From the acclaimed author of THE PIRATES DAUGHTER comes a story of three women born into the divided troubled paradise of Jamaica. Easter 1981. With Jamaica in a state of emergency the Landing family gathers to bury one of its own. For Monica Landing who had not spoken to her daughter for fifteen years the death of Lana is the cruellest kind of loss. For Lanas youngest sister Jean it is an imcomprehensible tragedy. All she knows is that her beloved homeland holds no future for her. But flight means crossing a landscape where soldiers turned executioners & armed gangs rule. It means making her way through the memories that engulf her with perhaps the only man she has ever loved by her side. THE TRUE HISTORY OF PARADISE captures the grace beauty & brutality that are indelible parts of the Jamaican experience. ...

British history as we know it is a cluttered patchwork of questionable stories which have been re-written re-evaluated & ridiculed & yet there is still an unquestioned narrative thread which runs through the nations historical record accepted as fact. But final editorial control has always belonged to the winners. & nobody likes winners... The True History of the Black Adder" is the very first in-depth examination of the creation of a British institution like no other
- arguably the greatest sitcom of all time
- not to mention the first historical investigation into the lives of the Blackadder family one of the nations most villified dynasties. Using existing archive footage & rare literature plus new revelations from personal interviews with the makers including John Lloyd Tony Robinson Richard Curtis Ben Elton Stephen Fry Brian Blessed; Rowan Atkinson & many more J. F. Roberts relates the full scope of the tale of how the 70s alumni of three great universities
- Oxford Cambridge & not Hull but Manchester
- discovered a unique chemistry that would see them build a timeless comic masterpiece. At last Blackadder enthusiasts can now uncover the cunning plan in all its hideous hilarity."



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'I lost my own father at 12 yrs of age & know what it is to be raised on lies & silences my dear daughter you are presently too young to understand a word I write but this history is for you & will contain no single lie may I burn in hell if I speak false.' In a dazzling act of ventriloquism Peter Carey gives the Australian outlaw Ned Kelly a voice so wild passionate & original that it is impossible not to believe that the famous bush ranger himself is speaking from beyond the grave. Carey gives us Ned Kelly as orphan as Oedipus as horse thief farmer bush ranger reformer bank-robber police-killer & finally as his country's beloved Robin Hood. In 1878 Francis Harty a poor farmer said ' Ned Kelly is the best bloody man that has ever been in Benalla I would fight up to my knees in blood for him
- I have known him for years I would take his word sooner than another man's oath'. By the time of his hanging in 1880 a whole country would seem to agree
- & it is a measure of Peter Carey's achievement that he has not only made art from his country's great story but that he persuades us all to understand the true measure of that 'best bloody man'.

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Ford changed the face of the modern world. The incredible success of his motor car for the multitude transformed industry & society & made him the richest man on earth. His amazing story ranges from exhilarating success to personal tragedy & disappointment. Other titles in the series: Amelia Earhart Alexander the Great Captain Cook Cleopatra Eric the Red Galileo Gandhi Hans Christian Andersen Roald Dahl Thomas Edison & William Shakespeare. ...

In August 1900 ten-year-old Maddy has made a new friend on the sands of North Bay Scarborough. The summer stretches out before Maddy & Jessie with ice-creams Pierrot shows & lots of fun to be had. & Maddy is enjoying having someone to show around her home town relieved that the 'family business' Isaac Moon & Son Undertakers has not put Jessie off. While the two girls & the two families get to know each other trouble lies ahead for Maddy as secrets buried long before she was born return to Scarborough & the present. ...

True North shows how anyone who follows their internal compass can become an authentic leader. This leadership tour de force ...

Abysmal weather slag heaps funny accents; the bleak uplands of a landscape carved out of millstone grit; townscapes of abandoned mills & shipyards; & the detritus of an industrial revolution well past its sell-by date. These all too often are the gloomy perceptions of the north the foundations for the belief that northerners spend their lives battling hardship & misery & that nothing beyond Watford is worth a bag of chips. With an insiders sensitivity & a journalists enquiring mind northerner Martin Wainwright swiftly dispels these & other myths. He reaches back through the historical record to uncover where
- & how
- many of the old cliches arose & goes on to paint a picture of the north as it is today & has always been: a setting of wild coastline lakes & green dales inhabited by indomitably inventive northeners proud of their past & forging a future of brilliant new enterprises. Lavishly illustrated with over 100 stunning images from the Guardians archives Wainwrights incisive & wittily observant assessment of a region that is flourishing socially & culturally leaves us in no doubt that true north is as vibrant & exciting as it is beautiful.

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True Storey" is the compelling autobiography of notorious 1970s football legend Peter Storey dubbed the bastards bastard who gained a reputation for ultra-violence on the pitch & had a capacity to find even greater trouble off it
- a fact borne out by a string of criminal convictions & several jail sentences. A key member as their midfield enforcer of the resilient Arsenal team that won the European Fairs Cup followed by the cherished Double in 1970-71 Storey was a confirmed ladies man who loved a drink. In the mid-70s Storeys pub the Jolly Farmers in Islington became a magnet for north London villains & he rubbed shoulders with Great Train Robber Tommy Wisbey & Howard Mr Nice Marks Britains biggest drug smuggler. Storey talks candidly about the crimes he committed & the spells in prison that blighted his life. He reveals the truth about his feud with George Best & relays an astonishing account of how Bertie Mee tried to make him miss the 1971 FA Cup final against Bill Shanklys Liverpool side because the Arsenal manager wanted Eddie Kelly to start instead. Today Peter is an elusive character but a man transformed & at ease with life. Only now does he feel the circumstances are right to set the record straight & tell his side of a remarkable " True Storey"."
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A hilarious retelling of the Three Little Pigs" by Jon Scieszka. You may think you know the story of the " Three Little Pigs" & the " Big Bad Wolf"
- but only one person knows the real story. & that person is A. Wolf. His tale starts with a birthday cake for his dear old granny a bad head cold & a bad reputation. The rest (as they say) is history. A hilariously inventive retelling of the popular story which " Publishers Weekly" called the ' Funniest book of the year'. Jon Scieszka began to train as a doctor but left to take a course in fiction writing at Columbia University & to become a teacher. He lives in Brooklyn & spends his time writing & talking about books. Lane Smith an acclaimed author/illustrator has achieved major success in his collaborations with Jon Scieszka. He also provided the original concept & illustrations for the hit film " James & the Giant Peach". He lives in New York. Also by Jon Scieszka: " The True Story of the Three Little Pigs"; " The Frog Prince Continued"; " The Stinky Cheese Man & other Fairly Stupid Tales"; " The Book that Jack Wrote"; " Math Curse"; " Squids will be Squids"; " Baloney"; " Science Verse"; " Seen Art?; " Cowboy & Octopus"; " Walt Disney's Alice in Wonderland"; " Robot Zot"; " Knights of the Kitchen Table"; " The Not-so-Jolly Roger"; " The Good the Bad & the Goofy"; " Your Mother was a Neanderthal"; "2095"; " Tut Tut"; " Summer Reading is Killing Me"; " It's all Greek to Me"; " See You Later Gladiator"; " Sam Samurai"; " Hey Kid Want to Buy a Bridge?"; " Viking it & Liking it"; " Me oh Maya"; " Da Wild Da Crazy Da Vinci"; & " Marco Polo"."
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Chosen by Paul Auster out of 4000 stories submitted to his radio programme on National Public Radio these 180 stories provide an illuminating portrait of America in the 20th century. The selection requirement of the stories was that they should be true & not previously published. ...