Following a desperate night-long battle, a group of beleaguered soldiers in an isolated base in Kandahar are faced with a lone woman demanding the return of her brother's body. Is she a spy, a black widow, a lunatic or what she claims to be: a grieving sister intent on burying her brother according to local rites? As she persists, single-minded in her mission, the camp's tense, claustrophobic atmosphere comes to a boil as the men argue about what to do next. The Watch takes an age-old story
- the myth of Antigone
- & hurls it into present-day Afghanistan. The result is an unputdownable, deeply affecting book that brilliantly exposes the realities of war. It is also our most powerful expression to date of the nature & futility of this very contemporary conflict.

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A mysterious toymaker who lives as a recluse in an old mansion, surrounded by the magical beings he has created...A sickly wife locked away in a hidden room... An enigma involving strange lights that shine out from the small island on which an old, disused lighthouse stands...A shadowy creature that hides deep in the woods... These are the elements of a mystery will bind 14-year-old Irene to Ismael during one magical summer spent in Blue Bay when her mother takes a job as a housekeeper for the enigmatic toymaker, Lazarus Jann. A novel of mystery, intrigue & romance from the author of THE PRINCE OF MIST & THE SHADOW OF THE WIND. ...

A chilling tale based on true events from the bestselling author of The Ghost Hunters
- now a major ITV drama starring Rafe Spall
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The acclaimed & enthralling story of the dark side of Elizabethan rule, from Stephen Alford Elizabeth I`s reign is known as a golden age, yet to much of Europe she was a ` Jezebel` & heretic who had to be destroyed. The Watchers is a thrilling portrayal of the secret state that sought to protect the Queen; a shadow world of spies, codebreakers, agent provocateurs & confidence-men who would stop at nothing to defend the realm. Reviews: ” Forget Le Carre, Deighton & the rest
- this is more enthralling than any modern spy fiction”. (Daily Telegraph). ” Absorbing & closely documented... Alford vividly evokes this murky world of codes, ciphers, invisible ink, intercepted letters, aliases, disguises, forgeries & instructions to burn after reading.. .flowing narrative [and] crisp judments.. .engrossing”. (Guardian). ”[ Alford] has brought a dash of le Carre to the 16th century”. (The Times (Book of the Week)). ”A vivid & staggeringly well-researched portrait of the sinister side of Elizabethan Engl&... This is a spectacular book. It sheds new light on plots that most historians have ceased to explore & brings less famous conspiracies to the attention of the general reading public”. (Herald). ” Fascinating... If you want to know the inside story of this struggle, the dark heart of calculation & the fight for survival, then this is the book to read. I know no better”. (Spectator). About the author: Stephen Alford is the author of the acclaimed biography Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I & a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He taught for fifteen years at Cambridge University, where he was a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of History & a Fellow of King`s College. He is now Professor of Early Modern British History in the University of Leeds.
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SHORTLISTED FOR THE AUTHORS` CLUB BEST FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2016 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BETTY TRASK PRIZE 2016 FINALIST FOR THE LOCUS FIRST NOVEL AWARD 2016 An International Bestseller
- A Guardian Summer Read
- An Amazon Best Book of the Month
- A Goodreads Best Book of the Month
- A Buzzfeed Summer Read
- A Foyles Book of the Month
- A Huffington Post Summer Read
- A Yorkshire Post Book of the Week In 1883, Thaniel Steepleton returns to his tiny flat to find a gold pocketwatch on his pillow. But he has worse fears than generous burglars; he is a telegraphist at the Home Office, which has just received a threat for what could be the largest-scale Fenian bombing in history. When the watch saves Thaniel`s life in a blast that destroys Scotland Yard, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori
- a kind, lonely immigrant who sweeps him into a new world of clockwork & music. Although Mori seems harmless at first, a chain of unexpected slips soon proves that he must be hiding something. Meanwhile, Grace Carrow is sneaking into an Oxford library dressed as a man.A theoretical physicist, she is desperate to prove the existence of the luminiferous ether before her mother can force her to marry. As the lives of these three characters become entwined, events spiral out of control until Thaniel is torn between loyalties, futures & opposing geniuses. Utterly beguiling, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street blends historical events with dazzling flights of fancy to plunge readers into a strange & magical past, where time, destiny, genius
- & a clockwork octopus
- collide.









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Water is the most every day of substances. It pours from our taps & falls from the sky. We drink it, wash with it, & couldn`t live without it. Yet, on closer examination it is also a very strange substance (it is one of only a very small number of molecules which expand when cooled). Look closer again & water reveals itself as a key to a scientific story on the biggest of canvases. ...

Four lives. Four defining moments which will bring them together. Owen Abingdon is haunted by nightmares of the Merfolk. He believes they have stolen his little sister who vanished while he was meant to be minding her on the beach, but he was only a child himself. Is it fair for his mother to blame him? Catherine Hoyle`s perfect Christmas with her cousin from America was blighted when they went skating on thin ice & Rosalyn nearly died. Somehow, instead of being praised for raising the alarm, Catherine gets blamed. Sean Madigan grew up on a farm in Irel&. Learning to swim in the Shannon was his way of escaping the bitter poverty of his childhood, but it also incurred his father`s wrath. He flees to Engl&, but his heart belongs to the Shannon & her pulling power is evernear... Unlike the other three, Naomi Seddon didn`t fear the sea. She`d been orphaned & placed in a children`s home in Sheffield & cruelly abused. The sea offered her a way out & she revelled in its cruel power. The ”water children” meet in London in the searing hot summer of 1976 & Naomi uses her siren`s charm to lure Owen, Catherine & Sean into her tangled web of sexual charm & dangerous passion.A holiday in the Tuscan mountains with a flooded reservoir & its legend of the beautiful Teodora who drowned there brings this emotional drama to a powerful climax. Will the power of family, love & redemption finally help the water children conquer their fears & triumph over their childhood traumas? ...

Selected as a Book of the Year by The Times & The Economist. China`s history is an epic tapestry of courtly philosophies, warring factions & imperial intrigue. Yet, over five thousand years, one ancient element has so dramatically shaped the country`s fate that it remains the key to unlocking China`s story. That element is water. In The Water Kingdom Philip Ball takes us on a grand tour of China`s defining element, from the rice terraces & towering karts of its battle-worn waterways, to the vast engineering projects that have struggled to contain water`s wrath. What surfaces is the secret history of a people & a nation, drawn from its deep reverence for nature`s most dynamic force. ...

A secret history of China
- a fresh new way of thinking about a people, a civilisation, an epic story. The Water Kingdom takes
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The Water Road is the story of a four month circumnavigation by narrowboat of ` The Grand Cross`, the name given to the inland waterway linking the Thames to the Humber, Severn & Mersey. Starting in London, Paul Gogarty follows a figure of eight through Britain`s major cities & across the Pennines. Entering the world`s most concentrated canal network Gogarty sails into England`s past & future. ` The Cut` (the name most commonly used for the canals) is a blueprint of when England was a big island & the inland waterways its motorway. But, after more than a century of neglect, ` The Cut` is now enjoying a second golden age with waterfront cities being regenerated & more inland waterways currently opening in Britain than were being built at the height of Canal Mania 200 years ago. ` The Cut` is a hidden garden flashed with kingfishers & traditional narrowboats; a parallel universe ringing with the laughter of water gypsies, the thin cries of bats & drunken congregations in waterfront pubs. This is a journey across the face of England with all its exultations & darkness; rave boats, glorious sunshine & sheeting rain: canals that have been resurrected & enjoying their new summer & those still abandoned like shameful secrets. The Water Road is a voyage that is poignant, illuminating & entertaining at every turn. ...