Daedalus Books

An illuminating account of the birth and rise of the global political and economic system that, sustained first by Britain and now by America, created the modern world. Walter Russell Mead, one of our most distinguished foreign policy experts, makes clear that the key to the predominance of the two countries has been the individualistic ideology of the prevailing Anglo-American religion. Mead explains how this helped create a culture uniquely adapted to capitalism, a system under which both countries thrived. We see how, as a result, the two nations were able to create the liberal, democratic system whose economic and social influence continues to grow around the world. With wit, verve, and stunning insight, Mead recounts what is, in effect, the story of a centuries-long war between the English-speaking peoples and their enemies. Sustained by control of the oceans that surround them, the British and their American heirs built a global system of politics, power, investment, and trade over the past three hundred years. Along the way, the two nations developed a sophisticated grand strategy that brought the English-speaking powers to a pinnacle of global power and prestige unmatched in the history of the world. Since Oliver Cromwell's day, the English-speakers have seen their enemies as haters of liberty and God who care nothing for morality, who will do anything to win, and who rely on a treacherous fifth column to assure victory. Those enemies, from Catholic Spain and Louis XIV to the Nazis, communists, and Al-Qaeda, held similar beliefs about their British and American rivals, but we see that though the Anglo-Americans have lost small wars here and there, they have wonthe major conflicts. So far. The stakes today are higher than ever; technological progress makes new and terrible weapons easier for rogue states and terror groups to develop and deploy. Where some see an end to history and others a clash of civilizations, Mead sees the current conflicts in the Middle East as the latest challenge to the liberal, capitalist, and democratic world system that the Anglo-Americans are trying to build. What we need now, he says, is a diplomacy of civlizations based on a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes. In practice, this means that Americans generally, and especially the increasingly influential evangelical community, must develop a better sense of America's place in the world. Mead's emphasis on the English-speaking world as the chief hero (and sometimes villain) in modern history changes the way we see the world. Authoritative and lucid, God and Gold weaves history, literature, philosophy, and religion together into an eminently important work — a dazzling book that helps us understand the world we live in and our tumultuous times.

Clever and witty art history-mystery featuring Jonathon Argyll, scholar and sleuth, from the bestselling author of 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'. When an important, politically sensitive painting is kidnapped in Rome, Flavia di Stefano, acting head of the Italian Art Theft Squad, is told to get it back at all costs — without causing any embarrassment to the country and without paying the ransom. Put in an impossible position, she turns for help to her old mentor General Taddeo Bottando, who casts a wholly unexpected light on the crime. In the meantime, her husband, English art historian Jonathan Argyll, embarks on an investigation of his own. As a gift to Bottando, he decides to establish the provenance of a small Renaissance painting, an Immaculate Conception, currently hanging on the wall of the general's apartment. Absorbing and ingeniously plotted, The Immaculate Deception is both a fascinating art-history puzzle and a gripping murder mystery as the search for the truth uncovers shocking secrets from the past and leads Argyll and Flavia into the path of some very dangerous enemies indeed.

The ideas in his book will help you see the world in a new way. Mark Penn has a keen mind and a fascinating sense of what makes America tick, and you see it on every page of Microtrends. In 1982, readers discovered Megatrends. In 2000, The Tipping Point entered the lexicon. Now, in Microtrends, one of the most respected and sought-after analysts in the world articulates a new way of understanding how we live. Mark Penn, the man who identified Soccer Moms as a crucial constituency in President Clinton's 1996 reelection campaign, is known for his ability to detect relatively small patterns of behavior in our culture-microtrends that are wielding great influence on business, politics, and our personal lives. Only one percent of the public, or three million people, is enough to launch a business or social movement. Relying on some of the best data available, Penn identifies more than 70 microtrends in religion, leisure, politics, and family life that are changing the way we live. People are retiring but continuing to work. Teens are turning to knitting. Geeks are becoming the most sociable people around. Women are driving technology. Dads are older than ever and spending more time with their kids than in the past. You have to look at and interpret data to know what's going on, and that conventional wisdom is almost always wrong and outdated. The nation is no longer a melting pot. We are a collection of communities with many individual tastes and lifestyles. Those who recognize these emerging groups will prosper. Penn shows readers how to identify the microtrends that can transform a business enterprise, tip an election, spark a movement, or change your life. In today's world, small groups can have the biggest impact.

Florence, June 1300. The body of an artist, his face covered in quicklime, is discovered next to the mosaic he had almost completed. Dante Alighieri, the newly appointed prior of the city of Florence (and the man who will one day write that exhaustive treatise on criminology, the Inferno), is on the case. It is his first official investigation. Obscure clues lead him up and down the streets of Florence, following a trail full of intrigue and mystery. Why have seven scholars, each a master of his art, assembled in the city? What was the secret that might have been revealed had the artist lived to complete his work? Was it an alchemist's formula to transform lead into gold? Did it have to do with Antilia, wild and beautiful, who dances nightly in a tavern owned by a one-armed crusader? Or perhaps with another elusive Beatrice, the heiress to the imperial Swabian throne, whose rumored arrival in the city could upset the political aspirations of Pope Boniface, Dante's nemesis? Leoni's voice is wry and irreverent as he pokes fun at the genius poet and renders Dante a human being — brilliant but temperamental, bumbling but undaunted. An enthralling historical thriller from Italy's new maestro of crime.

Imagine a sparkling quilt of snow or a frosted window pane, listen out for carol singers or the sound of Santa's sleigh, and follow a star to find a baby in a stable. Here is a festive collection of poetry for children, with poems from Charles Causley, Eleanor Farjeon, Berlie Doherty, A.A. Milne, and many more. Beautifully illustrated by Mark Marshall, Joanne Partis and Melanie Williamson, these are poems to enjoy again and again: from opening the first window on an advent calender to putting away the Christmas decorations on twelfth night. A must for every bookshelf, whether at home or at school.

In 1941, Irene Nemirovsky sat down to write a book that would convey the magnitude of what she was living through, not in terms of battles and politicians, but by evoking the domestic lives and personal trials of the ordinary citizens of France. She did not live to see her ambition fulfilled, or to know that sixty-five years later, Suite Francaise would be published for the first time, and hailed as a masterpiece. Set during a year that begins with France's fall to the Nazis in June 1940 and ends with Germany turning its attention to Russia, Suite Francaise falls into two parts. The first is a brilliant depiction of a group of Parisians as they flee the Nazi invasion and make their way through the chaos of France; the second follows the inhabitants of a small rural community under occupation who find themselves thrown together in ways they never expected. Nemirovsky's brilliance as a writer lay in her portrayal of people, and this is a novel that teems with wonderful characters, each more vivid than the next. Haughty aristocrats, bourgeois bankers and snobbish aesthetes rub shoulders with uncouth workers and bolshy farmers. Women variously resist or succumb to the charms of German soldiers. However, amidst the mess of defeat, and all the hypocrisy and compromise, there is hope. True nobility and love exist, but often in surprising places. Irene Nemirovsky conceived of Suite Francaise as a four or five-part novel. It was to be a symphony — her War and Peace. Although only two sections were finished before her tragic death, they form a book that is beautifully complete in itself, and awe-inspiring in its understanding of humanity.

Witty Italian art-history crime series featuring English dealer Jonathan Argyll, from the author of the best-selling literary masterpiece, 'An Instance of the Fingerpost'. Membership of the prestigious Titian Committee is normally considered a high honour. Normally, that is, until two of its members end up dead and someone seems to be taking the idea of backstabbing a little too far. Flavia de Stefano of Rome's Art Theft Squad is sent to find out why. She calls upon the help of dealer Jonathan Argyll, in Venice to buy a picture from the Marchesa di Mulino. But the sudden theft of the Marchesa's collection sets Flavia and Jonathan on a tortuous trail to uncover the truth. A further death threatens the very survival of the Committee itself, as well as offering the tantalizing possibility of an undiscovered Titian — a mysterious composition that may have been suppressed for 'moral' reasons!

In his first novel since The Light of Day, the Booker Prize-winning author gives us a luminous tale about the closest of human bonds. On a midsummer's night Paula Hook lies awake; Mike, her husband of twenty-five years, asleep beside her; her teenage twins, Nick and Kate, sleeping in nearby rooms. The next day, she knows, will redefine all of their lives. A revelation lies in store. Her children's future lies before them. The house holds the family's history and fate. Recalling the years before and after her children were born, Paula begins a story that is both a glowing celebration of love possessed and a moving acknowledgment of the fear of loss, of the fragilities, illusions, and secrets on which even our most intimate sense of who we are can rest. As day draws nearer, Paula's intensely personal thoughts touch on all our tomorrows. Brilliantly distilling half a century into one suspenseful night, as tender in its tone as it is deep in its soundings, Tomorrow is an eloquent exploration of couples, parenthood, and selfhood, and a unique meditation on the mystery of happiness.

The award-winning author of The Babes in the Wood and The Rottweiler brings us another terrifically paced, richly drawn novel of suspense and psychological intrigue. Weeks went by when Ismay never thought of it at all. Then something would bring it back or it would return in a dream. The dream always began in the same way. She and her mother would be climbing the stairs, following Heather's lead through the bedroom to what was on the other side, not a bathroom in the dream but a chamber floored and walled in marble. In the middle of it was a glassy lake. The white thing in the water floated towards her, its face submerged, and her mother said, absurdly, Don't look! The dead man was Ismay's stepfather, Guy. Now, nine years on, she and her sister, Heather, still live in the same house in Clapham. But it has been divided into two self-contained flats. Their mother had lived upstairs with her sister, Pamela. And the bathroom, where Guy had drowned, had disappeared. Ismay worked in public relations, and Heather in catering. They got on well. They always had. They never discussed the changes to the house, still less what had happened that August day. But even lives as private as these, where secrets hang in the air like dust, intertwine with other worlds and other individuals. And, with painful inevitability, the truth will emerge.

A riviting portrait of the long-neglected and yet one of the most important artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In «Depths» Mankell confirms his status as a writer deserving acclaim beyond the crime genre. By delving deep into the male psyche, he has produced a novel at once tense and compelling, but also powerful, moving, and ultimately tragic.

Few relationships fire our imagination like that of Elizabeth I and the Earl of Leicester, Robert Dudley the love affair immortalized in Philippa Gregory's The Virgin's Lover but nearly fifty years have passed since a book has been dedicated solely to their lifelong love. Soon after Elizabeth became queen she scandalized the royal court with her passionate obsession with the married Robert Dudley. When Dudley's wife mysteriously died two years later, there was rampant speculation that Elizabeth and Dudley would marry. Instead, over the next decades they formed a working partnership and an intimate bond of mutual dependence. Robert advised Elizabeth, serving as her counselor, unofficial consort, and army commander. He guarded her sickbed and represented her on state occasions. But despite her devotion, Elizabeth humiliated him, made him act as a go-between with her other suitors, and tried to imprison him when he finally remarried. Fueled by scandal and intrigue, this royal relationship was never dull. Elizabeth and Leicester is an intimate, startling portrait of two people who transformed their age. For those who adore reading about the royals and the many fans of the Emmy Award- winning miniseries Elizabeth I and feature film Elizabeth, this is a story of enduring love that continues to speak to us today.

Buried beneath the crumbling gray walls of England's majestic castles lie some of the most colourful stories in history — tales of triumph and disaster, courage and cowardice, loyalty and betrayal, ingenuity — and stupidity. Enemies at the Gates takes an entertaining look at English castles under siege, from the tunnels and trebuchets of the early Middle Ages to the Civil War when many fortifications, left undisturbed for centuries, were suddenly propelled into the forefront of national events. Telling the stories of both attackers and besieged, Julian Humphrys takes us on a journey through the human stories of triumph and catastrophe that accompanied each campaign.

Internationally acclaimed and bestselling author Mankell delivers a timely and riveting thriller that will have readers on the edge their seats until the very end.

In this history of the pre-Victorian era, Wilson begins with the libertine spirit inspired by Byron, Shelley, and the Romantics; and ends with the rise and eventual victory of stolid middle-class values. The result is a radical tour de force, a brilliant reworking of the pre-Victorian age.

About the Book: Who were the major figures that shaped English society at this crucial, and somewhat brutal, stage? Who managed to come through umpteen decades of harsh living, foul disease, rats, terrifying capital punishment, more rats and squalor with reputations that would shine through into the present — and are sure to illuminate the future?

This third Shardlake novel is set in the autumn of 1541, during the reign of Henry VIII. This time Matthew Shardlake is faced with the most terrifying fate of the age: imprisonment in the Tower of London.

Dark family secrets, a long-lost love affair, and a multimillion-pound gaming business lie at the heart of this intriguing new novel by the author of «The Player of Games» and «Consider Phlebas.»

From the author of the bestseller «A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian» comes a tender and hilarious novel about a crew of migrant workers from three continents who are forced to flee their English strawberry field for a journey across England in pursuit of a better future.

There's that short period of time before toddlers grow up and discover Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network when you can still enchant them with a classic fairy tale. If you open that door when they're young, they'll always love and want a bedtime story. This is a wonderful collection for reading aloud: eight traditional stories with broad appeal, from The Princess and the Pea, King Midas, Stone Soup, and The Lion and the Mouse, to lesser-known gems like The Glass Mountain, The Three Sillies, The Enchanted Watch, and The Little Red Hen. The magical visions and heroic adventures are brought to life with exquisite and imaginative new illustrations from Penny Dann. They make this edition one to grow on and an heirloom that will be cherished throughout the years.

Dramatically presented with dynamic paper engineering, this follow-up to Dragons Pop-Up brings magnificent dragons to vivid life.

Heinrich Obermann, a celebrated German archaeologist, has uncovered the ancient ruins of Troy on a Turkish hillside. He fervently believes that his discovery will prove that the heroes of the Iliad, a work he has cherished all his life, actually existed. Sophia, Obermann's young Greek wife, works at the site carefully preserving the ancient treasures she uncovers. But Sophia soon comes to see another side of her husband. He is mysteriously vague about his past and the wife he claims died years before. When she finds a cache of artefacts Obermann has hidden away, her suspicions about him rise, feelings that escalate when a visiting archaeologist who questions Obermann's methods dies from a mysterious fever. The arrival of a second, equally sceptical archaeologist brings Sophia's doubts to a head — and spurs Obermann to make even greater claims about the evidence he has found and the profound importance of his achievements. In The Fall of Troy, Peter Ackroyd again demonstrates his ability to evoke time and place, and to transform history into compelling fiction. Like the Homeric epics that entrance Obermann, The Fall of Troy is in part accurate, in part fantastic. It is a brilliantly told story of heroes and scoundrels, human aspirations and follies, and the temptation to shape the truth to fit a passionately held belief.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales are widely acknowledged to be the greatest series of historical novels ever written. Now these evocative stories are being re-issued in paperback by Harper Perennial with stunning new jackets. Captain Jack Aubrey, RN, arrives in the Dutch East Indies to find himself appointed to the command of the fastest and best-armed frigate in the Navy. He and his friend Stephen Maturin take passage for England in a despatch vessel. But the war of 1812 breaks out while they are en route. Bloody actions precipitate them both into new and unexpected scenes, and Stephen's past activities as a secret agent return on him with a vengeance.

This story of the passionate, adulterous, tragic love of Lancelot and Guinevere is at once the perfect expression of 'courtly love' and its inversion. Lancelot, the heroic stranger in King Arthur's court, sacrifices all in service of his king, and yet also falls in love with Arthur's queen, the most beautiful woman in Britain. That this spotless knight, who repeatedly saves Arthur and his world from destruction, should be the fateful underminer of the king's self-confidence and, ultimately, a terrible weapon in the hands of Arthur's great adversary Galehaut, is a contradiction that has fascinated the Western mind for hundreds of years. The Arthurian legend that most of us know comes from Malory and The Once and Future King. But there are also several books, including the thirteenth-century Book of Galehaut, which gives a surprising and unfamiliar version. It is a double love story — the tale not only of Lancelot's love for Guinevere, but also the love of Galehaut, the Lord of the Distant Isles, for Lancelot.