From the award-winning Michael Pearce, comes a delightful murder mystery set in Egypt in 1908. A body is found on the tracks of a new electric railway and the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate. Cairo, 1908. It's called the Tree of the Virgin, a site of religious interest, perilously close to the construction site of the new electric railway. Sinister power groups are jostling for position, but who dumped the body of the humble villager on the track? When the Mamur Zapt begins to pick his way through the local and national power structures, he has to ask, what is the significance of the Fig Tree? Does it matter that the caravans for Mecca gather only a mile or so away? And what of the ostrich that passed in the night?

A classic historical mystery from award-winning Michael Pearce, in which the body of a young woman washes up in the Nile and the Mamur Zapt is drawn into the seedy world of Egyptian politics. Egypt, 1908. A young woman has drowned in the Nile, her body washed up on a sandbar. Apparently she had fallen off a boat. Owen, as Mamur Zapt, Britsh head of Cairo's secret police, deems it a potential crime. But when the poor girl's body suddenly vanishes from its resting place, Owen begins a puzzling search for the truth that will take him from Cairo's sophisticated cafes through its dingiest slums - and into the seething waters of Egyptian politics.

A classic murder mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, in which The Mamur Zapt races to prevent an explosion of religious violence in the Cairo of the 1900s. Cairo in the 1900s. When the body of a dog is discovered in a Coptic tomb - a Muslim insult that could spark an explosion among the Christian community - the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, is called in to investigate. Equally volatile is a command from an English Member of Parliament that the Mamur Zapt, Gareth Owen, show the MP's niece the sights of the city. When a dancing dervish is stabbed before the lady's very eyes, Owen begins to uncover a plot to set Cairo's ethnic communities at each other's throats...

In this classic mystery from Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s, the Mamur Zapt investigates the discovery of a young woman's body at the site of a dam. Cairo, 1908. When an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, is called in to investigate. To make matters worse, the ceremonial cutting of a dam always requires careful policing, especially on this occasion as it is going to be the Last Cut. Which means the discovery of a young woman's body at the site of the dam is extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Or something more sinister?

In this classic mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, a powerful politician is murdered in Cairo in the 1900s and the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate Cairo, 1910. The end of the boom and everyone seems to have money troubles. Then one day a civil servant dies at his desk. Was it pressure of work or something nastier? The whiff of corruption is in the air, with even Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt, under suspicion... Owen's investigation takes him to the heart of a sinister organization. But will he be up to taking them on? And will he be in time to stop the Camel of Destruction running through the city?

From the award-winning Michael Pearce comes an engrossing murder mystery set in the Cairo of the 1900s. After a series of attacks on public officials, the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate. Cairo in the 1900s. While riding home, Fairclough of Customs is shot at from behind. It is the first of many similar attacks - all seemingly aimed at public officials. The Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, is told to catch the killer - and quickly. His efforts to do so take him into Cairo's student quarter and out to a remote rural estate. And require him to handle a fading Pasha and a dangerous gypsy girl - whose claims he has to balance against those of his fiery Egyptian mistress.

In this classic murder mystery from Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s, the Mamur Zapt investigates the murder of an Italian man in the backstreets of Cairo. Cairo, 1908. When an Italian man is murdered in the city's back streets, there is concern that this could be some kind of ethnic cleansing. Were the guns in his warehouse anything to do with it? Gareth Owen - the Mamur Zapt - has to find out fast. And then there are other difficult questions. What are Trudi von Ramsberg and Gertrude Bell really doing in Cairo? As the Mamur Zapt is drawn deeper into the investigation, he's not the only one who has problems over where his allegiance lies...

In this engrossing murder mystery set in the Egypt of the 1900s, the Mamur Zapt finds himself under threat from a campaign to discredit Cairo's senior policemen. Cairo in the 1900s. The Mamur Zapt, Head of Cairo's secret police, finds himself in a compromising position. The city's senior policemen are the subject of a smear campaign, a stinging attack which raises uncomfortable questions about their integrity. The Mamur Zapt himself is suspected, but is he above suspicion? Owen's investigation takes him into hitherto uncharted territory: the underworld of Cairo and the dangerous profession of snake-catching...

A classic murder mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, which sees the Mamur Zapt investigate a series of suspicious kidnappings in the Cairo of the 1900s. Cairo in the 1900s. 'Tourists are quite safe provided they don't do anything stupidly reckless,' Owen, the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, assures the press. But what of Monsieur Moulin and Mr Colthorpe, kidnapped from the terrace at Shepheard's Hotel? Were these kidnappings intended as deliberately symbolic blows at the British? Owen had better unravel it quickly, or else... And where better to start from than the donkey-vous, Cairo's enterprising youths who hire out their donkeys for rides...

A classic historical mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, set in the Egypt of the 1900s. When gang violence strikes the city, the inimitable Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate. In 1908, the city of Cairo lives - and dies - by its cafe culture. But for restaurant businesses, the protection rackets pose a problem. And the city's cafes are experiencing a sudden upsurge in threats from various gangs. When one cafe proprietor is attacked, his legs broken for noncompliance, everyone is worried. Then the Russian Charge files a complaint - the Mingrelians may be targeting a Russian Grand Duke. Now the Mamur Zapt, Head of the Secret Police, must find a way to prevent an international incident...

A classic murder mystery from Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in Egypt in the 1900s, in which the Mamur Zapt confronts the secrets of his past. It is the beginning of the war and the Mamur Zapt, Gareth Owen, British head of Cairo's secret police, is called in to investigate a human corpse abandoned in a cat cemetery. Is the villagers' talk of a mysterious Cat Woman mere superstitious nonsense, or something rather sinister? The Mamur Zapt is preoccupied with missing guns and dubious ghaffirs, but the face in the cemetery refuses to go away. And Owen comes to realise that it poses questions that are not just professional but uncomfortably personal...

In this classic mystery from the award-winning Michael Pearce, a powerful politician is murdered in Cairo in the 1900s and the Mamur Zapt is called in to investigate. Cairo in the 1900s. As the long period of indirect British rule draws to an end, tensions mount. The attempted assassination of a politician raises the possibility of a terrorist outrage at the city's religious festival, the Return of the Holy Carpet from Mecca. When the Mamur Zapt, British head of Cairo's secret police, begins to investigate, he finds himself in a race against a deadly group of terrorists to protect the city from a catastrophic attack.

The world is changing aroung the Mamur Zapt, British Chief of Cairo's Secret Police. It's 1912 and there's a war on that no one's heard of. When an Italian man is murdered in the city's back streets, there is concern that this could be some kind of ethnic cleansing. "One of us" Morelli may have been, but was he "one of us" enough? And were the guns in his warehouse anything to do with it? Gareth Owen -- the Mamur Zapt -- has to find out fast.
And then, as external pressures crowd in, there are other difficult questions. What is Trudi von Ramsberg really doing in Cairo? Not to mention that other noted traveller, Gertrude Bell, or the irritating little archaeologist, T. E. Lawrence? And why has the post of Khedive's Librarian suddenly become so important?
Owen is just the man to solve these problems. He is less successful, though, in his relationship with Zeinab, especially now that she's approaching thirty.
As Cromer's Egypt gives way to Kitchener's Egypt, Morelli is not the only one who has problems over where his allegiance lies. Maybe the solution is for Owen to go to Zanzibar...

Essential for students of theatre studies, Methuen Drama's Decades of Modern British Playwriting series provides a comprehensive survey and study of the theatre produced in each decade from the 1950s to 2009 in six volumes. Each volume features a critical analysis and reevaluation of the work of four/five key playwrights from that decade authored by a team of experts, together with an extensive commentary on the period . Edited by Dan Rebellato, Modern British Playwriting: 2000-2009 provides an authoritative and stimulating reassessment of the theatre of the decade, together with a detailed study of the work of David Greig (Nadine Holdsworth), Simon Stephens (Jacqueline Bolton), Tim Crouch (Dan Rebellato), Roy Williams (Michael Pearce) and Debbie Tucker Green (Lynette Goddard). The volume sets the context by providing a chronological survey of the decade, one marked by the War on Terror, the excesses of economic globalization and the digital revolution. In surveying the theatrical activity and climate, Andrew Haydon explores the response to the political events, the rise of verbatim theatre, the increasing experimentation and the effect of both the Boyden Report and changes in the Arts Council's priorities. Five scholars provide detailed examinations of the playwrights' work during the decade, combining an analysis of their plays with a study of other material such as early play drafts and the critical receptions of the time. Interviews with each playwright further illuminate this stimulating final volume in the Decades of Modern British Playwriting series.

Cairo, Egypt, 1913. When schoolgirl Marie Kewfik is kidnapped, snatched away as she strolled through the bustling bazaars of the Souk, the Khedive insists that the Mamur Zapt, Head of the Secret Police, takes charge of the negotiations for her safe return. The Kewfiks are one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Egypt but, as the Mamur Zapt discovers, not everyone thinks it's worth the trouble to secure the release of a mere girl. He also learns that there is more to Marie's kidnapping than meets the eye - and the subsequent fallout will shine a glaring light on the dangerous tensions running through Egyptian society.

Atbara, Sudan, 1913. A dead man is fished out of the River Nile. An accident - or something more sinister? A visiting Pasha from the Royal Household believes it was murder - and that he himself was the intended target. He insists that the Mamur Zapt, Head of the Khedive's Secret Police, escorts him on his return train journey to Cairo, for protection. It's to be an eventful voyage. Matters take an unexpected turn when the train is stranded in the desert following a sandstorm. With the help of English schoolboy Jamie Nicholson, the Mamur Zapt pursues his investigations, convinced that at least one of his fellow passengers has a secret to hide. And what was the Pasha really doing in that remote corner of the Sudan? Could the Mamur Zapt's deepest fears be true? Could he really be about to uncover a conspiracy against the British?

Cairo, 1912. The Pasha receives an unexpected gift: a traditional Bride Box. When opened, however, the box contains an unwelcome jolt from the past . . . At the same time, a little girl is discovered riding under a train from Luxor - and the Mamur Zapt, Head of the Khedive's Secret Police, is called in to investigate.
He soon finds himself confronting a political storm as the end of British rule approaches and his investigations uncover a tangled web of family loyalties and betrayals, with its roots in a slave trade long supposed to have been stamped out in Egypt.

Black British Drama: A Transnational Story looks afresh at the ways black theatre in Britain is connected to and informed by the spaces of Africa, the Caribbean and the USA. Michael Pearce offers an exciting new approach to reading modern and contemporary black British drama, examining plays by a range of writers including Michael Abbensetts, Mustapha Matura, Caryl Phillips, Winsome Pinnock, Kwame Kwei-Armah, debbie tucker green, Roy Williams and Bola Agbaje. Chapters combine historical documentation and discussion with close analysis to provide an in-depth, absorbing account of post-war black British drama situated within global and transnational circuits. A significant contribution to black British and black diaspora theatre studies, Black British Drama is a must-read for scholars and students in this evolving field.

Black British Drama: A Transnational Story looks afresh at the ways black theatre in Britain is connected to and informed by the spaces of Africa, the Caribbean and the USA. Michael Pearce offers an exciting new approach to reading modern and contemporary black British drama, examining plays by a range of writers including Michael Abbensetts, Mustapha Matura, Caryl Phillips, Winsome Pinnock, Kwame Kwei-Armah, debbie tucker green, Roy Williams and Bola Agbaje. Chapters combine historical documentation and discussion with close analysis to provide an in-depth, absorbing account of post-war black British drama situated within global and transnational circuits. A significant contribution to black British and black diaspora theatre studies, Black British Drama is a must-read for scholars and students in this evolving field.

Winner of the CWA Last Laugh Award, an irresistible historical mystery in which the Mamur Zapt investigates the illegal trade of antiquities in the Cairo of the 1900s. Cairo, 1908. Captain Gareth Owen, the Mamur Zapt or head of Cairo's Secret Police, turns his attention to the illegal trade of antiquities when Miss Skinner arrives. She's a woman with the habit of asking awkward questions. But what is she doing looking for crocodiles? And mummified ones at that? Owen's new brief is to see that Egypt's priceless treasures stay in Egypt. But when Miss Skinner narrowly escapes falling under a conveyance, Owen must labour to thwart killers and face an even graver problem: whether to ask the pasha's lovely daughter to marry him....

The second in the delightfully witty and diverting new crime series set in Tsarist Russia from the award-winning Michael Pearce. A dreamy province of Tsarist Russia in the 1980s. An ambitious young lawyer. And the One-Legged Lady, one of the most important ikons in the district, goes missing. Exactly how important she is, the sceptical Dmitri, whose task it is to track her down, will soon find out. Who has taken her and for why? The sinister Volkov, from the Tsar's Corps of Gendarmes, suspects the theft has something to do with a wave of popular feeling at a time of famine - which means trouble for some innocent people, unless Dmitri gets there first...

Shortlisted for the Ellis Peters Award for best historical crime novel, this is an engrossing murder mystery set in the Egypt of the 1900s, featuring the inimitable Mamur Zapt. It's 1909, and Cairo is the murder capital of the world. But the death of an effendi is something different. Effendis - the Egyptian elite - are important. Especially if they happen to be foreign. When effendi Tvardovsky is shot in Crocodilopolis, the ancient City of the Crocodiles, Mamur Zapt - Chief of Cairo's Secret Police - is called in to investigate. But sometimes it's best not to ask any questions. And there are powerful people who might prefer Tvardovsky dead...

Filled with real examples of the way people use English in different contexts, The Routledge Dictionary of English Language Studies is an indispensable guide to the richness and variety of the English language for both students and the general reader.

From abbreviation to zero-article, via fricative and slang, the Dictionary contains over 600 wide ranging and informative entries covering:

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• the core areas of language description and analysis: phonetics and phonology, grammar, lexis, semantics, pragmatics and discourse
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• sociolinguistics, including entries on social and regional variation, stylistic variation, and language and gender
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• the history of the English language from Old English to the present-day
• 
  
• the main varieties of English spoken around the world, covering the British isles, the Caribbean, North America, Africa, Asia, and Australasia
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• stylistics, literary language and English usage.

The latest novel in Michael Pearce's award-winning series, set in the Egypt of the 1900s. 'Irresistible fun' Time Out. Everything in Egypt depends on the water of the Nile. So when an attempt is made to blow up a key regulator in the Cairo Barrage, Gareth Owen -- the Mamur Zapt, Chief of Cairo's Secret Police -- is hurriedly called in. What exactly is a regulator, though? Owen doesn't know. But then, he doesn't know many things: who is the Lizard Man, for instance, and why does he appear to have a grudge against Egypt's irrigation system? Quite unconnected (or is it?) is the ceremonial cutting of a dam which allows water to flow through the city. It is a ceremony which always requires policing, but on this occasion more than ever, for it is going to be the Last Cut. Which makes the discovery of a young woman's body at the site of the dam extremely embarrassing. Is this the traditional ritual sacrifice? Definitely not, says Owen -- but this could be another of the things he doesn't know...