Agatha Christie’s ingenious mystery thriller, reissued with a striking new cover designed to appeal to the latest generation of Agatha Christie fans and book lovers. Lucy Angkatell invited Hercule Poirot to lunch. To tease the great detective, her guests stage a mock murder beside the swimming pool.Unfortunately, the victim plays the scene for real. As his blood drips into the water, John Christow gasps one final word: ‘Henrietta’. In the confusion, a gun sinks to the bottom ...
A man returns from the dead, and the body of a mysterious stranger is found in his room… A few weeks after marrying an attractive young widow, Gordon Cloade is tragically killed by a bomb blast in the London blitz. Overnight, the former Mrs Underhay finds herself in sole possession of the Cloade family fortune. Shortly afterwards, Hercule Poirot receives a visit from the dead man’s sister-in-law who claims she has been warned by ‘spirits’ that Mrs Underhay’s first husband is ...
A strange house A ghost from the past As soon as she moves into Hillside, Gwenda knows there’s something strange about this house. A sealed room. A hidden door.The apparition of a young woman being strangled. But strangest of all – this all seems quite familiar. As her friend Jane Marple investigates, the answer seems to lie in a crime committed nearly twenty years ago.The killer may have gotten away with murder. But Miss Marple is never far behind. Never underestimate Miss M...
A charity murder game at a Devon house turns into the real thing… Sir George and Lady Stubbs, the hosts of a village fête, hit upon the novel idea of staging a mock murder mystery. In good faith, Ariadne Oliver, the well known crime writer, agrees to organise their murder hunt. Despite weeks of meticulous planning, at the last minute Ariadne calls her friend Hercule Poirot for his expert assistance.Instinctively, she senses that something sinister is about to happen… Beware –...
A woman is killed by a poisoned dart in the enclosed confines of a commercial passenger plane… From seat No.9, Hercule Poirot was ideally placed to observe his fellow air passengers. Over to his right sat a pretty young woman, clearly infatuated with the man opposite; ahead, in seat No.13, sat a Countess with a poorly-concealed cocaine habit; across the gangway in seat No.8, a detective writer was being troubled by an aggressive wasp. What Poirot did not yet realize was that ...
A letter from beyond the grave One last request An unsolvable crime When Miss Marple receives a letter from the recently deceased millionaire Jason Rafiel, she’s not sure what to make of it. Knowing her deductive skills, he challenges her to solve a crime. If she does so, she will inherit £20,000.The only problem is that he has failed to mention who was involved, or where, and when the crime was committed. Jane Marple is intrigued. Never underestimate Miss Marple ‘Sorry Poiro...
At an apparently respectable dinner party, a vicar is the first to die… Thirteen guests arrived at dinner at the actor’s house. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died. But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison – just as Poirot had predicted.Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive…...
A dentist lies murdered at his Harley Street practice… The dentist was found with a blackened hole below his right temple. A pistol lay on the floor near his outflung right hand. Later, one of his patients was found dead from a lethal dose of local anaesthetic.A clear case of murder and suicide. But why would a dentist commit a crime in the middle of a busy day of appointments? A shoe buckle holds the key to the mystery. Now – in the words of the rhyme – can Poirot pick up th...
Time to bury the hatchet…In a dead man’s sister There are certain things that are best left unsaid. Though tragedy had touched the life of the wealthy Richard Abernethie, his sudden death seemed pretty unremarkable for a man of his age. So why would his sister wait until his funeral to say he had been murdered? When she is savagely killed with a hatchet the next day, her extraordinary remark suddenly takes on a chilling significance.In desperation, the family solicitor turns ...
Fully revised Second Edition. With a new Introduction and Bibliography by Dick Collins. The exploits of Sweeney Todd, ‘The Demon Barber of Fleet Street’, have been recounted many times in plays, films and musicals, but the origins of the character largely were forgotten for many years. The String of Pearls - the original tale of Sweeney Todd, a classic of British horror - was first published as a weekly serial in 1846-7 by Edward Lloyd, the King of the Penny Dreadfuls. One of...
With an Introduction by Alex Dolby. Translation by W.H.G. Kingston.Jules Verne (1828-1905) is internationally famous as the author of a distinctive series of adventure stories describing new travel technologies which opened up the world and provided means to escape from it. The collective enthusiasm of generations of readers of his 'extraordinary voyages' was a key factor in the rise of modern science fiction. In The Mysterious Island a group of men escape imprisonment during...
With an Introduction and Notes by Sara Haslam, Department of English, The Open University. The Good Soldier is a masterpiece of twentieth-century fiction, an inspiration for many later, distinguished writers, including Graham Greene. Set before the First World War, it tells the tale of two wealthy and sophisticated couples, one English, one American, as they travel, socialise, and take the waters in the spa towns of Europe. They are 'playing the game', in style. That game has...
Complete and unabridged, this title comes with a new Introduction by Cedric Watts, Research Professor of English, University of Sussex. James Joyce's astonishing masterpiece, "Ulysses", tells of the diverse events which befall Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus in Dublin on 16 June 1904, during which Bloom's voluptuous wife, Molly, commits adultery. Initially deemed obscene in England and the USA, this richly-allusive novel, revolutionary in its Modernistic experimentalism, wa...
With an Introduction by A. M. de Medeiros, University of Kent at Canterbury. A year after the publication of The Three Musketeers,/em>, Alexandre Dumas produced a sequel worthy in every respect of the original. In Twenty Years After the much beloved D'Artaganan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis reunite to fight the forces of evil. In the original novel they defeated Milady, a formidable foe; now they need to face her vengeful son Mordaunt, as well as countering the machinations of t...
This beautifully engineered glimpse into the world and works of Leonardo da Vinci is a spectacular 3-D celebration of one of the world’s most creative minds. Presented as if it were the master’s previously undiscovered private journal, it recreates his original notes, drawings and astonishing inventions.
With an introduction by Dr. Laurence Marlow. A spectre is haunting Europe (and the world). Not, in the twenty-first century, the spectre of communism, but the spectre of capitalism. Marx's prediction that the state would wither away of its own accord has proved inaccurate, and he did not foresee the tyrannies which have ruled large parts of the globe in his name. Indeed, he would have been appalled if he had witnessed them. But his analysis of the evils and dangers of raw cap...
With an Introduction and Notes by Scott Brewster, University of Central Lancashire. Wilkie Collins is a master of mystery, and The Woman in White is his first excursion into the genre. When the hero, Walter Hartright, on a moonlit night in north London, encounters a solitary, terrified and beautiful woman dressed in white, he feels impelled to solve the mystery of her distress. The intricate plot is peopled with a finely characterised cast, from the peevish invalid Mr Fairlie...
Chosen by Emma Watson for her feminist book club 'Our Shared Shelf''Women Who Run With The Wolves is a gift of profound insight, wisdom and love. An oracle from one who knows' Alice WalkerIn the classic Women Who Run With The Wolves, Clarissa Pinkola Estes tells us about the 'wild woman', the wise and ageless presence in the female psyche that gives women their creativity, energy and power. For centuries, the 'wild woman' has been repressed by a male-orientated value system w...
Concluding the story of The Hobbit, this is the final part of Tolkien’s epic masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings, featuring a striking black cover based on Tolkien’s own design, the definitive text, and a detailed map of Middle-earth.The armies of the Dark Lord Sauron are massing as his evil shadow spreads even wider. Men, Dwarves, Elves and Ents unite forces to do battle against the Dark. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam struggle further into Mordor, guided by the treacherous creatur...
Monumentalne dzieło z 400 wysokiej jakości fotografiami znakomitego artysty Adama Bujaka. Ukazuje światowej klasy polskie zabytki i unikatowe relikty pierwotnej przyrody. Prezentuje polskie obiekty umieszczone na prestiżowej liście Światowego Dziedzictwa Kulturalnego i Naturalnego UNESCO.Na zdjęciach zobaczymy m.in. wiekowe mury Krakowa, grę świateł w kryształach wielickiej soli, brodzące w śniegu białowieskie żubry, malowniczą Starówkę w Warszawie, kolorowe kamieniczki Zamoś...
Monumentalne dzieło z 400 wysokiej jakości fotografiami znakomitego artysty Adama Bujaka. Ukazuje światowej klasy polskie zabytki i unikatowe relikty pierwotnej przyrody. Prezentuje polskie obiekty umieszczone na prestiżowej liście Światowego Dziedzictwa Kulturalnego i Naturalnego UNESCO.Na zdjęciach zobaczymy m.in. wiekowe mury Krakowa, grę świateł w kryształach wielickiej soli, brodzące w śniegu białowieskie żubry, malowniczą Starówkę w Warszawie, kolorowe kamieniczki Zamoś...
Unikatowe opracowanie zagadnień filmu religijnego (od 1897 r. po rok 2006). Pierwsza na świecie tego typu Encyklopedia ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem tematyki polskiej. Dzieło powstałe na wyraźne zapotrzebowanie widzów i czytelników po ogromnym sukcesie rynkowym i medialnym wydanej przez Białego Kruka dwa lata temu „Encyklopedii kina”. Autorami haseł są wybitni specjaliści w dziedzinie filmu religijnego (50 osób!) z kilku krajów Europy i Ameryki. 2800 haseł, w tym ponad 165...
Książka jest dokumentem piśmienniczym, obszernym zazwyczaj zapisem wszelkiej ludzkiej myśli. Występuje w postaci wielostronicowej publikacji o określonej liczbie stron i trwałym charakterze.
Postać dzisiejszej książki drukowanej ma formę kodeksu będącego zbiorem kartek połączonych grzbietem. Taki sposób utrwalania zapisu w momencie upowszechnienia pergaminu zastąpił wcześniejszą formę dokumentu piśmienniczego, jakim był zwój.
Według definicji Słownika języka polskiego PWN książka jest złożonym oraz oprawionym arkuszem papieru zadrukowanym tekstem o charakterze literackim, użytkowym bądź naukowym. Jednak współcześnie definicja ta powinna zostać poszerzona o książki elektroniczne będące cyfrowym odpowiednikiem tych drukowanych. Do książek elektronicznych zaliczane są zarówno ebooki, jak i audiobooki. Treść utrwaloną w formie elektronicznej można odczytać za pomocą odpowiedniego oprogramowania na laptopach, tabletach, smartfonach, a przede wszystkim na przeznaczonych do tego celu czytnikach.
E-książki odgrywają bardzo dużą rolę. Podjęty jakiś czas temu proces digitalizacji książek umożliwia dostęp do światowych zasobów wiedzy znacznie większej liczbie osób. Zbiory ksiąg to niepodważalne światowe dziedzictwo kultury, jednak ze względu na ograniczoną możliwość szybkiego dostępu do przechowywanych w księgozbiorach publikacji, a także brak możliwości jakiegokolwiek dostępu do dzieł o znacznej wartości historycznej proces digitalizacji daje szansę na udostępnianie światowych dzieł szerokiej masie odbiorców.
Okładka to wszystko, co zostało od zewnątrz trwale złączone ze znajdującym się w środku wkładem. Składa się z przedniej i tylnej okładziny (potocznie zwanej okładką), a także z grzbietu okładki. To właśnie okładka definiuje i określa ostateczny wygląd książki, gdyż determinuje między innymi sposób, w jaki łączą się ze sobą wszystkie kartki i jaka jest wewnętrzna budowa książki. Oprawy mogą być miękkie, twarde czy też zintegrowane – różnią się przede wszystkim wielkością, wagą, wytrzymałością oraz ceną. Przykładowo książki w twardej oprawie są większe, cięższe, bardziej wytrzymałe i droższe od tych w miękkiej.