Simon Prebble

It is Christmastime, 1914, and World War I rages. A young French soldier named Pierre who had quietly left his regiment to visit his family for two days is imprisoned when he returns. Now he faces execution for desertion, and as he waits in isolation, he meditates on big questions: the nature of patriotism, the horrors of war, the joys of friendship, the love of family, and how, even in times of danger, there is a whole world inside every one of us-and...

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the aging Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil roads of London, they are drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained...

At the dawn of the nineteenth century, two very different magicians emerge to change England's history. In the year 1806, with the Napoleonic Wars raging on land and sea, most people believe magic to be long dead in England until the reclusive Mr. Norrell reveals his powers, and becomes a celebrity overnight. Yet the cautious, fussy Norrell is challenged by the emergence of another magician, the brilliant novice Jonathan Strange. Young, handsome,...

"It's back to Corduroy Mansions--the slightly dilapidated but well-lived-in mansion block in London's hip Pimlico neighborhood--for the third installment in Alexander McCall Smith's newest popular series. There's never a dull moment for the residents of Corduroy Mansions: Berthea Snark is still at work on her scathing biography of the only loathsome Liberal Democrat member of Parliament--her own son, Oedipus; literary agents Rupert Porter and Barbara...

The story of a bold, beautiful woman with a scandalous past and a battle-hardened, sinfully wealthy, completely unstoppable man who must join forces to fight a deadly foe known only as the Black Cobra, and who must also confront the dangers of the heart.

Terence Moongrove's estate is turned upside down by the cosmological experiments of two New Age operators, while literary agent Barbara Ragg takes on a companion of the Abominable Snowman and Pimlico terrier Freddie de la Hay is recruited by MI6.

On Lansdown Hill, near Bath, England, a battle between Roundheads and Cavaliers that took place over 350 years ago is annually reenacted. Two of the reenactors discover a skeleton that is female, headless, and only about twenty years old. One of them, a professor who played a Cavalier, is later found murdered. In the course of his investigation, Peter Diamond butts heads with the group of vigilantes who call themselves the Lansdown Society, discovering...

Scotland Yard's Ian Rutledge must contend with two dangerous enemies in this latest complex mystery in the New York TimesLondon, summer 1920. An unidentified body appears to have been run down by a motorcar and Ian Rutledge is leading the investigation to uncover what happened. While the signs point to murder, vital questions remain: Who is the victim? And where, exactly, was he killed?One small clue leads Rutledge to a firm built by two families,...

A science fiction story about a young man who encounters an eccentric scientist on a lonely island, which leads to terror and a fight for survival.

Discusses the Titanic, including its design, how the ship sank, the passengers onboard, and why the ship's legacy lives on.