John Rees, soldier and freedom fighter, was a shadowy figure who surfaced during two crucial nineteenth-century revolts and then disappeared from history. For the first time, author John Humphries reveals the fate of the man, first mentioned as a member of the New Orleans Greys, who fought for Texan Independence at the Alamo and narrowly escaped execution at the Goliad Mission.Later, Rees was one of the main agitators in the doomed Welsh Chartist movement. Twenty-two men died durin...

After Dunkirk the British Army was broken, the country isolated and invasion imminent. German Military Intelligence was sat the task of recruiting collaborators from among Welsh nationalists to sabotage military and civilian installations ahead of the landing. Strategic deception was one of the few weapons left. To fool the Germans into believing Britain was ready and able to repel invaders when in fact it had only the weapons salvaged from Dunkirk, MI5 invented an imaginary cell of Welsh ...

This experimental volume of literary criticism offers various interpretations of the work of the poet Menna Elfyn, and gives an outline of our relationship with literature and our reading habits. It is an attempt to provide a fresh interpretation of the work by experimenting for the first time in Welsh with the epistolary method of criticism, through a series of fictional letters. This is also the first extended study of Menna Elfyn's poetry: addressed to the poet's work in particular, but...

What became of Harold Prettyman, a German agent captured by the British during World War Two? Eighty years later, an investigation by reporter Jack Flynt seems to end at a new dormer bungalow with white pebble-dash walls, not the grey stone terraced house in the Welsh valleys from which, according to a recently declassified MI5 file, Prettyman operated a radio transmitter from the attic alerting German U-Boats to Allied shipping movements. Dead ducks are news stories destined for the News ...

A ringing telephone, once belonging to the KGB, leads investigative journalist Jack Flynt to the island in search of the woman pleading for help at the other end of the line.

'A very funny tome' DAILY TELEGRAPH'Hilarious' DAILY MAIL'A profoundly instructive course in the idiosyncrasies of Greek law, custom and culture ... entertainingly chronicled' SAGA* * * * * *From Radio 4 presenter, bestselling author and national treasure John Humphrys, a funny and engaging memoir of building a home in Greece written together with his son C...

'All the erudition and pithy wit you would expect from Humphrys, but there is also a charming, genuine enquiry that shines through' MAIL ON SUNDAY* * * * * *Bestselling author, radio presenter and national treasure John Humphrys tackles the big question of God through his own personal journey and argues that doubt is the only credible belief.Throughout the ages believers have been persecuted - usually for b...

'This is an important book. It needs to be ... we are coming to realise that a life well lived might decently conclude with a death well and timely died' TERRY PRATCHETT'Impassioned and impressive' SUNDAY TIMES'A powerful, compassionate book' FT ON SUNDAY* * * * * * *From presenter of Radio 4's Today & national treasure John Humphrys, one of the first books...

'Wonderfully spirited' DAILY MAILThe follow-up to the Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller Lost for Words, from Today presenter and national treasure John Humphrys.From the huge response to Lost for Words, it's clear that many of us share John's strong feelings about the use and misuse of the English language. Not because we want to split hairs (or infinitives) but because how we use words reveals so m...

From the huge response to Lost for Words, it’s clear that many of us share John’s strong feelings about the use and misuse of the English language. Not because we want to split hairs (or infinitives) but because how we use words reveals so much about the way we see the world.Here John takes a sharp look at phrases and expressions in current use to expose the often hidden attitudes that lie behind them – from the schoolroom to the boardroom, from Westminster to the weather f...

John Humphrys hosts the quick-fire comedy show featuring 28 acts performing for one minute each'Hilarious ... great fun' Elisabeth Mahoney, The Guardian28 Acts in 28 Minutes is a traditional variety show with a difference: the performers have just 60 seconds in which to entertain a live audience. Making the most of their minutes are a plethora of top-class talents, including Adam Buxton, J...

Bestselling author, radio presenter and national treasure John Humphrys tackles the big question of God through his own personal journey and argues that doubt is the only credible belief.Throughout the ages believers have been persecuted - usually for believing in the "wrong" God. So have non-believers who have denied the existence of God as superstitious rubbish.Today it is the agnostics who are given a hard time. They are scorned by believers for their fa...