The Peaceful brothers, Tommo and Charlie, have a tough rural childhood facing the death of their father, financial hardship and a cruel landlord. Their fierce loyalty to each other pulls them through, until one day they both fall for the same girl. And then the Great War comes. It tells the story of a country lad fighting a war he doesn't understand for people he cannot respect. We join 18-year-old Private Tommo Peaceful in the trenches as he tells us a story of courage, devotion and sibling rivalry on what may be his last night on earth. Private Peaceful was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, won the Red House Children's Book Award and the Blue Peter Book Award and is acknowledged by Michael Morpurgo (War Horse, The Butterfly Lion) to be his favourite work. This new, small ensemble version by Simon Reade was commissioned by Nottingham Playhouse.

Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night, he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line.

Dive inside this textbook for an accessible guide to the discipline of public services. Perfect for students, it offers a comprehensive account of core public service topics and explains the fundamental elements of working in the public services. Outlining their role in the welfare state, it explores the policies, providers and legalities shaping the context in which public services operate. Students will study concepts of organisational change, strategy, management, leadership and funding, and engage with timely discussions around contemporary public issues such as equality, sustainability and climate change. Key features to support student learning include: * objectives at the beginning of each chapter; * case studies and examples; * end of chapter summaries; * reflective questions; * further reading recommendations and resources. Bringing together authors with expertise in politics and public policy, social policy and law, this book is essential reading for everybody studying public services.

Dive inside this textbook for an accessible guide to the discipline of public services. Perfect for students, it offers a comprehensive account of core public service topics and explains the fundamental elements of working in the public services. Outlining their role in the welfare state, it explores the policies, providers and legalities shaping the context in which public services operate. Students will study concepts of organisational change, strategy, management, leadership and funding, and engage with timely discussions around contemporary public issues such as equality, sustainability and climate change. Key features to support student learning include: * objectives at the beginning of each chapter; * case studies and examples; * end of chapter summaries; * reflective questions; * further reading recommendations and resources. Bringing together authors with expertise in politics and public policy, social policy and law, this book is essential reading for everybody studying public services.

Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line. Winner of the Blue Peter Book of the Year, Private Peaceful is by the third Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo, award-winning author of War Horse. His inspiration came from a visit to Ypres where he was shocked to discover how many young soldiers were court-martialled and shot for cowardice during the First World War. This edition also includes introductory essays by Michael Morpurgo, Associate Director of Private Peaceful production Mark Leipacher, as well as an essay from Simon Reade, adaptor & director of this stage adaptation of Private Peaceful.

The sea had become a mass grave by 1941 as Hitler's four capital warships--Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Tirpitz, and Bismarck, the largest warship on the ocean--roamed the wind-swept waves, threatening the Allied war effort and sending thousands of men to the icy depths of the North Atlantic. Bristling with guns and steeled in heavy armor, these reapers of the sea could outrun and outgun any battleship in the Allied arsenal. The deadly menace kept Winston Churchill awake at night; he deemed them "targets of supreme consequence." The campaign against Hitler's surface fleet would continue into the dying days of World War II and involve everything from massive warships engaged in bloody, fire-drenched battle to daring commando raids in German occupied harbors. This is the fast-paced story of the Allied bomber crews, brave sailors, and bold commandoes who "sunk the Bismarck" and won a hard-fought victory over Hitler's iron sea. Using official war diaries, combat reports, eyewitness accounts and personal letters, Simon Read brings the action and adventure to vivid life. The result is an enthralling and gripping story of the Allied heroes who fought on a watery battlefield.

The blackout went into effect three days before the declaration of war and transformed nocturnal London into a criminal's paradise. As the city pulled together in the face of terrible adversity, the bomb-ravaged streets became the stalking grounds for killers, rapists, looters and gangs. The number of bodies retrieved during the Blitz made it impossible for the authorities to autopsy them all, providing cover to those who worked with blades, guns and more sinister tools. Scotland Yard - its resources stretched to the limit - did its best to tackle a rogues' gallery born of bombs and blackout, and crimes that continue to fascinate from history's darkest corners. In Dark City, award-winning crime writer Simon Read paints a vivid picture of the other side of wartime London, from the Blackout Ripper and the Acid Bath Murders, to the notorious Rillington Place killer and his house of corpses.

Private Peaceful relives the life of Private Tommo Peaceful, a young First World War soldier awaiting the firing squad at dawn. During the night, he looks back at his short but joyful past growing up in rural Devon: his exciting first days at school; the accident in the forest that killed his father; his adventures with Molly, the love of his life; and the battles and injustices of war that brought him to the front line.

Claudia Hampton is a popular historian, a strong, beautiful and difficult woman. Now in her seventies, she is plotting her greatest work - a history of the world. She looks back over her life growing up between the wars and remembers the people who have shared its triumphs and tragedies. There is Gordon, her adored brother; Jasper, the charming, untrustworthy lover and father of her daughter, and Tom, her one great love, both found and lost during the El Alamein campaign when she worked as a war correspondent. Against a background of world events, Claudia's own remarkable story provokes a sharp combination of sadness, shock and amusement. Simon Reade's adaptation is introduced by Penelope Lively herself. Compelling, moving and eloquent, one of the great novels of the 20th century is brought to the stage for the first time. Winner of the 1987 Booker Prize, Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger is a haunting story of loss and desire.

When Alice falls down a mysterious rabbit hole she stumbles upon a magical fantasy world where anything can happen . . . Take tea with the Mad Hatter, meet the White Rabbit, grin with the Cheshire Cat, and play croquet with the Queen of Hearts, but whatever you do . . . don't lose your head Lewis Carroll's classic characters spring to life in an enchanting show for the whole family, bursting with music, madness and mystery.Simon Reade's adaptation of Lewis Carroll's much-loved fantasy classic" Alice's Adventures in Wonderland "is a witty and brilliantly inventive re-working, which won the TMA Award for Best Show for Young People.

In March 1944, 76 Allied officers tunnelled out of Stalag Luft III. Of the 73 captured, 50 were shot by direct order of Hitler. This is the story of how a British Bobby from Blackpool, Frank McKenna, was sent to post-war Germany on the express orders from Churchill to bring the Gestapo murderers to justice. In a quest that ranges from the devastated, bombed out cities of Europe to the horrors of the concentrations camps, McKenna is relentless in his pursuit. A gripping read set in the aftermath of World War II.

In March and April of 1944, Gestapo gunmen killed fifty POWs--a brutal act in defiance of international law and the Geneva Conventions. This is the true story of the men who hunted them down.
The mass breakout of seventy-six Allied airmen from the infamous Stalag Luft III became one of the greatest tales of World War II, immortalized in the film "The Great Escape." But where Hollywood's depiction fades to black, another incredible story begins . . .
Not long after the escape, fifty of the recaptured airmen were taken to killing fields throughout Germany and shot on the direct orders of Hitler. When the nature of these killings came to light, Churchill's government swore to pursue justice at any cost. A revolving team of military police, led by squadron leader Francis P. McKenna, was dispatched to pick up a trail long gone cold.
Amid the chaos of postwar Germany, divided between American, British, French, and Russian occupiers, McKenna led a three-year manhunt that brought twenty-one Gestapo killers to justice. In "Human Game," Simon Read delivers a clear-eyed and meticulously researched account of this often overlooked saga of hard-won justice.
INCLUDES PHOTOS

Three war plays by Michael Morpurgo, author of War Horse, powerfully dramatised by Simon Reade.Private Peaceful relives the short life of Tommo growing up in rural Devon before fighting the battles and facing the injustices of the First World War. In Toro Toro young Antonito liberates his favourite bull from the ritualised killing of the bullfight as he tries to escape the Spanish Civil War. In The Mozart Question Paolo Levi discovers the astonishing truth about his parents' flight to Venice from the gas chambers of the Second World War.Each play is accompanied by an introduction from Michael Morpurgo.

With famine gripping Ireland, Sean and Annie have just one chance of survival - they must find their father. Leaving their dying mother behind, they travel across rough seas to America. With only the gold torch that Annie wears as a necklace to protect them, they embark on a long and dangerous journey. But will they ever be reunited with their family? Twist of Gold is an epic adventure, a classic novel by the masterful storyteller and author of War Horse, Michael Morpurgo.

Producers' Choice: Six Plays for Young Performers showcases some of the best plays for young people produced by the UK's leading theatre companies. The plays are ideal for young performers aged 13-25 and offer a diverse range of challenges, styles and subjects. The volume will prove essential for teachers and students of Drama and for youth drama groups. The plays include modern reworkings of classics, such as Simon Reade's witty and brilliantly inventive adaptation of Lewis Carroll's much-loved fantasy, and DJ Britton's version of Sophocles' Theban plays, the tragic Oedipus/Antigone. Contemporary teenage issues are dealt with in Megan Barker's beautiful and uplifting Promise and Sarah May's The Butterfly Club. Simon Stephens' hit-play Punk Rock set in a grammar school explores dislocation and aggression among sixth form pupils; James Graham's Tory Boyz is a fast-paced, political comedy about prejudice and ambition in Westminster. Each play features production notes and the volume is introduced by Paul Roseby, Artistic Director of the National Youth Theatre. For schools, youth theatre groups and drama colleges this anthology of thematically and stylistically diverse plays will prove an invaluable resource.

Outrageously zany and filled with non-stop surprises, Simon Reade's theatrical adaptation of "The Scarecrow and His Servant" (a children's tale by renowned author Philip Pullman), is an enchanting play for young readers and performers.

This title presents three rites of passage plays for the young person in all of us, brilliantly adapted from the books of three best-selling authors. In Michael Morpurgo's moving tale of youth cut short, seventeen year-old Tommo Peaceful relives his innocent rural past as he spends his last night in the trenches of World War One. In Philip Pullman's "Aladdin", this ancient magical tale is retold as a story of ambition and self-advancement, a young man's journey from lazy good-for-nothing to great wealth and power. And in Jill Tomlinson's delightfully witty classic, a fledgling Barn Owl conquers his fears through a series of eye-opening encounters. These plays are for all ages.

""It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.""
When Elizabeth Bennet first meets Mr Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited. When she later discovers that he has scuppered the relationship between his friend Bingley and her sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy that follows, the family's lives are turned upside down as Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and pokes fun at the affectations and etiquette of provincial life.

A wonderful book for aficionados, actors, academics, and audiences alike. This is a unique introduction and guide to Shakespeare's life and times, a uniquely modern take on Shakespeare by a man uniquely qualified to write about him. Imagines Shakespeare having to deal with the attitudes of modern times.

Long before his finest hour as Britain's wartime leader, Winston Churchill emerged on the world stage as a brazen foreign correspondent, covering wars of empire in Cuba, India, the Sudan, and South Africa.In those far-flung corners of the world, reporting from the front lines between 1895 and 1900, Churchill mastered his celebrated command of language and formed strong opinions about war. He thought little of his own personal safety, so convinced was he of his destiny, jumping at any chance to be where bullets flew and canons roared. "I have faith in my star- that I am intended to do something in the world," he wrote to his mother at the age of twenty-three before heading into battle.Based on his private letters and war reportage, Winston Churchill Reporting intertwines young Winston's daring exploits in combat, adventures in distant corners of the globe, and rise as a major literary talent- experiences that shaped the world leader he was to become.

On Wednesday 14 February 1945, the body of Charles Walton was discovered on the lower slopes of Meon Hill near the sleepy Warwickshire village of Lower Quinton, his torso pinned to the ground by a pitchfork. Myths and rumours soon swirled about the crime. Accounts claim Walton, a retired labourer and a lifelong resident of Lower Quinton, was believed by many to be a clairvoyant who could talk to birds and exercise control over animals. It has even been reported that many villagers attributed Walton's death to ritual witchcraft. But what is fact and what is fiction? The most famous police officer in Britain, Chief Inspector Robert Fabian, was promptly dispatched by Scotland Yard to solve this increasingly peculiar and foreboding mystery. 'Fabian of the Yard' was not a man prone to superstition and had dealt with some of the most notorious killers of his time - but there was something strange about the Walton murder. Did the clues point to ritual witchcraft as the modus operandi, or was the black magic angle merely a ruse? With the villagers unable - or unwilling - to shed light on the matter, Fabian faced, for the only time in his glittering career, the daunting prospect of failure. The Case That Foiled Fabian lays out for the first time what actually happened and distills the truth from the many myths about this case that are today mistaken for facts.