The early years of the 18th-century produced two great monuments: one, Christopher Wren's new cathedral of St Paul's, an enduring testament to principled craft and masterful construction, the other an empty fraud of such magnitude that its collapse threatened to overturn monarchies and governments. Its failure delayed the introduction of modern market economies by two generations. Yet the full scale of this monumental deceit was quietly covered up and hidden, its enduring legacy a poorly understood colloquialism: the South Sea Bubble.

The South Sea Bubble was a scandal of immense proportions. Malcolm Balen reveals the full story of corruption and scandal that attended the birth of the first shareholder economy, and with it uncovers a parable for our times.

The basis for the Emmy award-winning limited series starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw A behind-the-scenes look at the desperate, scandalous private life of a British MP and champion manipulator, and the history-making trial that exposed his dirty secrets While Jeremy Thorpe served as a Member of Parliament and Leader of the Liberal Party in the 1960s and 70s, his bad behavior went under the radar for years. Police and politicians alike colluded to protect one of their own. In 1970, Thorpe was the most popular and charismatic politician in the country, poised to hold the balance of power in a coalition government. But Jeremy Thorpe was a man with a secret. His homosexual affairs and harassment of past partners, along with his propensity for lying and embezzlement, only escalated as he evaded punishment. Until a dark night on the moor with an ex-lover, a dog and a hired gun led to consequences that even his charm and power couldn’t help him escape. Dubbed the “Trial of the Century,” Thorpe’s climactic case at the Old Bailey in London was the first time that a leading British politician had stood trial on a murder charge, the first time that a murder plot had been hatched in the House of Commons. And it was the first time that a prominent public figure had been exposed as a philandering gay man, in an era when homosexuality had only just become legal. With the pace and drama of a thriller, A Very English Scandal is an extraordinary story of hypocrisy, deceit and betrayal at the heart of the British Establishment.

The early years of the eighteenth-century produced two great monuments: one, Christopher Wren’s new cathedral of St Paul’s, an enduring testament to principled craft and masterful construction. The other an empty fraud of such magnitude that its collapse threatened to overturn monarchies and governments. Its failure delayed the introduction of modern market economies by two generations. Yet the full scale of this monumental deceit was quietly covered up and hidden, its enduring legacy a poorly understood colloquialism: the South Sea Bubble.It was all planned by one ambitious promoter, who had decided to launch ‘a company for carrying on an undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is’. This eighteenth-century mission statement has now acquired an almost uncanny resonance: these words could aptly have been applied to the bursting of the Internet bubble and the collapse of Enron. With the financial scandals that have beset global companies recently, such as Rank Xerox and Worldcom, this tale is all the more relevant today.Balen reveals the full story of corruption and scandal that attended the birth of the first shareholder economy, and with it uncovers a parable for our times.

New York attorney Jennifer March is haunted by the mysterious and savage slaughter of her family on the same night that her father disappeared, never to be seen alive again. Two years on, his corpse is discovered frozen into a remote glacier in the Swiss Alps, the victim of a bizarre murder, and Jennifer sets out for Europe to find answers. It's a journey that's meant to unravel the frightening mystery of why her family was butchered, and to help uncover a dark secret at the heart of her father's past. But instead, Jennifer March finds herself running for her own life, as her investigation draws her into a terrifying web of deceit, murder and betrayal, and a deadly conspiracy to hide an explosive secret.

Environmental Health I Health Care Policy I History Of Medicine --

Ten years ago, journalist Ben Webster had his investigation into a corrupt Russian business in Kazakhstan crushed, the cost of his scrutiny a terrible tragedy . . . Now employed by a private London intelligence agency, Webster's interest is piqued when a client asks him to expose the dealings of shadowy Russian oligarch Konstantin Malin. Before long Webster finds himself fixated by Malin and by his front man Richard Lock. But how far is he willing to risk the wellbeing of his family? And that of Lock himself? Meanwhile Lock finds himself under pressure to explain to the world how he - a simple lawyer - came to be one of Russia's largest investors. And when one of Malin's former protégées is found dead after meeting with Webster, Lock begins to realise that he too may be at risk. Desperate to seek a haven with the wife he lost years before, Lock realises that he must now take action - but his options are fast running out . . . Against a background of Moscow, London and Berlin a journey of impossible decisions begins . . .

The chilling true crime story of a man willing to do whatever it takes to live life on his lavish terms—including murder his own parents. Gunned Down After years of hard work, Brian and Jeannie Legg had earned a well-deserved life of leisure in their picture-perfect Phoenix mansion. Until their troubled son showed up with a need for cash—and a thirst for murder . . . Two Bodies David Legg was an obsessive control freak and an army deserter. After fathering an illegitimate child, he wooed and wed a trusting young woman—only to destroy his marriage with lies and infidelities. But his deceptions were far from over . . . A Savage Son In June of 1996, Jeannie and Brian were found shot to death, their bodies sitting next to each other on their living room loveseat. Jeannie’s expensive ring and the couple’s credit cards were missing. Meanwhile, David, the prime suspect, was living it up in Hawaii with his fifteen-year-old girlfriend, draining his dead parents’ savings through ATMs. After a long and costly chase this remorseless killer faced a jury of his peers in 2000, and was locked behind bars for life.

"[A] searing debut." —i>O, The Oprah Magazine In her powerful collection, first published in 2016 and now featuring new stories, Vanessa Hua gives voice to immigrant families navigating a shifting America. Tied to their ancestral and adopted homelands in ways unimaginable in generations past, these memorable characters span both worlds but belong to none, illustrating the conflict between self and society, tradition and change. This all–new edition of Deceit and Other Possibilities marks the emergence of a remarkable writer.

Sometimes the truth hides where no one expects to find it. Joanne Weeks knows Baxter Jackson killed Linda his second wife and Joanne's best friend six years ago. But Baxter, a church elder and beloved member of the town, walks the streets a free man. The police tell Joanne to leave well enough alone, but she is determined to bring him down. Usin...