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First published to celebrate Faber's 90th anniversary, this is the story of one of the world's greatest publishing houses - a delight for all readers who are curious about the business of writing. 'A striking drama.' SUNDAY TIMES 'Never less than fascinating.' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'This book will fascinate anyone with an interest in twentieth-century literature . . . a treasure trove.' SCOTSMAN 'The details here do consistently shine.' NEW YORK TIMES 'Ingeniously compiled . . . charming and quirky' EVENING STANDARD Told in its own words, this is the story of one of the world's greatest publishers, capturing the excitement, hopes and fears of the people who published and wrote the books that line our shelves today. Including archive material from T. S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, Seamus Heaney, P. D. James, Kazuo Ishiguro and Philip Larkin, this is both a vibrant history and a hymn to the role of literature in all our lives.
Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) was a perfectionist whose single-minded pursuit of excellence changed the world of music. In the course of his long career in the northern Italian city of Cremona, he created more than a thousand stringed instruments; approximately six hundred survive, their quality unequalled by any subsequent violin-maker. In this fascinating book, Toby Faber traces the rich, multilayered stories of six of these peerless creations–five violins and a cello–and the one towering artist who brought them into being. Blending history, biography, meticulous detective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber takes us from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, and from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings. This magnificent narrative invites us to share the life, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of the world’s most marvelous stringed instruments.
'An incredible story of musical instruments, how they're made and what people make of them' - Keith Richards Everyone knows of the legendary quality and unbelievable price tag of a Stradivarius violin. In this, the first popular account of the Stradivari phenomena, Toby Faber explores the life and methods of this unsurpassed craftsman. Following the life of his instruments as they pass through the hands of many of the greatest musicians that have ever lived, we learn how and why they have become objects of such veneration and desire. It is a dramatic tale of grand artistry, fantastic music, shady dealers, forgery and science. 'Fascinating, accessible and enjoyable' - Tracy Chevalier 'A captivating book . . . An extraordinary accomplishment and a compelling read' - TE Cahart, author of The Piano Shop On The Left Bank 'An inspired idea for a book' - Telegraph 'Faber has found in the Strad a delightful leitmotif for an original comedie humaine' - Financial Times 'Faber pitches the story just right, neither patronising nor baffling the reader' - Times
Morning rush hour on the London underground and Laurie Bateman is on her way to work when she witnesses a terrible accident. The elderly gentleman next to her on the platform falls onto the tracks and is fatally injured. With the police uninterested, Laurie is drawn to investigate and soon finds herself breaking into the tube network in the dead of night searching for a clue dropped by the dead man, only to be pursued by two unknown assailants whom she narrowly escapes. But Laurie's troubles are far from over and soon she loses her job, has her phone stolen and discovers her flat has been burgled and her flatmate assaulted. It takes her father to persuade her that everything might be connected. Laurie starts to dig deeper, unaware that as she gets closer to the truth, she is endangering not only herself, but also everyone she loves
This is the story of Faberge's Imperial Easter eggs – of their maker, of the tsars who commissioned them, of the middlemen who sold them and of the collectors who fell in love with them. It's a story of meticulous craftsmanship and unimaginable wealth, of lucky escapes and mysterious disappearances, and ultimately of greed, tragedy and devotion. Moreover, it is a story that mirrors the history of twentieth-century Russia – a satisfying arc that sees eggs made for the tsars, sold by Stalin, bought by Americans and now, finally, returned to post-communist Russia. There is also an intriguing element of mystery surrounding the masterpieces. Of the fifty 'Tsar Imperial' eggs known to have been made, eight are currently unaccounted for, providing endless scope for speculation and forgeries. This is the first book to tell the complete history of the eggs, encompassing the love and opulence in which they were conceived, the war and revolution that scattered them, and the collectors who preserved them.
History.
Toby Martinez de las Rivas is regarded as one of the most distinctive voices to have emerged in recent times; to some, a modern day William Blake. The Guardian described Terror, his first book, as 'visionary' and 'exciting', the New Statesman as 'remarkable', and all combined to praise it's brave and lucid intensity. Black Sun is a sequel of poise and clarity that is, if anything, more open and accessible than its predecessor. Beginning where Terror left off, it pursues that book's fascination with history and with theology, with preservation and redemption.
In Terror, Toby Martinez de las Rivas leads us on a high-wire act in pursuit of a new kind of communication. By turns political, social, theological, historical and personal, the poems in this debut collection work closely with the reader, asking questions of us and encouraging us never to settle for inadequate answers. Toby Martinez de las Rivas writes with a flare and a rigour associated with some of his guiding lights: Christopher Smart, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Barry MacSweeney, Geoffrey Hill. Seeking a language which might console us, a language with which we might commune in our most intimate and terrifying moments - be these in love, in doubt, in a prayer for an unborn child, or an exploration of the kind of world we might wish to live in - Terror is a thrilling and powerful debut.
A January Book of the Month Pick “Miraculous and thrilling…A few pages in and I was determined to read every word Jess Kidd has ever written.” —Diane Setterfield, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Once Upon a River “An impossible wonder: a book for everyone, and yet somehow a book just for you...A sumptuous tour of Victorian London, resurrected here with a vigor and vibrancy to rival The Crimson Petal and the White...Utterly magical.”—A.J. Finn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Woman in the Window “A perfect mix of hilarity, the macabre, and a touch of romance, Things in Jars is ridiculously entertaining, all as it sneaks up and makes you feel things…Simply...
Best friends and flatmates Foxy-T and Ruji-Babes run the E-Z Call Telephone and Internet shop in the heart of Bangladeshi East London. It's a twelve-hour day running the E-Z Call and Foxy-T and Ruji-Babes don't get out much, but they have each other and eat their take-outs by candlelight ...And all seems cool until Zafar Iqbal turns up on their doorstep looking for his grandad. Fresh from Feltham Young Offenders Centre and with a taste for the weed, Zafar's presence rapidly upsets the balance at the E-Z Call ...