Dirty Bertie the boy with nose-pickingly disgusting habits is back for another helping of comic chaos! Join Bertie as he samples life as a swashbuckling pirate, cooks up a storm in the poshest restaurant town, and teams up with Dad at the School Day in an attempt to beat Royston Rich! Views: 31
Stephen Greenblatt—Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author of The Swerve and Will in the World—investigates the life of one of humankind's greatest stories.Bolder, even, than the ambitious books for which Stephen Greenblatt is already renowned, The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve explores the enduring story of humanity's first parents. Comprising only a few ancient verses, the story of Adam and Eve has served as a mirror in which we seem to glimpse the whole, long history of our fears and desires, as both a hymn to human responsibility and a dark fable about human wretchedness.Tracking the tale into the deep past, Greenblatt uncovers the tremendous theological, artistic, and cultural investment over centuries that made these fictional figures so profoundly resonant in the Jewish, Christian, and Muslim worlds and, finally, so very "real" to millions of people even in the present. With the uncanny brilliance he previously... Views: 31
In 1919, Texas rancher J. Frank Norfleet lost everything he had in a stock market swindle. He did what many other marks did--he went home, borrowed more money from his family, and returned for another round of swindling. Only after he lost that second fortune did he reclaim control of his story. Instead of crawling back home in shame, he vowed to hunt down the five men who had conned him. Armed with a revolver and a suitcase full of disguises, Norfleet crisscrossed the country from Texas to Florida to California to Colorado, posing as a country hick and allowing himself to be ensnared by confidence men again and again to gather evidence on his enemies. Within four years, Frank Norfleet had become nationally famous for his quest to out-con the con men. Through Norfleet's ingenious reverse-swindle, Amy Reading reveals the mechanics behind the scenes of the big con--a piece of performance art targeted to the most vulnerable points of human nature. Reading... Views: 31
Three more stories from everyone's favourite trouble-magnet. Bertie drags a reluctant Whiffer to dog training classes, stink-bombs his sister's sleepover and rebels against Miss Beansprout's all-new healthy school dinners. Views: 31
Three brilliantly funny stories featuring Bertie trying to get out of a pink party, Bertie trying and failing to be polite for a whole day and a really rubbish entry into the summer fair's flower arranging competition . . Views: 31
As U.S. troops prepare to withdraw, the shocking tale of how the American military had triumph in sight in Afghanistan—and then brought the Taliban back from the deadIn the popular imagination, Afghanistan is often regarded as the site of intractable conflict, the American war against the Taliban a perpetually hopeless quagmire. But as Anand Gopal demonstrates in this stunning chronicle, top Taliban leaders were in fact ready to surrender within months of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, renouncing all political activity and submitting to the new government. Effectively, the Taliban ceased to exist—yet the American forces were not ready to accept such a turnaround. Driven by false intelligence from corrupt warlords and by a misguided conviction that Taliban members could never change sides, the U.S. instead continued to press the conflict, resurrecting the insurgency that persists to this day.Gopal's dramatic narrative, full of vivid personal... Views: 31
"What are you looking for, sir?" he said. "Bloodstains." Scotland Yard is concerned with the murderer, or murderers, of the mysterious Bernard Pitt. The dead man is discovered with a false identity, courtesy of the many forged papers and documents found with him.The trail leads to France, where we discover why a French milliner chose to ride in a laundry basket, why the two American men are so interested in their wives' hat trimmings, and why it is so difficult for the French police to touch a criminal with high political connections. But Richardson discovers that the murder of Bernard Pitt was only an incident in the diabolical plot linking a network of criminals on both sides of the Channel.The Milliner's Hat Mystery, a novel which inspired Ian Fleming, was first published in 1937. This new edition, the first for many decades, includes an introduction by crime fiction historian Curtis Evans."Sir Basil Thomson is a past-master in the mysteries... Views: 31
During the German occupation of France, Suzanne Spaak displayed almost super-human courage... Anne Nelson has written an extraordinary book that finally does justice to Spaak's story of heroism and sacrifice.'—Andrew Nagorski, author of The Nazi HuntersCodename Suzette is one of the untold stories of the Holocaust, an account of outstanding courage in the face of evil.Suzanne Spaak was born into an affluent Belgian Catholic family, and married into the country's leading political dynasty. Her brother-in-law was the Foreign Minister and her husband Claude was a playwright and patron of the painter Rene Magritte. In occupied Paris she moved among the cultural elite. Her neighbour was Colette, France's most famous living writer, and Jean Cocteau was part of her circle of intimates. But Suzanne was living a double life. Her friendship with a Polish Jewish refugee led her to her life's purpose. When France fell and the Nazis occupied Paris, she joined... Views: 31
On Christmas Eve in 1985, a hunter found a young boy's body along an icy corn field in Nebraska. The residents of Chester, Nebraska buried him as "Little Boy Blue," unclaimed and unidentified-- until a phone call from Ohio two years later led authorities to Eli Stutzman, the boy's father.Eli Stutzman, the son of an Amish bishop, was by all appearances a dedicated farmer and family man in the country's strictest religious sect. But behind his quiet façade was a man involved with pornography, sadomasochism, and drugs. After the suspicious death of his pregnant wife, Stutzman took his preschool-age son, Danny, and hit the road on a sexual odyssey ending with his conviction for murder. But the mystery of Eli Stutzman and the fate of his son didn't end on the barren Nebraska plains. It was just beginning. . .Gregg Olsen's Abandoned Prayers is an incredible true story of murder and Amish secrets.Review"A searingly tragic look behind the headlines that broke America's heart. Brilliantly researched, wonderfully written."--Anne Rule"A riveting and deeply disturbing chronicle of true crime. Olsen has done a superior job."--Cleveland Plain Dealer"Among the top true crime books published. Once picked up, it's hard to put down."--New Philadelphia Times Reporter"A superior true crime account that should not be missed."--Jack Olsen, author of Doc and I: The Creation of a Serial Killer"A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise."--Seattle Post-IntelligencerFrom the Inside Flap"A tough new voice rises in the ranks of true-crime writers. Even the reigning giants of the genre are taking notice and offering praise ." -Seattle Post-IntelligencerAcclaim for the True-Crime Classics of Gregg Olsen Abandoned Prayers"An absorbing, sobering, disturbing book."--Omaha World-HeraldBitter Almonds"Absolutely fascinating...One of the most devious female minds in crime history. Stella Nickell has won her dubious spot in the annals of crime-thanks to Gregg Olsen's research and reporting."--Ann Rule"[A] truly remarkable book. The trailer park babes of Bitter Almonds leap off the page, fingernails sharpened and aimed for your eyes...meticulous reporting and engrossing, vivid detail plunges the reader into a world of schemes and dreams. This is one of the best true crime books of the '90s."-Jack Olsen, author of Son: A Psychopath and His Victims and "I": The Creation of a Serial Killer"A real page-turner...a compelling and fascinating tale of family psychopathology taken to the extreme."--Jonathan Kellerman"Masterfully written...a tale of intricate suspense."-Rod Colvin, author of Evil HarvestConfessions of an American Black Widow"More interesting than the crime itself is Olsen's portrait of Nelson as a brash, trashy, manipulative sexpot...watching Nelson as she almost gets away with murder will fascinate long after the last page." -Publishers Weekly"This time Gregg Olsen has given us a very sexy book that is as disturbing as it is seductive. One reads it compulsively and wonders afterwards 'Why did I like this so much?' as if one had not so much read it as had a very destructive affair with it. A dangerous and informative book, as irresistible as its painfully, wonderfully vicious heroine-or villain, whichever she is. This book might make some moralists more humble." -Darcy O'Brien, bestselling author of Two of a Kind: The Hillside Stranglers and Murder in Little Egypt"Gregg Olsen's standing as one of America's finest crime journalists will rise even higher with The Confessions of an American Black Widow. Here are all the ingredients of a great crime story-murder, infidelity, greed, nymphomania. But the main element is Olsen's skill at describing and explicating human misbehavior. A must read!" -Jack Olsen, bestselling author of Doc and Predator"What a combination! God, Mammon, carnality, all rendered vividly under Olsen's assured touch." -Stephen Michand, bestselling author of The Only Living Witness and Murderers Among Us"Gregg Olsen introduces the reader to a character so mesmerizing, so frightening and so evil that one has to keep reminding himself that this amazing fast-paced story is true."--Carlton Stowers, bestselling author of Careless Whispers"This brilliant true crime story deserves acclaim and thunderous applause." -Elizabeth Loftus, co-author, The Myth of Repressed Memory and 1998 President of American Psychological Society"That rare book that is at once a page-turner and an important chronicle of true crime. An enlightening and devastating read." -Steve A. Eggar, PhD., author of Killers Among Us: An Examination of Serial Murder and Its Investigation"This is probably Gregg's best work yet. Sharon Lynn is the kind of woman-and this is the kind of book-that people will talk about. Gregg Olsen shows us just how chilling it is to realize what might be going on in the house next door." -Clark Howard, bestselling author of Love's BloodIf Loving You is Wrong"Gregg Olsen's If Loving You is Wrong is a wonderfully researched book that makes the tabloid stories about Mary Kay Letourneau and her forbidden love sound like comic book stuff. Everyone who wants to understand the back-story of the child-woman and her overwhelming passion for a man-child must read If Loving You Is Wrong. Olsen's books is both gossipy and sympathetic, searing and brilliant. If Mary Kay is the Humbert Humbert of the female sex-and she is-this book is her Lolita. A must-read for both true crime aficionados and students of abnormal psychology! I read until 3 a.m.!" -Ann Rule, author of Bitter Harvest and A Rage to Kill Views: 31
The pint-sized orphan had big, big plans...She longed for Graydon Payne to be her daddy, and Stacy Lucas to be her mommy. And there was only one way to bring them together: by running away....Stacy would do anything to find the lost child—even face the man she never wanted to see again. She had managed to avoid Gray all these years. Now it was time to put their differences aside and join forces on a heart-wrenching mission.Since Gray had last seen Stacy, he had discovered something more powerful than his wealthy family. But it would take more than steadfast faith to locate the missing cherub in the vast Ozark wilderness—and to convince Stacy to give him another chance. It might even take a miracle.... Views: 31
Understanding North Korean Through the Eyes of Defectors. The weekly column Ask A North Korean, published by NK News, invites readers from around the world to pose questions to North Korean defectors. By way of these fascinating interviews, the North Koreans themselves provide authentic firsthand testimonies about what is happening inside the "Hermit Kingdom." North Korean contributors to this book include: "Seong" who came to South Korea after dropping out during his final year of his university. He is now training to be an elementary school teacher. "Kang" who left North Korea in 2005. He now lives in London, England. "Cheol" who was from South Hamgyeong in North Korea and is now a second-year university student in Seoul. "Park" worked and studied in Pyongyang before defecting to the U.S. in 2011. He is now studying at a U.S. college.Ask A North Korean sheds critical light on all aspects of North... Views: 31
