One hundred years have passed since Robert Falcon Scotts beleagured expeditionary team arrived at the South Pole only to find that they had been beaten by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. The most feted explorer of his generation Amundsen counted the discovery of the Northwest Passage in 1905 as well as the North Pole amongst his greatest achievements. In the golden age of polar exploration Amundsen whose revolutionary approach to technology transcends polar & nautical significance was a titan among men. However until now his story has rarely featured as more than a footnote to Scotts tragic failure. Reviled for defeating Scott but worshipped by his men Amundsen was pursued by women & creditors throughout his life before disappearing on a rescue mission for the Italian Fascist who had set off in an airship to claim the North Pole for Mussolini. The Last Viking is the life of a visionary & a showman who brought the era of Shackleton to an end put the newly independent Norway on the map & was the twentieth centurys brightest trailblazing explorer. Against the backdrop of the race to conquer the most inhospitable corners of the earth The Last Viking stands alongside The Worst Journey in the World for its grim immediacy of heroism & hardship. Bestriding the generation defined by adventure & the unquenchable desire for discovery it is the mesmerising story of courage misery friendship & the ultimate price paid for immortality. ...

While on holiday in Scotland visiting a macabre tourist attraction The Dungeons of Edinburgh a young Russian tourist is murdered. As the police grapples with the fact that the cause of the young mans death was a massive loss of blood the Watches are immediately aware that there is a renegade vampire on the loose. Anton
- the hero of The Night Watch & The Day Watch
- is detailed to this seemingly mundane investigation but on arriving in Scotland begins to realise that there is much more to the story than a wildcat vampire & a single murder. Aided by Thomas the head of Edinburghs Night Watch Anton investigates & ruminates & becomes aware that a team of unlicensed Others are hunting for a fabled magical treasure hidden in the sixth level of the Twilight by Merlin himself.

...

For two centuries Jacob Marlowe has wandered the world enslaved by his lunatic appetites & tormented by the memory of his first & most monstrous crime. Now the last of his kind he knows he cant go on. But as Jake counts down to suicide a violent murder & an extraordinary meeting plunge him straight back into the desperate pursuit of life. ...

For two centuries Jacob Marlowe has wandered the world enslaved by his lunatic appetites & tormented by the memory of his first & most monstrous crime. Now the last of his kind he knows he cant go on. But as Jake counts down to suicide a violent murder & an extraordinary meeting plunge him straight back into the desperate pursuit of life. ...

This is a brilliant new interpretation of one of the most dramatic periods of British history. The Wars of the Roses" didn't end at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. Despite the death of Richard III & Henry VII's victory it continued underground into the following century with plots pretenders & subterfuge by the ousted white rose faction. In a brand new interpretation of this turning point in history well known historian Desmond Seward reviews the story of the Tudors' seizure of the throne & shows that for many years they were far from secure. He challenges the way we look at the reigns of Henry VII & Henry VIII explaining why there were so many Yorkist pretenders & conspiracies & why the new dynasty had such difficulty establishing itself. King Richard's nephews the Earl of Warwick & the little known de la Pole brothers all had the support of dangerous enemies overseas while England was split when the lowly Perkin Warbeck skilfully impersonated one of the princes in the tower in order to claim the right to the throne. Warwick's surviving sister Margaret also became the desperate focus of hopes that the White Rose would be reborn. The book also offers a new perspective on why Henry VIII constantly threatened by treachery real or imagined & desperate to secure his power with a male heir became a tyrant. Praise for Desmond Seward's "A Brief History of the War of the Roses": " It is hard to imagine a historian more in command of his subject... The result is history as compelling as any novel". (" Independent"). " This is a splendidly & vividly written book." (" Evening Standard"). A Brief History of the Hundred Years Wars: "A well-written narrative beautifully illustrated & which takes into account most recent scholarship. It is also a good read." (Richard Cobb " New Statesman")." ...

A frosty December night in Stockholm. A thousand guests attend the prestigious Nobel Prizewinners' dinner. The evening is one of prestige & glamour. Until wo shots are fired on the dance floor. Crime reporter Annika Bengtzon is there covering the event for the Evening Post". As the police realize she caught a glimpse of the suspect she is far more interested in getting back to the newsroom. But as more brutal murders follow Annika finds herself in the middle of something far larger than she had anticipated. No longer just a reporter but also a vulnerable key witness she begins to close up the gaps linking these crimes just as the suspect starts closing the net on Annika herself." ...

Geralt is a witcher a man whose magic powers enhanced by long training & a mysterious elixir have made him a brilliant fighter & a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary murderer: his targets are the multifarious monsters & vile fiends that ravage the land & attack the innocent. He roams the country seeking assignments but gradually comes to realise that while some of his quarry are unremittingly vile vicious grotesques others are the victims of sin evil or simple naivety. One reviewer said: This book is a sheer delight. It is beautifully written full of vitality & endlessly inventive: its format with half a dozen episodes & intervening rest periods for both the hero & the reader allows for a huge range of characters scenarios & action. Its thought-provoking without being in the least dogmatic witty without descending to farce & packed with swordfights without being derivative. The dialogue sparkles; characters morph almost imperceptibly from semi-cliche to completely original; nothing is as it first seems. Sapkowski succeeds in seamlessly welding familiar ideas unique settings & delicious twists of originality: his Beauty wants to rip the throat out of a sensitive Beast; his Snow White seeks vengeance on all & sundry his elves are embittered & vindictive. Its easily one of the best things Ive read in ages. ...

Evil Sees You
- Three years ago William Bantling was put on death row by Florida's Assistant State Attorney CJ Townsend
- for

...

Michael Morpurgo has created a sweeping & dramatic story in the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie. This spellbinding tale is complemented perfectly by Michael Foreman's illustrations. Robbie Mc Leod & a wolf cub both orphaned venture far from their birthplace a land of rebellious fighters & vicious redcoats. There is little constancy in Robbie's adventurous life save for the companionship of his wolf. But when at last Robbie finds a place where he can peacefully make his home he knows in his heart that the wolf must find his own natural home too... ...

Alan Maund lived in Worcestershire all his life & had an enthusiasm for steam. He travelled extensively in Britain & built up a large railway photographic archive from the late 1950s onwards. This book is made up entirely of Alan's collection of photographs from across the Midlands. It will appeal to railway enthusiasts modellers & those with an interest in local history. Alan started using colour film in 1959 & colour slides make up the majority of the photographs. Many enthusiasts in this era had a policy of filming steam only & ignoring the new diesel interlopers but not Alan; they do make appearances even including some early electric classes. A particular passion of Alan's was small industrial steam locomotives & he restored a Kerr Stuart ' Wren' class 0-4-0 to working order between 1959 & 1961. So in addition to larger British Railways locomotives their smaller relations are also seen across the Midlands. Alan passed on in 1982 & his widow Wendy gave Alan's collection of railway photographs to film-maker & author Michael Clemens whose late father was a friend of Alan's. Alan's collection lives on today at film shows around the country & now in this book. ...