D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

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  David Swan - From their pens to...

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

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  Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on 4th July 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, a town synonymous with the earlier Salem Witch Trials. It was instrumental in Hawthorne’s later use of American Gothic and dark romanticism in his writing. 
  He was a mere four years old when his father died and his mother took him and his two sisters to live with her family and then on to their own home in Raymond, Maine. The young Hawthorne had a passion for fiction and poetry and voraciously read the works of Ann Radcliffe, Henry Fielding and Lord Byron.  
  He was sent to college at his maternal uncle’s insistence. During these years he met and befriended Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and future U S president Franklin Pierce. These friendships were lifelong and to have a crucial impact on his writings and career.  
  At college Hawthorne had made attempts at writing short stories and essays but without opportunities to publish. It was only in 1828 that he finally published his novel ‘Franshawe’ to little success and so he began work as editor for the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge.  
  Hawthorne’s short stories were first published in magazines but in 1837 were collected and published as ‘Twice-Told Tales’. A steady literary career still did not come his way and so he worked in a good position at Salem’s port and married the love of his life Sophia Peabody. They moved to live in ‘The Old Manse’ at Concord, Massachusetts.   
  Finally. in 1850 came spectacular literary and commercial success with ‘The Scarlet Letter’ followed by ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ the following year.  
  In 1852, Hawthorne published a biography of presidential candidate Franklin Pierce. After Pierce’s victory he was appointed consul in Liverpool, a position that offered prestige, money and fame. At the end of this appointment he returned several times to Europe before settling in Massachusetts and resuming writing and publication. 
  During the early 1860’s his health declined and on 19th May 1864 during a trip to Plymouth, New Hampshire. He was 59 and was buried in Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, Massachusetts.

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  Vegas Concierge - Sex...

  Brian Joseph

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  Vegas Concierge is the riveting inside story of a decade-long investigation into sex tracking, police corruption, and hip-hop music in Sin City.  
   
  A layered saga spanning more than a decade, Vegas Concierge moves from the luxury hotel rooms on the Las Vegas Strip to the inner offices of the Las Vegas police and some of Nevada’s biggest news organizations. Using public and private records as well as exclusive first-person accounts from primary sources, this book shows how prostitutes and pimps ply their trade, how law enforcement agencies trip on themselves and their investigations become compromised, and how self-interest corrupts news organizations and the corridors of power. More than anything, this book examines the disregard American society has toward sex tracking victims. 
   
  "An investigative journalism tour de force on a painful problem that ultimately compels clearer-eyed action—and a page-turner of a book."—Duff Wilson, investigative reporter and three-time Pulitzer finalist

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  A Little Joke - From their pens...

  Anthony Hope

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  Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins was born on 9th February 1863 in Clapton, London.  
  He was educated at St John's School, Leatherhead, Marlborough College and Balliol College, Oxford.  Hope trained as a lawyer and barrister and was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1887. Despite what was thought to be a promising legal career he had literary ambitions and wrote in his spare time. 
  His early works appeared in various periodicals of the day but for his first book ‘A Man of Mark’ (1890), with no publisher interested, he published with his own resources.  
  More novels and short stories followed, including the mildly successful ‘Mr Witt's Widow’ in 1892. Hope even found time to run as the Liberal candidate for Wycombe in the election that same year but was unsuccessful. 
  His first major literary success came with ‘The Dolly Dialogues’, a collection of previously published magazine pieces followed very quickly by his instant classic, ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’. He now gave up the vestiges of his legal career to pursue writing full-time. 
  Despite never again reaching the same pinnacle of success he was popular and wrote prolifically across novels, plays and of course, short stories though his writing output rapidly diminished after the war. 
  In 1918 he was knighted for his contribution to propaganda efforts during World War I.  
  His short stories are delicate, mannered and often surprising with their wit, humour and interplay of characters who say one thing and usually mean another.  He was very definitely a writer of escapist rather than serious fare but they are no less enjoyable for that. 
  Anthony Hope died of throat cancer on 8th July 1933 at his country home, Heath Farm at Walton-on-the-Hill in Surrey. He was 70.

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  Famous Men of Rome

  John Haaren, A. B. Poland

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  "Famous Men of Rome" features 29 stories covering the history of Rome from its founding to the last emperor. You will read about the lives of Horatius, Camillus, Caesar, Cicero, and many others. The biographies of "Famous Men of Rome" are in chronological order and the whole book will bring you through the three stages of Ancient Rome: monarchy, republic, and empire. Although women are not the "famous" individuals listed in the book, the notable women of the time definitely play roles in the stories. "Famous Men of Rome" is faithful to this vision of learning history through biography. The chapters cover eleven centuries, from the legendary founding of Rome to its slow unraveling in the early centuries after Christ. Each chapter is a fascinating read.

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  Robin Hood: The True Story of...

  Liam Dale

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  If I asked you how many Robin Hoods you could name, what would the list be like? 
   
  I’m sure you’d reel off a whole host of famous actors, like Errol Flynn, Douglas Fairbanks, Kevin Costner, Michael Praed, Sean Connery, and John Cleese, to name but six. All of these men have played the role of Robin Hood in various television and movie adaptations of the famous story. 
   
  But that’s not what I meant. 
   
  I’m talking about Robin Hood himself; the ever popular and ever noble outlaw hero who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor, with his trusty bow and arrow as his weapon of choice. The leader of a band of like-minded outlaws, christened the Merry Men (‘merry’ – in this instance – derives from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘illustrious, famous, great, mighty’, etc. In the same sense, Hood means ‘hoodlum, thief, thug, criminal’). Robin Hood was a champion for justice, fighting against the oppression of the evil Sheriff of Nottingham and his right-hand man Guy of Gisbourne, all under the watchful eye of the wicked Prince John (who had been placed on the throne as a substitute monarch whilst his brother, King Richard The Lionheart, fought in the Crusades). 
   
  Of course, that was only one Robin Hood. Very much like the various incarnations that have appeared in classic novels, Hollywood movies, television series, radio serials and theatrical plays, Robin Hood was more than one man.

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  Top 10 Short Stories The - The...

  Franz Kafka

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  Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart.  A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere. 
   
  In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?  
   
  The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme.  Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature. 
   
  Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made.  If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something. 
   
  Whether Central Europe is part of East or West or both it is undeniable that it is also unto itself.  Its stories and literature are amongst the boldest narratives anywhere.  These authors have helped established the incredible literary heritage of all our ages. 
   
  01 - The Top 10 - The Central Europeans - An Introduction 
  2 - The New Paris by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 
  3 - A Hunger Artist by Franz Kafka 
  4 - A Legend of Old Egypt by Boleslaw Prus 
  5 - Gods in Exile by Heinrich Heine 
  6 - The Chamomile Drops by Jaroslav Hasek 
  7 - The Criminal from Lost Honour by Friedrich Schiller 
  8 - The Bundle of Letters by Moritz Jokai 
  9 - Vampirismus or Aurelia by E T A Hoffman 
  10 - The Vampire by Jan Neruda 
  11 - Wake Not the Dead by Johann Ludwig Tieck

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