short time at Southend but contributed much to the folklore of the club also make the top 100. For example, Jimmy McAlinden, Eddie Firmani and Mike Marsh, all club record signings of their respective eras, qualify for the final list. Goalscoring masters who dominated the club's history are chosen, like Harold Halse, Jimmy Shankly, Sammy McGory, Richard Cadette, David Crown and Brett Angell. Goalkeeping legends such as Billy Moore, Ted Hankey, Harry Threadgold, Mervyn Cawston and Paul Sansome are included. Defensive heroes George Molyneux, Peter Watson, Tony Bentley and Micky Stead also earn a place in the list. Certain players who encompass the spirit of the club, such as Dave Robinson, Ronnie Pountney, Paul Clark, Peter Butler and Chris Powell are also featured here. Finally the footballing genius that is Stan Collymore graces these pages and the front cover, despite making only 33 appearances in a Blues shirt. Each of these players and many more are profiled, with detailed biographical and statistical records. Supporting the text are portrait and action shots, some of which have never been seen before. Compiled by two life-long supporters on behalf of all Southend United fans, this superb book salutes the 100 greatest players and rewards them for a century of wonderful memories.

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Mark Robarts is a clergyman with ambitions beyond his small country parish of Framley. In a naive attempt to mix in influential circles, he agrees to guarantee a bill for a large sum of money for the disreputable local Member of Parliament, while being helped in his career in the Church by the same hand. But the unscrupulous politician reneges on his financial obligations, and Mark must face the consequences this debt may bring to his family. One of Trollope's most enduringly popular novels since it appeared in 1860, Framley Parsonage is an evocative depiction of country life in nineteenth-century England, told with great compassion and acute insight into human nature.

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