“The most satisfactory general collection of folktales to come out of England since the advent of modern collection and classification techniques.”—Journal of American Folklore   Tales of unnatural beings, curses, and ghosts, tall tales, shaggy dog stories—this collection from a renowned British folklorist offers a wide historical range, as well as commentaries. If wonder tales are not as abundant in England as elsewhere, other kinds of folktales thrive: local traditions, historical legends, humorous anecdotes. Many of the favorite tales which English-speaking peoples carry with them from childhood come from a long tradition—stories as familiar to Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Spenser, and their many contemporaries as they are to us. This volume is a “fine, homely feast” for anyone interested in the folklore of the world (Times Educational Supplement). “Should be of special concern to Americans...

ATLAN the Arkonide wants to go home to his world of the 3 planets. But one man stands in the way of the fulfilment of his desire: Perry Rhodan. Rhodan, Administrator of the Solar Empire, his chief concern the welfare of mankind, feels compelled to block Atlan's return. Can Rhodan contain Atlan on Earth or will the centuries-old alien, with hundreds of years of experience, prove to be superior to his antagonist? In the fierce duel on the hothouse planet Hellgate, Rhodan came out on top and Atlan became a prisoner of the Solar Security Service. But even now his restless thoughts are gravitating toward the possibility of escape. When 2 powerful personalities clash, what will the outcome be? See when you encounter— AGAIN: ATLAN

George Orwell’s payment book for 20 December 1943 records the sum of pounds 5.5.0 for a special article of 2,000 words for Tribune. This has never been traced in Tribune under Orwell’s name but it now seems certain that an essay, entitled “Can Socialists Be Happy?” by “John Freeman” is what is referred to. The name Freeman would have appealed to Orwell as a pseudonym, and the article has many social, political and literary links with Orwell, such as the relation of Lenin to Dickens (the fact that Lenin read A Christmas Carol on his deathbed also appears in the second paragraph of Orwell’s 1939 essay, “Charles Dickens”). A “real” John Freeman, later editor of the New Statesman, has confirmed that he did not write the article. The reason why Orwell chose to write as “John Freeman” he never used this pseudonym again is not clear. It may be that Tribune did not want its literary editor to be seen to be associated with its political pages. Possibly it was a device that allowed Orwell to be paid a special fee. Or it may be that he simply wished to see how far Tribune would let him go with his opinions. In any case, the article appeared in the Christmas issue and provoked much debate in the issues that followed. The “lost essay” is included in the Collected Works and printed here for the first time under Orwell’s name.

Dispatched by M to investigate the mysterious disappearance of MI6’s Jamaica station chief, Bond was expecting a holiday in the sun. But when he discovers a deadly centipede placed in his hotel room, the vacation is over. On this island, all suspicious activity leads inexorably to Dr. Julius No, a reclusive megalomaniac with steel pincers for hands. To find out what the good doctor is hiding, 007 must enlist the aid of local fisherman Quarrel and alluring beachcomber Honeychile Rider. Together they will combat a local legend the natives call “the Dragon,” before Bond alone must face the most punishing test of all: an obstacle course—designed by the sadistic Dr. No himself—that measures the limits of the human body’s capacity for agony.About the AuthorIan Fleming was born in London on May 28, 1908. He was educated at Eton College and later spent a formative period studying languages in Europe. His first job was with Reuters News Agency where a Moscow posting gave him firsthand experience with what would become his literary bete noire—the Soviet Union. During World War II he served as Assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence and played a key role in Allied espionage operations. After the war he worked as foreign manager of the Sunday Times, a job that allowed him to spend two months each year in Jamaica. Here, in 1952, at his home “Goldeneye,” he wrote a book called Casino Royale—and James Bond was born. The first print run sold out within a month. For the next twelve years Fleming produced a novel a year featuring Special Agent 007, the most famous spy of the century. His travels, interests, and wartime experience lent authority to everything he wrote. Raymond Chandler described him as “the most forceful and driving writer of thrillers in England.” Sales soared when President Kennedy named the fifth title, From Russia With Love, one of his favorite books. The Bond novels have sold more than one hundred million copies worldwide, boosted by the hugely successful film franchise that began in 1962 with the release of Dr. No. He married Anne Rothermere in 1952. His story about a magical car, written in 1961 for their only son Caspar, went on to become the well-loved novel and film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Fleming died of heart failure on August 12, 1964, at the age of fifty-six.

A bird of ill omen is mysteriously left on the Drews' front lawn. Did the person who put it there do so with the intent of jinxing Nancy and her father? This strange incident involves Nancy in her famous lawyer-father's case concerning a rare bird farm threatened with destruction to make room for a high-rise apartment house complex. Nancy and her friends find they have to overcome people's superstitions and fears in solving the case of a "jinxed" and threatened bird farm.

What is a Borrible? Borribles are runaways who dwell in the shadows of London. Apart from their pointed ears, they look just like ordinary children. They live by their wits and a few Borrible laws-the chief one being, Don't Get Caught! The Borribles are outcasts-but they wouldn't have it any other way....One night, the Borribles of Battersea discover a Rumble-one of the giant, rat-shaped creatures who are their ancient enemy-in their territory. Fearing an invasion, an elite group of Borrible fighters set out on what will become known in legend as The Great Rumble Hunt. So begins the first of the three epic adventures in Michael de Larrabeiti's classic trilogy, where excitement, violence, low cunning, greed, generosity, treachery, and bravery exist side by side.Review"No one can deny that de Larrabeiti has written a modern epic. It's a brilliant invention."--Publishers Weekly on The Borribles"With considerable ingenuity and finesse, de Larrabeiti has projected a grim, violent futureworld...he presents an alien culture with its own folkways, legends and taboos. The Borribles won't win friends among the starry-eyed or squeamish, all the same they are the offspring of a singular imagination."--The New York Times on The Borribles"May be regarded as a moral satire on the consequences of violence and cupidity or a cynical recognition of the times in which we live. Either way this Clockwork Orange projects a gripping story through slam-bang action."--The Los Angeles Times on The Borribles"The adventures of The Hobbit and the rabbits of Watership Down are more than once called to mind...and de Larrabeiti has brought something of these mythologies to the street markets and the back-alleys of South London and the thronged waterway of the Thames itself."--The London Times on The Borribles"A strong and vivid fantasy, much recommended."--The Observer on The BorriblesAbout the AuthorMichael de Larrabeiti was brought up in Battersea. He is the author of two more books about the Borribles--The Borribles Go For Broke and The Borribles: Across the Dark Metropolis--as well as many other books. He has three grown-up daughters and lives with his wife in Oxfordshire.

A speakeasy performer is murdered in this pioneering mystery from the mother of the police procedural.When one of New York's favorite dancers is killed in a crowded high-tone speakeasy, everyone present becomes a suspect—and those that may have eluded questioning as well. It's up to Inspector McKee of the NYPD to sift through the witness statements, separate fact from fiction, and put together a picture of the crime as it happened in order to discover what's missing from the official narrative. And in the process, he'll uncover a story that leads back into the past, with blackmail and stolen emeralds lurking in the shadows....As McKee's case comes into focus, a rich and confounding mystery plot is revealed, which will take all of the inspector's resources to solve. Along the way, the inner workings of the New York City police department in the 1930s is on full display, including the line-ups, the radio room, the morgue,...

Don't tempt Nero Wolfe to find the culprit. When foul play's the game, he always wins -- and in these three crime puzzles, the stakes are high. First, there's little nourishment for the detective when someone drops a poison pellet into a vitamin addict's pillbox. Then, a murdered policeman leaves a clue folded in a newspaper, and Wolfe has to read the fine print to decipher his killer's identity. And what do you do when a chimp is the only witness to a crime? This is no time for monkeyshines from the world's most celebrated armchair detective.

Susan and Colin have been sent to their mother’s nurse for 6 months. The two children rapidly adjust to life in the country around Alderley Edge, but find an unusual interest in Susan’s “Tear”, a stone hanging from a bracelet passed to their mother by Bess Mossack, the nurse. They find that this stone has been the object of a prolonged search by both light and dark forces. Myths awake, and the children and their mentors, human, dwarf and elf, set out on a quest to return the stone before the twilight of the gods can descend.

IT SEEMED A MOST UNLIKELY MATCHWhen Jenny gave up her nursing job to look after her aunt, she saw it as no sacrifice. The only difficulty was her aunt's doctor, the imposing Eduard van Draak te Solendik. Eduard managed to be both attractive and infuriating at the same time. Unfortunately for Jenny, the attraction won and soon she was falling in love with him. Much good it would do her, though, since Eduard was engaged to be married. But luckily for them both, he seemed to have some alternate wedding plans.

The exciting prequel to Gorgon Child and Firedance. Here is the story of how Aubry Knight became a hero. Aubry was a zero-gravity martial artist who belonged to the crime syndicate that runs future Los Angeles. When his bosses set him up for the murder of a woman he loves, Aubry fights back . . . and finds a new reason for living.

Product DescriptionWhen a powerful government official scheduled to speak to a group of millionaires turns up dead, the business world clamors for a solution, and Nero Wolfe takes the case. From AudioFileNarrator Michael Prichard excels as the brilliant detective, gourmet, and grouch, Nero Wolfe. Prichard's polished, smooth style is the only way to feature the sophisticated, egotistical detective who solves crimes with an incisive mind and an active assistant, one Archie Goodwin. This mystery involves two brutal murders tied to the antagonism between an industrial association and a governmental regulatory agency. Predictably and reassuringly, justice prevails, and the listener knows that even if "they don't write 'em like that anymore," they still tell them with panache and charm. D.L.G. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

This collection of Alan Bennett's work includes his first play and West End hit, Forty Years On, as well as Getting On, Habeus Corpus, and Enjoy. Forty Years On 'Alan Bennett's most gloriously funny play ... a brilliant, youthful perception of a nation in decline, as seen through the eyes of a home-grown school play ... a classic.' Daily Mail Getting On Winner of the Evening Standard Best Comedy Award in 1971, Getting on is an account of a middle-aged Labour MP, so self-absorbed that he remains blind to the fact that his wife is having an affair with the handyman, his mother-in-law in dying, his son is getting ready to leave home, his best friend thinks him a fool and that to everyone who comes into contact with him he is a self-esteeming joke. Habeus Corpus 'After two elegiac comedies about the decline of old England, Mr Bennett has now written a gorgeously vulgar but densely plotted facre that is a downright celebration of sex and the human body ... a combination of hurtling action...