On a blustery October night the Circus Oscuro came to town. It was clear from the start that this was no ordinary circus. They did not roll into town with fanfares & cartwheeling clowns. Instead they came in the dead of night when all the townspeople were asleep. The circus wagons turned into the long field at the bottom of the hill that overlooked the town of Larde & creaked to a halt in neat rows with barely a sound. There was just one witness to the arrival of the circus. A small boy huddled in a large wooden barrel high on the side of the hill watched the raising of the big top awakened from his sleep by the shouts of the circus people & the occasional trumpeting of the elephants. The boys name was Miles & the barrel was his home... ...

In the third instalment in the creepy captivating Larten Crepsley series Larten finds out what it means to love...but is he also damned to find out what it means to lose? Lost in the arctic waste carrying a baby whose love he could never deserve Larten faces the darkest time he has ever known. But hope has a way of shining through even the smallest of cracks & just as Larten reaches the end a new beginning presents itself. The trouble is for Larten the violence of his youth is never far from the surface...and those he loves are the ones he hurts the most. As Larten experiences heaven & hell & tries to save the soul of a child the question is: can he save his own? ...

In the third instalment in the creepy captivating Larten Crepsley series Larten finds out what it means to love...but is he also damned to find out what it means to lose? Lost in the arctic waste carrying a baby whose love he could never deserve Larten faces the darkest time he has ever known. But hope has a way of shining through even the smallest of cracks & just as Larten reaches the end a new beginning presents itself. The trouble is for Larten the violence of his youth is never far from the surface...and those he loves are the ones he hurts the most. As Larten experiences heaven & hell & tries to save the soul of a child the question is: can he save his own? ...

FAMILY & LOCAL HISTORIANS frequently encounter the challenge posed by the writing & sometimes the translation of the records which might most enable them to make further progress with their research. Many pamphlets booklets & even books have been produced over the past century to help with old handwriting & abbreviations but this new work written by an author who has for years run courses on the subject is the most practical & comprehensive yet for family & local historians. Based on some fifty facsimile reproductions of documents of graduated difficulty culled from many useful sources it provides transcripts & translations where appropriate together with advice on methods of transcribing. The alphabet with commentary of the numerous types of letter to be found in the examples (many being in the secretary & court hands which so often cause problems) & illustrations of forms of abbreviation will greatly help to unravel the difficulties of reading. Many documents before 1733 were written in Latin & the author

Includes:: an outline of the differences between classical & medieval usage & a vocabulary to cover the section in Latin. There are examples from the 1400s to the 1700s of a wide range of hands found in the most usual categories of record used by family historians such as parish registers wills & court rolls & in many others which disclose helpful information on families & localities. Those who use this book will not need to be persuaded of the great enjoyment to be derived from pursuing research into family or local history & the pleasures of piecing together evidence to throw new light on old times. They may also find great enjoyment in the deciphering of documents the means to that end. For the solitary searcher or a member of a class or local society this will be the standard work upon which to rely for many decades to come.

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The Pale Death Moon is the eagerly awaited second instalment in the Terry the Torus & the Tumblestones series. In Book One The Seven Stones young readers were caught in the exciting adventures of Terry Gwen Meeska & Polka as they set out on their quest. Remarkably many parents have been entranced too & the adult fan base is equally large enthusiastic & impatient for Book Two. Now in The Pale Death Moon the adventure continues. The Torus has saved Terry Gwen Meeska & Polka from the Barons secret police but abandoned them in a completely new world. Three more riddles must be solved
- three more stones must be found. But its not going to be straightforward. The evil Ackru has already stolen one of the stones & now he is making sacrifices each full moon to appease the black spirits who have started to appear on the isl&. Polka is going to need his best plan ever because Ackru has a hostage & the next full moon is only three nights away... Expected to sell out at all book signings & author events & with an exciting interactive competition running in tandem with the launch of The Pale Death Moon on www.terry-torus-tumblestones.co.uk make sure you are part of the adventure!
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The American poet John Shade is dead; murdered. His last poem Pale Fire is put into a book together with a preface a lengthy commentary & notes by Shade's editor Charles Kinbote. Known on campus as the ' Great Beaver' Kinbote is haughty inquisitive intolerant but is he also mad bad
- & even dangerous? As his wildly eccentric annotations slide into the personal & the fantastical Kinbote reveals perhaps more than he should. Nabokov's darkly witty richly inventive masterwork is a suspenseful whodunit a story of one-upmanship & dubious penmanship & a glorious literary conundrum.
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A priest's death leads to sinister goings-on in an old country pub... To understand the strange goings on at The Pale Horse Inn Mark Easterbrook knew he had to begin at the beginning. But where exactly was the beginning? Was it the savage blow to the back of Father Gorman's head? Or was it when the priest's assailant searched him so roughly he tore the clergyman's cassock? Or could it have been the priest's visit just minutes before to a woman on her death bed? Or was there a deeper significance to the violent squabble which Mark Easterbrook had himself witnessed earlier? Wherever the beginning lies Mark & his sidekick Ginger Corrigan may soon have cause to wish they'd never found it... ...

A priest's death leads to sinister goings-on in an old country pub... To understand the strange goings on at The Pale Horse Inn Mark Easterbrook knew he had to begin at the beginning. But where exactly was the beginning? Was it the savage blow to the back of Father Gorman's head? Or was it when the priest's assailant searched him so roughly he tore the clergyman's cassock? Or could it have been the priest's visit just minutes before to a woman on her death bed? Or was there a deeper significance to the violent squabble which Mark Easterbrook had himself witnessed earlier? Wherever the beginning lies Mark & his sidekick Ginger Corrigan may soon have cause to wish they'd never found it... ...

Continuing the outstanding success of The Last Kingdom The Pale Horseman is the second installment of Bernard Cornwell s fantastic series following the fate of Alfred the Great & the forging of Britain. It is the lowest time for the Saxons. Defeated comprehensively by the Vikings who now occupy most of England Alfred & his very small group of surviving followers retreat to the trackless marshlands of Somerset. There forced to move restlessly to escape betrayal or detection using the marsh mists for cover they travel by small boats from one island refuge to another hoping that they can regroup & find some more strength & support. Only Uhtred remains resolute. Determined to discover the enemys strategies he draws once again on his Viking upbringing & attempts to enter the Viking camps. His plan is to become accepted by their leaders & to sit in their councils & uncover their plans. But once there the attractions of his many friends among the Vikings coupled with his disillusion with the Saxons leadership & anger at Alfreds criticism of his own conduct draws him back again to his allegiance to the Vikings. The Pale Horseman an even more powerful & dramatic book than The Last Kingdom brings both Uhtred & the Saxons dilemmas vividly to life. ...

Continuing the outstanding success of The Last Kingdom this is the second installment of Bernard Cornwell s fantastic series following the fate of Alfred the Great & the forging of Britain. Uhtred Northumbrian born raised a Viking & now married to a Saxon is already a formidable figure & warrior. But at twenty he is still arrogant pagan & headstrong so not a comfortable ally for the thoughtful pious Alfred. But these two with Alfred s family & a few of Uhtred s companions are apparently all that remains of the Wessex leadership after a disastrous truce. It is the lowest time for the Saxons. Defeated comprehensively by the Vikings who now occupy most of England Alfred & his surviving followers retreat to the trackless marshlands of Somerset. There forced to move restlessly to escape betrayal or detection using the marsh mists for cover they travel by small boats from one island to another hoping that they can regroup & find some more strength & support. They seek refuge in Athelney a tidal swamp to which Alfred s kingdom has shrunk. Uhtred finds himself torn between his Danish foster brother & the winning Vikings & his growing respect for the stubborn leadership of Alfred. He must decide whether to rebuild the Saxons strength from his watery base & help them to take on the Vikings once more. THE PALE HORSEMAN is a splendid story of divided loyalties & desperate heroism with a wonderful range of characters from Vikings to British kings in their Cornish fortresses from political but passionate priests to enduring fishermen & farmers desperately striving to survive as the battle sweeps over them. Uhtred & Alfred Vikings & Saxons are a winning combination for Bernard Cornwell. ...