Quercus/MacLehose Press

50 speeches from every period of British history from the medieval era to the present and a fascinating dip-in history title that will both inspire readers and give them a greater understanding of British history. The speechmakers are: King Henry V; Queen Elizabeth I; King Charles I; Oliver Cromwell; Earl of Shelburne; Edmund Burke (3); Charles James Fox (2); William Pitt (2); Warren Hastings; William Wilberforce; R.B. Sheridan; Robert Peel; Charles Grey; Thomas Carlyle; Lord Palmerston; John Bright (2); Benjamin Disraeli; William Gladstone; James Campbell-Bannerman; F.E. Smith; David Lloyd George (2); Stanley Baldwin; King Edward VIII; King George VI; Winston Churchill (4); Aneurin Bevan; Harold Macmillan (2); Hugh Gaitskell (2); Nigel Birch; Harold Wilson; Enoch Powell (2); Michael Foot; Margaret Thatcher (2); Neil Kinnock; Geoffrey Howe; Charles Spencer; Tony Blair.

Tie-in edition to the major U.S. Columbia Pictures/Sony production starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, directed by David Fincher. The first volume in Stieg Larsson's phenomenal Millennium Trilogy, with combined sales of over 55 million worldwide. Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder — and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

The Demi-Monde is the most advanced simulation ever devised. Thirty million people ruled by history's cruellest tyrants, locked in eternal civil conflict. The intention: to create the closest thing to Hell, and prepare soldiers for the nightmarish environment of war. But something has gone badly wrong. Reinhard Heydrich — or at least a simulacrum resembling the Nazi monster — has kidnapped the President's daughter from the Real-World and concealed her within the Demi-Monde, making it impossible for the program to be switched off. This achieved, he has cut off all contact with reality. It falls to Ella Thomas, a young jazz singer, to infiltrate Heydrich's virtual domain and rescue the missing girl. But once inside she will discover that everything in the Demi-Monde is not as it seems, and that the Real-World may be in more danger than everyone outside realises... The Demi-Monde: Winter introduces readers to one of the most believable, almost extravagantly detailed worlds ever created, where history's most fascinating figures and cruellest tyrants rub shoulders with a rich cast of characters. In a fast-paced, action-packed narrative Rod Rees manages to explore some of life's deepest dilemmas, and suffuses the story throughout with wit and humour.

Plantagenet is the name given to the English royal house descended from the union of Queen Matilda of England and her second husband Geoffrey of Anjou. The name derived from Geoffrey's nickname, which came from the sprig of broom (planta genet) which he wore in his hat. The Plantagenets ruled England for more than three hundred years, from the accession of reign of the dynasty's founder, Matilda and Geoffrey's son, Henry II, in 1154, to the death of the last Plantagenet, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain is a compelling, year-by-year chronology of a tumultuous and critical period in the development of the English nation. Each year is covered by a concise, informative and accessible narrative, amplified by extensive quotation from contemporary sources and accompanied by generously captioned and stunning images of the period — including illuminations, portraits, maps, royal seals, tapestries and other artefacts. Authoritative, informative and sumptuous, and compiled by a scholar who is steeped in knowledge of the period, The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain brings a critical era of English history dramatically and vividly to life. It is the perfect gift book for anyone with a love of, or fascination for, medieval English history. Henry II (1154-89); Richard I and John (1189-1216); Henry III (1216-72); Edward I (1272-1307); Edward II (1307-27); Edward III (1327-77); Richard II (1377-99); Henry IV (1399-1413); Henry V (1413-1422); Wars of the Roses (1422-71); Edward IV, Edward V and Richard III (1471-85); Genealogical tables; Maps.

The Borgia family of Renaissance Italy has become a byword for pride, lust, cruelty, avarice, splendour and venomous intrigue. They have inspired abomination and fascination in almost equal measure, comparable to the Corleone clan depicted in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather. Indeed, Puzo himself featured the Borgias in his last novel, The Family, and the Borgias have inspired many other works of fiction together with plays, films, and even an opera — Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia. Of Spanish origin, the Borgias came to prominence in the Italy of the 15th century, at a time when the spiritual values of the medieval Church were being swept aside by the worldly secularism of the Renaissance. They also became notorious for licentiousness, venality and indeed all forms of immorality, while at the same time their patronage of the arts helped to bring about some of the greatest artistic masterpieces of the Renaissance. Notorious Borgias include: Cesare Borgia (1476-1507) — the illegitimate son of Pope Alexander VI. Violent and passionate, he was greatly admired by Machiavelli. Lucrezia Borgia (1480-1519) — the sister of Cesare, accused of incest and poisoning, and one of history's most famous femmes fatales. Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI) (1431-1503) — father of Cesare and Lucrezia, he was notorious for his extravagance, nepotism and immorality.

At a time of corrosive popular cynicism and profound international unease, the need for clarity over the fundamental concepts of politics has never been greater: the forces of Terrorism and Fundamentalism endanger our Security, while government responses to it pose a basic threat to Liberty, Democracy and Human rights. Corruption, Spin and a suspect Political culture arouse public indignation, which is further aggravated by an array of Pressure groups and the far-from-disinterested attentions of the Mass media. In 50 Political Ideas You Really Need to Know, Ben Dupre clears away the murk that obscures key concepts that we ignore at our peril. Justice, Liberty, Human rights, The social contract, Democracy, Tyranny, Federalism, Utopianism, Political violence, Revolution and change, Political culture, Monarchism, Republicanism, Secularism, Conservatism, Liberalism, Socialism, Communism, Fascism, Anarchism, Fundamentalism, Multiculturalism, Labour movement, Women's movement, Green politics, Pressure groups, Constitutions, Parliaments, Presidential systems, Elections, Parties, Civil service/bureaucracy, Intelligence agencies, Mass media, Spin and propaganda, Wealth and poverty, Crime and punishment, Security and defence, Terrorism, Welfare, Race, Corruption, Political correctness, Realists and idealists, War and peace, Nations and nationalism, Imperialism, Isolationism, United Nations, Globalization.

The Art of War, is a sumptuous chronological survey of the 25 greatest commanders of the modern world. Compiled by an distinguished team of historians (including such names as Antonia Fraser, Saul David and Stephen Brumwell) working under the general editorship of Andrew Roberts, The Art of War is an authoritative and beautifully illustrated account of the lives and careers of the 25 greatest military commanders of the period. Every commander is profiled in a concise and informative 3000-word article which not only brings its subject vividly to life via a lively, fact-driven narrative, but also analyses and assesses his tactical and strategic gifts. As accessible and informative as it is rigorous and scholarly, The Art of War is the perfect introduction to its subject for the layperson — but also a stimulating and thought-provoking read for those with greater knowledge of military history. With its companion volumes, focusing on the great commanders of the ancient, medieval and modern eras, it forms an indispensable guide to the greatest generals the world has seen.

The story of Christianity is an immeasurably fascinating one. A faith that began in Roman-occupied Palestine, as a small and fugitive faction within Judaism, grew, thrived and finally 'conquered' the empire that had sought to exterminate it. Then, over many centuries and in many lands, it became the vital source from which new civilizations sprang. At times, its geographical range expanded mightily, at others contracted perilously. At times, the church proved heroically true to its deepest moral principles; at others, inexcusably traitorous to them. But, by the beginning of the 21st century, this faith that began in such fragility, and that became so powerful — even though its temporal power has now receded in its historic homelands — is the most widespread and diverse of all religions. Christianity is rapidly taking root in cultures very different from those in which it was born and in which it once flourished, and is assuming configurations that could not have been anticipated a century ago. In The Story of Christianity, the distinguished theologian David Bentley Hart provides a broad picture of Christian history. Presented in 50 short chapters — each focusing on a critical facet of Christian history or theology, and each amplified by timelines, quotations, and colour images — his magisterial account does full justice to the range of Christian tradition, belief and practice — Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Evangelical, Coptic, Chaldean, Ethiopian Orthodox, Armenian Orthodox, Malankaran, to name but a few of the many possibilities. From the persecutions of the early church to the papal-imperial conflicts of the Middle Ages, from the religious wars of 16th- and 17th- century Europe to the challenges of science and secularism in the modern era, and from the ancient Christian communities of Africa and Asia to the 'house churches' of contemporary China, The Story of Christianity triumphantly captures the heterogeneous richness of Christian history.

One hot summer night two-year-old Audrey Cutler was snatched from her bedroom and never seen again. Twenty-six years later, her brother, Sammy, fatefully crosses paths with the man the police failed to convict for her abduction and murder. A few weeks later, that man is murdered. Attorney Jason Kolarich, Sammy's childhood friend, is engaged to defend him. But can he trust the people who hired him? Why are they paying for Sammy's defence and why do they want the case heard so quickly, leaving Kolarich no time to prepare? Why, when Kolarich's investigations lead the police to a buried cache of children's bodies, do they kidnap his brother and threaten his life? As the clock ticks for both his brother and his childhood friend, Jason must discover the shocking truth in order to save them and, finally, to save himself.

Uncovered here are the 100 groundbreaking discoveries that reveal why Earth is the one lucky blue planet in our Solar System that can support life and how this has come about in its myriad forms. The Material World: clay and quartz, feldspar and diamond, satellite image of deltaic muds, sandy desert, feldspar crystals, diamond, crystal, the water cycle, seawater, clouds, glacier ice, volcanic gas propelling pyroclastic flow. Earth's Engine: computer model of flow in the core and the magnetic field, major fault zone e.g. San Andreas or East African Rift; folded rocks in mountains e.g. one of the alpine 'nappes' or Zagros mountain folds and erupting volcano. Earth's Changing Face: Earth's oldest rocks (Greenland or Pilbara, Australia), stromatolites from Western Australia — early marine rocks, banded iron formation rocks (Australia), snowball Earth glacial deposits in Namibia, Carboniferous coal deposits with seat earths in which the plants grew. Living Earth: hydrothermal vent communities, hot-spring life forms, simple plants e.g. lichens and mosses and complex ones such as modern flowering plants, domesticated plants and animals. Past Life: 3.2 billion year old acritarch spores from South Africa, fossil red algae (Bangiomorpha) and first evidence for sexual reproduction, Cooksonia (first true land plant). Life Evolves: the Ediacaran explosion in late Precambrian times, the Cenozoic explosion of mammals, insects and flowering plants, the human family bursts upon the scene, trilobites slowly evolve, the end of the Palaeozoic world 251 million years ago, the end of the Mesozoic world 65 million years ago. Earth's Future: computer simulations of future plate positions, what the world will look like with changing sealevel, artists impressions of future evolutionary adaptations.

10000 — 500 BC: The river civilizations; Danube; Mesopotamia; Indus; Early empires; China to the Zhou; Egypt; Mycenae and Knossos. 500 BC — 1000 AD: An Axial Age? Plato; Ezra; Buddha; Confucius; The glory that was Greece; Alexander and his successors; Rome to Byzantium; Republic to empire; Jews and Christians, Constantine; Islam; Rise of Islam, Muslim Spain, Early America; India to the Guptas; Gaul and Britannia; Clovis to Charlemagne, Angles and Saxons, Carolingian State, Vikings. 1000 — 1600: Clash of cultures; Holy Roman Empire and the papacy; Crusades; Great Schism; Africa and America; Sudanese empires; Aztecs and Incas; Plans and Forest Indians; Pueblos and Beotuk; China and Asia; The horse in history; China and the Mongols; SE Asia; Buddhism and the Jains; Persia; India. 1600 — 1789: Renaissance and Reformation; Humanism and art; Constance and Hussites; printing and paper; Germany; France; Britain; New Worlds; Portuguese and Dutch East Indies; Spanish America; North America; Gunpowder Empires; Turkey; Persia; Moghuls; Europe in America; Colonial wars; development of the New World; The East; China to the 16thc; Japan; Korea; SE Asia; E Indies; Birth of Modern Europe; English Commonwealth; Union; 30 Yrs War; Russia; Poland; Ukraine; Enlightenment; Romanticism; European thought; women writers; American Revolution. 1789 — 1914: French Revolution; Napoleon; Reactions; influence; Reconstruction; Industrial Revolution; Congress system; unification of Italy; German Empire; Ottoman decline; India and China; Raj; Qing China; Opium Wars; US-UK rivalry; Japanese empire; Americas; Manifest Destiny; Mexican Wars; slavery; Civil War; Reconstruction; Explorations; Australia and New Zealand; Pacific; Arctic; cartography; New Empires; France; Germany; Belgium; Scramble for Africa; New Revolutions; Mexico; China; South Africa; India. 1914 — 2003: Stumbling into war; Germany and Austria; Russia; Conduct of war; Post WW1; Versailles; Russian Revolution; Spanish Civil War; WW2; Hitler; Conduct of War; Post WW2; UN; genocide; China; Decolonization; Cold War; Middle East; Shrinking the World; air travel; Internet; IT; Soviet collapse; Balkan Wars; Rise of China. Epilogue.

Science in 100 key breakthroughs presents a series of clear and concise essays that explain the fundamentals of some of the most exciting and important science concepts you really need to know. Paul Parsons profiles the important, ground-breaking, and front-of-mind scientific discoveries that have had a profound influence on our way of life and will grow in importance with our advancing understanding. In 100 sections, this book provides an overview of the history of Western science, from astronomy and physics to geology, biology and psychology and everything in between. Starting with the origins of counting more than 35,000 years ago, Science tells a rich and fascinating story of discovery, invention, gradual progress and inspired leaps of the imagination. Many key concepts and discoveries are defined and discussed including: The circumference of the Earth, Chaos theory, Algebra, Relativity, Newton's Principia, Brownian motion, Pi, Wave/particle duality, Germ theory, The computer, X-rays, The double helix, Viruses, The human genome. Readable, informative and thought-provoking, this is the ideal introduction to cutting-edge science and the essential overview for anyone who wants to learn more about these often daunting but increasingly essential subjects.

The bitch. That's what the crew call me. The bitch. They say it behind my back. But I can hear them. My name's Helen, I was born in Sparta, but I went away for love. They used to say I was the most beautiful woman in the world. The minstrels are already making up stories about how little I've won and how much I've lost. Lying tales. They weren't there, after all. But I was. From her childhood in Sparta, through the turbulent years of her marriage, and of course her disappearance with Paris and its consequences, Helen of Troy tells her own story. In a lyrical and musical style, Helen sheds her legendary persona and walks from the page as a real woman of flesh and blood; the archetype of all the women who, throughout history, have followed their hearts, forsaking wealth and power.

Five years after his death, Stieg Larsson is best known as the author of the Millennium Trilogy, but during his career as a journalist he was a crucial protagonist in the battle against racism and for democracy in Sweden, and one of the founders of the anti-facist magazine Expo. Kurdo Baksi first met Larsson in 1992; it was the beginning of an intense friendship, and a fruitful but challenging working relationship. In this candid and rounded memoir, Baksi answers the questions a multitude of Larsson's fans have already asked, about his upbringing; the recurring death threats; his insomnia and his vices; his feminism — so evident in his books — and his dogmatism. What was he like as a colleague? Who provided the inspiration for his now-immortal characters (Baksi is one of the few who appears in the trilogy as himself)? Who was Lisbeth Salander?

A MURDER: A brutal killing has taken place on Scotland's most remote island. Detective Fin MacLeod is sent from Edinburgh to investigate. For Lewis-born MacLeod, the case represents a journey both home and into his past. A SECRET: Something lurks beneath the close-knit, God-fearing facade of the Lewis community. Something primal. As Fin investigates, old secrets are unearthed, and soon he, the hunter, becomes the hunted. The Blackhouse is a crime novel of rare power and vision. Peter May has crafted a page-turning murder mystery that explores the darkness in our soul, and just how difficult it is to escape the past.

What do you do if you're 34, single and recovering from being jilted two weeks before your wedding day? This is the dilemma Gilly Brown finds herself in. While friends are marrying, having children and moving into the depths of the countryside, Gilly finds herself alone in London and holding on to her fractured family with their tragic past. It's time to meet new people. So, she decides to get a Monday to Friday lodger, and after a succession of alarming interviews finally finds the perfect one in the shape of handsome reality television producer Jack Baker. Gilly falls for Jack's charm and is transported into an exciting social whirlwind of parties, dining out and glamour. When Jack is introduced to Gilly's family and friends, it's only the attractive and eccentric Guy, the newest recruit to her dog-walking group, who isn't quite so convinced about Jack's intentions. As Guy watches them grow closer, his suspicions of Jack and his feelings for Gilly deepen. Is Jack so perfect after all... and what exactly does he get up to at the weekends?

August 2011. An Al Qaeda operative masterminds the theft of a Pakistani military weapon: a two-hundred-pound nuclear warhead, capable of causing destruction on an unprecedented scale. A chilling transmission is then broadcast to the world, promising a major attack on a US city to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11. Intelligence indicates that the bomb has been smuggled out of Pakistan and is en route to the US, with Washington or New York the likely target. Yet this information is but an elaborate decoy and, as the CIA focuses on thwarting a domestic attack, the weapon moves ever closer to its true target. Agent Brooke Chandler senses the deception. Chandler, a once-prodigious field operative ravaged by the memories of loved-ones lost, thinks he understands how the bomb is being transported, and has an idea how to locate it. First he must convince his superiors of his conviction, and then, before it is too late, find and disable the threat. If he fails, millions will die, and the world map as we know it will become a collector's item.

Using a wealth of high-resolution images collected by a fleet of telescopes, satellites and inter-planetary probes, Cosmos Close-up embarks on a voyage across the universe, pausing only to zoom in on the most spectacular planets, stars, galaxies and nebulae. After a fly past of our planetary neighbours we reach the edge of the solar system — a mere 15 light hours away — emerging into interstellar space and heading for the heart of our galaxy. The rhythms of stellar life unfold before our eyes: dark clouds of dust and gas blaze with clusters newly smelted stars, dying stars bloom and fade as planetary nebulae, or tear themselves apart as supernovae. Navigating through thick swarms of stars, we reach the galactic core, a gravitational maelstrom of exotic stars in the thrall of a supermassive black hole. Hundreds of thousands of light years must be covered to reach the Milky Way's companions, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and millions more devoured before we cross true intergalactic space. Out here we watch the hidden lives of galaxies: we see them locked in gravitational combat, tearing each other apart or swallowing their companions whole. Now billions of light years from Earth, we can discern the large-scale structure of the universe: massive conglomerations of galaxies gather like grains of dust on a veil of cobwebs, warping space with their tremendous gravity. Having crossed an almost unimaginable 13.4 billion light years, we encounter a wall of radiation. Here our voyage into the cosmos must finally end, for we have reached the very edge of the visible universe: what stands before us is the afterglow of the Big Bang itself.

The newspaper was founded in Rome in the 1950s, a product of passion and a multi-millionaire's fancy. Over fifty years, its eccentricities earned a place in readers' hearts around the globe. But now, circulation is down, the paper lacks a website, and the future looks bleak. Still, those involved in the publication seem to barely notice. The obituary writer is too busy avoiding work. The editor-in-chief is pondering sleeping with an old flame. The obsessive reader is intent on finishing every old edition, leaving her trapped in the past. And the publisher seems less interested in his struggling newspaper than in his magnificent basset hound, Schopenhauer. The Imperfectionists interweaves the stories of eleven unusual and endearing characters who depend on the paper. Funny and moving, the novel is about endings — the end of life, the end of sexual desire, the end of the era of newspapers — and about what might rise afterward.

Matthew Sobol is dead, but his final creation survives. It begins with a bizarre murder, where the only possible perpetrator happens to be dead. As more killings follow, the police are completely out of their depth. It falls to the unlikely partnership of Sebeck, a computer-illiterate cop, and Ross, an enigmatic hacker, to realise the scale of the imminent danger. The Daemon is seemingly unstoppable, and murder is the least of its capabilities. As it leaves a trail of death and destruction in its wake, Sebeck and Ross must face up to a terrifying possibility. Can they convince a disbelieving world to take drastic action, and shut down the Daemon before it is too late? Explosive, action-packed, terrifyingly relevant, Daemon redefines the high-concept thriller for the information age.

On Beauty is neither a history of art, nor a history of aesthetics, but Umberto Eco draws on both these disciplines to define the ideas of beauty that have informed us from the classical world to modern times. In terms of form and style, On Beauty has been conceived for a vast and diverse readership. Packed with examples from painting, sculpture, architecture, film, photography, the decorative arts and literature, it offers a rich and intelligent panorama of this huge subject. In On Beauty Eco is at his most captivating and eclectic: we read not only of Botticelli and Michelangelo but of how much the fashion of the 1960s owes to ancient Egyptian dress, and how ancient Roman and eighteenth-century hairstyles have much in common. It makes the familiar new, and sheds a brilliant light on the unfamiliar. On Beauty is illustrated in full colour throughout and produced to the highest standards.

In the last 100 years mankind has split the atom, walked on the moon and broken the sound barrier but... we haven't got any better at making biscuits. The nation's favourite biscuit, McVitie's Chocolate Digestive, was first baked in 1892. This is just one of the fascinating facts you will find in The Nation's Favourite. What is the UK's favourite karaoke song, or wedding first dance song? What is our favourite cereal, painkiller, pet or garden tool? The Nation's Favourite brings together 220 lists which provide the answers to these questions and many more. The result is amusing, surprising and reveals a fascinating picture of the tastes and habits of the UK population.

From the Pyramids of Giza to the Guggenheim, this lively guide explains the key concepts and inventions in architecture clearly and concisely. Exploring the myriad ways in which the built environment is shaped and created, readers will gain a new and informed appreciation for architecture, from the classical orders of Vitruvius — Doric, Ionic and Corinthian — to the to the most recent contemporary trends. Philip Wilkinson offers expert introductions to the most important architectural movements and styles throughout history, as well as describing some of the greatest architects' most important and representative works. So, if you've ever wondered when a building is just a building or art, or want to know more about Gothic vaults, trusses and arches, this is the perfect introduction. Contents: The Orders, Prefabrication, Machine aesthetics, Roman engineering, Beaux Arts, Dymaxion, Romanesque, Arts and Crafts, Alternative architecture, Gothic, Conservation, Functionalism, Renaissance, Skyscraper, Plug-in city, Baroque, City Beautiful, Minimalism, Rococo, Art Nouveau, Brutalism, Palladianism, Secession, Townscape, Neo-Classicism, Art Deco, Postmodernism, Character, Garden city, Contextual design, Taste, Futurism, Hi Tech, The Picturesque, Constructivism, Deconstructivism, The Sublime, Bauhaus, Historicism, Landscape garden, De Stijl, Community architecture, Revivalism, International Style, Green architecture, Restoration, Expressionism, Urbanism, Industrial, Organic architecture, Eclecticism.

Beginning with Ramses III's dramatic defeat of the 'sea people' in 1176 BC — the world's earliest visual record of a naval battle — Fighting Ships tells the story of 3000 years of maritime history through 150 glorious images. From the Greeks, Phoenicians and Romans to the coming of the age of sail, here are breathtaking depictions of ancient triremes and Viking longships, the Santa Maria and the Spanish Armada, as well as Henry VIII's giant carracks and the majestic three-decked warships of Louis IV that patrolled the Mediterranean. Arranged chronologically, this sumptuous collection of grand-scale images brings together the earliest carvings on temple walls and the world-famous Bayeux tapestry, with exquisite depictions by the greatest artists, including Tintoretto's The Capture of Constantinople, Brueghel's The Fall of Icarus, Vasari's The Battle of Lepanto in 1571 and Samuel Scott's The Capture of Puerto Bello. Here too are striking portraits of key historical figures, such as Columbus, Raleigh and Drake, alongside ship plans, drawings, engravings and artefacts rescued from the wrecks themselves. Maritime historian Sam Willis recounts famous battles, voyages of conquest and tales of triumph and defeat at sea. He not only reveals the secrets of naval strategy and ship design, but also sheds fascinating light on the lives of the great men that commanded their fleets, as well as on the heroism and hardship of life on board for the ordinary sailor.