Showing results by author "Nicholas Shakespeare" in All Categories

Ian Fleming's greatest creation, James Bond, has had an enormous impact on our culture. What Bond represents about ideas of masculinity, the British national psyche, and global politics has shifted over time, as has the interpretation of the life of his author. But Fleming himself was more mysterious and subtle than anything he wrote. Nicholas Shakespeare is one of the most gifted biographers working today and his unprecedented access to the Fleming archives and his nose for a story make this a fresh and eye-opening picture of a man who lived his life in the shadow of his famous creation.

22 writers talk about their memorable excursions and the act of walking, and share their creative observations. In these six series, taken from BBC Radio 3's The Essay, an array of novelists, poets, journalists and biographers chart the varied and inspiring walks they have taken around Britain and elsewhere. Here are treks taken at daybreak and after dark; in winter and in spring; in the footsteps of the past; and - in the case of Robert Macfarlane - along the ridges of the South Downs.

A young Englishman goes to Cold War Leipzig for a weekend with a group of student actors and, during his brief visit beyond the Iron Curtain, falls for an East German girl who is just beginning to be aware of the horrendous way her country is governed. Her misery touches him, her love excites...

Random House presents the audiobook edition of Six Minutes in May by Nicholas Shakespeare, read by Peter Noble. London, May 1940. Britain is under threat of invasion and Neville Chamberlain’s government is about to fall. It is hard for us to imagine the Second World War without Winston...

Brought to you by Penguin. From the acclaimed author of The Sandpit, an exhilarating literary thriller about the hunt for a missing terrorist in South America. This novel explores one of the most astonishing stories in the whole history of twentieth century terrorism. Colonel Rejas was the...

Brought to you by Penguin. 'A remarkable contemporary thriller – with shades of Graham Greene and Le Carré about it – but also a profound and compelling investigation of a hugely complex human predicament. Brilliantly observed, captivatingly written, grippingly narrated – a triumph'...

When Nicholas Shakespeare stumbled across a box of documents belonging to his late aunt he was completely unaware of where this discovery would take him. The Priscilla he remembered was very different from the glamorous, morally ambiguous young woman who emerged from the many love letters and journals, surrounded by suitors and living the dangerous existence of a British woman in a country controlled by the enemy. He had heard rumours that Priscilla had fought in the Resistance, but the truth turned out to be far more complicated.

Following the death of his parents, eleven-year-old Alex Dove leaves his life on a farm in Tasmania for school in England. Twelve years on, he must return to Australia to deal with his inheritance. But his encounter with a young woman persuades him to stay.

Alex und Merridy wissen, was es bedeutet, schwere Schicksalsschläge zu erleiden. Er verlor seine Eltern bei einem Unfall, sie trauert um ihren verschwundenen Bruder. Die beiden treffen und verlieben sich, heiraten sogar, doch ihr inniger Kinderwunsch bleibt unerfüllt. Da tritt eines Tages wie aus dem Nichts ein junger Mensch in das Leben des Paares: der schiffbrüchige Teenager Kish. Ist er die Erfüllung von Alex' und Merridys Wunsch nach einem heilen Familienleben oder stellt sich alles als Illusion heraus?

John le Carré trifft Dürrenmatts Physiker. Marvar, ein iranischer Atomphysiker, hat den Algorithmus für die perfekte Kernfusion gefunden. Ein Wissen, das in den richtigen Händen ein Segen, in den falschen ein Fluch ist. Dann verschwindet Marvar plötzlich, nicht ohne seinem Freund Dyer, einem Journalisten, die Formel zu vermachen. Bald darauf gerät Dyer ins Visier unterschiedlicher Gestalten.

Brought to you by Penguin. In a world of lies, proof is power John Dyer is living a quiet life when he receives a call that changes everything: an old university friend, Lia, has been killed. Decades have passed since his last heartbreaking conversation with her, but Dyer finds himself driven to...