The biography of Israel Potter created a sensation when it was first published. Potter's tale was so strange and compelling that Herman Melville later made it his own in fiction. But no one has ever known Potter's true-life tale, which was hidden for more than two hundred years. Beggarman, Spy brings the truth out of the shadows of history with grace and vengeance. It makes a great adventure into an even greater story.
Forgery, larceny, perjury, bigamy and infamy: it's all here. The Telegraph Book of Scandal collects the paper's reporting on the most outrageous events and individuals in its 160-year history. From Oscar Wilde's trial to the Profumo affair, the unmasking of Anthony Blunt as a Soviet spy, right through to their searing coverage of the expenses scandal; corrupt politicians, sex-crazed singers, murderous dictators and shady businessmen alike will be named and shamed. Tapping into the universal desire for 'something sensational to read on the train', and using the same addictive editorial structive as the bestselling Thinker, Failure, Soldier, Jailer, this book will be perfect for anyone looking for an irreverent, surprising and sometimes tragic alternative history of the two centuries.
“The ghostly figure of Nora MacDermott, who looked like a fine summer mist to an observer’s eye, watched from amongst the trees. This had been her home, still was her home, as her spirit would dwell in the four walls of this cottage for eternity.” Nora was a poor Irish girl in the 19th century who was destined to live as the dutiful wife to a domineering husband. Unable to speak much English and without her own money, she remained unhappily in Beggarman’s Cottage, so-called by later generations as it becomes a place of shelter for the homeless. In the spring of 1967, Alison takes refuge in the cottage from her similarly abusive husband, who spends his money on alcohol and refuses to allow his wife to work. Nora watches on, bound to the dilapidated cottage, as Alison begins to take steps to free herself and her young son Connor from her husband Graham’s control. Vivienne Dockerty vividly recreates the landscape of her own childhood on the Wirral and crafts a spooky tale that will satisfy fans of ghost stories and historical fiction alike.
Melville: Fashioning in Modernity considers all of the major fiction with a concentration on lesser-known work, and provides a radically fresh approach to Melville, focusing on: clothing as socially symbolic; dress, power and class; the transgressive nature of dress; inappropriate clothing; the meaning of uniform; the multiplicity of identity that dress may represent; anxiety and modernity. The representation of clothing in the fiction is central to some of Melville's major themes; the relation between private and public identity, social inequality and how this is maintained; the relation between power, justice and authority; the relation between the "civilized" and the "savage." Frequently clothing represents the malleability of identity (its possibilities as well as its limitations), represents writing itself, as well as becoming indicative of the crisis of modernity. Clothing also becomes a trope for Melville's representations of authorship and of his own scene of writing. Melville: Fashioning in Modernity also encompasses identity in transition, making use of the examination of modernity by theorists such as Anthony Giddens, as well as on theories of figures such as the dandy. In contextualizing Melville's interest in clothing, a variety of other works and writers is considered; works such as Robinson Crusoe and The Scarlet Letter, and novelists such as Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Henry James, Jack London, and George Orwell. The book has at its core a consideration of the scene of writing and the publishing history of each text.
An accusation of attempted murder rudely interrupted Mary Arnold’s dalliances with working men and her extensive shopping sprees. When her husband Benedict fell deathly ill and then asserted she had tried to kill him with poison, the result was a dramatic petition for divorce. The case before the Rhode Island General Assembly and its tumultuous aftermath, during which Benedict died, made Mary a cause célèbre in Newport through the winter of 1738 and 1739. Elaine Forman Crane invites readers into the salacious domestic life of Mary and Benedict Arnold and reveals the seamy side of colonial Newport. The surprise of The Poison Plot, however, is not the outrageous acts of Mary or the peculiar fact that attempted murder was not a convictable offense in Rhode Island. As Crane shows with style, Mary’s case was remarkable precisely because adultery, criminality and theft, and even spousal homicide were well known in the New England colonies. Assumptions of Puritan propriety are overturned by the facts of rough and tumble life in a port city: money was to be made, pleasure was to be had, and if marriage became an obstacle to those pursuits a woman had means to set things right. The Poison Plot is an intimate drama constructed from historical documents and informed by Crane’s deep knowledge of elite and common life in Newport. Her keen eye for telling details and her sense of story bring Mary, Benedict, and a host of other characters—including her partner in adultery, Walter Motley, and John Tweedy the apothecary who sold Mary toxic drugs—to life in the homes, streets, and shops of the port city. The result is a vivid tale that will change minds about life in supposedly prim and proper New England.
The acclaimed combat historian and author of The Unknowns details the history of the Marbleheaders and their critical role in the Revolutionary War. On the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The British had trapped George Washington’s army against the East River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. One of the country’s first diverse units, they pulled off an “American Dunkirk” and saved the army by navigating the treacherous river to Manhattan. At the right time in the right place, the Marbleheaders, a group of white, black, Hispanic, and Native American soldiers, repeatedly altered the course of events, and their story shines new light on our understanding of the American Revolution. As historian Patrick K. O’Donnell recounts, beginning nearly a decade before the war started, Marbleheaders such as Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne spearheaded the break with Britain and helped shape the United States through governing, building alliances, seizing British ships, forging critical supply lines, and establishing the origins of the US Navy. The Marblehead Regiment, led by John Glover, became truly indispensable. Marbleheaders battled at Lexington and on Bunker Hill and formed the elite Guard that protected George Washington, foreshadowing today’s Secret Service. Then the special operations–like regiment, against all odds, conveyed 2,400 of Washington’s men across the ice-filled Delaware River on Christmas night of 1776, delivering the surprise attack on Trenton that changed the course of history . . . The Marbleheaders’ story, never fully told before now, makes The Indispensables a vital addition to the literature of the American Revolution. Praise for The Indispensables “Perfectly paced and powerfully wrought, this is the story of common men who gave everything for an ideal—America. The product of meticulous research, The Indispensables is the perfect reminder of who we are, when we need it most.” —Adam Makos, author of the New York Times bestseller A Higher Call “O’Donnell’s gift for storytelling brings the once famous regiment back to life, as he takes readers from the highest war councils to the grime and grit of battle.” —Dr. James Lacey, author of The Washington War “Comprehensive . . . Revolutionary War buffs will delight in the copious details and vivid battle scenes.” —Publishers Weekly “A vivid account of an impressive Revolutionary War unit and a can’t-miss choice for fans of O’Donnell’s previous books.” —Kirkus Review
Two books in one: Irwin Shaw’s bestselling Rich Man, Poor Man and Beggarman, Thief chronicle one family’s struggle with the forces of change after WWII. In Rich Man, Poor Man, siblings Rudy, Tom, and Gretchen Jordache grow up in a small town on the Hudson River. They’re in their teens in the 1940s, too young to go to war but marked by it nevertheless. Their father is the local baker, and nothing suggests they will live storied lives. Yet, in this sprawling saga, each member of the family pushes against the grain of history and confronts the perils and pleasures of a world devastated by conflict and transformed by American commerce and culture. In Beggarman, Thief, the Jordache family reunites after a terrible act of violence. Wesley never really knew his father, Tom, the black sheep of the Jordache family. Driven by his sorrow and a need for justice, Wesley uncovers surprising truths about his estranged family’s complicated past. An important voice in twentieth-century American literature, Irwin Shaw has been called “one of the great storytellers” by bestselling author William Goldman, for his ability to take readers on a gripping ride from World War II to Vietnam and beyond.
The first serious investigation of criminal offending by members of the British armed forces both during and immediately after the two world wars of the twentieth century.
While providing critical reflections on the work across generations of enthusiasts, this is the first book exclusively dedicated to John le Carré’s 1974 novel and its adaptations in radio, TV, and film. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy stands among the most reproduced espionage tales of all time, with adaptations in television, radio, and film. Histories, Adaptations, and Legacies of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a collection of essays by international experts who each provides an account of the story’s currency across generations of audiences and scholars. Fans of the late John le Carré and the espionage genre will find here a comprehensive guidebook to the novel and its adaptations. Scholars, students, and amateur investigators alike will discover important historical, thematic, and theoretical ideas to explore and interrogate. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is a complex tale of the espionage trade and its crew of motley eccentrics. This collection decodes its puzzles, riddles, and enigmas regarding secrecy, betrayal, ethics, and survival in the context of the United Kingdom’s place in the post-Second World War global order. A comprehensive guide for amateurs and an in-depth study of the novel’s histories, legacies, and approaches for students and scholars.
