Winner of the Mail on Sunday/John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.A magnificent achievement and an engrossing experience, David Mitchell's first novel announced the arrival of one of the most exciting writers of the twenty-first century. An apocalyptic cult member carries out a gas attack on a rush-hour metro, but what links him to a jazz buff in downtown Tokyo? Or to a Mongolian gangster, a woman on a holy mountain who talks to a tree, and a late night New York DJ?Set at the fugitive edges of Asia and Europe, Ghostwritten weaves together a host of characters, their interconnected destinies determined by the inescapable forces of cause and effect.
History is being made and Miles Lord has a ringside seat. The people of Russia have voted to bring back the tsar, a ruler to be selected from the distant relatives of Nicholas II, who was murdered along with the rest of the Romanov family in 1918. Miles has been asked to run a background check on one of the candidates. But excitement turns to terror when Miles is nearly killed by gunmen. Suddenly, he is racing across continents with only a cryptic utterance by Rasputin, made at the time of the Romanov massacre, as his guide. The implications of this prophecy are earth-shattering -- not only for the future tsar and mother Russia, but for Miles himself.
WINNER OF THE 2016 EDWARD STANFORD ADVENTURE TRAVEL BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD'Levison Wood has breathed new life into adventure travel.' Michael Palin'Levison Wood is a great adventurer and a wonderful storyteller.' Sir Ranulph Fiennes'Britain's best-loved adventurer... he looks like a man who will stare danger in the face and soak up a lot of pain without complaint.' The TimesFollowing in in the footsteps of the great explorers, WALKING THE HIMALAYAS is Levison Wood's enthralling account of crossing the Himalayas on foot. His journey of discovery along the path of the ancient trade route of the Silk Road to the forgotten kingdom of Bhutan led him beyond the safety of the tourist trail. There lies the real world of the Himalayas, where ex-paratrooper Levison Wood encountered natural disasters, extremists, nomadic goat herders, shamans (and the Dalai Lama) in his 1,700-mile trek across the roof of the world. WALKING THE HIMALAYAS is a tale of courage, stamina and the kindness of strangers that will appeal to the adventurer in us all.
Turn down Slade Alley - narrow, dank and easy to miss, even when you're looking for it. Find the small black iron door set into the right-hand wall. No handle, no keyhole, but at your touch it swings open. Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn't quite make sense; too grand for the shabby neighbourhood, too large for the space it occupies. A stranger greets you and invites you inside. At first, you won't want to leave. Later, you'll find that you can't.This unnerving, taut and intricately woven tale by one of our most original and bewitching writers begins in 1979 and comes to its turbulent conclusion around Hallowe'en, 2015. Because every nine years, on the last Saturday of October, a 'guest' is summoned to Slade House. But why has that person been chosen, by whom and for what purpose? The answers lie waiting in the long attic, at the top of the stairs . . .
From Jennifer L. Armentrout, author of the Covenant series, comes the stunning, hotly-anticipated climax to the New York Times bestselling Lux series. Also includes Shadows, the prequel novella to the series. Katy knows the world changed the night the Luxen came. She can't believe Daemon welcomed his race or stood by as his kind threatened to obliterate every last human and hybrid on Earth. But the lines between good and bad have blurred.Daemon will do anything to save those he loves, even if it means betrayal. But when it quickly becomes impossible to tell friend from foe, and the world is crumbling around them, they may lose everything to ensure the survival of their friends...and mankind.War has come to Earth. And no matter the outcome, the future will never be the same for those left standing.
Madison Daniels has worshipped her brother's best friend since they were kids. Everyone thinks she and Chase Gamble would make the perfect couple, but there are two major flaws in their logic. 1) Chase has sworn off relationships of any kind, and 2) after blurring the line between friends and lovers for one night four years ago, they can't stop bickering.Forced together for her brother's wedding getaway, Chase and Madison decide to call a truce for the happy couple. Except all bets are off when they're forced to shack up in a tacky 70's honeymoon suite and survive a multitude of "e;accidents"e; as the family tries to prove their "e;spark"e; can be used than for more than fighting. That is, if they don't strangle each other first...
"e;Before I started juicing, I was overweight and on medication to treat an autoimmune disease. By drinking only fresh vegetable and fruit juices while making my film, Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead, I lost the weight, got off those drugs and started feeling better than ever! To keep healthy and happy today, I drink a lot of juice and eat a balanced diet centred on fruit s and vegetables -this book will help you feel great too!"e;JOE CROSSThe Reboot with Joe Juice Diet Recipe Book includes healthy inspiration for your kitchen with Joe's favourite Reboot recipes to help you feel more energised than ever. Includes recipes for- Juices- Smoothies- Salads- Soups- Snacks- Main dishesA Reboot diet - a time of drinking and eating only fruits and vegetables - is a perfect way to power up your system and lose weight, increase your energy levels and think more clearly. And when you consume juice, your system is flooded with an abundance of vitamins, minerals and nutrients to help your body stay strong and fight disease. Take control of your diet and improve your health with The Reboot with Joe Juice Diet Recipe Book.
What can you do to make the world a better place?Libby and her husband Jason have moved back to his hometown to turn the family B&B into a boutique hotel. They have left London behind and all the memories - good and bad - that went with it.The injured woman Libby finds lying in the remote country road has lost her memory. She doesn't know why she came to be there, and no one seems to be looking for her. When Libby offers to take her in, this one small act of kindness sets in motion a chain of events that will change many people's lives . . .'A beautifully written story about friendship, trust and love. I adored it.' - Milly Johnson A perfect summer read for fans of Jojo Moyes and Katie Fforde.
Graham Hancock, an expert in ancient civilisations and author of the 9 million selling Fingerprints of the Gods, and expert too, on the use of hallucinogens to achieve higher states of consciousness, brings these two interests together in the second volume of the War God trilogy. The conquistador Hern n Cort s is dreaming of Tenochtitlan, the golden city of Aztecs. But in order to win the Aztecs' gold, Cort s and his small force of just five hundred men will have to defeat the psychotic emperor Moctezuma and the armies of hundreds of thousands he commands. Cort s expects that the Tlascalans, hereditary enemies of the Aztecs, will join him, but instead finds himself locked in a deadly struggle. As Cort s risks all against the Tlascalans, he plays mind games with Moctezuma, aiming to defeat the Aztec emperor psychologically before ever having to face him in battle. In this he is aided by his lover Malinal, a beautiful Mayan princess. It is from Malinal that Cort s learns of the myth of Quetzalcoatl, 'The Plumed Serpent'. She shows him how to exploit the prophecy of the fabled god king's return to weaken Moctezuma's resolve and keep alive the suspicion that the conquistador might actually be Quetzalcoatl himself.
THE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER.The twenty third instalment of the NUMBER ONE BESTSELLING DCI Banks Series. The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong. - Stephen KingTwo young girls.Two unspeakable crimes.Fifty years separate them - their pain connects them.When the body of a 15-year-old is found in a remote countryside lane, beaten and broken, DI Annie Cabbot is brought in to investigate how the child could possibly have fallen victim to such brutality.Newly promoted Detective Superintendent Alan Banks is faced with a case that is as cold as they come. Now in her 60s, Linda Palmer was attacked aged 14 by celebrity entertainer Danny Caxton, yet the crime has never been investigated - until now.As each steps closer to uncovering the truth, they'll unearth secrets much darker than they ever could have guessed . . .
If you love the Strikeback series, pre-order the thrilling new book, Red Strike, now. Coming February 2019.John Porter, hero of the original Strikeback novel and TV series returns in an exciting adventure, when old enemies attack the SAS. 1999. A bitterly cold morning in the Brecon Beacons, and the soldiers trying out for SAS Selection are preparing to face their toughest test yet. Overseeing the soldiers is John Porter: once a promising young Blade, now a broken man and a drunk, seeing out his days in the Regiment Training Wing. But before the Fan Dance can begin, six masked gunmen carry out a devastating attack. Dozens of soldiers are killed. In the aftermath of the massacre, and with a government desperate for action, Porter and another surviving operator, John Bald, are taken to a secretive briefing in London. Their orders - to hunt down and kill those responsible for the attack. What follows is a deadly game of kill or be killed as Bald and Porter lead a Strike Team across Europe on a blood-soaked mission of revenge. But as they draw closer to their ultimate target, the men discover that there is a greater threat - much closer to home...
LONGLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2014The artist Harriet Burden, furious at the lack of attention paid her by the New York art world, conducts an experiment: she hides her identity behind three male fronts in a series of exhibitions. Their success seems to prove her point, but there's a sting in the tail - when she unmasks herself, not everyone believes her. Then her last collaborator meets a bizarre end. In this mesmerising tour de force, Burden's story emerges after her death through a variety of sources, including her (not entirely reliable) journals and the testimonies of her children, lover and a dear friend. Each account is different, however, and the mysteries multiply.
End of Days is the explosive conclusion to Susan Ee's bestselling Penryn & the End of Days trilogy.After a daring escape from the angels, Penryn and Raffe are on the run. They're both desperate to find a doctor who can reverse the twisted changes inflicted by the angels on Raffe and Penryn's sister. As they set off in search of answers, a startling revelation about Raffe's past unleashes dark forces that threaten them all. When the angels release an apocalyptic nightmare onto humans, both sides are set on a path toward war. As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Forced to pick sides in the fight for control of the earthly realm, Raffe and Penryn must choose: Their own kind, or each other? 'Addictive. Seriously and completely addictive.' Glamour
'Robyn Young realistically evokes the brutal world of the late fifteenth century, and interweaves a gripping tale with a highly original take on Richard III and the Princes in the Tower. Provocative and grounded upon impressive research, this is historical fiction of a high calibre. More, please!' Alison Weir1483: A secret war is born...Jack Wynter is trapped in sun-baked Seville, sent there by his father with a locked box he's been told to guard with his life. A vital task, or just a ruse to get an illegitimate son out of the country?But, then, when his father is arrested for treason, Jack finds himself at the heart of a deadly conspiracy. Seeking answers to the mystery he has inherited, Jack returns to England, where his half-brother, Harry, broods bitterly over their father's apparent preference for a bastard son and young Prince Edward is due to become king... unless his uncle, Richard of Gloucester, makes a play for the throne. Jack Wynter is coming home, to a realm of danger, intrigue and war. Somehow, he is connected to a secret that stretches across Europe, and beyond. A secret with the power to kill him - or make him.Sons of the Blood is the first in an epic new series from the Sunday Times bestselling author. Look out for part two, Court of Wolves.
The incredible and heartwarming sequel to the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob'Close proximity to animals does wonders for your mental health. Close proximity to this book will do wonders for it, too.' (Daily Mail)* * * * * * *'Since Bob has appeared, I've made huge strides in my life. For more than a decade I was a homeless drug addict. I was lost to the world and had forgotten what was important in life. Now I've got myself back on my two feet, but as I put the past behind me, I'm still stepping unsteadily into the future. I still need help in the right direction. Bob is always there to offer guidance and friendship.' (James, on Bob)James and his street cat Bob have been on a remarkable journey together. In the years since their story ended in the bestselling A Street Cat Named Bob, James, with Bob's help, has begun to find his way back to the real world.Almost every day, Bob provides moments of intelligence, bravery and humour, at the same time opening his human friend's eyes to important truths about friendship, loyalty, trust - and the meaning of happiness. In The World According to Bob, the continuing tale of their life together, James shows the many ways in which Bob has been his protector and guardian angel through times of illness, hardship, even life-threatening danger. As they high five together for their crowds of admirers, James knows that the tricks he's taught Bob are nothing compared to the lessons he's learnt from his street-wise cat.For more stories from James and Bob's adventures, don't miss The Little Book of Bob, a pocket-friendly compilation of wisdom from the world's favourite street-wise cat.
A must-read for fans of Rachel Joyce's The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry and Maria Semple's Where'd You Go, BernadetteHeartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure, by the author of the New York Times bestselling phenomenon A Man Called Ove will charm and delight anyone who has ever had a grandmother. Everyone remembers the smell of their grandmother's house. Everyone remembers the stories their grandmother told them.But does everyone remember their grandmother flirting with policemen? Driving illegally?Breaking into a zoo in the middle of the night? Firing a paintball gun from a balcony in her dressing gown?Seven-year-old Elsa does.Some might call Elsa's granny 'eccentric', or even 'crazy'. Elsa calls her a superhero. And granny's stories, of knights and princesses and dragons and castles, are her superpower. Because, as Elsa is starting to learn, heroes and villains don't always exist in imaginary kingdoms; they could live just down the hallway.As Christmas draws near, even the best superhero grandmothers may have one or two things they'd like to apologise for. And, in the process, Elsa can have some breath-taking adventures of her own . . .
We first met Flavia Albia, Falco's feisty adopted daughter, in The Ides of April. Albia is a remarkable woman in what is very much a man's world: young, widowed and fiercely independent, she lives alone on the Aventine Hill in Rome and makes a good living as a hired investigator. An outsider in more ways than one, Albia has unique insight into life in ancient Rome, and she puts it to good use going places no man could go, and asking questions no man could ask.Even as the dust settles from her last case, Albia finds herself once again drawn into a web of lies and intrigue. Two mysterious deaths at a local villa may be murder and, as the household slaves are implicated, Albia is once again forced to involve herself. Her fight is not just for truth and justice, however; this time, she's also battling for the very lives of people who can't fight for themselves.Enemies at Home presents Ancient Rome as only Lindsey Davis can, offering wit, intrigue, action and the further adventures of a brilliant new heroine who promises to be as celebrated as Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina, her fictional predecessors.
In the last years of the millennium, Michael Lewis, bestselling author of The Big Short and The Undoing Project, sets out to find the world's most important technology entrepreneur, the man who embodies the spirit of the coming age. He finds him in Jim Clark, the billionaire who founded Netscape and Silicon Graphics and who now aims to turn the healthcare industry on its head with his new billion-dollar project. Lewis accompanies Clark on the maiden voyage of his vast yacht and, on the sometimes hazardous journey, takes the reader on the ride of a lifetime through a landscape of geeks and billionaires. Through every brilliant anecdote and funny character sketch, Michael Lewis allows us an inside look at the world of the super-rich, whilst drawing a map of free enterprise in the twenty-first century.
Inspired more than thirty years ago by works as diverse as J R R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and the 'spaghetti westerns' of that time, the Dark Tower series is the backbone of Stephen King's legendary career. Eight books make up this bestselling fantasy series.THE DARK TOWER: THE COMPLETE CONCORDANCE is the definitive encyclopaedic reference book that will make navigating through the series an even more enjoyable reading experience for readers.With hundreds of characters, Mid-World geography, High Speech lexicon, and extensive cross-references, this comprehensive handbook is essential for any Dark Tower fan.This updated volume is an invaluable guide to all of Mid-World and one of Stephen King's most significant literary achievements.
Flavia Albia is the adopted daughter of a famous investigating family. In defiance of tradition, she lives alone on the colourful Aventine Hill, and battles out a solo career in a male-dominated world. As a woman and an outsider, Albia has special insight into the best, and worst, of life in ancient Rome. A female client dies in mysterious circumstances. Albia investigates and discovers there have been many other strange deaths all over the city, yet she is warned off by the authorities. The vigils are incompetent. The local magistrate is otherwise engaged, organising the Games of Ceres, notorious for its ancient fox-burning ritual. Even Albia herself is preoccupied with a new love affair: Andronicus, an attractive archivist, offers all that a love-starved young widow can want, even though she knows better than to take him home to meet the parents... As the festival progresses, her neighbourhood descends into mayhem and becomes the heartless killer's territory. While Albia and her allies search for him, he stalks them through familiar byways and brings murder ever closer to home. The Ides of April is vintage Lindsey Davis, offering wit, intrigue, action and a brilliant new heroine who promises to be as celebrated as Marcus Didius Falco and Helena Justina, her fictional predecessors.
'No one does it better than Grisham' - Telegraph A father's guilt. A son's redemption. Thirty years have passed since eleven-year-old Paul Tracy watched his troubled father, Warren, a pitcher for the New York Mets, clash with his childhood hero, the Cubs' golden-boy Joe Castle, in a contest from which no winners emerged.Now the news that his father is dying brings the memory of that day flooding back. Deciding that it's time to face up to what really happened on that baseball field in 1973, father and son make their way to Calico Rock, Arkansas, where either redemption or rejection awaits them.************ THE INNOCENT MAN by John Grisham is now a major six-part documentary series on Netflix ************What readers are saying about CALICO JOE'Hooked from start to finish' - 5 STARS'Riveting' - 5 STARS'A delicious meal of a book!' - 5 STARS
After their father's funeral, Erik and Inga Davidsen find a cryptic letter from an unknown woman among his papers, dating from his adolescence in rural Minnesota during the Depression. Returning to his psychiatric practice in New York, Erik sets about reading his father's memoir, hoping to discover the man he never fully understood. At the same time, another woman enters Erik's lonely, divorced life - a beautiful Jamaican who moves into his garden flat with her small daughter. As Erik gets drawn into the cat-and-mouse tactics of someone who appears to be stalking her, he finds out that his sister Inga is also being threatened, by a journalist in possession of a wounding secret from her past. A multi-layered novel that probes the mysteries of the heart and mind, THE SORROWS OF AN AMERICAN is compulsive, thought-provoking and profoundly affecting.
The perfect book for fans of serial killer thrillers and crime writers such as Peter James, Mark Billingham and Peter RobinsonHe didn't intend to let her get so closeBut Robert Naysmith's girlfriend Kim has become important to him. So he decides to tell her his deadly secret. He wants her to recognise the power he holds.He hopes he won't have to kill herDetective Inspector Harland hasn't forgotten the serial killer who got away from him. But with nothing to go on, he fears he will never bring him to justice.Until he is seconded to investigate the brutal murder of a woman in her Bristol home. A random attack, a murderer who has carefully covered his tracks . . . alarm bells start ringing.Then Harland meets Kim. One last game of life and death is about to begin.Praise for Fergus McNeil 'A chilling game of cat and mouse that should keep you awake long after bedtime. DI Harland is a welcome addition to the growing ranks of British detectives' Peter Robinson, bestselling author of the DCI Banks series 'Let's welcome Fergus McNeill to the ranks of British Crime fiction innovators; he has found a darker shade of noir' Quintin Jardine, bestselling author of the Constable Bob Skinner series 'Creepy, compelling and completely convincing' Erin Kelly, bestselling author of He Said/ She Said 'A gripping first novel' Irish Independent
City of love. City of splendour. City of terror. City of dreams.Inspired by the haunting, passionate story of the city of lights, this epic novel weaves a gripping tale of four families across the centuries: from the lies that spawn the noble line of de Cygne to the revolutionary Le Sourds who seek their destruction; from the Blanchards whose bourgeois respectability offers scant protection against scandal to the hard-working Gascons and their soaring ambitions. Over hundreds of years, these four families are bound by forbidden loves and marriages of convenience; dogged by vengeance and murderous secrets; torn apart by the irreconcilable differences of birth and faith, and brought together by the tumultuous history of their city. Paris bursts to life in the intrigue, corruption and glory of its people. Beloved author of Sarum, London and New York, Edward Rutherfurd illuminates Paris as only he can: capturing the romance and everyday drama of the men and women who, in two thousand years, transformed a humble trading post on the muddy banks of the Seine into the most celebrated city in the world.
Delia's Book of Cakes was first published in 1977, and such is the staying power of this 35-year-old phenomenon, it has never been out of print. Now, to celebrate its success, it has undergone a complete contemporary makeover. It still retains the much-loved favourites that have stood the test of time, but now alongside them there are new recipes, new ideas, new ingredients, and new and simpler methods. Over 90% of the recipes in the book have been tested gluten-free. From timeless classics like coffee and walnut sponge and old-fashioned cherry cake, to seasonal classice like Christmas and simnel cake, to exciting new recipes such as iced hidden strawberry cup cakes and chunky marmalade muffins, Delia brings her touch of baking magic to your kitchen. All this is as you would expect from Delia: easy accessible recipes, carefully tested, and utterly to be trusted. Quite simply - as then, so now - the only book of cakes you'll ever need is Delia's Cakes.
'Bright, breezy and unpretentious' Guardian'A loving and faithful portrait of Almina and her world' Countryfile magazine* * * * * *The story of the real Downton Abbey, told by Lady Fiona Carnarvon, chatelaine of Highclere Castle where the phenomentally successful TV series was filmed.Lady Fiona Carnarvon became the chatelaine of Highclere Castle - the setting of the hit series Downton Abbey - eight years ago. In that time she's become fascinated by the rich history of Highclere, and by the extraordinary people who lived there over the centuries. One person particularly captured Fiona's imagination - Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon. Almina was the illegitimate daughter of banking tycoon Alfred de Rothschild. She was his only daughter and he doted on her. She married the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, at 19, with an enormous dowry. At first, life at Highclere was a dizzying mix of sumptuous banquets for 500 and even the occasional royal visitor. Almina oversaw 80 members of staff - many of whom came from families who had worked at Highclere for generations. But when the First World War broke out, life at Highclere changed forever. History intervened and Almina and the staff of Highclere were thrown into one of the most turbulent times of the last century. Almina was forced to draw on her deepest reserves of courage in order to ensure her family, the staff and the castle survived. This is the remarkable story of a lost time. But Highclere remains and in this book, Fiona weaves Almina's journey and those of her family into the heritage and history of one of England's most exquisite Victorian castles.
The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. In this book, Dr Rupert Sheldrake, one of the world's most innovative scientists, shows that science is being constricted by assumptions that have hardened into dogmas. The sciences would be better off without them: freer, more interesting, and more fun. According to the dogmas of science, all reality is material or physical. The world is a machine, made up of dead matter. Nature is purposeless. Consciousness is nothing but the physical activity of the brain. Free will is an illusion. God exists only as an idea in human minds, imprisoned within our skulls. But should science be a belief-system, or a method of enquiry? Sheldrake shows that the materialist ideology is moribund; under its sway, increasingly expensive research is reaping diminishing returns. In the skeptical spirit of true science, Sheldrake turns the ten fundamental dogmas of materialism into exciting questions, and shows how all of them open up startling new possibilities.The Science Delusion will radically change your view of what is possible. and give you new hope for the world.
Handed a sacred scroll from Atlantis by a dying Tibetan monk, Marcus, Joanna and Helen are propelled into adventure as they race to get it translated and to follow its instructions. Because its contents hold the key to healing and empowering Earth and humanity, vested interests will stop at nothing to prevent the information from being revealed, and the lives of all three are endangered as their endeavours to protect and act on this information take them across the world, and to a final denouement in Machu Picchu, Peru. Diana Cooper weaves into her story profound elements of spiritual learning, as her characters reveal the seven Great Mysteries that are the spiritual laws of this planet, the illusions by which humans live, the symbols and sounds for unblocking interdimensional portals and the true purpose of Stonehenge and Machu Picchu.
WINNER OF THE ROMANTIC NOVELISTS' ASSOCIATION CONTEMPORARY ROMANTIC NOVEL AWARD, 2015.As heart wrenching and life-affirming as One Day or Me Before You, A HUNDRED PIECES OF ME is a story about what it means to finally live life to the full.Letters from the only man she's ever truly loved.A keepsake of the father she never really knew.A blue glass vase that catches the light on a grey day.Gina Bellamy is starting again, after a few years she'd rather forget. But the belongings she's treasured for so long don't seem to fit who she is now.So Gina makes a resolution. She'll keep just a hundred special items - the rest can go.But that means coming to terms with her past and learning to embrace the future, whatever it might bring . . .'Bittersweet, lovely and ultimately redemptive; the kind of book that makes you want to live your own life better.' Jojo Moyes'Such a brilliant book. So satisfying and clever and deeply moving. I'll be passing it on to all my friends.' Sophie Kinsella'This vibrant and uplifting novel has not only entertained me hugely, but made me change the way I look at life.' Katie Fforde
In MAFIA REPUBLIC, John Dickie, Professor of Italian Studies at University College, London and author of the international bestsellers COSA NOSTRA and MAFIA BROTHERHOODS, shows how the Italian mafias have grown in power and become more and more interconnected, with terrifying consequences. In 1946, Italy became a democratic Republic, thereby entering the family of modern western nations. But deep within Italy there lurked a forgotten curse: three major criminal brotherhoods, whose methods had been honed over a century of experience. As Italy grew, so did the mafias. Sicily's Cosa Nostra, the camorra from Naples, and the mysterious 'ndrangheta from Calabria stood ready to enter the wealthiest and bloodiest period of their long history.Italy made itself rich by making scooters, cars and handbags. The mafias carved out their own route to wealth through tobacco smuggling, construction, kidnapping and narcotics. And as criminal business grew exponentially, the mafias grew not just more powerful, but became more interconnected.By the 1980s, Southern Italy was on the edge of becoming a narco-state. The scene was set for a titanic confrontation between heroic representatives of the law, and mafiosi who could no longer tolerate any obstacle to their ambitions. This was a war for Italy's future as a civilized country. At its peak in 1992-93, the 'ndrangheta was beheading people in the street, and the Sicilian mafia murdered its greatest enemies, investigating magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, before embarking on a major terrorist bombing campaign on the Italian mainland.Today, the long shadow of mafia history still hangs over a nation wracked by debt, political paralysis, and widespread corruption. While police put their lives on the line every day, one of Silvio Berlusconi's ministers said that Italy had to 'learn to live with the mafia'; suspicions of mafia involvement still surround some of the country's most powerful media moguls and politicians. The latest investigations show that its reach is astonishing: it controls much of Europe's wholesale cocaine trade, and representatives from as far away as Germany, Canada and Australia come to Calabria to seek authorisation for their affairs. Just when it thought it had finally contained the mafia threat, Italy is now discovering that it harbours the most global criminal network of them all.The Financial Times described John Dickie's MAFIA BROTHERHOODS as 'Powered by the sort of muscular prose that one associates with great detective fiction' and in MAFIA REPUBLIC John Dickie again marries outstanding scholarship with compelling storytelling.
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