Kirjahaku

"It's time to let bygones be bygones. Water under the bridge, right? What happened . happened a long time ago."When Langham's literary agent receives a cryptic letter inviting him to spend the weekend at the grand Cornish home of successful novelist Denbigh Connaught, Charles Elder seems reluctant to attend. What really happened between Elder and Connaught during the summer of 1917, nearly forty years before - and why has it had such a devastating effect on Charles?Accompanying his agent to Connaught House, Langham and his wife Maria discover that Charles is not the only one to have received a letter. But why has Denbigh Connaught gathered together a group of people who each bear him a grudge? When a body is discovered in Connaught's study, the ensuing investigation uncovers dark secrets that haunt the past of each and every guest - including Charles Elder himself .

Donald Langham and Maria Dupré must navigate a rocky road to find a killer when a body is found next to a standing stone.Newlyweds Donald Langham and Maria Dupré have moved to the country. They're excited about starting a new life in the picturesque village of Ingoldby-over-Water - and about meeting their new neighbours.But they've barely moved into Yew Tree Cottage when their new neighbour at Standing Stone Manor, Professor Edwin Robertshaw, invites Donald over to discuss some 'fishy business'. Shortly after, a body is found by the professor's precious standing stone in the manor grounds.Donald and Maria discover tensions, disputes and resentment raging below the surface of this idyllic village, but can they find out which of the villagers is a cold-blooded killer?

The search for a missing artist draws Donald Langham and Ralph Ryland into London's criminal underworld, with deadly consequences. London. April, 1957. Private investigator Donald Langham is approached by retired businessman Vernon Lombard to find his missing son, Christopher. But what appears to be a simple case of a missing artist becomes far more alarming when Langham realizes there's more to Christopher's disappearance than meets the eye, and then makes a terrible discovery.Meanwhile, Langham's business partner Ralph Ryland's search for a missing greyhound forces him to confront a shameful secret from his own past, with terrifying consequences. Can Langham navigate London's criminal underworld, fascism and deception to track down a killer and save Ralph's life?

Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is faced with the classic locked-room conundrum in this engaging historical mysteryJuly, 1955. Donald Langham has interrupted his romantic break in rural Suffolk with the delectable Maria Dupre to assist a fellow writer. Alastair Endicott has requested Langham's help in discovering what's happened to his father, Edward, who seems to have disappeared without trace from inside his locked study.Before he vanished, the elder Endicott had been researching a book on the notorious Satanist Vivian Stafford. Could the proposed biography have something to do with his disappearance? Does local resident Stafford really possess supernatural powers, as some believe?As Langham and Dupre question those around them, it becomes clear that there have been strange goings-on in the sleepy village of Humble Barton. But is the village really haunted - or does someone merely want it to look that way? With a further shocking discovery, the case takes a disturbing new twist.

Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is invited to a remote Scottish castle to solve an intriguing mystery.It's the bitterly cold December of 1955, and Donald Langham has been asked by his friend, private detective Ralph Ryland, to assist him on a case. Ryland has been contacted by their old commanding officer, Major Cartwright, who has reasons to believe that his life is under threat at his remote castle in the Scottish Highlands.On arriving at the castle, Langham and Ryland learn that Major Cartwright is attempting to raise the wreck of a German fighter plane which crashed into the loch in 1945. But it's not only the bad weather that has put a halt to the progress of the salvage. Soon after Langham's arrival, one of Cartwright's guests is brutally murdered - and the hunt is on to stop a ruthless killer before he - or she - strikes again

The theft of a painting takes crime-writer sleuth Donald Langham to a country house full of seething tensions, resentment and dark secrets. November, 1956. Lord Elsmere, an old friend of Donald Langham's literary agent, Charles Elder, is in a pickle - his favourite painting, a Gainsborough, has been stolen from under his nose. What's more, there's no evidence of a break-in. The family heirloom was recently re-insured for a hefty price, and Elsmere is struggling financially. Could he have staged the theft, or was it taken by one of the guests?Old Major Rutherford, evasive beauty Rebecca Miles, Dutch war hero Patrick Verlinden, Elsmere's son Dudley Mariner and his statuesque sculpture fiancée, Esmeralda Bellamy, are all guests at the manor. But who would steal the painting, and why?Private investigators Langham and Ralph Ryland take on the case and soon uncover seething animosities, jealousy, secrets and deception, before events take a shocking turn.

And then there was one . . . can Donald Langham and Maria Dupré stop a killer who's picking off victims one by one?December, 1956. Donald Langham's wife Maria Dupré receives a chilling invitation to attend a death at the home of Maxwell Falwell Fenton in Essex. The once-prominent artist has a number of enemies, and has faded into obscurity since the war ended. Is the invitation to his own death or someone else's?Arriving at Winterfield on a cold winter evening, Donald and Maria meet five strangers who have also received numbered invitations. They all had a reason to hate or fear Maxwell - including Maria, who reveals a secret from her own past. But is she telling the whole truth?The soiree produces a gruesome and dramatic twist, but it's about to get much worse when someone starts picking off the six, one by one. Can Donald untangle lies, betrayal, and incredible revelations to identify the killer before Maria becomes the next victim?

Crime writer sleuth Donald Langham is invited to a remote Scottish castle to solve an intriguing mystery.It's the bitterly cold December of 1955, and Donald Langham has been asked by his friend, private detective Ralph Ryland, to assist him on a case. Ryland has been contacted by their old commanding officer, Major Cartwright, who has reasons to believe that his life is under threat at his remote castle in the Scottish Highlands.On arriving at the castle, Langham and Ryland learn that Major Cartwright is attempting to raise the wreck of a German fighter plane which crashed into the loch in 1945. But it's not only the bad weather that has put a halt to the progress of the salvage. Soon after Langham's arrival, one of Cartwright's guests is brutally murdered - and the hunt is on to stop a ruthless killer before he - or she - strikes again

This historical mystery series represents an exciting new direction for award-winning science fiction writer Eric Brown.London, 1955. When crime writer Donald Langham's literary agent asks for his help in sorting out 'a delicate matter', little does Langham realize what he's getting himself into. For a nasty case of blackmail leads inexorably to murder as London's literary establishment is rocked by a series of increasingly bizarre deaths. With three members of the London Crime Writers' Association coming to sudden and violent ends, what at first appeared to be a series of suicides looks suspiciously like murder - and there seems to be something horribly familiar about the various methods of despatch.With the help of his literary agent's assistant, the delectable Maria Dupre, Langham finds himself drawing on the skills of his fictional detective hero as he hunts a ruthless and fiendishly clever killer - a killer with old scores to settle.

THE WORLD'S GREATEST TEST PILOT TELLS HIS STORY 'When you read through his life story, it makes James Bond seem like a bit of a slacker'Kirsty Young, Desert Island Discs'The greatest test pilot who ever lived. A true inspiration'Tim Peake, astronaut and former regular British Army Air Corps officer'The stories beggar belief'Guardian'Fascinating reading . . . His amazing life story is quite literally "stranger than fiction"'Today's PilotIn 1939, Eric Brown was on a University of Edinburgh exchange course in Germany, and the first he knew of the war was when the Gestapo came to arrest him. They released him, not realising he was a pilot in the RAF volunteer reserve: and the rest is history. Eric Brown joined the Fleet Air Arm and went on to be the greatest test pilot in history, flying more different aircraft types than anyone else.During his lifetime he made a record-breaking 2,407 aircraft carrier landings and survived eleven plane crashes. One of Britain's few German-speaking airmen, he went to Germany in 1945 to test the Nazi jets, interviewing (among others) Hermann Goering and Hanna Reitsch. He flew the suicidally dangerous Me 163 rocket plane, and tested the first British jets.Wings on My Sleeve is 'Winkle' Brown's incredible story.

And then there was one . . . can Donald Langham and Maria Dupré stop a killer who's picking off victims one by one?December, 1956. Donald Langham's wife Maria Dupré receives a chilling invitation to attend a death at the home of Maxwell Falwell Fenton in Essex. The once-prominent artist has a number of enemies, and has faded into obscurity since the war ended. Is the invitation to his own death or someone else's?Arriving at Winterfield on a cold winter evening, Donald and Maria meet five strangers who have also received numbered invitations. They all had a reason to hate or fear Maxwell - including Maria, who reveals a secret from her own past. But is she telling the whole truth?The soiree produces a gruesome and dramatic twist, but it's about to get much worse when someone starts picking off the six, one by one. Can Donald untangle lies, betrayal, and incredible revelations to identify the killer before Maria becomes the next victim?

The search for a missing artist draws Donald Langham and Ralph Ryland into London's criminal underworld, with deadly consequences. London. April, 1957. Private investigator Donald Langham is approached by retired businessman Vernon Lombard to find his missing son, Christopher. But what appears to be a simple case of a missing artist becomes far more alarming when Langham realizes there's more to Christopher's disappearance than meets the eye, and then makes a terrible discovery.Meanwhile, Langham's business partner Ralph Ryland's search for a missing greyhound forces him to confront a shameful secret from his own past, with terrifying consequences. Can Langham navigate London's criminal underworld, fascism and deception to track down a killer and save Ralph's life?

Donald Langham and Maria Dupré must navigate a rocky road to find a killer when a body is found next to a standing stone.Newlyweds Donald Langham and Maria Dupré have moved to the country. They're excited about starting a new life in the picturesque village of Ingoldby-over-Water - and about meeting their new neighbours.But they've barely moved into Yew Tree Cottage when their new neighbour at Standing Stone Manor, Professor Edwin Robertshaw, invites Donald over to discuss some 'fishy business'. Shortly after, a body is found by the professor's precious standing stone in the manor grounds.Donald and Maria discover tensions, disputes and resentment raging below the surface of this idyllic village, but can they find out which of the villagers is a cold-blooded killer?

Over the course of a career spanning twenty five years, Eric Brown has written just a handful of horror and ghost stories - and all of them are collected here. They range from the gentle, psychological chiller "The House" to the more overtly fantastical horror of "Li Ketsuwan", from the contemporary science fiction of "The Memory of Joy" to the almost-mainstream of "The Man Who Never Read Novels". What they have in common is a concern for character and the need to tell a story. Ghostwriting is Eric brown at his humane and compelling best. "Irrespective of genre limitations Brown is a terrific storyteller as the present collection effectively proves... All in all an excellent collection of entertaining and well written dark fiction."-Hell Notes "British writing with a deft, understated touch: wonderful"-New Scientist "Eric Brown has an enviable talent for writing stories which are the essence of modern science fiction and yet show a passionate concern for the human predicament and human values"-Bob Shaw "SF infused with a cosmopolitan and literary sensibility"-Paul McAuley

The Angels of Life and Death collects eleven science fiction stories from two times winner of the BSFA short story award, including one never before published. From cyberpunk visions of post-human futures to traditional tales of alien encounter and time travel, what connects these tales are Brown's storytelling ability and his concern for the human element. Whether he's writing about telepaths fleeing alien assassins on a vast spaceport city in the Bay of Bengal, or a woman reporter finding true love in the far, far future, Brown imbues his fictions with a concern for character and headlong narrative pace. "SF infused with a cosmopolitan and literary sensibility"-Paul McAuley "He is a masterful storyteller"-Strange Horizons "Eric Brown joins the ranks of Graham Joyce, Christopher Priest and Robert Holdstock as a master fabulist"-Paul di Filippo

When Salvageman Ed saves Ella Rodriguez from spider-drones on the pleasure planet of Sinclair's Landfall, he has no idea what he's letting himself in for. Ella is not at all what she seems, as he's soon about to find out. What follows, as the spider-drones and the Hayakawa Organisation chase Ed, Ella and engineer Karrie light-years across space, is a fast-paced adventure with Ed learning more about Ella - and about himself - than he ever expected. The Salvageman Ed series of linked stories - four of which appear here for the first time - combine action, humour and pathos, from the master of character-based adventure science fiction. "Eric Brown's modest, slightly retro, extremely charming and very human voice has been a distinctive, indeed unique, presence in British SF for many years. Here he offers another interlinked selection of stories which, as is typical of Eric Brown, manage to be small scale, close-up, and completely free of heroic posturing, in spite of the galactic scale of their setting. There is something restful about them, something comforting. Yet while they gently entertain, they also, very quietly, deal with big questions about identity, love, and the relationship between body and soul." Chris Beckett, Arthur C Clarke Award-winning author of Dark Eden "These stories demonstrate everything that Eric Brown excels at: intelligent high adventure in space featuring fully-rounded characters that the reader can instantly relate to, revelling in their evolving relationship as Ed and his crew are forced to contend with all that the author's vivid imagination throws at them. Wonderful stuff " Ian Whates, author of The Noise Within

Rites of Passage gathers four long stories, one of which is original to the collection. "Bartholomew Burns and the Brain Invaders" features a Victorian London facing the threat of alien invasion and the mysterious 'Guardian' who saves the day. "Guardians of the Phoenix" is set in a near-future, post-apocalyptic world where water is in short supply and roaming bands will do anything to obtain it, while "Sunworld" is about a strange world where the sun is fixed eternally overhead and Yarrek Merwell makes a discovery that will change everything. The longest story in the collection, "Beneath the Ancient Sun" has never appeared before and is set on a far-future Earth where giant crabs and a swollen sun threaten humanity's very existence. Eric Brown's stories combine memorable characters, fascinating settings, and a passionate concern for story-telling that has made this BSFA award-winning author one of the leaders of the field. "Brown sketches a complex world full of bitter idealists and fantastic landscapes where nothing is as it seems" Publishers Weekly "Eric Brown spins a terrific yarn" SFX "This is the rediscovery of wonder" Stephen Baxter on Helix "SF suffused with a cosmopolitan and literary sensibility" Paul McAuley "Brown's spectacular creativity creates a constantly compelling read" Kirkus Book Reviews

Consacr l' tude des id es en g n ral, consid r es dans une perspective contemporaine, le pr sent travail met un accent tout particulier sur les mythes, les id es re ues, le mensonge d' tat, la publicit trompeuse, et le terrorisme des statistiques biais es. Dans nos soci t s modernes, comme dans les anciennes d'ailleurs, l'homme surnage dans un oc an d'erreurs (Goethe). L'auteur a class les id es en grandes cat gories, parmi lesquelles les id es n gatives et destructives, sources d'ali nation et de souffrance et les id es- crans, lesquelles, au contraire, sont source de qui tude, de bonheur et de paix sociale. Cet ouvrage est l'aboutissement d'un travail pluridisciplinaire approfondi, int ressant diverses branches du savoir: philosophie et philosophie des sciences, gen se et diffusion des id es et des mythes, moeurs contemporaines, psychologie et d veloppement personnel, etc. .

pouse divorc e du roi de France Louis VII, Ali nor d'Aquitaine, alors g e de 31 ans, se remarie avec le roi d'Angleterre Henry II Plantagen t, d'onze ans son cadet. Le mariage de raison volue vers une union passionn e et Ali nor donne huit enfants Henry II. Mais le roi devient tr s vite infid le ce qui rend Ali nor folle de jalousie. Elle dresse alors leurs fils Henry, Geoffroy, Richard et Jean contre leur p re. Une guerre s'ensuit, l'issue de laquelle, Henry II vainqueur fait jeter Ali nor dans une prison o elle s journera pendant seize ans. Elle sera lib r e en 1189 la mort de Henry II. Leur fils Richard Coeur de Lion devient roi d'Angleterre, puis il part aux Croisades. Durant son absence, Ali nor assure avec talent la r gence du royaume. L'empereur d'Allemagne Henri VI Hohenstauffen fait Richard prisonnier contre ran on. Alors g e de 71 ans Ali nor se rend en Allemagne pour payer la ran on et ramener Richard en Angleterre. Ali nor se retire l'Abbaye de Fontevraud, d'o elle assiste impuissante et d sesp r e la mort de huit de ses enfants (sur les dix) et l' croulement de son empire angevin dont les possessions continentales (Aquitaine et Anjou) sont conquises et annex es au Royaume de France par Philippe-Auguste. C'est ainsi que le destin aura r duit rien toute la vie de luttes et d' preuves de cette reine indomptable et magnifique.

Le pr sent drame voque quelques aspects saillants de l'oeuvre et de la vie d'un m decin de la Renaissance, le docteur Paracelse, un homme douloureux et incompris qui fut un bienfaiteur de l'humanit . Tout entier consacr la gu rison de ses malades, fondateur de la m decine m dicamenteuse, de la toxicologie et de la pharmacologie modernes, homme sans famille, sans femme, sans ami et sans foyer, Paracelse fut, sans doute par sa faute, partout un fugitif et un r prouv , pour ne pas dire un paria, alors qu'il aurait pu devenir, comme son jeune confr re Ambroise Par , le m decin et l'ami des grands de l' poque. L'un de ses biographes, le docteur Ren Allendy, devait crire de lui en 1937: Il est de la race des tres trop grands pour tre compris et trop hautains pour tre aim s de la foule, des tres rares et pr cieux pourtant, dont l'exemple nous est une consolation d'appartenir l'humanit mis rable.