From the authors of the successful Grand-Guignol and London's Grand Guignol - also published by UEP - this book includes translations of a further eleven plays, adding significantly to the repertoire of Grand-Guignol plays available in the English language. The emphasis in the translation and adaptation of these plays is once again to foreground the performability of the scripts within a modern context - making Performing Grand-Guignol an ideal acting guide. Hand and Wilson have acquired extremely rare acting copies of plays which have never been published and scripts that were published in the early years of the twentieth century but have not been published since - even in French. Includes plays written by, or adapted from, such notable writers as Octave Mirbeau, Gaston Leroux and St John Ervine as well as examples by Grand-Guignol stalwarts Rene Berton and Andre de Lorde. Also included is the 1920s London translation of Blind Man's Buff written by Charles Hellem and Pol d'Estoc and banned by the Lord Chamberlain. A brief history of the Parisian theatre is also included, for the benefit of readers who have not read the previous books.

When Count Alexander Lynar retrieved the treasure trove of silver and porcelain that he had hidden at the end of World War II, the story made headlines around the world. In this work, Alexander Lynar recalls his privileged childhood in pre-war and wartime Germany on the family's two vast estates. He describes a way of life lost for ever and a childhood spent under the increasing dominance of the Nazis. As the war drew to a close, the Russians were poised to overrun the family estate at Gorlsdorf. On 20 April 1945, Hitler's birthday, 16-year-old Alexander, at home on sick leave before joining the navy, took charge of burying what valuables he could. With the help of their coachman, gamekeeper and an estate worker, 15 cases were buried and a map made recording the precise location of the treasure. Thanks to the loyalty of those who remained the secret was never disclosed.