Poetry of the Second World War brings to light a neglected chapter in world literature. In its chorus of haunting poetic voices, over a hundred of the most articulate minds of their generation record the true experience of the 1939-45 conflict, & its unending consequences. In keeping with its subject, it has an international scope, with poems from over twenty countries, including Japan, Australia, Europe, America & Russia; poems in which human responses echo each other across boundaries of culture & state. Auden, Brecht, Stevie Smith, Primo Levi, Zbigniew Herbert & Anna Akhmatova are set alongside the eloquence of unknown poets. The anthology has been arranged to bring out the chronological & cumulative human experience of the war: pre-war fears, air raids, the boredom, fear & camaraderie of military life; battle, occupation & resistance; surviving & the aftermath. Here at last, are the poems of the Holocaust, the Blitz, Hiroshima; of soldiers, refugees & disrupted lives. What emerges is a poetry capable of conveying the vast & terrible sweep of war. ...

The dilettantes who frequent Lady Tantamount's society parties are determined to push forward the moral frontiers of the age. Marjorie has left her family to live with Walter; Walter is in love with the luscious but cold-hearted Lucy who devours every man in sight; the repulsive Spandrell deflowers young girls for the sake of entertainment & all the while everyone is engaged in dazzling & witty conversation. Often described as a Vanity Fair for the Twenties, Point Counter Point contains wickedly accurate portraits of D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Ottoline Morrell & Huxley himself. ...

The dilettantes who frequent Lady Tantamount's society parties are determined to push forward the moral frontiers of the age. Marjorie has left her family to live with Walter; Walter is in love with the luscious but cold-hearted Lucy who devours every man in sight; the repulsive Spandrell deflowers young girls for the sake of entertainment & all the while everyone is engaged in dazzling & witty conversation. Often described as a Vanity Fair for the Twenties, Point Counter Point contains wickedly accurate portraits of D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Ottoline Morrell & Huxley himself. ...

In the jungles of Vietnam, Bob Lee Swagger was known as ' Bob the Nailer' for his high-scoring target rate at killing. Today the master sniper lives in a trailer in the Arkansas mountains, & just wants to be left alone. But he knows too much- about killing. The mission is top secret. Dangerous, patriotic, & rigged from the start. One thing goes wrong: double-crossed Bob has come out alive. Now he is on the run. His only allies: an FBI agent in disgrace & a beautiful woman. His only hope: find the elusive mastermind who set him up. Multi-layered with non-stop action, this hot-shot torcher of a thriller is addictive, exciting & right on target. A high-tech, high-ride reading experience. ...

Eclectic & illuminating, these essays are the last that Maugham published. Ranging from an appreciation of Goethe's novels, to an encounter with an Indian holy man, with a considered analysis of the form at which Maugham himself excelled
- the short story
- they present the enduring views & opinions of this eminent writer.

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It is the autumn of 330 BC, & three law cases are exciting Athens. Ergokles' case against the wealthy Orthoboulos for malicious wounding seems to come out well for the dignified man, but shortly afterwards he is found dead of poison, evidently hemlock. His second wife is accused of the crime, & her trial for poisoning sets Athens at odds, as sympathies divide. Her stepson is her greatest enemy, & seems sure that she has done the deed, but there are other candidates. Meanwhile, the most beautiful woman in Athens, Phryne, is accused of impiety, a charge that can carry the death penalty. Stephanos, in treating himself to brother visits as she tries to recover not only from his wound but from having killed a man, gets close to danger, & his position as a witness could damage his prospects of marriage. Misogyny, political wrath, & lack of judgment bring affairs to a boiling point, stimulating Aristotle to intervene lest the trial of the stepmother break Athens into fragments. He endeavours to solve the mystery with the help of Stephanos, & also with his assistant Theophrastos, who has made a special study of plant & thus of poisons- ...

It is the autumn of 330 BC, & three law cases are exciting Athens. Ergokles' case against the wealthy Orthoboulos for malicious wounding seems to come out well for the dignified man, but shortly afterwards he is found dead of poison, evidently hemlock. His second wife is accused of the crime, & her trial for poisoning sets Athens at odds, as sympathies divide. Her stepson is her greatest enemy, & seems sure that she has done the deed, but there are other candidates. Meanwhile, the most beautiful woman in Athens, Phryne, is accused of impiety, a charge that can carry the death penalty. Stephanos, in treating himself to brother visits as she tries to recover not only from his wound but from having killed a man, gets close to danger, & his position as a witness could damage his prospects of marriage. Misogyny, political wrath, & lack of judgment bring affairs to a boiling point, stimulating Aristotle to intervene lest the trial of the stepmother break Athens into fragments. He endeavours to solve the mystery with the help of Stephanos, & also with his assistant Theophrastos, who has made a special study of plant & thus of poisons- ...

Understanding body language is vital for success in any walk of life, but in the game of poker it can mean the difference between winning or losing. Unlike other card games that rely primarily on luck for a win, poker is predominantly a game of skill, & a major part of that skill is the ability to read your opponent ...

Andy Bellin is a pretty good poker player. Over the ten years he's been playing semi-pro, millions of dollars have passed through his hands. He's the kind of guy who can walk away from the table $5000 up. He's also the kind of guy who can drop $9000
- on a single h&. On his way to a master's in astrophysics, Andy Bellin made the fatal mistake of falling in love with poker. Too many years down the line, he's resurfaced from a life spent in high-rolling casinos & low-rent dives to tell us the tale. Part memoir, part expos-, Poker Nation is a mesmerising journey through the ups & downs of being a gambler, a trip to a world where the only thing 'weirder than a poker player is the guy sitting next to him'. -At once a witty history of the world's most popular card game, a how-to manual that really will make you a better player, & the story of one man's obsession, Poker Nation will leave you sharper, wiser, & maybe even a little richer.
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Born in Paris to Polish-Jewish parents, Polanski dealt with the terrors of his childhood
- including internment in Auschwitz
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