Meet Geralt of Rivia - the Witcher - who holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in the bestselling series that inspired the Witcher video games and a major Netflix show.

The Witcher's magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

Translated by Danusia Stok and David French. Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series.

This boxed set contains all eight books:

• THE LAST WISH
• SWORD OF DESTINY
• BLOOD OF ELVES
• TIME OF CONTEMPT
• BAPTISM OF FIRE
• THE TOWER OF THE SWALLOW
• THE LADY OF THE LAKE
• SEASON OF STORMS

Geralt the Witcher - revered and hated - holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in the bestselling series that inspired the hit Witcher Netflix show and video games. Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth. Translated by David French. Andrzej Sapkowski, winner of the World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement award, started an international phenomenon with his Witcher series. In this second collection of short stories, following the adventures of the hit collection The Last Wish, join Geralt as he battles monsters, demons and prejudices alike . . .

The claim by the Ministry of Defence in 2001 that 'the experience of numerous small wars has provided the British Army with a unique insight into this demanding form of conflict' unravelled spectacularly in Iraq and Afghanistan. One important reason for that, David French suggests, was because contemporary British counter-insurgency doctrine was based upon a serious misreading of the past.
Until now, many observers believed that during the wars of decolonisation in the two decades after 1945, the British had discovered how western liberal notions of right and wrong could be made compatible with the imperatives of waging war amongst the people, that force could be used effectively but with care, and that a more just and prosperous society could emerge from these struggles. By using only the minimum necessary force, and doing so with the utmost discrimination, the British were able to win by securing the 'hearts and minds' of the people. But this was a serious distortion of actual British practice on the ground. David French's main contention is that the British hid their use of naked force behind a carefully constructed veneer of legality. In reality, they commonly used wholesale coercion, including cordon and search operations, mass detention without trial, forcible population resettlement, and the creation of free-fire zones to intimidate and lock-down the civilian population. The British waged their counter-insurgency campaigns by being nasty, not nice, to the people.
The British Way in Counter-Insurgency is a seminal reassessment of the historical foundation of British counter doctrine and practice.

The adventures of Geralt the Witcher continue in this second novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games.

The kings and armies are manoeuvring for position, each fearing invasion from across the river, each fearing their neighbours more. Intrigue, dissent and rebellion fester on all sides.

After decades of oppression, the elves and other races are fighting each other and attacking the humans - and with growing numbers preparing for battle, the threat of all-out war looms ever greater.

Against this backdrop of fear, Geralt and Yennefer must protect Ciri, the orphaned heir who is sought by all sides. For the child of prophecy has the power to change the world - if she lives to use it.

Geralt of Rivia is on a mission to save his ward, Ciri, and with her the world, in this third novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games.

The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times.

But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries.

While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl - Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished - until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor.

Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands.

. Uses previously unavailable archival evidence to challenge earlier theories
The popular image of the First World War is dominated by two misconceptions. The first holds that the war was an exercise in futility in which incompetent upper class generals callously sacrificed an entire generation of young men to no good purpose. The second holds that the debate about British strategic policy during the First World War was a gladiatorial contest between brass hats' (generals), and frock coats' (politicians).
Historians, denied access for too long to the contemporary records of the private deliberations of policy-makers, had been forced to follow both interpretations. David French challenges this orthodoxy and suggests that the policy-makers were united in trying to relate strategic policy to a carefully considered set of war aims. His challenging conclusion is that the policy-makers never lost sight of their goal, which was to ensure that Britain fought the war at an acceptable cost and emerged from it with its security enhanced against both its enemies and its allies."

The fifth novel in the New York Times bestselling Witcher series that inspired the hit Netflix show finds Ciri trapped in a distant world and separated from Geralt and her destiny.

After walking through a portal in the Tower of the Swallow, thus narrowly escaping death, the Witcher girl, Ciri, finds herself in a completely different world... a world of the Elves. She is trapped with no way out. Time does not seem to exist and there are no obvious borders or portals to cross back into her home world.

But this is Ciri, the child of prophecy, and she will not be defeated. She knows she must escape to finally rejoin the Witcher, Geralt, and his companions - and also to try to conquer her worst nightmare. Leo Bonhart, the man who chased, wounded and tortured Ciri, is still on her trail.

And the world is still at war.

The adventures of Geralt the Witcher continue in this second novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The kings and armies are manoeuvring for position, each fearing invasion from across the river, each fearing their neighbours more. Intrigue, dissent and rebellion fester on all sides. After decades of oppression, the elves and other races are fighting each other and attacking the humans - and with growing numbers preparing for battle, the threat of all-out war looms ever greater. Against this backdrop of fear, Geralt and Yennefer must protect Ciri, the orphaned heir who is sought by all sides. For the child of prophecy has the power to change the world - if she lives to use it. Translated by David French.

This is the first serious analysis of the combat capability of the British army in the Second World War. It sweeps away the myth that the army suffered from poor morale, and that it only won its battles through the use of 'brute force' and by reverting to the techniques of the First World War. Few soldiers were actively eager to close with the enemy, but the morale of the army never collapsed and its combat capability steadily improved from 1942 onwards.

The fifth novel in the New York Times bestselling Witcher series that inspired the hit Netflix show finds Ciri trapped in a distant world and separated from Geralt and her destiny. After walking through a portal in the Tower of the Swallow, thus narrowly escaping death, the Witcher girl, Ciri, finds herself in a completely different world... a world of the Elves. She is trapped with no way out. Time does not seem to exist and there are no obvious borders or portals to cross back into her home world. But this is Ciri, the child of prophecy, and she will not be defeated. She knows she must escape to finally rejoin the Witcher, Geralt, and his companions - and also to try to conquer her worst nightmare. Leo Bonhart, the man who chased, wounded and tortured Ciri, is still on her trail. And the world is still at war. Translated by David French.

Geralt the Witcher races to find his missing ward, Ciri, in this fourth novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting... Translated by David French.

Geralt the Witcher races to find his missing ward, Ciri, in this fourth novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games.

The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life.

But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous.

There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting...

Geralt of Rivia is on a mission to save his ward, Ciri, and with her the world, in this third novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The Wizards Guild has been shattered by a coup and, in the uproar, Geralt was seriously injured. The Witcher is supposed to be a guardian of the innocent, a protector of those in need, a defender against powerful and dangerous monsters that prey on men in dark times. But now that dark times have fallen upon the world, Geralt is helpless until he has recovered from his injuries. While war rages across all of the lands, the future of magic is under threat and those sorcerers who survive are determined to protect it. It's an impossible situation in which to find one girl - Ciri, the heiress to the throne of Cintra, has vanished - until a rumour places her in the Niflgaard court, preparing to marry the Emperor. Injured or not, Geralt has a rescue mission on his hands. Translated by David French.

The fifth novel in the New York Times bestselling Witcher series that inspired the hit Netflix show finds Ciri trapped in a distant world and separated from Geralt and her destiny. Now in a brand-new hardcover edition, this is the ultimate way to experience the epic story of the Witcher. After walking through a portal in the Tower of the Swallow, thus narrowly escaping death, the Witcher girl, Ciri, finds herself in a completely different world... a world of the Elves. She is trapped with no way out. Time does not seem to exist and there are no obvious borders or portals to cross back into her home world. But this is Ciri, the child of prophecy, and she will not be defeated. She knows she must escape to finally rejoin the Witcher, Geralt, and his companions - and also to try to conquer her worst nightmare. Leo Bonhart, the man who chased, wounded and tortured Ciri, is still on her trail. And the world is still at war. Translated by David French.

Geralt the Witcher - revered and hated - holds the line against the monsters plaguing humanity in the bestselling series that inspired the hit Witcher Netflix show and video games.

Geralt of Rivia is a Witcher, a man whose magic powers and lifelong training have made him a brilliant fighter and a merciless assassin. Yet he is no ordinary killer: he hunts the vile fiends that ravage the land and attack the innocent. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil; not everything fair is good . . . and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

The adventures of Geralt the Witcher continue in this second novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. The kings and armies are manoeuvring for position, each fearing invasion from across the river, each fearing their neighbours more. Intrigue, dissent and rebellion fester on all sides. After decades of oppression, the elves and other races are fighting each other and attacking the humans - and with growing numbers preparing for battle, the threat of all-out war looms ever greater. Against this backdrop of fear, Geralt and Yennefer must protect Ciri, the orphaned heir who is sought by all sides. For the child of prophecy has the power to change the world - if she lives to use it. Translated by David French.

Geralt the Witcher races to find his missing ward, Ciri, in this fourth novel in the bestselling Witcher series that inspired the Netflix show and video games. Now in a brand-new hardcover edition, this is the ultimate way to experience the epic story of the Witcher. The world has fallen into war. Ciri, the child of prophecy, has vanished. Hunted by friends and foes alike, she has taken on the guise of a petty bandit and lives free for the first time in her life. But the net around her is closing. Geralt, the Witcher, has assembled a group of allies determined to rescue her. Both sides of the war have sent brutal mercenaries to hunt her down. Her crimes have made her famous. There is only one place left to run. The tower of the swallow is waiting... Translated by David French.

Drawing upon a wide range of unpublished sources, including files from the recently-released Foreign and Commonwealth Office 'migrated archive', Fighting EOKA is the first full account of the operations of the British security forces on Cyprus in the second half of the 1950s. It shows how between 1955 and 1959 these forces tried to defeat the Greek Cypriot paramilitary organisation, EOKA, which was fighting to bring about enosis, that is the union between Cyprus and Greece. By tracing the evolving pattern of EOKA violence and the responses of the police, the British army, the civil administration on the island, and the minority Turkish Cypriot community, David French explains why the British could contain the military threat posed by EOKA, but could not eliminate it. The result was that by the spring of 1959 a political stalemate had descended upon Cyprus, and none of the contending parties had achieved their full objectives. Greek Cypriots had to be content with independence rather than enosis. Turkish Cypriots, who had hoped to see the island partitioned on ethnic lines, were given only a share of power in the government of the new Republic, and the British, who had hoped to retain sovereignty over the whole of the island, were left in control of just two military enclaves.

Before he was Ciri's guardian, Geralt of Rivia was a legendary swordsman. Season of Storms is an adventure set in the world of the Witcher, the book series that inspired the hit Netflix show and bestselling video games. Now in a brand-new hardcover edition, this is the ultimate way to experience the epic story of the Witcher. Geralt. The witcher whose mission is to protect ordinary people from the monsters created with magic. A mutant who has the task of killing unnatural beings. He uses a magical sign, potions and the pride of every witcher - two swords, steel and silver. But what would happen if Geralt lost his weapons? Andrzej Sapkowski returns to his phenomenal world of the Witcher in a stand-alone novel where Geralt fights, travels and loves again, Dandelion sings and flies from trouble to trouble, sorcerers are scheming ... and across the whole world clouds are gathering. The season of storms is coming... Translated by David French.

Before he was Ciri's guardian, Geralt of Rivia was a legendary swordsman. Season of Storms is an adventure set in the world of the Witcher, the book series that inspired the hit Netflix show and bestselling video games. Geralt. The witcher whose mission is to protect ordinary people from the monsters created with magic. A mutant who has the task of killing unnatural beings. He uses a magical sign, potions and the pride of every witcher - two swords, steel and silver. But what would happen if Geralt lost his weapons? Andrzej Sapkowski returns to his phenomenal world of the Witcher in a stand-alone novel where Geralt fights, travels and loves again, Dandelion sings and flies from trouble to trouble, sorcerers are scheming ... and across the whole world clouds are gathering. The season of storms is coming... Translated by David French.