Melvyn Bragg

Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize'Profoundly moving'The Times'Bragg excels himself here'Financial TimesDisillusioned with his successful life in London, Richard Godwin moves to a remote Cumberland village in search of a more fulfilling existence. His arrival coincides with a birth of an illegitimate child to a local woman, binding her to a future she had hoped to escape. As these two outsiders struggle to come to terms with themselves - and each other - their passion, desperation and delight draw all those around them into conflict.

A fascinating insight to a selection of the show's best episodes, published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the popular Radio 4 programme.

The Art of Julian Cooper is a personal reflection on a life spent looking for places that carry a particular charge for the artist, finding them in some of the most inhospitable places on the planet. It illustrates that throughout his journeying and searching for a fitting way to paint the world, he has experienced the life-long power of one place - The English Lake District. The accompanying text gives a rare, authentic and accessible account of the circumstances behind the artist’s work and follows Cooper’s development as a painter born into an artistic dynasty, from art school in London to his move from abstraction towards figurative painting, and his return to Cumbria and beyond to depict some of the great mountains of the world.

BOOK ONE IN THE CUMBRIAN TRILOGY 'An intensely moving, deeply worked book' Sunday Telegraph 'Extraordinary' The Times 'A magnificently strong and sinewy novel' Sunday Mirror In rural Cumbria at the turn of the nineteenth century, John Tallentire and his wife, Emily, struggle to make ends meet. First as a farm labourer, then a coal miner, John dreams of breaking free from his humiliating status as a 'hired man'. But in a rapidly changing world, the couple find themselves caught between the demands of daily survival and striving for a better life.

BOOK THREE IN THE CUMBRIAN TRILOGY 'An uncommonly high talent' Guardian 'An ambitious, panoramic novel' Daily Telegraph Douglas Tallentire has at last attained the freedom his father and grandfather before him fought so hard for. Educated and independent, he can carve out the career of his choice. But even amid the new-found security of city life in the late 1970s, happiness remains as elusive as ever. From rural Cumbria to the frenetic whirl of London and New York, Douglas, like all the Tallentires, must come to terms with pain and misfortune, as an old way of life is replaced with a new one.

BOOK TWO IN THE CUMBRIAN TRILOGY 'Masterly' Daily Telegraph 'A graceful and confident writer' Observer Just like his father before him, Joseph Tallantire is determined to make something of himself. But life isn't easy for an uneducated young man in Cumberland, a forgotten corner of the country where opportunities are scarce. As the Second World War plunges Britain into further turmoil, Joseph must endure hardship and loss on his journey to independence.

Having won a scholarship to Oxford University, eighteen-year-old Melvyn Bragg leaves his hometown of Wigton to travel south and immerse himself in a new and golden world. There, he must find his place amongst the raucous public school boys and the students fresh from National Service, making new friends from varied backgrounds but never forgetting those at home. Over three formative years - as his tutors, his studies and the people around him all expand his horizons and his sense of what is possible - he takes his next steps into adulthood, surrounded by the old, imposing buildings and libraries (and protests and parties) of the 'city of dreaming spires'. In this moment of change, for a young man and for the nation, Bragg looks to the past and the future, and as he studies History in his tutorials, so he remembers the histories of family, friends and lovers that shaped his own story. Alive with insight and tenderness, Another World beautifully captures a decisive step in a remarkable life. PRAISE FOR BACK IN THE DAY: 'A memoir bursting with affection . . . fascinating' Sunday Times 'Masterly . . . I loved it' Observer 'Utterly captivating' Daily Mail

Melvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which lyrically evokes a vanished world.'The best thing he's ever written . . . I loved it'Observer'A memoir bursting with affection'Sunday Times In this elegiac and heartfelt memoir, Melvyn Bragg recreates his youth in the Cumbrian market town of Wigton: a working-class boy who expected to leave school at fifteen yet who gained a scholarship to Oxford University; who happily roamed the streets and raided orchards with his gang of friends until a breakdown in adolescence drove him to find refuge in books.Vividly evoking the post-war era, Bragg draws an indelible portrait of all that formed him: a community-spirited northern town, still steeped in the old ways; the Lake District landscapes that inspired him; and the many remarkable people in his close-knit world.'A moving portrait of a lost England . . . remarkable'Daily Telegraph

'The best thing he's ever written . . . I loved it' ObserverMelvyn Bragg's first ever memoir - an elegiac, intimate account of growing up in post-war Cumbria, which lyrically evokes a vanished world.In this captivating memoir, Melvyn Bragg recalls growing up in the Cumbrian market town of Wigton, from his early childhood during the war to the moment he had to decide between staying on or spreading his wings. This is the tale of a boy who lived in a pub and expected to leave school at fifteen yet won a scholarship to Oxford. Derailed by a severe breakdown when he was thirteen, he developed a passion for reading and study - though that didn't stop him playing in a skiffle band or falling in love. It is equally the tale of the people and place that formed him. Bragg indelibly portrays his parents and local characters from pub regulars to vicars, teachers and hardmen, and vividly captures the community-spirited northern town - steeped in the old ways but on the cusp of post-war change. A poignant elegy to a vanished era as well as the glories of the Lake District, it illuminates what made him the writer, broadcaster and champion of the arts he is today.'A memoir bursting with affection . . . fascinating' Sunday Times

The Seventh Seal is probably Bergman's best-known work and the film that most clearly bears the director's unmistakeable signature. The opening scene sets the tone: a stony beach under a leaden sky, the knight alone with his thoughts, then the approach of black-clad Death, whom the knight invites to play a game of chess. Bergman's medieval allegory of faith and doubt is dark with the horrors of witch-burnings and the plague. But it is also shot through with bright flashes of peace and joy, symbolised in the milk and wild strawberries offered to the knight by an innocent family of actors.In his compelling appreciation, Melvyn Bragg describes his own first encounter as a student with this extraordinary film, and how it revealed to him another cinema, quite different from the Hollywood he had grown up with. He recounts too his later meeting with Bergman himself, and how the marks of the director's powerful personality are everywhere in this troubling and inspiring masterpiece.

'Melvyn Bragg's account of the passionate and painful love affair between the 12th century radical theologian, Peter Abelard, and the brilliant young convent-educated Eloise springs magnificently to life . . . Thrilling.' Piers Plowright, Tablet Within the Cloisters of Notre-Dame, a charismatic philosopher and a young woman renowned for her scholarship embark on an ardent, secret affair. It will send shockwaves through Paris, incur savage retribution and lead to years of separation, though nothing will break the bond between them.Bringing the true story of Heloise and Abelard to vivid life, this engrossing novel conveys the powerful emotions and beliefs that drove them. It captures a couple who defied the conventions and religious orthodoxies of their times with striking audacity, and illuminates why their extraordinary tale still resonates today.

'Melvyn Bragg's account of the passionate and painful love affair between the 12th century radical theologian, Peter Abelard, and the brilliant young convent-educated Eloise springs magnificently to life . . . Thrilling.' Piers Plowright, Tablet Paris in 1117. Heloise, a brilliant young scholar, is astonished when the famous, radical philosopher, Peter Abelard, consents to be her tutor. But what starts out as a meeting of minds turns into a passionate, dangerous love affair, which incurs terrible retribution. Nine centuries later, Arthur is in Paris to recreate the extraordinary story of Heloise and Abelard in a novel. To his surprise, his daughter visits and agrees to help, challenging his portraits of a couple who seem often inscrutable, sometimes breathtakingly modern. It soon emerges she is on her own mission to discover more about her parents' fractured relationship - and that Arthur's connection to his subject is more emotional than he cares to admit.

A fascinating insight to a selection of the showâ??s best episodes, published to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the popular Radio 4 programme.

In this gripping novel, Melvyn Bragg brings an extraordinary episode in English history to fresh, urgent life.At the end of May 1381, the fourteen-year-old King of England had reason to be fearful: the plague had returned, the royal coffers were empty and a draconian poll tax was being widely evaded. Yet Richard, bolstered by his powerful, admired mother, felt secure in his God-given right to reign. But within two weeks, the unthinkable happened: a vast force of common people invaded London, led by a former soldier, Walter Tyler, and the radical preacher John Ball, demanding freedom, equality and the complete uprooting of the Church and state. And for three intense, violent days, it looked as if they would sweep all before them.Now is the Time depicts the events of the Peasants' Revolt on both a grand and intimate scale, vividly portraying its central figures and telling an archetypal tale of an epic struggle between the powerful and the apparently powerless.

Reaching from late 19th-century Cumbria to the present, this elegiac novel celebrates two spirited women: Grace, a farm labourer's daughter who fatefully followed her heart, and Mary, the child she was forced to give up. Unsung heroines according to Mary's son who, as his elderly mother's mind begins to fail, lovingly recreates their lives and the vanished country of their pasts, linking three generations in a chain of enduring love, loss and courage.

The King James Bible has often been called the Book of Books both in itself and in what it stands for. Since its publication in 1611 it has been the best selling book in the world, and many believe, had the greatest impact. The King James Bible has spread the Protestant faith. It has also been the greatest influence on the enrichment of the English language and its literature. It has been the Bible of wars from the British Civil War in the seventeenth century to the American Civil War two centuries later and it has been carried into battle in innumerable conflicts since then. Its influence on social movements - particularly involving women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and politics was profound. It was crucial to the growth of democracy. It was integral to the abolition of slavery and it defined attitudes to modern science, education and sex. As THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH explored the history of our language, so THE BOOK OF BOOKS reveals the extraordinary and still-felt impact of a work created 400 years ago.

What drives a musician to write extraordinary songs? How do writers create their worlds? How does an actor achieve greatness? For over thirty years of The South Bank Show, Melvyn Bragg has interviewed many of the greatest cultural icons of our age. These interviews offer revelatory insights into the lives and work of writers, actors, artists and musicians. In The South Bank Show: Final Cut he has revisited some of these artists and used the interviews as the basis for fuller portraits. The range of artists is remarkable and this book is true to The South Bank Show's ethos of seeking out the highest quality whatever the art form. Melvyn Bragg's unique perspective makes this book indispensable for anyone interested in the work and lives of some of the best artists of our time.

Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time series regularly enlightens and entertains substantial audiences on BBC Radio 4. For this book he has selected episodes which reflect the diversity of the radio programmes, and takes us on an amazing tour through the history of ideas, from philosophy, physics and history to religion, literature and biology. We can discover the reasons for the fall of the Byzantine empire, and why women were persecuted as witches in the seventeenth century. What shape is the origin of life? Where does our calendar come from? We can unearth the influence of prime numbers, Socrates and Tectonic plates. Melvyn Bragg orchestrates the ideas of leading academics in each field so that the dynamic and lively discussion from the programmes comes through vividly on the page. IN OUR TIME brings to life the signposts of history, the moments that significantly changed the world as we know it, and the individuals and ideas that made us what we are today.