Nick Rennison

Every day thousands of people worldwide consult Roget’s Thesaurus. How many stop to consider why that endlessly useful reference book is so called? Of those who know that it owes its name to the man who first devised it, how many know anything more about him? Yet Peter Mark Roget was one of the most remarkable men of the nineteenth century and he achieved much in his long life. He did not even begin the great work of classification which bears his name until he was 70. Before that, the polymathic Roget had already made his own contributions to knowledge in a dozen different fields from optics and anatomy to mathematics and education. He would probably have been surprised that his posthumous reputation rests on his thesaurus. No doubt he would have expected that it would be his involvement in the foundation of the University of London that would be his lasting legacy. Or his books on magnetism, galvanism and physiology. Or his scientific papers on persistence of vision, with their later impact on the development of motion pictures. Or his association with major thinkers such as the computer pioneer Charles Babbage and the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. The range of his interests was astonishing and, for sixty years, he was at the centre of the intellectual revolution of his times.Nick Rennison’s biography reveals the full story of Roget’s involvement with the great issues and the great personalities of the nineteenth century and recounts the forgotten life behind one of the most famous of all reference books.

Sherlock Holmes was not the only detective solving mysteries and foiling the plans of criminal masterminds in Victorian and Edwardian England. The years from 1890 to 1914 were a golden age for English magazines and most of them published crime and detective fiction. The success of the Holmes stories spawned countless imitators. This volume highlights some of those rivals of Sherlock Holmes. They include: >THE THINKING MACHINE - Jacques Futtrelle's intellectual genius Professor Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, the Thinking Machine, capable of solving the most baffling mysteries through brainpower alone. >CARNACKI THE GHOST FINDER - detective of the occult created by the legendary horror writer William Hope Hodgson. >NOVEMBER JOE - Hesketh Prichard's Canadian woodsman who uses his extraordinary powers of observation to track down villains and bring them to justice. >CRAIG KENNEDY - Arthur B. Reeve's scientific detective from the early 1900s who uses startling new technological advancements like X-rays and microphones. It may well be true that there has never been a detective quite like Sherlock Holmes, but he did not stand alone. He had his rivals and, as this collection of short stories shows, many of their adventures were as exciting and entertaining as those of the master himself.

Want to become a science fiction buff? Want to expand your reading in your favourite genre? This is a good place to start! From the publishers of the popular Good Reading Guide comes a rich selection of some of the finest SF novels ever published. With 100 of the best titles fully reviewed and a further 500 recommended, you’ll quickly become an expert in the world of science fiction. The book is arranged by author and includes some thematic entries and special categories such as SF film adaptations, SF in rock music and Philip K. Dick in the mass media . It also includes a history of SF and a new definition of the genre, plus lists of award winners and book club recommendations. Foreword by Christopher Priest, the multiple award-winning SF author. Endorsements: "A reliable guide to what science fiction is" (Christopher Priest, award-winning science fiction author); "A really good introduction to the genre" (SFX Magazine); "Perceptive and glorious" (Ian Watson, author of the screenplay for Steve Spielberg's A.I.)

Categories include: architecture, broadcasting, celebrity, clothes and fashion, current affairs, deaths/obituaries, environment, food and drink, history, kids' stuff, language, law, music, royalty, Shakespeare, sport, time and space.

A London Year is an anthology of short diary entries, one or more for each day of the year, which, taken together, provides an impressionistic portrait of life in the city from Tudor times to the twenty-first century. There are more than two hundred featured writers, with a short biography for each. The most famous diarist of all - Samuel Pepys - is there, as well as some of today's finest diarists like Alan Bennett and Chris Mullin. There are coronations and executions, election riots and zeppelin raids, duels, dust-ups and drunken sprees, among everyday moments like Brian Eno cycling in Kilburn or George Eliot walking on Wimbledon Common. Vividly evoking moments in the lives of Londoners in the past, providing snapshots of the city's inhabitants at work, at play, in pursuit of money, sex, entertainment, pleasure and power, A London Year is a beautifully packaged gift hardback with foil detailing on the jacket, a ribbon marker and black and white illustrations throughout. The perfect book for all who live in or love this eternal, ever-changing city. Presented as a dust-jacketed hardback with foil detailing on the title, and with a ribbon marker, A London Year is a beautiful as well as engrossing book to dip into everyday for a snapshot of London life through seasons, and throughout history. A perfect gift.

The ghost of a poor Afghan returns to haunt the doctor who once amputated his hand. A mysterious and malignant force inhabits a room in an ancestral home and attacks all who sleep in it. A man who desecrates and Indian temple is transformed into a ravening beast. A castle in the Tyrol is the setting for an aristocratic murderer's apparent resurrection. In the stories in this collection, horrors from beyond the grave and other dimensions visit the everyday world and demand to be investigated.

Deciding what to read next when you’ve just finished an unputdownable novel can be a daunting task. The Bloomsbury Good Reading Guide features hundreds of authors and thousands of titles, with navigation features to lead you on a rich journey through some the best literature to grace our shelves. This greatly expanded edition includes the latest contemporary authors and landmark novels, an expanded non-fiction section, a timeline setting historical events against literary milestones, prize-winner and book club lists. An accessible and easy-to-read guide that no serious book lover should be without. "The essential guide to the wild uncharted world of contemporary and 20th century writing." (Robert McCrum, The Observer)

Want to become a crime novel buff, or expand your reading in your favourite genre? This is a good place to start! From the publishers of the popular Good Reading Guide comes a rich selection of the some of the finest crime novels ever published. With 100 of the best titles fully reviewed and a further 500 recommended, you’ll quickly become an expert on the world of crime. The book also allows you to browse by theme, includes ‘a reader’s fast-guide to the world of crime fiction’ as well listing the top 10 crime characters and their creators, award winners and book club recommendations.