John Stevenson is just a navy foreman working on the Summit Tunnel of the Manchester & Leeds Railway when a near-fatal accident brings young Nora Telling into his life. Her nimbleness of mind and his power of command enable them to take over the working mill and rescue it from...  more

John Stevenson is just a navy foreman working on the Summit Tunnel of the Manchester & Leeds Railway when a near-fatal accident brings young Nora Telling into his life. Her nimbleness of mind and his power of command enable them to take over the working mill and rescue it from catastrophe. Together with their friends, the Thorntons -- who are troubled by a marriage mismatched in passion -- they are willing to risk any dare, commit themselves to any act of cunning on their climb from rags to riches. It is a story of love, hate, lust, and deception as England's glorious Victorian age is dawning.

When a nameless Norseman sat down to write the "Saga of the People of Eyri" in the 13th century, the brutal story was already centuries old. Today this ancient tale is masterfully retold in Jeff Janoda's SAGA: A NOVEL OF MEDIEVAL ICELAND, a rich historical novel of the first Icelandic...  more

When a nameless Norseman sat down to write the "Saga of the People of Eyri" in the 13th century, the brutal story was already centuries old. Today this ancient tale is masterfully retold in Jeff Janoda's SAGA: A NOVEL OF MEDIEVAL ICELAND, a rich historical novel of the first Icelandic settlements. SAGA tells the story of the savage rituals of feud and sacrifice brought by the settlers from their Norwegian motherland as well as their new, competing beliefs in a democratic legal assembly and a code of restraint. When Thorolf the Viking trades away his valuable family lands to spite his son, Arnkel, the ruthless Norse chieftain vows to regain them at all costs. Robbed of his rightful inheritance, Arnkel begins a venomous feud with his neighbors and with rival chieftain Snorri, a lawless dispute destined to end in betrayal and death. Janoda's characters are eloquently wrought, their passions and pagan beliefs brought to life in a tale over a thousand years old. His delicate hand renders fantastical elements like spirits and elves as vividly as their human counterparts, illuminating the harshness of life in a society on the brink of modernity, yet isolated in the farthest reaches of the planet.

"R.F. Delderfield is a born storyteller." ? Sunday Mirror The beloved classic saga from master author R. F. Delderfield, subject of a landmark BBC miniseries. To Serve Them All My Days is the moving saga of David Powlett-Jones, who returns from World War I injured and shell-shocked. He is hired...  more

"R.F. Delderfield is a born storyteller." ? Sunday Mirror The beloved classic saga from master author R. F. Delderfield, subject of a landmark BBC miniseries. To Serve Them All My Days is the moving saga of David Powlett-Jones, who returns from World War I injured and shell-shocked. He is hired to teach history at Bamfylde School, where he rejects the formal curriculum and teaches the causes and consequences of the Great War. Eventually David earns the respect of his students and many of his fellow teachers, against the backdrop of a country struggling to redefine itself. As David falls in love and finds himself on track to possibly take on the headmaster role, he must search to find the strength to hold true to his beliefs as the specter of another great war looms. To Serve Them All My Days is a brilliant picture of England between the World Wars, as the country comes to terms with the horrors of the Great War and the new forces reshaping the British government and society. Subject of a Landmark BBC Miniseries Includes Bonus Reading Group Guide WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: "I sometimes still wake up in the morning and look forward to reading more about P.J. and Bamfylde." "From the stationmaster on the first page to the last boy on the last page, these characters all have a very human aspect that connects to you immediately." "This book should be in everyone's library." "This is an ennobling book?it showed a person wounded in body and spirit who found that concentrating on the details of teaching the schoolboys under his care was, in a sense, a healing meditation." "?just the book for a cold rainy day?with a hot cup of tea and a scone." "Mr. Delderfield's manner is easy, modest, heartwarming." Evening Standard "He built an imposing artistic social history that promises to join those of his great forebears in the long, noble line of the English novel. His narratives belong in a tradition that goes back to John Galsworthy and Arnold Bennett." Life Magazine "Sheer, wonderful storytelling." Chicago Tribune "Highly recommended. Combines tension with a splendid sense of atmosphere and vivid characterisation. An excellent read." Sunday Express

Rogue Herries tells the story of the larger than life Francis Herries who uproots his family from Yorkshire and brings them to live in Borrowdale where their life is as dramatic as the landscape surrounding them. Proud, violent and impetuous he despises his first wife, sells his mistress at a...  more

Rogue Herries tells the story of the larger than life Francis Herries who uproots his family from Yorkshire and brings them to live in Borrowdale where their life is as dramatic as the landscape surrounding them. Proud, violent and impetuous he despises his first wife, sells his mistress at a county fair and forms a great love for the teenage gypsy Mirabell Starr. Alongside this turbulent story, runs that of his son David, with enemies of his own, and that of his gentle daughter Deborah with placid dreams that will not be realized in her father's house. Introduction by Felicity Goodall.

In the tin mines of Cornwall, during the first decades of the 19th century, death is the constant companion of the working man. Ben Retallick has grown to sturdy manhood among the miners and fishermen, through the hard and hungry years when blood was often the price of bread. When cruel fate...  more

In the tin mines of Cornwall, during the first decades of the 19th century, death is the constant companion of the working man. Ben Retallick has grown to sturdy manhood among the miners and fishermen, through the hard and hungry years when blood was often the price of bread. When cruel fate steals away Jesse, his love, Ben searches to find her, caring only for the day he¹ll make her his wife.

Religious strife, Glastonbury legends, the bones of King Arthur and the curse of the Tudors...can Renaissance man John Dee help the young Queen Elizabeth to avoid it? It is 1560. Elizabeth Tudor has been on the throne for a year, the date for her coronation having been chosen by her astrologer,...  more

Religious strife, Glastonbury legends, the bones of King Arthur and the curse of the Tudors...can Renaissance man John Dee help the young Queen Elizabeth to avoid it? It is 1560. Elizabeth Tudor has been on the throne for a year, the date for her coronation having been chosen by her astrologer, Dr John Dee, at just 32 already famous throughout Europe as a mathematician and expert in the hidden arts. But neither Elizabeth nor Dee feel entirely secure. Both have known imprisonment for political reasons. The Queen is unpopular with both Roman Catholics and the new breed of puritanical protestant. Dee is regarded with suspicion in an era where the dividing line between science and sorcery is, at best, indistinct. And the assignment he's been given by the Queen's chief minister, Sir William Cecil, will blur it further: ride to the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, bring back King Arthur's bones. The mission takes the mild, bookish Dee to the tangled roots of English magic and the Arthurian legacy so important to the Tudors. Into unexpected violence, spiritual darkness, the breathless stirring of first love...and the cold heart of a complex plot against Elizabeth. With him is his friend and former student, Robert Dudley, a risk-taker, a wild card...and possibly the Queen's secret lover. Dee is Elizabethan England's forgotten hero. A man for whom this world - even the rapidly-expanding world of the Renaissance - was never enough.

Along and far from the land of her birth, young Moirin sets out across wild Tatar territory to find her beloved Bao, the proud Ch'in stick fighter who holds the missing half of her diadh-anam, the divine soul-spark of her mother's people. After a long ordeal, she not only succeeds, but...  more

Along and far from the land of her birth, young Moirin sets out across wild Tatar territory to find her beloved Bao, the proud Ch'in stick fighter who holds the missing half of her diadh-anam, the divine soul-spark of her mother's people. After a long ordeal, she not only succeeds, but surrenders to a passion the likes of which she's never known. But the lovers' reunion is short lived. Moirin is abducted, cast in chains that bind her magic, and betrayed into the hands of a fanatic Yeshuite priest. Fiercely zealous, he is determined to save Moirin's soul and covert her to his faith...or see her stoned to death for her many sins. With her soul declared a battleground of the gods, Moirin will struggle to hold on to her humanity and survive--all the while wondering if the gift of love bestowed on her by the goddess Naamah is a blessing or a curse. Wrestling with issues of faith and divine will, Naamah's Curse explores what happens when mortal men seek to mold the gods in their own images.

The epic and action-packed sequel to THE WHITE RAVEN, charting the adventures of Orm and his band of brothers, the Oathsworn. The Oathsworn have become feared and respected throughout the Viking world. Their name goes before them and men cower in their presence. But fame comes at a price! ...  more

The epic and action-packed sequel to THE WHITE RAVEN, charting the adventures of Orm and his band of brothers, the Oathsworn. The Oathsworn have become feared and respected throughout the Viking world. Their name goes before them and men cower in their presence. But fame comes at a price! While the Oathsworn revel in their new-found fame, Sterki, an old enemy with revenge in his heart, attacks their homestead - the Fjord Elk is sunk, old oarmates die and the Oathsworn are forced to flee into the mountains. Unused to losing, the Oathsworn retreat to lick their wounds. They have been entrusted with the care of Queen Sigrith, pregnant and soon to bear the heir to the crown of Sweden, and much though the urge for revenge is strong, Orm's first duty is to protect the queen. And Orm soon realises that revenge is not the only thing on Sterki's mind; he has joined forces with Styrbjorn, nephew of King Eirik and next in line to the throne if he can only get rid of the current heir. As the Oathsworn fight to defend themselves and their newfound celebrity and fortune, they're soon to realise that fame isn't all it's cracked up to be!

The Candy Bombers is the true tale of the ill- assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat. By feeding and supplying West Berlin by air for nearly a year, these brave men won the hearts of America?s defeated enemies, and inspired...  more

The Candy Bombers is the true tale of the ill- assorted group of castoffs and second-stringers who saved millions of desperate people from a dire threat. By feeding and supplying West Berlin by air for nearly a year, these brave men won the hearts of America?s defeated enemies, and inspired people around the world to believe in America?s fundamental goodness. Their valor and kind acts helped the country avoid World War III, and won the greatest battle of the Cold War?without firing a shot.

The cognizance of the House of York was a Falcon, enclosed within a Fetterlock... The year is 1396. King Richard II is childless — the succession to the English throne is in doubt. When the rebellious Henry of Lancaster returns from exile in France in a bid to claim the throne,...  more

The cognizance of the House of York was a Falcon, enclosed within a Fetterlock... The year is 1396. King Richard II is childless — the succession to the English throne is in doubt. When the rebellious Henry of Lancaster returns from exile in France in a bid to claim the throne, Constance of York is threatened on all sides. Closely related to both the King and Henry of Lancaster, she is drawn into intrigues as her husband and her brother jostle with their Lancastrian and Mortimer cousins in the race for supremacy.

Good guy or bad guy? A medieval document casts doubt on our pre-conceptions about a medieval folk hero and legend.Who was Robin Hood? Romantic legend casts him as outlaw, archer, and hero of the people, living in Sherwood Forest with Friar Tuck, Little John and Maid Marian, stealing from the...  more

Good guy or bad guy? A medieval document casts doubt on our pre-conceptions about a medieval folk hero and legend.Who was Robin Hood? Romantic legend casts him as outlaw, archer, and hero of the people, living in Sherwood Forest with Friar Tuck, Little John and Maid Marian, stealing from the rich to give to the poor ? but there is no historical proof to back this up. The early ballads portray a quite different figure: impulsive, violent, vengeful, with no concern for the needy, no merry band, and no Maid Marian.Hodd provides a possible answer in the form of a medieval document rescued from a ruined church on the Somme. The testimony of the monk Matthew describes life with the half-crazed bandit Hodd in the greenwood. Following the thirteenth-century principles of the ?heresy of the Free Spirit,? he believed himself above God and beyond sin. Hodd and his crimes would have been forgotten without Matthew?s minstrel skills, and it is the old monk?s cruel fate to know that not only has he given himself up to apostasy and shame, but that his ballads were responsible for turning the murderous felon Robert Hodd into the most popular outlaw hero and folk legend of England, Robin Hood.Written with his characteristic depth and subtlety, his sure understanding of folklore and precise command of detail, Adam Thorpe?s ninth novel is both a thrilling re-examination of myth and a moving reminder of how human innocence and frailty fix and harden into history.From the Hardcover edition.

"He had a sensation of being told a secret he knew to be true, but which would be far, far easier--and much safer--to ignore; all the more so since he strongly suspected that acknowledging the truth meant his life would change utterly." Kit Livingstone's great-grandfather has...  more

"He had a sensation of being told a secret he knew to be true, but which would be far, far easier--and much safer--to ignore; all the more so since he strongly suspected that acknowledging the truth meant his life would change utterly." Kit Livingstone's great-grandfather has re-appeared with an unbelievable story--the ley lines throughout Britain are not merely the stuff of legends but truly are pathways to other worlds. So few people know how to use them, though, that doing so is fraught with danger. But one explorer knew more than most. Because of his fear of being unable to find his way home, he developed an intricate code and tattooed his map onto his skin. But the map has since been lost and rival factions are in desperate competition to recover it. What none of them yet realize is that the skin map itself is not the prize at the end of this race . . . but merely the first goal of a vast and marvelous quest to regain Paradise. Enter the ultimate treasure hunt--with a map made of skin, a playing field of alternate realities, and a prize that is the greatest mystery of all.