Here, Jemima Shore, investigator and TV personality, arrives at Inverness Station for a Highland holiday. The sun is shining. Paradise, she thinks. But at that moment, she hears a voice: "All this way for a funeral."
So begins an adventure far removed from Jemima's visions of heather-covered hills, crystal-clear streams, romantic men in kilts, fairy-tale castles....Instead, she is plunged into the strange world of the aristocratic Beauregard family with its tensions, its jealousies, and its violence, in many ways a primitive world dominated by the land and its possessing. The setting is the Wild Island itself, sometimes enchanting, but too often frighteningly remote; the streams, not silvery, but brown and sinister; her holiday home, with its disturbing, sometimes terrifying, influences; the people--the dashing war hero Colonel Henry and his sons, the forthright old priest Father Flanagan, Bridie the family servant, Clementina the wayward heiress...none of them quite what they seem.
And then there is the specter of the Scottish "freedom fighters," in the shape of the self-styled army of the Red Rose.
It all adds up to a brilliantly told story of mystery and intrigue on the Wild Island. Views: 172
**A searing satire of political corruption and social injustice from the celebrated author of *Things Fall Apart
*In the fictional West African nation of Kangan, newly independent of British rule, the hopes and dreams of democracy have been quashed by a fierce military dictatorship. Chris Oriko is a member of the president's cabinet for life, and one of the leader's oldest friends. When the president is charged with censoring the opportunistic editor of the state-run newspaper--another childhood friend--Chris's loyalty and ideology are put to the test. The fate of Kangan hangs in the balance as tensions rise and a devious plot is set in motion to silence a firebrand critic.
From Chinua Achebe, the legendary author of Things Fall Apart, Anthills of the Savannah is "A vision of social change that strikes us with the force of prophecy" (USA Today).
**From Publishers Weekly
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, this bitterly ironic novel by the Nigerian author of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God and The Man of the People is at times more of a polemic than dramatic narrative, but it presents a candid, trenchantly insightful view of contemporary Africa. Set in a undeveloped West African state called Kangan, the plot revolves around the figure of the new president, who has taken power in a military coup. The three main charactersChristopher Oriko, commissioner for information; his lover, Beatrice Okoh, who works in the ministry of finance; and Ikem Osodi, the gadfly editor of the National Gazettehave all known His Excellency since their youths (to them, he is merely Sam) and they have watched with dismay his moral deterioration and his assumption of totalitarian powers. Ikem, in particular, is unable to repress his stinging criticism of the Emperor, and his outspoken denunciations make Chris and Beatrice fear for his safety. As events move toward a violent crisis, Achebe skillfully demonstrates how the social fabric has been destroyed in Third World countries that have been alienated from their rich mythic roots by colonial powers. Though his major characters speak upper-class English to each other, they converse in the local patois with people of humble station. While this language is quite difficult for readers to comprehend, it serves to illustrate the alienation of the British-educated civil servants from the culture of their ancestors, and at the same time reveals the beauty and dignity of the folklore by which moral and behavioral standards were once transmitted. In the end, the novel must be deemed successful in its powerful portrayal of a society in crisis.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
"[The writer] in whose company the prison walls fell down' Nelson Mandela "The Founding Father of the African novel in English" - The Guardian Views: 171
Correspondent Ahmed Rashid brings the shadowy world of the Taliban—the world's most extreme and radical Islamic organization—into sharp focus in this enormously insightful book. Rashid offers the only authoritative account of the Taliban available to English-language readers, explaining the Taliban's rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the Middle East and Central Asia, its role in oil and gas company decisions, and the effects of changing American attitudes toward the Taliban. He also describes the new face of Islamic fundamentalism and explains why Afghanistan has become the world center for international terrorism.New to this updated edition of the #1 New York Times Bestseller with more than 1.5 million copies sold worldwide:How the Taliban has regained its strengthHow and why the Taliban has spread across Central AsiaHow the Taliban has helped Al'Qaida's spread into Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and the Far EastWhy... Views: 171
Someone wants to see her silenced.An Emergency Responders storyBack home after a mission trip, nurse and EMT Sara Southerland learns that her cousin's death might not have been an accident—and now someone wants her dead. The only person she can trust is longtime crush and fire captain Adam Kane. With a stalker on their tail, Adam will do whatever it takes to protect the woman he's realizing he can't live without. Views: 171
Knights Of Honor Series (Books 1–10) Views: 170
IllustratedEmerson Hough was an American author best known for writing western stories and historical novels.Publishers in 1906. Views: 170
Cyrus Townsend Brady was a late 19th century American journalist and historian, but some of his best known works were adventure fiction. Today, his most famous work is the history Indian Fights and Fighters. Views: 169
A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R. Murrow at CBS, William Shirer was new to the world of broadcast journalism when he began keeping a diary while in Europe during the 1930s. It was in 1940, still a virtual unknown, that Shirer wondered whether his reminiscences of the collapse of the world around Nazi Germany could be of any interest or value as a book.
Shirer’s Berlin Diary, which is considered the first full record of what was happening in Germany during the rise of the Third Reich, first appeared in 1941. The book was an instant success. But how did Shirer get such a valuable firsthand account? He had anonymous sources willing to speak with him, provided their identity remained protected and disguised so as to avoid retaliation from the Gestapo. Shirer recorded his and others’ eyewitness views to the horror that Hitler was inflicting on his people in his effort to conquer Europe. Shirer continued his job as a foreign correspondent and radio reporter for CBS until Nazi press censors made it virtually impossible for him to do his job with any real accuracy. He left Europe, taking with him the invaluable, unforgettable (and horrific) contents of his Berlin Diary.
Berlin Diary brings the reader as close as any reporter has ever been to Hitler and the rise of the Third Reich. Shirer’s honest, lucid and passionate reporting of the brutality with which Hitler came to power and the immediate reactions of those who witnessed these events is for all time. Views: 169
While the flames of World War II still raged, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin issued a warning to the Nazi leaders. Those responsible for the torture and murder of millions of innocent and defenseless civilians were promised that "... the three Allied Powers will pursue them to the furthest corners of the earth and deliver them to their judges so that justice may be done." That promise was not kept. Justice was not done. In 1945, twelve of the most notorious Nazis were tried for crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by the International Military Tribunal convened at Nuremberg. (Martin Bormann, his whereabouts unknown, had been tried and convicted in absentia.) Subsequent war-crimes trials ended in the conviction of other offenders. But the majority of the torturers and murderers escaped, found sanctuary, and continued to work effectively toward the concept of eventual world domination. Nazism did not die at Nuremberg. This survival and resurgence was the result of a plan... Views: 169
Following your heart...is worth the risk!When GP Andrew Mitchell signed up for an emergency responders training course, he never expected to leave with a certificate and a night of memories with instructor Jenna Armstrong! Returning to reality, Andrew juggles work with being a single dad, but staying focused is impossible with Jenna invading his thoughts. Their worlds are poles apart, and on paper they should never work, but Andrew isn't ready to let Jenna go... "I was attracted by the blurb description of this book. I loved the characters though and the overall arc of the story. It's a well-written book. I'm sure fans of Harlequin Medical Romance will enjoy this book."-Harlequin Junkie on A Pup to Rescue Their Hearts "I loved everything about Falling for the Secret Prince. Alison has written great characters and managed to put in fun moments that leave you laughing. She's managed to pull at... Views: 169
This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them. Views: 168
America's bestselling author transports readers to magical Seville, Spain, at Easter time, a season of splendid pageantry, exciting bullfights, deep piety--and miracles. An American journalist, sent to Seville on assignment to cover the efforts of a rancher to revive his once proud line of bulls--uncovers a story that shakes his newspaperman's hard-bitten pragmatism. 26 illustrations. Views: 167
A New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, and Denver Post Bestseller
In 1925, the legendary British explorer Percy Fawcett ventured into the Amazon jungle, in search of a fabled civilization. He never returned. Over the years countless perished trying to find evidence of his party and the place he called “The Lost City of Z.” In this masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, journalist David Grann interweaves the spellbinding stories of Fawcett’s quest for “Z” and his own journey into the deadly jungle, as he unravels the greatest exploration mystery of the twentieth century.
From the Trade Paperback edition. Views: 167
