Showing results by author "Os Swift" in All Categories

Brother Foulques de Villaret just wants to stay in Acre and perform his sworn duties. Instead, the young Hospitaller Knight of Saint John must undertake a dangerous journey from the Holy Land to a remote village nestled in the Alps, the 'Spine of the World'. His mission: buy 500 peasant boys and return them to Acre to be trained as soldiers of Christ.

"The Battle of the Books" depicts a literal battle between books in the King's Library (housed in St James's Palace at the time of the writing), as ideas and authors struggle for supremacy. Because of the satire, "The Battle of the Books" has become a term for the Quarrel of the Ancients and the Moderns. It is one of his earliest well-known works. (Wikipedia)

Lemuel Gulliver, a slightly staid ship’s doctor, relates the tales of his astonishing travels. He encounters the tiny, warring Lilliputians; the giant, sceptical Brobdingnagians; the ludicrously intellectual Laputans; and the idealistic - if rather stolid - Houyhnhnms and their bestial servants, the Yahoos. An immediate best seller when it was first published in 1726, Gulliver’s Travels has remained a favourite ever since. It was an attack on the politics and society of Swift’s day, but it is also a polemical, inventive, surreal, vitriolic, and wonderfully imaginative masterpiece.

THE REMARKABLE NEW WORK OF FICTION FROM THE BOOKER PRIZE-WINNING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS, WATERLAND, HERE WE ARE and MOTHERING SUNDAY In the aftermath of the Second World War Private Joseph Caan, a young Jewish soldier stationed in Germany, seeks the truth about lost family members; in the 1960s a...

The remarkable new work of fiction from the Booker Prize-winning author of Last Orders, Wasteland, Here We Are and Mothering Sunday In the aftermath of the Second World War Private Joseph Caan, a young Jewish soldier stationed in Germany, seeks the truth about lost family members; in the 1960s a...

'This impeccably researched wartime thriller had me gripped from the opening pages – I loved it.' Eliza Graham 'A nail-biting read from start to finish … a must for WW2 fiction fans' Tessa Harris Holland, 1944: Undercover British agent Nancy Callaghan has been given her toughest case yet. A...

Liverpool is a unique city within the United Kingdom - in terms of its dialect, hedonism, friendliness, rejection of 'Englishness', and most pertinently, its politics. It is bastion of working-class left-wing politics like no other - as evidenced by the suspension of a Liverpool FC match after...

1940, Jersey. When Nazi forces occupy Jersey in the English Channel Islands, Céline Huber, who is married to a German, must decide where her loyalty lies. Love for her island and fear for her Jewish friend Rachel soon propel her into a dangerous double life. Meanwhile, Céline’s husband Fred is conscripted into the Wehrmacht in occupied France. Horrified by Nazi acts of atrocity and torture, he soon becomes a double agent for the French Resistance.

Rhoda Middleton suspects her husband Peter is having an affair. But when Rhoda tracks the mysterious woman down, she finds she is not his lover after all, but the wife of his wartime best friend, Archie Foster. There is only one problem - Rhoda has never even heard of Archie Foster.

‘A superbly plotted historical drama… highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf One woman must sacrifice everything to uncover the truth in this enthralling historical novel, inspired by the true World War Two campaign Radio Aspidistra… England, 1942: Having fled Germany after her father...

‘The Silk Code had me absolutely hooked… A great storyline full of bravery, trust, love, survival, betrayal and determination.’ NetGalley reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Based on the true story of ‘Englandspiel’, one woman must race against the clock to uncover a traitor, even if it means...

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS AND MOTHERING SUNDAY, and reissued for the first time in Scribner, comes a novel called ‘Profound and powerful . . . an unputdownable read’ by Scotland on Sunday. On an autumn day in 2006, on the Isle of Wight, Jack Luxton – former Devon farmer...

1310 AD. There is a new power in the Aegean, and its ships fly the black and white of the Knights of Saint John. Thomas Schwyzer has served the black knights for as long as he can remember. He would do anything for Grandmaster Foulques and his fellow brother sergeants. They are his family. His friends. Without them he would have no place in this world. His faithful years of service have not gone unrecognized.

FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF LAST ORDERS AND MOTHERING SUNDAY. One summer morning in 1943, lock-keeper Henry Crick finds the drowned body of a sixteen-year-old boy. Nearly forty years later, his son Tom, a history teacher, is driven by a bizarre marital crisis and the provocation of one of his...

This set includes five tales of extraordinary heroism, marvelous intrigue, and exceptional courage that have inspired and amazed people for generations.

The only home Foulques has ever known has been razed by the Mamluks. Only by the grace of God does he and a handful of knights manage to escape to the island of Cyprus. Once there, Foulques learns that Najya has been taken captive by none other than Badru Hashim and is enroute to the slave markets of North Africa. Foulques immediately attempts to organize a rescue force but his uncle has seized control of the Order of Saint John and considers the risks too high. He is left with only two options: remain loyal to his uncle and the Order or forsake his oaths and strike out after Najya on his own.

A Signature Performance: Four-time Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce delivers an air of lovable self-importance in his rendition of the classic social satire that remains as fresh today as the day it was published.

WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 1996 Four men once close to Jack Dodds, a London butcher, meet to carry out his peculiar last wish: to have his ashes scattered into the sea at Margate. For reasons best known to herself, Jack’s widow, Amy, declines to join them . . . On the surface a simple tale of...

A bumper audio collection featuring four favourite springtime adventure stories about Peggy the pug! Titles include: The Pug Who Wanted to be a Mermaid The Pug Who Wanted to be a Bunny The Pug Who Wanted to be an Fairy The Pug Who Wanted to be a Star --- In THE PUG WHO WANTED TO BE A MERMAID...

Unabridged readings of five gripping adventure stories This thrilling anthology contains five action-packed tales of incredible journeys, a murderous treasure hunt, invaders from outer space and international espionage - all read in full by some of the very best voice actors. With over 33 hours...