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D-Day as it has never been told beforeIn June 1944, an elite unit of British paratroopers was sent on a daring and highly risky behind-the-lines mission, which was deemed vital to the success of D-Day. Dropping ahead of the main Allied invasion, 9 PARA were tasked with destroying an impregnable German gun battery. If they failed, thousands of British troops landing on the beaches were expected to die. But their mission was flawed and started to go wrong from the moment they jumped from their aircraft above Normandy.Only twenty per cent of the unit made it to the objective and half of them were killed or wounded during the attack. Undermanned and lacking equipment and ammunition, the survivors then held a critical part of the invasion beachhead. For six bloody days, they defended the Breville Ridge against vastly superior German forces and bore the brunt of Rommel's attempt to turn the left flank of the Allied invasion.The Manner of Men is an epic account of courage beyond the limits of human endurance, where paratroopers prevailed despite intelligence failures and higher command blunders, in what has been described as one of the most remarkable feat of arms of the British Army and the Parachute Regiment during World War II.
Colonel Stuart Tootal has served in Germany, Northern Ireland, the Gulf War and during the invasion of Iraq. He also served in the MOD, for which he was awarded the OBE. In 2006, he commanded 3 PARA in Afghanistan and was awarded a DSO for outstanding leadership and gallantry. He subsequently set up the 3 PARA Afghan Trust charity, on leaving the army. He now works in the City and is a defence commentator for a major national TV network, numerous papers and radio programmes. He regularly lectures on leadership in challenging environments and his experiences in Afghanistan to forums. The Manner of Men is his second book.
Details one of the most remarkable feats of arms of the Parachute Regiment during the Second World War.A compelling and human portrait using a wealth of primary sources.Vivid and powerful writing that brings you into the heart of the action.Hour by hour account of D-Day from the first men in.

Perfect for fans of Kate Summerscale, this is the chilling true tale of Dr John Bodkin Adams, the family doctor suspected of murdering 160 of his patients in 1950s Eastbourne.'Was rich Mrs Gertrude Hullett murdered at her luxurious 15-room home on Beachy Head? Detectives are tonight trying to establish the cause of the 50-year old widow's sudden death...' Daily Mail, 1957

In July 1957, the press descended in droves on the south-coast town of Eastbourne. An inquest had just been opened into the suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of Mrs Bobbie Hullett. She died after months of apparent barbiturate abuse - the drugs prescribed to calm her nerves by her close friend and doctor, Dr John Bodkin Adams.

The inquest brought to the surface years of whispered suspicion that had swept through the tea rooms, shops and nursing homes of the town. The doctor's alarming influence over the lives, deaths and finances of wealthy widows had not gone unnoticed - it was rumoured that the family doctor had been on a killing spree that spanned decades and involved 300 suspicious cases. Superintendent Hannam of Scotland Yard was called in to investigate.

The Curious Habits of Dr Adams brilliantly brings to life the atmosphere of post-war England, and uses a wealth of new documents to follow the twists and turns of an extraordinary Scotland Yard murder enquiry. As expertly crafted as the best period detective novel, this book casts an entertainingly chilling light on a man reputed to be one of England's most prolific serial killers. '[A] pacy account of a gruesome murder trial [and] a compelling piece of social history...shines a light on a dark age for women'.'Not just a compelling read but it also an intriguing slice of social history''Like its hero, The Magnificent Spilsbury teems with promise''A cracking good read . . . Robins should prepare herself for a summer bestseller''Gripping. The Magnificent Spilsbury teems with promise''A riveting and beautifully written book.''Outstanding. The book is about a pre-war conman who drowned his wives in the bath. It made my jaw drop''Part-whodunit thriller, part-social history, part-biography...this is a pacy page-turner underpinned by meticulous primary source research. Frankly, it's a treat.. as satisfying as a fine thriller''Written with economy, elegance and wit, the book grips with the ghoulish fascination of a murder mystery while educating about the unhappy role of women in Edwardian society'Jane Robins is a distinguished writer and journalist. Her previous book, THE MAGNIFICENT SPILSBURY AND THE CASE OF THE BRIDES IN THE BATH, was a critically acclaimed account of a gripping series of murders and the birth of forensic science.Incredibly gripping tale of one of the worst serial killers England has ever seen. Dr Adams was a precursor to Harold Shipman.Reads like fiction - a murder mystery in the Agatha Christie tradition of country homes filled with servants and secrets.

Criminal. Killer. Hero.

Welcome to Low Town.Here, the criminal is king. The streets are filled with the screeching of fish hags, the cries of swindled merchants, the inviting murmurs of working girls. Here, people can disappear, and the lacklustre efforts of the guard ensure they are never found.

Warden is an ex-soldier who has seen the worst men have to offer; now a narcotics dealer with a rich, bloody past and a way of inviting danger. You'd struggle to find someone with a soul as dark and troubled as his.

But then a missing child, murdered and horribly mutilated, is discovered in an alley.

And then another.

With a mind as sharp as a blade and an old but powerful friend in the city, he's the only man with a hope of finding the killer.

If the killer doesn't find him first.



WINNER OF THE PRIX IMAGINALES AWARD FOR BEST FOREIGN NOVEL IN 2012.

'Saturated with world-weary snark, this is a thoroughly entertaining page-turner which wears its world building lightly. 4 stars'

'Polansky's writing is confident and punchy from the offset. The action rips along at a brilliant pace allowing us to experience this gritty world through the eyes of a thrilling, dangerous, flawed, yet strangely endearing protagonist. This is modern, dark fantasy at its best and a debut to be envied.'

'Quite brilliant... The Straight Razor Cure is as good a debut as I've read in along time. [It] has it all - and as the name suggests, it is sharp, steely and viciously bloody. Highly recommended'

'Polansky hits all the right notes in his intelligent first novel, a blend of dystopian fantasy and hard-boiled crime... Sharp, noir-tinged dialogue and astute insights into class struggle mark Polansky as a writer with a future'

'A strong debut novel with a hero who doesn't waste time worrying about the moral implications of cutting someone's throat'

'Polansky transplants his love of crime noir into a magic-steeped, secondary-world fantasy setting. It's an inherently troublesome mash-up that could only work in the hands of a silly satirist or a deft, sensitive dramatist with the blackest sense of humor. Polansky is wholeheartedly the latter - and Low Town is brilliant proof ... Wielding vivid characters and scalpel-sharp banter worthy of fellow dark fantasists Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie, Polansky ratchets up the pace ... Polansky has managed to craft an assured, roaring, and rollicking hybrid, a cross-genre free-for-all that relishes its tropes while spitting out their bones. And he does it all while spinning one hell of a gripping mystery'

'I can't remember when I last enjoyed a fantasy book this much'

'Daniel Polansky has crafted a thrilling novel steeped in noir sensibilities and relentless action, and set in an original world of stunning imagination, leading to a gut-wrenching, unforeseeable conclusion. Low Town is an attention-grabbing debut that will leave readers riveted . . . and hungry for more'

'An impossible to put down read, showing how dark fantasy can truly be'

'The Straight Razor Cure is dark, eloquent work filled with a very real presence that permeates both the world and the characters within it. Polansky has created a wickedly delicious fantasy that leaves a profound impression on the reader. Despite the plague, murderers and dark magic, I can't wait to pay another visit to Low Town'

'Polansky brings this world to life with many well-chosen phrases, so that you get the smell and the feel of the place living with you as you read. And unpleasant as it may be at times, Low Town is somewhere you'll want to return to soon.'Daniel Polansky was born in Baltimore, Maryland. He can be found in Brooklyn, when he isn't somewhere else. His debut novel, THE STRAIGHT RAZOR CURE, received great acclaim. TOMORROW, THE KILLING is the second novel in his 'Low Town' series.One of the best fantasy debuts in years. Totally unique and beguiling in its use of language, its world building, its edge-of-the-seat action scenes and its wry humour.Epic fantasy has been all about Assassin's Fantasy lately, and this is a great example that will appeal to a computer gamer market as well as a broad range of fantasy traditionalists.Daniel is only 26 but writes with astonishing mastery and confidence, and we have signed him for another two books.

THE STRAIGHT RAZOR CURE won the Prix Imaginales for best foreign novel in 2012.

John Murray (Publishers) are delighted to announce the acquisition of The King's Grave by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones

The final book of the Saladin TrilogyIn HOLY WAR, the final book of the Saladin Trilogy, telling the story of the legendary war leader who united Arabia, Saladin recaptures Jerusalem from the Crusaders, and prepares for his ultimate battle against Richard the Lionheart. A full-blooded historical adventure novel for all fans of Conn Iggulden, Bernard Cornwell, Anthony Riches, Ben Kane, Robyn Young and Simon Scarrow.While Saladin ruthlessly sets about uniting the whole of Arabia under his rule, the Kingdom of Jerusalem is torn apart by treachery and intrigue, and when the murderous knight Reynald of Chatillon raids a caravan heading from Damascus to Mecca and rapes Saladin's sister, the scene is set for war.

In June 1187, Saladin marches into the Kingdom with an army of over 24,000 and imposes a crushing defeat on the Crusader forces at the Horns of Hattin. It is only a matter of time before he marches on a panicked and demoralized Jerusalem.

But what about Saladin's longtime ally, the Saxon knight John of Tatewic? In the face of annihilation, is he friend or foe? It will take all John's knowledge of the man he calls his brother to negotiate a peaceful fate for Jerusalem - but this is not the end of the story. For in England the soon-to-be crowned King Richard has pledged revenge and a new Crusade . . .
Praise for Jack Hight:

'An ambitious book written on an ambitious scale . . . a fascinating picture of momentous events'Jack Hight has a doctorate in history from the University of Chicago. He lives with his wife, daughter and dog in Washington, DC. Hight is the author of three acclaimed previous novels: Siege, and the first and second in the Saladin Trilogy: Eagle and Kingdom. You can find out more about Jack Hight and his writing and read his blogs at www.jackhight.com.
Action-packed adventure with true heroism, great historical detail and top weaponry and battle scenes.The trilogy fits into the clearly defined and popular action thriller genre.Superb package to appeal right to the heart of the ever-popular historical fiction market.Continues the story of Saladin from a skinny young boy to one of the greatest war leaders of all time.In the bestselling tradition of Conn Iggulden's bestselling Ghengis Khan series - showing a different perspective on a legendary figure.

The fourth book in the critically acclaimed Peter Cotton seriesFrom the author of ICELIGHT, winner of the 2012 Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, BLACK BEAR is the fourth in the critically acclaimed Peter Cotton series following the fortunes of British spy Peter Cotton as he navigates the treacherous uncertainties of the post-war world. For all fans of John le Carre, Robert Harris, Eric Ambler and Graham Greene.

'Confirms Aly Monroe's genius for creating tension...' Daily Telegraph

Sent to Manhattan as part of the British effort to build intelligence into the new United Nations Organisation 'from the foundations up', Agent Peter Cotton wakes up in the Ogden Clinic on East 76th Street, a private facility reserved for very special patients and veterans.

He is told he was found badly bruised, slumped in a doorway, and that he had been injected with at least three 'truth-drugs'. He is lucky to be alive.

Plagued by vertigo, colour blindness and tunnel vision, and unable to be certain what is real and what hallucinatory, Cotton must piece together what has happened to him, find out who is responsible and why. What he discovers is even more unsettling. His biggest uncertainty? Why he has been allowed to live.
'Confirms Aly Monroe's genius for creating such tension that, while nothing much happens, you don't want things to stop not happening. She's commercial writing's rarest beast - a gloriously defiant individualist''Monroe is terrific at evoking this world''Monroe creates the atmosphere of the time brilliantly . . . an original novel and its people and places are so well described that I was gripped from start to finish''A wonderfully atmospheric book''Once again, Monroe's research is spot on and she paints her supporting cast with so many shades of grey that it makes a John Le Carr? novel look positively straightforward. This is wonderfully atmospheric''Dodgy underhand dealings, political manipulations as well as a labyrinth of twists and turns... Definitely an author to watch''Riveting stuff''The stately pace and avuncular tone belie Monroe's capacity to generate tension and momentum from the most innocuous of incidents, and the political context deliberately foreshadows more famous incidents in the cold-war years ahead, as former allies - Britain, Russia and the US - jockey for position in the post-war years''The Peter Cotton series is getting better and better and in Icelight the internecine squabbling of the security services is a prequel to the real-life problems during the Cold Ware. I'm really looking forward to the next book''The Peter Cotton series by Aly Monroe is proving to be absolutely unmissable'Praise for the Peter Cotton series:

'Splendid . . . enlightening and engaging''Clever and fascinating . . . Reminded me of Graham Greene''Impressive . . . The next can't come too soon''A natural storyteller . . . a cracking atmosphere''it is easy to see why Aly Monroe is fast establishing a large fan base'Ian Fleming fans reading Black Bear might find themselves recalling the opening section of Thunderball and James Bond's retreat to a health spa, but where Bond snapped back into action almost immediately, Cotton's recovery from his brutalising experience forms the framework for the entire novel. This is in part due to the quality of realism that Monroe brings to her storytelling . . . Monroe's gorgeous prose and psychological trauma of a mind unsure that it can trust its own thoughts all add up to a delicately nuanced character sturdyAtmospheric, engrossing and intelligently written, Black Bear tantalises from the very first page until its conclusionHis story is a tense atmospheric narrative where subtle innuendo, smart conversation, superb character profiles and relationships are more important than the action . . . Black Bear, and there are two of them in the story, is a fine addition to a series which has got me hookedAly Monroe was born and educated in England. Trained in linguistics, she has lived abroad - mostly in Spain - and speaks several languages. She is married and has three children. The first three books in the Peter Cotton series, Maze of Cadiz and Washington Shadow and Icelight (winner of the 2012 Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award) are also available from John Murray. You can find out more about Peter Cotton and Aly Monroe via her website, www.alymonroe.com or at www.johnmurray.co.uk, through her official facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Monroe.Aly, and you can follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/monroe_aly.Robert Harris meets Graham Greene.Deeply intelligent fiction with a strong setting.Examines the witch hunt on homosexuals in the 1940s.Set in the treacherous post-war world of shifting alliances that so marks John le Carre's greatest works.

The must-read book for anyone concerned about the present and the future'This is the most important - and fascinating - book yet written about how the digital age with affect our world' Walter Isaacson, author of Steve JobsFrom two leading thinkers, the widely anticipated book that describes a new, hugely connected world of the future, full of challenges and benefits which are ours to meet and harness. The New Digital Age is the product of an unparalleled collaboration: full of the brilliant insights of one of Silicon Valley's great innovators - what Bill Gates was to Microsoft and Steve Jobs was to Apple, Schmidt (along with Larry Page and Sergey Brin) was to Google - and the Director of Google Ideas, Jared Cohen, formerly an advisor to both Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton. Never before has the future been so vividly and transparently imagined. From technologies that will change lives (information systems that greatly increase productivity, safety and our quality of life, thought-controlled motion technology that can revolutionise medical procedures, and near-perfect translation technology that allows us to have more diversified interactions) to our most important future considerations (curating our online identity and fighting those who would do harm with it) to the widespread political change that will transform the globe (through transformations in conflict, increasingly active and global citizenries, a new wave of cyber-terrorism and states operating simultaneously in the physical and virtual realms) to the ever present threats to our privacy and security, Schmidt and Cohen outline in great detail and scope all the promise and peril awaiting us in the coming decades. A breakthrough book - pragmatic, inspirational and totally fascinating. Whether a government, a business or an individual, we must understand technology if we want to understand the future.
'A brilliant guidebook for the next century . . . Schmidt and Cohen offer a dazzling glimpse into how the new digital revolution is changing our lives' Richard Branson'This is a book that defines both the nature of the new world which the internet is creating; and its challenges. It describes a technological revolution in the making. How we navigate it is a challenge for countries, communities and citizens. There are no two people better equipped to explain what it means than Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen''At last, a brilliant guide book for the next century - what the future holds for entrepreneurs, revolutionaries, politicians and ordinary citizens alike. Schmidt and Cohen offer a dazzling glimpse into how the new digital revolution is changing our lives. This book is the most insightful exploration of our future world that I have ever read, and once I started reading I was simply unable to put it down''Every day, technological innovations are giving people around the world new opportunities to shape their own destinies. In this fascinating book, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen draw upon their unique experiences to show us a future of rising incomes, growing participation, and a genuine sense of community - if we make the right choices today''Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen's thoughtful, well-researched work elucidates the staggering impact of technology on our daily lives, as well as what surprising and incredible developments the future may hold. Readers might be left with more questions than answers, but that's the idea - we are at our best when we ask "What's next?"''Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen have produced a searching meditation on technology and world order. Even those who disagree with some of their conclusions will learn much from this thought-provoking volume''The New Digital Age is must reading for anyone who wants to truly understand the depths of the digital revolution. Combining the skills of a social scientist and a computer scientist, Cohen and Schmidt blend the technical and the human, the scientific and the political, in ways I rarely saw while in government. They challenge the reader's imagination on almost every page. Indeed, what will be the impact of virtual and physical worlds coexisting, the first generation of humans to have an indelible record, or more frequent revolutions without resolution as the digital age nurtures more celebrities than leaders. And these questions are just the beginning. Read on''This is the book I have been waiting for: a concise and persuasive description of technology's impact on war, peace, freedom and diplomacy. The New Digital Age is a guide to the future written by two experts who possess a profound understanding of humanity's altered prospects in a wireless world. There are insights on every page and surprising conclusions (and questions) in every chapter. For experts and casual readers alike, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen have produced an indispensable book''This is the most important - and fascinating - book yet written about how the digital age will affect our world. With vivid examples and brilliant analysis, it shows how the internet and other communications technologies will empower individuals and transform the way nations and businesses operate. How will different societies make tradeoffs involving privacy, freedom, control, security, and the relationship between the physical and virtual worlds? This realistic but deeply optimistic book provides the guideposts. It's both profoundly wise and wondrously readable''The New Digital Age: Reshaping the Future of People, Nations and Business offers an intriguing fusion of ideas and insights about how the virtual world is intersecting with the "Westphalian order". It seeks a balance between the discontinuities of technologists' "revolutions" and the traditionalism of internationalists' study of states, power, and behaviour. The authors explain that technology is not a panacea, yet the uses of technology can make a world of difference. This book should launch a valuable debate about the practical implications of this new connectivity for citizens and policy makers, societies and governments''Few people in the world are doing more to imagine - and build - The New Digital Age than Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen. With this book, they are looking into their crystal ball and inviting the world to peek in''We have long needed an incisive study of how the ever evolving world of technology leaves almost no aspect of life unchanged. We have it in The New Digital Age. Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen offer a rigorous approach to decoding what the future holds in a story that is as well written and entertaining as it is important''Starting with a simple, powerful and terrifying observation - that "the internet is among the few things humans have built that they don't truly understand" - this fascinating book takes you on a wonderfully stimulating and important journey. It will make you rethink your concepts of the digital age, the way the world works, what lies ahead, and what all this means for you, your family and your community. You don't need to know much about technology to benefit from this incredibly insightful book. Using their repeatedly-tested talents and their highly successful experiences, Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen brilliantly detail for us how the digital age is rapidly altering the balance of power between citizens and governments, between the physical and virtual worlds, and between good and bad. Whether we like or not, technology is fundamentally changing the manner in which we all interact and depend on each other - and in an accelerating manner whose scale and scope remain obscure for too many of us. This brilliant book is a must read for all those seeking to understand, and navigate well a fundamental structural shift that will play a critical role in determining the wellbeing of current and future generations'Serious and informative . . . this is an important book, partly as an account of what may happen, but mainly as a picture of the present mind-set of Silicon ValleySchmidt and Cohen are right to point to the disruptive effects of pervasive new communications medium such as the internet either to liberate or to destabilise, depending on which side of the fence you are onThe New Digital Age is the most ambitious attempt to date to sketch the contours of the world that will emerge as a result of the penetration of electronic networking into every corner of the globe and every part of people's lives . . . the thoroughness is - to use a sophomore clich? - awesomeThe writers are at their most persuasive when talking about the link between people and technology: their faith in human ingenuity leads to an optimistic vision . . . a clear and thorough thesis suggesting that the world we are forging with the web is a better one than we have at the momentThe New Digital Age is a considered workMakes sense of the infinite and terrifying possibilities of tomorrowEric Schmidt is the Executive Chairman of Google. Prior to joining Google, he was the chairman and CEO of Novell and has held senior positions at a number of illustrious technology companies. He has a degree in electrical engineering from Princeton University as well as a master's and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He is also a member of President Obama's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Jared Cohen is Director of Google Ideas and an Adjunct Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, he served as a member of the State Department's Policy Planning Staff and a close advisor to Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, where he focused on the Middle East, South Asia, counter-terrorism, and the development of "21st century statecraft." He was personally responsible for intervening to keep Twitter operating during the 2009 Green Revolution in Iran. He has a BA from Stanford University and an M.Phil in International Relations from Oxford University. He is fluent in Swahili.As the Executive Chairman of Google and the architect of its success over the last decade, nobody is better placed to write this book than Eric SchmidtJared Cohen is a Director of Google Ideas, leading the forward thinking of the companyGoogle is the most influential company of our times - nobody involved in government, business or society anywhere in the world can afford to be without this bookAccessibly written and packed with mind-expanding ideas

An insider's view of one of the events that shaped the modern world.The Iranian Revolution of 1979 was a turning-point in modern history. The destruction of the Iranian monarchy not only upset the political order in the Middle East and brought on a quarter-century of warfare, but introduced a new way to look at history.

In Days of God James Buchan lives each moment of the revolution through the eyes of ordinary people as he tries to answer his own troubling question: why did his friends, with their peculiar Iranian dreaminess and charm, act the way they did?
'James Buchan trains a more scientific eye on how Iran's wealth-creator king was replaced with a Shia divine uninterested in modern government. He mines the literature in Persian and English to better effect than any historian so far . . . Why did the shah's subjects not accept his notion of history racing to a conclusion in prosperity's glow? In this fine, elegantly written book, Mr Buchan lays out the answer in detail''Marvellous book. It is hard to imagine anyone else possessing the combination of qualities Buchan brings. He has the journalist's analytical eye and the novelist's imagination . . . He can segue between the theology of Qom and the gossip of the Shah's improvised, petrodollar-funded Versailles, swooping all the while onto details either grim or hilarious or both at once that leave the reader scratching his head and wondering how the author can know so much . . . It is written with the ancient historian's ambition - the ambition that Gibbon, Macaulay and Marx would recognise - that the record of humanity's blunders and bloodbaths and half-understandings should itself be an object of elegance and ironic beauty''Buchan's prose is excellent, with the vocabulary, range and atmosphere of a literary master, the clout of the sharp historian, and the ability to leaven history with fascinating snippets of intimate information, delightful, droll or horrifying. His research is thorough . . . This is a compelling, beautifully written history of a country which has produced great literature, art and a warm people whose lives have been manipulated by other countries with ulterior motives and by their own autocratic and theocratic dictators''This book comes alive with a wonderfully detailed and authoritative account of the Shah's final days and the murder and mayhem that followed''Sharply written and persuasive . . . Days of God offers a number of valuable, if frightening insights''Buchan enlists all his narrative skill, learning and panache in this story of modern Iran'

Praise for James Buchan:

'James Buchan writes like a dream'

'A succinct elegant book, written in an easy, conversational tone which never makes its big ideas or profound implications seem intimidating''James Buchan's elegant prose sparkles on the page''Combines deft broad strokes with intricate details, shading in apparent dry subjects with innumerable and delightful anecdotes''A soundly argued account of the causes, course and consequences of the revolution . . . Buchan, a Persian scholar and former Financial Times foreign correspondent, puts his first-hand experience of Iran to perceptive use''A superb and original history of the Iranian Revolution. It's essential reading''Buchan is capable of delivering assessment of stark precision''An elegant and textured analysis''Buchan has a sure touch with narrative. Days of God is skilfully constructed, deftly weaving a path through the thickets of complex events while displaying the wider historical background against which this political earthquake was staged'Rejecting theory, Buchan relies on old-fashioned virtues: a careful reading of the Persian and foreign sources, his immersion in the country's culture (he was a star Persionist at Oxford) and an instinct for the events and personalities that turned Iran from Middle East poster boy to society in upheaval. Buchan brings a keen, satirical eye to the story of a corrupt, intrigue-ridden court and a modernising Shah who cut through traditional Iran as if "the conflicts of centuries were being squeezed into half a dozen years"Elegant and pugnaciousHis story of the revolution is the best book on Iran I have ever read. He has the pen of the travel writer Robert Byron, and a trove of Persian poetry and lore shines from every page. Shafts of insight alternate with piercing wit, and his ironic dissection of both the shah and the ayatollah would do credit to GibbonAn outstanding analysis of the legacy of Iran's revolution

James Buchan first visited Iran nearly forty years ago. A student of Persian and Arabic, he was for many years a correspondent of the Financial Times in the Middle East, and later in central Europe and the US. He has written more than a dozen works of fiction and history, including a portrait of Edinburgh in the eighteenth century (CAPITAL OF THE MIND), a biography of the Scottish philosopher Adam Smith (Adam Smith and the Pursuit of Perfect Liberty) and a philosophy of money (Frozen Desire). He works a small farm in Norfolk.

Very topical as situation in Iran back in the newsThe Revolution introduced Islamic radicalism that still troubles the world todayBuchan has had access to newly declassified diplomatic papers and other sources never previously available in the English language

We are witnessing the beginnings of a revolution. Big data - the explosion of information that digitization has sparked - is changing our world in ways we are just starting to appreciate.

Since Aristotle, we have fought to understand the causes behind everything. But this ideology is fading. In the age of big data, we can crunch an incomprehensible amount of information, providing us with invaluable insights about the what rather than the why.

We're just starting to reap the benefits: tracking vital signs to foresee deadly infections, predicting building fires, anticipating the best moment to buy a plane ticket, seeing inflation in real time and monitoring social media in order to identify trends. But there is a dark side to big data. Will it be machines, rather than people, that make the decisions? How do you regulate an algorithm? What will happen to privacy? Will individuals be punished for acts they have yet to commit?In this groundbreaking and fascinating book, two of the world's most-respected data experts reveal the reality of a big data world and outline clear and actionable steps that will equip the reader with the tools needed for this next phase of human evolution.'Just as water is wet in a way that individual water molecules aren't, big data can reveal information in a way that individual bits of data can't. Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier show us the surprising ways that enormous, complex and messy collections of data can be used to predict everything from shopping patterns to flu outbreaks''Every decade, there are a handful of books that change the way you look at everything. This is one of those books. Society has begun to reckon the change that big data will bring. This book is an incredibly important start''An optimistic and practical look at the big data revolution - just the thing to get your head around the big changes already underway and the bigger changes to come''In Big Data, Mayer-Schonberger and Cukier break new ground in identifying how today's avalanche of information fundamentally shifts our basic understanding of the world. Argued boldly and written beautifully, the book clearly shows how companies can unlock value, how policymakers need to be on guard, and how everyone's cognitive models need to change''This brilliant book cuts through the mystery and the hype surrounding big data. A must-read for anyone in business, information technology, public policy, intelligence, and medicine. And anyone else who is just plain curious about the future''The book teems with great insights on the new ways of harnessing information, and offers a convincing vision of the future. It is essential reading for anyone who uses - or is affected by - big data''Big Data is a must-read for anyone who wants to stay ahead of one of the key trends defining the future of business'An excellent primerFascinatingRaises profound questionsAn elegant and readable primer

Viktor Mayer-Sch?nberger is Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford University, following a decade on the faculty of Harvard's Kennedy School. He is one of the most respected authorities on what is happening in the big data arena. His book, Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age, is considered a seminal work on the ever-presence of data.

Kenneth Neil Cukier is the Data Editor of The Economist and writes widely on what is happening in the big data arena. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His writing on technology, business and economics has appeared in Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Financial Times and elsewhere.

Big data is going to change the way our world works - imminentlyAn incredibly timely and important book from two of the most well-respected and well-positioned people in the fieldDemonstrates where and how big data applications impact the lives of everyone, using anecdotes and instances that every reader can relate to

In OSCAR WILDE AND THE MURDERS AT READING GAOL, the sixth in Gyles Brandreth's acclaimed Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries series featuring Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle, Reading Gaol's most famous prisoner is pitted against a ruthless and fiendishly clever serial killer. 'Intelligent, amusing and entertaining' Alexander McCall Smith

In OSCAR WILDE AND THE MURDERS AT READING GAOL, the sixth in Gyles Brandreth's acclaimed Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries series featuring Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle, Reading Gaol's most famous prisoner is pitted against a ruthless and fiendishly clever serial killer. 'Intelligent, amusing and entertaining' Alexander McCall Smith

It is 1897, Dieppe. Oscar Wilde, poet, playwright, novelist, raconteur and ex-convict, has fled the country after his release from Reading Gaol. Tonight he is sharing a drink and the story of his cruel imprisonment with a mysterious stranger. He has endured a harsh regime: the treadmill, solitary confinement, censored letters, no writing materials. Yet even in the midst of such deprivation, Oscar's astonishing detective powers remain undiminished - and when first a brutal warder and then the prison chaplain are found murdered, who else should the governor turn to for help other than Reading Gaol's most celebrated inmate?

In this, the latest novel in his acclaimed Oscar Wilde murder mystery series, Gyles Brandreth takes us deep into the dark heart of Wilde's cruel incarceration.

'A cast of historical characters to die for'

'Genius . . . Wilde has sprung back to life in this thrilling and richly atmospheric new novel'

'A witty fin-de-siecle entertainment . . . rattlingly elegant dialogue'

'Very entertaining'

'A flight of imagination that partners Oscar Wilde and Arthur Conan Doyle in a deadly pursuit to the heart of the Eternal City merits a round of applause for sheer chutzpah . . . Gyles Brandreth succeeds magnificently . . . The relationship between the two writers is drawn so convincingly, but there is also dialogue of the period without any Victorian heaviness and a plot that is intriguing throughout. Brandreth's research is impeccable. Literary and theological references merge easily into a skilfully crafted story that goes all the way to meet the standards set by his two eminent protagonists'

'Brandreth has always delighted in puzzles, in the quirks of both the past and present, and in the gloriously camp wit of Oscar Wilde. Here all of these things come together in a story that reminds us how enjoyable a well-told traditional murder mystery can be'

'Brandreth's deftly plotted, entertaining escapades double as historical novels of considerable merit . . . Brandreth is a deft hand at weaving plot, historical atmosphere and entertaining characters'

'Brandreth's portrait of Oscar Wilde is entirely plausible; plots are ingenious and the historical backgroud is fascinating'

'Hugely enjoyable'

'Cleverly plotted, intelligent and thoroughly diverting . . . This novel is an educated page-turner; a feast of intriguing and light-hearted entertainment'

'A carnival of cliff-hangers and fiendish twists-and-turns . . . The joy of the book . . . is the rounded and compelling presentation of the character of Wilde . . . The imaginary and the factual are woven together with devilish ingenuity. Brandreth also gives his hero speeches of great beauty and wisdom and humanity'

'Packed with colourful characters and unlikely adventures . . . this latest instalment in Brandreth's clever and unapologetically entertaining Oscar Wilde series will not disappoint'

'Even the conventional crime novel has its pleasures'

'What sets the novel apart is Brandreth's talent for conveying time and place. The barbarism of close confinement has rarely been so graphically and movingly portrayed'

'The curse of fictionalising well-known characters is having to manoeuvre within the facts, but Brandreth manages it superlatively. This is light stuff, but energetic, and Brandreth clearly has Wilde at heart'

Praise for the Oscar Wilde Series

'Gyles Brandreth and Oscar Wilde seem made for each other'

Gyles Brandreth is a writer, performer, former MP and government whip whose career has ranged from hosting Have I Got News For You to starring in his own award-winning musical revue in London's West End. Currently a reporter with The One Show on BBC1 and a regular on Radio 4's Just a Minute, his acclaimed Victorian detective stories - The Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries - are now being published in nineteen countries around the world and are currently in development for TV. All six books in the series, Oscar Wilde and the Candellight Murders, Oscar Wilde and the Ring of Death, Oscar Wilde and the Dead Man's Smile, Oscar Wilde and the Nest of Vipers, Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders and Oscar Wilde and the Murders at Reading Gaol are available from John Murray. You can find out more about the Oscar Wilde Murder Mysteries at www.oscarwildemurdermysteries.com and at www.johnmurray.co.uk and about Gyles at www.gylesbrandreth.net.

6th in the acclaimed Oscar Wilde murder mystery series

TV series in development with Stephen Fry's Sprout Pictures

Now sold in over 19 countries

A fantastically atmospheric, sexually charged novel by the acclaimed author of The Cutting Room.Jane and Petra have been together for six years and after deciding to have a child, they move to Petra's hometown, Berlin. But things do not quite go according to plan. Jane, at six months pregnant, finds herself increasingly isolated and preoccupied with the monuments and reminders of the Holocaust which echo around the city - imagining the horrors that happened in the spaces around her. She becomes uneasy in the apartment and conceives a dread of the derelict backhouse across the courtyard. She also begins to suspect their neighbour, Alban Mann, of sexually assaulting his daughter, and places a phone call to the police which holds more significance than she can ever have known . . .Louise Welsh's taut new novel at times feels like a potent cross between The Yellow Wallpaper and Rear Window . . . Welsh expertly conveys the escalation of Jane's suspicions to something approaching obsession'An impressive psychological chiller''Sharply rendered . . . The reader's anxiety is heightened by a myriad of small tensions . . . Welsh keeps the reader turning to pursue the multiple stories threading through the pages . . . The writing of crime fiction is, after all, a sort of conjuring trick played on the reader, a welcome deception. Welsh has developed flashing fingers with cards, rabbits and hats'Builds up atmosphere admirablyBrilliantly atmospheric, the tension builds until you are chilled to the coreA taut narrative that plays with our sense of what's real. Brilliant'A stylish and violent Berlin-set thriller''Powerful, impressive and as black as sin''An outstanding work of psychological suspense that will thrill Welsh's existing fans and earn her many more''A portrait of a city haunted by its past, with nods to Don't Look Now and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper, it's a profoundly creepy read''The Girl on the Stairs feels like a ghost story. Taking place in a haunted city, the book's knowing evocation of Don't Look Now, Du Maurier's Venice-set story, is sharpened by the fact that this mother is not grieving the loss of a child but anticipating a birth. Yet what Welsh knows, and brings to a bloody conclusion, is that no supernatural manifestation of our darkest hours is any match for what real human beings can do to each other'Welsh skilfully exposes Jane's growing obsession in a tale that becomes more compelling with every shocking twistA highly effective mystery, told by the kind of unreliable narrator able to rival the very best at keeping you guessing'We've come to expect two things from Welsh: a brilliant sense of location and knuckle-whitening suspense . . . Superbly entertaining''Both chilling and disturbing insights into the female psyche''Wonderfully atmospheric'A masterclass in sustained tension and hold-your-breath suspense'Edgy, tense and a real page-turner''A fast-paced read...this is definately a must read for fans of mystery or psychology''This is a fantastic, dark, edgy and edgy of your seat thriller which will not disappoint fans of Louise Welsh but will also be perfect for fans of Rosamund Lupton and Julia Crouch. Be prepared to loose sleep''The uncertainties and ambiguities kept me guessing to the end . . . The Girl on the Stairs is a dark, psychological thriller, full of atmosphere and claustrophobic tension. I really enjoyed it''A clever Rear Window type thriller . . . You won't be able to put this book down until the very end when there is a surprising twist. I was left with an uncomfortable feeling at the end and am still thinking about this book days after I finished it''A dark haunting novel. The story builds and as the tension incrases I enjoyed it more and more, and felt it got better and better until I was gripped . . . It's a fairly short novel, written in spare prose with evocative descriptive passages and effective dialogue that always adds to the plot progression''The Girl on the Stairs is a gritty, psychological thriller with plenty of suspense, tension and mystery. The twists and turns will have you believing Jane one minute and thinking she's mad the next. A definite page-turner and an excellent read'Skilfully paced and heavily atmospheric'After a history degree from the University of Glasgow, Louise Welsh opened a second hand bookshop, which she ran for several years before becoming a full-time author. She has written four novels and has been the recipient of several awards including The John Creasey Memorial Dagger, the Saltire First Book Award, the Glenfiddich/Scotland on Sunday Spirit of Scotland Writing Award and City of Glasgow Lord Provost's Award for Literature. In 2007 she was named one of the twenty-five authors of the future by Waterstone's. She is currently writer in residence for The University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. Find out more information on her website www.louisewelsh.com

New Book

New Publisher

New Strategy

New Packaging

New Marketing

New PR

New series on its way

Same brilliant writing

Espionage during the First World War

A tense story of a spy undercover during the First World War, Andrew Williams recreates the early years of the Secret Service as evocatively as anything by John le Carr? or Robert Harris. The Poison Tide is the first in a series of novels set in that world and 'possesses a richness of characterisation and intelligence that few thrillers can match' Sunday Times.

1915. German guns are on their way to Ireland. The British government faces its worst nightmare; insurrection at home while it struggles with bloody stalemate on the Western Front. British spy Sebastian Wolff, of the new Secret Service Bureau, is given the task of hunting down its enemies: one a traitor reviled by the society that honoured him as a national hero; the other a German-American doctor who, instead of healing the sick, is developing a terrifying new weapon that he will use in the country of his birth. Wolff's mission will take him undercover into the corridors of power in Berlin, then across the Atlantic in a race against time to prevent the destruction of the ships and supplies Britain so desperately needs to stave off defeat.
'Two novels have established Andrew Williams as an outstanding writer of the historical thriller or spy story. The Poison Tide will only enhance his reputation. It is very good indeed . . . Compelling and smoothly engineered . . .You will be lucky if you come upon a more engrossing and enjoyable historical thriller this year. Or perhaps next year''A first-class thriller . . . possesses a richness of characterisation and intelligence that few can match''A cracking read, a thriller that has heft . . . powerful and forthright''Williams is establishing himself as the master of this historical thriller in which real-life events and characters are given a fictional twist or gloss''This is a very satisfying thriller on many levels. Above all, it's an intelligent thriller: brilliantly researched, superbly crafted and . . . well written''Williams' knowledge of the time, combined with a talent for storytelling, means his historical thrillers are compelling and extremely enjoyable. Williams skilfully creates a character that is honest, ruthless and flawed . . . The Poison Tide is a thoroughly enjoayble read''I really enjoyed this very exciting but fast-paced thriller, with intricately researched details . . . I was gripped until the final page. Well recommended''This fine novel fuses fiction with real-life First World War events . . . It's multi-layered and gripping'

Praise for Andrew Williams:

'Williams contrives an appealing blend of Doctor Zhivago, Conrad's Under Western Eyes and Boris Akunin's 19th-century crime fiction. His ability to bring a past world to life matches Furst's'

'This is a dense, meaty affair which pulls off the trick of gripping the reader and bringing a complicated, alien world to life''He blends historical fact and fiction in a vivid recreation of the world of The Idiot and Crime and Punishment''Elegantly serpentine plotting and finely etched characters confirm his place in the front rank of the new English thriller writers''A very accomplished novel which can be enjoyed as a gripping and moving thriller. Yet it is more than that, for it invites us to reflect on questions of morality, and on that age-old question of when, if ever, violent means may be held to justify worthy ends; whether, indeed, such ends can ever be achieved if the means are inescapably criminal''Andrew Williams takes us very convincingly into the world of idealistic terrorists . . . The atmosphere of time and place is finely realised and the plot is compelling. Best of all, however, is the moral discrimination with which Williams presents his terrorists to us, showing how high ideals may be corrupted by whatever is perceived to be necessary''Exciting . . . an important book for devotees of the spy story''A gripping thriller set in a world of treachery'

After studying English at Oxford University, Andrew Williams worked as a senior producer for the BBC's Panorama and Newsnight programmes, then wrote and directed history documentaries. He is the author of two bestselling non-fiction books and two acclaimed novels, The Interrogator, shortlisted for the Ian Fleming Silver Dagger Award, and To Kill a Tsar, shortlisted for the Ellis Peters Award and the Walter Scott Award, both of which are published by John Murray. You can find out more about Andrew Williams and his writing at www.andrewwilliams.tv and www.johnmurrays.co.uk, and you can follow him on twitter at @AWilliamsWriter or on Facebook.

A darkly comic novel set in modern IndiaSeventeen-year-old Unni has done something terrible. The only clue to his actions lies in a comic strip he has drawn, which has fallen into the hands of his father Ousep - a nocturnal anarchist with a wife who is fantasizing about his early death. Ousep begins investigating the extraordinary life of his son, but as he circles closer and closer to the truth, he unravels a secret that shakes his family to the core.



Set in Madras in the 1990s, where every adolescent male is preparing for the toughest exam in the world, this is a powerful and darkly comic story involving an alcoholic's probe into the minds of the sober, an adolescent cartoonist's dangerous interpretation of absolute truth, an inner circle of talented schizophrenics and the pure love of a 12-year-old boy for a beautiful girl.

'Quite an achievement''Both wittily funny and darkly serious''Joseph's prose is exquisitely phrased without an excess of sentimentality...the confident, immersing voice of ILLICIT HAPPINESS promises readers this is not the last we've heard of Manu Joseph''A refreshing read''There's plenty to enjoy . . . the key revelations are powerful, as a final twist transforms the novel from an offbeat romp to a melancholy take on the age-old story of adolescent desire and its frustrations'Praise for Serious Men:

Manu Joseph's first novel elegantly describes collisions with an unyielding status quo, ably counterpointing the frustrations of the powerless with the unfulfilling realities of power. With this astute comedy of manners he makes a convincing bid for his own recognition as a novelist of serious talent, the latest addition to a roster of Indian writers who are creating fine literary art from their country's fearsome contradictionsManu Joseph's satirical tale of an ostensibly new India still in thrall to its caste-ridden and sexist traditions is so much more than a mere comic caper . . . Sophisticated entertainmentThe finest comic novelists know that a small world can illuminate a culture and an age...with this sad-funny debut Joseph does just thatHe has written a debut novel that skewers a society where new ambitions and older class divisions co-exist. From the contrasts of contemporary India, he extracts pointed, often bitter comedyThe writing is exuberantManu Joseph is a columnist with the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the New York Times. THE ILLICIT HAPPINESS OF OTHER PEOPLE is his second novel. His first darkly comic novel, SERIOUS MEN, won the Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010 and was one of Huffington Post's 10 best books of 2010. He was also shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize, and for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction.A fresh portrait of India from a new literary talent.Compelling storytelling and razor-sharp wit: unputdownable.Set in colourful, modern India.Rivals WHITE TIGER.Joseph's first novel Serious Men gained magnificent reviews.

Manners: the quintessential business of being English.Most of us know a bit about what passes for good manners - holding doors open, sending thank-you notes, no elbows on the table. We certainly know bad manners when we see them. But where has this patchwork of beliefs and behaviours come from? How did manners develop? How do they change? And why do they matter so much to us? In examining our manners, Henry Hitchings delves into the English character and investigates our notions of Englishness.
Sorry! presents an amusing, illuminating and quirky audit of English manners. From basic table manners to appropriate sexual conduct, via hospitality, chivalry, faux pas and online etiquette, Hitchings traces the history of our country's customs and courtesies. Putting under the microscope some of our most astute observers of humanity, including Jane Austen and Samuel Pepys, he uses their lives and writings to pry open the often downright peculiar secrets of the English character. Hitchings' blend of history, anthropology and personal journey helps us understand our bizarre and contested cultural baggage - and ourselves.
'A writer of apparently limitless learning and intelligence, who writes works of scholarship masquerading as popular narrative non-fiction . . . the man is something else''An excellent history, just don't read it at the dinner table . . . this insightful book will give you pause the next time you wipe your nose on the duvet or - social death! - top up your host's glass at a New Year's Eve party''[Hitchings] is a lovely writer, full of interesting ideas and neat turns of phrase''Amusing and enlightening . . . he is particularly insightful in depicting the evolutionary shift manners have taken since they were first codified on paper in the Middle Ages''Hitchings has made a bold, entertaining and often imaginative, assault on a fundamentally impossible subject''Manners is a fascinating subject, and Hitchings handles it with all his customary wit, knowledge and elegance''Highly entertaining and absorbing book''Understated elegance . . . it is itself an impeccably well-mannered and deeply English product''Witty and sharp . . . full of diverting nuggets and anecdotes . . . elegantly written''A scholarly study of English manners''Illuminating and entertaining''Hitching's shares provocative opinions . . . he exhibits an appetite for confounding myths about social mores''Endlessly entertaining''Diverting new book'An elegant and erudite book . . . Hitchings has an encyclopaedic mind, but like the well-mannered Englishman he is, wears his learning lightlyHenry Hitchings was born in 1974. He has contributed to many newspapers and magazines and is theatre critic for the Evening Standard.An ambitious, informative and hugely entertaining survey of English manners past and presentHenry Hitchings' language book, The Secret Life of Words, won the John Llewellyn Rhys PrizeFor fans of Watching the English, this is a wonderfully amusing and endearing look at how English manners have developed, and why they matter

Being Human in a Digital WorldThe digital age.

An age of isolation, warped communication, disintegrating community. Where unfiltered and unregulated information pours relentlessly into our lives, destroying what it means to be human. Or an age of marvels. Where there is a world of wonder at our fingertips. Where we can communicate across the globe, learn in the blink of an eye, pull down the barriers that divide us and move forward together.

Whatever your reaction to technological culture, the speed with which our world is changing is both mesmerising and challenging.

In The Blind Giant, novelist and tech blogger Nick Harkaway draws together fascinating and disparate ideas to challenge the notion that digital culture is the source of all our modern ills, while at the same time showing where the dangers are real and suggesting how they can be combated. Ultimately, the choice is ours: engage with the machines that we have created, or risk creating a world which is designed for corporations and computers rather than people. This is an essential handbook for everyone trying to be human in a digital age.

'Harkaway approaches technology not as a proselytiser but simply as a human being. This is the book's great strength: a warm, intelligent, trustworthy sensibility. The language is at times exquisite, and there are enough aphorisms to embellish PowerPoint presentations in Shoreditch for decades to come'  

'Harkaway is a qualified optimist on new technology and social  media'

'Harkaway has some big things to say about the current state of the world and he does so in an unassuming way, using his wry personal reminiscence to illustrate his point'

Nick Harkaway is the author of two novels, The Gone-Away World and Angelmaker, and a regular blogger for the Bookseller's FutureBook website. From 1999 to 2008, he was a jobbing scriptwriter. During that time he also wrote brochure copy for a company selling bottle-capping machinery, and the website text for an exclusive lingerie boutique.

He lives in London with his wife Clare, a human rights lawyer, and his daughter Clemency, an infant.

Hugely promotable author - successful novelist and leading tech-blogger - with a great online presence

A timely book about technology for real people, will attract major media attention

The authorized biography shortlisted for Waterstones Book of the Year, the National Book Awards and the Costa Biography Award

Patrick Leigh Fermor (1915-2011) was a war hero whose exploits in Crete are legendary, and above all he is widely acclaimed as the greatest travel writer of our times, notably for his books about his walk across pre-war Europe, A Time of Gifts and Between the Woods and the Water; he was a self-educated polymath, a lover of Greece and the best company in the world.

Artemis Cooper has drawn on years of interviews and conversations with Paddy and his closest friends as well as having complete access to his archives. Her beautifully crafted biography portrays a man of extraordinary gifts - no one wore their learning so playfully, nor inspired such passionate friendship.

'Artemis Cooper's funny, wise, learned but totally candid biography reveals Leigh Fermor to be an adventurer through and through . . . page-turning'

'Artemis Cooper's definitive biography draws on many years' encounters with Fermor, and is probably the most important travel-related book of the year'

'Patrick Leigh Fermor survived enough assaults on his existence to make Rasputin seem like a quitter . . . He was elegant as a cat, darkly handsome, unboreable, curious, fearless, fortunate, blessed with a near eidetic memory, and is surely one of the great English prose stylists of his generation . . . At last his biography has been detailed in full, in Artemis Cooper's tender and excellent book'

'This book is a primer for those poor souls yet to encounter his work, and a valuable, decoding manual for the multitude who believe that Leigh Fermor's trilogy about his youthful walk from the Hook of Holland to Istanbul marks one of the high points of twentieth-century English prose . . . Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover'

'Xenophilia is as English as Stilton. In one of the wonderful letters quoted in this perceptive, haunting and highly readable biography, Patrick Leigh Fermor called living in England "like living in the heart of a lettuce. I pine for hot stones and thorns and olive trees and prickly pears"'

'Happy the hero who, after a lifetime of glorious achievement, in death finds a biographer worthy of his memory. Artemis Cooper . . . makes this marvellous book less a mere life story than an evocation. [Patrick Leigh Fermor] is justly commemorated in this magnificent biography, and will surely be remembered for ever as one of the very best of men'

'Magnificent . . . Cooper's book is the perfect memorial to this remarkable man . . . For those of us who loved him and his work, and for a whole generation of writers who set off in his footsteps, he was the exemplar, showing how magnificently an English life could still be lived. He remains . . . the model to which we still aspire'

'Whether describing a night attack on Crete, a love affair or the political tensions over Cyprus that poisoned Anglo-Greek relations after the Second World War, she writes with a cool hand and clear head. Her book lives up to the majesty of the man'

'Artemis Cooper has done a brilliant job. The story rips along, as Leigh Fermor's life did, with friends and lovers, books and journeys and parties. And in the quieter moments we are left with something far more enduring: a man for whom the world was endlessly fascinating, and who found that he could create for his readers with carefully crafted words the same wonder that it gave him'

'The outstanding achievement in literary biography this year'

'It is not easy writing a biography of someone who has poured so much of his life into his books, but Artemis Cooper has done a brilliant job'

'In a splendid biography Artemis Cooper shows how a rather frustrated young man, who found it difficult to conform, changed the course of his life by undertaking an extraordinary journey . . . Cooper has done a sterling job in recounting his time on Crete'

'He is the greatest travel writer of the last century, a master of English prose . . . no one has written so well about what it is like to be young and hopeful, with one's future spread before one. Artemis Cooper has done him proud'

'Artemis Cooper carries us on a calm, confident journey . . . Cooper has mastered a tremendous amount of material'

'Artemis Cooper winningly followed in the footsteps of the great charmer, warrior and yarn-spinner'

'Artemis Cooper's biography proved magnificently that a somewhat over-eulogised hero could be well worth the eulogising after all'

'There's a true biographical treat in store with the long-awaited arrival of . . . Patrick Leigh Fermor, the sure-to-be glorious life of the twentieth century's greatest Hellenic traveller'

'Excellent, well-sourced'

'By any standards, Patrick Leigh Fermor led an extraordinary life'

'Artemis Cooper draws on years of interviews with the author and his friends in this much-anticipated biography'

'Fermor emerges as a man determined to live on his own terms, if not his own means, and who mostly - and most magnificently - succeeded'

'I also adored Artemis Cooper's biography of my favourite travel writer . . . in her new biography Cooper has left the perfect memorial to this remarkable man, which is as full of joie de vivre as its subject'

'An outstanding account of an extraordinary life; tender and evocative, without ever hardening into hagiography'

'The life of an immensely charming man . . . compelling, funny and wise'

'In describing Leigh Fermor's life, Artemis Cooper had often to revisit a told tale while correcting detail, expounding and inserting context. It was not an easy commission, and she has delivered it brilliantly . . . Artemis Cooper's fine biography gives colour and substance to the adventure, and a delicate, sympathetic portrait of the man who made it his life'

'An admirably fair-minded portrait of the celebrated travel writer and adventurer'

'It is not easy to convey the flavour of a man whose fame to a large extent rests on his ebullient personality and conversation but Ms Cooper succeeds admirably in this readable and entertaining book'

'A fine friendly, biography of a heroic, headlong character'

'Unputdownable biography'

'Artemis Cooper has done a fine job of documenting his travels'

'Tender and excellent'

'Meticulously researched'

'Artemis Cooper . . . has done him proud'

'[Patrick Leigh Fermor's] experiences have been rubbed smooth by much telling, often inaccurate as well as humdrum, and it is very much to Artemis Cooper's credit that she irons out the inaccuracies and places each anecdote in its poper context, backing it up with careful documentation'

'Cooper does this iconic figure proud in a well-researched biography'

'One of the 20th century's truly great men, Fermor is admirably served by this splendid biography'

'Cooper does full justice to this fascinating 20th-century Renaissance man'  

'A superb biography of the adventurous travel writer and war hero, draws on the years of interviews and complete access to his archives'

'A roster of adventure and exuberant derring-do'

'His writing beautifully evokes exotic people and places. There wasn't nearly enough of it, but what there was has endured'

'Artemis Cooper's Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure was widely admired for its vivid portrait of a remarkable man'

'A clear-sighted account of an extraordinary life'

'She successfully communicates his enormous enthusiasm for life'

Artemis Cooper is the author of Cairo in the War, 1939-1945 and Writing at the Kitchen Table, the authorized biography of Elizabeth David. With her husband Antony Beevor she wrote Paris After the Liberation, 1945-1949. She has edited two collections of letters and Words of Mercury, a collection of pieces by Patrick Leigh Fermor.

An eagerly awaited biography

Guaranteed to get masses of coverage - death announced on TV and huge broadsheet obituaries

Book of the Week interested

The final volume of the walk due to be published in autumn 2013

With the wit of Marina Lewycka, the piercing observation of Jane Gardam, and the bittersweet charm of Mary Wesley, this will appeal to all who loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand or The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Cecilia Banks has a great deal on her plate. But when her son Ian turns up on her doostep with the unexpected consequence of a brief fling, she feels she has no choice but to take the baby into her life. Cephas's arrival is the latest of many challenges Cecilia has to face. There is the matter of her cancer, for a start, an illness shared with her novelist friend Helen. Then there is Helen herself, whose observations of Cecilia's family life reveal a somewhat ambivalent attitude to motherhood. Meanwhile Tim, Cecilia's husband, is taking self-effacement to extremes, and Ian, unless he gets on with it, will throw away his best chance at happiness.

Cecilia, however, does not have to manage alone. In a convent in Hastings sits Sister Diana Clegg who holds the ties that bind everyone not only to each other, but to strangers as yet unmet. As events unfold and as the truth about Cephas is revealed, we are invited to look closely at madness, guilt, mortal dread and the gift of resilience. No one will remain unchanged.

'Frank, courageous and entertaining. I felt better for reading it' Margaret Drabble
'This is one of the most enjoyable books I've read in years. I found it completely gripping. The carefully but unobtrusively structured plot (involving adoption, DNA and paternity) is domestic but with a wide reach; it is played out against a backdrop of world events. On reflection, I have never before read a book which confronts a serious and almost unmentionable illness with such lightness of touch. It's happy and it's cheering, with a beautiful warmth to it, achieved without a moment of sentimentality. I loved it''A remarkable, immensely readable and warm-hearted book''A refreshingly candid, unexpectedly witty and ultimately moving tale''A charming, playful novel''Bishop treats a fearful subject with an extraordinary lightness of touch; her humour and her emotional wisdom make this a delightful and humane novel'This novel, wise, sharp and startlingly frank, distils a lifetime of reflection on the rules of attraction, affection - and family life. From confused youth to the ordeals and confusions of old age, her wry insights delight''A wonderful novel, one of those rare books which leaves the reader with a deeper understanding of the human heart . . . This is an author of exceptional intelligence, subtlety and warmth. Expect to hear the name Bernardine Bishop when the lists for the Costa and Man Booker prizes are compiled later this year''This novel should appeal to Joanna Trollope fans . . . Bishop is a fine, intelligent writer, capable of handling moral and philosophical themes with a light touch''This is a vibrant and even welcoming novel . . . it offers such a rich range of pleasures''This is the sort of story which grabs you, pulls you in and won't let you go - but in a very gentle way. The characters are superb. It's wise and it's witty. It's sublimely well-written, not with flowery literary devices but in the sort of prose that leaves you surprised when you realise that you've read a hundred pages and you've no intention of giving up just yet. On a cold winter's day I was left with a warm glow when I finished reading'Effortlessly graceful writingBishop wanders rich fictional ground

The great-granddaughter of the poet Alice Meynell, Bernardine Bishop is one of only two surviving witnesses from the Lady Chatterley trial in 1960. After writing two early novels, she taught in a London comprehensive school for ten years and then went on to have a distinguished career as a psychotherapist, during which she brought up her two sons. Cancer forced her retirement in 2010 and she returned to her first love, fiction. Bernardine Bishop lives in London with her husband.

Has all the wit of Marina Lewycka, the brilliant observation of Jane Gardam and the bittersweet charm of Mary WesleyWill also appeal to readers of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie SocietyA compelling slice of family life encompassing birth, death, cancer (and its survival), motherhood, fatherhood, children, adoption, DNA, madness, sanity - and the ties that bind us.

'Indispensable and entirely charming' Stephen Fry

The Middle-Class ABC is the book loos the length and breadth of the land have been waiting for - a humorous celebration of the facts and foibles, manners and mores of contemporary British middle class life.

Letter by letter, the clever, witty and sometimes absurd observations and cartoons will ring true for all good Middlings who will instantly recognise both their and their friends' choices - children's names, foodie fads, and holiday destinations.
Crammed full of affectionately teasing jokes this is a book for to enjoy at any time of year in the course of going about one's business.

'I never ever do jacket puffs. Even for indispensable and entirely charming books. I never make an exception. Except this one''A hilarious ramble through middle England''The night before I had been reading The Middle Class ABC by Fi Cotter-Craig and Zebedee Helm and chortling at how accurately they skewered so many aspects of my life, from compulsive jam-making to fanatical dish washer loading and vegetable growing''Glorious compendium . . . pins the modern middle class with brilliant and hysterical accuracy''Cringe-makingly and consistently funny. The best toilet, I mean loo, book ever''Teasingly brilliant ABC that celebrates being middle class . . . You will chortle with gusto at these wry observations''The first time my wife and I read The Middle Class ABC, flicking through the pages as we lay in bed, we ended up galloping through the entire book, increasingly desperate to identify one major characteristic of our lifestyle that hadn't been expertly lampooned and made gloriously funny by the two geniuses who compiled, created and illustrated it'

Fi Cotter-Craig is a television producer and lives in London and Norfolk. She is whip thin, a man-magnet and very occasionally tells dreadful lies.

Zebedee Helm, despite a silly name, has a serious career as a cartoonist. He has cooked squirrels professionally, been the Morris Dancing correspondent for The Lady and written a children's book.

A hilarious and charmingly illustrated look at middle-class life, from Dualit toasters to asparagus and crumpets, this book gently pokes fun at our middle-class quirksA perfect gift that every good Middling will be able to identify with

From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes THE HERETICS, the fifth in his acclaimed bestselling John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series. 'Does for Elizabeth's reign what C. J. Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times

From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes THE HERETICS, the fifth in his acclaimed John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series. 'Does for Elizabeth's reign what C. J. Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times

England may have survived the Armada threat of 1588, but when Spanish galleys land troops in Cornwall on a lightning raid seven years later, is it a dry-run for a new invasion? Or is there, perhaps, a more sinister motive? The Queen is speechless with rage. But as intelligencer John Shakespeare tries to get a grip on events, one by one his network of spies is horribly murdered. What has all this to do with Thomasyn Jade, a girl driven to the edge of madness by the foul rituals of exorcism? And what is the link to a group of priests held prisoner in bleak Wisbech Castle?

From the pain-wracked torture rooms of the Inquisition in Seville to the marshy wastes of fenland, from the wild coasts of Cornwall to the sweat and sawdust of the Elizabethan playhouses, and from the condemned cell at Newgate to the devilish fantasies of a fanatic, THE HERETICS builds to a terrifying climax that threatens the life of the Queen herself.
'Rory Clements again brings to life the dark side of Elizabethan England'

Praise for the John Shakespeare series:

'Clements can be seen as doing for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's . . . What's impressive in the latest is how much of Tudor society it crams in, from the court and Derby's estate to outlaws and the soldiers in its concluding scene'

'There's plenty of thrills . . . the multiple plot elements are well-handled . . . there's much that's enjoyable and Clements' orchestration of the narrative is skillful''The best yet in Rory Clements' magnificent series about John Shakespeare . . . As always, the historical detail is fascinating and sometimes delightfully obscure . . . another sumptuous feast that will leave you sated - but craving for the next helping!'I found this the best book in the series''A genuine page turner, and cleverly weaves in real historical events and personalities. Fans will not be disappointed''Intriguing . . . wonderfully graphic and descriptive. Clements richly deserves the accolade: "faster moving than C.J. Sansom''Clements' thrilling murder mysteries are a real cut above . . . steeped in authentic 16th-century politics, the plots are complex and clever, and the characters believable and engrossing. But his greatest gift is the ability to bring to life the squalor, intrigue and perils of Tudor London and amidst it all create a superbly tense and entertaining mystery. Roll on Mr Shakespeare's Act IV''Blending fact with fiction Clements tells a rip-roaring yarn with vigour and energy and a huge enthusiasm for the period . . . a novel lacking neither action nor spice. An undeniably enjoyable and lively plot that gathers pace and excitement throughout. A devilishly good read''There is a veritable cornucopia of elements to praise here . . . John Shakespeare is one of the great historical sleuths''This very well-plotted, erudite, historical mystery has many twists and turns which make for a very vivid story line. A very absorbing read with a real quality, similar in style but perhaps faster moving, than books by James Forrester or C.J. Sansom. I consider it one of the best books I've read this year. I will certainly look out for more stories by this very talented writer''What most impressed me was Clements' ability to set a fast-paced crime thriller in the London of 1593 and to make it entirely convincing. Clements gives life to this world, not just through years of painstaking research into all things Elizabethan - from cuisine to clothing, politics to borstals, autopsies to witchcraft - but through his use of real figures from history and the manipulation of actual events. What we end up with is a scenario that is believable, and perhaps this is what makes it such an enjoyable read. Whether intentionally or no, many of the topics dealt with in this book also still resonate today and it gives acts of terrorism, for example, a longer historical context''A cracking plot full of twists right up to the last minute. I look forward to the next''Beautifully done . . . alive and tremendously engrossing''A colourful history lesson . . . exciting narrative twists''Enjoyable, bloody and brutish''An engrossing thriller''An excellent debut'This is a historical thriller to send a shiver down your spine . . . atmospheric - the evocation of the filth and debauchery of London is quite exceptional - it demonstrates the compelling eye for detail and character that Bernard Cornwall so memorably brought to Rifleman Sharpe. I could not tear myself away, it is that good

Rory Clements lives in Norfolk and is married to the artist Naomi Clements-Wright. There are five books in the John Shakespeare series of Elizabethan mysteries: Martyr, shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award, Revenger, winner of the 2010 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, Prince, shortlisted for the 2011 Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, Traitor and The Heretics. All are published by John Murray. A TV series based on the books is currently in development. Find out more at www.roryclements.com and at www.johnmurray.co.uk.

For all fans of C.J. Sansom, S.J. Parris and Philippa GregoryA gripping, Elizabethan historical novel with the hero of John Shakespeare - the playwright's brotherFantastic historical detail brings the Elizabethan era to life in vivid detailWinner of the Ellis Peters Award for REVENGER

Neal Stephenson crossed with Alexandre Dumas, Fate is also reminiscent of Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian

'This is very special' Bookseller


FATE is the story of Lord Francis Damory's quest for the elixir of immortality. Set against the magnificent background of the eighteenth century where science and magic, death and beauty meet in the gilded salons of the decadent nobility and the brothels and debtors' prisons of London, Francis tells of his many love affairs and his deadly duels, his encounters with courtesans and castrati, alchemists and anatomists, Rosicrucians, visionaries, monsters, charlatans, spies and assassins. His travels take him through France, across the Alpine passes to Venice and the pirate-infested Mediterranean Sea to Egypt, Cyprus and distant, exotic Constantinople on the trail of his mysterious ancestor Tobias who might - just possibly - still be alive.

'This is very special...An epic historical novel with magical undertones as a man searches across Europe for the elixir of life. It's 18th-century drama full of science, adventure and mystery on a grand scale. Wonderful stuff, highly recommended.'Fate is an intricate, Gothic novel in elegant style. Fredericks brilliantly absorbs the detail of eighteenth-century cities, country, clothes, food, theatre, music and architecture. This fast-paced fiction transcends the genre . . . Read Fate: discover its secrets; meets its characters; experience Damory's quest; above all enjoy a deeper sense of what it is to be human''A sensationally engrossing read . . . elegant characters in an eloquently told tale of mystery, magic and timelessness . . . a sublimely enjoyable book that will leave you filled with wonder and thinking about it long after you have closed the cover''Brings to live a vivid, exciting portrait of the eighteenth-century world . . . Though undoubtedly an adventure story, Fate unfolds as an intricate, dark treatise on the costs of attaining knowledge and the double-edged sword of eternal life on earth . . . This beautifully written book presents the question of whether a man is truly in charge of his own destiny or whether fate - and the fate of those around him - is determined by forces beyond his control''Lord Francis Damory, bit player in Farundell, deserved a volume of his own, and this is it . . . A funny, enthralling prequel . . . It's an action-packed story as many events (and people) happen to him but one accepts they wouldn't be as entertaining recounted by anyone else. This Lord Damory is a kind, generous scientist and polymath, but most of all, Ms Fredericks has blessed him with an excellent sardonic, sarcastic wit and sense of irony''A story with a whole host of elements that blend together to create a great whole. If you want a love story, you have it, you want adventure, yep that too and if you like something that pushes boundaries bringing historical fiction and fantasy together then you're in for a treat. Add to this some solid prose with a huge cast and all in all it's a standalone that works very well. Back that up with an author who loves to tell a story that brings their own identifiable style and you've got something a little bit special. Great''Fredericks writes absolutely beautifully . . . You can get completely, wonderfully lost in Fredericks' impeccably imagined lazily unfolding world. This novel is a genuine thing of beauty . . . Science, magic and history all combine seamlessly to make this a novel that really stands out from the crowd. I've not read anything that I could really compare it to, it's utterly unique. Add to this Fredericks' impressive elegance of narrative, and you've got a real winner. A beautiful, beautiful read. Can't recommend it highly enough'

Praise for Farundell, L. R. Fredericks' first novel:

'Farundell is a marvellously dark and intricate literary gothic novel. The style is elegant and engaging and the storyline compelling. This is an author to watch.'

'A richly ambitious debut novel . . . one cannot help but be swept away by Fredericks' bold intentions''Beautifully written . . . I am sure it will appeal to many people''Descriptively, conceptually and emotionally captivating'

L. R. Fredericks lives in Oxfordshire. Fate is her second novel. Her first novel, Farundell, was shortlisted for the Authors' Club First Novel Award and is available from John Murray.

A family drama on a grand scale, Fate has traces of Brideshead Revisited and Atonement running through itThe second in a trilogy centring around the same brilliantly realised eccentric familyThe author lives in London and is extremely publicity-savvy

The sequel to the bestselling, Booker-shortlisted, Sea of Poppies

In September 1838 a storm blows up on the Indian Ocean and the Ibis, a ship carrying a consignment of convicts and indentured laborers from Calcutta to Mauritius, is caught up in the whirlwind. When the seas settle, five men have disappeared - two lascars, two convicts and one of the passengers. Did the same storm upend the fortunes of those aboard the Anahita, an opium carrier heading towards Canton? And what fate befell those aboard the Redruth, a sturdy two-masted brig heading East out of Cornwall? Was it the storm that altered their course or were the destinies of these passengers at the mercy of even more powerful forces?

On the grand scale of an historical epic, River of Smoke follows its storm-tossed characters to the crowded harbors of China. There, despite efforts of the emperor to stop them, ships from Europe and India exchange their cargoes of opium for boxes of tea, silk, porcelain and silver. Among them are Bahram Modi, a wealthy Parsi opium merchant out of Bombay, his estranged half-Chinese son Ah Fatt, the orphaned Paulette and a motley collection of others whose pursuit of romance, riches and a legendary rare flower have thrown together.  All struggle to cope with their losses - and for some, unimaginable freedoms - in the alleys and crowded waterways of 19th century Canton.  As transporting and mesmerizing as an opiate induced dream, River of Smoke will soon be heralded as a masterpiece of twenty-first century literature.

'Ghosh's novel is a tense, compelling account... The accumulation of minutiae puts the reader so firmly in the time and place that the whole thing becomes as hypnotic as an opium dream and pretty unputdownable'

'For those who like to see history bought alive through the deployment of wave upon wave of plausible detail, River of Smoke should prove a marvellous read'

'Any good historical novel should teach the reader some history as well as sweeping him or her along with an unfolding narrative. Few do this as well as Amitav Ghosh. A book whose conclusion again left me panting for the next volume in this trilogy'

'The novel's strength lies in how thoroughly Ghosh fills out his research with his novelistic fantasy, seduced by each new situation that presents itself and each new character, so that the scenes read with a sensual freshness as if they were happening now' 

'Best of all, Ghosh, through the depth of his research, lightly worn, has captured the many cross-currents of a fascinating historical period'

Praise for Sea of Poppies

'Ripping post-colonial yarn ... Ghosh spins a fine story with a quite irresistible flow, breathing exuberant life ... an absorbing vision'

Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956. He grew up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. He studied at the universities of Delhi and Oxford and published the first of six novels, The Circle of Reason in 1986. He has taught at a number of institutions, most recently Harvard, and written for many publications. He currently divides his time between Calcutta, Goa and Brooklyn. The first novel in the Ibis Trilogy, Sea of Poppies, was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize.

Sea of Poppies was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2007 and went on to be a major bestseller

A fascinating historical window into the opium wars and shocking colonial exploits in the East

The perfect reading group book: a wonderful page-turner, an exotic setting, universal themes, unusual talking points

From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes TRAITOR, the fourth in his acclaimed bestselling John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series.  'Does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times

From Rory Clements, winner of the Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, comes TRAITOR, the fourth in his acclaimed John Shakespeare Elizabethan mystery series. 'Does for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's' Sunday Times

The Elizabethan navy has a secret weapon: an optical instrument so powerful it gives England unassailable superiority at sea. Spain will stop at nothing to steal it and seize the two men who understand its secrets - William Ivory, the 'Queen's Eye', and the magician Dr Dee.

With a second Armada threatened, intelligencer John Shakespeare is sent north to escort Dr Dee to safety. But he finds Dee's host, the Earl of Derby, dying in agony, apparently poisoned. Who wants him dead and why? What lies behind the lynching of a recusant priest, and how is the mysterious and beautiful Lady Eliska involved? While Shakespeare attempts to untangle a plot that points to treachery at the very highest reaches of government, he also faces serious accusations far closer to home. With so much at stake, must he choose between family and his duty to Queen and country?

'Clements can be seen doing for Elizabeth's reign what CJ Sansom does for Henry VIII's . . . What's impressive in the latest is how much of Tudor society it crams in, from the court and Derby's estate to outlaws and the soldiers in its concluding battle scene'

'There's plenty of thrills . . . the multiple plot elements are well-handled . . . there's much that's enjoyable and Clements' orchestration of the narrative is skillful'

'The best yet in Rory Clements' magnificent series about John Shakespeare . . . As always, the historical detail is fascinating and sometimes delightfully obscure . . . another sumptuous feast that will leav eyou sated - but craving for the next helping!

'I found this the best book in the series'

'This is a first-class mystery steeped in authentic sixteenth-century intrigue; the evocation of the stench and squalor of Tudor London is sans pareil'

Praise for Prince:

'A genuine page turner, and cleverly weaves in real historical events and personalities. Fans will not be disappointed'

'Intriguing . . . wonderfully graphic and descriptive. Clements richly deserves the accolade: "faster moving than C.J. Sansom'

'Clements' thrilling murder mysteries are a real cut above . . . steeped in authentic 16th-century politics, the plots are complex and clever, and the characters believable and engrossing. But his greatest gift is the ability to bring to life the squalor, intrigue and perils of Tudor London and amidst it all create a superbly tense and entertaining mystery. Roll on Mr Shakespeare's Act IV'

'Blending fact with fiction Clements tells a rip-roaring yarn with vigour and energy and a huge enthusiasm for the period . . . a novel lacking neither action nor spice. An undeniably enjoyable and lively plot that gathers pace and excitement throughout. A devilishly good read'

'There is a veritable cornucopia of elements to praise here . . . John Shakespeare is one of the great historical sleuths'

'This very well-plotted, erudite, historical mystery has many twists and turns which make for a very vivid story line. A very absorbing read with a real quality, similar in style but perhaps faster moving, than books by James Forrester or C.J. Sansom.  I consider it one of the best books I've read this year. I will certainly look out for more stories by this very talented writer'

'Good news for John Shakespeare fans - the Elizabethan Bond is back for his fourth and perhaps most compelling adventure . . . This condensation of almost thirteen years of history moves at a furious pace to provide a rumbustious read mixing fact with plenty of adventure, sex and violence with enough twists to confuse anyone but the most determined sleuth . . . This is very definitely another hit for award-winning author Rory Clements'

Praise for Martyr and Revenger:

'A cracking plot full of twists right up to the last minute. I look forward to the next'

'Beautifully done . . . alive and tremendously engrossing'

'A colourful history lesson . . . exciting narrative twists'

'Enjoyable, bloody and brutish'

'An engrossing thriller'

'An excellent debut'

'This is a historical thriller to send a shiver down your spine . . . atmospheric - the evocation of the filth and debauchery of London is quite exceptional - it demonstrates the compelling eye for detail and character that Bernard Cornwall so memorably brought to Rifleman Sharpe. I could not tear myself away, it is that good'

Praise for Prince:

'A genuine page turner, and cleverly weaves in real historical events and personalities. Fans will not be disappointed'

'Intriguing . . . wonderfully graphic and descriptive. Clements richly deserves the accolade: "faster moving than C.J. Sansom'

'Clements' thrilling murder mysteries are a real cut above . . . steeped in authentic 16th-century politics, the plots are complex and clever, and the characters believable and engrossing. But his greatest gift is the ability to bring to life the squalor, intrigue and perils of Tudor London and amidst it all create a superbly tense and entertaining mystery. Roll on Mr Shakespeare's Act IV'

'Blending fact with fiction Clements tells a rip-roaring yarn with vigour and energy and a huge enthusiasm for the period . . . a novel lacking neither action nor spice. An undeniably enjoyable and lively plot that gathers pace and excitement throughout. A devilishly good read'

'There is a veritable cornucopia of elements to praise here . . . John Shakespeare is one of the great historical sleuths'

'This very well-plotted, erudite, historical mystery has many twists and turns which make for a very vivid story line. A very absorbing read with a real quality, similar in style but perhaps faster moving, than books by James Forrester or C.J. Sansom.  I consider it one of the best books I've read this year. I will certainly look out for more stories by this very talented writer'

'What most impressed me was Clements' ability to set a fast-paced crime thriller in the London of 1593 and to make it entirely convincing. Clements gives life to this world, not just through years of painstaking research into all things Elizabethan - from cuisine to clothing, politics to borstals, autopsies to witchcraft - but through his use of real figures from history and the manipulation of actual events. What we end up with is a scenario that is believable, and perhaps this is what makes it such an enjoyable read. Whether intentionally or no, many of the topics dealt with in this book also still resonate today and it gives acts of terrorism, for example, a longer historical context'

Praise for Martyr and Revenger:

'A cracking plot full of twists right up to the last minute. I look forward to the next'

'Beautifully done . . . alive and tremendously engrossing'

'A colourful history lesson . . . exciting narrative twists'

'Enjoyable, bloody and brutish'

'An engrossing thriller'

'An excellent debut'

'This is a historical thriller to send a shiver down your spine . . . atmospheric - the evocation of the filth and debauchery of London is quite exceptional - it demonstrates the compelling eye for detail and character that Bernard Cornwall so memorably brought to Rifleman Sharpe. I could not tear myself away, it is that good'

'Master of all things Tudor, Rory Clements' attention to detail and extensive knowledge of the period add ballast and authenticity to another delicious feast of fact and fiction, adventure and adversity. Undoubtedly the author's best book so far, Traitor leaves us hungry for more'

'The fourth in his brilliant John Shakespeare mystery series.  They just get better.  He's certainly up there with C J Sansom'

 

 

Rory Clements lives in Norfolk and is married to the artist Naomi Clements-Wright. There are five books in the John Shakespeare series of Elizabethan mysteries: Martyr, shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey Award, Revenger, winner of the 2010 CWA Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, Prince, shortlisted for the 2011 Ellis Peters Historical Fiction Award, Traitor and Monarch. All are published by John Murray. A TV series based on the books is currently in development. Find out more at www.roryclements.com and at www.johnmurray.co.uk.

For all fans of C.J. Sansom, S.J Parris and Philippa GregoryA gripping, Elizabethan historical novel with the hero of John Shakespeare - the playwright's brotherFantastic historical detail brings the Elizabethan era to life in vivid detail

Shortlisted for three crime fiction awards and winner of the Ellis Peters Award for REVENGER

The fast-paced new thriller from international bestselling author John Hart

Iron House is the remarkable story of two orphaned brothers separated by violence at a tender age. When a boy is savagely killed in their brutal orphanage, one brother runs and takes the blame with him, eventually finding his way to New York and into the heart of organized crime.
Two decades later - a seasoned killer - he returns to North Carolina with a sentence on his head, the mob in hot pursuit and his long-lost brother in trouble of a different kind. With vast sums in play, political fortunes at risk and bodies piling up, the brothers reunite to solve the mystery of their shared past in a tour de force narrative of loss, courage and the aftermath of violence.
A dark, atmospheric thriller with a plot that will keep you guessing until the last moment.

Praise for John Hart:

'The Last Child is a rare accomplishment - a compelling thriller written with a masterful, literary touch. You'll feel this story as much in your heart as in your gut'

'Just once in a while a thriller comes along that makes you want to run out in the street and proclaim how good it is. John Hart's third novel is one of those. Written with power, precision and an iron grip on character it makes him out as one of the outstanding talents of his generation . . . it grips you by the throat and never lets go'

'A really classy thriller . . . the solution had me blinking with surprise and admiration'

'Compelling'

 'Smart and swift-moving . . . Hart knows his way round the courtrooms and jailhouses . . . the way that Grisham and Turow do'

'If you want a real page-turner that will captivate you from start to finish, then Iron House is your book'

John Hart was born in 1965, and lives with his wife and two young children in North Carolina and Virginia. He has degrees in French, accounting and law, and worked as a banker, stockbroker and attorney before beginning his writing career.

You can't outsmart a Hart

The Last Child won the 2009 CWA Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and was a New York Times and Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller

Author of Richard and Judy bestseller Down River

Hart is compared with Raymond Chandler, Scott Turow and John Grisham by reviewers

Winner of the Edgar Award for Best Novel an unprecedented twice - for Down River and The Last Child

How the world's most famous company works

In INSIDE APPLE, Adam Lashinsky provides readers with an insight on leadership and innovation. He introduces Apple business concepts like the 'DRI' (Apple's practice of assigning a Directly Responsible Individual to every task) and the Top 100 (an annual event where that year's top 100 up-and-coming executives are surreptitiously transported to a secret retreat with company founder Steve Jobs).

Based on numerous interviews, the book reveals exclusive new information about how Apple innovates, deals with its suppliers, and is handling the transition into the Post Jobs Era. While INSIDE APPLE provides a detailed investigation into the unique company, its lessons about leadership, product design and marketing are universal. INSIDE APPLE will appeal to anyone hoping to bring some of the Apple magic to their own company, career, or creative endeavour.

'Adam Lashinsky's snappily written slim volume succeeds in getting behind the veil of secrecy that cloaks Apple, painting a portrait of a company in transition to a post-Jobs era'

'Fascinating, entertaining, accessible...doesn't carry a single dull sentence'

'Lashinsky keeps the reader engaged with fly-on-the-wall tidbits that give the narrative an almost filmic quality'

Adam Lashinsky is a Senior Editor at Large for Fortune magazine. As the magazine's leading correspondent in Silicon Valley, he has interviewed all of the technology industry's top figures. He also is a weekly commentator on the Fox News Channel, and prior to joining Fortune he wrote for TheStreet.com and The San Jose Mercury News.

Draws on exclusive interviews with employees of America's most secretive company.

Following the phenomenal success of Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs, Inside Apple will tap into the same market and reveal the secrets of Jobs' business success.

Written by successful Fortune Magazine journalist who has reported on Silicon Valley for many years

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