ARE YOU READY TO SAVE A LIFE? WHY HER? Becca Palmer has just lost her job as assistant to Simon Jones MP - the highly-regarded Policing Minister, tipped as a future Prime Minister. But Becca claims that Simon was more than her boss, that she is in love with him. WHY HERE? When a heartbroken Becca leaves the Home Office, she heads to Westminster Bridge, intending to take her own life. Which is where hostage negotiator Alex Lewis meets her for the first time. It is his job to try to talk her back from the edge. WHY NOW? In the negotiation that follows, Becca suggests that she may know something about the Policing Minister that she shouldn't. Something that could prompt a serious fall from grace were it to come out. But can Alex save Becca - and get to the bottom of an alleged conspiracy that goes deep inside the highest levels of government - before it's too late?

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

'Triggering'. When and where did the usage originate? No one is sure. There is, however, clear connection with the psychiatric term 'trauma trigger' - stimuli which can detonate unhealed wounds. The concept of triggering took off in feminist magazines and social media 'chat' around 2010. Around 2013/14 it moved, wholesale, into higher education. In May 2014 the New York Times reported that at scores of institutions student bodies were demanding trigger warnings in their courses for canonical texts. It reached a floodmark with a survey by The Times in August 2022 which found that British universities had covertly added trigger warnings to over a thousand texts, including the works of literary greats such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens and Agatha Christie. The current government vilifies triggering with the sarcasms 'wokery' and 'snowflakery'. What is overlooked in the heat of the argument is that triggering is categorically different from traditional institutional controls on literature. Triggering, done responsibly, honours the fact that great literature is great because it is, as Kafka says, powerful. In this extraordinary polemic, John Sutherland - Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London - takes a wide-ranging and characteristically nuanced look at the history of triggering and censorship in literature and shows how it has become a theatre of culture warfare. Politicians in the two great sectors of the English-speaking world have taken up arms in that conflict. Jonathan Swift's 'Battle of the Books' has flared up again.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

William Makepeace Thackeray has always been an author for those with discriminating literary palettes. `I do not hesitate to name Thackeray first' said his most devoted disciple, Anthony Trollope. Few would deny that he is the finest literary stylist of his time. Thackeray was at his most Thackerayan in what he called `small beer chronicles': the little things in life. His style reached its highest pitch in essays, his cutting wit in journalism. This is the first `sampler' which covers all of Thackeray's versatile genius: his cartoons, his journalism, his carefully restrained sentimentality (much to Victorian taste), his cutting satire, his essayism and what one could grandly call the Thackerayan world view---summed up (as printed here) in the foreword and afterword of his masterpiece, Vanity Fair. This collection of incidental pieces and cartoons (no writer has ever illustrated his own work better) catches him at his most characteristic. Enjoy. Key Points: * The first anthology of Thackeray's varied writings as journalist and essayist * With explanatory notes throughout by scholar and writer John Sutherland * Illustrated with sketches and cartoons by Thackeray * A charming gift for fans of Thackeray and Victoriana

First published in 1981, this book offers a study of British and American popular fiction in the 1970s, a decade in which the quest for the superseller came to dominate the lives of publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. Illustrated by examples of the lurid incidents that catapult so many books into the bestseller charts, this comprehensive study covers the work of Robbins, Hailey and Maclean, the 'bodice rippers', the disaster craze, horror, war stories and media tie-ins such as The Godfather, Jaws and Star Wars.

With over 900 biographical entries, more than 600 novels synopsized, and a wealth of background material on the publishers, reviewers and readers of the age the Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction is the fullest account of the period's fiction ever published. Now in a second edition, the book has been revised and a generous selection of images have been chosen to illustrate various aspects of Victorian publishing, writing, and reading life. Organised alphabetically, the information provided will be a boon to students, researchers and all lovers of reading. The entries, though concise, meet the high standards demanded by modern scholarship. The writing - marked by Sutherland's characteristic combination of flair, clarity and erudition - is of such a high standard that the book is a joy to read, as well as a definitive work of reference.

We live with the idea of sin every day - from the greatest transgressions to the tiniest misdemeanours. But surely the concept was invented for an age where divine retribution and eternal punishment dominated the collective consciousness? In this lively collection of new writing, Nicola Barker, Dylan Evans, David Flusfeder, Todd McEwen, Martin Rowson, John Sutherland and Ali Smith go head to head with the capital vices to explore what we really mean when we talk about sin. The resulting mixture of erudite and playful essays and startling new fiction might not make you a better person, but it will certainly give you pause for thought when you're next laying the law down or - heaven forfend - about to do something beyond the pale yourself.

First published in 1981, this book offers a study of British and American popular fiction in the 1970s, a decade in which the quest for the superseller came to dominate the lives of publishers on both sides of the Atlantic. Illustrated by examples of the lurid incidents that catapult so many books into the bestseller charts, this comprehensive study covers the work of Robbins, Hailey and Maclean, the 'bodice rippers', the disaster craze, horror, war stories and media tie-ins such as The Godfather, Jaws and Star Wars.

This edition is published by the Trollope Society. Pickering & Chatto Publishers is responsible for distributing to libraries and their suppliers only.

With over 900 biographical entries, more than 600 novels synopsized, and a wealth of background material on the publishers, reviewers and readers of the age the "Longman Companion to Victorian Fiction" is the fullest account of the period's fiction ever published. Now in a second edition, the book has been revised and a generous selection of images have been chosen to illustrate various aspects of Victorian publishing, writing, and reading life.

Organised alphabetically, the information provided will be a boon to students, researchers and all lovers of reading. The entries, though concise, meet the high standards demanded by modern scholarship. The writing - marked by Sutherland's characteristic combination of flair, clarity and erudition - is of such a high standard that the book is a joy to read, as well as a definitive work of reference.

"A remarkable achievement, an invaluable tool for understanding the Victorian literary milieu, and a first-rate bedside book as well." "TLS"

"A pleasure to read and to handle." "Sunday Times"

Martin Amis's most highly regarded novel--a blackly comic murder mystery about a murder that has not yet happened--in a full-cloth hardcover edition with silk ribbon marker. EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS.
First published twenty-five years ago in 1989, "London Fields" is considered by many to be Amis's best novel. The narrator is an American writer living in London who has had writer's block for twenty years and is now terminally ill. The other main characters are a bored and wealthy banker, a small-time criminal, and Nicola Six, a young woman who knows she will be murdered a few minutes after midnight on November 5, 1999, and who goes in search of her killer. Set ten years in the future, against a backdrop of environmental and social degradation and the looming threat of world instability and nuclear war, this is a highly unusual mystery with an unexpected twist at the end.

Intergenerational conflict is a perennial feature of society and capitalism. One side has the youth, the other side has the lion's share of the wealth, and the good things wealth can bring. In the last few years that friction has reached to dangerous heights. Call it war. And, like all war, it has the risk of doing severe damage. In this fiery polemic the author of the best-selling The War on the Old has switched sides, and now examines the conflict as it must appear to the young. For the first time since the Second World War, younger generations can expect less fulfilled lives than their elders. They may not be their `betters', but in the second decade of the twenty-first century they surely are better heeled. Traditionally society's way of controlling the young has been to send them off to war, or conscript them. They would either die, or learn `duty'. Now we send as many as 50% to university, from which they emerge encumbered with debt. As Orwell observed, there is nothing like debt for extinguishing the political fire in your belly. The War on the Young is lively, provocative and ranges wittily, and at times angrily, over many casus belli from the standpoint of the nation's young people. Things are not getting better. This is a timely and highly readable look at a ticking generational time-bomb.

'You know you're in the presence of an expert when you read The Siege. A gripping debut novel.' Jeffrey Archer Nine hostages. Ten hours. One chance to save them all. Lee James Connor has found his purpose in life: to follow the teachings of far-right extremist leader, Nicholas Farmer. So when his idol is jailed, he comes up with the perfect plan: take a local immigrant support group hostage until Farmer is released. Grace Wheatley is no stranger to loneliness having weathered the passing of her husband, whilst being left to raise her son alone. The local support group is her only source of comfort. Until the day Lee James Connor walks in and threatens the existence of everything she's ever known. Superintendent Alex Lewis may be one of the most experienced hostage negotiators on the force, but there's no such thing as a perfect record. Still haunted by his last case, can he connect with Connor - and save his nine hostages - before it's too late? 'A masterly, gripping tale of a siege, written with a true voice of authority.' - Peter James

In a series of 50 accessible essays, John Sutherland introduces and explains the important forms, concepts, themes and movements in literature, drawing on insights and examples from both classic and popular works. From postmodernism to postcolonialism, William Shakespeare to Jane Austen, 50 Literature Ideas You Really Need to Know is a complete introduction to the most important literary concepts in history.

This 'little history' takes on a very big subject: the glorious span of literature from Greek myth to graphic novels, from The Epic of Gilgamesh to Harry Potter. John Sutherland is perfectly suited to the task. He has researched, taught, and written on virtually every area of literature, and his infectious passion for books and reading has defined his own life. Now he guides young readers and the grown-ups in their lives on an entertaining journey 'through the wardrobe' to a greater awareness of how literature from across the world can transport us and help us to make sense of what it means to be human. Sutherland introduces great classics in his own irresistible way, enlivening his offerings with humor as well as learning: Beowulf, Shakespeare, Don Quixote, the Romantics, Dickens, Moby Dick, The Waste Land, Woolf, 1984, and dozens of others. He adds to these a less-expected, personal selection of authors and works, including literature usually considered well below 'serious attention' - from the rude jests of Anglo-Saxon runes to The Da Vinci Code. With masterful digressions into various themes - censorship, narrative tricks, self-publishing, taste, creativity, and madness - Sutherland demonstrates the full depth and intrigue of reading. For younger readers, he offers a proper introduction to literature, promising to interest as much as instruct. For more experienced readers, he promises just the same.

Famously banned for indecency, Lawrence’s final novel is one of the most notorious and passionate love stories in literature.

Constance Reid, Lady Chatterley, is a young woman trapped in an unfulfilling marriage to an aristocrat whose war wounds have left him paralyzed. After her husband demands that she provide him with an heir, she enters into a liaison with their gamekeeper, a working-class man named Oliver Mellors. As their illicit relationship grows in tenderness, mutual respect, and sensual passion, Constance discovers that true fulfillment requires a real connection of both mind and body.

Shocking to its original audience for its cross-class romance as well as for its explicit depictions of sex, the novel has long been hailed as the summit of Lawrence's artistic achievement and one of the most influential novels of the twentieth century.

An engaging guide to a rich literary heritage, The Stanford Companion presents a fascinating parade of novels, authors, publishers, editors, reviewers, illustrators, and periodicals that created the culture of Victorian fiction. Its more than 6,000 alphabetical entries provide an incomparable range of useful and little-known source material, its scholarship enlivened by the author's wit and candor.

Love, so the song goes, is a many-splendoured thing, and fiction has been trying for years both to promote and subvert the clichés it encourages. We turn to literature to learn what love is and what it should be, and readers of this collection will find consolation and inspiration in equal measure from some of the sharpest observers of this most essential human emotion.

In tracing the lineaments of `English love' through the fiction of 200 years we can see something of its infinite variety and of the shifting rules of the game. Sylvia Plath seems closer to Aphra Behn than to Elizabeth Gaskell or even Thomas Hardy in her concept of feminine modesty, while violence, or sheer incomprehension, enter the definition in the worlds of D. H. Lawrence and Katherine Mansfield. Romantic love is at the heart of the `love story' and these stories, while taking love as their subject, do not always follow the conventional route. Bittersweet endings, ironic angles on traditional platitudes and other surprises make the insights of writers such as Anne Ritchie, Somerset Maugham or V. S. Pritchett always fresh and challenging. Simple or sophisticated, sometimes comic and often very moving, these stories bring a delightful perspective to the mysteries of the English in love.