Ultimately these cross purposes brought disaster, pulling a fatally weak and woefully unprepared Ottoman state into a global war, and unleashing vicious, internal ethnic repression that brought it defeat and dismemberment. The diaries and official reports of German spy and propagandist Curt Prufer - translated here into English in their entirety for the first time - chronicle the complexities of the fragile Ottoman-German alliance from the perspective of a participant. Much like fellow soldier-scholar T.E. Lawrence, Prufer and his colleagues tried to steal the loyalties of the Muslim subjects of the opposing sides. The book explores these episodes of sabotage, subversion and subterfuge - from managing spies to preparing for the attack on the Suez Canal in 1915 - and in the process sheds light onto the ways World War I played out across the Middle East. Complemented throughout by in-depth and meticulously researched footnotes, this primary source collection is an invaluable addition to the extant corpus of late Ottoman and World War I historical documents.

Imy Reagan is a secret agent with a few secrets of his own, in his professional and private life. In his previous career as a scientist, Imy successfully created an invisibility pill, something which many people would go to great lengths to get their hands on. His personal life has been less of a success, with his fiancee, Jenny, disappearing without trace some years before. Until Imy knows what happened to her, he cannot move on. The only other person who knows the truth about Imy is his best friend - Dick Trembath, a senior figure in the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation. Dick has a secret of his own. He is determined to find out what happened to Jenny so that Imy can lay that ghost to rest. In their working life, Imy and Dick work to foil some of Australia's toughest and most cunning criminals. In what little spare time they have, the duo entertain audiences with an unbelievable magic act. Imy's secret power is key to both pursuits. Along the way, Dick and Imy make some important new friendships and are offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take their magic act to Las Vegas. Love and Shadows is full of adventure, intrigue, warm, loveable characters and Aussie humour. It's a thoroughly entertaining read which will keep readers turning the pages until its shocking end.