This is a new guide to reading the Confessions, Augustine's most important work, and what is widely known as the first Western Christian autobiography ever written. The Confessions consists of thirteen books, in which Augustine outlines his sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. Barry David guides the reader swiftly through these complex texts, explaining the historical context, as well as the various philosophical concepts; and considers its spiritual, ecclesia...

Mike, an itinerant hairdresser living in Tunbridge Wells, learns all the gossip of the town. He cuts the hair of holy hypocrite Nigel, who is seeking a new relationship, but disapproves of his new lover's daughters. And as Mike cuts deeper and deeper into this superficially respectable town, he soon learns it is a hotbed of vice, intrigue and gossip, and even his own family life, he realizes is not so very secure. By the end of a tempestuous year, many of his customers will become involved...

Why has life suddenly become so complicated for affable Freddie Weston? He supplies bouncers to London clubs and always puts his family first. But his daughter’s involvement with a rock guitarist ignites an anger in him that could endanger the family home, and his life becomes ever more complicated as he seeks retribution, not only for his daughter but for a father who was killed by an East End gangster more than 40 years ago. Determined to get the truth, Freddie dives deep into London’s d...

A young man's drinking binge sets in motion a sequence of violent and lethal crimes, leading to a suicide verdict that DI Harry Lambert suspects is more likely to be foul play. Continuing his own investigations, the Swansea detective is soon warned off the case by SOCA... but leaving things be is impossible when his team begin to find links between the suicide and a different murder case they are looking into.Events take a bizarre turn when three petty criminals become involved in a deadly...

Known as a red-light district with a reputation for sleaze and crime, Soho is also a diverse area, a bohemian location which has been an adult playground for hundreds of years.This is David Barry's Tales from Soho, eighteen entertaining stories set in London's other square mile. Within the stories live countless motley characters who have inhabited or frequented the area over the decades. In The Poet in Soho, we follow a famous Welsh writer on odyssey through a number of famous pubs; in Th...

Do you love cinema and want to know more about its history? Are you a film fan looking for an informative yet light-hearted review of the last one hundred and thirty years of the silver screen? If so, you've found what you're looking for! In this book, TV and movie star David Barry takes us on a journey through the history of cinema, from the silent movies at the time of the birth of the industry all the way up to today's CGI-fuelled blockbusters. The author guides us through this huge sub...

Tales from Soho, eleven entertaining stories from London's famous square mile. Known as a red-light district, with a reputation for sleaze and crime, Soho is also a diverse district, a bohemian area which has been an adult playground for hundreds of years. In these stories you will meet countless motley characters over many decades. In 'The Poet in Soho' a famous Welsh writer goes on a Soho pub odyssey; and in 'The Spieler' a young actor risks a reckoning when he works in an illegal gambli...

Do you know where in Edinburgh you can find a book bound in leather made from human skin? Who was Half-Hangit Maggie? What museums, theatres and concert halls can you visit in the city? And where will you find the most incredible panoramic view Edinburgh has to offer?All these questions and more are answered in this fascinating easy-to-read guide to Edinburgh. Whether you are planning a visit to Scotland’s beautiful capital or you are simply interested in the amazing history of the city, t...

After decades of theatrical ventures and performing together, 1957 would be the last time Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh would work together, with a European tour and London season of Shakespeare's seldom-performed Titus Andronicus. Strangely, not much has been written about one of the most prestigious touring theatre productions of all time, which visited six European capitals and became the first British Shakespearean company to perform beyond the Iron Curtain at the height of the Col...

A drunken old farmer is murdered and Swansea police detective Harry Lambert is unable to discover a motive for what looks like the work of a professional killer. But before long the hunter becomes the hunted as an ex-SAS soldier escapes to remote, rural west Wales, pursued by DI Lambert. The trail is strewn with all manner of intriguing debris: terrorism; Celtic mysticism; and tortured relationships. Each man struggling to shrug off the complexities of the past. Each man having to surrende...

While investigating a series of gruesome murders, Swansea police detective Harry Lambert discovers a clear link between the victims: they were all members of a paedophile ring. As the DI and his team delve further into the case, they are plunged into a seedy world of perpetrators, suspects, victims and vigilantes. Initially, the police believe the killer could well be a prior victim of the ring, or a redeemed abuser targeting former associates. But when a television producer becomes a susp...

Do you know why the ancient Greeks refused to eat beans? How many rowers were required for the largest Greek warships? What is the meaning behind the story of Narcissus? And how many Sophoclean tragedies have survived in complete form to this day?All these questions and more are answered in this fascinating easy-to-read guide to ancient Greece. Whether you are studying the subject and need access to the important information fast, or you are simply interested in a most fascinating period o...