Böcker av Alex Preston

As Kingfishers Catch Fire: Birds and Books is an illustrated and visually stunning exploration of birds in literature, from Ovid to Ted Hughes.

In Love and War weaves fact and fiction to create a sweeping portrait of a city at war. The novel is told through the eyes, letters and journals of Esmond Lowndes, who comes to Italy a lost and lonely young man in the shadow of his politician father. Through his friendships with a striking cast of contemporary characters, from the poet Ezra Pound to Alice Keppel, a former royal mistress, Esmond begins to leave his early disappointments behind him. On the cobbles of Florence's many-storied streets, he deepens his appreciation of art and literature, and falls in love.With the coming of war, Esmond finds himself stranded in a city of enemies, hunted by the malevolent Mario Carita, head of the Fascist secret police. He retreats into the hills above Florence, taking with him a painting that has come to assert a profound hold over him. When the Nazis arrive, Esmond is drawn into Giustizia e Liberta, the Resistance movement, and is soon helping to spirit refugees to safety, to hide the city's Jews. With his lover, Ada, at his side, he is at the centre of assassination plots, shoot-outs and car chases, culminating in a final mission of extraordinary daring.In Love and War is a novel that will take you deep into the secret heart of history, meticulously researched and full of period detail. It is a novel of art and letters, of bawdy raconteurs and dashing spies. With Esmond Lowndes you will see the beauty of Florence as never before, and feel the horror of war as it sweeps over the city's terracotta rooftops. Inspired by a host of real-life stories, In Love and War is both epic and intimate, harrowing and heartwarming.

Charlie Wales is a young man who wants everything. Fresh from University he's seduced by the excitement of a new life in London that promises sex, sophistication and lots of money. There's Vero, the beautiful French girlwho might finally fall for him. Unemployed, there's the lure of art but also the promise of fast money in the City. And his friends are all spiralling into a world of drink, drugs and selfish greed. But as the choices begin to tear him apart, there's also the danger that all the things he desires are on the brink of crashing around him... This debut novel, written by a 30-year-old bond trader, does not merely pick over the carcass of the financial markets in the wake of the recent crash. It is also a heartbreaking love story, a withering study of the years of excess, and a touching contemplation of how good people end up doing terrible things.