'A satisfyingly bloodthirsty, bawdy romp... Storming stuff.' - Good Book Guide. Egypt, AD 49. Cato, one of the youngest Prefects of the Roman army, and Centurion Macro have a tough posting - to track down and destroy a gang of former gladiators who have turned to piracy. Driven by vengeance, these hardened brutes have been defiling temples, sinking Roman ships and slaughtering men, women and children. What is worse is that they are doing it all under the name of Macro and Cato in an attempt to stir up a rebellion against the occupying forces, and it's working. If Macro and Cato don't stop the pirates in time it could be the beginning of the end for the Roman Empire. Includes map and author note. 377pp, paperback.

The Deadmen are back, but so are the demons who have broken free from their eternal prison, bent on mankind's destruction. The worst of the lot is Vine, determined to claim their lives for taking hers. She will see the world burn and has the perfect lure to destroy them all. One of their own. Kalder Dupree has never known a day of mercy. Born to the cruellest of mer-races, he sacrificed himself for his crew and is in Vine's hands. He expects no mercy or rescue. Yet Cameron Jack is determined to set Kalder free. As a Hellchaser, it's her calling, and she cannot allow even a not-so-innocent to be tortured for an act of kindness that spared her damnation. To defeat evil it sometimes takes an even worse evil, and Cameron is willing to do whatever she must to make this right. If Vine thought she had her hands full before she hasn't seen anything nearly as powerful as Cameron's resolve. No one does sexy, tormented heroes better than this popular fantasy writer and her Deadman's Cross historical fantasy series with a dark edge and dangerous powers. 331pp, paperback.

"A brilliant blending of crime, mystery and American history. Terrific entertainment." - Stephen King. Atlanta 1950. Officer Denny Rakestraw and 'Negro Officers' Lucius Boggs and Tommy Smith face the Klan, gangs and family warfare in a rapidly changing Atlanta. Black families including Smith's sister and brother-in-law are moving into Rake's formerly all-white neighbourhood, leading his brother-in-law, a proud Klansman, to launch a scheme to 'save' their streets. When those efforts leave a man dead, Rake is forced to choose between loyalty to family or the law. Meanwhile, Boggs has outraged his preacher father by courting a domestic whose dangerous ex-boyfriend is then released from prison. As Boggs, Smith, and their all-black precinct contend with violent drug dealers fighting for turf in new territory, their personal dramas draw them closer to the fires that threaten to consume Atlanta once again. One city is on the brink of huge and violent change. Three cops who cross colour lines, and a city full of secrets. Sunday Times - "Violent, compassionate and brilliant." 374pp, paperback.

This lively and idiosyncratic history of the charabanc or pleasure-bus takes the story to the end of World War II with archive photos, timetables, magazine articles, cartoons, advertisements, anecdotes and much more. An 1890 photograph of a four-horse charabanc trip sets the scene, with well-dressed ladies and gentlemen, all in hats, crammed onto its five benches. Advertisements for the Great Western Railway show that it provided omnibuses to and from Paddington station, while postcards from the Lake District of the same period focus on the hilarious aspects of runaway horses on steep inclines. A timetable of twopenny fares from Cardiff in 1878 is evidence of a public horse-drawn service running every three and half hours. Motor buses established themselves in the early 20th century, with an archive photo of the Clarkson Steamer at Pulborough station in 1904 providing a typical early example. The Cambridge Motor Bus Company was initially unable to compete with the horsedrawn trams, but the march of progress was unstoppable and a cartoon shows the two modes of transport facing off. A charabanc outing to Margate in the 1920s features a stylish group of passengers, both men and women, adopting poses for the snap, while the Hereford Journal of a similar date covers a court case in which a charabanc forced a motor car off the road. In his defence the motorist insisted he always sounded his horn before taking corners, which hardly inspires confidence in his innocence. The South Wales double-deckers of the mid-20s are full of women in fashionable cloche hats, and meanwhile the newly formed Wallace Arnold tours were doing roaring business. Moving on to the War, a morale-boosting poster shows a lone bus struggling up a hill with its destination board inscribed "Victory via Effort". 224pp, softback, hundreds of archive photos, drawings and diagrams.

The conflict between Christians and Muslims in the early medieval period is full of resonance for our own times. We are used to hearing the story from a British perspective, including the exploits of King Richard the Lionheart and other famous European crusaders, known as the Franks, but this readable book, published in 2010 and with a Foreword by the late, great Terry Jones, aims to place the crusades in a Muslim context and tell the story from the point of view of the culture of those who lived in the disputed territories. Both Muslim and Frankish accounts tend to emphasize the Frankish threat in terms of religion without considering the complex mix of commercial interests and personal rivalries which influenced the wars. Waterson tells the story of the famed leaders of the jihad the lives and deeds of Zangi, Nur al-Din, Saladin and Baybars are all recounted. Terry Jones suggests that our own labelling of Islam as continually being the aggressor in fact replicates the propaganda machine of a whole millennium ago, when the 1071 Battle of Manzikert created the chain of events that led to the First Crusade. Waterson points out that the First Crusade took the Muslims by surprise, as described in the chronicles of Ibn al-Qalanasi, so that they initially misinterpreted its aims and scope, but even more importantly there were two power blocs fighting for supremacy, the Fatimid empire of Egypt and the Saljq Turkish empire. Even the lofty-minded Turkish ruler Nur al-Din was not above allowing a Frankish raid on one of his fellow-sultans. This theme continued throughout the conflicts until Saladin united his forces to take Jerusalem. A long-term unforeseen result of Christianity's attack on Islam was to force the sultans to create an army that subsequently defended them against the ravages of Mongol armies that came from further east. Every important battle is described, with a wealth of political and operational detail. 206pp, 15.4 x 23.7cm, maps, black and white photos.

Fans of the bestselling author have enjoyed his move away from Rome to the medieval period and the story of Richard the Lionheart told from the point of view of a young Irish noble, Rufus from Leinster, and now a retired Knight, telling his story 30 years after Richard's death. At the beginning of the book are several well drawn maps of the Angevin Empire and the Kingdom of France in the late 12th century and a list of important characters both historical and fictional. Part one begins AD1179 and the third part AD1187-89, during the reign of Richard's father, the Plantagenet Henry II. Henry is King of England, Wales, Ireland, Normandy, Brittany and Aquitaine. The House of Plantagenet reigns supreme, but there is unrest in Henry's house and his family talks of rebellion. Ferdia, an Irish nobleman taken captive during the conquest of his homeland, saves the life of Richard, the King's son, and in reward for his bravery he is made squire to Richard who is already a renowned warrior. Crossing the English Channel, the two are plunged into a campaign to crush rebels in Aquitaine. The bloody battles and gruelling sieges which followed would earn Richard the legendary name of Lionheart. But Richard's older brother Henry is infuriated by his sibling's newfound fame. Soon it becomes clear that the biggest threat to Richard's life may not be rebel or French armies, but his own family. An epic filled with arrows and spattered with blood. 381pp in new 2020 softback, maps.

Translated by Paul Auster, this poetic handbook was written when the hire wire artist was just 23 years old. Philippe Petit became world famous with his feats such as walking between the towers of Notre Dame and the World Trade Center. Addressing such topics as the rigging of the wire, the walker's first steps, his salute and exercises, and the work of other renowned high-wire artists, Petit offers us a book about the ecstasy of conquering our fears and reaching for the stars. Translator Paul Auster shares his experiences while living in Paris and first seeing Petit perform as a juggler on the streets and later befriending him and reading his manuscripts, back in 1971. A unique and beautiful work which delves into the psyche of a person willing to risk all to accomplish his feats, its dangers and rewards. Attractive hardback edition, 115pp reprint of the 1985 original.

One of the founding members of the Will Self Club (WSC), Sam Mills was recently elevated to the position of Sovereign Grand Quiddity Inspector General, the most powerful position in the Selfian hierarchy. Essentially the book takes elements found in Will Self novels and uses them to satirise the publishing industry and those who market it and those who follow it. Self appears both man and myth and characters fruitlessly try to capture his essence. Ambitious, imaginative, this is for all literary snobs touching on social engineering, madness and dystopia. The ghost of a beautiful young woman Sylvie hovers outside the window of Will Self's study. She is seeking to influence his latest novel before she can rest in peace. She was a member of the WSC, a mysterious cult of charismatic writers who appear to worship Will Self. When Richard, a twenty-something idler and literary wannabe discovers Sylvie's dead body, he gets sucked into their dark world of absinthe, cloaks and bizarre initiation rites, slowly losing his sense of perspective on the strange events that encircle him. What is the true nature of the WSC? What did they do to Sylvie and does Richard now face a similar fate? Ranging from the present day to 2049, a highly original comic novel. 375pp, paperback.

It is 1910 and Philadelphia is burning. The last place Spring wants to be is in the rundown, coloured section of a hospital surrounded by the groans of sick people and the ghost of her dead sister. But as her son Edward lays dying, she has no other choice. There are whispers that Edward drove a streetcar into a shop window. Some people think it was an accident, others claim that it was his fault, and the police are certain that he was part of a darker agenda. Is he guilty? Can they find the truth? All Spring knows is that time is running out. She has to tell him the story of how he came to be. With the help of her dead sister, newspaper clippings and reconstructed memories, she must find a way to get through to him, and to shatter the silences that governed her life she will do everything she can to lead him home. This could be her last chance to tell him the story of their family. An unflinching and haunting novel which addresses the legacy of the slave trade, longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2019. 293pp, paperback.

'Political thriller, absurdist farce, globe trotting romance: multiple forms jostle in a beautifully written take on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.' - Mail on Sunday. A work of psychological precision and moral force which captures both timeless human truths and the perplexities of the present day, Englander is a wonderfully gifted writer. Prisoner Z, held at a black site in the Negev desert for a dozen years, has only his guard for company. How does a nice American Jewish boy from Long Island wind up being an Israeli spy working for Mossad, and later, a traitor to his adopted country? What does it mean to be loyal? What does it mean to be a traitor when the ideals you cherish are betrayed by the country you love? Z can do nothing but think of the past and where her life went wrong and reveal to the reader in a series of often gripping flashbacks. A spellbinding political thriller, spy novel, love story. 252pp, paperback.