Just Above The Mantelpiece

Just Above the Mantelpiece is the first serious look at mass-produced, affordable art from the late 1950s that today is highly collectable.

'Wodehouse would have made an excellent sports writer' Sunday Times As Wodehouse’s biographer Frances Donaldson observed, it was vitally important to the boy Plum that he was ‘above average at games’. Luckily, he was known at school as ‘a noted athlete, a fine footballer and cricketer [and] a boxer’, and sport inspired much of his earliest writings, as well as some of his very finest and laugh-out-loud funniest. Wodehouse wrote with trademark wit on a rich range of games – and on cricket and golf, in particular – as well as anyone ever has, bringing a knowledge and a passion born of practice. English cricket inspired in Wodehouse what he himself long considered to be his favourite work; and yet America (which he first visited keenly and then came to call home) led him to the love of baseball, and golf – enthusiasms that drew him to new tales for new audiences, including the celebrated golf stories which John Updike described as ‘the best fiction ever done about the sport.’ This rollicking anthology, selected, edited and introduced by the novelist Richard T. Kelly, offers a vivid picture of Wodehouse at play – in the ring, at the crease, on the tee – which is guaranteed to please any sporting crowd. Beginning with early journalism, taking in extracts from novels and short stories in their entirety, it all adds up to a medal-winning collection.

In James Herbert's The Dark, madness rages as the lights begin to fade and humanity is attacked by an ancient, unstoppable evil . . . It came like a malignant shadow with seductive promises of power. And somewhere in the night . . . a small girl smiled as her mother burned . . . Asylum inmates slaughtered their attendants . . . in slimy tunnels once-human creatures gathered.

Meet Will Swyfte—adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit, scholar and the greatest of Walsingham's new band of spies. His exploits against the forces of Philip of Spain have made him a national hero, lauded from Carlisle to Kent. Yet his associates can barely disguise their incredulity—what is the point of a spy whose face and name is known across Europe? But Swyfte's public image is a carefully-crafted façade to give the people of England something to believe in, and to allow them to sleep peacefully at night. It deflects attention from his real work—and the true reason why Walsingham's spy network was established. A Cold War seethes, and England remains under a state of threat. The forces of Faerie have preyed on humanity for millennia. Responsible for our myths and legends, of gods and fairies, dragons, griffins, devils, imps and every other supernatural menace that has haunted our dreams, this power in the darkness has seen humans as playthings to be tormented, hunted or eradicated. But now England is fighting back! Magical defences have been put in place by the Queen's sorcerer Dr. John Dee, who is also a senior member of Walsingham's secret service and provides many of the bizarre gadgets utilised by the spies. Finally there is a balance of power. But the Cold War is threatening to turn hot at any moment... Will now plays a constant game of deceit and death, holding back the Enemy's repeated incursions, dealing in a shadowy world of plots and counter-plots, deceptions, secrets, murder, where no one... and no thing... is quite what it seems.

The delightful third book in the multimillion-copy internationally bestselling series Being up against the clock was a real problem for so many people, thought Hector. What could he possibly do to help them? First he tackled happiness. Then he took on love. And now Hector, our endearing young French psychiatrist, confronts the persistent march of time. His patients lament that there is not enough time in the day. Or they feel that life is passing them by. And in one case, a young boy turns the problem on its head: He's impatient to grow up! Hector himself is increasingly aware of time: He doesn't feel quite so young anymore, and the clock is ticking on his relationship with his beloved Clara. So as time flies, so does our wise and winsome hero in his latest adventure, traveling around the world to understand the past, the future, and how best to enjoy the present.

A Companion to Virginia Woolf is a thorough examination of her life, work, and multiple contexts in 33 essays written by leading scholars in the field. Contains insightful and provocative new scholarship and sketches out new directions for future research Approaches Woolf’s writing from a variety of perspectives and disciplines, including modernism, post-colonialism, queer theory, animal studies, digital humanities, and the law Explores the multiple trajectories Woolf’s work travels around the world, from the Bloomsbury Group, and the Hogarth Press to India and Latin America Situates Woolf studies at the vanguard of contemporary literature scholarship and the new modernist studies

This omnibus edition contains the first three books in the Angela Marchmont Mystery series Meet enigmatic "lady detective" Angela Marchmont in this series of light-hearted and charming 1920s mysteries! Includes: THE MURDER AT SISSINGHAM HALL (Book 1) On his return from South Africa, Charles Knox is invited to spend the weekend at the country home of Sir Neville Strickland, whose beautiful wife Rosamund was once Knox's fiancée. But in the dead of night Sir Neville is murdered. Who did it? As suspicion falls on each of the house guests in turn, Knox finds himself faced with deception and betrayal on all sides, and only the enigmatic Angela Marchmont seems to offer a solution to the mystery. This 1920s whodunit will delight all fans of traditional country house murder stories. THE MYSTERY AT UNDERWOOD HOUSE (Book 2) Old Philip Haynes was never happier than when his family were at each other's throats. Even after his death the terms of his will ensured they would keep on feuding. But now three people are dead and the accusations are flying. Can there really be a murderer in the family? Torn between friendship and duty, Angela Marchmont must find out the truth before the killer can strike again. THE TREASURE AT POLDARROW POINT (Book 3) When Angela Marchmont goes to Cornwall on doctor's orders she is looking forward to a nice rest and nothing more exciting than a little sea-bathing. But her plans for a quiet holiday are dashed when she is caught up in the hunt for a diamond necklace which, according to legend, has been hidden in the old smugglers' house at Poldarrow Point for over a century. Aided by the house's elderly owner, an irrepressible twelve-year-old, and a handsome Scotland Yard detective, Angela soon finds herself embroiled in the most perplexing of mysteries. Who is the author of the anonymous letters? Why is someone breaking into the house at night? And is it really true that a notorious jewel-thief is after the treasure too? Angela must use all her powers of deduction to solve the case and find the necklace—before someone else does.

An ancient wisdom known only to Gnostics had previously become lost to humanity in the mists of time. This secret knowledge is now revealed to you for the first time, in The Key to the Great Secret, and can be seen in paintings by Poussin and Teniers – so there is no mistaking its existence. What is revealed in the paintings is a secret method of prayer that allows one to have a direct experience of God, just as Gnostics have always maintained. Furthermore, access to God allows one to develop to a much higher level of consciousness and wisdom, allowing them to ultimately attain The Holy Grail of spiritual immortality. This Gnostic Heresy was almost wiped out by the Catholic Church, but has survived and exists in secret organisations to this day. These remaining Gnostics are the trustees to our natural inheritance and hopefully will now feel free to come forward to guide us on our true path. The Key to the Great Secret provides readers with the opportunity to unlock the reality of The Holy Grail, so that they may see with spiritual eyes and understand with Gnostic wisdom. “In all honesty and humility, if everything in this book is true, then it has to be one of the most important books ever written – simply because of what it contains. This book contains the greatest secret in the world. Is this a hoax or not? You must decide,” says author T. Findley.