This succinct account the life of Nobel laureate Derek Walcott focuses on his development as poet, playwright and man of the theatre: director, producer, teacher. Friends and colleagues who figured in his career are recalled. The importance of his native St Lucia and family influences in the shaping of his creativity and his view of the world are highlighted, as these evolved in synergy with his receptivity to the poetry and theatre of the wider world. In this evolution, the tensions and c...

Spanning three generations of teacher-writers, Caribbean Writers on Teaching Literature speaks to the emergence of a distinct body of teaching styles, approaches, methods and philosophy for teaching literature. Each generation enriched by the others has extended the field of literature teaching.With its collection of eighteen interviews and its insightful theoretical discussions on creative ways of teaching literature, Caribbean Writers on Teaching Literature is a...

This succinct account the life of Nobel laureate Derek Walcott focuses on his development as poet, playwright and man of the theatre: director, producer, teacher. Friends and colleagues who figured in his career are recalled. The importance of his native St Lucia and family influences in the shaping of his creativity and his view of the world are highlighted, as these evolved in synergy with his receptivity to the poetry and theatre of the wider world. In this evolution, the tensions and c...

Frank Collymore: A Biography is the first book-length biography of Frank Collymore, Barbadian educator, poet, editor, stage actor, mentor and tireless promoter of West Indies Literature. Born at Woodville Cottage in Saint Michael in 1893, Collymore became an invaluable contributor to the arts and culture in Barbadian society, with his participation in the theatre group, the Bridgetown Players, his poetry and short stories, and most notable, his editing of the Caribbean literary magazine, B...

Bestselling biography of the enduringly fascinating Wallis SimpsonOne of Britain's most distinguished biographers turns her focus on one of the most vilified women of the twentieth century. Historian Anne Sebba has written the first full biography by a woman of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor.'That woman', as she was referred to by the Queen Mother, became a hate figure for ensnaring a British king and destabilising the monarchy. Neither beautiful nor br...

FROM BRITAIN'S TOP-SELLING TRUE CRIME WRITERWINNER OF THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZEWINNER OF THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTIONTHE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERA RICHARD AND JUDY BOOK CLUB PICKGALAXY BOOK OF THE YEAR, BRITISH BOOK AWARDS'A classic' JOHN LE CARR****É'Terrific' IAN RANKINIt is midnight on...

In 1888 Jack the Ripper made the headlines with a series of horrific murders that remain unsolved to this day. But most killers are not shadowy figures stalking the streets with a lust for blood. Many are ordinary citizens driven to the ultimate crime by circumstance, a fit of anger or a desire for revenge. Their crimes, overshadowed by the few, sensational cases, are ignored, forgotten or written off. This book examines all the known murders in London in 1888 to build a p...

A grisly tour of hangings, electrocutions, beheadings—and other state-sanctioned deaths that are part of the long history of the death penalty.In Lord High Executioner, award-winning writer Howard Engel traces the traditions of capital punishment from medieval England and early Canada to the present-day United States. Throughout "civilized" history, executioners employed on behalf of the kingdom, republic, or dictatorship have beheaded, chopped, stabbed, c...

‘Victorians Undone is the most original history book I have read in a long while’ Daily MailA SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR • AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEARA groundbreaking account of what it was like to live in a Victorian body from one of our best historians.Why did the great philosophical novelist George Eliot feel so self-conscious that her right hand was larger than her left?Exactly what made Darwin grow that iconic beard...

When Wallis & Edward was first published in 1986, weeks after the death of the Duchess of Windsor, it caused a sensation: this was the story the world had been waiting for. For the first time, the story of Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII was revealed in their own words. Michael Bloch's edition of their intimate correspondence takes us from the moment they met in 1931 up to their marriage in 1937, and includes Wallis Simpson's diary of their affair in form of her weekly letters...

Hugely respected, extensively quoted and widely regarded as the 'bible' of Ripper studies, The Complete Jack the Ripper A to Z is the ultimate reference for anyone fascinated by the Jack the Ripper mystery. This new, rewritten, up-to-date edition includes sources and well over 100 photographs.The Complete jack the Ripper A-Z has an entry for almost every person involved in the case, from suspects and witnesses to policemen and journalists, plus the ordinary people who became caught up in t...

“It is Johnson’s gift that he can make his subjects human and fallible enough that we would…recognize them instantly, while also illuminating what made them heroes.” —Washington Post Book World on Heroes“Johnson is a clear, intelligent, forceful writer, and nothing if not thorough.” —Wall Street JournalPaul Johnson, the acclaimed author of Creators, Heroes, and the New York Times bestseller Intellectuals, returns with a captivating collection of biographical portraits of th...