Christmas, 1669. In the grip of the coldest winter for years, the River Thames is frozen from bank to bank and London celebrates with a traditional frost fair held on its broad back. Revellers come from far and wide to enjoy the spectacle: an ox is roasted, booths set up and entertainers employed to amuse the crowds enjoying the holiday atmosphere. Among the throng is ambitious young architect Christopher Redmayne, escorting the daughter of one of his clients with whom he hopes to further a romantic attachment. By chance they meet Christopher's good friend, Constable Jonathan Bale. When a child slips on thin ice the pair make a chilling discovery of a frozen naked corpse embedded in the ice.

Winner of the 2012 Polari PrizeA Book of the Year for The Independent and The Poetry SchoolHoliday Read in The ObserverThe Frost Fairs is a compassionate book with a global and historical scope, tackling science and city life from a range of surreal yet poignant angles. It explores love in many forms, from modern transatlantic relationships to hidden gay and cross-gendered lives from the past. The pieces travel from ancient Alexandria to twenty-first century bars and council estates, behind everything the vastness of the sea and sky. The array of voices here is striking: taxi drivers report their most outlandish fares and hermaphrodite statues flirt with observers; abandoned lovers watch frost fairs melting on the Thames and drag queens revel in the freedoms afforded by the Blitz.Formally deft and carefully crafted, this diverse range of poems uses language that is always musical and alive. Surprise and the uncanny are cherished as ways of returning to us the strange leaps and enduring power of our deepest yearnings. In this collection, longing and losing condition all we see and hear, making the impossible suddenly plausible. Whether exploring Brighton seascapes or questions of empire, there is always in McCullough's writing an openness to seeing the world from an alternative point of view. At once bold and haunting, The Frost Fairs opens the door to a new country in the reader's imagination in its exploration of the possibilities of the human heart.

It is a snowy London day in The Great Winter of 1683. We follow our bold narrator as she explores ‘the town on the Thames’, a thousand tents and dancing fires lit on the frozen water with jubilant residents and lively festive revelry. All is a fete upon the ice as she sees jugglers, dancing bears, palm readers and even a merry wedding. Her journey leads her to meet many new companions with whom to spend a starry night upon the river, where they sleep with no inkling of who will be looking down on them in the morning light . . . Carol Ann Duffy's Christmas poem, Frost Fair is inspired by the fairs held on the River Thames in London as it froze over in the uncommonly cold winters of the Little Ice Age. This delightful, moving poem captures the inventiveness of a great city and the drama of winter. Beautifully illustrated by David De Las Heras, Frost Fair is an irresistible read for our festive season.

Capture the magic of winters past with this stunning gift for all the family by bestselling author Emma Carroll, and award-winning illustrator, Sam Usher. 'A magical adventure to melt the frostiest of hearts' Ben Miller. It’s Christmastime, and searching for magic, Maya finds herself transported back two hundred years to the banks of the frozen river Thames. A boy called Eddie shows Maya the bustle of the glittering frost fair, filled with music, sweet stalls and thrilling rides. Is this all a dream, or can Maya bring a piece of the beautiful frost fair home with her after all . . . ? A winter story of freedom and family, from the award-winning Emma Carroll, with stunning full colour illustrations by Sam Usher, A Night at the Frost Fair is a classic to treasure on the family bookshelf this Christmas and for years to come.

In its long history, the river Thames has frozen solid forty times. These are the stories of that frozen river. And so opens this breathtaking and original work of forty vignettes based on events that actually took place each time the river froze between 1142 and 1895. In breathtaking prose, acclaimed novelist Helen Humphreys deftly draws us into these intimate moments and transports us through time. Whether it’ s Queen Matilda trying to escape her besieged castle in a snowstorm, or lovers meeting on the frozen river in the plague years, or a simple farmer persuading his oxen that the ice is safe, Humphrey’ s achingly beautiful prose acts like a photograph, capturing a moment and etching it forever on our imaginations. Stunningly designed and illustrated throughout with full-colour period art, The Frozen Thames is a genre-bending work from one of our most respected writers.

A heartwarming and magical adventure, The Frost Fair is a dazzling historical fantasy perfect for fans of Frozen and Serafina and the Black Cloak. It's winter, 1683, and the Great Frost has swept into London. By day, thirteen-year-old Thomasina and her friend Anne peddle sweets on the frozen river, hearing rumors of the magical Frost Fair that awakens there at night. They say if you can find it, Father Winter himself will grant any wish you have. And Thomasina has an impossible wish: the return of her twin brother, whose death left her family fractured. But once they discover Father Winter’s icy kingdom, Thomasina and Anne quickly realize the Frost Fair isn’t exactly what it seems… and that some wishes never come for free. With a delightful fantasy setting and unique magic system, The Frost Fair is an enchanting look at the power of friendship, the way grief shapes all of us, and how love can warm even the coldest heart.

Frost Fairs took place frequently on the Thames for 600 years. This is the first book to look in detail at pictures of them. Oxen were roasted on the ice and the first roundabouts appeared. With 40 illustrations, most of them in colour, this book is a must for anyone interested in the history of London.

Only in the last decade have climatologists developed an accurate picture of yearly climate conditions in historical times. This development confirmed a long-standing suspicion: that the world endured a 500-year cold snap -- The Little Ice Age -- that lasted roughly from A.D. 1300 until 1850. The Little Ice Age tells the story of the turbulent, unpredictable and often very cold years of modern European history, how climate altered historical events, and what they mean in the context of today's global warming. With its basis in cutting-edge science, The Little Ice Age offers a new perspective on familiar events. Renowned archaeologist Brian Fagan shows how the increasing cold affected Norse exploration; how changing sea temperatures caused English and Basque fishermen to follow vast shoals of cod all the way to the New World; how a generations-long subsistence crisis in France contributed to social disintegration and ultimately revolution; and how English efforts to improve farm productivity in the face of a deteriorating climate helped pave the way for the Industrial Revolution and hence for global warming. This is a fascinating, original book for anyone interested in history, climate, or the new subject of how they interact.

Washington State, late nineteenth century. During the frenzied historical era commonly known as the Klondike Gold Rush, a mysterious woman arrives in Woodsburgh, a small mining town close to the Canadian border. Meanwhile, the streets and surroundings of Woodsburgh are flooded in blood: a heinous creature is killing incautious citizens. What's the connection, if any, between this disturbing presence and the ivory-skinned stranger? MERCY is a bestselling goth-inspired horror graphic novel by acclaimed creator MIRKA ANDOLFO (UNNATURAL) and is perfect for fans of Penny Dreadful, Crimson Peak, The Alienist, Parasol Protectorate, and Dark Shadows. Collects MIRKA ANDOLFO'S MERCY #1-6