MVR 620
This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world – and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the world’s motor – and the motive power of every man?
You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.
This is a mystery story, not about the murder of a man’s body, but about the murder – and rebirth – of man’s spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events.
Published on 21 April 2005.
ISBN: 9780525948926
MVR 350
As Scheherezade proved long ago, good stories make the best bedtime entertainment. The tales collected here represent the essence of the storyteller’s art, with its ancient roots in fantastical legends and tales told around a fire.
In Bedtime Stories, great writers of the past two centuries explore the boundaries between the real and the unreal, between waking and dreaming. From the surreal night visions of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown” to the unspeakable horror that haunts two little girls in A. S. Byatt’s “The Thing in the Forest,” from Washington Irving’s comical “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” to Ursula K. LeGuin’s sly perspective on Sleeping Beauty in “The Poacher,” these spellbinding stories transform the stuff of fables and fairy tales into high art.
Isak Dinesen, Vladimir Nabokov, Angela Carter, Julio Cortázar, Steven Millhauser, Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami, and many more mingle their voices in this one-volume gateway to dreams–the perfect bedside companion for fiction lovers everywhere.
Published in 2011.
ISBN: 9780307594945
MVR 470
Julian Fellowes's Belgravia is the story of a secret. A secret that unravels behind the porticoed doors of London's grandest postcode. Set in the 1840s when the upper echelons of society began to rub shoulders with the emerging industrial nouveau riche, Belgravia is people by a rich cast of characters. But the story begins on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. At the Duchess of Richmond's n0w legendary ball, one family's life will change forever.
Published on 5 July 2016.
ISBN: 9781474604154
MVR 350
Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are without parallel in the nineteenth century: celebrated poets, they became equally famous for their marriage. Still popular more than a century after their deaths, their poetry vividly reflects the unique nature of their relationship.
This collection presents the Brownings’ work in the context of their lives: the early years and their initial friendship, their courtship and marriage, the fifteen happy years they spent living in Italy until Elizabeth’s death. Whether in short poems such as Elizabeth’s “Hector in the Garden” and Robert’s “Natural Magic,” or in extracts from longer works such as Aurora Leigh and Pauline, the great themes they shared are all represented: love, marriage, illicit passion, England and Italy, childhood, religion, poetry, and nature. Elizabeth’s famous Sonnets from the Portuguese, based on their love affair, is included in its entirety.
The poems are augmented with a generous selection of the marvelous letters the Brownings wrote to each other.
Published in 2003.
ISBN: 9781400040223
MVR 470
In Empires of the Sea and City of Fortune, New York Times bestselling author Roger Crowley established himself as our generation’s preeminent historian of the great European seafaring empires, and the go-to author for post-Crusade clashes of East and West.
Now, in Conquerors, Crowley gives us the epic story of the emergence of Portugal, a small, poor nation that enjoyed a century of maritime supremacy thanks to the daring and navigational skill of its explorers—a tactical advantage no other country could match. Portugal’s discovery of a sea route to India, campaign of imperial conquest over Muslim rulers, and domination of the spice trade would forever disrupt the Mediterranean and build the first global economy.
Crowley relies on letters and eyewitness testimony to tell the story of tiny Portugal’s rapid and breathtaking rise to power. Conquerors reveals the Império Português in all of its splendor and ferocity, bringing to life the personalities of the enterprising and fanatical house of Aviz. Figures such as King Manuel “the Fortunate,” João II “the Perfect Prince,” marauding governor Afonso de Albuquerque, and explorer Vasco da Gama juggled their private ambitions and the public aims of the empire, often suffering astonishing losses in pursuit of a global fortune. Also central to the story of Portugal’s ascent was its drive to eradicate Islamic culture and establish a Christian empire in the Indian Ocean. Portuguese explorers pushed deep into the African continent in search of the mythical Christian king Prester John, and they ruthlessly besieged Indian port cities in their attempts to monopolize trade.
The discovery of a route to India around the horn of Africa was not only a brilliant breakthrough in navigation but heralded a complete upset of the world order. For the next century, no European empire was more ambitious, no rulers more rapacious than the kings of Portugal. In the process they created the first long-range maritime empire and set in motion the forces of globalization that now shape our world. At Crowley’s hand, the complete story of the Portuguese empire and the human cost of its ambition can finally be told.
Published on 1 December 2015.
ISBN: 9780812994001
MVR 350
Published in 2020.
ISBN: 9789991511474
Language: Dhivehi
MVR 380
Part of Penguin’s beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design.
When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client.
Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the ‘Master’ and his imminent arrival.
In Dracula, Bram Stoker created one of the great masterpieces of the horror genre, brilliantly evoking a nightmare world of vampires and vampire hunters and also illuminating the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.
Published in 2011.
ISBN: 9780141196886
MVR 680
Prepare to be dazzled by the wild wonders of the wizarding world in this sumptuously illustrated full-colour edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, written by J.K. Rowling (writing as Magizoologist Newt Scamander), illustrated by Olivia Lomenech Gill.
This glorious new edition of Newt Scamander’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (considered a classic throughout the wizarding world) features an extraordinary array of magical creatures, from Acromantula to Yeti via ten different breeds of dragon – all beautifully illustrated in full colour by the brilliantly inventive, Greenaway Medal shortlisted Olivia Lomenech Gill.
Famed Magizoologist Newt Scamander’s years of adventure and exploration have yielded a work of unparalleled importance, admired by scholars, devoured by young witches and wizards, and even made available to Muggles in the early years of this century. With this dazzling illustrated edition, readers can explore the magical fauna of five continents from the comfort of their own armchairs. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is essential reading at Hogwarts.
This new edition features the fully updated 2017 text – which includes new profiles of six magnificent beasts that inhabit North America and a new foreword by J.K. Rowling, writing as Newt Scamander.
Published in 2017.
ISBN: 9781408885260
MVR 350
Fishing Stories nets an abundant catch of wonderful writing in a wide variety of genres and styles. The moods range from the rollicking humor of Rudyard Kipling’s “On Dry-Cow Fishing as a Fine Art” and the rural gothic of Annie Proulx’s “The Wer-Trout” to the haunting elegy of Norman Maclean’s “A River Runs Through It.”
Many of these tales celebrate human bonds forged over a rod, including Guy de Maupassant’s “Two Friends,” Jimmy Carter’s “Fishing with My Daddy,” and an excerpt from Ernest Hemingway’s The Garden of Eden. Some deal in reverence and romance, as in Roland Pertwee’s “The River God,” and some in adventure and the stuff of legend, as in Zane Grey’s “The First Thousand-Pounder” and Ron Rash’s “Their Ancient Glittering Eyes.” There are narratives that confront head-on the heartbreaks and frustrations of the sport, from Thomas McGuane’s meditation on long spells of inaction as the essence of fishing in “The Longest Silence” to Raymond Carver’s story of a boy’s deflated triumph in the gut-wrenching masterpiece “Nobody Said Anything.” And alongside the works of literary giants are the memories of people both great and humble who have found meaning and fulfillment in fishing, from a former American president to a Scottish gamekeeper’s daughter.
Whether set against the open ocean or tiny mountain streams, in ancient China, tropical Tahiti, Paris under siege, or the vast Canadian wilderness, these stories cast wide and strike deep into the universal joys, absurdities, insights, and tragedies of life.
This beautiful hardcover edition features seven original woodcut illustrations by Paul Gentry, and includes a silk ribbon marker, European-style half-round spine, and full-cloth case with two-color foil stamping.
Published in 2013.
ISBN: 9780307961884
MVR 390
John Julius Norwich―“the very model of a popular historian” (Wall Street Journal)―is acclaimed for his distinctive ability to weave together a fascinating narrative through vivid detail, colorful anecdotes, and captivating characters. Here, he has crafted a bold tapestry of Europe and the Middle East in the early sixteenth century, when four legendary rulers towered over the era.
Francis I of France was the personification of the Renaissance, and a highly influential patron of the arts and education. Henry VIII, who was not expected to inherit the throne but embraced the role with gusto, broke with the Roman Catholic Church and appointed himself head of the Church of England. Charles V was the most powerful industrious man of the time, and was unanimously elected Holy Roman Emperor. Suleiman the Magnificent―who stood apart as a Muslim―brought the Ottoman Empire to its apogee of political, military, and economic power.
Against the vibrant background of the Renaissance, these four men collectively shaped the culture, religion, and politics of their respective domains. With remarkable erudition, John Julius Norwich delves into this entertaining and layered history, indelibly depicting four dynamic characters and how their incredible achievements―and obsessions with one another―changed European history.
ISBN: 9780802126634
Published on 11 April 2017.
MVR 280
Poor old Fox has lost his socks - can you help him find them? Are they in the kitchen or under the stairs? Are they inside the clock or hidden in a chest?
Lift the flaps and find out! With sturdy flaps on every spread and rhyming stories that are a joy to read aloud, the Tales From Acorn Wood have been delighting both parents and toddlers for over fifteen years. Celebrate their unending appeal with Fox's Socks, a beautifully produced board book with a gorgeous shiny-foiled cover look.
For ages 2 to 5.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 978-1447273400
MVR 380
After a fight with Hellboy, Frankenstein’s monster escapes the terrible Mexican laboratory where he was imprisoned and discovers strange creatures beneath the desert, where he’ll learn some of the greatest secrets of the mystical world in the strangest Hellboy spinoff yet.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781616557829
MVR 350
The chilling classic stories gathered here offer a remarkable variety of approaches to the theme of haunting. Revenge comes from beyond the grave in Robert Louis Stevenson’s “The Body-Snatcher,” while visions of the dead come between the living in Henry James’s “The Friends of the Friends.” P. G. Wodehouse gives us a farcical take on the haunted house in “Honeysuckle Cottage,” and in L. P. Hartley’s “W.S.,” a writer is fatally stalked by his own aggrieved creation.
Here are ghosts of every stripe and intent in stories from writers as varied as Elizabeth Bowen and Jorge Luis Borges, Eudora Welty and Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Bradbury and Edith Wharton, among others. In the hands of these masters, the ghost story ranges far beyond mere horror to encompass comedy and tragedy, pathos and drama, and even a touch of poetry.
Published in 2008.
ISBN: 9780307269249
Awaiting New Stock
Prepare to be spellbound by Jim Kay’s dazzling full-colour illustrations in this stunning new edition of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Breathtaking scenes, dark themes and unforgettable characters – including Dobby and Gilderoy Lockhart – await inside this fully illustrated edition. With paint, pencil and pixels, award-winning illustrator Jim Kay conjures the wizarding world as we have never seen it before. Fizzing with magic and brimming with humour, this inspired reimagining will captivate fans and new readers alike, as Harry and his friends, now in their second year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, seek out a legendary chamber and the deadly secret that lies at its heart...
Published on 4 October 2016.
ISBN: 9781408845653
MVR 3,500
Deluxe slipcase collector’s edition of the full-colour illustrated Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J.K. Rowling’s original, unabridged text paired with breathtaking illustrations by Jim Kay, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal.
An utterly enchanting feast of a book, this stunning collector’s edition of the full-colour illustrated Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is a volume to treasure for a lifetime. Brimming with rich detail and humour, Jim Kay’s dazzling depiction of the wizarding world and much loved characters will captivate fans and new readers alike. In oil, pastel, pencil, watercolour, pixels and a myriad of other techniques, Jim Kay has created over 115 astonishing illustrations; there really is magic on every page.
This beautiful, deluxe slipcase collector’s edition of J.K. Rowling’s timeless classic features an opulent page size and an exclusive pull-out double gatefold of Diagon Alley; intricate foiled line art by Jim Kay on the real cloth cover and slipcase; gilt edges on premium grade paper; head and tail bands and two ribbon markers – the ultimate must-have edition for any fan, collector or bibliophile.
Dimensions: 13.6 x 1.7 x 11.3 inches
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781408871874
MVR 680
Picture the magic – discover J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world with glorious full-colour illustration by Jim Kay, winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal.
An extraordinary creative achievement by an extraordinary talent, Jim Kay’s inspired reimagining of J.K. Rowling’s classic series has captured a devoted following worldwide. This stunning new fully illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban brings more breathtaking scenes and unforgettable characters – including Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Professor Trelawney. With paint, pencil and pixels, Kay conjures the wizarding world as we have never seen it before. Fizzing with magic and brimming with humour, this full-colour edition will captivate fans and new readers alike as Harry, now in his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, faces Dementors, death omens and – of course – danger.
Published in 2017.
ISBN: 9781408845660
MVR 680
Harry Potter: A History of Magic is the official book of the exhibition, a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration between Bloomsbury, J.K. Rowling and the brilliant curators of the British Library. It promises to take readers on a fascinating journey through the subjects studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry – from Alchemy and Potions classes through to Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures.
Each chapter showcases a treasure trove of artefacts from the British Library and other collections around the world, beside exclusive manuscripts, sketches and illustrations from the Harry Potter archive. There’s also a specially commissioned essay for each subject area by an expert, writer or cultural commentator, inspired by the contents of the exhibition – absorbing, insightful and unexpected contributions from Steve Backshall, the Reverend Richard Coles, Owen Davies, Julia Eccleshare, Roger Highfield, Steve Kloves, Lucy Mangan, Anna Pavord and Tim Peake, who offer a personal perspective on their magical theme.
Readers will be able to pore over ancient spell books, amazing illuminated scrolls that reveal the secret of the Elixir of Life, vials of dragon’s blood, mandrake roots, painted centaurs and a genuine witch’s broomstick, in a book that shows J.K. Rowling’s magical inventions alongside their cultural and historical forebears.
This is the ultimate gift for Harry Potter fans, curious minds, big imaginations, bibliophiles and readers around the world who missed out on the chance to see the exhibition in person.
Published in 2017.
ISBN: 9781408890769
MVR 550
Mignola has expanded Hellboy into the most exciting group of books since the early Marvel universe, and his style has influenced art and illustration far beyond the world of comics. Selected finished pieces are shown alongside sketches and raw scans from the last twenty years.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781616553531
Dimensions: 8.4 x 0.7 x 12.3 inches
MVR 450
Young Hellboy runs away from the B.P.R.D. only to stumble upon a weird and fantastical circus and the few demons from Hell who inhabit it.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781616552381
Dimensions: 7 x 1 x 10.5 inches
MVR 280
Pig and Hen are playing hide-and-seek. But where on earth could Hen be? Can you lift the flaps and help Pig find out where Hen is hiding?
For ages 2 to 5.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781447273431
MVR 320
Most people think hotel employees are effortlessly cheerful, naturally helpful, and genuinely like their work.
Most people are wrong.
Find out what really goes on in the world of hospitality with this hilarious book full of funny and absurd stories, anecdotes told in dialogue, factoids, and hoax pop quizzes by two veteran concierges who paid their way while working at a combined 50 hotels in and around Times Square. They are very pleased to help you learn:
· The Truth About Bed Bugs
· The Mythology of “Loyalty Programs”
· The 411 on Hotel Residents
· And so much more
Filled with photographs and infographics, How May We Hate You? is both romp and commentary on the hospitality industry and life behind the nametag.
Published on 17 May 2016.
ISBN: 9780553448344
MVR 750
With the publication of his groundbreaking novels The Da Vinci Code, The Lost Symbol, and Angels & Demons, Dan Brown has become an international bestselling sensation, seamlessly fusing codes, symbols, art, and history into riveting thrillers that have captivated hundreds of millions of readers around the world.
Now, with this stunning special illustrated edition of his record-setting Inferno, brought to life by more than 200 breathtaking color images, Dan Brown takes readers deep into the heart of Italy. . . guiding them through a landscape that inspired one of history’s most ominous literary classics.
“THE DARKEST PLACES IN HELL ARE RESERVED FOR THOSE WHO MAINTAIN THEIR NEUTRALITY IN TIMES OF MORAL CRISIS.”
Harvard professor of symbology Robert Langdon awakens in a hospital in the middle of the night. Disoriented and suffering from a head wound, he recalls nothing of the last thirty-six hours, including how he got there . . . or the origin of the macabre object that his doctors discover hidden in his belongings.
Langdon’s world soon erupts into chaos, and he finds himself on the run in Florence with a stoic young woman, Sienna Brooks, whose clever maneuvering saves his life. Langdon quickly realizes that he is in possession of a series of disturbing codes created by a brilliant scientist—a genius whose obsession with the end of the world is matched only by his passion for one of the most influential masterpieces ever written—Dante Alighieri’s dark epic poem The Inferno.
Racing through such timeless locations as the Palazzo Vecchio, the Boboli Gardens, and the Duomo, Langdon and Brooks discover a network of hidden passageways and ancient secrets, as well as a terrifying new scientific paradigm that will be used either to vastly improve the quality of life on earth . . . or to devastate it.
In his most riveting and thought-provoking novel to date, Dan Brown has raised the bar yet again. Inferno is a sumptuously entertaining read—a novel that will captivate readers with the beauty of classical Italian art, history, and literature . . . while also posing provocative questions about the role of cutting-edge science in our future.
Dimensions: 8 inches x 10 inches.
Published on 11 November 2014.
ISBN: 9780385539852
MVR 350
It has often been said that love, both sacred and profane, is the only true subject of the lyric poem. Nothing better justifies this claim than the splendid poems in this volume, which range from the writings of ancient China to those of modern-day America and represent, at its most piercing, a universal experience of the human soul.
Includes poems by John Donne, Christina Rossetti, W. H. Auden, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Graves, e. e. cummings, Dorothy Parker, William Shakespeare, Sappho, Bhartrhari, Anna Akhmatova, and W. B. Yeats, among many others.
Published in 1993.
ISBN: 9780679429067
MVR 350
An anthology of literary love stories—in a beautiful hardcover Pocket Classics edition—perfect for Valentine’s Day.
Here are nineteen stories from a rich array of writers. The objects of passion in these stories range from a glamorous silent-movie starlet in Elizabeth Bowen’s haunting “Dead Mabelle” and a faithful ghost in Yasunari Kawabata’s “Immortality” to a heart surgeon in Margaret Atwood’s “Bluebeard’s Egg” who spends his days penetrating the mysteries of the human heart but who seems oddly emotionally opaque himself. Jhumpa Lahiri plumbs the despair of a husband and wife sundered by tragedy while Lorrie Moore movingly portrays a couple brought together by it. Katherine Mansfield, Tobias Wolff, and William Trevor explore the intricacies of long-term relationships, while Guy de Maupassant, Italo Calvino, and T. C. Boyle portray the elemental force of love in extremely different ways.
As alluring, moving, and intoxicating as its timeless theme, this collection makes an enticing gift for lovers at any stage of life.
Published in 2009.
ISBN: 9780307270870
MVR 350
A sparkling collection of poems about virtually every aspect of matrimony.
Here are marriages made in many cultures and eras, delightfully evoked by poets ranging from Shakespeare to Omar Khayyám to D.H. Lawrence and Mona Van Duyn.
Published in 1997.
ISBN: 9780679455158
MVR 280
Touch the Gruffalo's terrible tusks, feel his knobbly knees and tickle his purple prickles in this bold, eye-catching book with touch-and-feel elements on every page.
Published in 2000.
ISBN: 978-0230753204
MVR 280
Bear is writing letters to his friends. But what could his letters be about? Lift the flaps and join Frog, Squirrel and Mole for Bear's special surprise!
For ages 2 to 5.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781447273424
MVR 280
Rabbit is trying to get to sleep, but everyone is being so noisy. Lift the flaps and find out who is keeping Rabbit awake! Will she ever have her nap?
For ages 0 to 2.
Published in 2015.
ISBN: 9781447273417
MVR 380
These two classic novels, together with Brontë’s well-known Jane Eyre and Villette, comprise a magnificent oeuvre, each one a singular achievement of characterization, human understanding, and narrative elegance and drama.
Shirley is the story of a complicated friendship between two very different women: shy and socially constrained Caroline, the poor niece of a tyrannical clergyman; and the independent heiress Shirley, who has both the resources and the spirit to defy convention. The romantic entanglements of the two women with a local mill owner and his penniless brother pit the claims of passion against the boundaries of class and society.
The Professor—the first novel Brontë completed, the last to be published—is both a disturbing love story and the coming-of-age tale of a self-made man. At its center is William Crimsworth, who has come to Brussels to work as an instructor in a school for girls. When he becomes entangled with Zoräide Reuter, a charismatic and brilliantly intellectual woman, the fervor of her feelings threatens both her own engagement and William’s chance of finding true love.
Published in 2008.
ISBN: 9780307268211
MVR 680
To celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the publication of The Lord of the Rings, a sumptuous full-colour art book containing the complete collection of almost 200 sketches, drawings, paintings and maps by J.R.R. Tolkien.
As he wrote The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien’s mental pictures often found expression in drawing, from rough sketches made within the manuscript to more finished illustrations. Only a few of these were meant for publication; most were aids to help Tolkien conceive his complex story and keep it consistent. Many do not illustrate the final text, but represent moments of creation, illuminating Tolkien’s process of writing and design. In addition to pictorial sketches, numerous maps follow the development of the Shire and the larger landscape of Middle-earth, while inscriptions in runes and Elvish script, and facsimile’ leaves from the burned and blood-stained Book of Mazarbul, support Tolkien’s pose as an editor’ or translator’ of ancient records.
The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien collects these drawings, inscriptions, maps, and plans in one deluxe volume. More than 180 images are included, all of them printed in colour from high-quality scans and photographs, more than half not previously published. Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, two of the world’s leading Tolkien scholars, have edited the book and provide an expert introduction and comments. Readers who have enjoyed The Art of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, with which the new book is uniform, will find much of interest also in The Art of The Lord of the Rings.
Published in 2014.
ISBN: 9780008105754
MVR 440
These sumptuous new hardback editions mark the 70th anniversary of Fitzgerald’s death.
Anthony and Gloria are the essence of Jazz Age glamour. A brilliant and magnetic couple, they fling themselves at life with an energy that is thrilling. New York is a playground where they dance and drink for days on end.
Their marriage is a passionate theatrical performance; they are young, rich, alive and lovely and they intend to inherit the earth. But as money becomes tight, their marriage becomes impossible. And with their inheritance still distant, Anthony and Gloria must grow up and face reality; they may be beautiful but they are also damned.
Published in 2011.
ISBN: 9780141194073
MVR 450
The Curse of Dracula is back in this deluxe new hardcover edition.
A mysterious, charismatic figure is moving amongst the circles of San Francisco's political elite. When Jonathan Van Helsing and his team of vampire hunters come to town investigating a string of grisly murders, they know it's only a matter of time before they come face to face with the master of the dark.
Contains previously unseen sketches by the legendary Gene Colan.
Publication Date: February 13, 2013
ISBN: 9781616550646
MVR 2,200
Four-volume boxed-set edition of The Lord of the Rings in hardback, featuring Tolkien’s original unused dust-jacket designs, together with fourth hardback volume, The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion. Includes special features and the definitive edition of the text.
Since it was first published in 1954, The Lord of the Rings has been a book people have treasured. Steeped in unrivalled magic and otherworldliness, its sweeping fantasy has touched the hearts of young and old alike, with one hundred and fifty million copies of its many editions sold around the world. In 2005 Tolkien’s text was fully restored with the full co-operation of Christopher Tolkien with almost 400 corrections, the original red and black maps as fold-out sheets, a fully revised and enlarged index, and for the first time a special plate section containing the pages from the Book of Mazarbul, making this set as close as possible to the version that J.R.R. Tolkien intended.
This Diamond Anniversary reissue of the prized boxed set marks 60 years since the first publication of The Fellowship of the Ring. These hardback editions feature Tolkien’s original unused dust-jacket designs from the 1950s, reworked for this edition, and some additional text corrections. The four-volume boxed set includes The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion, a unique annotated guide to the text, fully updated since its first publication in 2005, and is a book which will enhance the reader's enjoyment and understanding of one of the most influential books of the 20th century.
Published in 2008.
ISBN: 9780007581146
MVR 470
The fascinating story of Queen Elizabeth’s secret alliance with the Ottoman sultan and outreach to the Muslim world.
Long before Thomas Jefferson confronted the Barbary Pirates, Queen Elizabeth sent a secret message to the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, inviting him to open his markets to her merchants. Islam and the West crossed paths much earlier than we think—and originally the Muslims had the upper hand.
When Elizabeth was excommunicated by the pope in 1570, she found herself in an awkward predicament. England had always depended on trade. Now its key markets were suddenly closed to her Protestant merchants, while the staunchly Catholic king of Spain vowed to take her throne. In a bold decision with far-reaching consequences, she set her sights on the Muslim powers. She sent an emissary to the shah of Iran, wooed the king of Morocco, and entered into an unprecedented alliance with the powerful Ottoman, setting the stage for England’s transformation from a peripheral player on the cold fringes of Europe to the hub of a global empire.
By the late 1580s hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Elizabethan merchants, diplomats, sailors, artisans and privateers were plying their trade from Morocco to Persia. These included the resourceful mercer Anthony Jenkinson, who met both Suleyman and the Magnificent and the Persian Sah Tahmasp in the 1560s, William Harborne, the Norfolk merchant who became the first English ambassador to the Ottoman court in 1582, and the adventurer Sir Anthony Sherley, who spent much of 1600 at the court of Shah Abbas.
This marked the beginning of an extraordinary alignment with Muslim powers and of economic and political exchanges with the Islamic world of a depth not again experienced until the modern age. By the late 1580s, thousands of English merchants, diplomats, sailors, and privateers were plying their trade from Morocco to Persia. To finance these expeditions, they created the first ever joint stock company, a revolutionary new business model that balanced risk and reward.
Londoners were gripped with a passion for the Orient. Elizabeth became hooked on sugar as new words like candy, turquoise, and tulip entered the English language. Marlowe offered up Tamburlaine and Shakespeare wrote Othello six months after the first Moroccan ambassador’s visit. Jerry Brotton reveals that Elizabethan England’s relationship with the Muslim world was far more amicable—and far more extensive—than we have ever appreciated as he tells the riveting story of the traders and adventurers who first went East to seek their fortunes.
Published on 20 September 2016.
ISBN: 9780525428824
MVR 340
Left by harrowing circumstances to fend for herself in the great capital of a foreign country, Lucy Snowe, the narrator and heroine of Villette, achieves by degrees an authentic independence from both outer necessity and inward grief.
Charlotte Brontë’s last novel, published in 1853, has a dramatic force comparable to that of her other masterpiece, Jane Eyre, as well as strikingly modern psychological insight and a revolutionary understanding of human loneliness. With an introduction by Lucy Hughes-Hallet.
Published in 1992.
ISBN: 9780679409885