Award-winning original fiction for learners of English At seven levels from Starter to Advanced this impressive selection of carefully graded readers offers exciting reading for every student's capabilities Billy Marr a local misfit claims he has murdered someone in an Edinburgh park Inspector Logan & Sergeant Grant don't believe him
- Billy has lied many times in the past about crimes he hasn't committed But then a young woman is found dead in the park Soon there is another body Perhaps Billy is not so innocent after all Paperback-only version Also available with Audio CDs including complete text recordings from the book
...

The University of Oxford was a medieval wonder After its foundation in the late 12th century it made a crucial contribution to the core syllabus of all medieval universities
- the study of the liberal arts law medicine & theology
- & attracted teachers of international calibre & fame The ideas of brilliant thinkers like innovative translator of Greek Robert Grosseteste pioneering philosopher Roger Bacon & reforming Christian humanist John Colet redirected traditional scholasticism & helped usher in the Renaissance In her concise & much-praised new history G R Evans reveals a powerhouse of learning & culture Over a span of more than 800 years Oxford has nurtured some of the greatest minds while right across the globe its name is synonymous with educational excellence From dangerous political upheavals caused by the radical & inflammatory ideas of John Wyclif to the bloody 1555 martyrdoms of Hugh Latimer & Nicholas Ridley; & from John Ruskin's innovative lectures on art & explosive public debate between Charles Darwin & his opponents to gentler meetings of C S Lewis J R RTolkien & the Inklings in the ' Bird & Baby' Evans brings Oxford's revolutionary events as well as its remarkable intellectual journey to vivid & sparkling life

...

Miles from anywhere Darracott Place is presided over by irascible Lord Darracott The recent drowning of his eldest son has done nothing to improve his temper For now he must send for the unknown offspring of the uncle whom the family are never permitted to mention Yet none of that beleaguered family are prepared for the arrival of the weaver's brat & heir apparent Yet again Georgette Heyer shows the qualities that made her one of the most successful & best-loved romantic novelists of her age & why her popularity endures to this day ...

An action-oriented medium comics have long used wars—real & fictional—as narrative fodder often with a strong message attached Buried in rare comics published during the Cold War were powerful war fantasy & sci-fi stories that strongly condemned war & the bomb boldly calling for peace While a few comics of the time portrayed the horrors of war the more blatant anti-war stories were largely unappreciated or so cloaked in metaphor that they went unnoticed by contemporary audiences Today we can more fully appreciate the efforts of the fine writers & cartoonists who were crying out for peace in their—and our—time Journey back with us now & discover the secret surprising history of anti-war comics with this marvelously curated collection About the Author Steve Ditko is best known as the artist & co-creator with Stan Lee of the Marvel characters Spider-Man & Doctor Strange He began his professional career in 1953 working in the studio of Joe Simon & Jack Kirby as an inker During the late 1950s he began working for Atlas Comics a forerunner of Marvel Comics where he continued to contribute work in the 1960s He went on to work for Charlton & DC Comics where he created or co-created such characters as the Question the Creeper the Changing Man & Hawk & Dove Ditko was inducted into the Jack Kirby Hall of Fame in 1990 & the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 1994 ...

Only one person knows what happened that day Julia was the only person who knew what happened that day But she didn't tell the police & then it was too late Now years later her secret looms large Is it really too late? & if she does tell can she bear the consequences? ...

Mark Forsyth
- author of the Sunday Times Number One bestseller The Etymologicon
- reveals in this essay specially commissioned

...

Tilly is perched at the top of Belfast's largest crane She likes to climb up high at night in order to feel free from a city which despite the best PR is still full of trouble & conflict Eventually she comes back down to discover her bike is missing & in its place is a boy named Brew Wearing eyeliner & high-heeled boots he offers her a drink from his flask of coffee before disappearing into the night The next morning Tilly's bike is returned but tucked into the spoke of the wheel is a card with Brew's number on it As Tilly learns to trust Brew he leads her into a world she never knew existed
- a world of parties in abandoned houses completing missions that involve break-ins & risking everything just to help strangers in need; the world of The Unknowns What Tilly doesn't anticipate is that they will also make her question everything she was brought up to believe in & force her to make a choice that will stay with her for the rest of her life The Unknowns is a story about hope in a city where increasing numbers of young people are struggling to get by a place where there is no trust in the political system & where some people still dare to dream
...

When Mabel Jones unknowingly commits ' The Deed' she finds herself swiftly bundled into a sack & carried off to the pirate ship the Feroshus Maggot Crewed by the strangest bunch of pirates you would ever want to meet & captained by the dreaded Idryss Ebeneezer Split the Feroshus Maggot whisks Mabel Jones off on the adventure of a lifetime 304 pages Mabbitt Will ...

Hilarity & chaos abound in this quirky tale of a band of Robin Hood-esque outlaws From Grubtown Tales comedy legend Philip Ardagh 192 pages Ardagh Philip ...

Nicholas Frith has always considered himself to be about as lucky as the average boy But while on holiday with his mum Nicholas accidentally disturbs an ancient tomb & everything changes Nicholas falls under an ancient curse & suddenly misfortune calamity & disaster follow him everywhere! The curse can't touch Nicholas himself but bad things happen to everyone else around him Forced to move from school to school Nicholas loses hope of ever lifting the curse or ever finding someone who will risk being his friend But one day he meets Fiona
- the one person who is prepared to take that risk Through Fiona's friendship Nicholas learns to believe in himself & break the curse at last changing his luck for ever
...