On an island paradise somewhere in the South Pacific, Managua--the only native who can read or write--is busily translating Hamlet into pidgin English when a plane interrupts his noble work. Strapping on his false leg, he makes his way to the landing strip to greet the unexpected arrival: William Hardt, a young American lawyer driven by his misguided ambition to win reparations for the island's inhabitants.

Hardt is not the first white outsider to pay a visit; the British came earlier, bringing their language, the small pigs that run wild in the jungle, and Shakespeare . . . and the Americans followed with guns, land mines, and Coca-Cola. But in this place of riotously logical ritual, Hardt's determined quest to do good could make him the most devastating visitor of all.

Profoundly moving and achingly funny, One Big Damn Puzzler brilliantly explores the collision of the twenty-first century with unsullied pagan reality--and establishes John Harding as one of the most imaginative contemporary chroniclers of the human condition.

This is a biography of the influential poet and illustrator, Ralph Hodgson. Profusely illustrated with many of Hodgson's original cartoons and line-drawings, the book is sure to capture yet another generation of readers for Hodgson's timeless verse.

Ralph Hodgson, although becoming first popular in the Georgian period, actually transcends Georgeiana. He wrote strong and relevant poetry displaying an epigrammatic and lyrical power. His sympathy for nature and animals will resonate with the modern reader. The 'Song of Honour' can be compared to Christopher Smart, and 'The Bull' to John Clare's work.

Provides an appraisal of Hamilton's major novels as well as his successful stage plays, Rope and Gaslight. This title draws on the views of a variety of commentators, including Michael Holroyd, Doris Lessing, Claud Coburn and many others as well as considering how Hamilton's political beliefs affected his work.

Shelagh Delaney rose to fame following the instant success in 1958 of her first play A Taste of Honey. Lauded as Britain's answer to the controversial French novelist Francoise Sagan, Delaney's work scandalised her home city of Salford but established her as one of the country's most original and exhilarating young playwrights during a period in theatre history when women writers were rare and acceptance hard to achieve. Delaney has served as an inspiration to countless young artists down the succeeding years. Rock star Morrissey wrote, 'She has always been a part of my life as a perfect example of how to get up and get out and do it.' Novelist Jeanette Winterson claimed, 'She was like a lighthouse - pointing the way and warning about the rocks underneath.' Sweetly Sings Delaney is the story of her first exciting decade as a writer when she not only produced challenging and dramatic work in prose and on stage but also collaborated with some of the most innovative film and documentarymakers of the decade such as Ken Russell, Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, not to mention actor and fellow Salfordian Albert Finney during his first and only foray as a film director.

Dr Harding demonstrates in this study the importance of human relationship in Coleridge's thought and writing. The first three chapters explore Coleridge's idea of relationship as it developed throughout his creative life, and show how Coleridge's own relationships influenced his thinking about morality. One section is devoted to a fresh interpretation of Coleridge's major poetry. The final chapter traces the idea of relationship in Coleridge's social and political philosophy. Dr Harding uses previously unpublished Coleridge manuscripts in support of his analysis, and assesses the nature of Coleridge's originality as a thinker by viewing him in the context of his own time and through comparison with other writers. This evaluation of a major poet and thinker will appeal not only to those whose interests are literary, but also to students of philosophy and politics.

Both the English Civil War and the French Revolution produced in England an outpouring of literature reflecting intense belief in the arrival of a better world, and new philosophies of the relationship between mind, language and cosmos. Milton, the Metaphysicals, and Romanticism is the first book to explore the significance of the connections between the literature of these two periods. The volume analyses Milton's influence on Romantic writers including Blake, Beckford, Wordsworth, Shelley, Radcliffe and Keats, and examines the relationships between other seventeenth-century poets - Donne, Marvell, Vaughan, Herrick, Cowley, Rochester and Dryden - and Romantic writers. Representing a wide range of theoretical approaches, and including original contributions by leading British, American and Canadian scholars, this is a provocative and challenging assessment of the relationship between two of the richest periods of British literary history.

A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher 1891. In a remote and crumbling New England mansion, 12-year-old orphan Florence is neglected by her guardian uncle and banned from reading. Left to her own devices she devours books in secret and talks to herself - and narrates this, her story - in a unique language of her own invention. By night, she sleepwalks the corridors like one of the old house's many ghosts and is troubled by a recurrent dream in which a mysterious woman appears to threaten her younger brother Giles. Sometimes Florence doesn't sleepwalk at all, but simply pretends to so she can roam at will and search the house for clues to her own baffling past. After the sudden violent death of the children's first governess, a second teacher, Miss Taylor, arrives, and immediately strange phenomena begin to occur. Florence becomes convinced that the new governess is a vengeful and malevolent spirit who means to do Giles harm. Against this powerful supernatural enemy, and without any adult to whom she can turn for help, Florence must use all her intelligence and ingenuity to both protect her little brother and preserve her private world. Inspired by and in the tradition of Henry James' s The Turn of the Screw, Florence & Giles is a gripping gothic page-turner told in a startlingly different and wonderfully captivating narrative voice.

This fascinating collection of entertaining stories from the seven seas reveals unusual and bizarre sailing trips, vessels and characters, and recounts perilous journeys in freak weather and other legendary tales. Within these pages you'll find stories of pirates holding ships to ransom and the gruesome fates of some of the shipmates who dared cross them. The sailors forever lost in the Bermuda triangle, the poor family who were encircled by a school of sharks to the spooky tales of the lighthouse haunted by drunkard lightship keeper John Herman. The tales within these pages are bizarre, fascinating, hilarious and, most importantly, true. Revised, redesigned and updated for 2016, this book is the perfect gift for both keen sailors to the armchair Captains. Word count: 45,000

Frank Barson's life story is one of hardship and hard-won fame, his tough tackling and prowess in controlled aggression earning him a reputation that lives on today. Rising from the factory floor to become a footballing giant, Barson lifted the fortunes of Aston Villa and Manchester United while earning more cautions than anyone before or since. Born in Sheffield's industrial district of Grimesthorpe, his no-nonsense football style was forged in the 20s when learning his trade with Barnsley FC's renowned Battlers. Even in an era of ruthless tackling he stood out as a notoriously powerful player, yet his frequent clashes with authority belied his status as an extremely intelligent player, an inspiration to his colleagues and a true leader. Although Barson only earned a single England cap, commentators and colleagues alike would bemoan the fact that he was not captaining the national side. Football's infamous 'hard man' set standards in deadly, focussed aggression which players such as Norman Hunter and Roy Keane have since striven to emulate.

A sinister Gothic tale in the tradition of The Woman in Black and The Fall of the House of Usher New England, The 1890s When a young doctor begins work at an isolated mental asylum, he is expected to fall in with the shocking regime for treating the patients. He is soon intrigued by one patient, a strange amnesiac girl who is fascinated by books but cannot read. He embarks upon a desperate experiment to save her but when his own dark past begins to catch up with him, he realises it is she who is his only hope of escape. In this chilling literary thriller from a master storyteller, everyone has something to hide and no one is what they seem.