James Raven

Earth 2055: while the interstellar company MERIC is mining on the newly discovered Planet Terra Iota an explosion uncovers a strange powerful blue crystal that could revolutionize the future of Earth. A young engineer employed with MERIC is sent to Terra Iota to investigate the cause and uncovers a deadly conspiracy led by the company director's evil son, Jackson Jensen. Jackson's intention is to take control of this valuable resource. When the director Samuel Jensen is killed in a suspicious accident back on Earth, the young engineer immediately suspects foul play and realises that his life is also in danger. The plot thickens. The young engineer has recently discovered that, while appearing human, he is actually the son of an alien Sentinel soldier with enhanced powers from the infusion of the blue crystal into his Tzuracian DNA. Enroute back to Earth a Sentinel commander from Planet Tzurac appears in holographic form and extends a hand of friendship - both wish to prevent evil forces taking control of the blue crystal for destructive ends. They join forces to fight the conspiracy and save MERIC, Earth and the Universe.When Jackson and his henchmen seize the engineer's beautiful partner as a hostage, a fierce battle follows. Kyron, with the support of the Sentinel soldiers fight the villains to rescue Kyron's loved one and quell the conspiracy. Then suddenly, a stunning female Sentinel traitor appears, armed and hostile, declaring vengeance against the young engineer. She is harbouring hatred from the past. Hell bent on avenging her father's death at the hands of the engineer's father on Tzurac, she has secretly been in league with Jackson and the conspiracy.

James Raven, a leading historian of the book, offers a fresh and accessible guide to the global study of the production, dissemination and reception of written and printed texts across all societies and in all ages. Students, teachers, researchers and general readers will benefit from the book's investigation of the subject's origins, scope and future direction. Based on original research and a wide range of sources, What is the History of the Book? shows how book history crosses disciplinary boundaries and intersects with literary, historical, media, library, conservation and communications studies. Raven uses examples from around the world to explore different traditions in bibliography, palaeography and manuscript studies. He analyses book history's growing global ambition and demonstrates how the study of reading practices opens up new horizons in social history and the history of knowledge. He shows how book history is contributing to debates about intellectual and popular culture, colonialism and the communication of ideas. The first global, accessible introduction to the field of book history from ancient to modern times, What is the History of the Book? is essential reading for all those interested in one of society's most important cultural artefacts.

James Raven, a leading historian of the book, offers a fresh and accessible guide to the global study of the production, dissemination and reception of written and printed texts across all societies and in all ages. Students, teachers, researchers and general readers will benefit from the book's investigation of the subject's origins, scope and future direction. Based on original research and a wide range of sources, What is the History of the Book? shows how book history crosses disciplinary boundaries and intersects with literary, historical, media, library, conservation and communications studies. Raven uses examples from around the world to explore different traditions in bibliography, palaeography and manuscript studies. He analyses book history's growing global ambition and demonstrates how the study of reading practices opens up new horizons in social history and the history of knowledge. He shows how book history is contributing to debates about intellectual and popular culture, colonialism and the communication of ideas. The first global, accessible introduction to the field of book history from ancient to modern times, What is the History of the Book? is essential reading for all those interested in one of society's most important cultural artefacts.

Daniel Prince is an online activist with a huge international following. Through his People-Power blog he campaigns for worthy causes and often targets governments and global corporations. Naturally he's made a lot of enemies - so when he is found dead, in what can doubtless be called suspicious circumstances, there are more than a few suspects. But that's only half the problem facing DCI Jeff Temple and his Major Investigations Team. The pressure on them intensifies when Prince's girlfriend, in an attempt to keep his legacy alive, takes over his blog. The move looks set to make her one of the world's most powerful people - but not if she, too, becomes a victim of her own success. Not only must DCI Temple and his team solve this crime, they must solve it quickly, so that history doesn't find a way of repeating itself. In The Blogger, James Raven invites you into a world where the internet is a powerful tool; a forum for progressive ideas and big audiences. However, not all those in the audience are willing to let the dissenting voice be heard.

Earth's recent reprieve from full-scale disaster is about to end sooner than expected. The second book in the Sentinels of Tzurac trilogy, Zarkwin's Revenge begins five years after the conclusion of Terra Major Under Threat. When Jackson and Khaneera, both serving life sentences for their crimes against the Federation, escape prison, their unfinished mission snaps back into place, reigniting the rebel forces-and their own feelings for each other. Having failed their operation once, they don't intend to taste defeat again. And Khaneera knows exactly how to ensure they get to celebrate the spoils this time. With the rediscovered Xytrinium infusion formula in hand, they can infuse their mercenaries with the same enhanced powers as the Sentinels. Now on equal footing and with secret attacks up their sleeves, the rebel forces are confident they can eradicate the Sentinels, destroy the Federation, and retrieve the wealth of Xytrinium reserves from Earth. But what if one rebel starts to grow a conscience? Will a little advanced warning be enough to help Earth and the Federation thwart the rebels once again-or is it their turn to feel the sting of defeat?

Many more people encountered newspapers, business press products or jobbing print than the glamorous books of the Enlightenment. This book looks at the way in which print effected a business revolution. Publishing Business in Eighteenth-Century England assesses the contribution of the business press and the publication of print to the economic transformation of England. The impact of non-book printing has been long neglected. A raft of jobbing work serviced commerce and finance while many more practical guides and more ephemeral pamphlets on trade and investment were read than the books that we now associate with the foundations of modern politicaleconomy. A pivotal change in the book trades, apparent from the late seventeenth century, was the increased separation of printers from bookseller-publishers, from the skilled artisan to the bookseller-financier who might have noprior training in the printing house but who took up the sale of publications as another commodity. This book examines the broader social relationship between publication and the practical conduct of trade; the book asks what itmeant to be 'published' and how print, text and image related to the involvement of script. The age of Enlightenment was an age of astonishing commercial and financial transformation offering printers and the business press new market opportunities. Print helped to effect a business revolution. The reliability, reputation, regularity, authority and familiarity of print increased trust and confidence and changed attitudes and behaviours. New modes of publication and the wide-ranging products of printing houses had huge implications for the way lives were managed, regulated and recorded. JAMES RAVEN is Professor of Modern History at the University of Essex and a Fellow of Magdalene College Cambridge.

A sniper launches a series of deadly attacks on Britain's motorways, striking in the dark during rush hour and causing total carnage. No one knows who he is, or why he's doing it, but, as the death toll rises, fear grips the entire nation. It's up to DCI Jeff Temple of the Major Investigations Team to bring the killing spree to an end but, as he closes in on the sniper, Temple makes a shocking discovery about the motive behind the attacks. A ghastly precedent has been set and Temple soon realizes that in future anyone who drives on Britain's motorways risks becoming a random target.

Lee Jordan has spent ten years on death row for a murder he didn't commit. He's lost everything - his wife, his dreams, his future. He finally enters the death chamber at the famous 'Walls' prison in Texas. He's strapped to a gurney and given an injection of lethal drugs in front of witnesses. Minutes later he's pronounced dead. But that's not the end of it. After the execution comes the shocking revelation - Jordan is still alive. And to stop him talking he has to die all over again - before he brings down the entire American justice system.

It's the holiday home from hell, deep in an ancient English forest where no one can hear your screams. Something horrific is going on in the house - something that defies the imagination. Even hardened detective, Jeff Temple, hunting down a brutal killer, is shocked to discover the chilling secret. When American Jack Keaton decides to take his family to the house on vacation, he gets a phone call from a mystery woman, warning him off. But Keaton ignores is. He brings his wife and two children over from Texas for what he hopes will be the trip of a lifetime. As soon as the family arrives, the nightmare begins...

It's a rollover week on the National Lottery and the jackpot is a whopping GBP18 million. Journalist Vince Mayo has picked all six numbers, but before he can celebrate his spectacular win he's battered to death at his home deep in Hampshire's New Forest. In a hellish chain of events, Mayo's friend and fellow journalist, Danny Cain, is forced to go on the run when the police suspect him of the murder. With Danny Cain still alive, and knowing the truth, the ticket can't be cashed and the killers want their money, no matter what it takes. For Danny and his terrified family the odds of survival are stacked against them.

In 1450 very few English men or women were personally familiar with a book; by 1850, the great majority of people daily encountered books, magazines, or newspapers. This book explores the history of this fundamental transformation, from the arrival of the printing press to the coming of steam. James Raven presents a lively and original account of the English book trade and the printers, booksellers, and entrepreneurs who promoted its development.Viewing print and book culture through the lens of commerce, Raven offers a new interpretation of the genesis of literature and literary commerce in England. He draws on extensive archival sources to reconstruct the successes and failures of those involved in the book trade—a cast of heroes and heroines, villains, and rogues. And, through groundbreaking investigations of neglected aspects of book-trade history, Raven thoroughly revises our understanding of the massive popularization of the book and the dramatic expansion of its markets over the centuries.

Helps scholars to examine historical press censorship in England. This title draws together around 500 texts, reaching across 140 years from the rigours of the Elizabethan Star Chamber Decree to the publication of "Cato's Letters", which famously advanced principles of free speech.

Helps scholars to examine historical press censorship in England. This title draws together around 500 texts, reaching across 140 years from the rigours of the Elizabethan Star Chamber Decree to the publication of "Cato's Letters", which famously advanced principles of free speech.

Helps scholars to examine historical press censorship in England. This title draws together around 500 texts, reaching across 140 years from the rigours of the Elizabethan Star Chamber Decree to the publication of "Cato's Letters", which famously advanced principles of free speech.