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The Prince
By Niccolò Machiavelli, Christopher Celenza. 2018
Packaged in handsome, affordable trade editions, Clydesdale Classics is a new series of essential works. From the musings of intellectuals…
such as Thomas Paine in Common Sense to the striking personal narrative of Harriet Jacobs in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, this new series is a comprehensive collection of our intellectual history through the words of the exceptional few.Widely acknowledged as Machiavelli’s defining work, The Prince is an innovative and rich treatise marked by his political theories and the principles of leadership. Based upon his own experiences witnessing “the actions of great men” and the often immoral aspects that come with power, Machiavelli encouraged ambition amongst leaders—which was a break from the philosophy of other contemporary thinkers. The Prince identifies the aims of powerful leaders, which can help to justify the use of largely immoral means in their methods.With a new foreword by scholar Christopher Celenza, this essential work on politics contemplates leadership in a manner still relevant today. This lesson in autocratic rule will provide the reader with the author’s rational approach to control and the contextualization for the term “Machiavellian.”Para acabar con Eddy Bellegueule
By Édouard Louis. 2015
Una rebelión contra el mundo, contra su familia y contra la sociedad. «Excepcional.»Livres Hebdo Salí corriendo de repente. Sólo me…
dio tiempo a oír a mi madre, que decía Pero ¿qué hace ese idiota? No quería estar con ellos, me negaba a compartir con ellos ese momento. Yo estaba ya lejos, había dejado de pertenecer a su mundo, la carta lo decía. Salí al campo y estuve andando gran parte de la noche: el ambiente fresco del norte, los caminos de tierra, el olor de la colza, muy intenso en esa época del año. Dediqué toda la noche a elaborar mi nueva vida, lejos de allí. «La verdad es que la rebelión contra mis padres, contra la pobreza, contra mi clase social, su racismo, su violencia, sus atavismos, fue algo secundario. Porque, antes de que me alzara contra el mundo de mi infancia, el mundo de mi infancia se había alzado contra mí. Para mi familia y los demás, me había convertido en una fuente de vergüenza, incluso de repulsión. No tuve otra opción que la huida. Este libro es un intento de comprenderla.»Édouard Louis La crítica ha dicho...«Un lenguaje contenido y a la vez brutal, sin victimismos ni exaltaciones líricas [...]. A su escritura clásica, el autor opone la lengua de su entorno, que mezcla jerga local y sintaxis rota. Efectivamente, la violencia social se ejerce con el lenguaje.»Les Inrockuptibles «Magnífico [...]. Es el anuncio de una liberación y de un renacimiento a través de las palabras para escapar de la fatalidad del determinismo social.»Le Point «Tejer un texto uniendo dos registros lingüísticos tan opuestos es más que una proeza. El éxito literario es innegable.»Le Nouvel Observateur «Una narración asombrosa, a causa de la historia personal del autor, pero también de su talento.»Madame Figaro «Excepcional. Un cóctel de Zola y Dickens. Dura, a veces casi insoportable, pero también tragicómica, en cierta medida distante, pero en absoluto maniquea.»Livres Hebdo «Es el grito de cólera de un joven que expresa su asco frente al mito tenaz que convierte al proletariado en una bestia valiente, de buen corazón y amante de la vida.»Catherine Simon, Le Monde des Livres «La escritura de Édouard Louis, con su obstinación en hablar de la vergüenza, demuestra que su libro, que cae como un mazo sobre personas concretas, revela un escándalo universal de primera magnitud.»Jean Birnbaum, Le Monde des LivresThe Cat of Yule Cottage: A Magical Tale of Romance, Christmas and Cats
By Lili Hayward. 2016
A magical tale of Christmas and cats, perfect for everyone who loves A Street Cat Named Bob and Alfie the…
Doorstep Cat.It's nearly Christmas, and Jessamine Pike needs a serious life overhaul.Jess moves into Enysyule, a centuries-old cottage in Cornwall, and begins the process of renovating the rundown house by day and finishing her novel by night, planning to have both finished in time for the holidays. She's got good company: a beautiful, arrogant tomcat stalks around like he owns the place, and seems very skeptical of Jess' tenancy. But there's magic in the air... Local legends tell of a spirit that inhabits the area, and an ancient standing stone that keeps watch over the valley. As Christmas comes closer and closer, Jess uncovers treasures from Enysyule's past, and becomes involved in a fight for its future. For Jess has stumbled into a story that's been going on for five hundred years. A story about land, love, friendship, the Yuletide... and one remarkable cat.Amelia
By Siobhán Parkinson. 1995
The year is 1914 and Amelia Pim will soon be thirteen. There are rumours of war and rebellion, and Dublin…
is holding its breath for major, dramatic events. But all that matters to Amelia is what she will wear to her birthday party and how she can be the envy of her friends. But where are Amelia's friends when disaster strikes her family? Now that the Pims have come down in the world, what use will Amelia have for a shimmering emerald-green dress? When Mama's political activities bring the final disgrace, it is Amelia who must hold the family together. Only the friendship of the servant girl Mary Ann seems to promise any hope.Born in 1515, Teresa of Avila survived the Spanish Inquisition and was a key reformer of the Carmelite Order. Her…
experience of ecstasy, which she intimately described in her writings, released her from her body and led to a complete realization of her consciousness, a state Julia Kristeva explores as it was expressed in Teresa's writing. Incorporating notes from her own psychoanalytic practice, as well as literary and philosophical references, Kristeva builds a fascinating dual diagnosis of contemporary society and the individual psyche while sharing unprecedented insights into her own character. Through her dazzlingly varied formats Kristeva tests the borderlines of atheism and the need for faith, feminism and the need for a benign patriarchy.Teresa, My Love: An Imagined Life of the Saint of Avila (To The Point)
By Julia Kristeva. 2015
Mixing fiction, history, psychoanalysis, and personal fantasy, Teresa, My Love turns a past world into a modern marvel, following Sylvia…
Leclercq, a French psychoanalyst, academic, and incurable insomniac, as she falls for the sixteenth-century Saint Teresa of Avila and becomes consumed with charting her life. Traveling to Spain, Leclercq, Julia Kristeva's probing alter ego, visits the sites and embodiments of the famous mystic and awakens to her own desire for faith, connection, and rebellion. One of Kristeva's most passionate and transporting works, Teresa, My Love interchanges biography, autobiography, analysis, dramatic dialogue, musical scores, and images of paintings and sculpture to engage the reader in Leclercq's—and Kristeva's—journey. Born in 1515, Teresa of Avila outwitted the Spanish Inquisition and was a key reformer of the Carmelite Order. Her experience of ecstasy, which she intimately described in her writings, released her from her body and led to a complete realization of her consciousness, a state Kristeva explores in relation to present-day political failures, religious fundamentalism, and cultural malaise. Incorporating notes from her own psychoanalytic practice, as well as literary and philosophical references, Kristeva builds a fascinating dual diagnosis of contemporary society and the individual psyche while sharing unprecedented insights into her own character.The King's Fool
By Mahi Binebine. 2017
Sidi is dying.In the last days of this all-powerful tyrant, his faithful court fool takes stock of the decades he…
has spent in the king's service. For the many years have left certain indelible wounds.During his service, the fool has been the king's closest counsel, his most trusted companion and adviser, privy to the king's deepest secrets and most intimate thoughts. It is an honoured position for which many other courtiers would pay a hefty price. Something the fool understands only too well, for this closeness has indeed come at a terrible cost.What price the confidence of a great king? Is it stories, jokes, witty repartee? Or does the debt fall closer to home? Perhaps it must be paid far from the magnificent palaces, feasting and festivities of the royal court. Perhaps it must be paid in the death jails of a formidable prison fortress far out in the desert; a place so feared that few dare to speak its name . . .The King's Fool
By Mahi Binebine. 2017
Sidi is dying.In the last days of this all-powerful tyrant, his faithful court fool takes stock of the decades he…
has spent in the king's service. For the many years have left certain indelible wounds.During his service, the fool has been the king's closest counsel, his most trusted companion and adviser, privy to the king's deepest secrets and most intimate thoughts. It is an honoured position for which many other courtiers would pay a hefty price. Something the fool understands only too well, for this closeness has indeed come at a terrible cost.What price the confidence of a great king? Is it stories, jokes, witty repartee? Or does the debt fall closer to home? Perhaps it must be paid far from the magnificent palaces, feasting and festivities of the royal court. Perhaps it must be paid in the death jails of a formidable prison fortress far out in the desert; a place so feared that few dare to speak its name . . .Lord of All the Dead: A Nonfiction Novel
By Javier Cercas. 2019
"A remarkable act of personal history: brave, revelatory and unflinchingly honest" WILLIAM BOYD"There is no-one writing in English like this:…
engaged humanity achieving a hard-won wisdom" DAVID MILLS, The TimesLord of All the Dead is a courageous journey into Javier Cercas' family history and that of a country collapsing from a fratricidal war. The author revisits Ibahernando, his parents' village in southern Spain, to research the life of Manuel Mena. This ancestor, dearly loved by Cercas' mother, died in combat at the age of nineteen during the battle of the Ebro, the bloodiest episode in Spain's history. Who was Manuel Mena? A fascist hero whose memory is an embarrassment to the author, or a young idealist who happened to fight on the wrong side? And how should we judge him, as grandchildren and great-grandchildren of that generation, interpreting history from our supposed omniscience and the misleadingperspective of a present full of automatic answers, that fails to consider the particularities of each personal and family drama?Wartime epics, heroism and death are some of the underlying themes of this unclassifiable novel that combines road trips, personal confessions, war stories and historical scholarship, finally becoming an incomparable tribute to the author's mother and the incurable scars of an entire generation.The Plague Charmer: A gripping story of dark motives, love and survival in times of plague
By Karen Maitland. 2016
1361. An unlucky thirteen years after the Black Death, plague returns to England.'Fear and hysteria are portrayed with claustrophobic skill'…
THE TIMES'Dark and enthralling... with an unexpected hero' JULIE COHENFrom the bestselling author of Company of Liars, Karen Maitland, The Plague Charmer is a darkly compelling novel following a stranger who arrives in an isolated community in the grips of a medieval pandemic. When the sickness reaches the village of Porlock Weir, who stands to lose the most? And who will seize this moment for their own dark ends?The dwarf who talks in riddles? The mother who fears for her children? The wild woman from the sea? Or two lost boys, far away from home?PESTILENCE IS IN THE AIR. BUT SOMETHING DARKER LURKS IN THE DEPTHS. Why readers are gripped by The Plague Charmer'Its horrors are vividly told but with an underlying sense of human resilience and hope''A real page turner''The best and worst of human behaviour in troubled times''Poignant, shocking and haunting''It was so easy to be drawn into this world...'A magical tale of Christmas and cats, perfect for everyone who loves A Street Cat Named Bob and Alfie the…
Doorstep Cat.It's nearly Christmas, and Jessamine Pike needs a serious life overhaul.Jess moves into Enysyule, a centuries-old cottage in Cornwall, and begins the process of renovating the rundown house by day and finishing her novel by night, planning to have both finished in time for the holidays. She's got good company: a beautiful, arrogant tomcat stalks around like he owns the place, and seems very skeptical of Jess' tenancy. But there's magic in the air... Local legends tell of a spirit that inhabits the area, and an ancient standing stone that keeps watch over the valley. As Christmas comes closer and closer, Jess uncovers treasures from Enysyule's past, and becomes involved in a fight for its future. For Jess has stumbled into a story that's been going on for five hundred years. A story about land, love, friendship, the Yuletide... and one remarkable cat.A Lady Undone: A Mad Passions Novella 2.5 (Mad Passions)
By Maire Claremont. 2014
In this dazzling novella from the award-winning author of The Dark Lady and Lady In Red, comes a story of…
fatal plots, seductive spies, and irresistible passions... Perfect for fans of Sherry Thomas, Lisa Kleypas and Stephanie Laurens.Duchess Clare Ederly is lucky to be alive. Having outlived her violent, abusive husband, she decides to put her significant inheritance to good use helping other battered women by opening a refuge for those seeking to escape. But not everyone is pleased with her work. Someone wants to see her sanctuary torn down - at any cost. Her only hope of protecting her home and tenants is a former spy, whose skill at tracking deadly men is matched only by his dangerous charm...The Earl of Wyndham has done his part for Queen and country; he has had his fill of plotting and politics and simply wants to retire to the pleasant life of his club. But Duchess Clare's razor-sharp wit and fierce determination awaken new purpose and admiration in him. To protect her, he will once again delve into the treacherous world of espionage. To win her love, he will do almost anything...For more deliciously dark Victorian romance, try all the titles in the Mad Passions series: The Dark Lady, Lady In Red, A Lady Undone and The Dark Affair, and check out Maire's alter-ego Eva Devon for sexy and laugh-out-loud funny Regencies.Widows: A Novel
By Ariel Dorfman, Stephen Kessler. 1983
Set in a Greek village in 1942, and purportedly written from his imagination by a Danish man before he was…
picked up by the Gestapo and not seen again, here is Ariel Dorfman's haunting and universal parable of individual courage in the face of political oppression. Widows forms a testament to the disappeared--those living under totalitarian regimes the world over, who are taken away for "questioning" and never return.One by one, the bodies of men wash up on the shore of the river, where they are claimed by the women of the local town as husbands and fathers, even though the faces of the dead men are unrecognizable. A tug-of-war ensues between the local police, who insist that the women couldn't possibly recognize their loved ones, and the women demanding the right to bury their beloveds. As it evolves, the stand-off reveals itself to be a power struggle between love, dignity and honor, and the lesser god of brute force. A lesson in how power really works, and how it can be made to work differently.Haymarket: A Novel
By Martin Duberman. 2003
On the night of May 4, 1886, during a peaceful demonstration of labor activists in Haymarket Square in Chicago, a…
dynamite bomb was thrown into the ranks of police trying to disperse the crowd. The officers immediately opened fire, killing a number of protestors and wounding some two hundred others. Albert Parsons was the best-known of those hanged; Haymarket is his story. Parsons, humanist and autodidact, was an ex-Confederate soldier who grew up in Texas in the 1870s, and fell in love with Lucy Gonzalez, a vibrant, outspoken black woman who preferred to describe herself as of Spanish and Creole descent. The novel tells the story of their lives together, of their growing political involvement, of the formation of a colorful circle of "co-conspirators"--immigrants, radical intellectuals, journalists, advocates of the working class-and of the events culminating in bloodshed. More than just a moving story of love and human struggle, more than a faithful account of a watershed event in United States history, Haymarket presents a layered and dynamic revelation of late nineteenth-century Chicago, and of the lives of a handful of remarkable individuals who were willing to risk their lives for the promise of social change.The Dark Lady: Mad Passions Book 1 (Mad Passions)
By Maire Claremont. 2013
The first thrilling and passionate novel of mad passions and scandalous secrets for fans of Grace Burrowes, Tessa Dare, Elizabeth…
Hoyt and Sarah MacLean.Lord Ian Blake has returned from India a broken man. Years ago, he pledged to Lady Eva Carin - his childhood companion and first love - that he would bring her husband back alive. His failure haunts him. But even his jaded soul can't anticipate the shocking sight of beautiful, independent Eva confined to a madhouse. Locked in an asylum, forgotten by society, Eva is adrift in both body and mind. For Ian to break her free, they must cross a powerful enemy - and prove her sanity to England's unforgiving aristocracy. But the biggest danger of all may come when the secrets of Eva's tragic past are finally unlocked...For more deliciously dark Victorian romance, try all the titles in the Mad Passions series: The Dark Lady, Lady In Red, A Lady Undone and The Dark Affair, and check out Maire's alter-ego Eva Devon for sexy and laugh-out-loud funny Regencies.The Sister's Tale: A Novel
By Beth Powning. 2021
A novel of orphans and widows, terror and hope, and the relationships that hold us together when things fall apart.With…
murder dominating the news, the respected wife of a New Brunswick sea captain is drawn into the case of a British home child whose bad luck has turned worse. Mortified that she must purchase the girl in a pauper auction to save her from the lechery of wealthy townsmen, Josephine Galloway finds herself suddenly the proprietor of a boarding house kept afloat by the sweat and tears of a curious and not completely compatible collection of women, including this English teenager, Flora Salford. Flora's place in her new "family" cannot be complete until she rescues the missing person in her life, the only one who understands the trials she has come through and fresh horrors met since they were separated years before.Reconnecting with characters of Beth Powning's beloved The Sea Captain's Wife, The Sister'sTale is a story of women finding their way, together, through terrible circumstances they could neither predict nor avoid, but will stop at nothing to overcome.Olga: A Novel
By Prof Bernhard Schlink. 2018
A #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'Bernhard Schlink speaks straight to the heart' New York Times'Brilliant... A tale of love and loss in…
20th century Germany' Evening Standard'A cleverly-constructed tale of cross-class romance' Mail on Sunday'A poignant portrait of a woman out of step with her time' Observer Olga is an orphan raised by her grandmother in a Prussian village around the turn of the 20th century. Smart and precocious, she fights against the prejudices of the time to find her place in a world that sees her as second-best.When she falls in love with Herbert, a local aristocrat obsessed with the era's dreams of power, glory and greatness, her life is irremediably changed.Theirs is a love against all odds, entwined with the twisting paths of German history, leading us from the late 19th to the early 21st century, from Germany to Africa and the Arctic, from the Baltic Sea to the German south-west.This is the story of that love, of Olga's devotion to a restless man - told in thought, letters and in a fateful moment of great rebellion.It's the most wonderful time of the year - but can the East End Angels keep London safe?Meet The East…
End Angels, the newest members of Station Seventy-Five's ambulance crew . . .Frankie is trying hard to keep everything together. She can count on the support of the East End Angels, even in the face of family trouble.Winnie's beloved husband, Mac, is putting himself at risk every day in the bomb disposal unit and she's finding it hard while he's away.Bella is growing in confidence and happiness. Her friendship with Winnie's brother, James, is getting closer all the time.Christmas on the Home Front is a hard time with loved ones far away - but the women of the Auxiliary Ambulance service are making do and mending.The third novel in the acclaimed East End Angels series, following Bella, Winnie and Frankie and their lives as members of Station Seventy-Five's ambulance crew. Perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry and Katie Flynn.Readers love the East End Angels series . . . 'Wonderfully written by one very talented author . . . highly recommended''I loved reading this book . . . so looking forward to the next in the series''Reminded me of Call the Midwife''Absolutely brilliant for recreating life in London during the Blitz''A very well-written and researched, warm-hearted book . . . with a bit of romance!'*Don't miss Rosie Hendry's brand new novel, THE MOTHER'S DAY CLUB, coming 18th February 2021 and available now to pre-order*Sad Janet
By Lucie Britsch. 2020
A whip-smart black comedy for fans of Fleabag and My Year of Rest and Relaxation'Loved this book' EMMA GANNON'Surprising and…
irreverent...Be prepared for edginess, dark humor and profanity' NEW YORK TIMES'Hilarious, wise, wicked' CYNTHIA D'APRIX SWEENEYNamed one of the Best Books of the Summer by LitHub, The Millions, Refinery29, and Hey Alma.***Meet Janet. Janet is sad. Not about her life, about the world. Have you seen it these days? The thing is, she's not out to make anyone else sad. She's not turning up to weddings shouting that most marriages end in divorce. She just wants to wear her giant coat, get rid of her passive-aggressive boyfriend, and avoid human interaction at the rundown dog shelter where she works.That is, until word spreads about a new pill that promises cynics like her one day off from being sad. When her family stages an intervention, and the prospect of making it through Christmas alone seems like too much, Janet finally decides to give them what they want. What follows is life-changing for all concerned - in ways no one quite expects.Hilarious, provocative and profound, Sad Janet is the antidote to our happiness-obsessed world.***PRAISE FOR SAD JANET:'If you're a Halle Butler fan or like despair cut with humour, you'll love this' Leigh Stein, author of SELF CARE'As I was reading this, my partner kept asking why I was laughing. This book is dark and hilarious and will speak to everyone who's ever wondered why they spend time with humans and not just dogs' Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, author of Starling Days and Harmless Like You'A tragicomic riot of a book - charging, foul-mouthed and tender, across the modern condition' Claudia Dey, author of Heartbreaker'Try reading Sad Janet ... It might just make you happy' Marcy Demansky, author of Very Nice'A biting, pitch-perfect novel about one woman's desire to stay true to herself in a world that rewards facile happiness ... a dazzling debut' Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney'The narrative voice of Janet in Britsch's debut novel is a skin-tingling combination of new and necessary' Booklist starred review'Loved this book... it made me lol via the dark humour and dry observations. An artful take on the "happiness economy"' Emma Gannon, author of Olive'I loved SAD JANET'S cynical humour. Superbly original, with spot-on one-liners. Brilliantly bleak, but with a spark of hope' Caroline Hulse, author of The AdultsPower, passion and a devastating fight for the crown - discover the gripping story of Oliver Cromwell's youngest daughter. Perfect…
for fans of Anne O'Brien, Alison Weir and Philippa Gregory 'A powerful and superbly researched historical novel' Andrew Taylor, author of The Last Protector1657. The youngest daughter of Oliver Cromwell, eighteen-year-old Frances is finding her place at England's new centre of power.Following the turmoil of Civil War, a fragile sense of stability has returned to the country. Her father has risen to the unprecedented position of Lord Protector of the Commonwealth, and Frances has found herself transported from her humble childhood home to the sumptuous palaces of Hampton Court and Whitehall, where she dreams of romance.But after an assassination attempt on the Cromwell family, Frances realises the precarious danger of her position - and when her father is officially offered the crown, Frances' fate becomes a matter of diplomatic and dynastic importance. Trapped in the web of court intrigue, Frances must make a choice. Allow herself to be a political pawn, or use her new status to take control - of her own future, and of her country's... ***Readers are swept away by The Puritan Princess:'There is much to enjoy in this evocation of a family whose lives are so upended by the convulsions of history' Antonia Senior, The Times'The Puritan Princess is a genuinely moving portrait of the tragedy of the Cromwells at the height of their power' S G MacLean, author of the Damian Seeker series'A beautifully written and captivating true story of personal love and loss... Malins inhabits her characters and brings them convincingly to life' James Evans, author of EMIGRANTS'The extraordinary, revealing and moving relationship between Oliver Cromwell and his daughter Frances is brought to vivid life in this masterly historical novel' Paul Lay, author of Providence Lost'Miranda Malins is a real and fresh new talent. This is beautifully written, exciting fiction from a writer in full command of the history' Suzannah Lipscomb'This engaging novel brings one of the most momentous but least well known periods of English history vividly to life.' Carolyn Kirby, author of THE CONVICTION OF CORA BURNS