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Daedalus Books
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The locals in the southern Italian town where he lives call him Signor Farfalla — Mr. Butterfly: for he is a discreet gentleman who paints rare butterflies. His life is inconspicuous — mornings spent brushing at a canvas, afternoons idling in the cafes, and evening talks with his friend the town priest over a glass of brandy. Yet there are other sides to this gentleman's life. Clara — the young student who moonlights in the town bordello. And another woman who arrives with $100,000 and a commission, but not for a painting of butterflies. With this assignment returns the dark fear that has dogged Signor Farfalla's mysterious life. Almost instantly, he senses a deadly circle closing in on him, one which he may or may not elude. Part thriller, part character study, part drama of deceit and self-betrayal, A Very Private Gentleman shows Martin Booth at the very height of his powers. |
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In the early hours of New Year's 1994, Russian troops invaded the Republic of Chechnya, plunging the country into a prolonged and bloody conflict that continues to this day. A foreign correspondent in Moscow at the time, Asne Seierstad traveled regularly to Chechnya to report on the war, describing its affects on those trying to live their daily lives amidst violence. In the following decade, Seierstad became an internationally renowned reporter and author, traveling to the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other war-torn regions. But she never lost sight of this conflict that had initially inspired her career. Over the course of a decade, she watched as Russia ruthlessly suppressed an Islamic rebellion in two bloody wars and as Chechnya evolved into one of the flashpoints in a world now focused on the threat of international terrorism. In 2006, Seierstad finally returned to Chechnya, traveling in secret and under the constant threat of danger. In a broken and devastated society she lived with orphans, the wounded, the lost. And she lived with the children of Grozny, those who will shape the country's future. She asks the question: What happens to a child who grows up surrounded by war and accustomed to violence? A compelling, intimate, and often heartbreaking portrait of Chechnya today, The Angel of Grozny is a vivid account of a land's violent history and its ongoing battle for freedom. |
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There is no other company, industry or premises more closely aligned — indeed almost synonymous — with its home town than Guinness's St James's Gate brewery and Dublin city. From the company's modest beginnings in 1759 to its heyday in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and its continued strength into the twenty-first century, Guinness has had an enormous influence over the city's economic, social and cultural life. In this extensive illustrated study, Tony Corcoran examines the magnitude of the brewery's operation, and the working lives of the thousands of Dublin people who depended on Guinness for their livelihood, either directly or indirectly. The company's extremely progressive treatment of its workers — in terms of health, training and housing — is revealed in detail, as is the Guinness family's philanthropy and compassion towards the less well-off residents of the city. The book is a labor of love, full of anecdote, humor and historical insights into one of Dublin's most important and best-loved institutions. |
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Unmatched in its romantic resonance, Scotland's remote landscape offers tales of courage and savagery, of loyalty and treachery — legends set against a panorama of wild beauty. This illustrated celebration of the history of the Scottish Highlands and clans is also ties into a PBS documentary narrated by Sean Connery. Illustrations, 30 in color. |
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This bountiful collection of more than fifty tales by one of Ireland s liveliest and most popular writers offers holiday charm and Gaelic humor by the Christmas stockingful. Drawing on the rich folk culture of County Kerry, John B. Keane brings new life to old customs in his portrayals of not-so-ordinary country people during the Christmas season. Keane revisits the Christmases celebrated by characters like Dotie Tupper and Johnny Naile, the doughty Canon Doyle and deaf Canon Cornelius Coodle, the amiable spendthrift Aenias Mackson, and Hiccups O Reilly, who disappears one Christmas Eve for seven years. Keane bears delightful witness to the trials and triumphs of the inhabitants of County Kerry, Ireland. |
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Parsnip is a gentle bedtime story of a little lamb born on a cold and snowy night and how she meets her first friends and gets her new name. It is a reassuring story for the youngest children, and sweet lift-the-flaps provide interactive fun. Sue Porter was born in London and now lives in France. She is married with two children. Her hobbies are painting, the French language, and playing the violin. She has been a full-time illustrator for many years and has illustrated more than fifty children's books. |
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For the first time in his life, Jacob Reckless is afraid. For years he's stolen across to another world. A dark enchanted place he's loved for its treasure, secrets and dangers. Until now. Will, his younger brother, has followed him with terrible consequences: the boy will turn to beast; the girl he loves will break her heart and chaos will rule forever, unless Jacob can spin a fairytale to save them.. |
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Today everyone knows Mickey Mouse as the cheerful ambassador of all things Disney. But back in the 1930s, Mickey gained fame as a rough-and-tumble, two-fisted epic hero — an adventurous scrapper matching wits with mobsters, kidnappers, spies, and even (gulp!) city slickers! And Mickey's greatest feats of derring-do took place in his daily comic strip, written and drawn by one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century — Floyd Gottfredson. For its first quarter-century, Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse was a rip-roaring serial: the most popular cartoon-based comic of its time, a trendsetting adventure continuity aimed at both kids and grown-ups, and the foundation on which all later Disney comics grew — including the adventures of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge by Gottfredson's Disney colleague Carl Barks. Glimpses of Floyd Gottfredson's masterpiece have been reprinted over the years, most famously in Bill Blackbeard's classic Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics. But the whole strip has never been comprehensively collected in English — until now! Fantagraphics Books is proud to bring this classic Disney creation to a 21st century audience in its entirety, starting from the strip's 1930 launch. Relive Mickey's race to a gold mine with Pegleg Pete hot on his heels; Mickey's life on the lam after being framed for bank robbery; even Mickey's ringside battle with a hulking heavyweight champ! The premiere volume features a dozen different adventures starring Mickey, his gal Minnie and her uncle Mortimer, his pals Horace Horsecollar and Butch, the villainous Pegleg Pete, and the mysterious and shrouded Fox. Gottfredson's vibrant visual storytelling has never been more beautifully reproduced; we promise the best reprinting the strip has ever seen, with each daily lovingly restored from Disney's original negatives and proof sheets. Death Valley also includes more than 50 pages of fascinating supplementary features, including rare behind-the-scenes art and vintage publicity material from the first two years of the strip. Critics, scholars, seasoned Disney archivists, and fellow cartoonists provide commentary and historical essays on the strip's creation and execution. Walt Disney often said that his studio's success all started with a Mouse — Walt himself wrote the Mickey Mouse strip before turning it over to the able hands of Gottfredson — and today Mickey is among the world's most recognizable icons. Now it's time to rediscover the wild, unforgettable personality behind the icon: Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. |
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Today everyone knows Mickey Mouse as the cheerful ambassador of all things Disney. But back in the 1930s, Mickey gained fame as a rough-and-tumble, two-fisted epic hero an adventurous scrapper matching wits with mobsters, kidnappers, spies, and even (gulp!) city slickers! And Mickey s greatest feats of derring-do took place in his daily comic strip, written and drawn by one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century Floyd Gottfredson. For its first quarter-century, Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse was a rip-roaring serial: the most popular cartoon-based comic of its time, a trend setting adventure continuity aimed at both kids and grown-ups, and the foundation on whichall later Disney comics grew including the adventures of Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge by Gottfredson's Disney colleague Carl Barks.Glimpses of Floyd Gottfredson's masterpiece have been reprinted over the years, most famously in Bill Blackbeard's classic Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics. But the whole strip has never been comprehensively collected in English until now! Fantagraphics Books is proud to bring this classic Disney creation to a 21st century audience in its entirety, starting from the strip s 1930 launch. Relive Mickey's race to a gold mine with Pegleg Pete hot on his heels; Mickey's life on the lam after being framed for bank robbery; even Mickey's ringside battle with a hulking heavy weight champ! The premiere volume features a dozen different adventures starring Mickey, his gal Minnie and her uncle Mortimer, his pals Horace Horse collar and Butch, the villainous Pegleg Pete, and the mysterious and shrouded Fox. Gottfredson's vibrant visual storytelling has never been more beautifully reproduced; we promise the best reprinting the strip has ever seen, with each daily lovingly restored from Disney's original negatives and proof sheets. Death Valley also includes more than 50 pages of fascinating supplementary features, including rare behind-the-scenes art and vintage publicity material from the first two years of the strip. Critics, scholars, seasoned Disney archivists, and fellow cartoonists provide commentary and historical essays on the strip's creation and execution.Walt Disney often said that his studio s success all started with a Mouse Walt himself wrote the Mickey Mouses trip before turning it over to the able hands of Gottfredson and today Mickey is among the world s most recognizable icons. Now it s time to rediscover the wild, unforgettable personality behind the icon: Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse. |
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Aurelio Zen of Rome's elite Criminalpol is back, but nobody's supposed to know it. After months in hospital recovering from a bomb attack on his car, he is lying low under a false name at a beach resort on the Tuscan coast, waiting to testify in an imminent anti-Mafia trial. Zen has clear instructions: to sit back and enjoy the classic Italian beach holiday — relaxing in the sun, eating seafood and engaging in a little mild flirtation with the attractive woman sitting under the next umbrella. But Zen is getting restless, and as an alarming number of people are dropping dead around him, it seems just a matter of time before the Mafia manages to finish the job it bungled months before on a lonely Sicilian road. Abruptly, the pleasant monotony of beach life is cut short as Zen finds himself transported to a remote and strange world far from home... and wherever he goes, trouble follows. |
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When the corpse of the shady industrialist who owns the local football team is found both shot and stabbed with a Parmesan knife, Italian police inspector Aurelio Zen is called to Bologna to oversee the investigation. Recovering slowly from surgery, and fleeing an equally painful crisis in his personal life, Zen is only too happy to take on what at first appears to be a routine and relatively undemanding assignment. But soon a world-famous university professor is shot with the same gun, immediately after publicly humiliating Italy's leading celebrity television chef, and the case — intertwined with the fates of an earnest student of semiotics and a mysterious young immigrant who claims to be from Ruritania — spins out of control, and Zen is in no condition to rise to the challenge. There's also a wild card in the pack, Tony Speranza, Bologna's most flamboyant private detective. Back to Bologna is dazzlingly plotted, features a cast of vivid and idiosyncratic characters, and along the way delivers both comic and serious insights into the realities of modern Italy. |
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In the seventh book of the acclaimed Aurelio Zen series, the Italian police detective finally receives the order he has been dreading all his professional life — his next posting is to Sicily. Indeed it soon turns out that he will need all his cunning and skill to survive in a milieu where unwritten rules are enforced with ruthless violence, one false step can prove fatal, and the truth must be paid for in blood. The gruesome discovery of an unidentified, decomposed corpse sealed in a railway wagon on a disused siding marks the beginning of Zen's most difficult and dangerous case. Set against the backdrop of the three thousand-year-old city of Catania, in the shadow of the smouldering volcano of Etna, Blood Rain reveals Aurelio Zen at his most desperate and driven. |
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Jonathan Safran Foer emerged as one of the most original writers of his generation with his best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated. Now, with humor, tenderness, and awe, he confronts the traumas of our recent history. Nine-year-old Oskar Schell has embarked on an urgent, secret mission that will take him through the five boroughs of New York. His goal is to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This seemingly impossible task will bring Oskar into contact with survivors of all sorts on an exhilarating, affecting, often hilarious, and ultimately healing journey. |
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After a shipwreck strands him far from home, ship's surgeon Lemuel Gulliver embarks on a series of remarkable adventures. From the tiny but fierce Lilliputians to the horselike Houyhnhnms and unruly Yahoos, the incredible things Gulliver encounters will spark children's imaginations. |
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Philip Callow AIs splendidly readable biography of Robert Louis Stevenson recounts the life of Scotland. AIs finest writer of English prose and the author of such classics as Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A sickly child, Louis became in turn a bohemian dandy, a literary gypsy traipsing through the mountains of France with a donkey, and at twenty-eight the lover of an American woman ten years his senior, the fabulous Fanny. His feelings are always his reasons, said O. Henry James, and caught in a sentence the secret of Stevenson AIs popularity as one of the last of the classic storytellers. Stevenson was destined to be a modern man.O-James Campbell, New York Times Book Review. Illustrated. |
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Eleven of the best and most popular tales of the immortal sleuth include Silver Blaze, concerning the curious incident of the dog in the night-time; The Greek Interpreter, starring Holmes' even more formidable brother, Mycroft; and The Final Problem, the detective's notorious confrontation with arch-criminal Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. |
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Here is the perfect introduction to the work of William Shakespeare for older children. Extracts from his plays, as well as his poetry, are helpfully arranged by themes such as love, mystery, nature and justice. Quotations are used in decorative headings to highlight the content of each spread. Exquisite full-colour illustrations ensure this is a collection that can be referred to with ease and enjoyment and is perfect for dipping into time and again. Deluxe presentation, including linen half-binding and gold blocking, make this beautiful volume a perfect gift for older children and Shakespeare enthusiasts of all ages. |
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In these five tales of intellectual derring-do, Sherlock Holmes is shown at the height of his powers: he cooperates with a young Winston Churchill in the famed siege of Sydney Street; helps defeat a plan for a German invasion outlined in the Zimmerman Telegram; establishes a link between two missing light-house keepers and the royal treasures of King John; contends with a supernatural curse placed upon an eccentric aristocrat and discovers a lost epic of Lord Byron. But it is all in a day's work for the great detective, who continues to defy the odds and lives to ratiocinate another day. |
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Georgie Sinclair's life is coming unstuck. Her husband's left her. Her son's obsessed with the End of the World. And now her elderly neighbour Mrs Shapiro has decided they are related. Or so the hospital informs her when Mrs Shapiro has an accident and names Georgie next of kin. This, however, is not a case of a quick ward visit: Mrs Shapiro has a large rickety house full of stinky cats that needs looking after that a pair of estate agents seem intent on swindling from her. Plus there are the 'Uselesses' trying to repair it (uselessly). Then there's the social worker who wants to put her in a nursing home. Not to mention some letters that point to a mysterious, painful past. As Georgie tries her best to put Mrs Shapiro's life back together somehow she must stop her own from falling apart... |
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More than three decades have passed since the events described in John Updike's The Witches of Eastwick, The three divorcees — Alexandra, Jane, and Sukie — have left town, remarried, and become widows. They cope with their grief and solitude as widows do: they travel the world, to such foreign lands as Canada, Egypt, and China, and renew old acquaintance. Why not, Sukie and Jane ask Alexandra, go back to Eastwick for the summer? The old Rhode Island seaside town, where they indulged in wicked mischief under the influence of the diabolical Darryl Van Horne, is still magical for them. Now Darryl is gone, and their lovers of the time have aged or died, but enchantment remains in the familiar streets and scenery of the village, where they enjoyed their lusty primes as free and empowered women. And, among the local citizenry, there are still those who remember them, and wish them ill. How they cope with the lingering traces of their evil deeds, the shocks of a mysterious counterspell, and the advancing inroads of old age, form the burden on Updike's delightful, ominous sequel. |
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