Includes the plays Venus Observed, The Dark is Light Enough and Curtmantle This volume of Christopher Fry's original stage work concludes his 'Season Plays' with Venus Observed ('Autumn') and The Dark is Light Enough ('Winter'). In the first of these, commissioned by Laurence Olivier, a confident but ageing duke asks his grown-up son to choose a new wife for him. Written with a superbly light touch, this is a surprisingly reflective play about love, power and forgiveness. The Dark is Light Enough, set during Hungary's revolt against Austria in the 1850s, concerns an imperious, inscrutable aristocrat who seems prepared to sacrifice family and household for the sake of her daughter's scapegrace ex-husband. Also included is Fry's biographical play about King henry II, Curtmantle. Working with the 'epic' theatrical style of the time and utilising a new, leaner verse language, Fry captures Henry's energy, quick wit and quick temper, his relationship with Thomas Becket - Chancellor and friend, Archbishop and enemy - and his ultimately tragic struggles with his four ambitious sons.

A history of the elaborate and brilliantly sustained World War II intelligence operation by which Hitler’s generals were tricked into giving away vital Nazi secretsAt the outbreak of World War II, MI6 spymaster Thomas Kendrick arrived at the Tower of London to set up a top secret operation: German prisoners’ cells were to be bugged and listeners installed behind the walls to record and transcribe their private conversations. This mission proved so effective that it would go on to be set up at three further sites—and provide the Allies with crucial insight into new technology being developed by the Nazis.In this astonishing history, Helen Fry uncovers the inner workings of the bugging operation. On arrival at stately-homes-turned-prisons like Trent Park, high-ranking German generals and commanders were given a "phony" interrogation, then treated as "guests," wined and dined at exclusive clubs, and encouraged to talk. And so it was that the Allies got access to some of Hitler’s most closely guarded secrets—and from those most entrusted to protect them.

Includes the playsThe Firstborn, A Phoenix Too Frequent, A Sleep of Prisoners, Thor, With Angels, The Boy With a Cart, Caedmon Construed and A Ringing of Bells The third volume of Christopher Fry's original stage work brings together his only fully-fledged tragedy - The Firstborn, a vivid, urgent retelling of the Biblical story of Moses and the plagues of Egypt - and his six one-act plays, each revealing Fry's unique blend of humour and humanity. They include A Phoenix Too Frequent, a lively romance set in a Roman tomb, which first gave theatregoers notice of Fry's bravura talents as a verse dramatist; the meditative, resonant A Sleep of Prisoners, which links the Biblically-inspired dreams of four British POWs during World War Two; the Dark Age fable Thor, with Angels, with its characteristic themes of love and sacrifice; and two portraits of Anglo-Saxon churchmen, The Boy with a Cart and Caedmon Construed (also known as One Thing More), written fifty years apart. The collection concludes with Fry’s brief ‘conversational fantasy’ A Ringing of Bells, set on the eve of the millennium and written for his old school, Bedford Modern.

This book brings together for the first time in one volume five of Christopher Fry's most popular plays: The Boy With A Cart, A Phoenix Too Frequent, The Lady's Not For Burning, A Sleep of Prisoners, and Curtmantle. Displaying all the variety and richness that characterize verse drama at its best, the plays appear here in the order in which they were first performed

Stephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter and director, and also a bestselling author. He has been in show business for over 30 years and now regularly appears on our screens as the host of the popular panel game 'QI'. This title is the second part of Stephen's autobiography.

THE STORY: Thomas Mendip, a discharged soldier, weary of the world and eager to leave it, comes to a small town, announces he has committed murder and demands to be hanged. A philosophical humorist, Thomas is annoyed when the officials oppose his r

'A compelling, prescient tale of an alternate world with far too many scary similarities to our own.' Angela Clarke Let me repeat myself, so we can be very clear. Women are not the enemy. We must protect them from themselves, just as much as we must protect ourselves. Imagine a world in which witchcraft is real. In which mothers hand down power to their daughters, power that is used harmlessly and peacefully. Then imagine that the US President is a populist demagogue who decides that all witches must be imprisoned for their own safety, as well as the safety of those around them - creating a world in which to be female is one step away from being criminal... As witches across the world are rounded up, one young woman discovers a power she did not know she had. It's a dangerous force and it puts her top of the list in a global witch hunt. But she - and the women around her - won't give in easily. Not while all of women's power is under threat. The Coven is a dazzling global thriller that pays homage to the power and potential of women everywhere. * 'A gripping and vividly drawn dystopian fantasy about the power and potential of women which feels easier to enjoy now Trump has gone.' Heat 'Thought-provoking and powerful. A big, page-turning thriller.' Paula Daly 'A real thrill ride.' Debbie Moon 'Dark, dangerous & powerful - I couldn't put it down' Michelle Kenney, author of The Book of Fire series 'Compelling, urgent and highly original as well as being a cracking read. I loved it.' Kate Hamer 'A barnstorming, breathless ride - The Handmaid's Tale by way of wicca and Witchfinder General. Thrillingly cinematic and compulsive reading.' Stephen Volk

The British comedian recounts the highs and lows of his wild years: “A gifted writer with a perfect sense of comic timing and anecdote-spinning . . . Lots of fun.” —Kirkus Reviews By his early thirties, Stephen Fry—writer, comedian, star of stage and screen—had, as they say, “made it.” Much loved on British television, author of a critically acclaimed and bestselling first novel, with a glamorous and glittering cast of friends, he had more work than was perhaps good for him. As the ‘80s drew to a close, he began to burn the candle at both ends. Writing and recording by day, and haunting a never-ending series of celebrity parties, drinking dens, and poker games by night, he was a high functioning addict. He was so busy, so distracted by the high life, that he could hardly see the inevitable, headlong tumble that must surely follow . . . Filled with raw, electric extracts from his diaries of the time, More Fool Me is a brilliant, eloquent account by a man driven to create and to entertain—revealing a side to him he has long kept hidden. “Fry is an astonishingly charming fellow: erudite, playful and capable of writing in a style so intimate that readers can picture themselves sitting next to him at a splendid dinner party as he rather one-sidedly entertains the entire table.” —Slate