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Named the Dolman Travel Book of the Year, The Dead Yard paints an unforgettable portrait of modern Jamaica. Since independence, Jamaica has gradually become associated with twin images--a resort-style travel Eden for foreigners and a new kind of hell for Jamaicans, a society where gangs control the areas where most Jamaicans live and drug lords like Christopher Coke rule elites and the poor alike. Ian Thomson's brave book explores a country of lost promise, where America's hunger for drugs fuels a dependent economy and shadowy politics. The lauded birthplace of reggae and Bob Marley, Jamaica is now sunk in corruption and hopelessness. A synthesis of vital history and unflinching reportage, The Dead Yard is "a fascinating account of a beautiful, treacherous country" (Irish Times).
Primo Levi, author of Survival in Auschwitz and The Periodic Table, wrote books that have been called the essential works of humankind. Yet he lived an unremarkable existence, remaining until his death in the house in which he'd been born; managing a paint and varnish factory for thirty years; and tending his invalid mother to the last. Now, in a matchless account, Ian Thomson unravels the strands of a life as improbable as it was influential, the story of the most modest of men who became a universal touchstone of conscience and humanism. Drawing on exclusive access to family members and previously unseen correspondence, Thomson reconstructs the world of Levi's youth--the rhythms of Jewish ...
The Northern Elements is so called because the ancient elements of earth, air, fire, and water are thematic threads woven into the story. Set in Lancashire, in 1890 and 1960, the novel involves two gangs of small boys and their adventures, seventy years apart.The tragic secret that links the the two gangs only emerges in the second part of the book, which is set in the present day. Thomson explores aspects of identity which are the product of a specific time, and elements which can be said to be universal in our nature. He writes with characteristic wit and sharpness of observation about the world as seen by boys on the brink of adolescence, in a rapidly changing cotton town in the North of England.
The Black Cloud provides an account of some of the Scottish mountain misadventures in the years 1928 - 1966. The book begins in the late 1920s when searches were made by shepherds, stalkers and as many able-bodied volunteers as could be mustered; it ends in the days when helicopters and trained mountain rescue teams had become available.
Part history, part personal travelogue, Thomson introduces us to a lively gallery of characters while exploring all of the dread demons and eccentricities of this unhappy republic.
A TLS Book of the Year. 'Erudite and urgent, Ian Thomson's Dante's Divine Comedy is another book that everyone ought to read' Spectator. 'Succinct but wide-ranging, Ian Thomson's richly illustrated exploration of Dante's masterpiece is... fun... ingenious... fascinating' Observer. 'A book worth savouring as a chunky, chatty, richly illustrated guide that brings Dante and his world within our reach' Evening Standard. A lively and wide-ranging exploration of a literary masterwork and its influence on writers, poets, artists and film-makers up to our own time. Dante has no equal as he sings of other-worldly horror and celestial beatitude alike. Yet for all our distance from medieval theology, t...
In this breathtaking sequel to "Dead I Well May Be," the mercenary Michael Forsythe is forced to infiltrate an Irish terrorist cell on behalf of the FBI, confronting murder, mayhem, and the prospect of his own death.
When Graham Greene died in 1991, at the age of 86, his reputation as a great Catholic writer was assured. His books reflected an awareness of sin and confronted discomfiting themes with a sombre eye. The British Catholic journal The Tablet provided Greene with a forum for both his works-in-progress and his sometimes unorthodox religious views. For the first time, Graham Greenes Tablet contributions are collected in one volume. Much of the journalism has not been seen for fifty years.
The Swan Diptych A diptych is a painting or carving (often an altarpiece) on two panels, hinged like a book. The two stories in The Swan Diptych are likewise hinged, sometimes obviously, sometimes more subtly. Both depict the consequences of the folly and overweening pride of those who are clothed in 'a little brief authority'. In the year 1387, King Richard II visits the thriving cathedral city of Lincoln and presents a ceremonial sword to the Mayor. There is a local legend that if the swans ever leave the pool at the foot of the steep hill where the cathedral stands, the building will fall. During the celebrations the Dean believes himself to be insulted by one of the swans and vows to ave...
This humorous biography is set on a small Scottish farm just after World War II. This is the period when horses were supreme and there are animal stories, escapades, awkward moments, tentative moves into sport and music, dalliances with the fairer sex and all the problems facing a country boy.