Cicero (Marcus Tullius 106-43 BCE) Roman lawyer orator politician & philosopher of whom we know more than of any other Roman lived through the stirring era which saw the rise dictatorship & death of Julius Caesar in a tottering republic. In his political speeches especially & in his correspondence we see the excitement tension & intrigue of politics & the part he played in the turmoil of the time. Of about 106 speeches delivered before the Roman people or the Senate if they were political before jurors if judicial 58 survive (a few of them incompletely). In the fourteenth century Petrarch & other Italian humanists discovered manuscripts containing more than 900 letters of which more than 800 were written by Cicero & nearly 100 by others to him. These afford a revelation of the man all the more striking because most were not written for publication. Six rhetorical works survive & another in fragments. Philosophical works include seven extant major compositions & a number of others; & some lost. There is also poetry some original some as translations from the Greek. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Cicero is in twenty-nine volumes. ...

The chilling true crime 'non-fiction novel' that made Truman Capote's name In Cold Blood" is a seminal work of modern prose a remarkable synthesis of journalistic skill & powerfully evocative narrative published in " Penguin Modern Classics". Controversial & compelling " In Cold Blood" reconstructs the murder in 1959 of a Kansas farmer his wife & both their children. Truman Capote's comprehensive study of the killings & subsequent investigation explores the circumstances surrounding this terrible crime & the effect it had on those involved. At the centre of his study are the amoral young killers Perry Smith & Dick Hickcock who vividly drawn by Capote are shown to be reprehensible yet entirely & frighteningly human. Truman Capote (1924-84) was born in New Orleans. He left school when he was fifteen & subsequently worked for The New Yorker which provided his first
- & last
- regular job. He wrote both fiction & non-fiction
- short stories novels & novellas travel writing profiles reportage memoirs plays & films; his other works include " In Cold Blood" (1965) " Music for Chameleons" (1980) & " Answered Prayers" (1986) all of which are published in " Penguin Modern Classics". If you enjoyed " In Cold Blood" you might like Jack Kerouac & William S. Burroughs' " And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks" also available in " Penguin Modern Classics". " It is the American dream turning into the American nightmare... By juxtaposing & dovetailing the lives & values of the Clutters & those of the killers Capote produces a stark image of the deep doubleness of American life.. .a remarkable book." (" Spectator")."


...

In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder & its Consequences" is considered by many to be the first work of the true crime genre. In this groundbreaking book Truman Capote reconstructs the murder of the Clutter family from information provided by newspaper articles & interviews. ' Dick became convinced that Perry was that rarity "a natural killer"
- absolutely sane but conscienceless & capable of dealing with or without motive the coldest-blooded deathblows'. On 15 November 1959 the small town of Holcomb Kansas a wealthy farmer his wife & their two young children were found brutally murdered. Blood all over the walls the telephone lines cut & only a few dollars stolen. Heading up the investigation is Agent Al Dewey but all he has are two footprints four bodies & a whole lot of questions. Truman Capote's detailed reconstruction of the events & consequences of that fateful night " In Cold Blood" is a chilling gripping mix of journalistic skill & imaginative power. " The American dream turning into the American nightmare. A remarkable book". (" Spectator"). " One of the most stupendous books of the decade". (" Sunday Express"). Truman Capote was one of the most significant American authors of the twentieth century known for his highly acclaimed books including: " Breakfast at Tiffany's" "A Tree of Night & Other Stories" & " The Grass Harp". In " Cold Blood" & " Breakfast at Tiffany's" have been selected for the " Penguin Essentials" series of books considered some of the twentieth century's most important reads."
...

WINNER of the 2013 Printz Award. In darkness I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive. Two: there is no two. In the aftermath of the Haitian earthquake a boy is trapped beneath the rubble of a ruined hospital thirsty terrified & alone. Shorty is a child of the slums a teenage boy who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime & who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule Site Soley; men who dole out money with one hand & death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that blazes inside him & a burning wish to find the twin sister he lost seven years ago.. . ...

In darkness I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One. I am alive. Two. There is no two. Haiti 2010: in the aftermath of the earthquake a boy lies trapped beneath the rubble: terrified thirsty & alone. Shorty is a child of the slums a teenager who has seen enough violence to last a lifetime & who has been inexorably drawn into the world of the gangsters who rule his broken city: men who dole out money with one hand & death with the other. But Shorty has a secret: a flame of revenge that burns inside him fuelling his determination to find his beloved twin sister stolen from him five years ago. In the darkness the lines between the present & the past begin to blur & as Shorty fights for life his struggle becomes part of a two-hundred-year-old story
- a story of courage & betrayal of freedom & of hope. Shorty may not be quite as alone as he believes...
...

Michael Pollans In Defence of Food" is a simple invitation to junk the science ditch the diet & instead rediscover the joys of eating well. This book is a celebration of food. By food Michael Pollan means real proper simple food
- not the kind that comes in a packet or has lists of unpronounceable ingredients or that makes nutritional claims about how healthy it is. More like the kind of food your great-grandmother would recognize. By following a few pieces of advice (Eat at a table
- a desk doesnt count. Dont buy food where youd buy your petrol!) you will enrich your life & your palate & enlarge your sense of what it means to be healthy & happy. Its time to fall in love with food again. " Brings home the real wonder of eating food". (" Sunday Times"). " Instantly makes redundant all diet books & 99 per cent of discussions around healthy eating... Sense at last". (" Daily Mail"). " Pollan invites us to grab our pots & pans & cook some real food for dinner". (" Time Out"). " Read this witty book for a healthier life & diet". (" The Times"). " Eminently sensible". (Fay Maschler " Keynote"). "A must-read.. .satisfying rich.. .loaded with flavour". (" Sunday Telegraph"). For the past twenty years Michael Pollan has been writing about the places where the human & natural worlds intersect: food agriculture gardens drugs & architecture. His most recent book about the ethics & ecology of eating is " The Omnivores Dilemma" named one of the ten best books of 2006 by the " New York Times" & the " Washington Post". He is also the author of " The Botany of Desire" "A Place of My Own" & " Second Nature"."

...

Is global emancipation a lost cause? Are universal values outdated relics of an earlier age? In this combative major new work philosophical sharpshooter Slavoj A i A ek takes on the reigning ideology with a plea that we should reappropriate several lost causes & looks for the kernel of truth in the totalitarian politics of the past. Examining Heidegger's seduction by fascism & Foucault's flirtation with the Iranian Revolution he suggests that these were the right steps in the wrong direction. Highlighting the revolutionary terror of Robespierre Mao & the Bolsheviks A i A ek argues that while these struggles ended in historic failure & monstrosity this is not the entire story. There was in fact a redemptive moment that gets lost in the outright liberal-democratic rejection of revolutionary authoritarianism & the valorization of soft consensual decentralized politics. A i A ek claims that particularly in the light of the forthcoming ecological crisis we should reinvent revolutionary terror & the dictatorship of the proletariat in the struggle for universal emancipation. We need to courageously accept the return to this cause
- even if we court the risk of a catastrophic disaster. In the words of Samuel Beckett: Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
...

Dare she disobey the King? Kiara Fredrick is living an ordinary life until one whirlwind romance with Sheikh Azrin & the largest diamond ring in the Khatan desert later Kiara discovers that not only is she a princess but shes also become public property overnight. As Azrin stands to take the throne Kiara discovers that royal life might be enough to destroy their once strong marriage... But Kings of Khatan do not divorce
- & Queens of Khatan should know better than to ask... Can Kiara remain defiant in the face of a craving hotter than the scorching desert sands?
...

Nora Roberts
- The World's Greatest Storyteller. IN DREAMS Drawn to a castle in the forests of Ireland a beautiful young woman
...

A novel that fearlessly explores the line between principled defiance & blind fanaticism John Steinbecks In Dubious Battle" contains an introduction & notes by Warren French in " Penguin Modern Classics". This book is brutal. I wanted to be merely a recording consciousness Steinbeck said of " In Dubious Battle" which aroused immense controversy when first published in 1936. It follows the fortunes of Jim Nolan disenfranchised & alone his family destroyed by the system. Desperate to find his place in the world Jim joins the Communist Party & becomes entangled in a strike of migrant workers which spirals out of control unflinchingly detailing the apocalyptic violence that breaks out when the masses become the mob. This fast-paced compelling novel is at once a brilliant observation of social & political turmoil & a moving story of a young mans struggle for identity. " In Dubious Battle" explores & dramatises many of the ideas & themes key to Steinbecks writing. John Steinbeck (1902-68) winner of the Pulitzer Prize & the Nobel Prize for literature is remembered as one of the greatest & best-loved American writers of the twentieth century. During the Second World War Steinbeck served as a war correspondent his journalism later collected in " Once There Was a War" (1958) & he was awarded the Norwegian Cross of Freedom for his portrayal in " The Moon is Down" (1942) of Resistance efforts in northern Europe. His best-known works include the epics " The Grapes of Wrath" (1939) & " East of Eden" (1952) & his tragic novella " Of Mice & Men" (1937). John Steinbecks complete works are published in " Penguin Modern Classics". If you enjoyed " In Dubious Battle" you might also like Upton Sinclairs " The Jungle" also available in " Penguin Classics". " Sweeps along with the torrential impetus of a great natural fire impelled by a poetic energy". (" Guardian"). " Dramatically intense beautifully written. It is the real thing; it has a vigour of sheer storytelling that may sweep away many prejudices". (" New Republic")." ...