Wilfred Thesiger in Africa
A unique collection of essays accompany Wilfred Thesiger’s own personal photographs of the Africa he experienced as one of the world’s most celebrated explorers.While Wilfred Thesiger’s own classic writings (including ‘The Marsh Arabs’, ‘Arabian Sands’, ‘Desert’, Marsh and Mountain’, ‘The Life of My Choice’ and ‘My Kenya Days’) comprehensively cover his classic journeys amongst the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq, or across the Empty Quarter in Arabia, they fail conspicuously to shed light on his character and motives, which have remained an enigma.Maitland’s biography had Thesiger’s support before he died in 2003, and has been written with full access, granted to no one else, to the rich Thesiger archive – vivid, intimate family correspondence, and his own letters, diaries and notebooks which are far more confiding than his scrupulously edited published accounts. Maitland investigates in depth Thesiger’s parents and family influences; his wartime experiences and the ethos of conflict; his philosophy as a hunter and conservationist; his development as a writer and photographer; his close friendships with the Arabs and Africans amongst whom he lived; and his sexuality. In all, this major biography of a great and unusual man will take its place on the shelf of outstanding lives of the great explorers.
The King of the Birds: Beyond the Stars
A captivating short story taken from the collection, BEYOND THE STARS, written and illustrated by two great Irish talents in children’s fiction todayOn the day of the Winter Solstice, all the birds of Ireland assemble before the wise old Barn Owl to choose their ruler by a trial of flight. When Iolar the Golden Eagle, the largest and most powerful bird there, is challenged to the title by the tiny and mysterious Dreolin the Wren, his feathers aren’t ruffled: he thinks he deserves to win. But perhaps his confidence is misplaced, for having courage, heart and the respect of your peers are just as important as strength and endurance…An uplifting tale of the triumph of ingenuity over strength, whose memorable characters are brought to life by evocative artwork.Look out for the other eleven stories – also available as e-shorts!
Crash: The Collector’s Edition
A special limited edition of J. G. Ballard’s cult, post-modern and shocking novelI knew that Vaughan could never really die in a car-crash, but would in some way be re-born through those twisted radiator grilles and cascading windshield glass.The Collector’s EditionA former TV scientist turned nightmare angel of the expressway, Robert Vaughan gathers around him a collection of alienated crash victims. Among them is James Ballard, our narrator, who is drawn into a series of erotic atrocities, each more sinister than the last. Vaughan craves the ultimate crash – a head on collision of blood, semen, engine coolant and iconic celebrity.Alongside Ballard’s cult postmodern novel, this special edition, edited by Chris Beckett, includes never-before-seen reproductions of Ballard’s annotated manuscript pages, essays, stories and material that shine a new light on this modern masterpiece.
Sex and the Stranger
Let Mischief Books seduce you with ‘Sex and the Stranger’ – a short story collection of casual fun with irresistible strangers.New erotica from Charlotte Stein, Justine Elyot, Aishling Morgan, Elizabeth Coldwell and many more.There are some people you want to seduce, or be seduced by, so badly that nothing can hold you back. There might never be a second chance, and you only live once …A train commuter trapped between two hot passengers discovers fantasy can become reality, in public.Emma cruises the aisles of a supermarket for a service that comes free to those with more passion than restraint.When Natalie danced naked by the light of the moon, she had no idea she was not alone.Other hot short story collections from Mischief Books include:Submission: A Treasury of Women Who Like to Give inExposure: Those who Love to Watch and be Watched
The Mystery of the Crystal Skulls
The crystal skulls are a mystery as profound as the Pyramids of Egypt, the Nazca Lines of Peru, or Stonehenge.Many indigenous people speak of their remarkable magical and healing properties, but nobody really knows where they came from or what they were used for. Were they left behind after the destruction of a previous world, such as Atlantis? Are they simply ingenious modern fakes or can they really enable us to see deeply into the past and predict the future? Searching for the answers takes the authors on a fantastic odyssey through both the physical and the spiritual world.After hearing stories of an old native American legend that describes the existence of thirteen ancient crystal skulls, that are said to speak or sing and hold important information about the origins, purpose and destiny of mankind. The authors set out on their own quest to find the truth about the skulls. They encounter psychics, UFO hunters, shamans, mystics and medicine men on a journey of discovery that takes them from the British Museum in London to the deserts of the United States, from the science labs of Hewlett Packard to the cold snows of Canada and the tropical jungles of Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. At sacred gatherings of native elders they learn of ancient wisdom kept secret for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. They hear of startling prophecies concerning events that will happen on this Earth in the immediate future, prophecies that question the very survival of the human species on this small island we call home. This is the story of their remarkable discoveries.
Come Play With Me Again: A Mischief Erotica Collection
The sequel to our most popular collection of original erotica.Ten new erotica stories from Mischief’s celebrated authors exploring sexual fantasies.
The Meadow: Kashmir 1995 – Where the Terror Began
They have come in search of many things – nirvana, exhilaration, a sense of self. But over the course of the next week, their holidays take a terrifying turn when they become entangled in a nail-biting hostage drama that will suck them into an alien world of jihad and Islamic fundamentalism. In the months that follow, their fates will become caught-up in a bloody struggle between India and Pakistan, fought out in the airless heights of Kashmir.With the world looking on, four of the captured travellers will vanish off the face of the earth, never to be seen again, creating one of the region’s great mysteries.Written with access to diaries, letters, unprocessed film and personal recollections from those enmeshed in the drama, drawing on classified police reports and secret tape recordings of Indian government negotiations, as well as interviews with the jihadis themselves and excerpts from their journals, Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark’s book is a real-life thriller, a startling but compelling story told from the perspective of all involved.The Meadow charts how the fates of two groups of young men from different hemispheres became inextricably entwined on the mountain trails they followed. It tells of the terrifying escape of one hostage, the heart-rending secret letters another wrote on birch bark and hid in his clothing as he contemplated his situation, and how, with a brutal beheading, the kidnappers took an irreversible step into the abyss.Packed with explosive revelations, The Meadow provides the first definitive answers as to what happened to the missing backpackers, revealing how the kidnapping of July 1995 changed the face of modern jihad, its architects going on to sow the seeds of a cold-hearted war against the West.
Tales from a Young Vet: Mad cows, crazy kittens, and all creatures big and small
The funny, touching and entertaining story of how Jo Hardy, the star of BBC2’s Young Vets, gets to grips with animals big and small, friendly and not-at-all-happy, on the road to becoming a fully qualified vet.‘Stand well clear. Keep your eyes on them. Oh, and make sure you have insurance.’Not the most comforting words of wisdom, but probably the most useful for a trainee vet, Jo would say. From well-equipped surgeries to windswept hills and ramshackle barns, Jo has to be able to diagnose and treat any animal, at any time of the day or night. It’s not quite as easy as James Herriot made it seem.Jo’s final year of training saw her race from rectal examinations of cows to spine surgery on a Great Dane, and from treating an eventing horse with a heart problem to inserting a contraceptive implant into a monkey.And then there were the owners – the tough guy who sobbed when his cat was diagnosed with cancer, the woman who was convinced her dog was embarrassed by its stomach upset, and the farmer who loved his cows as much as anyone loves their pets.Gruelling days of animal treatments and visits combined with long nights of study and revision made Jo’s final year of training the most demanding and rewarding year of her life. Her book tells of the highs and lows, the pets that stole her heart, and the lifelong friends that she made – with two legs and four.
Tales from a Wild Vet: Paws, claws and furry encounters
From African goats to blue wildebeest, and potty pigs to dippy donkeys, Jo Hardy, now a qualified vet, is about to take on the world, one animal at a time.Jo is determined to go where vets are desperately needed. Heading out first to the townships of South Africa, then to Uganda.Dealing with life-and-death decisions and much-loved family pets, here and abroad, including a giant French rabbit, a labradoodle that stops breathing under anaesthetic and an angry cat that won’t get out of its box, Jo has to trust her training as never before.
GI BRIDES – June’s Story: Exclusive Bonus Ebook
This short bonus ebook tells June’s story, a true account of a woman who crossed the Atlantic for love after the Second World War.June noticed an American soldier walking towards her … In the drab setting of the churchyard he looked utterly out of place, as if a movie star had just dropped out of the sky.Raised in Birmingham, June marries a handsome GI called Borgy and looks forward to a new life in America. But when war ends, June is horrified to receive a letter from her husband telling her they are moving to Germany instead. June’s life soon takes a shocking turn.June’s story is an additional extra to the four tales in GI Brides, written by the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls. It tells the true story of one of the 70,000 British women who crossed the Atlantic for love after the Second World War.