Nigel Flaxton enjoyed a satisfying career in education covering the second half of the 20th century, This is an account of some of his experiences from old-fashioned monastic seclusion in training college just after the Second World War to three headships of new schools, the last being an upper school of over 900 students. Written with gentle humour, often at his own expense, he also comments on the very considerable changes in education in a broad sense during that period. He includes nea...

A professor and two students stumble across a highly unusual phenomenon. At first they attempt to keep it secret whilst investigating further, but leaks occur despite the intervention of MI5. The phenomenon involves a newly discovered element, synthesized by the professor and others together with a material deposited on earth by visitors from another planet who use the earth for observation. Their society is more advanced than that of earth, though they had no anticipation of the highly un...

NOW A MAJOR FILM STARRING DAME MAGGIE SMITH'The first book that ever made me laugh out loud' Adam Kay'Utter genius' Daily MailIn 1974, the homeless Miss Shepherd moved her broken down van into Alan Bennett's garden. Deeply eccentric and stubborn to her bones, Miss Shepherd was not an easy tenant. And Bennett, despite inviting her in the first place, was a reluctant landlord. And yet she lived there for fifte...

**‘A giant among fictional detectives’ – The TimesThe Way Through the Woods is the tenth novel in Colin Dexter's Oxford-set detective series.**Quietly, rather movingly, Strange was making his plea: 'Christ knows why, Lewis, but Morse will always put himself out for you.' As he put the phone down, Lewis knew that Strange had been right . . . in the case of the Swedish Maiden, the pair of them were in business again . . .They called her the ...

The Secret of Annexe 3 is the seventh novel in the Oxford-set detective series from Colin Dexter. As portrayed by John Thaw in ITV's Inspector Morse.Morse sought to hide his disappointment. So many people in the Haworth Hotel that fateful evening had been wearing some sort of disguise – a change of dress, a change of make-up, a change of partner, a change of attitude, a change of life almost; and the man who had died had been the most...

He thought he knew himself, his strength, weaknesses and limitations.A frightening encounter with two muggers, however, changed everything.He had knowledge which he had no conscious memory of learning.He had faculties which he had never known he possessed.He had memories beyond those of normal life. A life in which he had a different name.He could not remember everything but he knew some dreadful alien creatures were hunting him. With his wakening me...

The death of a young artist leaves Gently desperately piecing together the portrait of a murderer.When artist Shirley Johnson is murdered and her body dumped outside a provincial police headquarters, Gently is despatched from London to Northshire to take over the investigation. The prime suspect appears to be the woman's husband, a former bomber pilot with a guilty secret, but the other members of the woman's art group also have strong views about her and her controversial final pa...

It’s 1924, and Bandy is making a solo flight across the Atlantic in the Gander, a seaplane of his own design. Not for fame though – he’s fleeing from arrest for train robbery, from his job as Minister of Defence, and from his would-be assassin and friend George Garanine. From Iceland, to Iraq, to St Pancreas Hospital in London, Bandy’s career has never been more complicated, or his luck more of a roller coaster. When he finds new employment as Deputy Supreme Being of a mercenary air force,...

This is the gripping story of the collision between two vastly different human civilisations. One is Earth in the early 21st century, rushing toward self-inflicted nuclear doom. The other is the distant world of Mollan, whose inhabitants have achieved great longevity and the power to transport themselves instantly from star to star.Bob Shaw's novel unfolds a tale which spans thousands of years and the reaches of interstellar space. On Earth's side, there is Denny Hargate, whose ind...

A Chronicles of St Mary's short story that is sure to entertain. If you love Jasper Fforde or Ben Aaronovitch, you won't be able to resist Jodi Taylor.Ever wondered how it all began?It's two years since the final victory at the Battersea Barricades. The fighting might be finished, but for Dr Bairstow, just now setting up St Mary's, the struggle is only beginning.How will he assemble his team?From wh...

**Wojciech Orlinski's story 'Stanlemian', translated from the Polish by Danusia Stok, short-listed for the 2012 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards.**Featuring:Stanislaw Lem, Brian Aldiss, Frank Cottrell Boyce, Annie Clarkson, Dr Sarah Davies, Jacek Dukaj, Prof Steve Furber, Trevor Hoyle, Prof Hod Lipson, Toby Litt, Antonia Lloyd-Jones, Adam Marek, Mike Nelson, Sean O'Brien, Wojciech Orlinski, Danusia Stok, Piotr Szulkin and Ian W...

For Gervase Phinn growing old is not about a leisurely walk to the pub for a game of dominoes or snoozing in his favourite armchair. As this sparkling collection of his very best humorous writing shows, he may be ‘out of the woods’ but he is certainly not ‘over the hill’. Looking back over more than sixty years of family life, teaching, inspecting schools, writing and public speaking, Gervase never fails to unearth humour, character, warmth and wisdom from the most diverse of experiences, ...