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‘An absolute joy to read…part love story, part ghost story, and a wholly enjoyable and intelligent summer read’ Amanda Craig, NEW STATESMAN

‘Beautifully written’ EVE

‘Part love story, part murder mystery, part psychological study… her writing truly soars’ TIME OUT

Thirtysomething New Yorker Lucy Stark leads a quiet, solitary life working for a bestselling – but remarkably untalented – writer. When he dies at a villa in Tuscany, Lucy flies to Italy to settle his affairs. What begins as
a grim chore soon threatens her self-reliance and her very sense of reality.

In Italian Fever, Valerie Martin evokes a modern woman’s headlong tumble into a world where E.M.Forster’s angels feared to tread. Smart and sophisticated, this novel takes us on a journey from which we return, like Lucy, utterly changed.

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER’S SECRET PROVENCE

Second in the bestselling Olive Farm story from the bestselling author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘I scan the terraces, planted with row upon row of ancient olive trees. It is April, late spring. Here in the hills behind the Cote d’Azur the olive groves are delicately blossomed, with their tiny, white-forked flowers. Beyond them, perched halfway up the slope of the hill, our belle epoque villa comes into view. Abounding in balustrade terraces, nestling among cedars and palms, facing out at a south-westerly angle, overlooking the bay of Cannes towards the sun-kissed Mediterranean, there it is, Appassionata, awaiting us…’

THE OLIVE FARM told how Carol Drinkwater and partner Michel fell in love with and bought an abandoned Provencal olive farm. Now, in THE OLIVE SEASON, Carol is pregnant and their ever-loyal gardener is leaving to oversee the marriage of his son. Often unassisted, and with new challenges to face, Carol takes on the bulk of the farm work alone. Water is, as ever, a costly problem, and she goes in search of a diviner who promises almost magical results. But, as the harvest season approaches, dramatic events cast dark shadows of their olive farm.

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER’S SECRET PROVENCE

Second in the bestselling Olive Farm story from the bestselling author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘I scan the terraces, planted with row upon row of ancient olive trees. It is April, late spring. Here in the hills behind the Cote d’Azur the olive groves are delicately blossomed, with their tiny, white-forked flowers. Beyond them, perched halfway up the slope of the hill, our belle epoque villa comes into view. Abounding in balustrade terraces, nestling among cedars and palms, facing out at a south-westerly angle, overlooking the bay of Cannes towards the sun-kissed Mediterranean, there it is, Appassionata, awaiting us…’

THE OLIVE FARM told how Carol Drinkwater and partner Michel fell in love with and bought an abandoned Provencal olive farm. Now, in THE OLIVE SEASON, Carol is pregnant and their ever-loyal gardener is leaving to oversee the marriage of his son. Often unassisted, and with new challenges to face, Carol takes on the bulk of the farm work alone. Water is, as ever, a costly problem, and she goes in search of a diviner who promises almost magical results. But, as the harvest season approaches, dramatic events cast dark shadows of their olive farm.

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER’S SECRET PROVENCE

The first in Carol Drinkwater’s bestselling series set on a Provencal olive farm.

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Spellbinding’ CHOICE

‘Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘All my life, I have dreamed of acquiring a crumbling, shabby-chic house overlooking the sea. In my mind’s eye, I have pictured a corner of paradise where friends can gather to swim, relax, debate, eat fresh fruits picked directly from the garden and great steaming plates of food served from an al fresco kitchen and dished up on to a candlelit table the length of a railway sleeper…’

When Carol Drinkwater and her partner Michel have the opportunity to buy 10 acres of disused olive farm in Provence, the idea seems absurd. After all, they don’t have a lot of money, and they’ve only been together a little while.

THE OLIVE FARM is the story of the highs and lows of purchasing the farm and life in Provence: the local customs and cuisine; the threats of fire and adoption of a menagerie of animals; the potential financial ruin and the thrill of harvesting their own olives – especially when they are discovered to produce the finest extra-virgin olive oil…

The first in Carol Drinkwater’s bestselling series set on a Provencal olive farm.

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Spellbinding’ CHOICE

‘Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘All my life, I have dreamed of acquiring a crumbling, shabby-chic house overlooking the sea. In my mind’s eye, I have pictured a corner of paradise where friends can gather to swim, relax, debate, eat fresh fruits picked directly from the garden and great steaming plates of food served from an al fresco kitchen and dished up on to a candlelit table the length of a railway sleeper…’

When Carol Drinkwater and her partner Michel have the opportunity to buy 10 acres of disused olive farm in Provence, the idea seems absurd. After all, they don’t have a lot of money, and they’ve only been together a little while.

THE OLIVE FARM is the story of the highs and lows of purchasing the farm and life in Provence: the local customs and cuisine; the threats of fire and adoption of a menagerie of animals; the potential financial ruin and the thrill of harvesting their own olives – especially when they are discovered to produce the finest extra-virgin olive oil…

In the bestselling Olive series by writer and actress Carol Drinkwater, author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Her writing captures the true spirit of the people and places she visits’ THE TIMES

‘A thrilling tale tracing the journey of olive cultivation’ THE LADY

THE OLIVE TREE charts Carol Drinkwater’s colourful and often dangerous journey in search of the routes that olive cultivation has taken over the centuries. Set during a springtime Mediterranean that is evocative and perennial, it is above all a tale of our time.

Troubled by challenges her own South of France farm is experiencing, Carol realises new approaches to farming are becoming essential. Her quest takes her south through Spain, Morocco, Algeria and Italy before she finally returns to her farm.

Through her travels and vivid encounters, Carol confronts some of the critical issues of our time – land-care and the harsh realities of diminishing water reserves – and ends her momentous journey in the company of olive growers whose vision for the future is remarkable and ingenious.

In the terrific bestselling olive series by writer and actress Carol Drinkwater, bestselling author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Spellbinding’ CHOICE

‘One cannot resist Drinkwater’s courage and joie de vivre, nor the enormous appetite and enthusiasm for her subject’ Wendy Holden DAILY MAIL

Since Carol Drinkwater moved to an olive farm in France she has developed a passion for the olive tree and the culture that has grown up around it. From the eastern shores of the shimmering Mediterranean to its western coast this fruit is farmed. Its silvery-green branches have inspired painters and poets, but who first pressed its ‘bitter berry’ and transformed it into liquid gold?

In quest of its secrets and traditions, Carol embarked on a solo adventure round the Mediterranean basin. Transporting readers across the olive’s ancient paths, celebrating its venerable past, tracking trade routes, unearthing unlikely stories, encountering peoples of today and bygone times, Carol comes full circle, back to her farm in the sun-baked Provençal hills.

In the terrific bestselling olive series by writer and actress Carol Drinkwater, bestselling author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘She writes so well you can almost smell the sun-baked countryside’ BELLA

‘Spellbinding’ CHOICE

‘One cannot resist Drinkwater’s courage and joie de vivre, nor the enormous appetite and enthusiasm for her subject’ Wendy Holden DAILY MAIL

Since Carol Drinkwater moved to an olive farm in France she has developed a passion for the olive tree and the culture that has grown up around it. From the eastern shores of the shimmering Mediterranean to its western coast this fruit is farmed. Its silvery-green branches have inspired painters and poets, but who first pressed its ‘bitter berry’ and transformed it into liquid gold?

In quest of its secrets and traditions, Carol embarked on a solo adventure round the Mediterranean basin. Transporting readers across the olive’s ancient paths, celebrating its venerable past, tracking trade routes, unearthing unlikely stories, encountering peoples of today and bygone times, Carol comes full circle, back to her farm in the sun-baked Provençal hills.

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER’S SECRET PROVENCE

The third in the bestselling story which began with THE OLIVE FARM – from the author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘Captures perfectly the dreamy atmosphere of the South of France and its people’ WOMAN AND HOME

‘Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘The stars shimmer like spilled handfuls of glitter. The day is beginning to rise with a faint mist. As I turn my head, ghostly halos, auras of light, appear and disappear … The silence is truly awesome. Not a bird, not a whisper of wind, not a breath of life. Only the two of us, a most implausible pair, standing shoulder to shoulder gazing upon an awakening heaven’

Returning to their home after an extended absence Carol and her husband Michel are looking forward to summer together on the farm. A shocking blow leaves Carol alone and the future is uncertain. Feeling isolated and with no olives to harvest, Carol ventures beyond the farm to explore other aspects of Provencal life – from hunting to bee-keeping, the ancient language to the ever-present demands of family and friends. And ultimately, Provence’s generous diversity – and Carol’s own persistence in sharing it with those she loves – paves a path to joy.

NOW A MAJOR NEW TV SERIES: CAROL DRINKWATER’S SECRET PROVENCE

The third in the bestselling story which began with THE OLIVE FARM – from the author of THE FORGOTTEN SUMMER

‘Captures perfectly the dreamy atmosphere of the South of France and its people’ WOMAN AND HOME

‘Vibrant, intoxicating and heart-warming’ SUNDAY EXPRESS

‘The stars shimmer like spilled handfuls of glitter. The day is beginning to rise with a faint mist. As I turn my head, ghostly halos, auras of light, appear and disappear … The silence is truly awesome. Not a bird, not a whisper of wind, not a breath of life. Only the two of us, a most implausible pair, standing shoulder to shoulder gazing upon an awakening heaven’

Returning to their home after an extended absence Carol and her husband Michel are looking forward to summer together on the farm. A shocking blow leaves Carol alone and the future is uncertain. Feeling isolated and with no olives to harvest, Carol ventures beyond the farm to explore other aspects of Provencal life – from hunting to bee-keeping, the ancient language to the ever-present demands of family and friends. And ultimately, Provence’s generous diversity – and Carol’s own persistence in sharing it with those she loves – paves a path to joy.

‘Cain has established a formidable reputation of furious pace, harsh and masterful realism, tough, raw speech right out of the mouths of the people’ SATURDAY REVIEW

Serenade is the story of the eternal triangle – with a difference. John Howard Sharp is an American opera singer down on his luck, having just bombed in Rigoletto in Mexico City when he first encounters the beautiful Mexican-Indian prostitute called Juana. Miraculously, she offers him the chance to rebuild his career in Hollywood and New York but then Winston Hawes, the young, rich and well-connected conductor who had first launched Sharp, comes back into his life with terrible consequences.

A collection of the most important essays on past and current history by the Western world’s foremost Islamic scholar

Bernard Lewis has charted the great centuries of Islamic power and civilisation but also, in his recent books WHAT WENT WRONG? and THE CRISIS OF ISLAM, Islam’s calamitous and bitter decline. This book collects together his most interesting and significant essays, papers, reviews and lectures.

They range from historical subjects such as religion and politics in Islam and Judaism, the culture and people of Iran, the great mosques of Istanbul, Middle Eastern food and feasts, the Mughals and the Ottomans, the rise and fall of British power in the Middle East and North Africa, Islam and racism – to current history such as the significance of Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden. Includes discussion of the problems of Western historians dealing with the Islamic world.

The story of the many suitors of Elizabeth I – one of the most eligible brides in 16th century Europe.

From her childhood, overshadowed by the marital upheavals of her father Henry VIII, and the tragic first encounter with courtship, to the fantastical flirtations of her old age, Elizabeth refused to commit herself to any man. During the marriage negotiations, which spanned half a century, romance blended with diplomacy as one illustrious suitor after another endeavoured to ally himself to her in the most intimate of treaties.

Sought after by some of the most powerful men in Europe, she knew her marriageable status to be one of her greatest assets. She played one suitor against another, exploiting her situation to the full both for England’s profit and her pleasure. By turns she encouraged and eluded her pursuers, keeping alive hopes which she would never fulfil. Yet one man did come close to winning her. Ambitious, devious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, suspected by many of having murdered his wife, was the most persistent of the suitors to the Queen, and though he never attained the prize he longed for, he was dearly loved by Elizabeth all her life. This is a fascinating look at the many suitors of Elizabeth I.

The story of the many suitors of Elizabeth I – one of the most eligible brides in 16th century Europe.

From her childhood, overshadowed by the marital upheavals of her father Henry VIII, and the tragic first encounter with courtship, to the fantastical flirtations of her old age, Elizabeth refused to commit herself to any man. During the marriage negotiations, which spanned half a century, romance blended with diplomacy as one illustrious suitor after another endeavoured to ally himself to her in the most intimate of treaties.

Sought after by some of the most powerful men in Europe, she knew her marriageable status to be one of her greatest assets. She played one suitor against another, exploiting her situation to the full both for England’s profit and her pleasure. By turns she encouraged and eluded her pursuers, keeping alive hopes which she would never fulfil. Yet one man did come close to winning her. Ambitious, devious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, suspected by many of having murdered his wife, was the most persistent of the suitors to the Queen, and though he never attained the prize he longed for, he was dearly loved by Elizabeth all her life. This is a fascinating look at the many suitors of Elizabeth I.

Five of Philip K. Dick’s best novels in one fantastic value volume: the best of SF’s visionary master

This volume contains DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? (filmed as BLADERUNNER), MARTIAN TIME SLIP, UBIK, THE THREE STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH and A SCANNER DARKLY. Taken together they represent the best of Philip K. Dick’s unique imagination.

In Dick’s writing nothing is what it seems, our sense of the world’s order is fatally undermined and mass media tells us nothing but artful lies. Films such as THE MATRIX and THE TRUMAN SHOW would not have been made but for Philip K. Dick. His work has never been more timely.

How the wars of the near future will be fought and who will win them

Many nations, peoples and special interest groups believe that violence will advance their cause. Warfare has changed greatly since the Second World War; it continued to change during the late 20th century and this process is still accelerating. Political, technological, social and religious forces are shaping the future of warfare, but most western armed forces have yet to evolve significantly from the cold war era when they trained to resist a conventional invasion by the Warsaw Pact. America is now the only superpower, but its dominance is threatened by internal and external factors. The world’s most hi-tech weaponry seems helpless in the face of determined guerrilla fighters not afraid to die for their beliefs.

Professor Colin Gray has advised governments on both sides of the Atlantic and in ANOTHER BLOODY CENTURY, he reveals what sort of conflicts will affect our world in the years to come.

How the wars of the near future will be fought and who will win them

Many nations, peoples and special interest groups believe that violence will advance their cause. Warfare has changed greatly since the Second World War; it continued to change during the late 20th century and this process is still accelerating. Political, technological, social and religious forces are shaping the future of warfare, but most western armed forces have yet to evolve significantly from the cold war era when they trained to resist a conventional invasion by the Warsaw Pact. America is now the only superpower, but its dominance is threatened by internal and external factors. The world’s most hi-tech weaponry seems helpless in the face of determined guerrilla fighters not afraid to die for their beliefs.

Professor Colin Gray has advised governments on both sides of the Atlantic and in ANOTHER BLOODY CENTURY, he reveals what sort of conflicts will affect our world in the years to come.

A dozen star historians on what might have happened at history’s turning points if the dice had fallen differently.
‘Stimulating, provocative and playful’ Literary Review

Throughout history, great and terrible events have often hinged upon luck. Andrew Roberts has asked a team of twelve leading historians and biographers what might have happened if major world events had gone differently? Each concentrating in the area in which they are a leading authority, historians as distinguished as Antonia Fraser (Gunpowder Plot), Norman Stone (Sarajevo 1914) and Anne Somerset (the Spanish Armada) consider: What if?

Robert Cowley demonstrates how nearly Britain won the American war of independence. Following her acclaimed GEORGIANA, Amanda Foreman muses on Lincoln’s Northern States of America and Lord Palmerston’s Great Britain going to war, as they so nearly did in 1861. Whether it’s Stalin fleeing Moscow in 1941 (Simon Sebag Montefiore), or Napoleon not being forced to retreat from it in 1812 (Adam Zamoyski), the events covered here are important, world-changing ones.

A dozen star historians on what might have happened at history’s turning points if the dice had fallen differently.
‘Stimulating, provocative and playful’ Literary Review

Throughout history, great and terrible events have often hinged upon luck. Andrew Roberts has asked a team of twelve leading historians and biographers what might have happened if major world events had gone differently? Each concentrating in the area in which they are a leading authority, historians as distinguished as Antonia Fraser (Gunpowder Plot), Norman Stone (Sarajevo 1914) and Anne Somerset (the Spanish Armada) consider: What if?

Robert Cowley demonstrates how nearly Britain won the American war of independence. Following her acclaimed GEORGIANA, Amanda Foreman muses on Lincoln’s Northern States of America and Lord Palmerston’s Great Britain going to war, as they so nearly did in 1861. Whether it’s Stalin fleeing Moscow in 1941 (Simon Sebag Montefiore), or Napoleon not being forced to retreat from it in 1812 (Adam Zamoyski), the events covered here are important, world-changing ones.

‘The greatest literary scholar of his generation’ (Independent) explains how the history of the Elizabethan era is the backdrop to William Shakespeare and his plays.

Shakespeare made his unique contribution to British and world culture in the midst of Elizabeth’s great reign.

Here, the circumstances of each play’s composition are acutely described, and set within a masterful portrait of Shakespeare’s England – its early capitalism, its court, its bursting population, and its epidemics, as well as its arts – including, of course, its theatre.

An important, lasting, and concise companion to Shakespeare’s time.

UPDATED FOR 2017 WITH A NEW CHAPTER
The definitive history of Pink Floyd, one of the world’s great bands, by founder member Nick Mason.

Pink Floyd is one of the most creative, successful and enduring bands of all time. As the only member to have been part of the band throughout the 50 years of its existence, and the first to write a personal take on their history, Nick Mason gives unique insights into Pink Floyd’s highs and lows: from their emergence in the late 1960s underground, to the huge worldwide success of The Dark Side of the Moon and the rifts and pressures that developed within the group.

In a new chapter Nick Mason looks back at the years following the band’s final performance at Live 8 in July 2005 and reflects on the huge changes that have occurred since: the irreplaceable losses, the new releases and the impact on the Floyd’s continued success of both digital technology and social media. Intelligent, original and self-deprecating, Inside Out is the first-hand story of a band that has become a legend, as celebrated by the Victoria & Albert Museum’s landmark Pink Floyd exhibition in 2017.

A bestselling historian on a crucial episode in French history.

Beneath the glittering façade of Louis-Napoleon’s Second Empire there were forces of seething social and political unrest. When France succumbed to the Prussian invaders these forces came to the surface and the Commune took over.

It ruled for only a brief seventy days before it died in a holocaust of fire and bloodshed that was far worse than anything perpetrated during France’s Great Revolution of 1789, but it left behind an indelible mark which spread far beyond the boundaries of France.

‘A brilliant writer’ New York Times Book Review

‘Two small, confined communities in which established connections are cut across by shifting allegiances as people come and go: in cold climate as in hot, now as then, love is a complicated, compromising business’ Times Literary Supplement

A young man leans over the railings of the ocean liner bound for the exotic shores of Penang. It is early in the 1930s and Dr Alexander Mackay is on his way to take up his post running a maternity hospital in the colony. During the voyage he meets two beautiful sisters and the seeds of a scandal are sown.

Seventy years later Edward Mackay wakes after a major brain trauma. In the hazy shadowlands of illness, he conjures the figure of his dead father, a man he knew so little about. This near-death experience provokes a move to the wilds of Orkney, where Edward joins a project to harness the tides around the island as a renewable source of energy. But in the tight-knit island community passions also run high.

Why the British forces fought so badly in World War II and who was to blame

Gordon Corrigan’s Mud, Blood and Poppycock overturned the myths that surround the First World War. Now he challenges our assumptions about the Second World War in this brilliant, caustic narrative that exposes just how close Britain came to losing. He reveals how Winston Churchill bears a heavy responsibility for the state of our forces in 1939, and how his interference in military operations caused a string of disasters. The reputations of some of our most famous generals are also overturned: above all, Montgomery, whose post-war stature owes more to his skill with a pen than talent for command. But this is not just a story of personalities.

Gordon Corrigan investigates how the British, who had the biggest and best army in the world in 1918, managed to forget everything they had learned in just twenty years. The British invented the tank, but in 1940 it was the Germans who showed the world how to use them. After we avoided defeat, but the slimmest of margins, it was a very long haul to defeat Hitler’s army, and one in which the Russians would ultimately bear the heaviest burden.