Ever since the 15th century Switzerland had been exporting professional soldiers to serve as mercenaries for foreign monarchies.Napoleon, therefore, was not the first to make full use of the martial qualities of the Swiss and obtained Swiss agreement to expand the recruitment of regiments for service in the French Army. Napoleon would use Swiss troops on the battlefields of Italy and Spain, and in 1812 re-organize the four original regiments into a single division ...

A four-thousand-year-old prophecy warned that when mankind had made certain advances over nature, it would face an unstoppable tide of evil unless certain bizarre events came to pass.Jake King, an American forestry consultant, chanced upon a medieval shield while tracing his English ancestry. The shield began to glow, drawing him into a glen where an ancient thornbush unfurled a bedraggled Merlin, magicked there fifteen hundred years ago.Merlin hailed the bewildered Jake as...

If you have a lot of pests in your home, they may cause you problems. They can gather in large numbers and damage carpets, curtains and clothes. Let us know how to get rid of them easily.

James and Katie Falcon are astonished when a Time Ship appears in the cellar with their long-deceased ancestor Captain Horatio Falcon at the helm. The Ship includes a fresh food supply of two cows. Pandemonium breaks out when Great-Aunt Dorothea is faced with a cow in her lounge. The spooked second cow stumbles into the Time Ships controls, despatching the Ship into the past at Lost Island. But it is swarming with bloodthirsty treasure-seeking pirates and the crews odds of survival appear ...

Reviews latest research in tree fruit physiologyDiscusses latest developments in genetics and their implications for improved breeding techniquesComprehensive coverage of key stages in cultivation from nursery plants to water, nutrient and pest management

Diana Gabaldon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the acclaimed Outlander series, delivers a captivating tale of history and suspense, with a touch of the supernatural, featuring Lord John Grey. This novella, originally published as “Lord John and the Plague of Zombies,” is now available as a standalone eBook.Lord John Grey, a lieutenant-colonel in His Majesty’s army, arrives in Jamaica with orders to quash a slave rebellion brewing in the mountains....

A Taste of Honey is the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus finalist novella that N. K. Jemisin calls "a love story as painful as it is beautiful and complex". Find out why Wired named it one of the 20 Best Books of the Decade!Long after the Towers left the world but before the dragons came to Daluça, the emperor brought his delegation of gods and diplomats to Olorum. As the royalty negotiates over trade routes and public serv...

‘Fantasy as it ought to be written’ George R.R. MartinYoung Nevare Burvelle is the second son of a second son. Traditionally in Gernia, the firstborn son is heir to the family fortunes, the second son bears a sword and the third son is consecrated to the priesthood. Nevare will follow his father – newly made a lord by the King – into the cavalry; to the frontier and thence to an advantageous marriage, to carry on the Burvelle name. It is a golden future, and Nevare looks forward to...

One of the most decisive battles in military history, Waterloo saw the culmination of a generation of war to bring a definitive end to French hegemony and imperial ambitions in Europe. Both sides fought bitterly and Wellington later remarked that 'it was the nearest-run thing you ever saw in your life'.In this bloody engagement, more than 20,000 men were lost on the battlefield that day by each side, but it was the Anglo-Allies who emerged victorious. Their forces ...

Ted Hughes's Birthday Letters are addressed, with just two exceptions, to Sylvia Plath, the American poet to whom he was married. They were written over a period of more than twenty-five years, the first a few years after her suicide in 1963, and represent Ted Hughes's only account of his relationship with Plath and of the psychological drama that led both to the writing of her greatest poems and to her death. The book became an instant bestseller on its publication in 1998 and wo...

A collection of short stories in the horror genre: some weird, some strange, some downright unbelievable, but all designed to make the reader think...and think again, then leave the bedside light burning through the night.

'A rollicking good time . . . some kick-ass fantasy' - Fantasy Book Review**'A hugely fun fantasy read' - The Bookbag'Lloyd's fantasy writing has a breadth and solidarity that should be celebrated' - Always Trust in BooksThere's a new Card in the Mercenary Deck - one Lynx isn't sure if he's happy to see or not.The assassin Toil now wears the Princess of Blood on...