"He turned his back on the old man to mourn in silence this unnecessary death and his part in it; but the sight of the coffin brought anger instead ..."In 1957, a burned-out British journalist leaves London to recuperate in the idyllic Andalusian village of Benalamar, a place little changed since the tumult of Spain's civil war. But when a foreign businessman arrives with plans to develop the area, the community is thrown into turmoil.During a time of drought, the ...

We discover what civil war, revolution and counter-revolution actually felt like from inside both camps. The contours of the war take shape through the words of the eyewitnesses. The atmosphere of events is vividly recaptured. And though the lived experience of the participants is revealed the uniquely tragic essence of all civil war. 'Fascinating and brilliantly unorthodox. ' Hugh Thomas, author of THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO.

Ronald Fraser, the internationally renowned oral historian, turns his attention to his own origins in this remarkable memoir. In Search of a Past gathers the recollections of the servants who worked at the manor house outside London where Fraser grew up. It was the place where his parents-one American, the other Scottish-learned to embrace the lifestyle of the idle local gentry. Fraser paints a vivid picture of a vanished interwar world. Sensitively recorded, the words of his fami...

God literally saved me from a Jail sentence when he spoke to me in the middle of a drug deal and gave me instructions on what to do with all the drugs so I wouldn't go to jail.I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ; he delivered me from anger, he delivered me from a hatred of women, he saved me from being lost at sea, he healed my fingers when I nailed them together with a nail gun, he put oil in my motorbike and stayed with me for five hundred kilometers to get me home.

"Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind**. Really, you should." —Michael Dirda, The Washington Post“Wondrous...masterful...The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.” —**Entertainment Weekly,

It's two decades since Chris Stewart moved to his farm on the wrong side of a river in the mountains of southern Spain and his daughter Chloe is preparing to fly the nest for university. In this latest, typically hilarious dispatch from El Valero, we find Chris, now something of a local literary celebrity, using that fame to help out his old sheep-shearing partner; cooking a TV lunch for visiting British chef, Rick Stein; and discovering the pitfalls of Spanish public speaking. Yet it's at...

As a girl, Clara del Valle can read fortunes, make objects move as if they had lives of their own, and predict the future.Following the mysterious death of her sister, Rosa the Beautiful, Clara is mute for nine years. When she breaks her silence, it is to announce that she will be married soon to the stern and volatile landowner Esteban Trueba.Set in an unnamed Latin American country over three generations, The House of the Spirits is a mag...

Pulitzer Prize–winning author James A. Michener, whose novels hurtle from the far reaches of history to the dark corners of the world, paints an intoxicating portrait of a land whose past and present are as turbulent, fascinating, and colorful as any other on Earth. When an American journalist travels to report on the upcoming duel between two great matadors, he is ultimately swept up in the dramatic story of his own Mexican ancestry—from the brilliance and brutality of the ancients, to th...

Discover the beautiful stories of Michael Morpurgo, author of Warhorse and the nation’s favourite storytellerBest-selling author Michael Morpurgo turns his storytelling skills to the drama and tragedy of the Spanish Civil War, illustrated by Michael Foreman.TORO,TORO is the story of a young boy growing up in Andalucia, Spain, on a farm rearing bulls for the bull ring. Antonito hand rears a little black calf and they become firm friends, but the boy doesn't yet understand th...

______________________'Vivid, fast-moving and often dazzling ... The pace leaves you breathless' - Kate Saunders, The Times'Elegant and seductive' - Guardian'Spellbinding ... Acosta does for prose what he has done for the ballet, bringing to it a muscular sexiness and a rural saltiness' - Independent on Sunday______________________A ...

At turns heartbreaking, uplifting, fiercely romantic, and riotously funny,this novel from a Pulitzer Prize finalist tells the unforgettable story of a young woman coming of age and finding her place in a new world.Beginning where Luis Alberto Urrea's bestselling The Hummingbird's Daughter left off, Queen of America finds young Teresita Urrea, beloved healer and "Saint of Cabora," with her father in 1892 Arizona. But, besieged by pilgrims in desperate need ...

"Pinocchio" by Carlo Collodi is a timeless children's classic that follows the adventures of a mischievous wooden puppet brought to life by the kind-hearted toymaker, Geppetto. The puppet, named Pinocchio, desires to become a real boy and embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Along the way, he faces a series of trials, tempted by dishonesty and indulgence, which lead to humorous and often perilous situations. Through encounters with cunning foxes, a wicked puppeteer, and a giant shark, P...