AD 68. The tyrant emperor Nero has no son & no heir. Suddenly there's the very real possibility that Rome might become a republic once more. But the ambitions of a few are about to bring corruption chaos & untold bloodshed to the many. Among them is a hero of the campaign against Boudicca Aulus Caecina Severus. Caught up in a conspiracy to overthrow Caesar's dynasty he commits treason raises a rebellion faces torture & intrigue
- all supposedly for the good of Rome. The boundary between the good of Rome & self preservation is far from clear & keeping to the dangerous path he's chosen requires all Severus' skills as a cunning soldier & increasingly deft politician. & so Severus looks back on the dark & dangerous time history knows as the Year of the Four Emperors & the part he played
- for good or ill
- in plunging the mighty Roman empire into anarchy & civil war...


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The first clear-eyed account of an extraordinary life' Independent on Sunday. Wimbledon champion three times in the 1930s Fred Perry is the finest tennis player that Britain has ever produced. Less well known is that Perry came from an unprivileged background & found himself
- despite his supreme talent
- an outsider in a sport that looked down on the advancement of the under-classes. Not afraid to ruffle a few establishment feathers Perry discarded his hallowed amateur status in 1936 & turned professional. He compounded this perceived sin by taking out US citizenship when the Second World War broke out. He embraced his new country wholeheartedly. From Hollywood to Florida Perry led a scandalous private life marrying four times & charming himself into the beds of numerous Hollywood starlets & beautiful models along the way. The Last Champion is the first biography of Fred Perry. Through extensive research & revealing interviews Jon Henderson tennis correspondent of the Observer brilliantly tells the remarkable story of this remarkable man. Longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

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When the Leeds United players celebrated winning the championship in April 1992 they could not have had an inkling of how momentous the occasion was. Manchester United losers at Liverpool that sunny Sunday afternoon had now gone 25 years without winning the league. Howard Wilkinsons side promoted just two seasons ago could bring back the glory days to Leeds. But Wilkinson would prove to be the last English manager to win the league. In 1992 football changed beyond all recognition. Twenty years on The Last Champions" looks back at the roots of that success & the amazing cast of characters who came together to fashion the triumph. As in his acclaimed book " The Fallen" Dave Simpsons quest to catch up with the protagonists of the era from the visionary Sergeant Wilko top scorer Lee Chapman & unsung heroes like Mike Whitlow & Carl Shutt (not forgetting Eric Cantona of course) sees him unearth some extraordinary untold stories. & he finds that " The Last Champions" were also the last ordinary people to win the league before the Premier League saw skyrocketing wages billionaire foreign owners & the dictates of television taking the game away from the fans. It is the brilliantly told story of the end of an era." ...

When the Leeds United players celebrated winning the championship in April 1992 they had no idea how momentous the occasion was. Manchester United losers at Liverpool that Sunday afternoon had now gone 25 years without winning the league. Howard Wilkinson's side promoted just two seasons ago could bring back the glory days to Leeds. But Wilkinson would prove to be the last English manager to win the league. In 1992 football changed beyond all recognition. The Last Champions" explores the roots of that success & the amazing cast of characters who came together to fashion the triumph. As in his acclaimed book " The Fallen" Dave Simpson's quest to catch up with the protagonists of the era from the visionary Sergeant Wilko top scorer Lee Chapman & unsung heroes like Mike Whitlow & Carl Shutt (not forgetting Eric Cantona) sees him unearth some extraordinary untold stories. & he finds that " The Last Champions" were also the last ordinary people to win the league before the Premier League saw skyrocketing wages billionaire foreign owners & the dictates of television taking the game away from the fans. It is the brilliantly told story of the end of an era." ...

Never in one place long enough to make friends or put down roots Colie doesnt expect her trip to the North Carolina coast to change a thing. Always the outcast shes resigned to a holiday with only her eccentric aunt Mira for company. But when she finds a job waitressing at the Last Chance cafe she also finds acceptance new friends & the beginnings of romance... ...

The gripping new action thriller from New York Times bestselling author & former FBI agent Noah Boyd. Steve Vail has brains brawn & balls -- & is back for his latest mission. Steve Vail visits Kate Bannon Assistant Director of the FBI for a well-earned & romantic New Years Eve in Washington DC but he suddenly finds himself knee-deep in a very complicated & unusual case. A man known simply as Calculus an intelligence officer at the Russian embassy approaches the FBI claiming he knows of several Americans who are supplying confidential government information to the Russian secret service. In exchange for this list he asks for $250 000 for each traitor the FBI arrests. But when Calculus is suddenly recalled to Moscow the Bureau suspects the worst. The Russians have probably captured Calculus & might have access to his list -- which means theyll soon track down the informants & murder them. That is unless the FBI can find them first but without knowing exactly who is on the list they must keep the operation quiet. Once again Vail is their man. Hes the ideal candidate for this kind of stealth recon mission. It soon becomes clear that finding Calculus & his list of traitors isnt going to be quick or quiet. In fact its going to be downright deadly! ...

Douglas Adams genius was in using comedy to make serious points about the world
- Independent". After years of reflecting
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Thirteen-year-old Johnny Merrimon has to face things no boy his age should face. In the year since his twin sisters abduction his world has fallen apart: his father has disappeared & his fragile mother is spiralling into ever deeper despair. Johnny keeps strong. Armed with a map a bike & a flashlight he stalks the bad men of Raven County. The police might have given up on Alyssa; he never will. Someone somewhere knows something theyre not telling. Only one person looks out for Johnny. Detective Clyde Hunt shares his obsession with the case. But when Johnny witnesses a hit-&-run & insists the victim was killed because hed found Alyssa even Hunt thinks hes lost it. & then another young girl goes missing.. . ...

This is the Penguin English Library Edition" of " The Last Chronicle of Barset" by Anthony Trollope. " He is so scandalously weak & she is so radically vicious that they cannot but be wrong together. The very fact that such a man should be a bishop among us is to me terribly strong evidence of evil days coming". When Reverend Josiah Crawley the impoverished curate of Hogglestock is accused of theft it causes a public scandal sending shockwaves through the world of Barsetshire. The Crawleys desperately try to remain dignified while they are shunned by society but the scandal threatens to tear them & the community apart. Drawing on his own childhood experience of genteel poverty Trollope gives a painstakingly realistic depiction of the trials of a family striving to maintain its standards at all costs. With its sensitive portrayal of the proud & self-destructive figure of Crawley this final volume is the darkest & most complex of all the Barsetshire novels. " The Penguin English Library"
- 100 editions of the best fiction in English from the eighteenth century & the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War."
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Hastings October 1066. The Normans have landed in Sussex ready for battle. They have prepared for everything about the English
-
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