A fresh, new look at gangs in every part of the world which deliberately avoids the stories that have been done to death - about Capone, Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde - and focuses on less well-known gangs such as 'Ma' Barker's Boys; the Smaldones of Denver; Scotland Yard's 1960s' Flying Squad, the so-called Firm within a Firm; Dr Death, the Melbourne drug dealer and Andre Stander, the former South African police officer who led a gang of bank robbers before being shot dead in Fort Lauderdale having fled a 17-year sentence.
True courage is a hugely valued aspect of humanity. Many of the accounts in this volume are in the words of those who were there, of men and women who showed real courage, often with their own lives on the line. The tales include: the death of Sir Thomas More; George Washington at Valley Forge; Nelson losing his arm at Santa Cruz; Oscar Schindler saving the lives of Polish Jews; SOE heroine Violette Szabo in occupied France; the protesters in Tiananmen Square; and the New York firefighters and the airline passengers of flight UA49 on September 11th, 2001.
Developed from an early oral storytelling tradition dating back to the dawn of European culture, this is one of the oldest and most vibrant of Europe's mythologies. From all six Celtic cultures - Irish, Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Manx and Breton - Peter Berresford Ellishas included popular myths and legends, as well as bringing to light exciting new tales which have been lying in manuscript form, untranslated and unknown to the modern general reader. The author brings not only his extensive knowledge of source material but also his acclaimed skills of storytelling to produce an original, enthralling and definitive collection of Celtic myths and legends - tales of gods and goddesses, heroes and heroines, magical weapons, fabulous beasts, and entities from the ancient Celtic world.
Thirty-five uncanny and erotic tales of vampires written by supernatural fiction’s greatest mistresses of the macabre. "Fashions change, and the urbane vampire created by Byron and cemented in place by Stoker has had to move on . . . Are you, like me, ready for the new dusk?" —Ingrid Pitt, from her Introduction Prepare to arm yourself with garlic, silver bullets, and a stake. Featuring the only vampire short story written by Anne Rice, the undisputed queen of vampire literature, and boasting an autobiographical introduction and original tale by Ingrid Pitt, the star of Hammer Films' The Vampire Lovers and Countess Dracula, this is one anthology that every vampire fan—vampiric feminist or not—will want to drink deep from. From the classic stories of Edith Wharton, Edith Nesbit, Mary E. Wilkins-Freeman, and Mary Elizabeth Braddon to modern incarnations by such acclaimed writers as Poppy Z. Brite, Nancy Kilpatrick, Tanith Lee, CaitlÃn R. Kiernan, and Angela Slatter, these blood-drinkers and soul-stealers range from the sexual to the sanguinary, from the tormented Good to the unspeakably Evil. Among those memorable Children of the Night you will encounter are Chelsea Quinn Yarbro's Byronic vampire Saint-Germain, Nancy A. Collins' undead heroine Sonja Blue, Tanya Huff's vampiric detective Vicki Nelson, and Freda Warrington’s age-old lovers Karl and Charlotte. Nominated for the World Fantasy Award and the International Horror Guild Award, and now revised and updated, The Mammoth Book of Vampire Stories by Women fulfils the bloodlust of the somnambulist horror fan, delivering the ultimate bite.
Pulp fiction has been looked down on as a guilty pleasure, but it offers the perfect form of entertainment: the very best storytelling filled with action, surprises, sound and fury. In short, all the exhiliration of a roller-coaster ride. The 1920s in America saw the proliferation of hundreds of dubiously named but thrillingly entertaining pulp magazines in America – Black Mask, Amazing, Astounding, Spicy Stories, Ace-High, Detective Magazine, Dare-Devil Aces. It was in these luridly-coloured publications, printed on the cheapest pulp paper, that the first gems began to appear. The one golden rule for writers of pulp fiction was to adhere to the art of storytelling. Each story had to have a beginning, an end, economically-etched characters, but plenty going on, both in terms of action and emotions. Pulp magazines were the TV of their day, plucking readers from drab lives and planting them firmly in thrilling make-believe, successors to the Victorian penny dreadfuls of writers such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Charles Dickens. These stories exemplify the best of crime and mystery pulp fiction – its zest, speed, rhythm, verve and commitment to straightforward storytelling – spanning seven decades of popular writing.
Dieselpunk: an emerging retro-futuristic sub-genre, similar to steampunk, based on the era between the First World War and the start of the Atomic Age, merging elements of noir, pulp, and the past with today’s technology . . . and sometimes a dash of the occult. Award-winning editor Wallace presents a cutting-edge collection of twenty-five vibrant stories that explore the possibilities of history while sweeping readers into high-powered hydrocarbon-fuelled adventures. Join us in an era when engines were huge, fuel was cheap and plentiful, and steel and chrome blended with the grit and grease of modern machines. Praise for The Mammoth Book of Steampunk: 'World Fantasy Award-winning editor Wallace has compiled an outstanding anthology . . . sure to satisfy even the most jaded steampunk fans and engage newcomers and skeptics. Each story exemplifies steampunk’s knack for critiquing both the past and the present, in a superb anthology that demands rereading.' Publishers Weekly
The unique story of Wall Street legend Joe Grano—six defining moments in courage, leadership, and determination that will inspire readers of every age, and at every stage in life From Vietnam to 9/11, from the market crash of '87 to today's financial crisis, Wall Street legend Joe Grano has weathered the most defining crises of the last forty years. Whether leading draftees through combat as a Green Beret in Vietnam, regrouping a team of brokers during the market crash of 1987, or working tirelessly to reopen Wall Street after the attacks on 9/11, Joe has served at the front lines of our nation's most defining moments, leading and even inspiring others when things seem at their darkest. Structured around six specific crises he faced in his life and career, You Can't Predict a Hero will describe how Grano was able to triumph over challenges both personal and professional. Whether teaching himself to walk again after sustaining crippling battle wounds, rising from his hardscrabble beginnings to become a top broker at Merrill Lynch, or shepherding the merger of PaineWebber and UBS, his experience has been hard-won and his perspective like no one else's. Through it all, Grano has learned to find the opportunity in any crisis, how to calm and inspire those he leads, and how to find the real solution to what can appear as an insurmountable problem. This dynamic book will inspire anyone looking to make sense of our rapidly changing world, and how to grow and even thrive through any challenge. Problems require solutions, and crisis creates true leaders. Joseph J. Grano, Jr. is Chairman and CEO of Centurion Holdings LLC, a company that advises private and public companies. From 2001-2004, Grano was Chairman of UBS Financial Services Inc. (formerly UBS PaineWebber). Having joined the company in 1988, Grano is credited for turning PaineWebber around and shepherding its merger with Swiss banking giant UBS. Grano began his career as a stock broker at Merrill Lynch, where he rose to various senior management positions over 16 years. A decorated war hero, Grano was chosen by the White House to be chairman of the President’s Homeland Security Advisory Council after 9/11, a position he held from 2002-2005. The recipient of countless awards for leadership, civic contributions, as well as honorary degrees, he is involved in a wide range of educational and philanthropic endeavors. He and his wife, Kathy, live in New Jersey. Mark Levine has written and collaborated on more than 30 books, including the best sellers Second Acts, Die Broke, and Lifescripts, as well as hundreds of magazine articles. He lives Ithaca, New York, and is a member of the Authors Guild.
Secret messages, encoded predictions, cryptic clues — never have cryptogram puzzles been so popular, fueled by phenomena like The Da Vinci Code and Bible Code. From award-winning cryptographer and game developer Elonka Dunin, here is a major new collection of brain teasing cryptograms and other enciphered challenges to satisfy every level of puzzle aficionado. The Mammoth Book of Secret Codes and Cryptograms contains over 400 encoded puzzles, ranging from easy substitution puzzles and messages or quotations in code where each letter stands for another, to fiendishly difficult ciphers. This book also includes helpful tips and pointers, plus famous unsolved real-world cryptograms like the Dorabella cipher, Kryptos fourth section, Zodiac killer ciphers, Linear A, and Rongorongo script to ensure that the challenge never ends.
An all-encompassing, chronological guide to football's World Cup, one of the world's few truly international events, in good time for the June 2018 kick-off in Russia. From its beginnings in 1930 to the modern all-singing, all-dancing self-styled 'greatest show on Earth', every tournament is covered with features on major stars and great games, as well as stories about some less celebrated names and quirky stats and intriguing essays. Holt's focus is very much on what takes place on the field, rather than how football is a mirror for economic corruption, or how a nation's style of play represents a profound statement about its people, or how a passion for football can lift underpaid, socially marginalised people out of poverty. From the best World Cups, in 1958 and 1970, to the worst, in 1962 and 2010, he looks behind the facts and the technical observations to the stories: the mysterious sins of omission; critical injuries to key players; and coaching U-turns. He explains how England's World Cup achievements under Sven-Göran Eriksson, far from being a national disgrace, were actually quite impressive, and looks at why Alf Ramsey didn't take Bobby Charlton off in 1970, but this is no parochial, jingoistic account. The book also asks why Brazil did not contribute in 1966, despite having won the previous two tournaments and going on to win the next one? Why the greatest players of their day did not always shine at the World Cup - George Best and Alfredo Di Stefano, for example, never even made it to the Finals. Why did Johann Cruyff not go to the 1978 World Cup? And why did one of Germany's greatest players never play in the World Cup? There are lots of tables, some filled with obvious, but necessary information, but others with more quirky observations. Alongside accounts of epic games, there are also brief biographies of all the great heroes of the World Cup.
