' Staggering and unforgettable storytelling' Mel Giedroyc In his retirement at the Vatican, emeritus pope Benedict XVI is hard at work on his magnum opus: a high-school comedy screenplay. At a grimy pub in North London, a doctoral researcher is abducted by gangsters peddling William Wordsworth' s handwritten account of drug-fuelled sex orgies. In the West African state of Benin, a politician' s daughter inherits a large cash sum which she can only launder with the help of a random Englishm...

The nation's favourite annual guide to the short story, now in its seventh year.Best British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or more accurately, by its title. This critically acclaimed series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, newspapers and web sites, looking...

'Like a pizza delivery driver who travels everywhere by moped, or a volcanologist who keeps turning the central heating up, I'm a film critic who loves going to the cinema.' - Peter Bradshaw.Peter Bradshaw is the film reviewer for intelligent, curious cinemagoers; he has worked at the Guardian for twenty years. The Films That Made Me collates his finest reviews from the last two decades, which carry with them his deep experience, knowledge and und...

A gripping collection of eight dramas and readings featuring elaborate thefts, confidence tricks and impossible missions, including the infamous Hatton Garden heistMountain of Light by Simon Bovey: It’s 1851 and London buzzes with the wonders at The Great Exhibition. To housebreaker John Rayverne, it's harvest time as fine houses stand empty while the occupants attend the spectacle. But his activities have come to the notice of a Governor of the Ba...

The best of the best …This essential book takes a decade of Best Australian Stories and selects the most outstanding short fiction by the country’s finest writers. These stories range widely in style and subject matter: there is drama and comedy, subtlety and extravagance, tales of suspense, love, fantasy, grief and revenge. Together they showcase the strength and diversity of Australian fiction at its very best.Contributors include: Murray Bail, D...

122 fantastic stories from Britain's best crime writersFor ten years the Mammoth Best British Crime series has been publishing an annual volume of the most outstanding crime and mystery short fiction published in the UK. Over 400 stories by the very best writers in the field have been published. Contributors have included, among many others, Mark Billingham, Liza Cody, Roger Jon Ellory, Reginald Hill, Peter James, Simon Kernick, Alexander McCall Smith, Val McDermid...

Haunted by her past. In danger from her present.Isolated, alone, vulnerable.Sometimes the danger is closer than you think.As a teenager, Sarah D'Villez famously escaped a man who abducted and held her hostage for eleven days. The case became notorious, with Sarah's face splashed across the front of every newspaper in the country.Now, seventeen years later, that man is about to be released from prison. Fearful of the media storm that is sure to...

Book 2 in the fantastic four book series about taking risks and flying high, from the children's book legend Paul Jennings and brilliant cartoonist Andrew Weldon.'You're grounded, Ricky,' said Mum. 'Yes,' said Dad. 'In more ways than one.'Ricky is an ordinary boy, who can fly. He can really fly! But only when no one is looking. His dream is to one day be FAMOUS. But after accidentally opening the car window at the car wash, he's grounded. No movies...

'There is no more carefully chosen yet eclectic anthology series in existence in Britain today' – Susan Haigh, The Short ReviewBest British Short Stories invites you to judge a book by its cover – or more accurately, by its title. This new series aims to reprint the best short stories published in the previous calendar year by British writers, whether based in the UK or elsewhere. The editor's brief is wide ranging, covering anthologies, collections, magazines, ne...

Featuring:Sarah Hall, Lucy Wood, Lisa Blower, Lavinia Greenlaw and Lionel Shriver.Edgar Allan Poe once claimed the greatest literary works were those that could be read ’in one sitting’. ‘Brevity must be in direct ratio of the intensity of the intended effect,’ he argued, once the effect has been established, of course.The stories shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award 2013 all use brevity with striking results, whether presenting a comp...

What would you do if you could be a child again for one more day?  If I Was a Child Again is a collection of memories and inspirational words from some of Ireland’s finest writers, journalists and TV personalities as they tell us what they would do if they could be a child again for one more day. Some recall their fondest childhood memories, some are bittersweet, while others provide uplifting words of wisdom for today’s children. This book will make you laugh and cry but, above al...

A collection of short stories and poems with a twist