The last book in Baum’s Oz series sees Princess Ozma and Dorothy travel to an obscure corner of the Land of Oz in order to prevent a war between the Skeezers and the Flatheads. The leaders of the two tribes are determined and Dorothy and Ozma find themselves imprisoned on the Skeezers' glass-covered island, which has been magically submerged to the bottom of its lake. Ozma and Dorothy summon Glinda, the most powerful sorceress of Oz, who, with help from several magicians and magical assistants, must find a way to raise the island and liberate its trapped inhabitants.

This timely publication ties in with the international release of the film Oz: The Great and Powerful. Directed by Sam Raimi and featuring James Franco, Michelle Williams (as Glinda), Rachel Weisz and Zach Braff.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 120

Publication Date: 25-01-2013

William Shakespeare and John Milton are the two most important poets in English. Shakespeare’s achievements are unchallengeable and secure. Milton can make a far more controversial claim to eminence. He wrote the only poem in English recognized as an epic, Paradise Lost, a poem which challenged the beliefs and presuppositions of all of its readers. As a literary writer, his political and historical significance is unique; he was at the centre of the most traumatic period of modern British history, and this left an imprint on his writings.
Richard Bradford addresses two key topics in this short account of Milton’s life and work: the parallels between Paradise Lost and the events in England of the mid-to-late-seventeenth century; and the question of whether Milton’s writings reflect his sense of despair at man’s apparent failure to make the best of our world after the Fall and is thus the first testimony of his religious doubt.

Fascinating for both the general reader and for academics, Richard Bradford brings new understanding to the life, times and works of one of Britain’s most significant writers.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 120

Publication Date: 22-02-2013

On the unexplained is a brand new selection of Arthur Conan Doyle’s writings on all things supernatural taken from Edge of the Unknown.

Best known for the creation of Sherlock Holmes, Conan Doyle had many more strings to his bow. He was a political campaigner (most memorably in his defence of the Boer War); he believed in the existence of fairies; he played amateur sleuth, taking up closed cases to prove miscarriage of justice. Perhaps most intriguing of all though was the fact that, following the deaths of a number of his family, Conan Doyle began to take an interest in what was then termed ’spiritualism’ (trying to prove the existence of life beyond the grave), he became a member of the paranormal association The Ghost Sense Club and he also joined the British Society of Psychical Research.

An account of séances, automatic writing, trips to haunted country houses and in-depth philosophical analysis of the thinking behind the supernatural, this book is a must have for the Conan Doyle enthusiast or the intrigued reader alike. Conan Doyle’s famous spat with Houdini is represented with a chapter eulogising Houdini, apparently still not quite willing to let go the suspicion that the magician was blessed with special powers.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 140

Publication Date: 27-09-2013

Through his surreal, often grotesque humour, Bulgakov creates in this book - a new translation of one of the most popular satires on the Russian Revolution and on Soviet society - an ingenious new twist to the 'Frankenstein' parable. Having been scalded by boiling water earlier that day, and with little chance to survive the severe winter night, a stray dog is left for dead on the streets. Lamenting his fate, he is ill prepared for the chance arrival of a wealthy professor who befriends him and takes him home. However, it seems the professor's motives are not entirely altruistic - an expert in medical experimentation, he sees his new charge as the potential subject for a bizarre operation, and implants glands from a dead criminal in the dog. The resulting half-man, half-beast is, as to be expected, a monstrosity, yet one that fits in remarkably well with Soviet society...

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Publication Date: 28-09-2012

Compiled by Charles Dickens, and counting Elizabeth Gaskell and Wilkie Collins among its contributors, this rediscovered work is an ingenious collaborative tale of the supernatural with indelible touches of pure Dickensian comedy. When the narrator spies a deserted house from his railway carriage, he determines to take up residence. But local legend has it that this is a haunted house, and no servant will dare enter employment. Refusing to be thwarted, he instead invites a number of acquaintances to join him, commissioning each with the task of routing out any supernatural inhabitants. As they gather together on twelfth night, each recounts his version of the ghostly activities.

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Publication Date: 28-09-2012

Based on the doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, The Frozen Deep is a dramatic tale of vengeance and self-sacrifice. Exchanging vows of love with sailor Frank Aldersley the night before his departure, Clara Burnham is haunted by the memory of Richard Wardour, and his mistaken belief that they will one day marry. On different ships, the two men have no cause to meet—until disaster strikes and they find themselves united by their battle for survival. When they learn of their rivalry, there follows an act of pure selflessness, making The Frozen Deep one of Collins' most moving and tragic works. The author of The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and Who Killed Zebedee?, Wilkie Collins is widely regarded as the originator of the English detective novel.

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Publication Date: 28-09-2012

Sold over 600,000 copies in Europe!

A strange murder in an idyllic French seaside village, a major family tragedy, and a puzzling secret await Commissioner Dupin in this captivating who-dunit thriller. At the Central Hotel in Pont Aven, Brittany, 91-year-old manager Pierre-Louis Pennec is found murdered. Police commissioner George Dupin and his team takes on the investigation and narrow the list of suspects down to five people, including the manager of a rival hotel, a longtime friend of the victim, and a wealthy art historian. Further incidents--first a break-in, then another mysterious death--muddy the waters yet more. As Commissioner Dupin delves further and further into the lives of the victim and the suspects, he uncovers a web of secrecy and criminality that belies the village's idyllic image. A surprise hit in its original German, this book introduces readers to the enigmatic Commissioner Dupin, an idiosyncratic penguin lover and Parisian-born caffeine junkie who resents his superiors--and is equally resented in return. It is a book so atmospheric readers will immediately want to wander through the village's narrow alleyways, breathe in the Atlantic air, and smile at the Breton peculiarities. Spellbinding, subtle, and smart, this crime novel is peppered with cryptic humour and surprising twists.

Bind: paperback

Pages: 336

Publication Date: 13-04-2014