Critically acclaimed, award-winning biography of CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien and the brilliant group of writers to come out of Oxford during the Second World War.
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31 kirjaa tekijältä Humphrey Carpenter
The original authorised biography, and the only one written by an author who actually met J.R.R. Tolkien, reissued to mark Tolkienâ??s 125th Anniversary.
The only authorised biography, and the only one written by an author who actually met J.R.R. Tolkien, now reissued as a deluxe edition housed in a matching custom-built slipcase and featuring the original 16 pages of photographic plates illustrating the author's life. In more than 40 years since Tolkien’s death in September 1973, millions have read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and become fascinated about the very private man behind the books. Born in Bloemfontein in January 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was orphaned in childhood, brought up in near-poverty and almost thwarted in adolescent romance. He served in the First World War, surviving the Battle of the Somme, where he lost some of his closest friends, and returned to academic life, achieving high repute as a scholar and university teacher, eventually becoming Merton Professor of English at Oxford. Then suddenly his life changed dramatically. One day while marking essay papers he found himself writing ‘In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit’ – and worldwide renown awaited him. Humphrey Carpenter was given unrestricted access to all Tolkien’s papers, and interviewed his friends and family. From these sources he follows the long and painful process of creation that produced The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion and offers a wealth of information about the life and work of the twentieth century’s most cherished author.
Mr Majeika is the most magical teacher around!As a rule, magic carpets don't turn up in schools, but this is exactly what happens when Class Three's new teacher flies in through the classroom window and lands on the floor with a bump. Mr Majeika can behave just like any ordinary teacher if he wants to, but something has to be done about Hamish Bigmore, the class nuisance, and so he uses a little magic to turn him into a frog. And to everyone's delight it looks as if Hamish will have to remain a frog because Mr Majeika can't remember the spell to turn him back again! With Mr Majeika in charge, suddenly life at school become much more exciting - there's even a magic-carpet ride to Buckingham Palace!There are other Mr Majeika stories to collect, includingMr Majeika and the School Book WeekMr Majeika and the School CaretakerMr Majeika and the School InspectorMr Majeika and the School PlayMr Majeika and the School Trip
'Music teacher? What music teacher?'The sudden arrival of a new music teacher throws St barty's School into confusion. Mysterious smells start coming from the staffroom and creepy-crawlies appear out of nowhere. The new arrival is, of course, Wilhelmina Worlock, a wicked witch with some nasty tricks.It's up to Mr Majeika to try to outwit her...
Mr Majeika is the most magical wizard-turned-teacher around!Oh, don't be cowards,' said Jody. 'I'm sure it's perfectly safe.'Mysteriously stranded in the fog at night. Mr Majeika and Class Three find themselves in a creepy hotel near Hadrian's Wall, where some very spooky things start to happen. Strange lights, ghostly sounds and vanishing people...Look out for more Mr Majeika adventures including:Mr Majeika and the School TripMr Majeika and the School PlayMr Majeika and the Lost Spell BookMr Majeika and the Music TeacherMr Majeika and the School Caretaker
Mr Majeika is the most magical teacher around!Sometimes, ' whispered Jody. 'I think school dinners would be alright if it wasn't for her.'Mrs Chipchase, the nasty dinner lady, makes lunch hour at St Barty's really unpleasant. That is, for everyone but her 'favourite friend', Hamish Bigmore. Up to his usual tricks, Hamish is allowed to eat chocolate instead of ghastly school dinners!Mr Majeika decides it's time to sort out the menu...There are lots more Mr Majeika adventures to enjoy, including:Mr Majika and the Ghost TrainMr Majeika and the Lost Spell BookMr Majeika and the Haunted HotelMr Majeika and the School PlayMr Majeika and the School Trip
'I really am quite useless as a wizard.'But Class Three thinks Mr Majeika is an excellent wizard, particularly when his spells go wrong! First Hamish Bigmore ends up on TV, then a real giant appears in the school play. And finally Mr Majeika gets the whole class lost on a magic carpet! There's always an adventure with Mr Majeika around...
'Oh dear,' said Mr Majeika, 'I seem to have made the spell too strong.'Class Three has fun during Book Week, when famous storybook characters suddenly appear! But there's trouble ahead with Wilhemina Worlock the witch at the school's Olympic Sports Day...Will Mr Majeika manage to magic up a solution?
'Use of magic by teacher strictly forbidden.'Poor Mr Majeika goes to the bottom of the class when the school inspector comes to call. Things don't get any easier when Mr Majeika turns himself into a lobster by mistake. Class Three somehow has to get Wilhemina Worlock to undo the spell...
Mr Majeika is the most magical teacher around!'Do be careful, Mr Majeika, there might be real ghosts in there.'When Class Three and Mr Majeika get on board a ghost train, they are in for a surprise. Real ghosts appear and the wicked Wilhemina Worlock isn't far away. But Jody comes to the rescue - with a dragon to help her!Look out for more Mr Majeika adventures including:Mr Majeika and the School TripMr Majeika and the School PlayMr Majeika and the Lost Spell BookMr Majeika and the Music TeacherMr Majeika and the School Caretaker
When old Mr Jenks retires, St Barty's School advertises for a new caretaker. Unfortunately there's only one applicant - Hamish Bigmore's Uncle Wilf who is just as rude and bad-tempered as Hamish. When Mr Majeika is hurt in an accident it becomes clear that Uncle Wilf is working for the wickedest of witches, Wilhelmina Warlock! It's up to Mr Majeika to work his magic and put things right again.
Class 3 are sure that something is very wrong when Mr Majeika leaves school without saying goodbye. When they find a message from him saying he's been arrested by the Silly Crime Squad, they are determined to rescue him. To do this they must outwit Hamish Bigmore and Mr Majeika's old enemy, Wilhelmina Worlock. They succeed and Wilhelmina is punished with a 'spell' on earth as a Supply Teacher!
More amazing adventures with Mr Majeika, the ex-wizard, turned teacher, and his class at St Barty's School. This time there's a trip down a magic river, a battle to save St Barty's from the wrecking ball, and work experience for Class Three.
Class Three has got a new computer and while exploring it, Mr Majeika manages to get the whole class trapped in the school website. How on earth are they going to get out and how many bizarre characters will they meet along the way?
When the wizard-teacher defies the headmaster and uses magic to make Halloween more fun, he is sacked. Wilhelmina Warlock is at the bottom of the trouble and must be defeated to rescue the children from boredom and Mr Majeika from his attempts at doing other jobs.
When Class Three and Mr Majeika go to the circus, it's definitely not as fun as they imagined. Everyone's a bit old, creaky and rubbish really! So when Mr Majeika casts a small spell to help the performers with their circus show, it's no surprise that Billy Balance, the slack rope walker, kidnaps Mr Majeika so that Mr Majeika can magically help him everytime! Things get worse whilst Mr majeika is trapped when Wilhelmina Worlock takes the opportunity to turn Class Three's classroom into a circus and the children spend all afternoon running away from lions and alligators!But Mr Majeika's magic saves the day, Class Three and the circus end up on the news and once again Mr Potter, the headmaster, misses it all!
Two books in one for those avid readers where one Mr Majeika adventure is just not enough! Mr Majeika: Mr Majeika can behave just like any ordinary teacher if he wants to, but something has to be done about Hamish Bigmore, the class nuisance, and so he uses a little magic to turn him into a frog - the only problem is he can't remember the spell to turn him back!Mr Majeika and the Lost Spell Book: The pupils in Class 3 at St Barty's School are not impressed when their headteacher imposes strict rules of behaviour for Halloween. Mr Majeika uses a little magic to make the evening memorable but nasty Hamish Bigmore tells the local press and gets the wizard-teacher the sack -something has to be done . . .Mr Majeika continues to be one of the UK's most loved and trusted fictional characters.
A vibrant history of the British satire explosion of the early 1960s and its lasting influence on comedy.. A Great, Silly Grin opens at the 1960 Edinburgh Festival, where a staggeringly inspired satirical revue called Beyond the Fringe startled a public steeped in the polite, bland banality of the 1950s. From there it is a short trip to the coffee bars of London, where the appearance of a scruffy yellow pamphlet calling itself Private Eye overturned the way Britons looked at their world. The apotheosis of the satire boom, and the progenitor of so many American comedy acts, was the groundbreaking BBC television program "That Was the Week That Was," which combined elements of sketch comedy and evening-news broadcast to produce something essential, hilarious, and, on occasion, scandalous. Humphrey Carpenter's history of this tumultuous and exciting era introduces us not only to the people involved in its creation--Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Michael Frayn, Jonathan Miller, Alan Bennett, and David Frost--but also their routines and sketches.
Dennis Potter's death in 1994 deprived British television of its most controversial figure. Potter was a prolific writer of genius. Yet while his subversive television plays, such as Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, scandalized and delighted the nation, they also made him the butt of the tabloids, who nicknamed him 'Dirty Den' for his 1989 serial Blackeyes.Humphrey Carpenter, acclaimed biographer of Tolkien, Auden, Pound, Britten and Robert Runcie, interviewed everyone who came close to Potter, and had exclusive access to Potter's archives, including the many unmade television and film scripts. Carpenter portrays a very different Potter from the aggressive public image: a deeply shy and reclusive man, who was psychologically as well as physically scarred by the illness which struck him down at the age of twenty-six. Potter was a man with a vast interest in sex but also a terrible loathing of it, thanks to an appalling experience he suffered in childhood.Potter was a man much gossiped about. Carpenter's remarkable biography establishes the extraordinary truth behind the rumours; describes Potter's strange, obsessive relationships with women such as Gina Bellman, who played Blackeyes; and gives a vivid portrait of the backstage dramas and fights behind Potter's screen triumphs. 'What is valuable about this book is that it reveals Potter's real private life, which barely features in his plays ... A wonderfully vivid portrait of the man: his generosity and cruelty, his coarseness and tenderness, and the thwarted sexual yearning that underlay everything.' Lynn Barber, Daily Telegraph